A perfectly appropriate line for two perfectly appropriate playoff series.  There's a point towards the end of "The Matrix" where the agent has Keanu Reeves in an inescapable, stranglehold.  With an oncoming subway train careening rapidly towards them, it looks as if Neo's goose is cooked...  until he realizes he's the chosen one, and uses his special powers to thwart his enemy, rendering him useless.

Sound familiar?

The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, the league's last two world champions, both on the brink of elimination and facing hostile road environments, did their best Neo impressions, pulling rabbits out of their hats and forcing respective Game 7's.

Did anyone honestly expect the Cavs to come away with a series victory against the NBA's Fab Five?  Even Cavalier fans were skeptical, having been burnt by the greats before (insert Craig Ehlo reference here), wondering how their team would come to give this series away.  The closest the Cavs have been to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals is in the computer-generated Gatorade commercial where Michael Jordan MISSES the jump shot over Ehlo.  And it now appears that the Spurs clearly have Dallas' number once again.  Jason Terry or no Jason Terry, San Antonio was not to be denied on Friday night, as Dirk Nowitzki, Mark Cuban and Avery Johnson now go back to the drawing board.

But it's too late.  The champs have that supreme, psychological advantage over their challengers going into Games Seven, not to mention home court advantage.  Once again, the sound of inevitability rings loudly in Cleveland and Dallas.

 

I wrote last night that the hardest thing to do in professional sports is to hit a major league fastball.  I think I'm starting to change my mind.

In the last three playoff games I've watched, which coincidentally also happen to be the last three games TNT has aired, I've witnessed three separate, errant inbound passes that either cost or could have cost their team the game.

Dateline Monday night...  Spurs led the Mavericks by a point with possession of the basketball and thirty seconds remaining on the game clock.  Brent Barry was slated to safely inbound the ball to a teammate, who would most likely be fouled and sent to the free throw line to give the Spurs a three-point lead.  Instead, Barry's errant pass bounced off Michael Finley's fingers allowing the Mavericks to eventually win the game.

Once again, on Tuesday night, the New Jersey Nets placed the ball in the hands of point guard Jason Kidd, who was unable to complete the pass to Vince Carter, allowing Dwayne Wade to sneak in and knock the ball away.

In Tuesday's late game, the Clippers had an opportunity to win the game by inbounding the ball deep into Elton Brand.  Instead, the pass sailed out of bounds, ensuring that the clock did not start and allowing the Suns one last look at an open basket.

Now certainly it's not only the inbounder's responsibilty to make a good pass.  Inbounding the basketball also requires the player receiving the pass to establish position, as he would in the post, thus keeping the defender away from the ball.  Vince Carter failed to do this.  Elton Brand never had a chance.  And the only thing defending Michal Finley was the sideline, and we all know the sideline never misses a tackle.

So instead of NBA head coaches forcing their roster to shoot jumpers and free throws until nightfall, perhaps they should look at the lost art of inbounding the basketball.  It just might come in handy one day.

 

Do you think the New Jersey Nets will be looking for a big man in the off-season?

Shaquille O'Neal, along with his newest prom date, Dwayne Wade, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals Tuesday night with their fourth consecutive defeat of the New Jersey Nets.  Former Gator (note shameless plug of alma mater) Udonis Haslem led the way for the Heat with ten rebounds.  Although the Nets had one last shot at a game-winner with less than two seconds left in the contest, Jason Kidd's inbound pass to Vince Carter was intercepted by Wade sealing the game... and the Nets season.

A lack of size down low and a failure to create any sort of balanced attack was the key to the series, despite the presence of three of the league's superstars in Kidd, Carter and Jefferson.  When training the Mystery Men to take on Casanova Frankenstein, the Sphinx professed "if you can balance a tack hammer on your head, you will head off your foes with a balanced attack."  Obviously, Rod Thorn has not seen "Mystery Men."

 

Although the discrepancy in rebounds does not show in the boxscores from the series, it was the timeliness of said rebounds, and New Jersey's inability to create any sort of efficient post presence in the series that finished the Nets.  Their starting center, Nenad Krstic, went 0-for-3 in Game 5.  New Jersey's big three took all but sixteen of their shots tonight.

I'd look for the Nets to make a move for a solid rebounding presence in the off-season, a Rodman type that doesn't need to take that many shots to be satisfied.  The Nets have given Jason Collins every opportunity over the past few years to prove his worth but four rebounds and one shot attempt in thirty-three minutes played tonight may have guaranteed himself a spot as New Jersey trade bait.

Someone once said that the hardest thing to do in professional sports is to hit a major league fastball... but apparently for Brent Barry, it's inbounding the basketball with his team's season on the line. With under a minute left and a one-point San Antonio lead, Barry attempted misguidedly to inbound the ball to Michael Finley.... WITH A WIDE OPEN TONY PARKER AT MID-COURT!!! Instead, Barry threw an ill-advised, errant pass off of Finley's fingertips along the right sideline and out of bounds, keeping Dallas' chances alive.

Barry also had the ball stolen from him in overtime, leading to a Jerry Stackhouse lay-up. The emotion of the crowd, a few favorable calls and a slashing Devin Harris were all simply too much for the Spurs to overcome as Dallas went on to win the game in overtime.

Barry will be replaying that pass over and over in his head tonight, as his team is now down three games to one, and faces their first early elimination in years.

10) Marv Albert's undergarments

9) Cheryl Miller play brother, Reggie, one-on-one with neither player allowed to shoot from behind the three point line

8) The lost Tony Parker-Eva Longoria sex tapes

7) LeBron winning a title

6) Another Raja Bell clothesline on Kobe

5) Larry Brown suggesting he should take a year off from coaching

4) Charles Barkley and John Daly in a drunken, blackjack duel.... first to lose ten million dollars wins

3) Jerry Stackhouse reading the NBA rulebook

2) Michael, Magic or Larry in their prime

1) Darko!

Many pundits have criticized LeBron James' defense this season, suggesting that his defense isn't as well-balanced as his offense.  Whoever still feels this way obviously hasn't watched him in the playoffs.  Monday night's victory against the Pistons, knotting the series at two games a piece, is a perfect example.  LeBron had two key blocks in the game, one on Richard Hamilton early and the other on Chauncey Billups late.  These blocks were perfectly timed and emphatic enough to remind Detroit's backcourt who it is exactly they're driving the lane against.  LeBron's second block against Detroit's M.V.P. came during a fourth-quarter Piston drought that essentially sealed a Cavalier victory.

LeBron averaged 1.5 steals this season and nearly a block a game.  Not bad at all.  And in Game Three against Detroit, James had four steals and a block.  So the next time someone suggests that LeBron's merely an offensive powerhouse, be sure to inform them that 'we are all witnesses' and to tune into Game 5.

This series should be over.

Credit the resolve of the Phoenix Suns, who miraculously escaped from L.A. via Tim Thomas' three-pointer that would have made even Snake Plitzkin proud.  Pundits can blame Kobe, they can blame Smush, they can even blame Kwame for his flying Walenda defense against Thomas on that final shot.  But one man lost Game Six for these Lakers... and his name is Phil Jackson.

Flashback to the third quarter, where the Lakers consistently failed to pass the ball into the post.  Certainly, the Zenmaster has realized that thoughout this series, he's had a tremendous advantage down low.  Lamar Odom has essentially neutralized Shawn Marion this entire series.  Yet, the Lakers never fed the ball inside that quarter, allowing Phoenix to keep the game close.  The Lakers also failed to put defensive pressure on Marion and Barbosa, who, at that point, were both in foul trouble.  Already undermanned with Raja Bell serving a one-game suspension for clotheslining Kobe Bryant, the Lakers could have forced D'Antoni to go deep into his bench.  Instead, the Lakers offense opted to run east-west and gather the bulk of their points from the perimeter.

In order to have ANY chance whatsoever in Game Seven, the Lakers cannot deviate from their gameplan.  They must exploit their size advantage and control the tempo the entire game.  Missed perimeter jumpers only fuel the Suns offense.  Anything less than steady, consistent high-percentage offense from the Lakers will leave only one L.A. team playing in the Staples Center next week.

 

Ah yes..... how many of us, just yesterday, were lauding the unheralded underdogs.  That's right... you in the corner, boasting to your friends that the Bulls, Kings and Lakers were ready to pull off miraculous upsets over their heavily favored opponents and advance to the next round of the playoffs.  No less than 24 hours later, a few of us are eating our words.

A once lackluster and seemingly uninspired Miami Heat team has turned things around and played Game Five like the Riley-coached veterans we expected.  Manu Ginobli was finally able to pull a few stutter steps over on Artest and get to the rim.  And the Suns appear to be heating up at just the right time.  The last thing the Lakers, Bulls and Kings wanted was to go back home for a Game Six.  Well, guess what.  Shame on any of us who ever underestimated the favorites.  Keep in mind, they feature Shaq, Duncan and Nash on their rosters.

Anyone making any predictions now?

 

 

There's nothing more satisfying to a NBA fan than watching a professional franchise truly click in the post-season. Particularly when we can see within them the desire to be the best, to earn that ring and to know they've become a part of basketball history. Out the window go the criticisms of the spoiled, millionaire athlete and what we end up witnessing is true, basketball excellence.

On the flipside, there's nothing less satisfactory than watching a team just roll over. Example, the Denver Nuggets. What happened to these guys? At the beginning of the season, they looked like an unstoppable force. Camby was dominant and well on his way to comeback player of the year. 'Melo looked like a top ten player in the league. At mid-season, they added on two key players in Patterson and Evans. And Coach Karl looked primed to take his team deep into the playoffs.

Then came the Los Angeles Clippers.

I don't think the mismatches going into this series were as glaring as they actually proved to be. Sure, the Clips had Sam I am and were very possibly a team on a mission. They may have had an advantage in the half-court set with Brand and Kaman, but you can't tell me that with the Nuggets size down low, they couldn't have figured out an answer for the Clippers's front court presence. Sure, Brand is gonna get his, but couldn't Denver have done anything on the opposite end to keep them honest?

In their last two games, the Nuggets got pummeled by a combined 33 points, certainly not looking like a team with anything to prove, other than a rush to get to the off-season and enter the "How quickly can we get rid of K-Mart" sweepstakes.

Congratulations are certainly due to the Clips who have won their first playoff series since moving to Los Angeles, but to teams like Denver, spare us the lack of desire, and save that playoff spot for a team that would have at least put forth an effort.