NBA Finals Game 7: Where Refs Controlling Legacies Happens

With 1:23 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Joey Crawford called Big Baby Glen Davis for a push in the back away from the ball. The foul appeared largely innocuous at the time, no foul shots were taken, Davis, a rserve was not in foul trouble and you won't see it on any highlight reels. With one simple call, however, Joey indicated a shift in officiating that would largely rob the players to write the latest chapter in NBA history. The NBA Finals had a game 7 for only the second time in the last 25 years, but other than Ron Ron's post game press conference, this one will be remembered for the player being robbed of a chance to write history.

After 82 regular season games and 23 playoff games, the Celtics were leading by four little points heading into their final game of the season and potentially their final game as a team for this particular collection of players. 105 games and three quarters, as well as knocking out the likes of Wade, LeBron, and Dwight Howard should have entitled this team an opportunity to write their own final chapter, but that opportunity was swiped from them. Don't be confused, this is not anti-Lakers, while they won and probably wouldn't change anything, they were likewise not afforded the opportunity to cement their legacies, either. Except for Pau Gasol, who once again proved he'd rather get a call than make a play, unless it involves discarding a point guard on a rebound.

Through the better part of three quarters the refs were stellar, allowing the players to determine who was going to be most deserving. Here you can see how many free throws were being attempted per minute through each quarter. The first three quarters are very similar, but the 4th takes a dramatic turn. In a quarter where the Lakers scored 30 points, they made just six field goals.In a game that was 57-53 entering the fourth, with scoring at a premium, granting one team nearly two free throws per minute was bound to have a dramatic effect on the game. Watching the game it did not feel that it was being played dramatically different, but suddenly it was being called dramatically different.21 free throws attempted in the fourth and while the Lakers did not shoot particularly well from the stripe, it was the only reason that a game that had been nip and tuck remained close down the stretch. At halftime ABC highlighted Boston's ability in transition as a key to the second half. This ability was virtually nullified in the fourth quarter as the FTs allowed the Lakers to be set on defense nearly every occasion. Only six times were the Celtics not pulling the ball out of the hoop or rebounding a free throw. On four of those, they scored or were fouled. A 66% success rate that had there been more opportunities, could have made a huge difference.

While Celtics Lakers remains the most storied rivalries in the NBA and maybe all sports, the final chapter of this series was written by three officials who either got nervous or couldn't help wanting to be a part of the story. It should be noted that while one team was attempting more free throws in one quarter than had been attempted by both teams through three quarters the ESPN announcing crew completely failed to acknowledge this revelation. Perhaps if we don't talk about it, we can pretend like the players did decide the game. Unfortunately, Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the greatest gift an NBA season can give was altered dramatically by three referees, a story line that has become all too common in recent years.

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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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Justifying or Justified: 3 Observations from the Weekend

We've all gotten into arguments disagreements with a loved one where we're trying to justify our actions, even if we know deep down that we're wrong. Here's three observations from the weekend and I need folks to tell me if I'm justifying or justified in my beliefs.

1. The John Wall Breaking and Entering story doesn't concern me one bit. Wall, was cited for B&E after being observed walking out of a vacant house. There was no forced entry and nothing appeared to be missing. To me this is little more than kids being kids. This pails in comparison to Wake Forest's Al Farouq Aminu being arrested for shooting a woman with a BB gun, but because of Wall's undecided status people will want to make a mountain out of a molehill. If anything, I'm betting on the officer that stopped them being a State fan.

2. The Denver Nuggets will prevent Kobe from winning a championship. Denver's playing with a dash healthy serving of nasty these days and have already frustrated two of the best in the west (Paul and Nowitzki) and the Black Mamba could be next. When Dahntay Jones (or as I like to call him Gerald Henderson's defensive doppleganger) puts Kobe on his backside, who on the Lakers is going to step up and be the enforcer? Andrew Bynum in his first playoffs, Pau 'please don't touch me' Gasol, Trevor Ariza? The only possibility other than Kobe having the sole responsibility is Derek Fisher and no offense to Fish, I'm not sure he's got it in him. When these two teams meet, the series will undoubtedly take a toll on 24 and that won't bode well as they look forward. I'm not ready to say that Denver will win the series, but this team is underrated when it comes to experience. Both Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin have played in multiple NBA Finals, Carmello has performed well on big stages at the college and Olympic level, how nervous can Nene be before a game considering he conquered cancer and the same goes for Chris Anderson after beating his inner demons. That leaves J.R. Smith, who clearly has no conscious and would gladly hoist from near 30 with your life on the line. If the Lakers want to advance and have anything in the tank for the Cavs... er, I mean East Winners someone will have to step up to protect Kobe.

3. Boxing will never die. It will go dormant for long periods of time, but it will never die. When a great boxer is fighting, people will emerge from their two year pugilist slumbers and flock to TVs like moths. On Saturday with every sport but football represented, it was Manny Pacquiao that stole the show. He was better than Ovechkin v. Crosby, better than Bulls v. Celtics, better than the NASCAR Richmond race, the Quail Hollow Championship and yes, even the Kentucky Derby. Mine that Bird is a great story, but the race did have two favorites scratch, and the "sloppy" conditions were perfect for a smaller horse. A big part of upsets are who you beat and as it stands now Mine That Bird hasn't beaten any horse of note. Back to boxing, the sport has multiple problems, but when a great walks into the ring after a long night of hapless undercard bouts, all those problems melt away. When the Sweet Science is being practiced by a master, there are few things in sports that can top it and that's why when someone says, "Boxing is dead" from now on, I'll feel compelled to correct them.

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Bye Ammo, Hello Impaler

The Bobcats have completed their third trade of the season, this time sending Adam Morrison and Shannon Brown to the LA Lakers in exchange for Vladimir Radmanovic. The Lakers get some cap space for 2010, and the Bobcats get someone to fill the void that Ammo was intended to fill, a wing player that can shoot and play mediocre defense. When Gerald returns he should offer an excellent additional dimension to the team with his ability to consistently knock down the 3-pointer (career 38.6%). Unlike Boris Diaw, the other big man the Cats have added, Vlad is not a skilled ball handler or distributor, but like Diaw his strength is not on the boards, a consideration that the front office has appeared to ignore in all of the trades this season. With this move there is no debate about the goal of the season and the franchise in the short term. They want to make the playoffs, and have mortgaged any short-term roster flexibility in an attempt to get there.

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