The battle of one-upsmanship between LeBron and Kobe has just gotten out of hand.
Sunday (morning): LeBron tries to get his teammates involved, and after seeing them generally confused and out of sorts, decides to just take over the game in the fourth quarter. In one stretch, he does it all -- hits a ridiculous through-the-lane floater where he switches hands in midair; throws down a SICK dunk, hits a nice fadeaway 16-footer a la Detroit Game Five, and then sets up Wally in the corner for a dagger three. Final score: 95-86. LeBron: 37 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists.
Sunday (right after): Kobe decides to take it a step further, and after watching his team struggle to beat a newly bad Dallas team (who kept it close only because Kidd didn't have to guard anyone at PG), steps it into overdrive in the fourth quarter and OT. Looks a bit like a kid in the candy store playing with Pau in the first quarter, but then does it all himself from there. Final score: 108-104 (OT). Kobe: 52 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists.
Tonight: LeBron hits the big stage. Just shoots the lights out. He's said he's at an all time comfort level and it really is showing. Not only is he driving with both hands going both ways, but he's making it rain from three point land. He's looking more unstoppable than I've ever seen a player, and he's doing it with a team that isn't doing a lot for him, but is setting him up when necessary. Final score: 119-105. LeBron: 50 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists.
These guys know who's in the running for MVP. And they're putting on shows every night. It's a great time to be a Cavs and Lakers fan.
OK, so more on the Cavs.
I haven't written on this yet, but I saw Larry's comments about wanting to have fun more than winning. To be honest, I'm not surprised, but I am glad that he's gone. I think Larry is a genuinely good person -- he's done a lot of great community work in Cleveland and he was well-liked in the locker room. But to suggest that the Cavs should have run an offense to fit his needs; to ignore the fact that the Cavs won a ton of games with him at the point . . . in favor of getting to take a few more wild bricks? Come on, Larry.
I guess that's my favorite thing about the trade. All of the guys we got want to win. Drew Gooden lost focus too frequently, and Larry clearly didn't care that much. I don't think the move was a huge upgrade talent-wise, but I think it is an upgrade attitude-wise. Joe Smith is a great locker room guy and is on the downside of a career in which he's never lived up to expectations, and so wants a title to cap it all off. Ben Wallace wants to prove that he wasn't just a system guy in Detroit. Delonte had a taste of winning at St. Joe's and I think wants another. And then there's Wally. His face after he hit that three against CHI was just priceless -- he's fired up to be at home, and to be in a perfect situation.
Obviously, there are still some concerns. Ben Wallace looks a touch slow on his rotations, though the Cavs have given him freedom to roam a bit more and he had a nice defensive line tonight -- 7 boards, but 2 steals and 3 blocks. Wally's shot is a bit streaky -- I think he's pressing because for the first time he has someone setting him up in positions where he's so wide open that he can't believe it. But that shot will come around. Joe Smith is proving to be an upgrade over Drew Gooden -- good midrange game, smart player, and good rebounder -- but he's certainly lost a step.. I'd like to see him get more PT -- in fact, I really like the lineup of Smith, Varejao/Wallace, Damon, Wally, and LeBron. And Delonte's learning, but has been streaky. That'll continue, but it's good to have someone who wants to run out with, you know, the best transition player in the game.
Which brings me to my final point. I know Mike Brown wants to preserve his rotations and all that, but it is just baffling to me why we start Andy and Big Ben in games. It's really playing 3 on 5 on offense. Why not start Joe Smith, who can play offense and hit some jump shots to open things up for LeBron, and bring in Varejao for instant energy off the bench? It gets worse when we also start Devin Brown, who I love but who is also an offensive liability. One wonders how we keep letting teams like NY hang around, but then one realizes that we have three guys on offense who just are not that good, a point guard who's learning the offense, and LeBron. We're going to have to rework the rotations when Sasha, Boobie, and Ilgauskas come back. So why not just start Delonte, LeBron, Wally, Joe Smith, and Wallace? That way you can get Wally going early instead of putting pressure on him to find his shot instantly. And you can have some offense from Joe without too much of a defensive loss from Varejao. Plus, you then get Devin Brown and Andy Varejao off the bench for instant energy. That's a much better solution until we get everyone back -- it'll prevent us from getting behind so early (or not getting up by as much as we should). But nobody ever said Mike Brown paid attention to offense.
Still, a couple wins are a couple wins. Good to see the Cavs closing games out -- that's one of the things the old Cavs did well. Hopefully we'll continue to see improvement, esp. starting this Friday against the Bulls. At least we know LeBron will probably put on a good show. And who knows, maybe Kobe will put up 81 again. It's just been that kind of season.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Should the Heat be in the NBDL?
The Lakers-Heat game last night was like the Lakers-Suns game right after the all-star break, only the exact opposite. That game in Phoenix, with Shaq in town playing for the first time, felt like a playoff game, and an important one at that. Extremely competitive, high-level basketball, a crowd trying to push their team to the next level. Especially with the SA-Dallas game as a warm-up, the Lakers-Heat game felt like a Summer League game where no one really cared.
Even so, there were still flashes of greatness, as the Lakers toyed with a terrible team. It's nice to have a team that is worth watching even when they are blowing out a 10-win team.
Dwyane Wade had better be hurt. Jordan thinks, and I agree, that he's just mailing it in. On defense, Wade got destroyed. Kobe blew by him multiple times with ease, but more telling was the fact that Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic crossed over on Wade and blew by him easily. On offense, Wade isn't the same player when the refs aren't coddling him. He clearly isn't as good a shooter as most of the elite players in this league, and an array of circus shots don't cut it when the whistles aren't blowing.
Mostly, Wade reminded me of Vince Carter last night. Still talented, not trying that hard, and somewhat painful to watch. For his sake, I hope he's playing hurt, because otherwise it's a shame to see what he's become.
Even so, there were still flashes of greatness, as the Lakers toyed with a terrible team. It's nice to have a team that is worth watching even when they are blowing out a 10-win team.
Dwyane Wade had better be hurt. Jordan thinks, and I agree, that he's just mailing it in. On defense, Wade got destroyed. Kobe blew by him multiple times with ease, but more telling was the fact that Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic crossed over on Wade and blew by him easily. On offense, Wade isn't the same player when the refs aren't coddling him. He clearly isn't as good a shooter as most of the elite players in this league, and an array of circus shots don't cut it when the whistles aren't blowing.
Mostly, Wade reminded me of Vince Carter last night. Still talented, not trying that hard, and somewhat painful to watch. For his sake, I hope he's playing hurt, because otherwise it's a shame to see what he's become.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Best Season Ever - 11 Games AP (After Pau)
Is this NBA season The Best Season Ever? I tend to think so. With seeds 1-9 in the West separated by 5 games, the entire second half of the season feels like the playoffs. Every game actually matters. Add to that old powers trying to hang on like the Spurs, Mavs, and Suns, new rising powers like the Lakers, Jazz, and Hornets, and even one intriguing question in the East (just how good is LeBron?), and almost every game holds intrigue. Of course, even in a season that's almost impossible to screw up, TNT and ABC show us a Miami Heat game every other night.
The other thing that makes this the Best Season Ever is the midseason addition of Pau Gasol to the Lakers and how that's changed the way the Lakers play. Besides for the fantastic ball movement in the triangle, for the first time in his career Kobe is showing that he understands the concept of a pick-and-roll. With Bynum this season, Kobe reverted back to the Kobe-Shaq model of pick and roll: get a pick, dribble into a corner to invite the double team, then lob it for a dunk. Nothing had ever shown me that Kobe could execute a real pick-and-roll, a la Stockton and Malone (or, today, Nash and Amare).
But add Gasol, and voila - Kobe apparently is quite proficient at a screen-roll when the big knows when to slip the screen! Beautiful to watch, and gives the triangle an extra dimension that has been missing as long as I can remember.
But one thing about adding Pau that I don't think has been discussed enough is the championship swagger. It's back, baby. It's back. It shows in a reporter asking Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic after the Portland game whether it's good to play from behind once in a while, to remember what it's like to trail in a game. It shows in the casual arrogance of Phil Jackson smirking on the bench as he reinserts Kobe at the 6-minute mark of the fourth quarter with a 20 point lead. (Or, maybe that's just stupidity.) It shows in the energy of Kobe night in, night out, destroying this league with 4 fingers on his shooting hand.
Kobe's energy has not been this high since he was a young gun jumping on Shaq's back for piggyback rides. The other night, he felt he was hit on a play in Seattle and began riding the poor young official, Joe Forte's son. Kobe jawed at him all the way downcourt. Then, he got the ball back, stood at the 10-second line with the ball on his hip, and yelled some more. Noticing the 24 second clock, Kobe drove, pulled up, and hit a tough jumper, then stared down the referee as if he had just scored on the ref. At the first stoppage in play, Kobe made a beeline for Forte and eventually got thrown out of the game. Of course, this intensity was with a 25 point lead late in the third quarter! Two years ago, I don't think Kobe cares as much about that game. Now, his competitive fire is burning. He wants to win, and he wants it now.
But more than anything else, this team is having fun. It doesn't matter if they are at home or on the road. They are playing loose - even Luke Walton, worst player in the league, tries between the legs bounce passes and shoots airballs that only miss by 2 feet - and the bench brings a ton of energy. Sasha believes in himself. Rony takes 15 foot fadeaways with no hesitation. Lamar looks rejuvenated, without the pressure of being the second option, and has smiled more in the past two weeks than I've seen in the past year.
Not even the fact that I'll be watching Luke Walton in a Laker uniform when I am 30 years old can dampen the thrill of the Lakers forcing another timeout from the opposing coach, and the team grinning and slapping each other on the backs as they stroll back towards the bench. Maybe it's Kobe, doing his airplane move after shredding a defense. Maybe it's Pau, still a little wide-eyed that he's in LA and winning games for the first time in years. Maybe it's Sasha tucking his ridiculous hair behind his ears, proud of edging out Brian Cook for the title of "most shots per minute in a Laker uniform" and dreaming of toppling Slava Medvedenko's dominance in the category someday. Whatever it is, life is good.
Then again, Luke Walton...when I'm 30...I guess that does dampen it a little bit. But just a little.
The other thing that makes this the Best Season Ever is the midseason addition of Pau Gasol to the Lakers and how that's changed the way the Lakers play. Besides for the fantastic ball movement in the triangle, for the first time in his career Kobe is showing that he understands the concept of a pick-and-roll. With Bynum this season, Kobe reverted back to the Kobe-Shaq model of pick and roll: get a pick, dribble into a corner to invite the double team, then lob it for a dunk. Nothing had ever shown me that Kobe could execute a real pick-and-roll, a la Stockton and Malone (or, today, Nash and Amare).
But add Gasol, and voila - Kobe apparently is quite proficient at a screen-roll when the big knows when to slip the screen! Beautiful to watch, and gives the triangle an extra dimension that has been missing as long as I can remember.
But one thing about adding Pau that I don't think has been discussed enough is the championship swagger. It's back, baby. It's back. It shows in a reporter asking Sasha "The Machine" Vujacic after the Portland game whether it's good to play from behind once in a while, to remember what it's like to trail in a game. It shows in the casual arrogance of Phil Jackson smirking on the bench as he reinserts Kobe at the 6-minute mark of the fourth quarter with a 20 point lead. (Or, maybe that's just stupidity.) It shows in the energy of Kobe night in, night out, destroying this league with 4 fingers on his shooting hand.
Kobe's energy has not been this high since he was a young gun jumping on Shaq's back for piggyback rides. The other night, he felt he was hit on a play in Seattle and began riding the poor young official, Joe Forte's son. Kobe jawed at him all the way downcourt. Then, he got the ball back, stood at the 10-second line with the ball on his hip, and yelled some more. Noticing the 24 second clock, Kobe drove, pulled up, and hit a tough jumper, then stared down the referee as if he had just scored on the ref. At the first stoppage in play, Kobe made a beeline for Forte and eventually got thrown out of the game. Of course, this intensity was with a 25 point lead late in the third quarter! Two years ago, I don't think Kobe cares as much about that game. Now, his competitive fire is burning. He wants to win, and he wants it now.
But more than anything else, this team is having fun. It doesn't matter if they are at home or on the road. They are playing loose - even Luke Walton, worst player in the league, tries between the legs bounce passes and shoots airballs that only miss by 2 feet - and the bench brings a ton of energy. Sasha believes in himself. Rony takes 15 foot fadeaways with no hesitation. Lamar looks rejuvenated, without the pressure of being the second option, and has smiled more in the past two weeks than I've seen in the past year.
Not even the fact that I'll be watching Luke Walton in a Laker uniform when I am 30 years old can dampen the thrill of the Lakers forcing another timeout from the opposing coach, and the team grinning and slapping each other on the backs as they stroll back towards the bench. Maybe it's Kobe, doing his airplane move after shredding a defense. Maybe it's Pau, still a little wide-eyed that he's in LA and winning games for the first time in years. Maybe it's Sasha tucking his ridiculous hair behind his ears, proud of edging out Brian Cook for the title of "most shots per minute in a Laker uniform" and dreaming of toppling Slava Medvedenko's dominance in the category someday. Whatever it is, life is good.
Then again, Luke Walton...when I'm 30...I guess that does dampen it a little bit. But just a little.
Larry "Smush" Hughes
Like Rakesh, I've been waiting some time to comment on the effect of the recent trades, both the Pau Gasol trade and the Ben Wallace era in Cleveland. At least for the Lakers, I wasn't waiting to see how the team would play for its first game. I've watched almost every game in the new Pau Gasol era, and it's been enthralling - more on that in a later post.
A few quick thoughts on the Cavs trade - I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I think it makes the Cavs marginally better, but it also costs them quite a bit of money. It's essentially a swap of untradeable contracts, but I like the pickup of Delonte West. I imagine Danny Ferry and John Paxon were both ecstatic that anyone would take Larry Hughes/Ben Wallace, and failed to realize they had to take the other crappy overpaid player. But I still bet they had huge grins on their faces after the call was made.
Chicago is a mess. They are the poster child for a franchise overvaluing its own players. Last year, when KG was on the market, one of my friends who's an avid Warriors fan told me that there was no way he would trade Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins for KG - that would be too much. Sports Guy ran an email from a Blazers fan that they wouldn't move LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez for anyone less than LeBron. Someone needs to tell Paxon that Luol Deng, Ty Thomas, or Chris Duhon aren't that good. Ben Gordon is more valuable to the Bulls than to any other team. Maybe he can get something for Thabo Sefalosha...
What the Cavs trade really highlighted is how much Cavs fans hated Larry Hughes. I never realized this before, but he was to Cavs fans what Smush Parker was to Lakers fans. In fact, the fan site, HeyLarryHughesPleaseStopTakingSoManyBadShots.com provided pretty much the best sports comedy since watching Smush trying to guard any screen-roll. The irrationally euphoric response - "HOLY SHIT someone took LARRY???" - was pretty similar to what I would have felt last year if we had traded Smush Parker for a ham sandwich. At least the sandwich would have a chance of slowing down an opposing point guard.
I also didn't realize how Cavs fans felt about Drew Gooden. To an outsider like me, he seemed like a reasonably-paid, above average power forward - nothing special, but a relative bargain and a solid supporting player. To Cavs fans, who got to see his brain farts and low basketball IQ on a nightly basis, he is apparently more like Kwame Brown with better hands.
In any case, it's too early to judge the new-look Cavs. They've gotten bigger and stronger, but haven't really transformed the identity of their team. Seems to me that they are still one or two moves away from true contention, though in the East, anything goes.
A few quick thoughts on the Cavs trade - I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I think it makes the Cavs marginally better, but it also costs them quite a bit of money. It's essentially a swap of untradeable contracts, but I like the pickup of Delonte West. I imagine Danny Ferry and John Paxon were both ecstatic that anyone would take Larry Hughes/Ben Wallace, and failed to realize they had to take the other crappy overpaid player. But I still bet they had huge grins on their faces after the call was made.
Chicago is a mess. They are the poster child for a franchise overvaluing its own players. Last year, when KG was on the market, one of my friends who's an avid Warriors fan told me that there was no way he would trade Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins for KG - that would be too much. Sports Guy ran an email from a Blazers fan that they wouldn't move LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Fernandez for anyone less than LeBron. Someone needs to tell Paxon that Luol Deng, Ty Thomas, or Chris Duhon aren't that good. Ben Gordon is more valuable to the Bulls than to any other team. Maybe he can get something for Thabo Sefalosha...
What the Cavs trade really highlighted is how much Cavs fans hated Larry Hughes. I never realized this before, but he was to Cavs fans what Smush Parker was to Lakers fans. In fact, the fan site, HeyLarryHughesPleaseStopTakingSoManyBadShots.com provided pretty much the best sports comedy since watching Smush trying to guard any screen-roll. The irrationally euphoric response - "HOLY SHIT someone took LARRY???" - was pretty similar to what I would have felt last year if we had traded Smush Parker for a ham sandwich. At least the sandwich would have a chance of slowing down an opposing point guard.
I also didn't realize how Cavs fans felt about Drew Gooden. To an outsider like me, he seemed like a reasonably-paid, above average power forward - nothing special, but a relative bargain and a solid supporting player. To Cavs fans, who got to see his brain farts and low basketball IQ on a nightly basis, he is apparently more like Kwame Brown with better hands.
In any case, it's too early to judge the new-look Cavs. They've gotten bigger and stronger, but haven't really transformed the identity of their team. Seems to me that they are still one or two moves away from true contention, though in the East, anything goes.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The Trade
So, I've been holding off on posting about the Cavs trade. I know it was a blockbuster, and I had a very strong and visceral reaction to it. But I wanted to wait before writing something, because I needed to see something very important: how the Cavs reacted in their first game with their new team.
This isn't because I wanted to engage in post-hoc reasoning or panic if the team looked terrible. What I was looking for was what the Cavs had last year -- swagger.
Last year (as with this year), everyone bagged on the Cavs. A one man team, some said. Too one-dimensional, others said. Too many mismatched pieces. Too many bad contracts. All of these things were true, but what made the Cavs so tough to play -- and what contributed to their rise more than a favorable schedule or underacheiving opponents was that they had swagger. They knew they could beat you, and they weren't afraid of anyone. And they genuinely loved playing with each other. That's why LeBron got right in Mikki Moore's face when he took down Sasha. That's why LeBron passed up that shot at the end of G1 against the Pistons even though everyone knew what was going to happen. They played like a lunch pail team on defense, and had just enough offense to keep it going.
This year, that swagger had been missing. LeBron was dominating, angry over the criticism he received from the Spurs series and furious that the Spurs got to celebrate on his home floor. But Larry looked as mismatched as ever; never quite sure what to do on a team with the most singularly talented player since Jordan. His shot selection was off, and he didn't quite look like he was sure what he was doing out there. Varejao and Pavlovic, who definitely aren't worth the money they wanted, were nonetheless important and their absence cost the team dearly (note how good the Cavs were in the few games they actually did play before getting injured). Drew Gooden looked as confused and frustrated as ever; confused because he has a pretty damn low basketball IQ; frustrated because Andy Varejao came back from a long holdout and immediately got more PT. The team lost is swagger, and they started losing games.
So that's why I wanted to wait until I saw the Cavs post-trade, to see if the trade and the new blood gave them back the swagger. And it did. Even in the first game, with an NBDL player chucking up 11 threes, and Damon Jones AND Eric Snow starting, the Cavs looked like they were having fun. Damon and LeBron were smiling and laughing throughout the game because they knew they could win. And they did win a game that they had no business winning (unless you have the best player in the game).
And then came Sunday. Sure, the Grizzlies suck. They've made some bad trades and have no direction. But the Cavs looked phenomenal. Tons of raw talent out there. Delonte West missed some shots, but but had six assists and looked to push the ball out every time it was in his hands (what a crazy idea with the best transition player in the game!) Keep in mind that our previous point was Larry Hughes, that his season high was six assists, that 2-12 shooting nights from Larry were commonplace, but that even he never looked to lead the break all the time. West is going to be a good fit with LeBron.
Joe Smith looked like he knew what he was doing -- his spacing was on point, he hit some good midrange jumpers, and he played decent defense. So basically, he was a smarter Drew Gooden. Wally looked inconsistent -- a bit unsure of where to go. My friend pointed out that KG can tell you what Wally as a second option looks like, and it's not pretty. But Wally looks excited to be in Cleveland, and he's a consistent shooter, which is all the Cavs will need him to do He's certainly a better shooter than the Donyell Marshall/Ira Newble tandem, though not as good of a defender.
And Wallace looked like a kid in the candy store. He was able to focus on defense and throw down some nice power dunks, which is all he will have to do. He made hustle plays, and he will make teams think twice about raking over LeBron every time he goes to the hole. If you don't think he's an improvement over Cedric Simmons, Drew Gooden (who missed a ton of easy dunks throughout his time), and the other big men we gave up, I don't know what to tell you.
At every position the Cavs traded a player from, they got a better player in return. That's why this was a good trade on paper. But it goes deeper -- throughout the game, the Cavs made swagger plays. Wallace's power dunk off an nice entry pass by Delonte. LeBron finishing strong on a perfect alley-oop pass by Delonte. Wally making things happen from the inside and the outside. Joe Smith looking like a midrange assassin. The Cavs won't always play consistently, and they will have growing pains together. But they now have swagger, to go along with one of the deepest front lines in the league. And LeBron looks content -- knowing that even if this doesn't work out, the cavs have a bunch of fat contracts and draft picks to trade this offseason for a Michael Redd, perhaps.
And the Cavs' biggest sixth man -- the fans -- were fired up. So intense and excited during the Washington win, and on the edge of their seats during the Memphis game. It was just like last year against the Pistons. People could not have been more excited. It was good to be a basketball fan in Cleveland.
We may not beat Detroit -- they look like a machine right now. We may struggle against the Celtics. And even if we win, the West is a beast. I'd love to play the Lakers for the Armageddon finals against Jordan and Justin, but we'd probably lose.
But at least it's good to be a Cavs fan. The waiting and hedging by Ferry is over. Which is why I'll now tell you what my reaction to the trade was. After spending the previous two hours madly refreshing ESPN.com, I raised my hands in the air and yelled. They may not be pretty, and they may not be good. But the swagger is back.
This isn't because I wanted to engage in post-hoc reasoning or panic if the team looked terrible. What I was looking for was what the Cavs had last year -- swagger.
Last year (as with this year), everyone bagged on the Cavs. A one man team, some said. Too one-dimensional, others said. Too many mismatched pieces. Too many bad contracts. All of these things were true, but what made the Cavs so tough to play -- and what contributed to their rise more than a favorable schedule or underacheiving opponents was that they had swagger. They knew they could beat you, and they weren't afraid of anyone. And they genuinely loved playing with each other. That's why LeBron got right in Mikki Moore's face when he took down Sasha. That's why LeBron passed up that shot at the end of G1 against the Pistons even though everyone knew what was going to happen. They played like a lunch pail team on defense, and had just enough offense to keep it going.
This year, that swagger had been missing. LeBron was dominating, angry over the criticism he received from the Spurs series and furious that the Spurs got to celebrate on his home floor. But Larry looked as mismatched as ever; never quite sure what to do on a team with the most singularly talented player since Jordan. His shot selection was off, and he didn't quite look like he was sure what he was doing out there. Varejao and Pavlovic, who definitely aren't worth the money they wanted, were nonetheless important and their absence cost the team dearly (note how good the Cavs were in the few games they actually did play before getting injured). Drew Gooden looked as confused and frustrated as ever; confused because he has a pretty damn low basketball IQ; frustrated because Andy Varejao came back from a long holdout and immediately got more PT. The team lost is swagger, and they started losing games.
So that's why I wanted to wait until I saw the Cavs post-trade, to see if the trade and the new blood gave them back the swagger. And it did. Even in the first game, with an NBDL player chucking up 11 threes, and Damon Jones AND Eric Snow starting, the Cavs looked like they were having fun. Damon and LeBron were smiling and laughing throughout the game because they knew they could win. And they did win a game that they had no business winning (unless you have the best player in the game).
And then came Sunday. Sure, the Grizzlies suck. They've made some bad trades and have no direction. But the Cavs looked phenomenal. Tons of raw talent out there. Delonte West missed some shots, but but had six assists and looked to push the ball out every time it was in his hands (what a crazy idea with the best transition player in the game!) Keep in mind that our previous point was Larry Hughes, that his season high was six assists, that 2-12 shooting nights from Larry were commonplace, but that even he never looked to lead the break all the time. West is going to be a good fit with LeBron.
Joe Smith looked like he knew what he was doing -- his spacing was on point, he hit some good midrange jumpers, and he played decent defense. So basically, he was a smarter Drew Gooden. Wally looked inconsistent -- a bit unsure of where to go. My friend pointed out that KG can tell you what Wally as a second option looks like, and it's not pretty. But Wally looks excited to be in Cleveland, and he's a consistent shooter, which is all the Cavs will need him to do He's certainly a better shooter than the Donyell Marshall/Ira Newble tandem, though not as good of a defender.
And Wallace looked like a kid in the candy store. He was able to focus on defense and throw down some nice power dunks, which is all he will have to do. He made hustle plays, and he will make teams think twice about raking over LeBron every time he goes to the hole. If you don't think he's an improvement over Cedric Simmons, Drew Gooden (who missed a ton of easy dunks throughout his time), and the other big men we gave up, I don't know what to tell you.
At every position the Cavs traded a player from, they got a better player in return. That's why this was a good trade on paper. But it goes deeper -- throughout the game, the Cavs made swagger plays. Wallace's power dunk off an nice entry pass by Delonte. LeBron finishing strong on a perfect alley-oop pass by Delonte. Wally making things happen from the inside and the outside. Joe Smith looking like a midrange assassin. The Cavs won't always play consistently, and they will have growing pains together. But they now have swagger, to go along with one of the deepest front lines in the league. And LeBron looks content -- knowing that even if this doesn't work out, the cavs have a bunch of fat contracts and draft picks to trade this offseason for a Michael Redd, perhaps.
And the Cavs' biggest sixth man -- the fans -- were fired up. So intense and excited during the Washington win, and on the edge of their seats during the Memphis game. It was just like last year against the Pistons. People could not have been more excited. It was good to be a basketball fan in Cleveland.
We may not beat Detroit -- they look like a machine right now. We may struggle against the Celtics. And even if we win, the West is a beast. I'd love to play the Lakers for the Armageddon finals against Jordan and Justin, but we'd probably lose.
But at least it's good to be a Cavs fan. The waiting and hedging by Ferry is over. Which is why I'll now tell you what my reaction to the trade was. After spending the previous two hours madly refreshing ESPN.com, I raised my hands in the air and yelled. They may not be pretty, and they may not be good. But the swagger is back.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
www.garyvitti.com
From the LA Times:
"Center Andrew Bynum is at least three weeks from returning from a left knee injury and forward Trevor Ariza is still about eight weeks from returning from a broken bone in his right foot. Ariza's original timetable called for a return to health four weeks from now, but his foot was "healing more slowly than we hoped," a team official said Monday."
How is this not bigger news? It's not surprising to anyone that the Lakers' medical staff originally said Ariza would be out 8 weeks, and now it's 12? They missed their prognosis by 50%! That is not a small margin of error, and means that the Lakers' most athletic perimeter defender may not be in playing shape by the playoffs.
Put another way, it means Luke Walton keeps getting minutes. Devastating.
Good to see that the Lakers' vaunted medical personnel are on the job again, doing their usual incompetent job. Hopefully they don't operate on the wrong finger when Kobe eventually goes in.
EDIT: Please visit www.garyvitti.com. Particularly, note that Vitti's last award for trainer of the year was in 1991; that he has a "Fun Stuff" section for Gary Vitti look-alikes; and that it is now 2008. Also, he has a Gary Vitti Action Figure. Let's put it this way - I don't really feel better about Ariza's foot, Bynum's knee, or Kobe's finger.
"Center Andrew Bynum is at least three weeks from returning from a left knee injury and forward Trevor Ariza is still about eight weeks from returning from a broken bone in his right foot. Ariza's original timetable called for a return to health four weeks from now, but his foot was "healing more slowly than we hoped," a team official said Monday."
How is this not bigger news? It's not surprising to anyone that the Lakers' medical staff originally said Ariza would be out 8 weeks, and now it's 12? They missed their prognosis by 50%! That is not a small margin of error, and means that the Lakers' most athletic perimeter defender may not be in playing shape by the playoffs.
Put another way, it means Luke Walton keeps getting minutes. Devastating.
Good to see that the Lakers' vaunted medical personnel are on the job again, doing their usual incompetent job. Hopefully they don't operate on the wrong finger when Kobe eventually goes in.
EDIT: Please visit www.garyvitti.com. Particularly, note that Vitti's last award for trainer of the year was in 1991; that he has a "Fun Stuff" section for Gary Vitti look-alikes; and that it is now 2008. Also, he has a Gary Vitti Action Figure. Let's put it this way - I don't really feel better about Ariza's foot, Bynum's knee, or Kobe's finger.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Another One Bites the Dust (Part II)
Let's say your max-contract, perennial-MVP contender, mega-star player dislocates his finger in a game and comes out, grimacing in obvious pain. You've invested over $100M in this guy, and you hope to make a championship run not only this year but for the next 3-5 years to come. You're the medical trainer. You're on a long road trip and won't be home for another week. What do you do? Do you:
(A) Play it safe, and fly him home to get an MRI and see a hand specialist.
(B) Keep him with the team, but hold him out of games until he gets an MRI and an X-Ray that clear him to play.
(C) Tape up his finger and send him back in right away, then let him play four more NBA games before you run an MRI.
If you're Gary Vitti and the Lakers, you choose (C). How is that possible? At the least, shouldn't you go with (B), and get an MRI as soon as possible? This is Kobe Bryant!
While the Lakers have had a rash of injuries this season, they were also derailed by injuries last season. Each injury alone seems like a case of bad luck, but taken together I start to wonder about the medical people helping the players train. Maybe there is something wrong with the preventative medicine being practiced. In the past two years alone, counting ONLY injuries that caused missed games, the Lakers' injury roster looks like this:
*Smush Parker never had a major injury. However, that's easily explained by the fact that he never expended any effort on the court. He's not really an NBA starter either. Just ask the Heat.
After the Suns traded for Shaq, a crop of stories were written about how the Suns had the best medical staff in the league. Apparently, their medical prowess is widely known and acknowledged. If the Suns medical guys could nurse Nash's bad back and Amare's reconstructed knee, the thinking went, then why couldn't they get Shaq in shape? The interesting thing isn't that some teams have better medical staffs than others. The question is why teams aren't assessing their own trainers, and trying to poach the best people from other teams.
After all, couldn't the Lakers just offer to double the salary of the Suns training staff and poach them to LA? A few million dollars invested to protect hundreds of millions of dollars in your players surely seems smart. And are teams conducting studies to benchmark their trainers against the league? With plenty of data on player injuries, rehab time, etc. corrected for personal injury history, position, and age, some econometrician should be able to come up with a pretty good model to compare medical staffs. If you owned a team, wouldn't you want to know this data, and start mimicking best practices of other teams if you couldn't steal their trainers? Or does this make too much sense?
Now, Kobe has a torn ligament that requires surgery to heal. He plans to try to play through it, and put off surgery until the offseason. Kobe's decision shows what sets him apart from other superstars in the NBA. His willingness and ability to play through pain - he scored 29 points last game with a finger that is falling off his shooting hand! - is nothing short of amazing. It's also a form of leadership that I don't think is discussed enough. Leading by example is underrated in the NBA. When LeBron sits out multiple games with a sprained finger, what is that telling the Cavs about toughness? Certainly not the same thing Kobe is telling his teammates. The rest of the Lakers better be getting the message - this is our time now. Nothing short of a championship is acceptable, even if you have to play on one leg to get there.
Even so, I'm not convinced that Kobe should wait on the surgery. With their new team, the Lakers are in this for the long haul. Maybe it's better to operate on Kobe now, let Bynum take his time to rehab his knee, and reload for a title run in 2008-09. It pains me to say that, but risking long-term damage to Kobe's hand is simply not worth it. He's already aggravated the injury by playing 4 more games, and hands are certainly an area that get hit a lot in basketball.
The saddest part about the injury is that the Lakers actually had a chance to make a legitimate title run this season. Maybe it's time to stop scrutinizing GMs and start taking a closer look at team trainers. Gary Vitti, you're on the hot seat now...
EDIT: to keep Rakesh from murdering me in my sleep, it should be pointed out that LeBron takes a beating and is one of the toughest players in the league. In no way does sitting out with a sprained finger imply that he is on the Vince Carter level of manliness.
EDIT 2: Hollinger wrote a nice piece calling for Kobe to get surgery now and return for a title run in the playoffs, with Andrew Bynum. Personally I think it is tough to get a team to readjust to two big pieces like Kobe and Bynum, but I think Hollinger makes an interesting point.
(A) Play it safe, and fly him home to get an MRI and see a hand specialist.
(B) Keep him with the team, but hold him out of games until he gets an MRI and an X-Ray that clear him to play.
(C) Tape up his finger and send him back in right away, then let him play four more NBA games before you run an MRI.
If you're Gary Vitti and the Lakers, you choose (C). How is that possible? At the least, shouldn't you go with (B), and get an MRI as soon as possible? This is Kobe Bryant!
While the Lakers have had a rash of injuries this season, they were also derailed by injuries last season. Each injury alone seems like a case of bad luck, but taken together I start to wonder about the medical people helping the players train. Maybe there is something wrong with the preventative medicine being practiced. In the past two years alone, counting ONLY injuries that caused missed games, the Lakers' injury roster looks like this:
- Kwame Brown (knee, ankle)
- Lamar Odom (shoulder)
- Kobe Bryant (finger, ankle, shoulder, knee)
- Trevor Ariza (foot)
- Chris Mihm (ankle, ankle, ankle, ankle, heel, ankle...)
- Andrew Bynum (knee)
- Luke Walton (ankle)
- Vladimir Radmanovich (ankle, shoulder while being an idiot and snowboarding)
- Rony Turiaf (heart, ankle)
*Smush Parker never had a major injury. However, that's easily explained by the fact that he never expended any effort on the court. He's not really an NBA starter either. Just ask the Heat.
After the Suns traded for Shaq, a crop of stories were written about how the Suns had the best medical staff in the league. Apparently, their medical prowess is widely known and acknowledged. If the Suns medical guys could nurse Nash's bad back and Amare's reconstructed knee, the thinking went, then why couldn't they get Shaq in shape? The interesting thing isn't that some teams have better medical staffs than others. The question is why teams aren't assessing their own trainers, and trying to poach the best people from other teams.
After all, couldn't the Lakers just offer to double the salary of the Suns training staff and poach them to LA? A few million dollars invested to protect hundreds of millions of dollars in your players surely seems smart. And are teams conducting studies to benchmark their trainers against the league? With plenty of data on player injuries, rehab time, etc. corrected for personal injury history, position, and age, some econometrician should be able to come up with a pretty good model to compare medical staffs. If you owned a team, wouldn't you want to know this data, and start mimicking best practices of other teams if you couldn't steal their trainers? Or does this make too much sense?
Now, Kobe has a torn ligament that requires surgery to heal. He plans to try to play through it, and put off surgery until the offseason. Kobe's decision shows what sets him apart from other superstars in the NBA. His willingness and ability to play through pain - he scored 29 points last game with a finger that is falling off his shooting hand! - is nothing short of amazing. It's also a form of leadership that I don't think is discussed enough. Leading by example is underrated in the NBA. When LeBron sits out multiple games with a sprained finger, what is that telling the Cavs about toughness? Certainly not the same thing Kobe is telling his teammates. The rest of the Lakers better be getting the message - this is our time now. Nothing short of a championship is acceptable, even if you have to play on one leg to get there.
Even so, I'm not convinced that Kobe should wait on the surgery. With their new team, the Lakers are in this for the long haul. Maybe it's better to operate on Kobe now, let Bynum take his time to rehab his knee, and reload for a title run in 2008-09. It pains me to say that, but risking long-term damage to Kobe's hand is simply not worth it. He's already aggravated the injury by playing 4 more games, and hands are certainly an area that get hit a lot in basketball.
The saddest part about the injury is that the Lakers actually had a chance to make a legitimate title run this season. Maybe it's time to stop scrutinizing GMs and start taking a closer look at team trainers. Gary Vitti, you're on the hot seat now...
EDIT: to keep Rakesh from murdering me in my sleep, it should be pointed out that LeBron takes a beating and is one of the toughest players in the league. In no way does sitting out with a sprained finger imply that he is on the Vince Carter level of manliness.
EDIT 2: Hollinger wrote a nice piece calling for Kobe to get surgery now and return for a title run in the playoffs, with Andrew Bynum. Personally I think it is tough to get a team to readjust to two big pieces like Kobe and Bynum, but I think Hollinger makes an interesting point.
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