Sunday, May 11, 2008

No Breaks Allowed, Part Two

As I explained in Part One, the No Breaks Allowed blogs are a way to let out my random basketball thoughts that I need to share with somebody. Anybody. I should get a dog. Then again, that itself would be a problem, because I strongly dislike dogs. I could go on and talk about dogs for a while, but these aren’t the dog days of the season, we’re in the middle of the playoffs, and a lot of stuff is happening on and off the court. So let’s do this.

-Game 4 between the Spurs-Hornets was memorable. Why? Robert Horry tied one of the greatest players of all time (Kareem) in playoff games played. 237 postseason games, going from Houston to LA to San Antonio. And winning seven championships along the way. He never missed the playoffs throughout his career, which is amazing in itself. Now that’s what you call a great career. 237 playoff games. Wow. That’s almost 3 full seasons of playoff basketball, if that makes sense. And on Tuesday night, Horry will have the new record. Interesting note from Game 4 was that the crowd gave a huge ovation when Big Shot Rob came in; they all love him over there. He immediately got the ball, shot, and it went in. Big Shot indeed.

-If there was a possibility to have a 2-on-2 competition with international NBA players, Turkey-The Netherlands would be embarrassing to watch. Turkoglu-Okur vs. Elson-Gadzuric. Go figure (a friend of mine spoke with Elson weeks before he was traded to Seattle, and all that guy wants to do is get some playing time. It’s not about the money or on which team he plays, he just wants to get some minutes). A lot of Turkish people live in The Netherlands, and I wonder if they even know Hedo and Memo.

-Kobe is the MVP and rightfully so. Not because he was due, but simply because he was the best out there this season. After receiving it he played very well in the Game 2. But I just saw Game 4 and I there was a version of Kobe playing I’m not used to seeing anymore. Forcing it too much, forgetting about his teammates, making wrong decisions late in the game, etc. He definitely made an offensive foul on Kirilenko in OT, yet they called it on AK-47. They men in grey made some very odd calls on both ends of the floor.

-Parker vs. Paul is the most entertaining and spectacular match-up of the playoffs. Lightning speed and impossible layup after impossible layup. A joy to watch.

-Is Boston playing really good defense, is LeBron in a slump, or is Mike Brown simply not a good coach? James is shooting 22% during those first three games, and we have to some credit to the Celtics’ D. However, the 1-on-5 approach usually doesn’t really work well in basketball, but it seems that it’s the only play Brown is running. My opinion on the Cavs is that they have two problems: the team just isn’t good enough to win a championship, and although they went to the Finals with Mike Brown, they will never win that trophy with him.

-Speaking of kings, Peja is playing like he did in Sacramento. He must show more against the Spurs, because he wasn’t a factor in Game 4. But there were times I thought he really would be hampered by injuries for the rest of his career. Nice to see he can still compete at a high level.

-Stop spreading the news. He’s leaving today. He wants to be a part of it: New York, New York. How about Mike D’Antoni? Who expected that? I thought Mark Jackson would be the next coach in NY, with D’Antoni either staying in Phoenix, or heading off to join Kanye, Common and the rest of the Chi. A huge mistake by Reinsdorf and Paxson for letting the Knicks get him.

-David West is only a 6’8 power forward and almost every big man has trouble defending him. If you haven’t seen him play, you wouldn’t believe it. Is there any spot on the floor other than the 3-point line he can’t score from? He will be a star for a long time in this League. It’s nice to be on the Hornets right now. It’s a franchise which can be successful for many years to come with Paul, West, Chandler, Peja, while being coached by Byron Scott.

-There are some readers of this blog who will agree with me on the following: get Paul Silas a coaching job! I know I say it every few blogs or so, but I’m going to keep doing it until a GM wakes up and decides we, the people, are right. Since MJ himself decided to choose Larry Brown over Paul Silas (who openly said he wanted the Charlotte job), rumors are he’s now in the running for the Suns coaching vacancy. I also read names of former Suns players (Eddie Johnson, Vinny Del Negro, amongst others), but to me it would make more sense to have an imposing guy like Silas. You have to deal with the enormous ego of Shaq, and star players like Stoudemire and Nash. Silas, a once ferocious rebounding mad man in his playing days, would be the perfect guy for the job. I hope Kerr thinks the same way.

-One final note: The Warriors are lowballing Baron Davis? They must understand that if he walks, this is the end of a very short era. They finally had some success the last two to three years, and now this? The rest of the West is only getting better, and if they don’t sign Baron to a new contract, it means to me the Warriors organization isn’t committed to winning after all. If they are willing to overpay Don Nelson (yeah I said it), they should at least reach out to their franchise player. After letting Richardson walk (which proved to be a very dumb move), they can’t let Davis go too. I’m watching this very, very closely.

11 comments:

Jason Boxer said...

the hornets just got beat pretty damn badly. there was a stretch of like 4 or 5 plays where they turned it over every time down the court. that was some pretty garbage-y garbage time.

Anonymous said...

come on lakers...

robbz18 said...

Would really love to have done a feature like this, but damn... I just cant seem to watch any NBA games lately! Last one I saw was Lakers-Jazz game 3, so it sucks having to miss more games..

You know, seems like we're starting a movement here with Silas. He really should get a job, though. Perhaps Cleveland? Again?

Lastly, I dont think the Warriors are low-balling Baron Davis. If you owned the Warriors, wouldnt you think twice about offering a long-term deal to an oft-injured PG? He was lucky to have played every game this season, but its highly unlikely to happen again.

I surely wouldnt sign him long term. Or I would, assuming its only around 10-12 mil per. But that would be unlikely, and with Monta Ellis seemingly ready to break out, I guess maybe they can sign and trade baron for more depth.

That's just me, though. Id hate to see the Golden State Era come to a close just like that, but do they really stand a chance in the West? I dont think so...

P.S. Nice to see you put Don Nelson on blast!

-Gerard Himself- said...

Jay: do we have a 7-game series on our hand? I believe so! (NOH-SAS)

Henny: what's up dutchy? Lakers will prevail, maybe in 6, maybe in 7, but they will win. Unless Kobe's back breaks down.

Robbz: random Silas fact (I didn't know about it): he called Carlos Boozer a cunt when he left for the Jazz! For some reason, I find that funny. The League didn't. (I might write a blog about Silas in the near future; I mean: why not?)

And the Warriors.... if there is any chance to keep Baron Davis, but get Elton Brand.... if only. I'm not sure what I would do if I was Chris Mullin. I understand Davis has a history of injuries, then again, he played a lot this season. Don Nelson needs to use his bench more, so he doesn't wear out his regulars, especially our bearded hero.

robbz18 said...

Gerard, we most likely will get 3 Game 7's, which is all good! Never doubt LeBron James!

Dude, you really should write a feature on Paul Silas. I think he's a great dude.

He really said that? Nice. I understand why, though. Boozer basically backstabbed the team and almost set them back a few years. I was so relieved they got Drew Gooden soon after. But really, both sides have a reason to do what they did. Cant really fault them for treating this like the business that it is.

Warriors: No way they field both players, man. Haha. They should probably look into getting a defensive-minded wing or guard.

Jason Boxer said...

If Elton Brand leaves the Clippers, the tiny, puny, pathetic amount of hope for that team will be dead.

a thought of my team going 0 and 82 is terrible.

robbz18 said...

Dudes, finally posted an NBA-related feature again. Check it out!

oh, GO HORNETS!!!

robbz18 said...

Dude, you have to admit that stuff arent exactly good over in ClipperLand, so its very likely EB will leave. Just too much stuff going on, man..

It's sad, they were actually onto something 2 years ago. Too bad it wont last.

And I always thought you were a JazzMan.

Jason Boxer said...

I became a JazzMan just when the playoffs started cuz I had no other team to root for.

I'm a Clippers man 1st and a Nets man 2nd. The Jazz are just sexy.

and unfortunately, that sexiness failed last night. it was a pretty damn close game, though. If they pull this series off, it will be an act of the gods.

Anonymous said...

david west has become my favorite... i mean the first time i saw him play, i got pissed why? bcoz he dribbles too much for a big man and sometimes force too much action, but boy he has really become a pain in the ass for most teams..

Jason Boxer said...

my jazz went down. shucks.

The next series in the West is going to be incredible. Spurs or Hornets, it's going to be really competitive. i'm excited.