Kleeman's Last Word

NBA Playoffs balance surprise with more of the same

Why are the NBA Playoffs a must watch? You never know what to expect.
All four Western Conference playoff series were supposed to go at least six games - three of those have ended in five or less. The team still fighting elimination in the stronger conference, the Houston Rockets, is without its best player, sparring with a physically superior team. Those two series in the Eastern Conference most predicted would be the only sweeps in the entire playoffs are headed to a sixth game. The Boston Celtics will try to close out a young Atlanta Hawks team that won both games on its home floor with a roaring crowd and the arrogant Detroit Pistons will try knocking out a Philadelphia 76ers team that swiped game 1 and home court advantage. Sure, you predicted that.

SPURS ARE MORE OF THE SAME
The San Antonio Spurs' gritty closeout win against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night reiterated what any sane person should have already known. The darling Suns were never going to beat the Spurs, with or without suspensions last year, and again this year. Is it a fact the Spurs would not have finished the Suns in six games sans the Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw suspensions? No, but the most reliable parts of history make it unlikely.

After the Spurs eliminated the Suns for the fourth time in the Tim Duncan era, the third since Steve Nash rolled in to the rescue, little had changed.

When it mattered most, there was Tim Duncan treating the Phoenix defense like blow up dolls. Boris Diaw's great defense on Tony Parker in game 4 was a mirage. The French point guard slipped screens and found the rim at will. Sure, this series was much tougher than the five game finish indicated.
I concur with coach Gregg Popovich. I am glad this series is over and the Spurs do not have to face that tough team again. But truthfully, how worried could you get about Phoenix eliminating the defending champions?

Nash and coach Mike D'Antoni again tried pulling the "we're more talented than they are" card. On paper, the Suns roster did seem a bit deeper. That a piece of paper can be torn with bare hands says all you need to know about its value in a basketball game. The New Orleans Hornets and Spurs will remind each other of that when their second round series begins this weekend.

The Spurs were the better team in this series just as they have been since people heralded the Suns as the NBA's saviors. The personnel for the Spurs changed slightly from last year, with Kurt Thomas and Ime Udoka playing large roles in victories, and the Suns roster changed dramatically, with 300-pound Shaquille O' Neal replacing versatile forward Shawn Marion.

Yet, little had changed on the court. After a game five defeat, there was O'Neal in a new system finding ways to be the same old Shaq. Instead of crediting the much better Spurs, he whined to reporters that his team beat itself. The traditional O'Neal rarely loses (in his mind), complains when things fall apart and takes excessive credit when it works. That one-liner about getting mad and winning championships? At least he came through on one of his promises.

Truth is, the Suns reinvented nothing. D'Antoni re-introduced a style that was so 1980s. The 2005 team that lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, even with Joe Johnson, was littered with defensive deficiencies. The Spurs exposed that in game 1, winning 121-114. The Suns could score in bunches then, as it can now even with the Big Diesel, but San Antonio kept pace with them and managed the stops at the end that Phoenix could not.

Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash were the same in Tuesday's game, proving they are two of the greatest scorers in the game but also two of its worst defenders.

Answer this: if the Suns are so exciting to watch because of their up-tempo, transition-oriented game, why did the Spurs kick their asses at it again in a playoff series?

If the Spurs are so boring, why are they beating the league's most exciting team at its own game? Defense wins championships - the Spurs have always known that - the Suns didn't and resorted to defending themselves instead of Parker or Manu Ginobili.

Lament the Hack-a-Shaq all you want, Suns fans. One poster on the Arizona Republic Web site called it crap coaching on Popovich's part. Instead of booing the Spurs for utilizing a tactic every playoff team has used since O'Neal entered the league, why not blame him for missing them? If a gorilla-sized superstar, who lives in the paint, shoots 50 percent from the charity stripe, why wouldn't you foul him?

Credit Popovich for using a proven strategy - Shaq made only 32 of 64 free throws and it threw off Nash's passing and scoring precision.

Truth is, the Suns should never have been worshiped in the way they were the last few years. Sportswriters who mistakenly think racial makeup has anything to do with the league's high or low ratings used the Suns as a tool to hype a really good white guy.

I would give Nash my Hall of Fame vote and have trouble arguing the two MVP trophies he received. He does mean that much to the Phoenix Suns. The Phoenix Suns do not mean that much to the NBA.

I give the Suns all the credit in the world for forcing the Spurs to earn every win. They are a tough team with an above average coach in D'Antoni. The Spurs did earn most of those wins, though.

Yes, much was the same after Tuesday. Stoudemire, who mistakenly called the Spurs a 'dirty' team, admitted he deserved what came to him last year and nearly rescinded his idiotic label.

Then, there was the Spurs - moving the ball, making the extra pass, blaming themselves for miscues instead of the refs or the other team's tactics, and chewing themselves out for defensive lapses.
Those who call the above qualities 'boring' do not like good basketball. Did those writers who said the Suns should win think that team had a legitimate shot or were they closet Spurs haters who don't watch the team?

I would guess the latter, which like most things in this competitive series, is more of the same.

D'ANTONI AND JOHNSON OUSTERS WILL PROVE COSTLY TO SUNS, MAVS

Many NBA players earn far too much annual salary and players on the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns who fit this mold will prevent their teams from improving in a crucial off-season.

Too many owners and general managers subscribe to the quick fix, instant gratification theory. The fans deserve better than an owner telling them one hire or firing will fix a team with serious structural problems!

Speculation has mounted that the two coaches could swap squads and there are arguments why that could work.

However, no coach in the NBA can make the current Suns or Mavs rosters a championship lock if the personnel remains intact.
Think about the Denver Nuggets: if Carmelo Anthony, the prescribed leader of his team and a millions earning athlete, shows his team with lethargic play that he does not care about defense, can any coach, even a re-incarnated Red Auerbach, make a squad of score-first, immature players value the other end? Unless you're caged in a looney house, the answer is a resounding NO!

Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash are Phoenix's core. They are not great defenders and will never be. They cannot learn what ails their game. A re-tooled Suns roster could win a championship with Nash and Stoudemire as focal points. Hell, Nash could land a Finals MVP trophy with the right team.

Dirk Nowitzki is an incredible competitor but still a defensive liability. Erick Dampier is the most inconsistent starting center in the NBA. Josh Howard looks like a lost cause who cares more about rolling joints than defending on key plays or draining high percentage shots?

How does firing Johnson fix any of those things? It doesn't. Avery was flawed at times but still a great coach. Mavs Owner Mark Cuban will have a tough time finding another coach who demands as much accountability and defense as Johnson did.

Likewise, Suns Owner Robert Sarver will struggle to replace D'Antoni, if he is indeed leaving the team on his own accord.

Cuban and Sarver should shoulder most of the blame, not Johnson and D'Antoni. But those two are just rich guys who own basketball team - don't count on it. The players should also shoulder a large portion, too. D'Antoni and Johnson are far from perfect, and maybe it's time they did part ways with their respective team, but they will not be easily replaced.

SIXERS, HAWKS AND ROCKETS PROVIDE THE UNEXPECTED.

The Sixers and Hawks are still long shots to knock off the presumptive Eastern Conference finalists, the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. Still, they have forced the NBA's top two seeds into compelling first round series on hustle and determination.

If the Rockets win in Utah on Friday night, two close games in Utah, one a win, providing evidence they have a great chance, the series momentum shifts. If Utah loses again, expect the Rockets to help Tracy McGrady win his first playoff series.

That's the playoffs - things you come to expect and things you don't. Both are worth watching.

posted by Robert Kleeman @ 1:17 PM