An amazing chronology from the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen of how Jeff Van Gundy lost his job. In a nutshell: he wanted a couple of days to think about returning. The owner wanted an up-tempo style. Van Gundy said the owner should have a coach he likes, which was interpreted as a blessing to search around a bit. Then Rick Adelman talked to Van Gundy and got his permission to talk to the Rockets. They all met in the Hamptons, and apparently the Rockets more or less fell in love with Adelman.
Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "You need to prepare your living room. Move the valuable glass stuff, put the remote on a short leash so it can't hit the screen, send the dogs and cats out of the room. If you're a Cavs fan, the Pistons are going to make you yell and steam about your team. ... Let's all be honest here, the Pistons are better than the Cavs. They are more experienced than the Cavs. They are tougher than the Cavs. They should win the Eastern Conference Finals. That doesn't mean they will, but you can bet they will spend a lot of time making the Cavs look like a flawed contender. It's OK, they are a flawed contender. But don't make the mistake of thinking this is meaningless."
Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune has watched the Jazz as much as anyone, and says it's a total myth that this Utah team is physical. The whole league is less physical, I'd wager. Utah has a point guard that likes contact, and a big front line that battles. But the reputation may also have a lot to do with leading the league in fouls.
The race is on to become unofficial poet laureate of the Trail Blazers. Dave from BlazersEdge: "I had no idea what I was getting into when I invited people to pen odes about their favorite (or not so favorite) Blazer players. I honestly expected some scraps of doggerel, a couple limericks and some haiku, and maybe one or two truly excellent pieces. I was flabbergasted...stunned even. You guys are AMAZING. I don't know if the Blazers will win an NBA championship in the near future but I do know if any other blog ANYWHERE wants to throw down in verse, it's on like Donkey Kong baby."
Something Jerry Sloan is thinking about now, as described by Jay Aych of the Painted Area: "Carlos Boozer was having a rough go of it for most of the game saddled with some foul trouble and finding it hard to carve out space vs. the packed-in Spurs' defense. But in the second half, he started to rely on his mid-range jumper more and it opened up the game for the Jazz (Boozer scored 16 of his 20 in the second half)." Beating the Spurs with any regularity, I believe, requires making something like thirty mid-range jumpers. Maybe that would draw the defense away from its suffocating stance under the hoop and at the three-point line.
Charley Walters, St. Paul Pioneer Press: "Don't think the Chicago Bulls aren't glad that the Timberwolves a year ago never seriously considered their offer of Luol Deng (22 years old), Tyson Chandler (24) and Chris Duhon (24), plus two first-round draft picks (one of which the Bulls ended up using for Tyrus Thomas, who is 20), for Kevin Garnett. The Bulls, who have a promising future with those players (who also happen to be good citizens), wouldn't come close to making that offer to Minnesota again." (Via I Heart KG) Hard to know what the Timberwolves would take for Garnett, if they wouldn't take an entire good young team with reasonable contracts. (Is Shawn Marion and picks better?)
ESPN's Ric Bucher is on Sports Business Radio with Brian Berger (starts around the 14 minute mark) and he explains that the league's deepest fear is a big brawl, which is why the league is psycho about the staying on the bench thing. The question is, if the commissioner had discretion to let players out of that suspension, would more players come off the bench? He makes the case that the league should not let fear dictate their actions.
With Jeff Van Gundy on the loose, his longtime lead assistant Tom Thibodeau might get his shot at running a club. Sacramento is reportedly interested.
"I was watching the Cavs-Nets Game 5 and near the end of the game Jason Kidd and LeBron James dove after a loose ball near the Cavaliers bench," writes Benjamin Cox. "When Kidd slid on the ground, he actually fell off the court. What I mean is, Cleveland has its court raised up or at a different height level than their benches. You actually have to step up from the bench in oder to get on the court." (Video) The Akron Beacon-Journal's Brian Windhorst emails an explanation: "When they built the Q in 1994, they actually messed up the sight lines if you can believe it. People in the first rows could not see the player's feet. Part of this was the insistence of having courtside boxes, a relic from the old arena that they don't have anywhere else in the NBA. So they literally had to raise the court up about 10 inches. It has been that way for 12 years now. This year, actually, there was an entire new court built and its height above the concrete floor was lessened somewhat. There are other arenas in the NBA that have raised courts, but none to that degree and none where the bench is so much lower."
Remember when Rasheed Wallace used to be everyone's favorite Blazer? No, that's not a joke. For a while there, everyone loved him.
An email from TrueHoop reader Oliver: "Something that has bothered me since the playoffs began, and something that I think relates to the Horry-gate issue, is this idea that the referees call the games differently in the playoffs. I'm of the opinion that if you really want basketball to be fun to watch, if you want the brand of ball that the Suns are employing to really thrive, you have to enforce the rules. It sounds counterintuitive to say that more calls will help the game be more enjoyable. But why spend most of the regular season calling touch fouls and traveling, and T'ing guys up for looking at you, if you just throw that out the window come playoff time? Referees allegedly go slack on calls because of the 'intensity' of the playoffs, and the implied notion that they don't want stars to be benched the entire game. But that's basically officiating for dramatic effect. I don't want that in my basketball game. Listen, if you call Bruce Bowen for reaching in twice in the first minutes of a game, he's going to stop reaching in. So call it. Don't give Bruce a sliding scale because he's a veteran and that's how he plays. It's a violation. He's impeding progress, in more ways than one. Make the call! Is it shocking to anyone when things escalate to what we saw at the end of Game 5? Let's let basketball be a game about speed and skill within the rules. And let's leave the bangin' to the wannabe's on the playground."
UPDATE: Judged by how many different teams win titles, the NBA has had less parity than other major sports over the last few years. Without a healthy Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal, it has taken a perfect storm to win a championship.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
H
