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2005-2006 NBA Playoffs – Chicago Bulls (41-41) @ Miami Heat (52-30), Game One
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, NBA, Playoffs,
What the Bulls Need to Do to Win: Da Young Bulls team need to NOT be intimidated going into Miami because they are not as playoff hardened as the Heat. Keeping their composure and executing will be key. Tyson Chandler will need to rebound defensively, not allowing second chances down low for the Heat, as well as be an intimidator with his long arms, contesting shots. Of course, he’ll have to do all this while containing Shaquille O’Neal at the same time. Yeah, it’ll be an easy night for Chandler, right? Ben Gordon needs to take control of the game offensively like he has the potential to do at any point in a game and Kirk Hinrich needs to keep the team together, contributing in the many ways that he does. I’m not sure if the Bulls have anyone to stop Dwyane Wade, but really what NBA team does? They’ll have to do their best to not allow Wade to get into his rhythm or else he’ll have a big game.
What the Heat Need to Do to Win: The Heat cannot get overconfident playing against the inexperienced Bulls. However, considering the roster is made up mostly of cagey veterans, underestimating the Bulls shouldn’t happen. But, you never know considering it’s the first game of the playoffs, something this team was built for, and they’re at home. Regardless, the Heat will have to make sure Ben Gordon is shadowed, otherwise, he can go off on a very hot streak. O’Neal will probably get his spots to get some rest and if there is anyone on this team that can deflate the opponents’ hopes of winning, it’s a dominant Shaq. Antoine Walker will need to become a second threat when Shaq rests so that the Bulls defense does not totally hound Wade.
My Prediction: Heat 95, Bulls 92; Wade paces the Heat with 36 points and Ben Gordon misses the game-tying three with two seconds to go. Previous to that Gordon hit five in a row from the land of the trey. No worries, BG, there’s always the next day for your heroics.
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The NBA Playoff Participants Are Set: Western Conference Quick Look
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, NBA, Playoffs,
WESTERN CONFERENCE
- San Antonio Spurs – The defending NBA Champs have it all as they can play tight defense, score inside and out, and most of all, they have done it before. Experience in the playoffs goes a long way. Tim Duncan is great and Tony Parker stepped up his game this season, but this is when Manu Ginobili shows that he’s one of the best players on the planet.
- Phoenix Suns – The injury and loss of Amare Stoudemire before the season was supposed to weaken the Suns in a big way, but they stuck together thanks to the reigning MVP, Steve Nash, the excellent play of Shawn Marion, and improved production from Boris Diaw and Raja Bell. They’ll be able to outrun any team in the league, but slow them down and it’ll be a different story as they do not have a legitimate low-post scorer, which is where they’ll miss Stoudemire.
- Denver Nuggets – A major key to their playoff success is having Marcus Camby stay healthy and for Carmelo Anthony to prove that he’s the superstar he believes he is. Andre Miller has the ability to take over a game, but seems disinterested a lot of the time. Head coach George Karl can only hope the Nuggets don’t rest on their laurels and get inflated heads because they’re a number three seed.
- Dallas Mavericks – Unfortunately they’re in the same division as the Spurs and gets a lower seed than the Suns and Nuggets despite having a better won-loss record than both. In any case, this season the Mavs put the “D” back in Dallas thanks to the gritty attitude head coach Avery Johnson instilled. Look for Dirk Nowitzki to elevate his MVP-type play from the regular season.
- Memphis Grizzlies – Their best player is Pau Gasol and to the casual NBA fan, reading that name would make them scratch their head. The Grizzlies are the epitome of team in the NBA as there is no superstar as opposed to five players on the court at any time working as one. Yes, that sounds corny, but it’s true and it may enable the Grizzlies to surprise in the playoffs.
- Los Angeles Clippers – Wait, is this the right Los Angeles team that performed at a suprisingly very good level and can legitimately put a championship team on the floor? Believe it or not, the Clip Joint has become a Clip Mansion. Thanks to the stellar play of Elton Brand, who deservedly makes his first NBA playoff appearance, the veteran leadership of Sam Cassell, and Chris Kaman elevating his game, the Clips can get out of the shadow of that “other” Los Angeles team.
- Los Angeles Lakers – Speaking of… the Lakers make the playoffs despite being a perceived one-man team. Kobe, Kobe, Kobe - the first, second, and third option on offense. Bryant is lucky that the other players pretty much have deferred to him. Bryant is even luckier that he’s performed as well as he’s ever had in his career. However, the playoffs are on a different level and playing one of the top teams in the first round will be tough for the Lakers as their opponents will surely have a game plan to contain Bryant. Can Lamar Odom, Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, et al. step up?
- Sacramento Kings – Ron Artest really is a difference-maker and arguably one of the ten best players in the NBA. Don’t think so? If it wasn’t for him, the Kings would probably be where they were before he joined the team after a trade with the Pacers that jettisoned Peja Stojakovic out of Sacremento, and that would be out of the playoffs. Mike Bibby continues to play at a high level, Kevin Martin was a revelation, Kenny Thomas had a revival, and if the Kings have a healthy Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, as well as solid bench play from guys such as Francisco Garcia, the Kings should do well.
I didn’t want to touch this subject with a ten-foot pole, because I just didn’t know where to begin. So when writer Steve Adamek threw some good ideas around, I had to give him some props. Adamek formulates a plan to actually get both Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis out of town and Kevin Garnett will be wearing a Knicks uniform next season. When Knick fans read this, you’re going to hope that management follows suit with Steve’s plan. I am looking forward to Stephon Marbury going on the trading block this summer, like the old saying goes: Fool me once, shame on you Stephon, fool me twice, shame on me. Yeah, you got us Tri-State folks once with your tenure with the New Jersey Nets, not anymore Steph, pack your bags and don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
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| North Jersey Media Group
The NBA Playoff Participants Are Set: Eastern Conference Quick Look
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, NBA, Playoffs,
EASTERN CONFERENCE
- Detroit Pistons - Former NBA champs are consistent performers thanks to the starting five who definitely play like they five separate fingers on the same hand. Not only playing defense, but have upped their offense thanks to head coach Flip Saunders new offensive scheme.
- Miami Heat - Dwyane Wade is a monster player that is as smooth as silk taking it to the rack. The role players that they brought in (Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, and James Posey) need to step up and play their roles to the max for the Heat to go all the way. And, of course, Shaquille O’Neal needs to stay healthy.
- New Jersey Nets - They have a great trio in Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, and Vince Carter. The first two have playoff pedigrees, but VC does not. The X-Factor will be the emerging Nenad Krstic.
- Cleveland Cavaliers - Let’s be honest, LeBron James carries this team. And in my opinion IS the MVP. If he’s gone, the Cavs will be too. However, LBJ is still there and he should make some noise in the playoffs before his inexperienced team falters against one of the above teams.
- Washington Wizards - Gilbert Arenas can score from anywhere and upped his profile this season. Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are excellent sidekicks that can turn it up and be the main man at any point during the game.
- Indiana Pacers - Thanks to Jermaine O’Neal being a warrior and Stephen Jackson for the most part keeping the team floating amongst the Ron Artest debacle, O’Neal injury woes (as well as Jamaal Tinsley), and general sense of gloom the Pacers make it in. But how long will they stick around?
- Milwaukee Bucks - The underrated Michael Redd, along with the comeback play of T.J. Ford, consistency of rookie Andrew Bogut, and offseason acquisition of Brian Simmons, will lead the Bucks to a 1st round playoff exit. They can steal one game, but that will be it against any of the East’s top teams.
- Chicago Bulls - This is a young team that can make this season’s playoff appearance a yearly thing for the next few years as Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Tyson Chandler have some excellent talent and will only get better taking their lumps in the playoffs.
After just watching part of the Sebastian Telfair documentary of his senior year of high school all the way to the NBA draft, it shows how fine a line it is to become an NBA star or potentially playing pro ball in Europe. What I took out of this was, it made me wonder how the new basketball players turn out the way they do. One of the reasons the new hot-shot basketball stars become self-centered, non-team players is because that’s the way they’ve played their entire lives and they never had to change. The documentary puts Telfair in a pretty good light, showing his charismatic side, his patience with fans by signing autographs, taking his celebrity status very well for someone his age, showing him to being a determined high school player, and above all else being a decent person. The one thing about the young stars that I find amazing is how they have absolutely no idea who the players from the past are. One basketball guru points out to Telfair that he reminds him of Isiah Thomas, and that Telfair can perhaps be as good as Isiah one day and also take claim as the best NBA player under 6’1” ever. Telfair hardly knew who Isiah Thomas was, all he could say was that he saw some clips of him on tape. Geez, don’t these kids ever watch ESPN Classic or anything? I mean Isiah Thomas is only an NBA Hall of Famer, and only your cousin’s boss for crying out loud. The second thing is Telfair’s propensity to call everyone “son.” Well Telfair, hopefully for yourself and for Adidas, that you become a better team player than your cousin Stephon Marbury, and that you can learn from his mistakes.
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I’m sorry, but the NBA is just not doing it for me anymore. What are the headlines these days? People enraged that the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs will meet in the second round despite having the best records in the NBA. Western Conference teams gunning for the sixth seed instead of the fifth seed to face the Denver Nuggets to avoid the Dallas Mavericks. If it weren’t for Kobe Bryant, the dismal Knicks or the sad Portland Trail Blazer soap opera there would be nothing of interest to grab our attentions. I’m still amazed Isiah Thomas had visions of second half suit-wearing Darius Miles on his wish list. Thanks to the Artest melee, fans lost the only budding NBA rivalry. I like many fans are hoping this is the year Dallas or Phoenix has what it takes to challenge and spark a new championship level rivalry.
Houston Rockets center, Yao Ming, broke his left foot on Monday night against the Utah Jazz, effectively ending his season. This is a tough break (no pun intended) for the third year pro who was averaging 22.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks while shooting over 50% from the floor. The All-Star center had suffered a toe infection that sidelined him for 21 games earlier in the season. Before this latest injury, Ming was showing a tenacity many critics said he was devoid of. It was a big step in the development of a seemingly “soft” Ming, especially stepping up his game when teammate and perennial All-Star, Tracy McGrady went down to injury himself, a back injury in March that also ended his season.
Ming will have surgery this weekend, which will take about four to six months to heal. His participation in the basketball world championship hosted in Japan to begin on August 19 is in doubt.
Well this is somewhat of a dubious award, sort of like having the all-time HR record for a minor league baseball player like Crash Davis, Kevin Costner’s character in Bull Durham. Getting called up to the big show and getting send back down back and forth is not the career former lottery pick Marcus Fizer had in mind, when he was the #4 overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft. Did Fizer ended up being a bust? Sure. Did the Bulls blow the pick by selecting Fizer at #4, well they did over-looked Mike Miller at #5 but well not exactly. This must be one of the worst drafts in NBA history. Out of the entire draft class, there have been a total of three all-star appearances by every one of these players from the 2000 class. Number one pick Kenyon Martin, pick #19 Jamaal Magloire was a default Center selection for the Eastern Conference one year, and Michael Redd, who amazingly slid to the second round had one appearance each. Never-the-less it’s not cool to be the basketball equivalent of a “4A player” (AA, AAA, Majors).
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Considering Carmelo Anthony is a NCAA champion who put his team on his back, led the Denver Nuggets to the post season in all three years since he has joined the team, he doesn’t get much recognition for his accomplishments. This has been a rough year for Carmelo, he got snubbed out of the All-Star game, the 2003 NBA Draft is being known now as the Lebron/Wade draft rather than the Lebron/Carmelo (let’s laugh at Darko) draft, and Lebron is getting all the attention for MVP consideration. Lebron is leading the Cavs to the Playoffs for the very first time this year in a much weaker Eastern Conference, while Carmelo has led the Nuggets into the post-season for three consecutive years in the much tougher Western Conference. If you need anymore proof of which conference is stronger, the New York Knicks were in the playoffs in 2004. For the entire duration of his career, Carmelo has done this without a remotely decent two-guard, and now with banged up front court. Nene has been out since opening night, Kenyon Martin is a shell of the player he once was, and Marcus Camby is always good to miss at least 10 games a year. Yeah I’ve kept this bottled up for a long time, but it had to come out now that the Lebron James for MVP debate is raging on right now.
The New Jersey Nets Win Streak Ends At 14
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Kudos, NBA, Playoffs, Scoreboard,
New Jersey Nets win streak meet LeBron James. He’s a pretty good baller, isn’t he? The Nets came into their matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a franchise-high (tie) 14 game winning streak, which is not a bad way going into the playoffs that start in a couple of weeks. However, any plans for 15 consecutive wins were derailed by a surging Cavs team that won 9 of their last 10 games and recently clinched a playoff spot themselves. And have I mentioned that that LeBron guy is pretty good? Going into the fourth quarter, the Nets were leading the Cavs 78-72, but then that LeBron person decided to score 18 of his 37 points in the final quarter, effectively putting his team on his back for a 108-102 victory. Yeah… that LeBron guy is pretty good. Don’t be surprised if these two teams meet again during the playoffs because they’re both peaking at the right time.
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