khandor’s sports blog

Over the last 13 months, this is some of what’s been written in this space about the Lakers’ mercurial one: 

Ron Artest is a foxhole guy … [May 7, 2009]

Yet another reason to root-root for Ron-Ron this season [Jan 14, 2010]

In the wee hours of this morning, in the aftermath of Los Angeles’ victory in Game 7, this is what was said about him by the ZenMaster, himself, and Doc Rivers, and Glen Davis, and Sekou Smith:

Artest Sings Redemption’s Song

Kobe Bryant walked out of the Staples Center Thursday night with his fifth NBA title and his second straight Finals MVP. He praised the “Spaniard” [Pau Gasol] specifically for all his help in reaching this career milestone.

The MVP on this night, however, was none other than Ron Artest.

No one walked out of the building without seeing that, not after his 20 points, five rebounds, five steals and iron will helped drag the Lakers back from a 13-point deficit to beat back a Celtics team that controlled the action for much of the night.

“Ron Artest was the most valuable player tonight,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “He brought life to our team, he brought life to the crowd.”

————————————————-

June 17 2010, Part I

June 17 2010, Part II

————————————————-

Kudos to the man … from Queensbridge, NY … who always seeks to KEEP IT REAL!

Related:

Artest delivers crazy finish to title

The Lakers have slightly better personnel, overall, than the Boston Celtics.

Yet, the Lakers are trailing 2-3, in this series.

Q1. How come?

A1. Primarily, because … at least, to this point … Phil Jackson is being out-coached by Doc Rivers, when it comes to using his personnel properly.

If you take a closer look at the simple game stats for the series, so far, for the players each team is using at the Power Forward and Center positions, this is what you should be able to see:

Boston is gradually … and, seemingly, inevitably … wearing down Pau Gasol because Phil Jackson is refusing to play Josh Powell, when the Celtics’ consistent use of 4 Bigs [i.e. Garnett & Perkins and Davis & Wallace] … vs just 3 Bigs … DICTATES THAT HE SHOULD RESPOND IN PRECISELY THIS MANNER.

As was first said here in the NBA Finals Preview …

What you should expect from this year’s NBA Finals [June 3 2010]

… the Lakers are, in fact, the better team in this specific match-up, except, of course, if Phil Jackson manages to get out-coached by Doc Rivers, for example, by refusing to use Josh Powell [PF] vs Glen Davis [PF], which would effectively lessen the load that Pau Gasol [PF/C] is working under trying to play against BOTH Kevin Garnett [PF/C] AND Rasheed Wallace [PF/C].

It will be extremely interesting to see:

i. How many minutes Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom are going to play in Game 6 [and, possibly, Game 7];

ii. How effective Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom are during the minutes which they play in Game 6 [and, possibly, Game 7]; and,

iii. Whether, or not, Phil Jackson finally decides to use a bench player with the specific skill-set of Josh Powell [PF] properly;

with only 1 rest day [and a coast-to-coast airplane flight, with a 3 hour time change] between Game 5 and Game 6, and then between Game 6 and Game 7.

—————————-

Related:

Who has outcoached Doc Rivers?

—————————-

PS. Those who perpetually under-value the work and ability of Doc Rivers, and/or the fundamental role played by an authentically elite level head coach in the day-to-day performance of NBA teams and players simply demonstrate that they fail to understand how the game of basketball actually works.

The NBA Finals [v.2009-2010] tip off this evening in Los Angeles.

While Rounds 1, 2 and 3 have produced some fair-to-good basketball, this version of the Finals should prove to be an entirely different kettle of fish.

These 2 teams are quite evenly matched.

The Lakers, however, signed Ron Artest last summer for one reason only.

i.e. To have him defend either LeBron James or Paul Pierce in the NBA Finals. 

If Ron Ron does his job properly, from a physical standpoint, and can play Da Truth to a virtual stand-off, then … all else being equal … the Lakers will be hoisting another championship banner to the rafters when the 2010-2011 kicks off in the fall.

It really is as simple as that.

Enjoy what should be a real hum-dinger of a series!

The Year was 1993.

The Date was June 2.

The Round was the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Game was #5. 

The Combatants were: [i] The mighty Chicago Bulls … coached by Phil Jackson … and, [ii] The insurgent New York Knicks … with a Point Guard [and an irstwhile head coach] named Glenn “Doc” Rivers [#25].

The Big Plays … both, made and not made … coming down-the-stretch and, in particular, the final moments … have become indelibly etched in the memory banks of any true NBA connoisseur.

“The Charles Smith, Game 5”

* Michael Jordan, 29 pts, 10 rebounds and 14 assists

* “You got to have a very strong will and a very big heart, if you go down the lane against the New York Knicks.” - Mike Fratello [TV Analyst]

* 4 failed layup attempts to take the lead on the final possession for the losing team

* Defense is the backbone! 

What the NBA Playoffs are supposed to be about!

———-

Related:

Doc and Phil were there (and so was Charles Smith), 17 years ago today

… it may be too late for certain members of the basketball community to offer an apology to the Orlando Magic.

For the record:

PART A

This is what esteemed basketball writer Adrian Wojnarowski had to say about the state of the Boston Celtics vs Orlando Magic playoff series on Monday, May 25:

———————————

Magic provide only a tease in East finals

Until they prove differently, these Magic are exactly a team that wanted to win one game and say it didn’t get swept. There’s still no explanation for that gutless Game 3 performance, for giving away Games 1 and 2 in Orlando.

“Yeah, you’ve got to play one game at a time, but you have to have a belief somewhere that you can win the series,” Van Gundy insisted. “Otherwise, there’s just not enough to sustain you and keep you in the game.”

That isn’t true, because the Celtics obliterated the Magic’s spirit with those victories in Orlando and everyone could see that on Saturday night in Boston. When it mattered most, the Magic backed down and quit. This wasn’t character on Monday night, just the Magic hanging around and stealing a game when the Celtics looked like they had the Los Angeles Lakers on their minds.

This wasn’t resolve out of the Magic, this was merely a stay of execution. Yes, someone asked Vince Carter where did that resolve come from, and the first word out of his mouth? “Within.”

Within what? Within the make-believe land where a $16 million-a-year player pretends he has the professional pride of his tiny point guard and monstrous center? There are no historic comebacks coming out of the Orlando Magic, no proving to the world why they never should have been counted out. The Magic had that chance in this series and it’s long gone now.

No validation in victory on Monday night, just indictment – just a shame that it took this long out of the Magic, that it never, ever should’ve come to this in the Eastern Conference finals.

———————————

PART B

Now, today, 3 days and 2 hard-earned victories by the Magic later, this what Mr. Wojnarowski is saying:

———————————

Bruised Celtics need a leg to stand in Game 6

The tone and trajectory of the series have changed dramatically because Boston is battered, beleaguered and no longer playing peerless ball. In a month when the Boston Bruins lost a 3-0 series lead to the Philadelphia Flyers, in a city that lived the ecstasy of the Red Sox’s forever comeback from 3-0 on the Yankees, there promises to be genuine tension in the Garden. “We made it look easy early on and now it is becoming a fight,” the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett(notes) said.

———————————

Really?

The “tone” and “trajectory” of this series have now changed?

PART C

In sharp contrast to what Mr. Wojnarowski has written about this series to-date …

This is what’s been said in this space over the course of the last week:

What Stan Van Gundy needs to do in order to generate open shots for Rashard Lewis [Thu May 20]

What Doc Rivers has done to create individual match-up advantages vs Orlando [Thu May 20]

Specific reasons the Orlando Magic will win Game 5 and Game 6 [Tue May 25]

and

First time for everything … [Wed May 26]

If you are going to spend some of your time reading material on-line about what’s important in the NBA game it’s a good idea that you make your choices wisely.

============================

Item #1.

The exact moment this series changed in Orlando’s favour … had nothing to do with Dwight Howard, the Magic’s best player, but … was when SVG finally made the decision to include/add Brandon Bass to his regular rotation against the specific group of players Doc Rivers was using for Boston.

Item #2.

As long as the Magic could manage to “stay alive”, each game longer this series actually goes, Doc Rivers’ strategic decision to use only 4 players [in total] at the Point Guard, Off Guard and Small Forward positions … which was specifically what provided the Celtics with their extra boost in TEAM COHESION and EXECUTION during the initial games of the series, relative to what Orlando was producing … becomes more problematic for the men from Beantown.

In fact, not only are the Celtics’ Big Men “battered and bruised” but so, too, are their main players in the back-court positions now beginning to run out of gas. 

Item #3.

If SVG was actually willing to implement EACH of the other suggestions made in this space, since this series first began, there’s a very good chance that the specific outcomes for Game 6 and 7 would see Orlando win both by sizable margins.

Item #4.

Orlando is a superior team to Boston, as long as [1] Kevin Garnett is not 100% healthy, and [2] SVG does not get out-coached by Doc Rivers … by using his personnel in the wrong way and failing to implement the most effective game-plan [i.e. offensively, defensively and in terms of rebounding] … which is precisely what happened in Games 1, 2 and 3 of this series. 

Item #5.

When 2 legitimate heavy-weights go at it, it is prudent to wait until the full 15 rounds …

i.e. Game 1/rounds 1-3; Game 2/rounds 4-6; Game 3/rounds 7-9; Game 4/rounds 10-11; Game 5/rounds 12-13; Game 6/round 14; and, Game 7/round 15

… have actually been completed, in order to determine the winner.

With their victory in last night’s Game 4:

Orlando Magic 96
BOSTON CELTICS 92, OT
Complete Game Summary

the Magic have now forced a Game 5, back in Orlando, on Wednesday night [May 26, 835 PM ET] … which is good news for all those who originally forecast this to be a long series.

Despite what some reputable NBA observers might have to say today about the poor way Orlando has performed to-date …

————————————————————

Magic provide only a tease in East finals

Until they prove differently, these Magic are exactly a team that wanted to win one game and say it didn’t get swept. There’s still no explanation for that gutless Game 3 performance, for giving away Games 1 and 2 in Orlando.

“Yeah, you’ve got to play one game at a time, but you have to have a belief somewhere that you can win the series,” Van Gundy insisted. “Otherwise, there’s just not enough to sustain you and keep you in the game.”

That isn’t true, because the Celtics obliterated the Magic’s spirit with those victories in Orlando and everyone could see that on Saturday night in Boston. When it mattered most, the Magic backed down and quit. This wasn’t character on Monday night, just the Magic hanging around and stealing a game when the Celtics looked like they had the Los Angeles Lakers on their minds.

This wasn’t resolve out of the Magic, this was merely a stay of execution. Yes, someone asked Vince Carter where did that resolve come from, and the first word out of his mouth? “Within.”

Within what? Within the make-believe land where a $16 million-a-year player pretends he has the professional pride of his tiny point guard and monstrous center? There are no historic comebacks coming out of the Orlando Magic, no proving to the world why they never should have been counted out. The Magic had that chance in this series and it’s long gone now.

No validation in victory on Monday night, just indictment – just a shame that it took this long out of the Magic, that it never, ever should’ve come to this in the Eastern Conference finals.

————————————————————

… the facts are that:

1. The primary reason Orlando is trailing in this series in the first place is because of the poor job of coaching which Stan Van Gundy [i.e. SVG] did in Games 1, 2 and 3, putting their players in a gigantic hole, relative to the stellar work done by his counterpart with Boston, Doc Rivers.

If in doubt of this, please see Exhibits A, B, C and D.

2. [In spite of this] Orlando has still managed to play “well enough” to only lose Game 1 by a mere 4 points [i.e. 2 possessions] and Game 2 by a mere 3 points … while getting decidedly underwhelming performances from several of their key players [i.e. including: i. Vince Carter's untimely 2 missed FTA's in the final minute of Game 2; ii. Minimal point production from Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus in Games 1, 2 and 3; Minimal point production from Dwight Howard in Games 1 and 3; iii. Poor defensive efforts from Matt Barnes and Marcin Gortat in Games 1, 2 and 3; iv. Minimal point production from Vince Carter in Game 3; and, v. Poor play, overall, by Jameer Nelson].

3. SVG has, at last, begun to unravel correctly the Rotation Riddle of this group of Celtics … which included his use of:

i. Both Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson, in Game 3, for the first time in this series, albeit for inconsequential minutes during garbage time;

ii. Bass, again, in Game 4 … this time for significant minutes during non-garbage time … albeit in, both, “right” [i.e. vs Glen Davis] and “wrong” [i.e. vs anybody else] individual match-up situations;

and,

iii. Vince Carter [vs Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo] and Mickael Pietrus [vs Paul Pierce] together for the first segment of meaningful minutes in the series to-date.

4. If SVG continues to implement the series of specific adjustments suggested in this space last week - i.e. see Exhibits A, B, C and D [above] - then the Magic will continue to improve their play as this series progresses.

5. If SVG continues to implement specific “set play offensive system” adjustments … like what was advocated in this space last week:

i. Increased “#1-#5 Pick and Rolls with #4 stationed in the original Weak Side Corner”;

and, what was on display in yesterday’s Game 4:

ii. The introduction of “#1-#4 Pick and Pops with #5 Clean-up Flare Screens for #4″;

iii. The introduction of ”#1-#5 and #4 Staggered Picks and Roll/Pops”;

to create higher quality shot attempts for [a more aggressively "driving and dishing"] Nelson, Howard and Lewis … then the Magic’s scoring output per game will continue to increase as this series progresses.

6. Good-to-great basketball players the world over - and throughout the history of the game - are only as good, or bad … in the playoffs … as their coach is actually capable of putting them into the correct positions to succeed … both, individually and collectively … when matched-up against a high calibre opponent, just as good or better than they are [i.e. in terms of players and coaches]. 

7. This series is still a long way from being over.  :-)

Doc Rivers …

By using:

* Only 3 players at the Point Guard and Off Guard positions;

* Only 2 players at the Small Forward position, with 1 of these players also functioning as the team’s Back-up Point Guard; and,

* 4 players at the Power Forward and Center positions;

has developed a tight 8-man rotation for the Celtics: