Is anyone else looking at Avery Johnson with questions in their eyes? I've been watching that series, and seeing Dirk struggle - but I'm also seeing him used in a way I haven't seen him used all year. I do not believe a small, fast defender can shut Dirk down. Houston has put McGrady on him before, and it caused him problems, but didn't shut him down.

I don't have any intentions on being a Dirk apologist - he's still passing out of double teams before they come, and playing with less passion than I've known him to play with over the years. But, I can certainly see his problem. It would seem that Johnson has said he's going to score in the post or not at all. I don't see the Mavs running the kinds of plays they've ran for him all year - curls that end in catch and shoots at the free throw line, high pick and rolls that clear the double team and let him shoot over the top, ect.

In short, Dirk has always thrived in a motion type offense - he's moving, catching, pump faking, and shooting. He's a rythem player. What I'm seeing is a game where Dirk can go 10 possessions without touching the ball, and when he does touch the ball, it's generally out of his comfort zone - close to the three point line with absolutely terrible floor spacing on the part of the Mavs. I mean, seriously, Deavon George gets an isolation run for him against Baron Davis - but when GS gets caught in a mismatch and Matt Barnes is on Dirk, no one looks that way.

To further confound my bafflement, I'm seeing Dirk camped at the three point line where he is proving useless - even when open he isn't passed to - when he should be put under the boards collecting offensive rebounds. (Despite this, he's 2nd in the L in offensive rebounding in the playoffs)

I am slowly becoming convinced that Nellie is not taking Dirk out of this series, but Avery Johnson is. Johnson has become determined to coach his philosophy, and not his players. Avery wants Dirk to be the post presence that he isn't - at least a post presence he isn't when fronted and then doubled from behind. Golden State has removed that aspect of the Dirks game, and Avery has just conceded the rest. Why wouldn't you use one of the best catch and shoot players in the game to do just that? Catch and shoot? Why not get him rythem shots in the fast break? Bring him around picks?

I'm not a big fan of coddling players, but at some point, coaches and point guards do help their best players get going. Dirk has been a rythem player his whole career, he isn't the kind of player that you ignore for 10 possessions, and then expect results from. I only watch the Mavs when they are on national TV and I know that - why doesn't Avery?

Interesting aside: Dirk is leading the league with 2.5 steals a contest, swatting 1.75 shots a game and grabbing 11.5 rebounds. He adds that to his 20 pts a game. His shooting percentage?41% Almost identical to Yao Ming (41), D-Wade (42), Lebron James (42) and Jason Kidd (42) and better than Tracy McGrady (38), Manu (37) and A.I. (39) Is he really having that bad of a series?

On the flip side of this - everyone is raving about Jason Starterry. Ugh. I would never, ever want this guy to be my point guard. Is it me, or is this guy a Marbury that can't pass? He can't even make an entry pass, for god's sake. He's gotten into this shoot first mentality, and is only shooting about 3% points better than Dirk. 3.8 assits vs. 2.25 turnovers? (he's averaging 1 assist for every 10 minutes on the court) and 28% shooting on 3's? Jason Terry is averaging ONE more assist a game than Josh Howard, and one and a half more than Dirk.

Honestly, I must admit I'm disgusted with the Mavs. Yes, Dirk could be performing better - but if your pointing fingers, you should be using both hands.

Huston was averaging 16.5 more free throw attempts per game at home – and garnered 33 more foul calls in those two victories. In Utah, last night, their free throw advantage shrunk to 8 and they only accumulated one extra foul call. Home cooking?

I hate to pound a point – but if Houston gets out of this series the lack of a third scorer is going to postpone postseason dreams. In the east, they might slip it through– but going through Dallas in the second round, and Suns or Spurs in the conference finals with no third option? Unrealistic. On the bright side – third scorers aren’t that hard to come by in the off season.

Dirk is being underrated in the GS series. I know, you think I’m crazy! He’s averaging 16 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 1.5 steals and 2 assists. He’s only hitting 33% of his shots – but his all around numbers aren’t as bad as people are making them (folks sounding like female drama. OMG! HE IS SO MIA!). Is it superstar level? No – but Avery Johnson is not designing his game plan around Dirk being a superstar. He’s more than willing to let Nellie remove Dirk from the chess board, and then beat him to death with Terry, Howard and Co.

The problem with Dirk is the absence of a half #### point guard who can make an entry pass. He’s 7-0 being fronted by a 6-9 defender and Terry can’t get the ball into him?  Jason Terry is a solid scorer (a two guard that got shrunk in the wash) – but point guard? I think not. Problem with Dallas is they are training Harris to be the same kind of point guard. Arg!

There is no excuse for the Heat. Mourning/ONeal are a great two headed center. D-wade, even hurt, is better than 85% of the guards in the game. Haslim is one of the best big glue guys in the game. Kapono is deadly from the arc. But from there the roster turns into the Grizzlies East. Payton, Walker, Williams – what other GM would try and build a contender and put them in the roster? Last year was great, but the next 3 years in Miami? Ugly, Ugly, Ugly. ONeal is a decent center these days – but 20 million decent? It’s a damn, damn shame.

Can you see the L that has D-Wade, Lebron, and Kobe all struggling on mediocre rosters? It's a damn, damn shame!

On the flip side of that series – the Bulls are going to be kicking #### for awhile. I hope they don’t tinker with their roster too much trying to do something splashy in the off season. Their perimeter guys will learn to take the ball to the hoop more. They have the potential to turn into the Mavericks of the East, only with a better, more physical defense. I really love their roster. Could they use a post scorer? Sure. But so could the Mavs, the Suns, and everyone else. It won’t be long before folks are making moves to keep up with them.

I have a man crush on Don Nelson. He plays dumb so much people believe it. He built Dallas into a track meet team before it was cool – and Nash left and took his play book to the Suns. Now everyone says the L is imitating the Suns – BS! – the L is imitating Nellie ball. Run, gun, don’t foul, give up quick shots, murder with mismatches, use PG penetration instead of post-ups. Not to say the Suns haven’t added wrinkles (more cuts to the basket by athletic big men) but really, the change that is sweeping across the L has Nellie fingerprints all over it. Factor in that Nash and Dirk are custom built and tutored Nelson creations (who else would have encouraged Nash to be that reckless and for Dirk to sit on the three point line?) and you begin to see exactly what Nelson has accomplished. He’s not Phil Jackson – but I’ll take him over pretentious, stick up his ####, Larry Brown everyday of the week.

Dallas Vs. Golden State – Great story lines, but make sure you use them quickly. Nellie does love being the underdog, and Golden State can score when hot – but Dallas is efficient, both offensively and defensively. I’m a big believer in systems and talent, which Dallas has. Nellie is smart, has some good pieces, but is famously immature and under prepared. This series, in two years, would be a barn burner. By then, the Warriors will have more pieces, more experience, and more feet on the ground. Now, however, Golden State hasn’t played together long enough, and honestly, looks just happy to be there – Meanwhile, Dallas looks ready to get some blood on their hands. Dallas in Five.

Suns Vs. Lakers – The Lakers are going to be destroyed, annihilated, murderized and, generally speaking, Dunked like donuts in the paint. Send get well soon cards to your Laker friends now. (Dear Luke, at least your dad is cool and your ####ing Brittany on the side. That basketball imprint on the side of your face will probably go away . . .) Amare, Shawn, and Nash are going to have a lay up festival. And 1. Again. The Lakers play horrible pick and roll defense, lose cutters, and are out-hustled for rebounds. Kobe, try as he might, (he might try, 3 shots, one point) will be lucky to keep these games from being blow outs. The Zen Master will have to splice a lot of movie clips into the film study. I recommend Chainsaw Massacre, Jason, or any other movie where your opponent just keeps coming back and hitting you in the head with an ax. Suns in Four.

The Spurs Vs The Nuggets – This series is really, really interesting to me. Nene and Camby against Duncan and his high energy front court buddies. Parker vs. Iverson (speed vs speed) , Bowen Vs. Melo (classy dirty vs I’ll hit you in the face dirty). The talent makes this series interesting, until you look at the intangibles. The Spurs history of imposing their will, and the Nuggets history of losing, uh, uhm, oh yeah, focus. George Karl and his knack of just rolling out the ball and seeing what happens, and Pops system of get it done or deal with my pock marked screaming mug (No! It’s like 100 screaming little faces on a big screaming face! Holy Jesus! I’ll rotate! I promise!). The Nuggets should make this an interesting series, and part of me thinks they will, but realistically can’t see it happening. Spurs in Five.

The Jazz Vs. The Rockets – I could be totally wrong – but I think the Rockets are the most overrated team in the playoffs (if everyone calls you the sleeper, can you be the sleeper?). Yao and McGrady are super stars capable of dominating. Sloan, however, is a great game planner. I look for him to push the ball, and use tons of ball movement. Any team that pushes the ball, and gets off early shots, has an advantage against Yao (I think, in Chinese, Yao means lumbering water buffalo). He’s horribly slow getting up court, and takes too long to get set, often giving up prime real estate for rebounding and scoring (he is, however, an all time great at the moving screen). McGrady is unstoppable (except for his back) but Utah has enough team defense to make his life difficult. Houston's big problem is the lack a reliable, kick you in the nuts in the last seconds of the shot clock, third scorer. Utah, on the other hand, looks solid to me, if rather unspectacular. They don’t have a defensive answer for Yao, but they will wear him out and make him turnover prone. While the Jazz don’t overwhelm you anywhere, they are pretty solid everywhere and play good ball moving offense. I know they had a late season let down – but Sloan is an old hand and can get them focused. Jazz in Six.

If I was to go against any of my own picks – I might take the Nuggets over the Spurs. A long shot, I know – but the Spurs don’t look as unbeatable as they have before (yes, I know, 26-3 since the all-star break). The Spurs, though, are pretty dependent on streak shooting from the out side, Barry, Finely, ect – not to mention Manu, who can be super bald spot man, or whose game can well, suddenly, glaringly, in HD TV, recede. Parker and Duncan seem to be the only constants with this team, meanwhile, Denver is walking around with a bottle, an antenna and taking God’s name in vain waiting for lightening to strike. Also, as long as I’m making disclaimers, the Rockets have that stink of a team that the NBA would love to succeed. Star Power! Keep an eye on free throw attempts in that series, and how long it takes unglamorous, unattractive, small market, Utah to get into the penalty.

Ok, first off -

 I hate the 'without X player, Y team wouldn't be as good' MVP argument. It's totally invalid, illogical and senseless. For example: If you remove Steve Nash from the Suns, or Dirk from the Mavs, those teams now have 8 mil and 15 mil respectively to replace them with. Not to mention, that given the coarse of a season to develop, there is no telling how players would adjust. We saw how good the Suns were without Amare, how roles changed and players adjusted. If there was no Nash, the Suns would not be lottery bound. Without Dirk, the Mavs would adjust accordingly.

Point in case - The Mavs lost Nash via free agency, and got nothing in return. They then replaced him with a player, Jason Terry, who is not as talented, but is serviceable. They used the money saved on Nash to sign Dampier, and changed philosophies. They lost the best point guard in the game, and then had another 50 win season. Why? Dirk adjusted his game, and the team adjusted their system.

 While all arguments are subjective, even those based on stats and 'empirical data', I feel the 'without' argument is ungainly and particularly awkward. There are, quite simply, too many variables. I feel there are much better arguements that can be made - How big a role does said player play in a team's success via personal accomplishments and their ability to heighten the accomplishments of teammates? You can make those cases a thousand different ways - but now you know the way I think is the poorest. Please, if we must talk about who is the MVP, tell me why the team is great with the player, not why it sucks without him.

 Secondly -

Out of the blue, this occurred to me - what if during MLB's all-star home run challenge you tuned in to watch a bunch of utility infielders compete in the home run contest, swinging awkwardly and weakly to drive balls barely over the wall? Wouldn't that suck some ####? Well, that's exactly what the NBA's slam dunk contest is. Seriously, Kobe, Vince, T-mac, ect. get off your #### and stop cuddling your ego! Nobody has ever said that one great hitter was better than another because they won a home run contest. NBA all-stars - Stop Sucking ####!

 Thirdly -

Speaking of MLB - 162 games? Holy *#&%(#. Thats a lot of games. Is that really, really needed? 162 games? Count to 162. It takes awhile. Think about a #### of 162 ones. Man! Baseball was my first love (could have gone to college on athletic scholarship if I hadn't developed a sudden and overwhelming interest in psychedelics and the vast amount of free time alloted by not going to school). But still, first love or not, 162 three hour games? What are you asking of your fans?! How many 3 pitching change half innings are involved in that? How many 'I think daddy is dead', 'No honey, he's just watching baseball. He'll be alright as soon as the batter gets in the box and the pitcher stops walking in circles' moments happen? I love the chess match mentality of baseball, but shouldn't the sport be more interesting, and take less time, than a chess match?

Can't they shorten the season to 82 games, play them in prime time, speed up play and call it a day?

 Thank you for listening. I feel better now. *whew*

Watched that Cavs/Mavs game last night and a couple of things stuck out at me:

Even though the Mavs often had a double digit lead, Dirk still played 44 minutes. On the offensive set, they would give him long breathers using him as a decoy on the pick and roll or on the wing as a spot up shooter- but none the less, he's an important defensive piece for them and he was sweating it out on that end. He's averaging 36 minutes a game for the season, and about the same for his career (he played all but like a minute of that Suns game - does it affect his clutchness?).

If I was Dallas I would keep in mind that 7 foot, 250lb guys have fast aging joints and would look into a back-up. Austin Croshure (sp?) doesn't cut it - teams just leave him to double others, and I'm not sure who is going to be out there in the off season. Who do you think would be a good back up for Dirk? Won't be left by the defense on offense, will work on defense (unlike Van Horn).

Lebron was 2 for 11 or so, me thinks, when he whacked his head on the floor and stayed there for a bit. He then got up, and then dominated. You ever notice how guys do that on national TV? Having a craptastic game and then tweak an ankle, get hit in the face, or just have a reason to roll around on the floor for a few minutes, then get up and kick some ####. It's like they just need an excuse to fail in order to succeed. (I'm not suggesting players fake it, Lebron's whack was pretty good - but that scenerio happens alot)

Do the Cavs have a playbook? Do they have a coach? What the *$&# is up with them? Folks say they don't have personal, but KG would kill for a Larry Hughes, Z, Drew Gooden, and the Pavolishklhjfh guy that nails 'em from the outside, not to mention that floppy haired glue guy. Watching the game you could see Avery calling plays for both ends of the floor, and the Cavs just kept wondering around looking goofy. What the hell?

Point in case: Fourth quarter, Cavs coming back - Lebron keeps going to the rim and getting his points. Out of no where, Avery calls a 2/3 zone, doubles the ball out of Lebron's hands, the Cavs throw it around a bit and get a weak jump shot from Drew Gooden. Drew Gooden??? Arg!

A good team is going to waste in Cleveland. A good team is over-achieving in Dallas and becoming great. Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris - these guys are good, but 56-11 good? No, their not. They just play well together (nod to Don/Donnie Nelson) and are extremly well coached.

"And for the record, I never gave Eve an apple. I just told her a story"

[lights]Blackout

Back in high school I spent way too much time drinking and playing Madden ’98 in the shed behind my best friend’s house. I hated playing him. He had this unstoppable play where the tight end always popped open for a 15 yard gain, and he was already good without that. So, if by some miracle I held him to a 3rd and 10 – 15 yards to the tight end. Damn it. He’d keep scoring and I’d have to keep matching. To beat him, I had to play the perfect game and bait him into making a mistake. Cross your fingers and hope he overthrows and I intercept.

Sounds like playing the Suns, huh?

I read that Tim Hardaway is trying to clean up his image. He even had to remove his name from a car wash he owns in Miami. Haha. Seriously, ethical concerns aside, it’s a bad business practice to talk bad about #### folk in Miami.

Lebron, Wade and Kobe. The best guards in basketball – so why is it so hard to build a team around them? Take away Shaq and these guys don’t have any rings. They all suffer from ‘teammates watching too much’. You begin to wonder if a ball dominating guard is the best way to go. These guys seem to have to be MJ every night if they are going to win. MJ wasn’t even MJ every night. Was the MJ, Pippen, Rodman thing just a freak alignment of the stars (pun intended) that GM’s should stop trying to create?

Billups,  Nash, Duncan, Dirk, Shaq, these guys field competive teams every year – Nash  and Billups by assisting and the other three by scoring and drawing double teams in the flow of the game. While I’m sure in time some of the Alpha-Male guards will win some titles without Shaq, the current state of things makes you wonder how the heavens will have to move for them.

Seriously, what’s up with Denver? Does anyone else think they’d be a better team if Melo and AI just scored 20 a game and kept the rest of the team involved? Watched them play Sac-town over the weekend, and they looked good. But so sloppy! Teammates didn’t look like they knew where to be. Najarea (sp?) was the only real hustler on the floor. I saw them play Dallas earlier this year and they had something like 16 turnovers between Melo and AI. What’s going on here? If Karl could manage Payton and Kemp, what’s the holdup? Are these guys even worse headcases? Or has Karl turned into one?

Okay, those are all the beans I have to spill. Enjoy the Mavs/Suns tonight. I won’t. *sigh* I’ll be hanging out with my sister and niece and forbidding myself from turning it on. It’s always kind of a dirty feeling when you ignore your niece because you can’t wait to see the next move of a sweaty millionaire.

If Hardaway could get a contract to play for another 5 million next year he'd be happy to play on a team full of ####s. He'd choke down his disgust all the way to the bank.

Just like folks are saying it would be braver to come out while playing - it be a hell of a lot more believable to say who you would play with when you could play - and turn down the money. Then you would see what he values more - his backside or his backpocket.

Questions:

Best Player to build your offense around?

I say Dirk, can play all three front court positions with the skill set a two guard. You can run the pick and roll at half court with him (when Nash was in Dallas, the use to run it 3 feet behind the three point line). Every time he comes off a screen he takes two players with him, and, I believe, he makes the players around him better. Nick Van Excel, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, all guys who had their careers reborn or go to another level playing with him - plus the Mavs have won 50 games in a row for six seasons, and he is the only player left from the first one. (Seriously, win 50 games with Shawn Bradley and Raef LaFrentz as your front court help.)

I know a lot of folks will say Kobe, Nash, or Wade - and I can't argue - I just value a constant front court mismatch more than a dominate guard. (And I feel Dirk may be the most unique player in the L - who else has his size and set of skills?)

Best player to build your defense around?

I'm going to make a call here based on talent, not on mentality - Ron Artest. The guy is crazy, he'll double your PR budget, but he can defend the 1,2, and 3 anywhere on the court. He can #### them off, make them miss their shot, and create turnovers. He rebounds great, hustles and is ruthlessly intense. Softtown (sactown), I feel is a bad fit for him, but if you surround him with gritty players (like the pacers in their heyday) he will not only be great individually, but inspire the attitude it takes to be dominate defensively from his team mates.

Best to build your whole team around?

Toughy, eh? Let's limit this to a 5 year plan - so that younger players don't get too much of an advantage. I say - Kobe Bryant. I know some love him, some hate him - and both seem creepy pathological about it - but he's the best player when you factor in both sides of the court. He could play more intensely on defense more often, that'd be great. However, he's getting better at playing with teammates, has triple double potential every night. Kobe has the playoff experience, and his ability to mesh nicely with Phil is making me think he may one day adapt to playing next to another Shaq-type player.


I'm not married to any of these choices, feel free to persuade me to your point of view (no promises, though).

The Question at this point in the season isn't so much about which team can win the title - but which team can make the adjustments that will make them a Champion.

I don't care what the stats say, the suns do not have a good defense. I don't care if they play a faster paced game - you don't give up a 121 points to the Wolves. The Wolves shot 59%? Their front court went 27 for 42? The Suns can win a lot, a lot, of regular season games that way. In the post season though, they won't be able to out score teams. The Spurs and Mavs, in particular, play a very physical defense. You can't under estimate that in a 7 game series. When you been knocked around, grabbed, held and been contested for the majority of your shots, there is no rythem, no offensive jugernaut. You have to manufacture your points - which I believe the Suns can do. On the flip though, can put the lock on the Mavs or Spurs offense? They don't have to play great defense the whole game - but can they do it in the fourth quarter? A lot has been made of the fact that they only lost to Dallas on that last second shot - not how easy it was to get the ball to Dirk, or how they didn't have the personal in place so he could shoot right over the top. The Suns must learn to play better spurt defense - or they are going to have a long, embarassing off season.

Dallas, on the other hand, is woefully inconsistant. They have the ability to lock down opposing players and score at will, and sometimes do. They shoot 50% and hold others to 40%. Then they shoot 30% and allow 60%. WTF is going on? Part of their problem is Jason Terry is not a good ball distributor - this was painfully evident in Miami last year. They did not have a ball handler that could disrupt defenses and create open shots for teammates in the half court - and this is why it is still not out of reach to shut dallas down for long periods of time. Dropping the ball off to Dirk at the top of the key and waiting to seeing what happens doesn't cut it against top notch defensive teams (although, thats exactly how they beat the suns last). When they are in an offensive rythem, they do the same on defense (they might be the best team in the L when it comes to 12-0 runs). If they are going to win in the post-season though, they must get a better, more consistant offense that feeds their defense.

The Spurs just look flat out old. Pop has made a point that he won a title with a three seed, and that's perhaps their best option. Robert Horry should be reading to his grandkids, Barry is sometimes money, sometimes not. And whatever happened to Manu? Did Josh Howard steal his Mojo? Duncan still puts up great numbers, but how far does he seem from that guy that would beat you all by himself? The best hope, I believe for the Spurs, is to stay calm. They arn't catching the Suns or Mavs, and have to set their sights on playing their best basketball when the post season starts. Once the post season starts they'll really have to hope serveral players (Fin-dog, Barry, co.) get hot from the outside or they could end up getting swept by Dallas or knocked out easily by the Suns.

Out of these, Dallas seems the best bet to put it together. They are more likely to be fresh, a problem the suns really have to worry about (career high minutes for Nash, who has a history of post-season wilts). Their bench is deeper and more reliable that what the Spurs have, and Dirk seems to be a different sort of player sense knocking down that post season shot against the Spurs. He has a killer type look to him, it releases the pressure from his team, and they just might ride him to glory.

My aplogies to Lakers fans, I just can't see them as contenders - same story with anybody from the east.

So much said about who should win the MVP I wanted to come from a different angle. Here are the top four guys, and my thinking of why no one should win the MVP. Maybe we should just give it to Charles Barkley for making half time interesting. Or to China for being able to out vote us at our own game. Or to Isiah Thomas for being able to keep such a sorry, horrible team in the headlines. Or, if all else fails, award it to cattle for the great sacrifice they made for the sake of the NBA - seriously, they give the skin off their backs. They must really love this game.

Steve Nash plays on a very talented team, and as such, gets a boost to his numbers. He does not have to take shots under pressure, has three front court players shooting over %50 (Amare is over %60). This will pad your numbers - as good as he is, if you put him in Washington or on the Lakers his numbers would drop. He would have to shoot more contested shots and dish to finishers who don't shoot such great percentages.

Dirk, as opposed to being on a very talented team, is on a very deep team. The offense runs through Josh Howard for the first quarter, with Dirk just taking the shots that come in the flow of the game. In previous years, he was not known for his incredable fourth quarter play - he'd been too tired from carrying the team the first three. Again, if you put him on a lower level team his numbers would fall out of the Larry Bird range.

Kobe is not on a talented or deep team, and it is often said that if he was he would dominate the L. This may not be true - he has been on a talented and deep team and was a source of conflict. Although he has made great strides in playing with teammates, the question of what he could do on a team loaded with talent should be a question. If he played shooting guard for the Mavs or the Suns he would have to get far fewer touches, play more off the ball, and have use his great ability on defense constantly. What his numbers would look like on those teams is a question - what would Kobe do with an offense that didn't always run through him, and players who didn't always look to dish it back to him? It's well known he didn't like having an offense run through Shaq. Personality is a liability and quiets claims of what he could do on the Suns or Mavs.

Gilbert runs into that old Scottie Pippen quote about Michael Finely when he played for the sucky Mavs. Pippen said something to the effect, "Anyone can put up great numbers on a horrible team." And the Wiz, even if they do hang on to their lead in the Least Conference, may be exactly what Pippen was talking about. Yes, your numbers look great, but how great can your numbers be when your team sucks against the best? If Gilbert is in the running because of his numbers, Garnett should also be. He has a playoff spot in the superior conference and his all around numbers are far better.