An Interview with a Special Blowtorch Correspondent

From time to time, I'll be checking in with my cat, Boots with the Fur, to get her thoughts on the playoffs. This is the first of those times.

Me: First of all, thanks for taking the time out of your day to meet with me. I know you're busy laying on the floor, eating, or laying on the floor.

Boots: Meow.

Me: I guess the place to start is with the Bulls. How sad were you when they were eliminated?

Boots: Meeeeeeeeeeow.

Me: Exactly how I feel too. What do you think about Kevin Garnett?

Boots: flexes claws

Me: Yeah, tell me about it. What are your thoughts on all of the flagrant foul controversies?

Boots: Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooooooow.

Me: Really? I haven't heard anyone say anything like that yet. That's enlightening.

Boots: purrs

Me: Of the teams left, who is your favorite?

Boots: The Nuggets.

Me: Me too, Boots. They're just a lot of fun to watch.

Boots: Meow.

Me: Do you think they have a chance at the title?

Boots: falls over and begins to sleep

Me: That seems like all the time we have. Thanks a lot for talking with me Boots.

Boots: continues to sleep

NBA FINALS, CAPITALIZEDEDEDEDED

On today’s Basketball Jones podcast, Skeets and Tas have just about every big sports blogger call in and make their prediction about the NBA Finals. They all predict the Spurs and I’m in the same boat. No matter how good Le-Bro is, his supporting cast just isn’t good enough to help him overcome San Antonio.

Dan Shanoff off-handedly mentions that this Cavaliers team is similar to Allen Iverson’s 76ers squad that stole a game from the Lakers back in 2001, and I had been thinking the same thing all morning. Here areach team's rotation (only players who play significant minutes):

2001 Philadephia 76ers
Allen Iverson
Aaron McKie
Dikembe Mutumbo
Eric Snow
Tyrone Hill
Jumaine Jones
George Lynch

2007 Cleveland Cavaliers
LeBron James
Larry Hughes
Zydrunas Ilguaskas
Sasha Pavlovic
Drew Gooden
Donyell Marshall
Anderson Varejao
Daniel Gibson
Eric Snow


As you can see, these two teams are eerily similar (Eric Snow is still terrible). Both teams are designed around the concept that their defense will be good enough that their star can win the game. Both teams are full of staunch defenders who rely heavily on the play-making ability of Iverson or James. Both teams have a coach with the last name Brown.

Looking back, it’s surprising how bad that 76ers team really was. Seriously, they don’t have a single jump-shooter in the bunch. Mutumbo was only elbows and an indecipherable accent at that point, and Tyrone Hill, Jumaine Jones, and George Lynch all sound like randomly generated names from NBA Live. At least Larry Brown had the good sense to keep Todd MacCullough, Kevin Ollie, and pre-skills Raja Bell on the bench for the majority of the series. It’s really shows how amazing and competitive Allen Iverson was that he could steal a game (on the road!) against Shaq and Kobe. However, I’m still not convinced that LeBron James is as intense as Allen Iverson; and for Cleveland to have any chance this series he needs to play like he did to close out Game 5.

At best, I can see Cleveland winning games 3 and 4 at home. Sure, Le-Bro could go completely bonky and destroy everything in his path and the Cavs could pull off an enormous upset, but I can’t imagine San Antonio letting that happen. LeBron’s midrange game is still suspect and that’s how to beat the Spurs. I’m taking the Spurs in 5 with Cleveland winning game 3.

Peace Out, Detroit

So it’s Spurs-Cavs in the Finals. I suppose that’s for the best. San Antonio is awesome to watch and appreceiate basketball in a very geometric way. Cleveland has LeBron, Boobie, and that’s about it. Still anything is better than suffering through another Detroit series.

Detroit is that very rare team that has nothing to interest me. Rasheed Wallace used to be one of my favorite players, but all the excitement is gone from his game. You know he’s going to drift outside and jack threes, you know he’s going to freak out, and you know he’ll play pretty good defense. Zzzzzzzzz. The only other player of any consequence to me is Jason Maxiell, and his playing time is impossible to count on. I like that when he gets the ball he tries to tear the rim off, but you can’t really count on him at all. Delfino can be exciting, but I don’t care. Rip and Chauncey are boring unless they’re shooting half-court shots, and Webber and McDyess are just depressing.

So farewell Detroit Pistons. It was nice when you beat the Lakers in 2004, but since then you’ve done nothing for me. At least you don’t have those horrible uniforms anymore.

I'm Surrounded By Frickin' Idiots

Well, he shot it. Not a great look but it was a strong move to the hoop, plus he probably got fouled. I guess that answers that question.

However, there is far bigger question for the Cleveland Cavaliers – what are they going to do to win while they still have LeBron James? Currently he’s surrounded by a mismatched group of underperformers and an awful coach. I really don’t like Larry Hughes at all and if he’s signed as a “shooter” to complement LeBron then he should be able to hit an open 8-footer to win a game. Daniel Gibson might eventually be the answer at point, but he’s still too raw to be counted on. Ilgauskas isn’t suited for this team, and Pavlovic isn’t anything more than a bit player. Varejao has really been impressive this series, but he’s the only Cav (including LeBron) that has.

LeBron is a top 5 talent, but he’s handcuffed by having to play with these guys. The Cavaliers need to do everything they can to get someone who can give LeBron some consistent help. If not, I can’t see James wanting to stay around Cleveland for too long. He’s stated that he wants to become a global icon, but that’ll only happen if he wins something. And if he isn’t winning in Cleveland, what’s the point of staying?

Thoughts on LeBron

With game 2 rapidly approaching, there is talk all over the place about LeBron James’ performance on the last play of game 1. Driving to the hole, Bron Bron kicked it out to a wide open Donyell Marshall for the game winning three. Of course, being a former Chicago Horri-Bull, Marshall clanked the three and now LeBron is taking tons of heat for his crunch-time decisions.

If you’ll remember, this same time last year, LeBron was being questioned left and right about how he’d never hit a game-winning shot and his peculiar habit of chewing his fingernails during a close game. However, James seemingly answered all those questions during last year’s playoffs when he owned the Wizards and almost pulled off an upset of the Detroit Pistons.

That was LeBron at his best, but now TrueHoop has addressed the problem that everyone is having, why’d LeBron pass? Henry proposes that it’s not so much a matter of LeBron being meek, but rather that James, being only 22, is just trying to find himself as a player. I find a lot of credibility in this line of thinking and am also reminded that when he was coming in to the league, the thing that people raved about was LeBron’s court vision and passing ability. Though he chose to wear 23, most envisioned him as the second coming of Magic Johnson (which begs the question, why doesn’t LeBron run point?). Unfortunately for him, any and all lead guards will be measured against Jordan’s success.

I find it hard to reconcile the fact that if Marshall had hit that shot, we’d be praising LeBron for making such a good pass; but if he’d missed the shot, people would be complaining that he didn’t hit Donyell in the corner. It’s impossible to expect LeBron (or anyone) to compare to Michael Jordan, but I think LeBron can become his own kind of crunch-time killer. Last year’s playoffs showed that he has the ability to finish games, but right now he just needs to figure out the best way.

Fight the Power

It’s strange to say, but this post-season really feels like Tim Duncan’s coming out party. No matter where you turn, people are trying to assess how Duncan should be rated, which seems pretty bizarre since he’s been in the league for 10 years now. Between Bill Simmons fawning over him in a recent column, or the discussion on Mike and Mike this morning about where Timmy stands on the historical list of power forwards, this is the first time that I can remember that the media has recognized how good Duncan really is. And, seriously, he’s amazing. Like best ever at his position amazing.

When you think about it, the other possible candidates for GPFOAT fall short of TD in one category or another. The main competitors are usually Elgin Baylor, Karl Malone, Kevin McHale, and to a lesser extent, Charles Barkley. Let’s examine each of their cases individually.

First, for comparison’s sake, here are Duncan’s stats:

Regular Season
PPG: 21.8
RPG: 11.9
BPG: 2.4
APG: 3.2

Playoffs
PPG: 24.1
RPG: 12.6
BPG: 2.8
APG: 3.6
Championships: 3

Stellar stats, not to mention that he clearly steps his game up when it really matters. Now on to the competition.

Elgin Baylor:
Regular Season
PPG: 27.4
RPG: 13.5
BPG: --- (not available)
APG: 4.3

Playoffs
PPG: 27.0
RPG: 12.9
BPG: --- (not available)
APG: 4.0
Championships: 0

Obviously, these are out-of-this-world statistics, but I think it’s very obvious the one area that Baylor falls short of Duncan: titles. I don’t think it’s fair to totally disregard a player simply because they are one of the hundreds of players to never win a championship, but when you’re trying to decide who is the best power forward of all time it certainly is an important variable (and one that will continue to come up).

Karl Malone:
Regular Season
PPG: 25.0
RPG: 10.1
BPG: 0.8
APG: 3.6

Playoffs
PPG: 24.7
RPG: 10.7
BPG: 0.7
APG: 3.2
Championships: 0

Once again, wonderful stats but no rings (although it should be noted that Duncan is a significantly better defender). Until recently, the case for Karl Malone for best power forward ever was pretty strong. However, because of Michael Jordan, he couldn’t break through to become a championship player. And while losing out on titles to The GOAT isn’t anything to be ashamed of, he still couldn’t win one while he was chasing a title with the Kobe and Shaq led Lakers. However, Karl Malone’s Rogaine commercials are legendary.

Kevin McHale:
Regular Season
PPG: 17.9
RPG: 7.3
BPG: 1.7
APG: 1.7

Playoffs
PPG: 18.8
RPG: 7.4
BPG: 1.7
APG: 1.6
Championships: 3

Of the 4 top contenders, McHale is the only one with any championships to his name. However, his statistics don’t even come close to touching Duncan’s. Clearly this is a product of playing on the best frontline ever (Bird, McHale, and Parrish), but it’s still a fact. Just as you can’t discount the fact that Malone, Baylor, and Barkley don’t have any rings, it is impossible to ignore that McHale has definitely inferior stats to Tim Duncan. Also, he’s a terrible GM (FREE GARNETT), but that’s another story for another day.

Charles Barkley:
Regular Season
PPG: 22.1
RPG: 11.7
BPG: 0.8
APG: 3.9

Playoffs
PPG: 23.0
RPG: 12.9
BPG: 0.9
APG: 3.9
Championships: 0

Another of the no championships club, Barkley is a once-in-a-lifetime player. Listed at a generous 6’6” (more like 6’4”), Barkley was an absolute terror. Unfortunately for him, Barkley also was continually thwarted by Michael Jordan in his quest for a title (maybe this disproves the theory that basketball is a big man’s game, but we can figure that out later). I don’t really think Barkley is in the upper echelon of power forwards, partly because I’m not sure if you can actually consider him a power forward. Nonetheless, for the purposes of this discussion, he’s still not close to Duncan.

Between his stats and his titles (not to mention the fact that he’s got probably 5 more good years in the league), I think it’s an easy argument for Tim Duncan as the best power forward of all time. And for that matter, I can’t really see anyone displacing him. The “next” big mean, Dwight Howard and Greg Oden, will certainly be considered centers; and most seven-footers these days are more perimeter focused than Duncan. Amare’s talent and athleticism could allow him to challenge Duncan for the throne, but I think it’s almost impossible to truly evaluate him as an individual until Nash’s back finally gives out and Stoudemire is forced to create rather than react to Nash’s playmaking.

It’s nice to see that people are finally taking notice of how fantastic Tim Duncan really is, and it’s unfortunate that some people might see his (possible) fourth title as tainted due to the Stoudemire-Diaw suspensions in round 2. Ultimately, we have the pleasure of watching one of the NBA’s 20 greatest players ever in action all this month. Enjoy it while you can.

Somewhere, Nick Anderson is Smiling

During my senior year, my buddy Clinton and I sat and watched one of the games at our Christmas tourney. Thorughout the game there was this old lady who would repeat this mantra during every free throw attempt:

“What do free throws do? They win games.”

Mind you, she wasn’t asking anyone. Just constantly repeating that as her team shot free throws. Since we were 16 we were cracking up. But after last night, I can’t stop thinking about that lady.

Golden Steezy

Tonight, I’m a Warriors fan. And judging by the Bulls results in the second round, I might be adopting them as my primary rooting interest very soon. Hopefully the Warriors can come up with some sort of plan to stop the Booze, likely involving this guy:

Nonetheless, watching the Warriors is like watching the most entertaining pick-up game you’ve ever seen. Their tireless. Furthermore, they’re the most conflicted team I’ve ever seen. Aside from Richardson, every single player is out to prove themselves and that makes them special. I wouldn’t necessarily consider it an underdog mentality (and it is certainly more than a chip on their collective shoulders); it’s more cathartic than that. The Warriors represent every discarded part of everyone’s lives, a real-life Island of Misfit Toys. That’s why a guy like Baron Davis won’t come out with a cramp while Vince Carter convulses by the bench. The Warriors and that their redemption isn’t predicated just on winning, but winning the way they do.

Ch-Check It Out: Golden State of Mind