Charlotte Struggles In Playoff Debut

The blinding of Stephen Jackson by his own headband is a fitting representation for the Bobcats playoff series against the Magic. While no one expected the 7 seed to do much damage to the defending Eastern Conference champs, Larry Brown and crew have to be dissapointed. Orlando looks like the more experienced, polished team. Even with Dwight Howard getting in foul trouble, the supporting cast has been great at shooting the ball. The officiating has been awful, on both sides. No surprise that Stack Jack is pleading his case to the one and only Bennett Salvatore.

The Magic are 23-57 from the 3-point line in the first two games. It is proving to be the great equalizer. The Magic move the ball very well, and by contrast Charlotte's offense has been sloppy. Almost 40 turnovers so far. Charlotte has the chance to save some franchise face over the next two games at home, but it is clear they have long strides to make before they are in the Magic's class.

photo via TBL

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The NBA Finals: What We Learned

Hello? Is this thing on? The trophy has barely touched down in LA and already Kobe fans are clamoring that this proves Kobe's better than LeBron and even His Airness. Phil Jackson is being discussed as the best coach ever, Trevor Ariza's contract demands are on the rise, and somehow people forgot that Pau Gasol's good. All this and more after the break...

Kobe v. LeBron
It's easy to point and say Kobe's better than LeBron right now. Kobe's brand new ring serves to mute any and all debate, but not for long. It wasn't that long ago (think Sasha Vujacic bricking threes in last year's Finals) that Kobe apologists were saying, "He can't do it alone, he has to have help." A statement that they conveniently forgotten now that LeBron is the one lacking help from his teammates. With Phil likely to retire after this championship, Kobe fans may need to recognize that this could be Kobe's last trip to the promised land. While Kobe has four rings, he only has one as the Alpha Dog. Is there anyone alive that thinks the King won't get more than one ring in his playing career? Comparing the seasons the two had at age 24, LeBron leads in FG%, 3PFG%, Rebounds, Assists, and Blocks. Kobe leads in FT% and Steals. Stats can be misleading, but it's hard to deny the dominant performance that was LeBron this past season. While the window is beginning to slide shut for Kobe, it's only getting bigger for the Chosen One.


Also, this notion that the Lakers grew from a lottery team to champions due to Kobe's maturation is absurd. The Lakers team that was in the lottery had Chucky Atkins and Chris Mihm starting and the only starter remaining from that team is Kobe, himself. Two of the starters (Atkins and Caron Butler) were traded for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit! That team featured Jumaine Jones, Tierre Brown, and Brian Cook playing significant minutes and Rudy T at the helm shortly after surviving a bout with bladder cancer. Rudy's a great coach, but it was clear he no longer had the drive by the time he landed on the bench of the Lakers. That lottery was five seasons ago and the only two holdovers other than Kobe are Luke Walton and Sasha.

Kobe v. MJ
Oh Kobe fans, you only serve to embarrass yourselves when you dare try to put Kobe's name in the discussion with Jordan. Some fans come armed with the argument that Kobe has more rings at 30 than MJ did. Let's take a more accurate look at how many each after 13 years in the league. Kobe has four and MJ... six! How about the Kobe didn't have a Hall of Famer playing next to him each time argument? How many Hall of Famers did Kobe beat in this series, Dwight Howard certainly has the potential to be one, but at only 23, he's far from the player he can become. He's the only legitimate shot at the Hall that the Magic have and he didn't attempt more than a dozen shots in any of the five Finals games, hardly worthy of Cooperstown Springfield. When MJ won his first title he went through Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boys and finally Magic and James Worthy. This Laker team won in the most bogus year in the NBA since the Spurs won their first title in lockout season in 1999. I already compared LeBron and Kobe's stats, so let's take a look at MJ too. For their careers (this includes the Johnny Kilroy and the Wiz seasons for Michael) Kobe leads in only two statistical categories: FT% and 3P%, but only by a combined .19. Jordan, however, leads in scoring average, FG%, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. Jordan was a better scorer, defender, and was better at distributing than Kobe... oh, I found something else Kobe does more of... turn the ball over. So Jordan takes care of the ball better too. I understand the euphoria of winning a championship, but the facts simply do not support the Kobe argument.

Phil as the greatest coach of all-time

He's undoubtedly a great coach, but having horses is a big part of successful coaching and he's had 4 of the NBA's 50 best in the last twenty years. No one else in the league can say that. Could he have won with the Lakers had he not won in Chicago? I don't know, because it was those six rings that gave him the credibility that his predecessors lacked. He'd been where Shaq and Kobe wanted to go and they respected him for that. It's not important, but with the egos of both players, it's hard to imagine them respecting the bad suit-wearing, goofy mustache-having Phil that first won in Chicago. I digress, I love basketball, but it's not the hardest sport to coach. Football has far more moving parts and egos and with an actual salary cap and so many injuries, it's much more difficult to navigate to the Super Bowl multiple times. Phil may have surpassed Red Auerbach for the most titles, but he's not the greatest coach of all-time, it's one of the coaches with multiple Super Bowl rings.

People forgot about Pau

When Pau got to the Lakers he was supposed to be the missing piece, but somewhere along the line people viewed him as a softie, instead of one of the top five big men in the league. When the Grizzlies traded him, everyone scoffed at how little they got... because he was damn good then. If I had to bet money on who would get another ring Pau or Kobe, I would take Pau.

The Lakers will regret re-signing Trevor Ariza
So this is a What I think instead of a what we learned, but it needs to be said. Ariza's benefited from playing with a veteran point guard, one of the top two players in the league, and two adept passing big men. He's been so far down on the opponent's priority list that he's had countless open looks and favorable matchups that his value has become artificially inflated. Add in the post-Finals loosening of the purse strings and if the Lakers aren't careful they end up with $115 million locked up in the tandem of Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza. He's a very good player and fun to watch, but he's an energy guy not someone that's going to take the mantle from Kobe. Overpaying here and with the departure of Phil possibly spelling the end of the triangle offense in LA, the team may find themselves with two albatrosses around their neck. Note: I would re-sign Ariza if I was the GM, but not at the price tag that so many believe he will command on the market.

Stan van Gundy screwed up
Just want everyone to know I'm onboard with every other writer out there on this topic. The irony is, however, that Phil could've faced the exact same criticisms if the series had swung the other way.

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NBA Playoffs: Where Egg on My Face Happens

"[I]f I were a betting man, I'd be all over Denver for game three."

3 second-half points for Mello and another bad pass that will undoubtedly earn Trevor Ariza $5-10 million extra dollars when he signs his next deal are things I should have foreseen. I'm not sure exactly why the Gasol hate has continued through these playoffs. He played very small in the middle part of the Rocket series, but from game seven of that series he's been the best big man in the playoffs. He's been a force on the offensive boards (more so than any of the "tougher" Denver big men) and unlike Dwight Howard, he's stayed on the court playing just as many minutes as Kobe. With Bynum playing like a big Tracy Morgan, Gasol's performance has been vital to their 2-1 series lead. Lamar Odom has been definition Lamar Odom. He scored 19 or more in 3 games against the Jazz, but since he's scored more than 10 only once. Midway through the Rockets series, it became apparent that Kobe would have to be on for the Lakers to win any game the rest of the way out. At the time, asking if he could do it ten more times seemed like a long shot, but now we're down to six "on" games for the Mamba, which seems much more doable.

On the flip side, if the Nuggets lose this series, it will be having an advantage in talent and owing it almost exclusively to mental miscues. Nene, his name is four letters long, can we please agree on a pronunciation. It's not as if he's got a Russian-Bulgarian hyphenated name. There are as many pronunciations as letters floating around currently. A guy that I believe can help swing this series, if he can get on the court: Renaldo Balkman. The energy that the Birdman typically provides has not been apparent in this series, but Balkman is another guy capable of making a difference without scoring (something the Nuggets have lacked thus far). I don't care if George Karl has to call Larry Brown to e-mail over some in-bounds plays on his Blackberry, if one more clutch in-bounds play is botched, he's going to lose this team, for good.

In the east, I couldn't be happier that the entire nation is getting to see the Orlando Magic's cheap-shotting, moving screens and constant arm-barring of Hedo. People want to sing their praises, but this has much more to do with LeBron's supporting cast playing like they just got done with ten rounds of drunken dizzy bat and go sell the Magic's defense somewhere else because I'm not buying. They are collapsing on the King and they're not paying for it. The Cavs guards have become intimidated (although Delonte has shown flashes) and they continually settle for jumpers. This, along with the horrendous officiating has resulted in the free throw disparity that so many people are talking about. Watching LeBron he's still an MVP caliber player, but he's looking much more man than myth in this series. He's certainly adept at scoring, but on the defensive end, he's ended up in no man's land on several plays, and I keep waiting for him to get mad to fire up his teammates, but when Mo Williams was face down bloodied, LeBron looked concerned, not incensed. Kobe, Larry, or Michael would've made the other team pay. To this point, the King hasn't. I do hope the Cavs pull this out, so we can call Turkgolu "Turk-Ehlo" for the rest of his career.

Just remember both series are 2-1, hardly insurmountable leads, there's plenty of chance for more egg on my face this week.

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'What Was the Difference?' and Other NBA Tidbits

Excluding the Doris Burke interviews, there is no more ridiculous, annoying, and hair-brained question in postgame analysis than 'What was the difference in tonight's game?' After both the Cavs-Magic and Nuggets-Lakers games this question has been posed, but the obvious, "Delonte/Fish missed the final shot." is never the answer, oh nooooo. Instead we listen to babble about how great the winning team played and we get to hear about the problems the losing team needs to fix. It's amazing that night in and night out, these talking heads can find no better questions to ask, other than generic BS questions that completely fail to, ya know, analyze the game.

Speaking of the games, if I were a betting man, I'd be all over Denver for game three. They haven't gotten to play in front of a home crowd in what will be ten days when the lace 'em up for game three and the Pepsi Center will be rocking. I anticipate the Nuggets getting a big lift for the game, potentially followed by a letdown in game four (much to the delight of Vinny Mac).

Speaking of Vince and the WWE, how epic is he going to try to make that Monday Night Raw? Nothing would give him greater satisfaction to outdraw the game in the ratings. Likely a pipe dream, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled out all the stops, possibly involving a special guest (if you smell what I'm cooking).

Meanwhile back on the hardwood, are J.R. Smith and Sasha Vujacic competing to see who can get yanked back to the bench fastest by their coach following an atrocious shot? It was good to see 'The Machine' stay in long enough to do his trademark ball hug after getting a foul called. Sasha, it's the first quarter, you get six fouls and you haven't made a difference yet this playoffs, please stop with the melodrama. It's also hard to fault J.R. Smith for shooting every time he touches the ball, because every time he passes he turns the ball over or nearly does. At least with a shot, it's not a direct pass to the Lakers.

All this discussion about Kobe v. LeBron for the league's best player has me wondering where this puts Carmello in the discussion? If people want to say the Mamba and the King are on a different plane, I have no objections, but doesn't he have to be creeping into the discussion with Dwayne Wade, CP3, and Dwight Howard on that second tier? With two ad campaigns focusing on Kobe v. LeBron does anyone else get the sneaking suspicion we're heading for another Dan v. Dave disaster?

The LeBron 'clutch' questions need to be put on ice. Asking them after game one because he passed up a shot, is nothing more than trying to rile up the natives. If LeBron isn't clutch because he passed the ball to Delonte West, is Phil Jackson not clutch for deciding to pass the ball to Fisher at the end of the game? Was Paul Pierce not clutch when he passed the ball to Big Baby? Of course not, because Davis made it. It's cliche to throw out the Jordan to Kerr pass, but if it had been Game Seven, Jordan never passes the ball to Kerr and I firmly believe if it was Game Seven, the King wouldn't have passed it either. The team lost that game because they played lazy defense, not because LBJ wasn't clutch.

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NBA Playoff Hodgepodge

While the Nuggets dispatching the Mavericks in five games, it could be a carry-over from this series that ultimately short circuits Denver's chances at a championship. With the Kenyon Martin - Mark Cuban feud in the rearview mirror, will the NBA not have a hairline trigger with the Mr. Blue Light Special? I don't think so. The first time Kenyon and Kobe exchange barbs or the first time he puts Gasol on his ass, Stu Jackson is going to suspend K-Mart for a game and potentially cost Denver a game. The remaining series are too tight to give a game away, but thanks to an owner Martin finds himself in a position where either a) he can't play with abandon or b) he risks missing a game. Not an enviable position and one that could cost the Nuggets.

The Lakers will finish off the 13th seeded Rockets tonight. After the Rockets pulled off a March Madness-esque upset in game four, the Lakers took them seriously in game five and without Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier shooting lights out while Jeff Teague Kobe Bryant struggled, Houston had no chance. Tonight will prove no different.

Orlando has allowed two straight games to slip through their fingers and while Superman wants to pin it on coaching, the players are just as much if not more responsible. Repeatedly ignoring Rashard Lewis's mismatch on the offensive end is a failure by both the guards and particularly, Hedo Turkeyglue. For the Magic, the answer isn't to get it to the Big Offensive Ineptitude in the middle, it's to not settle for jump shots, something they've failed to do in crunch time for two straight games. Turkeyglue, I know the step back three worked in crunch time before, but that doesn't make it a good shot. Boston will likely close this series out tonight, because good teams don't force their opponents to go scoreless for nine minutes in the fourth quarter and lose at home. Mediocre teams that rode officials to several regular season wins do.

Finally, the LeBron championship discussion. First answer these questions, would it surprise you if Kobe Bryant didn't win another title? Steve Nash never got one? Dirk never got one? How about Shaq, KG, Iverson, or Duncan? What about DWade? That's every MVP from the last decade (and the best player on the Redeem Team) not named the Chosen 1. If no one expects these players to win again or wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get to the mountain top again, how many rings will the King get? More than Kobe(3)? More than Duncan (4)? More than Jordan (6)? Or dare I ask, Russell (11)? Going after Russell would be an incredible longshot, but for a guy that is on the cusp of winning (and leading his team to) his first title at 24, chasing Russell, like Tiger chasing Jack, may be the only chance we get to seeing LBJ's full potential. If he gets a couple and gets complacent (think Shaq), we may never get to see the full extent of the King's greatness. Looking around the league, I don't see how he doesn't get in at least Jordan's neighborhood with 5, but everything will change in 2010. Even after 2010, playing with LeBron has to remain the best show in town for role players and aging veterans in search of a ring, doesn't it? Personally, I'd like for everyone to start taunting him with you'll never win as many as Russell, just to see how he responds and hope and pray his response is to prove us all wrong. He's the hybrid of Shaq and Jordan, with the speed of a track star thrown in. Dwight Howard might be Superman (and Clark Kent on the offensive end), but LeBron is part Hulk, Flash, Iron Man, and MJ (from Space Jam).

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Of "Super" Screens and Arm Bars

This loss was painful. Needing to win between 18-20 of their remaining 30 games, the Bobcats fell to 1-2 after the All-Star break. Unlike the first matchup of the week against the Magic, the Bobcats did not play well, and weren't in the game for nearly the entire second half, and this was the first game this season, where the team collecively looked rattled. The game started out physical, but by midway through the second quarter the officials had found their whistles, at least on one end of the court. The refs doing a poor job did not cost the team a victory as it did earlier in the week, but if anyone had doubts about Dwight Howard's Star status, they need only watch these two games. Howard's ability to not get called for moving screens, hacks, and offensive fouls can only be attributed to the time honored tradition of the NBA making sure the stars stay on the court.

When people explain why they don't watch the NBA, the star treatment is often one of the reasons mentioned, and having watched the Cats get man-handled by Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu being allowed to armbar his defender to the side every single time he dribbles, I completely understand the argument. For the Bobcats to be effective they need to play solid defense, but they aren't even given the opportunity, when faced with the additional task of trying to stay in front of their man fighting through moving screens and constant forearm shivers. This may sound like sour grapes, but there is no disputing that a no-call on Howard cost this team the first game and the lack of calls had the players attention far more in the second game, which attributed at least in part to the poor play. Between Hedo and Dwight in the two games, they attempted 43 free throws. The Bobcats as a team attempted 39 during the two games.

The Bobcats playoff chances now reside somewhere between slim and none, but Magic fans shouldn't get too excited. Their team is good, on some nights very good, but they are not playoff good. Dwight Howard has played undisciplined basketball since the All-Star break, they just happened to be playing a team that has less credibility with the refs than A-Rod has with anyone. The team fired up a combined 58 threes in the two games against the Bobcats, and while that may work in a first round contest, it won't cut it against either of the East's top teams. Once Howard isn't the biggest name on the court, it will be easier for officials to properly call fouls against him, and just wait for LeBron or Pierce to sell that ridiculous Hedo locked arm clear out.

I don't have an issue with the Magic, I like Van Gundy and Howard, but seeing your team getting jobbed because of their perceived standing in the league is frustrating at best. This team worked hard to out-rebound a front line that dwarfs them, both in pay and size, but due to a lack of name recognition, they end up on the losing end of two games. Congratulations Orlando, you guys have a nice little team, but just as Dwight Howard met his kryptonite over the weekend, this team will meet their's in the playoffs in the form of a team with more name recognition.

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Superman Has Trouble with Screens, Refs Fortunately Do Not Notice

A groan often heard around these parts (Charlotte) is the desire that Dwight Howard would have come to the Bobcats. The draft in 2004 did not allow the newly formed Bobcats the luxury of a number 1 pick. They traded with the Clippers and moved to the number 2 pick and chose Emeka Okafor after the Magic took Howard. There is no doubt that Howard is the more dominating player right now. Look at the man's deltoids for instance, I think he has to turn sideways to get through doors. Okafor is a solid post player but he is only 6'10" and watching the two side by side last night you could see Howard has the more gifted genetics. Mek finished with 14 and 9, which is about his season average of 14 and 10.7. He also fouled out and if you think he was cut any slack by the refs playing a guy who has become a face of the NBA, do not kid yourself.

The key play in the game was J.J. Redick hitting the game-tying three with 8 seconds left to send the game into overtime where the Magic eventually won 107-102. From the recap shwon below you can see that Howard was dominant in the middle all night, finishing with 45 points, 19 rebounds, and 8 blocks. I emplore you to observe Dwight Howard's screen on Raymond Felton (2:00 in the clip).

If you beleive this to be a legal screen, then you sir are an idiot and possibly retarded. This was probably even a hold in football. The Magic are a marquee team now since Howard has donned the superman persona. The Bobcats are 11 games under .500 and a franchise not especially lauded over by the league. I guess this is how the NBA works, you have to establish yourself first to get the calls to be right accurate in the closing seconds. Don't get me wrong I love Dwight Howard and what he is doing for basketball, but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade or a malesting a moving screen.

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NBA's Best Defenses and Where the Cats Fit In

In a recent NBA.com article, they took a look at the top defenses in the league. Not surprisingly, the likes of Boston, Cleveland, Orlando made the list, but also a slight surprise the Lakers were included. It's not a shock that the hometown Cats were not included, but just how do the Cats stack up? I can't go any further without acknowledging the help of Brett from Queen City Hoops and the Team Rankings.com staff for all of their assistance in compiling the numbers. Now, on with the show.The top five teams were compared in eight defensive categories: Defensive rating, Pace, Defensive Rebound Rate, Opponents Turnover Rate, Opponents Paint %, Opponents Fast Break %, Opponents Free Throw Attempts per Possession, and finally Blocks per possession.


1. Boston
2. Cleveland
3. Orlando
4. Houston
5. LA Lakers
When comparing teams, it's only between these five teams and the Cats, unless otherwise noted.

Defensive Rating - It appears that the primary (only?) determinant in the NBA.com rankings was the Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). According to defensive rating, Charlotte finishes just outside of the top five at seventh in the league, allowing 102.1 points per 100 possessions (1.021 per possession). This puts them in elite company, trailing only these five teams and San Antonio in this regard, and puts them fourth in the Eastern Conference. Given the amount of flux on the roster this season, Coach Brown's focus on defense already shows signs of paying off. Their 106.5 rating of a year ago would put them 26th in the league today.

Pace - (Possessions per Game) Not surprisingly, three of the top defensive teams play at a slower pace. Only the Lakers and Magic rank in the top half (7 and 13) of teams in the league and the Cavs and the Rockets are both in the bottom third (25 and 21). The Bobcats are even lower at 27th (91.5 pace), but they've improved from the start of the season when they were last for the first couple months. The Cats slower pace hasn't hindered their ability to keep up, however, in many of the other statistical categories.

Defensive Rebounding Rate - (Percentage of available defensive rebounds attained ) This is one area where the Bobcats lag behind, but not surprising when considering the front lines that these teams have grabbing boards for them. The Celtics (76.4%) and Rockets (75.2) are two and three in the league, and the Lakers are the only team out of the top half, barely at 16th. The Cats are 21st in the league, grabbing 72.3% of available rebounds, but given their relative lack of height (and complete absence of a power forward to start the year), teams have been often more willing to crash the boards against the Cats.

Opponents Turnover Rate - (Opponents' turnovers per 100 possessions ) Just as defensive rebounding has been a weakness, this has been a strength for the Cats. They're 9th in the league (13.9), and trail only the Celtics (14.4) and Cavs (14.3) amongst the leaders. The Cats do a markedly better job than Oralndo and Houston, who are both in the bottom five in the league. With the addition of Raja Bell and Coach Brown allowing Gerald Wallace to take more chances on the defensive end, the Cats number could even increase.

Opponents Paint % - (Percentage of opponents' points scored in the paint) Boston (36.7%) and Orlando (37.7%) are head and shoulders above the other teams in this regard, and thanks in no small part to the presence of Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. The Cats are currently 4th (39.5%) trailing Cleveland by mere percentage points and well ahead of LA (40.7%) and Houston (41.9%). One thing that this stat doesn't tell, though, is the percentage of opponents inside shots. The Cats and Cavs opponents have shot 35% of their attempts from close range, compared to only 31% for the Magic. With that said, Charlotte, Cleveland and Orlando are all in the top 3 defensive FG% for shots in the paint, two of the teams just happen to be doing it against more shots.

Opponents Fast Break % - (Percentage of opponents' points scored on the break)Another area the Cats have excelled at this season, is not giving up easy buckets. They're second to only Boston (11.17%) at 11.24%. Perhaps the most impressive of the bunch, LA allows 11.4% of fast break buckets, but given their much higher pace could be argued to be more impressive.

Opponents Free Throw Attempts per Possession - Houston, LA, and Orlando (.207, .207, .215) are all ranked in the top ten, with Cleveland 17th (.238), the Cats at 18th (.238) and Boston at 26th (.254). If I was a homer, I'd point to flex in the roster and having a rookie playing substantial minutes, but the team has had far too many facepalm fouls from veterans and rookies alike. Also, with the team trailing late as opposed to many of these teams up late, the Cats find their rate higher than most. If anything stand out, it's Boston's 26th ranking. Not exactly championship defense being played giving up that many free throws.

Blocks per Possession - The King and his Cavs actually out-pace Dwight Howard and the Magic here, at second in the league (.075). The Cats find themselves dead in the middle at 15th in the league (.061), just behind LA (.063) and Boston (.062). Much of the love for the Bobcats middle of the road ranking has to go to Emeka Okafor (who should be an All-Star). The addition of Diaw has not only helped Emeka on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end, where he's been able to avoid foul trouble after the trade as well as Mek's getting accustomed to Larry Brown's system.

For those of you that like spreadsheets here's a breakdown of all the categories with team rank to the right of each stat (where applicable).



Another important note for Charlotte fans, with the exception of the slower pace, the team has improved, sometimes marginally and other times dramatically, in all of these statistical categories from a year ago. The Bobcats are not in the discussion of elite teams in the league, but with Coach Brown at the helm, and with more time for the pieces to gel, this team is beginning to have the makings of an elite team, at least on the defensive end of the floor.

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