I believe this poll covers all possible combinations of outcomes:
Showing posts with label NBA Finals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA Finals. Show all posts
11 June 2008
Laker Chat: Part Phew! . . .
The Lakers (except for Kobe and Sasha) couldn't score, couldn't get in a flow, and played poorly. But they won anyway (highlights here from this herky-jerky game).
Here's a little quatrain inspired by Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom's performances in this series so far . . .
OK, so this poem wasn't written about the Lakers front line, but I wish, I wish, they'd (or at least the version in these first three games) stay away. Odom has let foul trouble plague him in this series, and Gasol just gets pushed around like a ragdoll. Odom will have to play smarter, and Gasol will have to play tougher, if they do that, the Lakers will have no problem winning 3 more games against this Celtics team.
Having Kobe guard Rondo was an excellent adjustment by Jackson, and helped improve the Lakers defense by a huge factor. Kobe could sag off of the unable to shoot Rondo and roam as a help defender. That help defense lead to horrendous shooting by Garnett and Pierce, Allen shot well, but that wasn't enough for the Cs.
Now we'll see what adjustments Doc Rivers makes to the adjustments made by Phil Jackson. Putting Eddie House out there for big chunks of minutes seems to be the answer he came up with, but House didn't shoot like he was supposed to, so that backfired.
(bet you didn't expect a Hughes Mearns reference in an NBA post, did ya?)
Here's a little quatrain inspired by Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom's performances in this series so far . . .
As I was going up the stair
I saw a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish, he’d stay away.
OK, so this poem wasn't written about the Lakers front line, but I wish, I wish, they'd (or at least the version in these first three games) stay away. Odom has let foul trouble plague him in this series, and Gasol just gets pushed around like a ragdoll. Odom will have to play smarter, and Gasol will have to play tougher, if they do that, the Lakers will have no problem winning 3 more games against this Celtics team.
Having Kobe guard Rondo was an excellent adjustment by Jackson, and helped improve the Lakers defense by a huge factor. Kobe could sag off of the unable to shoot Rondo and roam as a help defender. That help defense lead to horrendous shooting by Garnett and Pierce, Allen shot well, but that wasn't enough for the Cs.
Now we'll see what adjustments Doc Rivers makes to the adjustments made by Phil Jackson. Putting Eddie House out there for big chunks of minutes seems to be the answer he came up with, but House didn't shoot like he was supposed to, so that backfired.
(bet you didn't expect a Hughes Mearns reference in an NBA post, did ya?)
08 June 2008
Laker Chat: More Like These, Please Edition . . .
See above, repeat for 4 quarters on Tuesday, everything will be fine. (also, I doubt it will be 38 free throws for one team and 10 for the other once again)
And yes, of course I agree with Michael Wilbon's assessment in the above clip, this pattern of the home team getting the benefit of the doubt consistently in the NBA Playoffs seems to be worse than ever this run. The Lakers benefitted from, and suffered from, this tendency against Utah, and San Antonio (didn't really matter against Denver), they've been hit by it in Boston, remains to be seen what will happen back at Staples Center starting Tuesday.
But great comeback anyway, they almost erased a 24 point deficit in less than 8 minutes, rather than the Lakers being demoralized, they've given the Celtics something to think about on the flight to Los Angeles. The Lakers have a must win game Tuesday night, if they execute their game for 4 quarters, they'll be down 2-1 instead of 3-0, if they have defensive lapses the way they did in the 2nd and 3rd quarters tonight, they'll be lucky to even see a game five, let alone win the series. Phil Jackson is going to have to earn that 10th ring (if he's going to get it at all), and you still have to like the future for this team over the next few seasons, so if it's not this year, doubt this is the last Finals Jackson will be coaching.
05 June 2008
The Dumbest Story You'll Likely See Relating to This Year's NBA Finals ('aka' God, I Hate Whiny Ass Identity Politics Obsessed Liberals)
To sum up this Slate "Sports Nut" (they have the nut part right) post, 'white refs like white players (and by extension, hate black players).
There's so much stupid in this article, I don't know where to begin. First, it uses its point of departure a ridiculous study that attempts to quantify racial bias in NBA officiating. The study itself is deeply flawed.
Second, sounds like it's just a Boston fan making pre-emptive excuses as to why his team is going to lose this series in 5 games (in summary, they lose tonight, win Sunday, get swept in L.A., Kobe celebrates Father's Day with a 4th ring).
The 'white players' in the NBA are mostly not 'white', but rather European and South American. For the most part, those players play a different type of game than their American counterparts. Maybe the reason that Radmanovic will be called for less fouls in the upcoming series compared to Paul Pierce, isn't because white refs are happy to see a white face on the court, but because he plays an entirely different kind of game. Why not parse the results even farther and apply a 'coffee and cream' filter to the data? Almost white black guys like J-Kidd (a lot of cream in the coffee) compared to very black guys like K. Garnett (no cream, and just a little sugar), who gets the calls, who doesn't? Why not parse the data based on percentage of exposed upper body area covered in tattoos (bet there'd be a tendency to call those players more, too)? Why not parse the data based on years played in the NCAA (bet players with more than 2 years of NCAA experience get called for fewer fouls)?
If you parsed the data as 'International' players versus 'Native-born', bet you'd see nearly the same evidence of bias they found when parsing the data through a racial filter. It's quite possible, given the completely different player development systems that foreign-born players and American players play in as pre-teens and teens that American players are intrinsically more likely to commit fouls than foreign born players. Foreign players have a reputation for being soft (less earned than it used to be), and that reputation might color officials decision making when making a close call (it goes both ways, foreign players may get away with a little extra contact, but given the reputation for flopping, have a hard time drawing charges on defense).
The LA Lakers won't win or lose because they have a lighter skinned regular rotation than the Boston Celtics, they won't win or lose because of the officiating, they will win or lose based on the games both teams put out on the floor.
If both teams played flat out the best they can possibly play for 48 minutes at the same time, I think the edge would go to Boston, given that at their core they have a strong line-up. But there's an ebb and flow in basketball, and the Lakers are better able to survive the times they aren't playing their best, and better able to capitalize on the moments when Boston shows weakness, that's why this is going to be a short series, with only one or two close games.
There's so much stupid in this article, I don't know where to begin. First, it uses its point of departure a ridiculous study that attempts to quantify racial bias in NBA officiating. The study itself is deeply flawed.
Second, sounds like it's just a Boston fan making pre-emptive excuses as to why his team is going to lose this series in 5 games (in summary, they lose tonight, win Sunday, get swept in L.A., Kobe celebrates Father's Day with a 4th ring).
The 'white players' in the NBA are mostly not 'white', but rather European and South American. For the most part, those players play a different type of game than their American counterparts. Maybe the reason that Radmanovic will be called for less fouls in the upcoming series compared to Paul Pierce, isn't because white refs are happy to see a white face on the court, but because he plays an entirely different kind of game. Why not parse the results even farther and apply a 'coffee and cream' filter to the data? Almost white black guys like J-Kidd (a lot of cream in the coffee) compared to very black guys like K. Garnett (no cream, and just a little sugar), who gets the calls, who doesn't? Why not parse the data based on percentage of exposed upper body area covered in tattoos (bet there'd be a tendency to call those players more, too)? Why not parse the data based on years played in the NCAA (bet players with more than 2 years of NCAA experience get called for fewer fouls)?
If you parsed the data as 'International' players versus 'Native-born', bet you'd see nearly the same evidence of bias they found when parsing the data through a racial filter. It's quite possible, given the completely different player development systems that foreign-born players and American players play in as pre-teens and teens that American players are intrinsically more likely to commit fouls than foreign born players. Foreign players have a reputation for being soft (less earned than it used to be), and that reputation might color officials decision making when making a close call (it goes both ways, foreign players may get away with a little extra contact, but given the reputation for flopping, have a hard time drawing charges on defense).
The LA Lakers won't win or lose because they have a lighter skinned regular rotation than the Boston Celtics, they won't win or lose because of the officiating, they will win or lose based on the games both teams put out on the floor.
If both teams played flat out the best they can possibly play for 48 minutes at the same time, I think the edge would go to Boston, given that at their core they have a strong line-up. But there's an ebb and flow in basketball, and the Lakers are better able to survive the times they aren't playing their best, and better able to capitalize on the moments when Boston shows weakness, that's why this is going to be a short series, with only one or two close games.
03 June 2008
Greg Anthony Has Lost His Damn Mind . . .
(imagine post title spoken in a Charles Barkley voice, now watch the clip below)
Anthony towards the end of the clip says the current LA Lakers are the, "best passing team I've seen since the early 70s Knicks".
Sorry, I love the way the Lakers are playing right now, but nah-ah.
Magic era Lakers. Bird era Celtics, mid career Stockton-Malone Jazz, even the Divacs-Webber Sacramento Kings could be placed ahead of the current Lakers team with regards to passing.
Where the Kobe-Odom-Gasol Lakers excel is that the decent passing goes 10 deep. When 2 out of the 3 stars are sitting down (rarely does Jackson sit all three at the same time, usually one of those guys is out with 3 or 4 subs at the beginning of the 2nd and 4th quarters, and the end of the 3rd quarter), the "bench mob" all know how to play well within the triangle and move the ball. Sometimes Walton gets a bit too creative with his passing, Vujacic gets a bit too frenetic and frantic, and Farmar gambles a bit too much defensively, but overall you will not find a better non-starting 4 to combine with one starter than Turiaf, Walton, Vujacic and Farmar. All can pass, all know how to fill the lanes on fastbreaks (which didn't used to be so unusual, but nowadays seems like a miracle), and all can hit a jump shot when needed.
I can buy that this Lakers team is one of the best 9 man rotations the NBA has seen since the 80s or 70s, I can buy that this team has the best non-starting 4 the NBA has seen in awhile, but I'm not buying this as the best passing team since Phil Jackson was a player.
If the Lakers can pay everyone, and getting a healthy Ariza and Bynum next year, the Lakers are a team that has quality players 11 deep, with at least 2 players who can back up the starter at all 5 positions. That's just ridiculous.
Anthony towards the end of the clip says the current LA Lakers are the, "best passing team I've seen since the early 70s Knicks".
Sorry, I love the way the Lakers are playing right now, but nah-ah.
Magic era Lakers. Bird era Celtics, mid career Stockton-Malone Jazz, even the Divacs-Webber Sacramento Kings could be placed ahead of the current Lakers team with regards to passing.
Where the Kobe-Odom-Gasol Lakers excel is that the decent passing goes 10 deep. When 2 out of the 3 stars are sitting down (rarely does Jackson sit all three at the same time, usually one of those guys is out with 3 or 4 subs at the beginning of the 2nd and 4th quarters, and the end of the 3rd quarter), the "bench mob" all know how to play well within the triangle and move the ball. Sometimes Walton gets a bit too creative with his passing, Vujacic gets a bit too frenetic and frantic, and Farmar gambles a bit too much defensively, but overall you will not find a better non-starting 4 to combine with one starter than Turiaf, Walton, Vujacic and Farmar. All can pass, all know how to fill the lanes on fastbreaks (which didn't used to be so unusual, but nowadays seems like a miracle), and all can hit a jump shot when needed.
I can buy that this Lakers team is one of the best 9 man rotations the NBA has seen since the 80s or 70s, I can buy that this team has the best non-starting 4 the NBA has seen in awhile, but I'm not buying this as the best passing team since Phil Jackson was a player.
If the Lakers can pay everyone, and getting a healthy Ariza and Bynum next year, the Lakers are a team that has quality players 11 deep, with at least 2 players who can back up the starter at all 5 positions. That's just ridiculous.
30 May 2008
Sure, the Lakers Made it to The NBA Finals, But J.A. Adande Has A REAL Scoop . . .
J.A. Adande has a nice post about the Lakers victory over San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, but what I really wanted to point you to was this part at the very end,
Kobe Bryant, is a major league Sex and the City fanatic. My world has been turned upside down. If you believe this Evening Standard article (via Drudge), Kobe may end up being the ONLY straight male in the UK, USA, and Canada to willingly venture into a showing of the Sex and the City film this weekend. That's real news right there.
Also, in the TNT post game they mentioned that this will be the 29th(!!!) NBA Finals appearance for the franchise in its 60 year history. So if they make the next two finals after this one (not impossible, though with the development of New Orleans, Utah and the talent in Portland, the West is tough), they'll have made the Finals in half of their years in the NBA. That's what you call a successful franchise.
Bryant, meanwhile, was off to catch a showing of "Sex and the City" at a movie theater that was being held open for him.
Kobe Bryant, is a major league Sex and the City fanatic. My world has been turned upside down. If you believe this Evening Standard article (via Drudge), Kobe may end up being the ONLY straight male in the UK, USA, and Canada to willingly venture into a showing of the Sex and the City film this weekend. That's real news right there.
Also, in the TNT post game they mentioned that this will be the 29th(!!!) NBA Finals appearance for the franchise in its 60 year history. So if they make the next two finals after this one (not impossible, though with the development of New Orleans, Utah and the talent in Portland, the West is tough), they'll have made the Finals in half of their years in the NBA. That's what you call a successful franchise.
12 March 2008
Proposed Changes to the NBA Playoff Structure
The NBA has a problem, one conference tends to be a lot better than the other conference, that's been the case for the past 2 decades, though which conference was ascendent, flipped sometime around Jordan's retirement.
Right now, you have two elite teams in the East (Boston, Detroit), two good teams with an intriguing player (Cleveland, Orlando), and the rest of the teams that don't much matter. It's inconceivable that other than those four will get to the 2nd round, barring a wave of injuries hitting the top teams.
In the West it's a completely different picture. There is no elite unbeatable team. On any night, any one of 10 teams is capable of beating any of the other top 10 teams (on their home floor, at least) in that conference. Only 8 of those teams will make the playoffs this year, and that's a shame. Of the eight teams currently above the cut for a playoff spot, only four losses separate 1st from 8th. In the East, 25 losses separate 1st from 8th.
Some have already suggested just seeding the top 16 teams, without regard to conference, and let them in the playoffs. I think that'd make this year's playoffs a lot better, and would have lead to more intriguing playoff match ups (especially in the 2nd round) than what you probably will have this year (as well as in the past 5 years).
Using Hollinger's Playoff Odds to predict the final W/L tally for each team, here are the first round match ups you'd have with the current system, in the East BOS(1)-CHI(8), DET(2)-PHI(7), ORL(3)-WAS(6), CLE(4)-TOR(5), and in the West LAL(1)-GS(8), HOU(2)-PHO(7), SAS(3)-DAL(6), UTA(4)-NO(5). You'd have 3 yawners in the East, with one potentially interesting match up betweeen Cleveland and Toronto, but in the West every match up has the potential to be a real battle that would normally be worthy of a Conference Finals in any normal year.
If you ditch the conferences for purpose of seeding then you get a top sixteen that looks like this, BOS(1)-WAS(16), DET(2)-POR(15), LAL(3)-TOR(14), HOU(4)-CLE(13), SAS(5)-DEN(12), UTA(6)-GS(11), ORL(7)-PHO(10), NO(8)-DAL(9). 10 teams from the West, 6 teams from the (l)East. One Eastern team (Cleveland) loses home court in the first round, and one Western team gains it (New Orleans), and more importantly Portland and Denver get to have some more April fun, while woeful Chicago (or Atlanta) and mediocre Philadelphia get to contemplate ping pong balls in the draft lottery. Only one match up is between two East squads, while three games pair two Western teams. Travel would be coast to coast (or nearly) in three of the match ups, but if they went with an all league playoff format, they'd have to take into account having that kind of travel in every round of the playoff, some sort of accomodation could be made, using the 2-3-2 format of the finals and always having 2 days off between travel when skipping more than 2 time zones would be a simple adjustment to make (when match ups are within the same or adjacent time zones, then one day off for travel would be OK).
You'd lose a couple of really good match ups in the West, but you'd gain two better teams in the playoffs, and you'd gain a few interesting cross-conference contests in the first round.
This is my hypothetical so I'm going to go ahead and predict the entire playoff based on these match ups:
1st round, favorites win most of these series, but three lower seeds advance, Cleveland rides LeBron over the Yao-less Rockets. Phoenix overpowers Orlando as Shaq gets somewhat revived revisiting his old stomping grounds. Golden State avenges last year's 2nd round exit at the hands of Utah, despite great play from Deron Williams. With this new playoff format, rather than keeping the teams in brackets, I'd re-seed the playoffs each round, that'd also mean that you'd have to wait for all the match ups to be decided before preceding to the next round, but that's as it should be, anyway. Given those 3 upsets, and re-seeding, the 2nd round looks like this, BOS(1)-CLE(13), DET(2)-GS(11), LAL(3)-PHO(10), SAS(5)-NO(8). Now that's a 2nd round that has intriguing match ups top to bottom.
Boston versus Cleveland looks like a likely 2nd round match up in the current playoff system, so I guess this series is inevitable no matter how you slice it. Boston will prevail, but they'll get tested, they simply have too much talent with their starters plus newly acquired Sam Cassell, and despite LeBron's great play, he doesn't have enough other players with him to overcome Boston's depth.
Detroit's solid defense versus the scoring of Golden State is another really fun 2nd round match up. Golden State is capable of pulling off this upset, but Detroit is a bit too solid and deep to be upset by a team like Golden State.
LA Lakers in their annual playoff match up against Phoenix could be a great 2nd round match up, also. Shaq should be fully intergrated into the Suns plans by then, and will give it everything he's got to beat his old team. But the Lakers have a lot more depth than Phoenix, are a lot younger than Phoenix, and would love to knock them out of the playoffs after losing in the 1st round the previous two seasons.
San Antonio against New Orleans would be pretty fun to watch, also. Could go either way, if San Antonio doesn't play like an old team, and New Orleans doesn't play like an inexperienced young team, then this will be the most competitive match up of the 2nd round. Too close to call, really, but I think the experience of San Antonio will show up big time and they'll win a close game 7 at home.
That sets up a final four of Boston against San Antonio and Detroit against Los Angeles. Both these match ups would be finals worthy most years, but instead you get them in the semi-finals. You could make solid cases for any one of these teams when matched up against the other, but I think Boston has enough to get past San Antonio, and Los Angeles has enough scoring to force Detroit to play at a faster tempo than they'd like.
That sets up the big Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals. You probably get there either way you go. Under the current format this is a likely looking Final, but either or both could get tripped up along the way.
Do I even have to say which team I think would win that Finals match up?
(as a hint, just imagine the exact opposite of what My Nemesis Bill Simmons™ would want)
Right now, you have two elite teams in the East (Boston, Detroit), two good teams with an intriguing player (Cleveland, Orlando), and the rest of the teams that don't much matter. It's inconceivable that other than those four will get to the 2nd round, barring a wave of injuries hitting the top teams.
In the West it's a completely different picture. There is no elite unbeatable team. On any night, any one of 10 teams is capable of beating any of the other top 10 teams (on their home floor, at least) in that conference. Only 8 of those teams will make the playoffs this year, and that's a shame. Of the eight teams currently above the cut for a playoff spot, only four losses separate 1st from 8th. In the East, 25 losses separate 1st from 8th.
Some have already suggested just seeding the top 16 teams, without regard to conference, and let them in the playoffs. I think that'd make this year's playoffs a lot better, and would have lead to more intriguing playoff match ups (especially in the 2nd round) than what you probably will have this year (as well as in the past 5 years).
Using Hollinger's Playoff Odds to predict the final W/L tally for each team, here are the first round match ups you'd have with the current system, in the East BOS(1)-CHI(8), DET(2)-PHI(7), ORL(3)-WAS(6), CLE(4)-TOR(5), and in the West LAL(1)-GS(8), HOU(2)-PHO(7), SAS(3)-DAL(6), UTA(4)-NO(5). You'd have 3 yawners in the East, with one potentially interesting match up betweeen Cleveland and Toronto, but in the West every match up has the potential to be a real battle that would normally be worthy of a Conference Finals in any normal year.
If you ditch the conferences for purpose of seeding then you get a top sixteen that looks like this, BOS(1)-WAS(16), DET(2)-POR(15), LAL(3)-TOR(14), HOU(4)-CLE(13), SAS(5)-DEN(12), UTA(6)-GS(11), ORL(7)-PHO(10), NO(8)-DAL(9). 10 teams from the West, 6 teams from the (l)East. One Eastern team (Cleveland) loses home court in the first round, and one Western team gains it (New Orleans), and more importantly Portland and Denver get to have some more April fun, while woeful Chicago (or Atlanta) and mediocre Philadelphia get to contemplate ping pong balls in the draft lottery. Only one match up is between two East squads, while three games pair two Western teams. Travel would be coast to coast (or nearly) in three of the match ups, but if they went with an all league playoff format, they'd have to take into account having that kind of travel in every round of the playoff, some sort of accomodation could be made, using the 2-3-2 format of the finals and always having 2 days off between travel when skipping more than 2 time zones would be a simple adjustment to make (when match ups are within the same or adjacent time zones, then one day off for travel would be OK).
You'd lose a couple of really good match ups in the West, but you'd gain two better teams in the playoffs, and you'd gain a few interesting cross-conference contests in the first round.
This is my hypothetical so I'm going to go ahead and predict the entire playoff based on these match ups:
1st round, favorites win most of these series, but three lower seeds advance, Cleveland rides LeBron over the Yao-less Rockets. Phoenix overpowers Orlando as Shaq gets somewhat revived revisiting his old stomping grounds. Golden State avenges last year's 2nd round exit at the hands of Utah, despite great play from Deron Williams. With this new playoff format, rather than keeping the teams in brackets, I'd re-seed the playoffs each round, that'd also mean that you'd have to wait for all the match ups to be decided before preceding to the next round, but that's as it should be, anyway. Given those 3 upsets, and re-seeding, the 2nd round looks like this, BOS(1)-CLE(13), DET(2)-GS(11), LAL(3)-PHO(10), SAS(5)-NO(8). Now that's a 2nd round that has intriguing match ups top to bottom.
Boston versus Cleveland looks like a likely 2nd round match up in the current playoff system, so I guess this series is inevitable no matter how you slice it. Boston will prevail, but they'll get tested, they simply have too much talent with their starters plus newly acquired Sam Cassell, and despite LeBron's great play, he doesn't have enough other players with him to overcome Boston's depth.
Detroit's solid defense versus the scoring of Golden State is another really fun 2nd round match up. Golden State is capable of pulling off this upset, but Detroit is a bit too solid and deep to be upset by a team like Golden State.
LA Lakers in their annual playoff match up against Phoenix could be a great 2nd round match up, also. Shaq should be fully intergrated into the Suns plans by then, and will give it everything he's got to beat his old team. But the Lakers have a lot more depth than Phoenix, are a lot younger than Phoenix, and would love to knock them out of the playoffs after losing in the 1st round the previous two seasons.
San Antonio against New Orleans would be pretty fun to watch, also. Could go either way, if San Antonio doesn't play like an old team, and New Orleans doesn't play like an inexperienced young team, then this will be the most competitive match up of the 2nd round. Too close to call, really, but I think the experience of San Antonio will show up big time and they'll win a close game 7 at home.
That sets up a final four of Boston against San Antonio and Detroit against Los Angeles. Both these match ups would be finals worthy most years, but instead you get them in the semi-finals. You could make solid cases for any one of these teams when matched up against the other, but I think Boston has enough to get past San Antonio, and Los Angeles has enough scoring to force Detroit to play at a faster tempo than they'd like.
That sets up the big Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals. You probably get there either way you go. Under the current format this is a likely looking Final, but either or both could get tripped up along the way.
Do I even have to say which team I think would win that Finals match up?
(as a hint, just imagine the exact opposite of what My Nemesis Bill Simmons™ would want)
13 June 2007
NBA Basketball is FAAAAAAANTASTIC!
Game three of the finals was brutal. They just missed besting (worsting?) the Finals record for crappy scoring. If a 75-72 game could be even less exciting than it sounds, this one was it.
Yes, San Antonio played great defense and Cleveland did a great job on the offensive boards, but this isn't fun to watch (unless you're a San Antonio fanatic already). This game was at 67-57 with about 6:18 left and San Antonio didn't score again until there was 1:32 left in the game. It got close, but Cleveland never seemed like they'd take over, or San Antonio would relinquish the lead. Whether or not the predicted sweep is fulfilled Thursday is irrelevant, this series won't be going back to San Antonio.
I agree with Bob Fitzgerald (hat tip TrueHoop), redo the conferences (into 3 two division conferences instead how it is now), play a more regionally compact schedule in the regular season, and seed the teams by record, not by conference (I'd add reseeding each round of the playoffs to his recommendations, but beyond that he's got some good suggestions, and I won't even point to a previous post where I suggested something similar a few weeks ago . . .)
Yes, San Antonio played great defense and Cleveland did a great job on the offensive boards, but this isn't fun to watch (unless you're a San Antonio fanatic already). This game was at 67-57 with about 6:18 left and San Antonio didn't score again until there was 1:32 left in the game. It got close, but Cleveland never seemed like they'd take over, or San Antonio would relinquish the lead. Whether or not the predicted sweep is fulfilled Thursday is irrelevant, this series won't be going back to San Antonio.
I agree with Bob Fitzgerald (hat tip TrueHoop), redo the conferences (into 3 two division conferences instead how it is now), play a more regionally compact schedule in the regular season, and seed the teams by record, not by conference (I'd add reseeding each round of the playoffs to his recommendations, but beyond that he's got some good suggestions, and I won't even point to a previous post where I suggested something similar a few weeks ago . . .)
07 June 2007
NBA Playoffs, Finals Edition
I don't think a lot of people were clamoring for a San Antonio Spurs versus Cleveland Cavaliers finals, but here we are, and it starts tonight.
LeBron proved himself in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the challenge he faces against San Antonio will be far greater.
Cleveland had a shockingly easy path to the finals, they faced a depleted Wizards, a Nets team that was incapable of putting the ball in the basket for long stretches at a time (that series was unwatchable), and a Detroit team that ran out of gas (yes, using the term 'ran out of gas' with regards to the Pistons is a cliche, but in this case, the cliche fits well).
San Antonio on the other hand, faced a talented Denver team and dismantled them, faced a great Phoenix team and beat them up (with some help from the league), and beat soundly an over matched Utah team.
San Antonio is rolling, and Cleveland looks like little more than a speed bump.
Even though I hate San Antonio, all their players (except for Horry), and their little dog too (or coyote, whatever their mascot is) . . ., I'm going to have to say that the Spurs will sweep the Cavs and the folks in Cleveland will once again take comfort in not having to deal with one of those big messy victory parades.
LeBron proved himself in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the challenge he faces against San Antonio will be far greater.
Cleveland had a shockingly easy path to the finals, they faced a depleted Wizards, a Nets team that was incapable of putting the ball in the basket for long stretches at a time (that series was unwatchable), and a Detroit team that ran out of gas (yes, using the term 'ran out of gas' with regards to the Pistons is a cliche, but in this case, the cliche fits well).
San Antonio on the other hand, faced a talented Denver team and dismantled them, faced a great Phoenix team and beat them up (with some help from the league), and beat soundly an over matched Utah team.
San Antonio is rolling, and Cleveland looks like little more than a speed bump.
Even though I hate San Antonio, all their players (except for Horry), and their little dog too (or coyote, whatever their mascot is) . . ., I'm going to have to say that the Spurs will sweep the Cavs and the folks in Cleveland will once again take comfort in not having to deal with one of those big messy victory parades.
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