Cavs need to show more Boobie

The Cleveland Cavaliers are trailing the San Antonio Spurs 2-0 in the NBA Finals, and while they’ve been in this situation before, the opponents they’re facing is a different beast. No, the Spurs are nothing like the Detroit Pistons, and this isn’t a good thing for the young Cavs.

This ain’t the Eastern Conference anymore.

The Cavs reason that they were down 0-2 against the Detroit Pistons during the conference finals and still won the series in six games. One thing the Cavs failed to notice was their first two games against the Pistons were decided by a total of six points. In contrast, Cleveland lost by a total of 20 points in the first two games against San Antonio, but was blown out in Game 2 by almost 30 points. The final score hardly reflected how badly Cleveland was dominated.

The Cavs outrebounded a Pistons team that was loaded with a beefy frontcourt that consisted of Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, Jason Maxiell, and Antonio McDyess. The Pistons clamped down on LeBron and the Cavs by throwing double teams, triple teams, and wide variety of defenses. The Cavs star gladly dished the ball to Boobie Gibson, who delivered timely treys that broke Detroit’s heart.

The Pistons imploded, and Cleveland earned its’ first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.

It’s the Cavs who are now getting outrebounded when facing a more mature Spurs team. The Spurs are defending LeBron like the Pistons did, but have taken it up several notches by throwing James a variety of players aside from Bruce Bowen. When James tries to take it strong, at least three Spurs players collapse on him. If LeBron tries to isolate, the Spurs send a second defender to sag. If LeBron asks for a pick, the Spurs trap. LeBron tries to pass to his teammates on the perimeter, but the Spurs switch and always end up with somebody guarding the 3-point line.

Forget the fact that the Cavs had a strong run at the end of Game 2; this wasn’t because they’ve figured out the Spurs. If you remember Game 1, Cleveland also had a late 4th quarter run that made the score closer than it seemed. This can be attributed to the Spurs slacking off instead of the Cavs figuring them out.

In defense of the Spurs

Much has been said about the suspension of Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw, and the “dirty” play of the Spurs during the playoff series. Phoenix fans are screaming for Robert Horry’s blood, and they’re furious because the Spurs gained an unfair advantage in the suspension—despite the fact that it was Nash who got fouled hard. Many people are also criticizing the league for delivering an “unfair” suspension, which could change the complexion of the series.

I’ve kept quiet long enough, so I think it’s about time I put in my $0.02.

Robert Horry threw a cheap shot—perhaps his biggest and most memorable shot in recent memory. He reasons that he plays “old school,” and this is what players of his generation do. And you know what? He may be right. I’ve seen Karl Malone throw worse elbows than that hip-check we just saw in Game 4. I’ve seen Larry Bird and Michael Jordan throw cheap shots during the playoffs. Heck, I’ve seen Steve Nash make an extension at Kobe’s groin, among other things.

Another asterisk
But what I really hate about what Horry did is the effect it had on the series. If the Spurs win over the Suns, they’ll add another asterisk to their history. The first is the 1999 championship, which many consider a fluke because of the NBA lockout. If San Antonio wins because the Suns lost Stoudemire for one game, we won’t really know who the better team is.

Then again, Dallas is probably better than both clubs but they’re already eliminated.

What happened after Horry’s foul is even more interesting. Diaw and Stoudemire walked into the court while Horry and Bell were close to blows. Nash, in all his classiness, wanted a piece of Horry and I can’t blame him because it was a really hard foul.

A foul that’s as hard and cheap as the ones I’ve seen Jordan, Stockton, and Charles Oakley commit.

Anyways, what Diaw and Stoudemire did during the fracas was wrong, and the rest of the Phoenix bench/coaching staff should have stopped them from walking into the court because I’m sure they’re aware of The Rule.

According to NBA Rule No. 12 – Fouls and Penalties, Section VII – Fines, Article C:

“During an altercation, all players not participating in the game must remain in the immediate vicinity of their bench. Violators will be suspended, without pay, for a minimum of one game and fined up to $50,000.”

I think this is pretty clear. Webster defines “altercation” as a noisy heated angry dispute; also: noisy controversy; synonym see QUARREL.

Was there a noisy, heated, angry dispute between Bell and Horry? Yes. In fact, Nash also wanted to have at Horry for knocking him down hard. Ergo, this is an altercation, making the actions of Diaw and Stoudemire punishable by suspension. It may not be fair, but it was the right thing for the league to do. How can an organization have credibility if they are easily swayed by public sentiments over an important, zero-tolerance rule?

So where’s the unfair part?

You mean the time Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen walked into the court because Elson and Jones got entangled? Let me ask you this: was there an “altercation”? No. Elson was whining to the refs, but there was no fight. End of story.

I’m also surprised to see Bell get furious at Horry for the foul. Sure, his teammate may have been knocked down, but wasn’t he suspended a year ago for his clothesline on Kobe? Sounds like another day for Bell if he committed a similar foul. I think that clothesline was even more vicious than the Horry hip-check, but that’s just me.

Lying through his teeth
I consider Stoudemire lucky because he didn’t get any more fines or additional days of suspension for lying through his teeth during the post-game press conference. Amare reasoned that he was going to the scorer’s table to get in the game. This was an outright lie because he had five fouls, and the possession after Nash’s fastbreak (and eventual collision with Horry’s hip) would result in Spurs ball—meaning Stoudemire would have to defend.

Defend with five fouls? That’s ridiculous.

In addition, D’Antoni never instructed Amare to enter the game during this period because he was livid of the Horry foul and was giving the referee a piece of his mind.

The decision was fair because the NBA is just enforcing its rules. I still think Horry was out of line when he committed his flagrant foul, but the San Antonio bench was smart enough to stay away from the court and Diaw and Amare were not.

Questionable calls
The last thing I want to hear right now is accusations of officials making (or not making) calls in favor of the Spurs. That’s preposterous because if you really want to get anal about the calls, Phoenix wouldn’t have won Game 4 because the referees were making a lot of questionable whistles against the Spurs, causing Duncan to get into foul trouble. Because of this, Phoenix whittled down the lead and eventually won in the end even if they shouldn’t have.

I’d say the officiating in the Spurs vs. Suns series is just about right.

The refs make the calls as they see it. Yes, they ignore many calls, but this is the playoffs. Fouls are harder, there is more urgency in the way teams play.

As basketball fans, we will always notice the calls made against the team we’re rooting for. The truth about calls is that if you’re neutral, you’ll notice that whistles are usually even in the course of a game. Steve Kerr attests to this in his blog.

The physical play between the two teams is natural because this is the playoffs. It’s “win or go home fishing” with Kenny. But you know what? It’s not right to say which team is dirty because both clubs are guilty of doing these tactics at some point.

If you hate the Spurs for being “dirty,” you’re just jealous.

Told you so

They should’ve kept Bowen.

Sure, the U.S. team may have thought that he wouldn’t be the same player by the time the 2008 Beijing Olympics came around, but they sure needed him at Saitama.

Everyone in the team is looking at the bronze as if it weren’t a bad thing, saying that the future looked bright, that the gold won’t happen overnight, that this team fared better than the Athens group.

Well, it isn’t a good thing either.

First, the U.S. team only sank 20 out of 34 free throws—giving up 14 points at the line. Given the final score (101-95) and some basic math, you’ll come to the conclusion that if they sank at least seven more free throws, the outcome would have been different.

The more important chink in Team U.S.A.’s game is their defense. During the second half of their game versus Greece, Brand and Howard were treated to a clinic on high screen and rolls—something that they could not defend. The floor was spread wide open, and the Greek shooters had their way. Howard, in particular, got repeatedly beaten off the pick and rolls, resulting in many easy lay-ups.

I said it once, and I’ll say it again: you can have too many scorers, but never have too many defenders in a team.

With Bowen in the lineup, the team’s perimeter defense would have been more robust than what we’ve seen. Of course, without exposure to international defenses, the U.S. players wouldn’t win a gold medal, even if the entire NBA All-Defensive Team were there because man-to-man alone will not let you win it all.

Defense wins you games, powers your offense, and gives you championship rings. Or in this case, medals.

Nellie returns to Golden State

At first, there were rumblings of a return to the sidelines. Now, the news is out: Don Nelson is coming out of retirement to once again coach the Golden State Warriors. Nellie previously coached the Warriors from 1988 to 1995, and then went to New York and Dallas.

Incidentally, the last time the Warriors were in the playoffs was when Nellie was at the helm over a decade ago.

For those unfamiliar with NBA history, the 66-year old coach orchestrated the frantic Warriors offense, which was powered by the trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin, collectively known as “Run TMC.”

Chris Mullin, now at the Warriors front office, is bringing Nellie back in and kicking Mike Montgomery out. The buyout of Montgomery’s contract wasn’t a surprise. After leading the team to identical 34-48 standings for two straight years, Mullin thought it was time to make some drastic changes.

The first step is to rehire Nellie. With the former Mavs guru back in his old post, expect another high-octane team that creates a lot of mismatches and several lineups.

To create these nightmare mismatches, expect moves to add big men who can shoot from outside (*cough* Nowitzki *cough*) to the core of Jason Richardson, Baron Davis, and Troy Murphy. I anticipate Nellie to also bring in a complementary cast of scorers that can run and shoot the three.

The focal point of Golden State’s offense will be the all-star Davis, who—like Nellie—loves to run. This would be perfect for the Warriors because Run TMC and Dallas had a marquee point guard in Tim Hardaway and Steve Nash, respectively.

While Nellie’s return is good news for the team’s offense, the defense might languish if much emphasis is placed on scoring. Can you spell Dallas? If this would be the case, a championship might be out of his hands.

Regardless of the implications, Mullin’s move was a very wise one. The Warriors’ playoff drought might just end soon enough.

Bowen gets cut from U.S. team

My boy Bruce got cut from the U.S. team. I learned this last night, and despite the group’s good showing against China, I’m still disappointed.

Granted that I’m a rabid Spurs fan for over a decade, I still don’t like it when you remove an elite defensive player from any lineup. Bruce is part of the NBA’s All Defensive Team for the past four years, and has consistently shut down key scorers.

They say Bruce was outplayed by fellow stopper Battier, but let’s not forget that Shane can also score, something Bruce isn’t really known for. Still, he is reliable in the clutch, and can make the crucial trifecta when you leave him open.

Remember: you can have too many scorers in a team, but you can never have too many defenders.

After glancing at the roster though, I begrudgingly admitted that the lineup was complete, and there might not be room for another “shooting” forward. It’s not like Krzyzewski would exchange ‘Melo for Bruce.

Though as a basketball nut (not as a Spurs fan), I would rather see someone like Bruce in the lineup because Carmelo doesn’t play the kind of D that I would expect from a championship team.

Oh well.

Would this U.S. team win the tournament? We still don’t know, and the exhibition games won’t be an accurate barometer for gold.

If the U.S. can acclimate well to the international rules, and continue their good shooting streak from beyond the arc, we just might see them getting top honors– despite Bowen’s absence.