Observations and revelations as we hit the second round
Posted: Wednesday May 07, 2003 12:29 PM
Updated: Wednesday May 07, 2003 5:36 PM
Some thoughts while waiting for the lights to come on at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
It's easy to snicker about the Lakers' belief in their triangle offense. "You can run anything if you've got Shaq and Kobe," more than one coach has told me over the years. But what the triangle does is provide structure, give the Lakers a format from which they can almost always get off a decent shot, even if Kobe or Shaq usually takes it. Remember that as you watch team after team run high pick-and-roll after high pick-and-roll in a frantic effort to get someone close to the basket before the shot clock expires.
Having said that, the injury to Devean George puts the Lakers in further jeopardy against the San Antonio Spurs. The injury to Rick Fox was one thing -- I thought L.A. could overcome that, in part by giving more minutes to George. But with George questionable for Game 2 Wednesday (the ankle sprain he suffered in Monday's Game 1 looks like a bad one), every reserve's minutes go up. Veteran Brian Shaw, for example, is extremely effective but only when he plays 18 to 20 minutes, not 28 to 30.
I'm pleased that Rod Thorn has had such great success since taking over as general manager of the New Jersey Nets two seasons ago. He definitely deserved the Executive of the Year award he won in 2002. But has any GM been as lucky as Thorn this year? During the offseason he traded Keith Van Horn, a guy with an 18-points-per-game career scoring average, to Philadelphia for Dikembe Mutombo, who has given the Nets zero. Yet, in my opinion, New Jersey has just as good a chance to reach the NBA Finals this year as it had last year. I'm waiting for the Nets to have a couple of bad offensive games, at which point Mutombo will probably complain that they need his scoring. And be entirely serious.
I love Dirk Nowitzki's game, love his soft jumper, love his court sense, love his defensive rebounding. But, honestly, has any great player ever been a worse man-on-man defender? He's got to get better in that area.
I picked against the Detroit Pistons in their first-round playoff series versus Orlando. The Pistons won. I picked against them in their second-round playoff series against Philadelphia. They're up 1-0. Apparently, I don't pick Detroit too well.
One of the most interesting NBA debates is whether a team is better off with limited offensive options at crunch time. Or, put another way, is a team hurt by having several potential scorers instead of a single one? Obviously, there's no absolute answer; when your one option is Michael Jordan you're better off, but when your option is, say, Juwan Howard, you're not. But as I watched Portland bow out of Game 7 in Dallas last Sunday, I became convinced that a multiplicity of choices can hurt a team.
Were the Blazers better off going to Rasheed Wallace down low or should they have had him shoot a three? Bonzi Wells is unstoppable on certain nights -- should they have run a clearout for him? Should they have played high pick-and-roll with point guard Damon Stoudamire, who seemed to have rediscovered his game? Should they have gone inside to ancient center Arvydas Sabonis, who had a distinct size advantage against all of his defenders, except for Shawn Bradley? What about Zach Randolph, who was Portland's most efficient scorer when he got the ball? Or should Scottie Pippen have been given the rock because of his wealth of playoff experience?
Portland is kind of like "Indiana Plus" (or Indy is "Portland Lite"), a team that can't quite decide what to do with all of its good players. I would build the club around Wallace, pure and simple. Emotionally, the man might be a volcano on two legs, but what an outstanding player he is.
Speaking of Indiana, the comment I hear the most about potential free agents concerns the Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal. Whenever the subject of where he might sign comes up, someone will tell me that he's overrated and won't have many suitors. Well, all I know is that he's a double-double big man and the league isn't exactly overloaded with them. He will get a big offer.
A few notes about my success with the NBA postseason awards. My picks for the first two All-NBA teams were a perfect match. I also pegged the Sixth Man (Bobby Jackson), the Defensive Player (Ben Wallace), and Rookie of the Year (Amare Stoudemire). I predictably missed Coach of the Year (having cast a lifetime achievement award for Jerry Sloan) and also missed Most Improved Player. I don't agree with choosing a second-year player (Gilbert Arenas), and instead believe the award should go to a veteran player who has experienced a renaissance. My choice was Matt Harpring.
I also missed the biggie, having chosen Kevin Garnett over Tim Duncan as MVP. The fact that San Antonio's Duncan is still active in the playoffs and Minnesota's Garnett is home, does not change my mind. The award is given for play from November to April -- the regular season. Garnett deserved it.
Bob Ryan of TheBoston Globe has been in the sportswriting business for almost four decades, and I've known him well for two of them. Every time I run into Bob at an event I admire his enthusiasm, the way he's always up for the game, prepared, eager, like some 21-year-old just starting out. That's an important quality for anyone in this business.
He screwed up last week by saying during a Boston TV show that he'd like to "smack" Joumana Kidd, wife of Nets point guard Jason, for using their son as a "prop." Bob was suspended without pay for one month by The Globe, an appropriate punishment. We in the media sit in judgment, and so must judgment come upon us.
But the Nets' calls for Ryan's firing, while understandable, are without merit. Nobody in their right mind can possibly believe that he intended his comments to be taken literally. He'll be back in a month, as eager as ever, but probably more inclined to think before speaking. That's a good lesson for anyone who's on TV as much as Bob is.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jack McCallum covers the NBA for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send a question to his Mailbag.
