Quote of the Day

"What up, scrum?"

-- Implied quote from this actual quote:

“When the Utah Jazz greet the media at their practice facility in Salt Lake City, each player (and the head coach) stakes out a familiar spot in the gym where he addresses the scrum.”

That itself is from an article about how Deron Williams is great. The article isn't great, but it's nice to know our boy might be seated on the first All NBA Team (though Kobe might yet outshine him).

Suffering

Just as Camus' doctor learned, so have we through suffering the HUMILIATION of picking many wrong teams and more wrong games in the first spat of playoff play, particularly out west. The Jazz and the Spurs have both acquired commanding 3-1 choke-holds and join what I'll call the 95% club (see: 181/189). In other surprising news, the Thunder have made a series out of their series in the last 2 games with Westbrook going nuts. Seriously, look again. Dude is exploding. I still think the Lakers win, but it is a lot less certain than it used to be. The Suns-Blazers series is also still up for grabs. If the Suns can score more than 100, they win and if not, they do not. It will be interesting. My doppelganger out east has been slightly more accurate, but still: The Celts have crushed, the Bulls have played 2 decent games, and the Bogutless Buckaroos are still hanging around, down only 1 game. Although our blogging egos have suffered, it is well worth it. I think that these playoffs are the first ones where the leagues talent is really shining through. Last year, there were only 4 teams that had a chance to make the finals. This year may be the same thing, but with the Lakers wounded and the Spurs/Jazz/Suns (?) playing good basketball, I will not be shocked if they miss their chance. So, praised be this sort and long live the King.

(PS I have to credit Salt City Hoops with the image. I literally giggled nervously at Karl Malone's tremendous body for about 3 minutes when I saw it and had to pass it on.)

Quote of the Day

"It was just pick-and-rolls and C.J. made good reads," Williams said. "It was a Ronnie Brewer read... He used to run that baseline. It was just a good adjustment by C.J. I try to tell those guys that a lot of the attention is on me, so when you see the back of a guy's head, just cut to the basket. I'll find you."

Deron Williams wistfully remembers Ronnie Brewer and brags about his assisting abilities. The full article is worth a read. Sadly we all have to grow up and, sooner or later, the time comes when we must say goodbye to former friends. As far as sad friend stories go, however, this one is pretty happy. After all, the Jazz won and everybody got on C.J.'s nuts. We still miss you though Ronnie, best of luck.

C Murder

Celtics-Heat
I was waiting to write this, the last of the first round playoff prediction posts (frppp), until after I saw the much hyped reason Garnett got suspended for game two (video here). I'm glad I waited because it gives me more insight into this series, the only one between two eastern teams that I really feel like I know. The first of those links above discusses how Garnett is one of the worst figures in sports, he must have missed this guy. The article in question also defends Richardson for calling Pierce and Garnett "Actresses." OK. Anyway, back to the matter at hand, that video clip reveals the two teams, all bullshit brushed aside (which is to say all relevant basketball information which makes up 99.9% of who wins a game brushed aside). The Celtics are a rough and tumble lot, sure. They're compass, a slightly ridiculous and overenthusiastic Garnett, can be a bit of a joke sometimes, fine. But they care about one another. Once Garnett got to Boston back in '07, he engendered a sense in all of them that they are a team and that they will play and win together. He started a tradition in which, when a teammate falls, you run (sprint) to help him back up, patting him on the back and getting him back in the game. Watch a guy fall in Boston and you'll see that attitude. It is this attitude that allows the Celtics to be so effectively open to any player on offense and that sets the team up as a defensive monster. It is this spirit of camaraderie that won this team a championship, that Doc Rivers harnesses so effectively as a coach, and (full disclosure) the spirit that makes the Celtics my second favorite team. So, when you punch a guy in the stomach because you can't control your emotions when losing a game, its this kind of spirit that gets you elbowed in the head. Now this elbowing wasn't even nearly as extreme as I pictured it in my head, after all, while eccentric, Garnett is not insane nor is he Dennis Rodman but he is a good teammate. And he will stand by his man.

Contrast that with the Heat. A team that has a lot of promise but way more emotionally unstable loose cannons than any other team, even Denver. And next season, when Dwayne Wade (one can only pray) goes to New York to be paid by Jay-Z, this team will just be an ungodly, unstable mess. Beasley is talented but way too ready to punch people or burst into tears to be effective. Richardson is, well let's just say, a ho. And let me just be clear, there's good unstable and there's bad unstable. Good unstable is Artest, Garnett, Payton, and even Rodman (at times). They'll talk shit, act crazy, and get in your head, but they'll mostly just play basketball and play it well. They won't generally melt down and throw the whole game at the slightest provocation (though we all know those guys I just listed have melted down, but c'mon, blog with me). Then there's bad unstable, which characterizes many players on the Nuggets and Heat rosters. These guys cannot be depended on to finish when the pressure really mounts. They buckle and throw the series. I think it's a sort of team attitude and not just a trait of any given player. The Nuggets had it in droves back in the AI days, when they were all swagger, high scoring, and completely useless against the Lakers, Spurs, or any serious team. And despite Billups' effort to lead the team out of the wilderness, they can still fold like pants (thanks metaphors.com) when tough times come home to roost (thanks mixedmetaphors.com) -- see Mart, K during the final game of last years Nuggets-Lakers series. The Heat is rife with players that exude this ethos and without someone of Wade's caliber to calm them down/perform on the court (and in commercials), they will not see the playoffs again for a long time. I'll stick with my original prediction here (my first one was already disproved in Chicago) and say Cs win in 7, as they have trouble on the road in first round series. But I hope that they do win and that, when they do, they take the advice given in this post's title.

Interesting Stories:
See Above

Prediction:
Celtics in 7 (Game 1, Game 2, Game 5, Game 7)

Playoff update

We are 10-2 now and only 5 or 6 of those were cheating!

Best series as of now:
Surprisingly, I think it is the 4-5 out West. I figured without AK (this nickname comes from his initials) or The Big Chill (this nickname comes from the fact that he is Turkish and doesn't play defense), the Jazz would get steamrolled. It now looks as if this series will go at least 6 games (the Jazz have to win only 1/2 in the hostile ESA) at which point AK might make a triumphant return.

The 2-7 Texas x Texas matchup should also be delicious. Mark Cuban's drop of the H bomb when discussing the Spurs organization should excite some already excitable people.

Worst series as of now:
The bullish cavs stand no chance of losing at this point. Game 2 stood witness to a near flawless game plan from Chicago: they executed well, had a solid defensive scheme, and made shots. Unfortunately, The King will not be stopped and it is becoming obvious that this series is a mere formality.

What to look forward to:
Both Portland and Salt Lake City are downright nasty places to play. Watch these upcoming home games and enjoy them. We may also see something that is certainly going to be a long-term NBA trend: Keven 'the Bront' Durrant (see future post) will win his first playoff game. Keep watching and reading and participating, Alistair.

Milwaukee Yucks

Hawks-Bucks:
Continuing in my grand tradition of making predictions after potentially half of the relevant facts are already on the table (I have a good feeling Joe Biden could be the next VP, guys), allow me to turn my attention towards the Milwaukee Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks. Now I originally called this series in six games, but that was before I realized that Chris Paul and Deron Williams draft-outshining center (and dude resembling my highschool physics teacher) Andrew Bogut went down at the end of the season. Now, thanks to ESPN and perennial versin blogger Bethlehem Shoals, I realize the Bucks don't stand a chance, which is a shame. I liked this Milwaukee team a lot, with its Salomonss, its late season surge, its fear the deer enthusiastic home fan base, and its indy rookie Brandon Jennings. They are now no match to face the lean, athletic, and (in this series at least) constantly dunking Hawks, who also had an amazing season and now have a pretty good shot at sweeping. That's a shame because this could have been the years best series, it will at least, mark the playoff debut of what will soon be one of the East's strongly competitive teams.

Interesting Stories:
Watch Jennings: he nearly tied the playoff record for best debut (in points) in this series' first game and followed it up with 9 points (a solid 73% decrease) in the second. Although there's nothing the Bucks can really do without solid rebounding, boddying, and blocking support in the center, these games will live or die (in terms of excitement) with Jennings' effort. So far this series has mirrored Jennings' performance during the regular season, which saw Jennings alternatively making commentators lose their stuff and scratch their heads. He's a fascinating kid (undoubtedly the number three pick for rookie of the year in an insane group of rookie point guards) and it will be interesting to see if he develops along Vince Carter lines, or is able to rise above the midwestern squalor that surrounds him. Stay tuned to find out.

Prediction:
Atlanta in 5: (Game 1, Game 2, Game 4, and Game 5)

Magic Hero

Magic-Bobcats:
I don't really know much about the Bobcats and was toying with the idea of doing the post as consumate outsider Jackie Harvey (Item: apparently Chicago Bears bigman Maurcel Jordan has got himself his very own South Carolina team -- that joke isn't that much funnier in The Onion). I decided to scrap this idea, however, in favor of the short but sweet post. It seems to me that Charlotte has a good team that's not really ready. They have some amazingly athletic players in Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace (one of the only plays I saw the Bobcats perform had Wallace shooting almost straight up to grab a steal, and sprint for a dunk; it doesn't sound so good written here, but trust me it was impressive, he shot up like he had a jet-pack), one of the NBAs top coaches, and a new majority owner in Michael Jordan. They're undoubtedly green, but hungry, and could potentially make the series closer than many (including me) suspect (espn has an article here on how game 1 could have ended differently). But I can't really see them topping the Magic who had the league's best record after the arbitrary all-star break. The Magic's ridiculous and patented "hundreds of three-shooters plus Dwight Howard in the post" style will probably carry them deepish in the playoffs.

Interesting Stories:
Besides the Pietrus v. Wallace and Carter v. Jackson matchups that should be entertaining, the thing to watch in this series is the coaching. Both coaches have reputations as very good in-game coaches adroit at finding match-up advantages for their players and pressing them. Watching Van-Gundy go head to head with Larry Brown in a shifting, chess-like variety of rotations might be the most exciting thing this series has to offer (though there will most definitely be some awesome highlights).

Prediction:
Magic in 5
(Game 1, Game 2, Game 4, Game 5)