Kleeman's Last Word

Playoff Roundup

RANDOM MUSINGS
-Manu Ginobili didn't win the Sixth Man Award he so deserved, so I'm creating another one to give him for his unmatched efforts as an All-Star reserve. No player as good or talented as Ginobili is expected to take being a bench player kindly. Yet, Manu accepts the role every season, and when his reserve duty called mid-January he took things to another level. No bench player, not even Barbosa, was more effective or efficient than Ginobili during the season's last few months.
The Spurs owe their 58 win season and any chance of knocking off the Nuggets in the first round to Ginobili's energy off the bench.
The Suns owe Barbosa a lot less. The Brazilian Blur is the best regular reserve, but he wasn't asked to do anything special. The guy scores in waves, at lightning speed, and with the beautiful assist work of Steve Nash he did just that.
Manu put his star power aside and did what needed to be done to win games.

So, Manu, here's your "Most Unselfish Reserve of the Season" award. I'm handing it to you in spirit.

-The Lakers forced Phoenix into a halfcourt game for most of four quarters. The Suns were out of rhythm by their standards. They were held under 100 points.
Guess what? The Lakers still lost, making Phoenix look like a respectable defensive squad. I guess I was right on the money handing the Lakers the "how did you lose that one" award.
I predicted the series would go five games, but I may have to rescind that if Kobe receives little help in the next three games.
My suggestion: Kobe should start finding a mug shot of himself he'd be happy for the TNT guys to use on their "Gone Fishin'" segement.
The Lakers are jetting out of the playoffs just as quickly as they sucked their way in.

-Most casual basketball fans think defense is something fun you chant when your team doesn't have the ball.
In 10 playoff games thus far, only one team has reached the century mark. Thus proving there's A LOT more defense in the pros than in college.
Fans of solely high scoring affairs ought to become acquainted with real defense as I predict it will win another championship for a team this year.

-Someone asked me the other day which sport was more "thuggish"--the NFL or the NBA.
The NFL has created a rule for next season simply because two players can't stop getting themselves arrested. Four basketball players correctly used lackadaisical in a sentence today.
I rest my case.

-There's no playoffs like the NBA playoffs. Watch these die-hard fans go ballistic after key shots and find me a sport save international soccer where the noise level is that ridiculous for that long.

A 2-0 lead: Why The Rockets Won't Blow it This Time
Two years ago, the Rockets shocked the Dallas Mavericks by winning the first two games at the American Airlines Center. They didn't have home court advantage, but they had a healthy dose of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.
Nobody expected the Rockets to make anything of the series and their brief surprise was quelled when they blew that 2-0 lead and ended up losing the series in game 7 by a 40 point margin this year.

There are many logical reasons for Rockets' fans not to hit the panic button just yet. The Utah Jazz are not as good as the Dallas Mavericks were two years ago, at least not the way they're playing (stumbling) now.

The Rockets are way better than they were two years ago. Chuck Hayes, Shane Battier, Luther Head, Rafer Alston and Kirk Snyder were not on that fateful team.
The Rockets also no longer rely on the defensive talents (or lackthereof) of Ryan Bowen to keep them afloat (chuckle).

The jazz are a disciplined, tough and physical basketball team. But they have no answer for the T-Mac and Yao double punch. You have to wonder if any team does.

The Jazz haven't played to their full potential in either of these first two games, but the Rockets haven't either. I will dare to say the Jazz played better than the Rockets in the first two games. And they lost both.

If the Rockets can manage victories by shooting in the mid-30s, I like their chances of putting this young Utah team out of its misery in as few as five or six games.

FOR SPURS, MAVS REST AND CONFIDENCE ARE NOT LUXURIES.
Fans of the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs awaiting a rematch of last season's storied seven-game series shouldn't hold their breath just yet.
The 67 and 58 win teams are facing an 0-1 deficit against lower seeded ball clubs that seem to have their number.

Both Texas teams lost games in which their opponents, both of whom thrive on and require 100+ points to win, scored in the mid-90's.

It's fair to say no team could prepare for the one-two punch Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson are packing. Analysts and coaches alike have questioned whether this dynamic pairing would work or lead to the decomposition of a shot jacking oasis.
It's clear now that both scorers have flushed out a serial killer attack.

Melo' and AI ate Bruce Bowen's stifling defense for a late game snack, combining for 61 points and some of the only respectable shooting the entire night.
Nothing the Spurs threw at the Nuggets' star combo seemed to dent their abaility to sink jumpshot after jumpshot and for Melo' two key three-pointers.

The Spurs couldn't make a layup in game one of their first round series and lost playing their game. Still, Denver says it didn't play well, either.

If the Spurs drop game 2, this hot tamale San Antonio team will be looking at an ice cold first-round exit.

The top seeded Mavericks don't have it any easier. Despite possessing home court advantage, the Mavs lack the same panacea they have all season against Don Nelson's squad.
Hmmm...lets see...how about an answer for the Warriors?

The Warriors may have limped into the postseason by 67 win standards, but winning 9 out of 10 cannot be overlooked.
Every other run-and-gun club is a milk version of Phoenix, but this one comes with an extra kick in the ass.
Steve Nash and company would hate to see this ballclub in the playoffs considering the lashing they received in late March at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors are dangerous because they have no expectations to exceed or disappoint but their own.
The Mavericks are fighting presumptions that any team winning 67 games in the regular season is an automatic champion.
Losing all three regular season matchups, Dallas has little answer for Baron Davis or Monta Ellis.
And when Dirk Nowitzki shoots four-of-16 from the field and Jerry Stackhouse doesn't score, that complicates matters even further.
Most would say Avery should stick with the same lineup that earned them the top seed.
But what happens when the Warriors run Dampier and DeSegana Diop back to the bench?

These Texas teams must win their games tonight or face quite possibly the two greatest upsets in playoff history.

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 11:44 PM