Ron Hitley of Hornets247 on how Dallas guarded Chris Paul last night: "They started out with Jason Kidd guarding him, and hedged hard with Erick Dampier and Dirk Nowitzki on the Hornets' pick and rolls. That didn't work too good, as Chris was able to either lob a pass to our rolling bigs, split the double team himself, or fire it out to the wing for the hockey assist to those same rolling bigs. So next Dallas tries single coverage on CP with a bigger body, having Josh Howard pick him up in the backcourt. This gets the ball out of Paul's hands for a while, but now Jason Kidd is guarding Peja Stojakovic and that doesn't have a happy ending for Dallas. How about Jason Terry then? He comes off the bench and starts shadowing CP all over the floor, getting help from Brandon Bass to set traps in the backcourt. This doesn't work great either, as Chris manages to find David West at center court easily to break the press, then with Peja, Pargo and Peterson all making their deep looks, the Mavs halfcourt defense is spread wide enough to open up things for West inside. And that was just the first quarter. As the game progressed, the Mavs would try some of the same defensive mix to try limit Paul, and then some new stuff, like an Eddie Jones headlock for example. Jerry Stackhouse, Devean George and Antoine Wright would all take turns guarding Chris, too, but it didn't make a difference. If they played solid D and forced Paul to give the ball up, another Hornet would burn them. New Orleans had every weapon locked, loaded and pointed directly at the target tonight. All the Mavs could do was pick one to die by."
The way Chris Paul has played for the last two games, it probably wouldn't matter much who was in the Dallas uniforms. But nonetheless, there are still those out there wondering if maybe Devin Harris, two good picks, and change, for a package starring Jason Kidd now looks worse than ever.
You have probably heard that Jeff Van Gundy has reportedly told Donnie Walsh that he does not wish to be a candidate to coach the Knicks. Why wouldn't he want to coach the Knicks? A thoughtful John Jeansonne Newsday article about how stressful it was for him the last time around: "... the best he might hope for is that night in May of 1999, when Garden fans actually acknowledged the team's striking turn-around with a rollicking -- shocking -- love call in a city where they so often bid coaches goodbye, chanting over and over, 'Jeff Van GUNNNN-dee!' What did Van Gundy think of that? 'I thought,' he said, 'the next word would be 'sucks.'"
The National Post's Bruce Arthur: "If you wanted a death knell for the T.J. Ford era, this should have been it. He was far too careless, with four bad turnovers and some more suspect defence. Calderon, meanwhile, played like a champ, including two massive threes in the last three minutes. Gentlemen, start your espn.com trade machines."
Newsday's Alan Hahn quotes Donnie Walsh on Isiah Thomas's role: "'He's not going to be here on a full-time basis anymore. I'll be calling the shots, I'm in charge of the franchise. It's my responsibility where it was his.' Walsh also added this about Isiah's role: 'There is no job description. He more or less is going to when I call him and ask him to do things, he's a guy, for me, that I could call up and say, 'Listen, there's a tournament in Europe and there's a guy playing and I want you to go see him and give me an opinion on this guy.' ... That would be an example of the kind of things I would ask Isiah.'
TrueHoop reader Ryan suggest the Suns should start Gordan Giricek if Grant Hill can't go, and I'm inclined to agree. He adds: "Popovich made a few small adjustments, in the third quarter, and the Suns couldn't respond. In fact, they didn't even attempt a response. As a Suns fan (since 1989), I'm tired of hearing how the team's getting better, that they're going to figure things out. Timing is everything, in basketball. Had the Suns made the necessary adjustments in the third quarter, and had they made a few less mistakes in Game 1, they'd be up 2-0. This is no small point; it's the theme of the heartbreak I've experienced as a Suns fan. The Spurs are the champs, but it's a crime that they are in control of this series. The Suns have everything it takes to win, but they haven't turned the corner. Maybe they should study how the Bulls learned to beat the Pistons in the early '90s. The Bulls learned to overlook the Piston's theatrics and gamesmanship; The Suns need to do the same, if they are to beat the Spurs in '08."
TrueHoop reader Michael has done some looking, and has determined that the Pistons seem to play better when they are underdogs: "... three straight Conference Finals in which the Pistons lost as the chalk or won as underdogs. So this season, the Pistons will be favored in its first two series. If they can make it through those unharmed, though, they will be a heavy underdog against the Celtics. And as good as the Celtics are, the Pistons have proven that, as underdogs, they are a very dangerous team."
The Painted Area: "You know, I respect how the Jazz are playing, and think they're a contender, but I just can't get the end of last season out of my mind, when Deron Williams and Derek Fisher essentially called out selected teammates for already having vacations planned and not showing much desire in the Western Conference Finals. The players being referred to were thought to include Okur and Kirilenko, and I just can't help but wonder if Utah can count on these guys to deliver the supreme mental toughness that it's going to take to scale the Western Conference this year."
Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold on Kobe Bryant's inefficient offense in Game 1: "Martin stayed back on Kobe, plus (as Darius pointed out in the comments) he showed good lateral quickness and with his strength was able to really slow Kobe's penetration. In the LA Times today Kobe called playing against K-Mart a 'challenge.' The problem is, Kobe likes to take on those types of challenges head on, and in game one his ego got in the way of the offense, something that has not been a big problem the second half of the year. Kobe needs to pick his spots better. Father of Coby's decision to go with K-Mart on Kobe was an interesting one, but it came with a price - a mismatch of Anthony Carter or AI having to take one of the Laker bigs (Radman or Luke Walton). It was Walton that made them pay the price, although Radman has his moments. The Lakers were at their best in exploiting that mismatch, it forced Camby to run around trying to protect the paint. A couple quick passes and Gasol got lay-ups, as did other guys. The only time that seemed to stop was when Kobe got the ball. Kobe had his points, and got them late, but the Lakers need him to play within the offense. He needs to be efficent. If it means an 11-point night with 11 assists, good. The one dime in game one was a sign of how Kobe played (although he did get some "hockey assists ). When the defense adjusts to stop Pau and try to jump his passing lanes, Kobe's chances will open up. Now, he should go at K-Mart a few times to keep him honest, but he needs to play within the offense. Do that and it is an easy win."
A guy who can really play, but may be available: Mike Miller. And he's only 28.
Hardwood Paroxysm: "Houston: Duct tape. Superglue. Magic. Whatever it is that you need in order to get Rafer Alston back on the court? That's the plan. It's one thing to not be able to stop Deron Williams. It's another to not be able to do anything to disrupt his game in any way, shape or form. This matchup has been indicative of the series. It's not that there are things that Deron is able to do against Bobby Jackson and Aaron Brooks, it's that there's not a lot Williams can't do against those two."
Comment from scrumtrulescent on the Jazz blog BasketballJohn: "My sister is a stylist and make-up artist. She told me about a month ago that she was doing a marketing thing for the Jazz. Tomorrow (the 23rd) is my bday. Guess who I got a bday call from about 10 minutes ago...Mr. Carlos Boozer. No joke. ... he basically just said, 'Hey, this is Carlos Boozer, just wanted to wish you a happy birthday.' At which point I thought it was a recording, so I waited about 2.5 seconds before I just said, 'Wow ... thanks man ... that's very cool of you.' I think he said something like, 'hope you have a great birthday,' to which I responded, 'wow, thanks again, man' (it's kinda fuzzy) then he said 'Well, I'll give you back to [your sister].'"
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