khandor’s sports blog

As was mentioned in this space on Monday …

The adjustments which Miami needed to make in order to win their series with Chicago included:

1. Giving increased playing time to [A] Mike Miller/SF, [B] Zydrunas Ilgauskas/C, [C] Eddie House/OG and [D] Udonis Haslem/PF];

2. Reducing the playing time of [A] Mike Bibby [PG] and [B] Jamaal Magloire [C]; and,

3. Having Dwayne Wade [OG] check Derrick Rose [PG].

Given the result of last night’s Game 2, it is now fair to say that a main reason this series is tied, 1-1, is because Erik Spoelstra [Head Coach] actually implemented several of the “strategic” adjustments which were recommend, in advance, right here.

For example:

#3) For significant stretches of the 4th quarter, Miami used the following 5-man unit with the associated Individual Match-ups:

PG, Dwayne Wade [vs D-Rose]
OG, Mike Miller [vs Keith Bogans or Kyle Korver]
SF, LeBron James [vs Luol Deng or Ronnie Brewer]
PF, Udonis Haslem [vs Carlos Boozer or Taj Gibson] 
C, Chris Bosh [vs Joakim Noah or Omer Asik]

#2.B) Jamaal Magloire was used for only 5 minutes.

#1.A) Mike Miller was used for 18 minutes.

#1.D) Udonis Haslem was used for 23 minutes.

If Coach Spoelstra wants to ensure that the Heat will win this series … by an ever-widening margin, then … all he really needs to do is implement the remaining “strategic” adjustments which were listed here on Monday that he chose to disregard in Game 2, i.e. 2.A, 1.B, and 1.C.

————————————————————————-

PS. Last night, actually Coach Spoestra did a solid job of earning his salary. Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for Coach Thibodeau … especially, when he fell asleep at the switch, and was much too slow in substituting Ronnie Brewer back into the game, in the latter stages of the 4th quarter, after Coach Spoelstra showed that he was going to milk the “3-1 Pick-and-Pop” – with LeBron James as Miami’s primary ball-handler, since Kyle Korver/OG was still in the game and being used to check Mike Bibby/PG

PPS. BTW … For those who still believe that Chris Bosh is incapable of playing Center for a title-winning team in the NBA, last night’s game serves as Exhibit A for how exactly this young man can best be used by an organization that is being run by a GM who really does know what he is doing when it comes to being able to win it all.

On June 23 2009, prior to that year’s NBA Draft, this corner said that the Raptors should trade down from the No. 9 position, in order to secure the services of more than just one good-to-very good young player, to go along with Toronto’s best player, Chris Bosh [C/PF].

With the 9th Pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors …

If the Raptors would have followed this simple prescription, at that specific point in time, instead of acquiring the services of DeMar DeRozan [OG/SF], in all likelihood, the last 2 seasons would have played out very differently for [1] Toronto, [2] Chicago and [3] Miami:

For example …

i. The Raptors might not have made the trade for Hedo Turkoglu [SF] at all;
ii. The Raptors [40-42, 9th/EC] might actually have made the playoffs in 2009-2010;
iii. The Raptors might then have been able to retain the services of Chris Bosh last summer;
iv. The Bulls [41-41, 8th/EC] might not have made the playoffs in 2009-2010;
v. The Bulls might then not have been able to obtain the services of Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans, Kurt Thomas and Omir Asik and Rasual Butler during the last 12 months; and,
vi. The Heat might then not have been able to obtain the services of LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwon Howard last summer.

Those Raptors fans who still believe that Bryan Colangelo is something other than “just an average GM” in the NBA:

are, quite simply, delusional.

LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver, CJ Watson, Ronnie Brewer, Keith Bogans, Kurt Thomas, Omir Asik, Mike Miller, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwon Howard did not leave their respective teams and sign with Miami and Chicago because they did not enjoy playing in Cleveland, Toronto, Utah, Orlando, Milwaukee, Turkey, Washington and Portland.

The chief reason they each chose to seek employment with their current team is because they each believed the GM for that franchise is someone who actually knows what he is doing, when it comes to being able to build a legitimate contender for the NBA championship.

There has considerable debate in the on-line hoops community recently, regarding the actual worth of Carmelo Anthony/SF-PF, as a supposed “top drawer” NBA player.

Examining this cacophony of mostly nonsense, perhaps, no other single article stands out as much as this one:

———————————–

What Carmelo Anthony Might Have Cost the Bulls (besides money)

Let me close by noting an article on Red Auerbach by Beckley Mason.  One suspects — after reading this article — that Auerbach wouldn’t have been fooled by Carmelo Anthony.  Consider the following quote (from something I posted three years ago and very similar to what Mason noted):

Auerbach said that the Celtics represent a philosophy that in its simplest form maintains that victory belongs to the team. “Individual honors are nice, but no Celtic has ever gone out of his way to achieve them,” he said. “We have never had the league’s top scorer. In fact, we won seven league championships without placing even one among the league’s top 10 scorers. Our pride was never rooted in statistics.”

———————————–

when it comes to representing accurately the practical dilemma associated with an over-reliance on “statistical” information in the proper evaluation of what is truly important in a NBA game, in the first place.

The only meaningful question which remains, at this point, is this:

Q1. Do you think David Berri actually understands the irony involved with his use of the final 7 words of Red Auerbach’s cited quotation? … in a mostly fruit-less attempt to be-little the skill-set of a stalwart scorer/player like Carmelo Anthony.

A1. FWIW, yours truly is of the belief that he actually does not.

———————————–

PS. IMO, if Red Auerbach was in charge of the Chicago Bulls today … although he would have no interest in trading Luol Deng/SF + Joakim Noah/C, straight-up for Carmelo Anthony/SF/PF, at this time … he would, in fact, have no qualms, whatsoever, in trading a slightly different package of Luol Deng/SF [$11.3 M] + Ronnie Brewer/OG-SF [$4.7 M] + Kurt Thomas/PF [$1.8 M] + a future 1st Round Draft, to the Denver Nuggets, in exchange for Melo [$17.1 M] … on Dec 16, 2010, after the various trade restrictions on a few of these specific players will have expired.

Toronto Raptors 91
UTAH JAZZ 104
Wed Nov 18 2009 – Game Scoreboard

At the 9:20 mark of the 4th quarter this was a 2 possession game with the Jazz leading, 83-79. 

If you look at the Full-Play-By-Play for the next 5 minutes and 20 seconds, what you should be able to see during this sequence is that:

Toronto had 14 offensive possessions.
Utah had 11 offensive possessions.

Toronto committed 3 Turnovers.
Utah commited just 1 Turnover.

Toronto took 9 shots outside of the lane [and made only 1].
Utah took 0 shots outside of the lane.

Toronto scored just 3 points [1/3FG].
Utah scored 12 points [4 FTs; 4/2FGs].

If you then watch the game-tape closely … specifically … this is how each of the offensive possessions for the Raptors and Jazz actually broke down:

What you should then be able to see is:

A. Just how ineffective the Raptors were with their ”High Middle/High Wing/Wing Pick” Series;

vs

B. Just how effective the Jazz were using their “UCLA Cut” Series and ”Transition Attack”;

in terms of generating high percentage shot attempts, in the lane, or from the free throw line … none of which should come as much of a surprise, at least, to those of you who paid attention to what was first written here on Sep 18 2009:

Thumb-down 35 special … for the Raptors

The fact is …

Not only is the Raptors’ defense performing in a poor way, thus far this season, but … when crunch time arrives in important games vs a Quality Opponent [.500+], or in last night’s case, vs an opponent that is particularly well-schooled in its own highly potent offensive and defensive [i.e. with designated helps and specific rotations] systems … so, too, is their offense, which is based primarily on the 3-5 Pick & Roll/Pop action.

Executing well, offensively, in the NBA isn’t just about “making the open shots your players happen to get” but, also … and, more importantly … “getting the specific type of open shots which your players can make on a consistent basis.” 

There’s a big difference between these two types of shot attempts.

re: How an astute NBA observer might expect the first part of the schedule to unfold for the Raptors this year

Game 12 – at Utah [Wed Nov 18]

The last of a 4-game WC road trip, in a back-2-back situation, is not a good spot for the Raptors to right their listing ship. Although the Jazz might still be without CJ Miles [OG] and Matt Harpring [SF-PF], due to lingering injuries, Utah will still be a dangerous opponent, playing on 3 days rest with recent Hall Of Fame inductee Jerry Sloan at the helm:

Raptors expected W-L Record: L, 4-8