The NBA Playoffs

[The Cid]

That's the NBA for you...allow me to show you the conspiracy theorists who believe the referees have been instructed to do everything possible for a Lakers-Celtics final.

...Maybe the refs had money riding on the Lakers...

Tonight, I'm hoping Kevin Garnett continues to play big in this series. So big, in fact, that he makes local sportswriter Dan Shaugnessy eat his Garnett-Alex Rodriguez comparisons.

(For those who don't know: Shaugnessy is a Boston Globe writer famous for coining the phrase "Curse of the Bambino," so that ought to let you know the kind of tone he likes to take--namely, one that casts doubt on local teams. Also: he sort of resembles Sideshow Bob.)

[Hirschof]

If the Spurs would have stopped going for the three pointers when the game was close or tied I think they could've won it. Instead of going into the paint they relied on the perimeter game which was mostly off that night.

Really stupid plays by the Spurs. They gave another game away.

[ampersand]

Cid, the real conspiracy is how bad the referees have been officiating the games this playoff year. And on top of that, they aren't allowed to use television replay to figure out such things like how much time should be left on the clock at the end of games.

[The Cid]

Again, Amp: that's the NBA for you.

The refs in the NBA are terrible, and no sport comes close. The NFL has its ups and downs, but for the most part the refs are fair. Baseball has controversy, but things like the variance in each umpire's "strike zone" actually add to the strategy of the game. The NHL has excellent referees, but then again they have the most clear-cut penalties as well.

The strike zone itself is a cause for baseball debate: how high should it go? Should it expand? What do we do about hitters who "crowd home plate?" So enforcing it is a tough and poorly-defined job.

Most penalties in the NFL are tough to call. Pass interference is called too often on defense and not often enough on offense (since both players routinely shove one another around). Holding is often impossible to spot in the middle of an offensive line. If a referee decides a game, they probably did it by acting within the NFL's rules, which puts the league under more scrutiny than the refs. (Think about the tuck rule game: that WAS the letter of the law, but it's a stupid law. That's not the replay official's fault, who called it as the rulebook instructs. The idiot who made the tuck rule, however, decided that game whether he intended to do so or not. ...Well, him and a couple of very tough field goals.)

And basketball was bad to begin with. The difference between a charge and a blocking foul is very tough to spot and often it's a combination of the two that results in players colliding. It's gotten FAR worse in the era of flopping though, as now when two players make contact they both throw their arms up in the air and fall backward like it's a trust exercise. Seriously, imagine Manu Ginobli running into Steve Nash--both players are going to go FLYING! Who do you call the foul on in that situation?

The NHL however is beyond such reproach. For one, it's pretty easy to see things like hooking (putting your stick around someone's midsection to slow them down), slashing (exactly what you think it is--slashing your stick at somebody), high-sticking, cross-checking and boarding. The league even has a penalty for flopping, which they call "diving." The only complaint is that they too are a little easier on star players, but in their defense the NHL needs something to bring fans back. If that means letting Sidney Crosby dive and Alex Ovechkin do anything he wants at any time, so be it. Just don't let it get bad enough that hitting Crosby is an automatic cross-checking penalty.

[ampersand]

I'd just give Ginobli and Nash a yellow card each and go from there. Oh, wait. Wrong sport.

[Calus]

The talk about the foul that wasn't is making me sick. He should have shot and not dribbled. Simple as that.

Speaking of hockey, the Pens finally scored a goal.

[ampersand]

Pens 3, Wings 2 Final.

More importantly, Ray Allen has scored tonight! 8 for 14 for 24 points! (Presently.)

[Calus]

The NHL game was... Fun to watch. I can't say I have said that in a while.

[ampersand]

Lakers win series, 4-1.

I think Tim Duncan is done. Toast, finito, riding into the sunset. He's had a great career, but he wasn't quite the same this year than last year.

[Deacon]

That's quite the odd pronouncement. Maybe "peaked" would be more accurate?

I guess the league got what they wanted after all.

[Hirschof]

That's quite the odd pronouncement. Maybe "peaked" would be more accurate?

Yes, Duncan is far from done.

I guess the league got what they wanted after all.

So much nonsense in all of the Laker's series this year. Same with Detroit - Boston. I'm going to watch that next game. What happens in that series will determine my status as an NBA fan.

Football season has officially started for me.

[Deacon]

I started switching to other channels and only checking back in every once in a while when I watched Duncan driving through the lane and being pounded like a pledge at a frat house hazing gauntlet from 4 different Lakers while the refs just stood around and watched like cops paid to look the other way during a mugging.

[Hirschof]

Among current players, the Cavaliers’ Anderson Varejão (Brazil), the Spurs’ Manu Ginóbili (Argentina) and the Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko (Russia) are all known as artful dramatists.

“I think if you fine them in euros, you’d find out that it would really end quickly,” Jackson said with a wry grin.

- Howard Beck article on "flopping" in the NBA (New York Times)

Am I the only one who had this reaction upon reading that?

[ampersand]

No, you weren't. This is why Phil is a Zen Master, not an economist.

So, I'm watching ESPN Classic's showing of classic Boston - Los Angeles post-season matchups and I saw something that really surprised me. Don Nelson was a Celtic? The Don Nelson who now coaches the Golden State Warriors? I had no idea.

Here's how I see the series. We assume that Boston isn't going to stop Kobe, and LA isn't going to stop Garnet or Pierce. So it really boils down to everyone else on the rosters. Now, granted, if anyone could just simply take over a series and make it theirs to win, it will be either KG or Kobe (especially Kobe), but I really don't think it will be the case unless the series comes down to the seventh game. I've noticed most sports experts are thinking that this series is going to take all seven games. Both teams tend to ease into a series, which is why most of their series take six to seven games to finish, especially Boston.

I think the Lakers have the better supporting cast because they've shown they can handle their own fairly well on the road, and someone always seems to step up. Gasol will do fine, but I think in order for the Lakers to win, someone else has got to really step up. I have this sneaking suspicion that Luke Walton will get somewhat inspired and help win a game or two, and that might be enough. Los Angeles in five.

[The Cid]

I'm going to be holding on to my prediction until Thursday. Why? Arbitrary reasons, just like the NBA deciding to take a six-day break between the conference finals and the NBA Finals, and then add in another three-day break between games 1 and 2. I mean that's just awful.

A few things for today though:
1) I'm going to go on ahead and say the NHL has the right idea: a penalty for flopping. In hockey such BS is called "diving" and gets you thrown in the penalty box unless you happen to be named Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin. If they could enact this in the NBA, and make a flop into a shooting foul for the other team, I think we'd all be happier.
2) With David Stern's obcession with expanding into Europe for no good reason, it's only a matter of time before some players are paid in Euros.
3) I want to see the NBA's memo saying nobody's allowed to mention what a crybaby Kobe Bryant was before this season started. I just don't get why nobody points this out. On the court he's fantastic, and there's no denying the amazing season he's had. Still, we're talking about a guy who is constantly called an all-time great already. Can anyone imagine that kind of audacity coming from Jordan, Magic, Bird, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Jerry West or Wilt? Of course not, but it's certainly the MO of flash-in-the-pan talents that can't play if they're not running the show and make their teams get rid of anyone who makes them feel threatened as a superstar. To put a guy like this up there with the Jordans and Wests of the world seems nearsighted.
4) If the Lakers win they'll do it on strong performances by Pau Gasol. We know Kobe's going to get his points, but the Finals are not a place where one guy can take the whole thing on his shoulders. (Except Jordan. But--and I want to make myself perfectly clear here--Kobe Bryant is nowhere near Michael Jordan's level. Have we forgotten how Jordan dominated?)
5) At the same time, the Celtics won't win this if they don't get big shots from Ray Allen. Pierce will score enough, and Garnett will likely not shrink from the biggest games of his life. The question is if they can get big shots from their best shooter. Allen will need to be clutch in this series for the Celtics to win.
6) To steak from Rick Pitino: Larry Bird isn't walking through that door, nor is Kareem or Magic or the Chief or McHale or Kurt Rambis. It's nice to see the old rivals coming back to town and all, but the only bitter rivals in the arena will be Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson.
6a) I knew there was something unnatural about Nicholson's performance in The Departed. A Laker fan that can do The Accent that well just seems weird to me.