khandor’s sports blog

What today’s TrueHoop article REALLY means …

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The moment the talks fell apart

“System changes”

There’s another thing that could be happening, too.

Remember The Decision? That night in July 2010, something happened that angered basketball fans like nothing else. It can be framed as LeBron James being egotistical, or cowardly, or whatever else. But it can also be framed as a young black man just being sick of doing what old white guys tell him to do.

There was a playbook for free agency, a procedure, some decorum. And James tossed it. No, after earning Dan Gilbert the sun, the moon and the stars, he does not also owe him a phone call. No, he doesn’t have to let some other, whiter, older entity control the production of his announcement. No, he doesn’t have to stick to the storyline of local hero, or even player. He really does have the power to play GM, to assemble a super team, and that’s what he would do.

The message to a lot of fans was that James just got it all wrong. But the message to a lot of players was that James did what 1,000 players have been dreaming of doing for years — he acted fully empowered — and it’s hard to say he failed at it. He made his millions, and the Finals. His team is intact. His business life is sound. He’ll be contending for championships for years.

It’s a business revolution with young black men, basketball players, in the corner offices. A new way of doing things, long overdue, and happening now.

And maybe that’s what Stern encountered in that hotel room in New York: a new generation of fully empowered players who no longer believe they have to conform to much of anything.

Just three days earlier, with James in attendance, James’ teammate Dwyane Wade had yelled at David Stern. “You’re not pointing your finger at me,” Wade said, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher. “I’m not your child.”

On Friday, a role player for a middling team got a surprise phone call, from just about the biggest name in the sport — somebody who had never called him before. The message: Hold firm at 53. We’re not caving. Hang in there. It wasn’t the only call of its kind, and when you talk to players now there is religious fervor, around the number 53, and around not giving owners any freebies on the other issues.

Owners are indignant that they have endured dreadful losses that must be righted. Players, meanwhile, are indignant that compared to the old CBA every concession to date has come from them. The issues are sounding more religious than ever, and it’s doubtful that, at the moment, anyway, either Hunter or Stern is capable of rallying his followers to build a bridge to the other side.

And if it’s driven by players’ blossoming and deep-rooted self-determination, then they can’t be expected to budge. I just hope, for the NBA’s sake, that they chose the correct line to draw in the sand.

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is that there will probably be no 2011-2012 NBA season with each side involved in the current lockout unprepared to meet the other at the halfway point between 47.0% [i.e. the NBA owners' best offer] and 53.0% [i.e. the NBAPA's minimum requirement], in terms of Basketball Related Income [BRI].

FYI …

re: Basketball on Paper WAR and the Best Peak Regular-Season Players Since 1978

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Comment #45
khandor Says:
August 1st, 2011 at 11:29 am

re: “Also the #1, #3, and #8 seasons are all from the ’80s. They belong to Jordan, but they took place in the ’80s.”

When MJ was at his most prolific level of statistical production, as an individual player, the teams he played on were incapable of winning the League Championship. Hmmm … However, as he then began to develop a more mature/sophisticated understanding of “How the game of basketball is actually supposed to be played, at its highest level of competition”, he produced individual stats which were less prolific AND the teams he played on were then able to capture multiple League Championships. Hmmm … Likewise, other all-time great players like Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird are only found further down the stat charts which purport to measure accurately the “individual ability” of an individual basketball player who, by definition, functions exclusively within a “team” environment comprised of 3 main phases [i.e. Offense, Defense and Rebounding]. Hmmm … It continually amazes that so many seemingly intelligent people spend copious amounts of time looking in the wrong direction when trying to identify correctly those who rightfully qualify as being amongst the legitimate group of GOATs. In no particular order … What determines an individual player’s ability to play the game properly are relatively innocuous things like Assists, Rebounds, Assists/Turnovers, Steals, Deflections/Tips, Blocked Shots, Successful Helps & Rotations, Penetrations [i.e. allowed & made], Appropriate Cuts & Floor Spacing, Screen & Pick execution [i.e. setting & evading], Conditioning, Energy [i.e. positive, neutral, or negative], Team Spirit, and Competitive Greatness … the group of which cannot yet be found in a single reliable metric, TTBOMK. Conversely, examining “Just how far above the production level of an ‘average’ player someone is,” would appear to be little more than a giant waste of resources … at least, when it comes to increasing the current level of understanding for what’s actually required to win the League Championship. In the end, isn’t THAT really what the game is all about?

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In general, Neil Paine does a terrific job running the Basketball-reference.com blog.

According to the following report …

Murphy debating between Celtics, Heat

… a veteran NBA Big Man, who averaged 14.0+ ppg and 10.0+ rpg during both the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons, now has a very interesting choice to make. 

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Between Pat Riley and Danny Ainge?

Hmmm …

Watch the following sequence of events and then identify correctly what crucial mistake the 76ers made which resulted in their loss to the Celtics [on Thursday]:

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Should they have gone “under” the pick, instead of switching?

Should they have gone “over” the pick, “shown hard” with Garnett’s defender, and then “recovered back” to their original checks?

Should they have ”trapped” the pick?

Or, should they have done something else, altogether different?

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The specific take from this corner …

The main mistake which Doug Collins made in this instance was his deployment of this specific Group of 5 players against the Quintet that Doc Rivers put on the floor:

PG – Holiday vs Rondo
OG – Williams vs Robinson
SF – Meeks vs Allen
PF – Iguodala vs Pierce
C – Young vs Garnett

which amounted to the following “Individual Match-up” categories:

For Philadelphia -> 3 Smalls [i.e. Robinson, Rondo & Allen] + 2 Mediums [Iguodala & Young]

vs

For Boston -> 3 Smalls [Robinson, Rondo & Allen] + 1 Medium [Pierce] + 1 Big [Garnett]

What Doug Collins should have done instead was use THIS specific Group of 5 players on this final possession:

PG – Iguodala [Medium] vs Rondo [Small]
OG – Williams [Small] vs Robinson [Small]
SF – Meeks [Small] vs Allen [Small]
PF – Young [Medium] vs Pierce [Medium]
C – Battie [Big] vs Garnett [Big]

… and the 76ers would have probably won this game outright, by getting a defensive stop on this possession, regardless of what specific play the Celtics decided to use.

Understanding properly how “Individual Match-ups” actually work is the key to understanding the NBA game.

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PS. If you actually watched this game on television, like yours truly did, then, you should have been able to see the look of absolute horror which came over the face of Ed Stefanski [Sixers GM] … believe it, or not, it was very much like this … when he first surveyed the floor, saw the 5 players Coach Collins sent out, from the preceding time-out, to defend against the 5 players deployed by Doc Rivers, and mouthed the following 5 words of fright and dismay: “No! What are you doing!” Right now, the 76ers might well be the best 7-15 team in the NBA, considering they have lost at least 3 games [i.e. L1, in OT; L2, in OT; and L3] in mind-boggling fashion. :-(

Related:

The Celtics game-winning pick & roll and the Sixers poor defense of it

THE ROAD TO THE NBA FINALS, IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE STILL RUNS THROUGH BOSTON … BECAUSE OF THE BIG TICKET

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Kevin Garnett tells WEEI he’ll retire as a Celtic

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Kevin Garnett says his thoughts on Boston have changed: ‘It’s not a white or black thing here’

Garnett acknowledged that he wasn’t sure about joining the Celtics before he signed because he believed he would feel like an outsider, but in the end he’s glad he did.

If he truly is back …

in regular ‘KG Mode’ … i.e. Take No Prisoners …

then, 

this year’s collection of Boston Celtics will be just as good as … if not, possibly, better than … any of the other prime-time contenders for the NBA Championship [i.e. LA Lakers, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic], top to bottom, provided that their core group of players can remain injury-free.

The NBA is a league with 63 years of history, and any franchise which truly aspires to win the championship, one day in the future, but refuses to acknowledge the primacy of the 3 main aspects of basketball success …

#1 Team Defense,

#2 Rebounding,

and,

#3 Team [not individual] Offense

… is simply kidding itself, as well as its loyal fanbase.

As Pat Riley so aptly said, years ago, while winning back-to-back titles with the original ShowTime LA Lakers:

“No Rebounds; No Rings.”

and,

as KG & Co. have so eloquently and rhythmically espoused, en masse, for the last few years …

What it takes to win the NBA Championship really does involve making a total Team Commitment to playing the game the RIGHT WAY.

Congratulations to the LA Lakers organization for learning its lessons well, and being able to ‘walk the walk.’

The Lakers’ defense gets it done

The Lakers pressured the Celtics all night, making life particularly miserable for Paul Pierce. The defense was all the more stifling because Kobe Bryant continued to play rover, sloughing off Rajon Rondo in the half court to plug holes and double-team the ball. Bryant’s strategy was nothing new, but the Lakers’ quickness to the ball, readiness on ball screens and relentlessness on those traps were unprecedented. Literally. The Lakers’ defensive rating of 75.3 on Tuesday night was their best mark of the season — and far and away the Celtics’ worst offensive output since opening night.

A real key was Phil Jackson’s decision to have the Lakers “trap” more aggressively vs Boston’s “Pick and Pop” offensive action, in conjunction with allowing Kobe Bryant to rotate out, at least initially, to the temporarily “open” shooter … whoever he might be … while consistently “helping off” of Rajon Rondo.

When this version of the LA Lakers plays with this sort of well-coordinated Offense, Defense and Rebounding they are simply the best team in the NBA.

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!

Craig Kwasniewski [The Association], a die-hard LA Lakers fan and season-ticket holder, smacks one a clear country mile, when reviewing the precise reasons why the Boston Celtics SHOULD simply “stay the course” with their latter-day version of the Big Three:

Celtics Should Keep Ray Allen for One Last Ride with The Big Three

I think it’s insane to break up The Big Three so soon after hanging banner 17.  Shouldn’t they be allowed to give it one last shot together?  Shouldn’t we consider that this might be a rough patch in a long season?  Why break up a good thing so quickly, did you not forget the 22-year championship drought?

Anyway, here are a few reasons why the C’s should keep Ray Allen and give The Big Three one last chance at a title:

The long regular season. Relax Boston… I know it’s cold and miserable back east and the long winter is getting to you but you really need to be reminded how The Association works.  The NBA regular season is a very long 82-games over six months. Mix in preseason and hopefully a long postseason and you’re looking at a 8 or 9 month season. Veteran teams always seem to hit a lull somewhere between Christmas and Easter. It’s impossible to bring playoff efforts when your key players are in their 30′s… it’s just not possible (and the ones that did, like the Pat Riley Heat teams in the late 90′s collapsed in a heap by playoff time).  Just ride out this rough patch, usually teams find their second wind around March Madness.

Don’t be so quick to blow up the Big Three.  Counting playoffs The Big Three era has lasted about 2 1/2 seasons for a total of 253 games.  Actually that sounds like a good number of games… a good run at legitimate title contention, right?  Not really when you consider that the C’s were last legit contenders when Bird retired in 1992.  That’s 15 seasons with 6 brief postseason appearances (and only one conference championship appearance in 2001-02 with the Jim O’Brien chuck-and-duck era) for a grand total of 1,275 games.  Suddenly 253 games doesn’t sound like a lot does it?  Maybe you might want to remember the long drought before sending off a future hall-of-fame guard for a quick fix.

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In the judgment of yours truly, Craig’s take is 100% on the money.

Although Ubuntu! may not have enough left in the tank this season to be able to actually win-it-all, again … with the Lakers, Magic and Cavaliers being as strong as they are right now … it sure as heck DESERVES THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY, at least, ONE MORE TIME, even bloodied and battered.

Simple put … that’s THE RIGHT STUFF of which True Champions are made, whether or not they, in fact, succeed on the court together.