Ryan Schwan of Hornets 247 (in a tour de force blog post): "The Mavericks are done. I don't say that because they are down 3-1 and heading to New Orleans. I don't say that because of the past history for the Mavs in tough situations. I don't even say it because of any new wrinkle I saw in their game plan tonight. I say it because they flat out surrendered tonight -- while the game was still on the line. At first I was disgusted by the Dallas fans when they started to stream out of the Arena with five and a half minutes to go and their team down nineteen. I thought it was pathetic. But when less than two minutes later Avery Johnson pulled the only two players he had who had been at all effective in the second half, I understood it. This year, Dallas quits. Fans and players alike. Yeah, that's a bit harsh, but what the hell else can you call it? They were down eighteen with 3:38 remaining when Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry were pulled in favor of Jose Juan 'I ain't going to do a damn thing' Barea and Malik 'Why the hell am I getting minutes for an NBA team' Allen. They had three and a half minutes left! Tracy McGrady once scored thirteen points in thirty five seconds! Which is more important, trying to scratch out an improbable comeback and heading to New Orleans 2-2 instead of 1-3 or giving those two guys an extra ten minutes of rest when they don't play until Tuesday?"
What this year's playoffs would be like if teams were seeded without regard to conference. TrueHoop reader Sean emails an interesting twist to that idea: "In my mind, it seems like the main problem teams would have with out-of-conference playoff seeding is the difficulty with flying across country and switching time zones. This is already a little silly with Memphis, New Orleans, and Minnesota (not to mention the Texas teams) sharing a time zone but not a conference with Chicago, Milwaukee, and Indiana. To deal with this problem, if the league were doing away with conference-based seedings, I would propose a system of top seeds being able to choose their own competitor from the lower seeds. That way, if a west coast team was the top seed but didn't want to play the lowest seed in the east for issues of distance, it could instead elect to choose a team closer to home." My thought: drafting your first-round opponent would be powerful inventive to play well in the regular season. It would also be highly entertaining. And in the end, I suspect travel distance would be only a very minor strategy, as on-court match-ups would reign supreme. All the same? Who cares what reason there is. That would be something.
I just stumbled across old video of Mark Cuban on David Letterman, while his team was up 2-1 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. He's already planning the title party. Amazing to think what has happened to that team in the intervening two years. They could taste victory. Cuban was grinning, saying things like "all's well that ends well."
You have probably seen this footage of Barack Obama playing three-on-three last Friday. Considering all the cameras and the creepy setting, I thought he looked pretty comfortable, and pretty talented. One thing that concerns me, though: have you ever played pickup basketball with a guy wearing a t-shirt tucked into pants?
Look, a college coach upset at a player leaving for the draft and signing with an agent. I don't have specific knowledge about this case. But I will tell you that people outside basketball usually see that as a case of the college coach standing up for education. People in basketball usually see that as a case of the college coach standing up for some other agent he has a better relationship with.
Allen Iverson with his back against the wall. With his team down by 26 entering the fourth quarter of Game 6 against the Bucks in 2001, he came in and did this: jumper, 3, four-point play, layup "and one," 3, "and one," two free throws, layup and a foul, a two-point field goal, and a nice assist to Dikembe Mutombo. The Sixers lost anyway, but they won the series. TrueHoop reader Connell emails "During one of his trips to the line, you can see him in the clip telling his teammates, 'Keep Fighting! Keep Fighting! Don't Stop...' (it's at about the 05:30 mark). Dude still thinks he can will them to victory. And he damn near does it. After the game, he drops this gem of a quote, when asked about what his 26 pt. performance should signal to the Bucks: 'I bet they know now that if they get us down by 30 Sunday, we're not going to give up.'"
Brian McCormick: "My problem with the Hack-a-Shaq is this: in the NCAA Tournament, Kentucky fouled one of Marquette's players. The next time, the Marquette player took off running. A Kentucky player was chasing the designated Marquette player all over the court and fouled him 90-feet from the ball. This is legal. However, if the player had been shooting a lay-up, and the Kentucky player did not make an honest play on the ball, the officials would have called an 'Intentional Foul' and given Marquette the ball after the FTs. So, fouling a shooter but not getting the ball is intentional, but chasing a player all over the court and grabbing him 90-feet from the basketball is not an intentional foul. This, I have a hard time understanding. I have no problem with the Hack-a-Shaq if it is a basketball play. But, tackling someone 90-feet from the basketball is an intentional foul. There is no play on the ball. I don't know how anything could be more intentional. I just thought the end of the Marquette game was a mockery of basketball as two 6'9 guys chased each other around the court trying to foul and avoid being fouled. It was ridiculous. Same for the Hack-a-Shaq: if it's not part of the play, it's an intentional foul, whether it is smart or not. That's not legislating against bad skill, that's calling it what it is."
Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold: "Carmelo [Anthony] missed a lot of lay-ups in part because the Lakers overplayed his right hand and dared him to use his off/left hand - he wouldn't and the in-close misses piled up. Credit to Radmanovic (not someone known for his defense) and Walton for doing a good job on him all over the court. Carmelo wouldn't pass out of the doubles, he shot too quickly trying to get off a shot before another defender arrived (even when one wasn't on the way)."
Every draft has a super-talented athlete who got in trouble in college, and may or may not have grown up enough to have a fantastic NBA career. This year, it's J.R. Giddens.
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.
