Empty the Bench

Game One: Boston Celtics vs. Dallas Mavericks

Prelude

This one is a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. The Boston Celtics waltz into Dallas looking for another big road win having dispatched the Houston Rockets and their 21-game winning streak Tuesday night and the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. “I’ve never seen a defense like that,” said Tracy McGrady. “I mean, if they play defense like that, night in and night out, the NBA is in trouble because that was defense at its finest.” Indeed—the Celtics are allowing a league-low 90 points/per in blanketing shooters both on the perimeter and in the post with a hand in the face on nearly every other shot. The rebounding has been stellar too, allowing their opponents under 40/per as a team; only the Utah Jazz and Philadelphia 76ers are better in that category.

As for the Mavericks, they haven’t beaten a team above .500 since Jason Kidd came to town and have slid down the Western Conference standings all the way to the 7th seed. (Of course, just four games separate the 1 and 8 seed.) They’re coming off a gutting 102-100 loss to the LA Lakers Tuesday night, which was the seventh game straight that Kidd has failed to score in double digits… or attempt more than 7 shots. I know he’s a passer first, but that’s silly—Dallas is going to need 12-18 points a night from him come playoff time if they hope to advance past the first round. A victory tonight over a Boston team that’s cruising along with an .806 winning percentage would do wonders to quell the rising tide of criticism.

In-Game Notes

- The Celtics haven’t won in Dallas since 2000, but the return of Ray Allen (ankle) should give them a big boost. Less than two minutes into the game and he’s already gone to the free-throw line and nailed a jumper that looked effortless. All in all, though, this surprisingly hasn’t been one of Allen’s better overall seasons. His 2007-08 campaign will ultimately be judged on how he performs in the playoffs, however.

- In an era when many NBA teams are getting smaller in the frontcourt, the Celtics and Mavs are both starting traditional centers in Kendrick Perkins and Erick Dampier who have very similar skill sets: big, bruising, rebounding, shot-blocking lugs. It’ll be key for both of them to stay out of foul trouble as there’s not much size behind them on the depth chart.

- I’m a Josh Howard fan and think he’s the most exciting end-to-end player on the roster. Love his game, love his hustle, love what he brings to the Mavericks. He’s the third player of Dallas’ “Big Three” (along with Kidd and Dirk) and just as integral to the team’s success.

- 29-24 lead after one quarter for the Mavs following a 12-2 run, but it feels tenuous. Even in front of their home crowd, they seem a little of unsure of themselves. Is it because of tonight’s opponent, or because of a more deeply rooted tension?

- Jason Kidd is going to play 40+ minutes a night in the playoffs; I hope he’s ready for it. His backups, Tyronn Lue and Jose Juan Barrea, can both be effective in small fits and spurts in specific situations but overall, in the postseason against teams that are stacked at the position, I think they’ll both prove to be severe liabilities, especially on defense.

- Leon Powe has a very good chance of one day taking over KG’s starting power forward spot. The 6-8 third-year banger turned in some real solid performances while KG was out with a groin problem, and tonight he came in and made an immediate impact, putting up 3 points, 1 block, a nice assist to Paul Pierce, and drawing a charge on Dirk Nowitzki during his first 7 minutes. A lot of similarities between him and his backup PF counterpart on Dallas, Brandon Bass.

Notes on the rest of the Boston Celtics-Dallas Mavericks game after the break…

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- HOOPSWORLD – The Blazers have four picks in June’s draft, but will they keep them?
- Philadelphia Inquirer – David Aldridge thinks A.I. came back to Philly a better man.
- Ohio.com – The DeShawn-LeBron feud goes back further than you think.
- AOL Fanhouse – What’s next for Tim Donaghy: a short-lived romance with Tonya Harding?
- Bucks Diary – Ding dong, the Lizard Years are dead.
- Los Angeles Times – Good news on the Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol injuries front.
- SPORTSbyBROOKS – Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill are closet larpers.
- The Association – A little piss on the Houston Rockets’ winning streak parade.
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel – Even the sorry Heat aren’t interested in Gerald Green.
- Basketbawful – Doug Collins as backcourt magician and national sex symbol.

This homage to NBA basketball from the year 1984 has it all: a fat man covering a foot-long hot dog in mustard, professional dancers dressed as street thugs dunking on a lowered rim, a cheerleading squad without a choreographer, The Fat Boys (!), nunchucks, and, of course, hip-hop legend Kurtis Blow rapping basketball and rocking his finest Lionel Richie look. Classic.

Great scene in Philly last night.

In his first game at the Wachovia Center since being traded to the Denver Nuggets last year, Allen Iverson got a somewhat surprising standing ovation from the home crowd during the starting lineup introductions. With playoff implications for both teams, the game was competitive from start to finish. The two principal components of the big trade—Iverson (32 points, 8 assists, 3 steals) and Andre Miller (28 points, 12 assists)—both turned in high-level performances.

Andre Iguodala Photo Credit: Icon SMI

And there couldn’t have been a more appropriate script written for the end: with the Nuggets trailing by two and back-to-back losses staring them in the face, Iverson spotted up from 20-feet, gunned, and clanged it off the rim. Marcus Camby’s tip-in missed the mark and the ball squirted out of the fray into the hands of Andre Iguodala, who dribbled at a sprint down the floor and celebrated the big win as time expired. It was the Sixers’ fourth win a row, and their eighth victory in the past nine. Suddenly, the team few had pegged as playoff-bound is pushing the Washington Wizards and slumping Toronto Raptors for the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference.

We went to a preseason game at the Garden between the Sixers and Knicks and left thinking this team had no hope this year, that they were boring and a little depressing, that Iguodala’s one-man assault on the rim would be the only offense this team could muster, that Miller would demand a trade… and that we were definitely selling our tickets to the Philly/Knicks regular-season game included in our eight-game package.

We did unload that game (thank God), but none of those other thoughts have come to pass. As young guys like Thaddeus Young, Louis Williams, and Rodney Carney have started to find their way as the season has worn on, the Sixers have suddenly become a pretty exciting team to watch. They’re athletic, they’re active on defense, they hustle, and when they cause a turnover it’s often an intimidating four-man break going the other way. And they have leapers—Iguodala is one of the league’s most spectacular dunkers, but a few of his teammates know how to finish with pizazz as well.

The Sixers are easy to root for, and it’s going to be interesting seeing just how far they can take themselves up the Eastern standings these last 14 contests… 12 of which are against teams either locked into or fighting for a playoff berth. They’ll face LeBron’s Cavaliers twice, games that could be a preview of a possible first-round pairing if Toronto keeps slipping and Washington chokes. For more on the youth movement in Philly starting to pay off, check out Andrew’s excellent look at the state of the 76ers franchise.

Tags: Andre Iguodala, Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers, Andre Miller

Stew: “Why don’t you try the brisket?”
Jerri: “I don’t want any brisket.”
Stew: “EAT. THE. BRISKET!”

In the hands of Strangers with Candy’s Stew the Meatman and Jerri Blank, riffs on beef brisket can have hil-arious results. But in our special video edition of ETB’s NBA Poetry Corner, which finds a trio of San Antonio Spurs nerding it up in the name of “comedy,” only one thing happens as Tim Duncan recites his ode to fully cooked meat: a big, shoulder-raising cringe.
(Hat tip to Fan IQ)

Tags: Tim Duncan, Bruce Bowen, NBA Poetry, San Antonio Spurs

- Juiced Sports – We thought we were the only ones who felt this way about the Cuban thing.
- The 700 Level – Allen Iverson got a standing ovation during his first game back in Philly.
- Detroit Bad Boys – Detroit’s starters say they’re fresher than last year, but is it true?
- Basketball Pass – Lakers fans will not find this comparison amusing. At all.
- T’Wolves Blog – Not a fan of “tanking,” but wants his favorite team to lose, lose, lose.
- You Been Blinded – An athletic underachiever posterizes an athletic bonehead
- Magic Basketblog – The Magic would match up well with the Philly 76ers in the playoffs.
- TrueHoop – Ronny Turiaf likes to dance, but he’s no cheerleader.
- The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes – An interview with The Cable Guy, Mr. Chip Douglas
- Hornets 24/7 – Most of the MVP talk centers around Kobe and LeBron; what about CP3?

Admission: I have developed a mild fascination with the Detroit Pistons’ backup small forward over the past few years. It’s a roster spot that’s constantly been in flux and for the most part resulted in “one and done” tenures. Darvin Ham, Maurice Evans, Carlos Delfino… for one reason or another, none of them have done enough to cement their role behind ironman Tayshaun Prince.

Credit GM Joe Dumars for not standing pat and shipping these guys out once they’ve proved expendable, but at the same time he’s the one who brought them in and he’s the one who’s still tasked with finding the right guy. After trading Delfino to the Toronto Raptors over the summer for a few second-round picks, Dumars threw another dart at the SF board by signing the 10th overall pick of the ’03 draft, Jarvis Hayes, to a modest one-year contract that basically amounts to a well-paid tryout. A more-than-capable scorer with a sweet shooting stroke, Hayes struggled to stay healthy in Washington, and the team basically decided to give up on him and let him walk. A perfect reclamation project for Dumars and the Pistons.

Jarvis Hayes Photo Credit: Icon SMI

He hasn’t missed a game yet. He’s shooting a career-best 44.5% FG through 67 games. He fits in well with his easygoing teammates. He grants interview requests (at least for us). He seems happy in Detroit and would likely sign an extension if it was offered. But will it be? Hayes has been a severe defensive liability against most any player with an above-average talent of driving to the hole. His offense is incredibly erratic; when he gets the ball, 8 times out of 10 he’s going to shoot the ball. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes not so much. And is he really over his troublesome knee problems?

That’s Hayes in a nutshell. But, really, my intent here was to simply recognize the tear he’s been on (if you can actually call a hot shooting streak over just two games a “tear”). I already touched on his unconscious Sunday afternoon against the Hornets (29 points, including 7 three-pointers, on 77% FG), and he followed it up last night by lighting up the Denver Nuggets, who honestly are sporting one of the worst team defenses right now that I’ve seen all season. In 20 minutes of action Hayes was on fire, especially relative to him: 6-10 FG, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 three-pointers. He looks confident shooting the ball, which has not always been the case this year.

Hayes is nothing more than a role player on the Pistons; I get that. But his performance and ability to knock down open shots will be crucial during Detroit’s upcoming playoff run. If he can come even close to replicating these past few efforts in May, it’s obviously going to make this team much more difficult to handle. The Pistons’ starters have encountered some very ugly, very prolonged shooting slumps in recent playoffs, a byproduct of fatigue, excellent defensive schemes, and just simply missing shots at the wrong time. It happens. When it does happen—and it will again at some point—Hayes has to be able to come in off the bench and provide some offense. It’s this challenge his backup SF predecessors failed at. And it’s this challenge that will ultimately go a long ways towards determining if Detroit has another “one and doner” or not.

Tags: Jarvis Hayes, Detroit Pistons

HoopsHype – Dennis Johnson is severely underappreciated.
Ball Don’t Lie – Things collapsing under the weight of fat kids will never get old in my book.
The Boston Globe – KG stays classy; Cassell wishes he would tank a practice once in a while.
Hardwood Paroxysm – You just made my list of things to do today, Mr. Moore.
The Denver Post – JR Smith’s strong play of late is going to make him an expensive FA.
Oregon Live – Could Darius Miles still play? Really? The Blazers sure hope not.
The Sacramento Bee – Reggie Theus’s grating style is wearing on his players.
Need4Sheed – Detroit stuffed the stat sheet with plenty of season highs last night.
NY Daily News – Is Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh the prize free agent of the summer?
The Sun-Sentinel – Udonis Haslem could be packing his bags this summer.
The Rake – Britt Robson’s always level-headed, insightful take on the KG issue

Browsing through the sports section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune this afternoon I stumbled across this little nugget from Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, “It was more like, I’d say, K.G. tanked it.”

I was shocked and appalled. I rarely get riled up by player-trash talk, coach-speak or the inane excuses of professional sports management. It’s all part of the circus… but I found this offensive.

I’ve been a Kevin Garnett fan since he was drafted in 1995, when I was also a Minnesota resident. He has been one of the hardest working and most conscientious players in league history. He’s professional and unselfish to a fault, literally incapable of playing selfish or sub-par basketball even when the inferior play of his teammates begged it. Garnett has never been a dominant offensive player who drops 28 or 29 points a game, and he’s struggled to take over late in games on that end of the floor, but he’s done everything else exceptionally well in his career. Among power forwards in NBA history he’s right up there with Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Kevin McHale and Bob Pettit.

Kevin Garnett Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Unfortunately, Garnett’s career in Minnesota was mostly painful, with an NBA record of seven consecutive first-round losses in the playoffs and an MVP campaign in 2004 capped by disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. But I don’t blame KG. The Wolves never put a competitive team around Garnett, and that falls at the feet of perhaps the worst general manager in professional sports, Kevin McHale. McHale made one embarrassing move after another, from the Joe Smith fiasco that cost Minnesota three first-round picks to mishandling the Chauncey Billups situation to swapping Ray Allen for Stephon Marbury and Brandon Roy for Randy Foye on draft night to the draft history that includes first-round busts Ndudi Ebi, William Avery, Radoslav Nesterovic and Paul Grant. Kevin McHale has only made two great moves in his tenure as Timberwolves GM: drafting Kevin Garnett and trading Kevin Garnett.

And through all of that tomfoolery from McHale, Glen Taylor is the team owner who has kept McHale gainfully employed as Minnesota’s general manager. Glen Taylor is the person who has asked for a complete lack of accountability from his front office, who has never cared enough to question McHale or his ludicrous moves and who has never gone out and brought a real GM to town.

Further reaction to Glen Taylor’s comments and an interview with Kevin Garnett…

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- Mike Bibby has made a lot of his Atlanta Hawks’ teammates better since arriving last month, but perhaps none moreso than All-Star Joe Johnson. In the first 16 games of Bibby’s stint with Hotlanta, Johnson has just torched the competition, averaging 23.6 points, 5 boards, 6.1 assists, and 3 three-pointers/per—all improvements on his overall season avearages. Veteran Anthony Johnson, who was traded to Sacto as part of the deal, was a decent fill-in for awhile, but the Hawks have lacked a real threat at point guard for some time now. That forced Johnson to surrender some of what he does best—scoring—in the name of moving over to the point and becoming a distributor. It’s not that he isn’t a good passer, it’s just that he’s much better suited to the off-guard position, where he doesn’t have to worry about setting up the offense, getting teammates involved, etc. Josh Smith has nutty skills and Al Horford is one of the finest gems from the 2007 class, but Johnson is clearly this franchise’s cornerstone.

Of course, Atlanta already had two golden opportunities to solve their PG problem for the next 10+ years. As revisionists such as myself point out from time to time, the Hawks passed up both Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the 2006 draft, instead opting for Marvin Williams, who is getting better and turning into a fine player but was somewhat redundant to talent already on the roster. Given a mulligan one year later with the fifth-overall pick, the Hawks pulled quite a head-scratcher by taking BS (Big Stiff) Shelden Williams… one pick ahead of Brandon Roy, who you may have heard of and is pretty good. Big Shelden averaged 4.2 points and 4.2 boards over his two seasons in Atlanta; he’s now Sacramento’s problem.

- Watch any Boston Celtics broadcast—which shouldn’t be hard if you’re an NBA League Pass subscriber since Boston’s crew is chosen 8 times out of 10 over the opponent’s—and you’ll understand why color commentator Tommy Heinsohn might be the biggest homer in the league today (play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman comes in a close second). When the Celtics are whistled for a foul, it’s a bad call. When James Posey knocks down a three, he’s one heckuva player. And when things start going south for Gang Green and a loss seems eminent, Tommy doesn’t need to say anything—you know he’s f’ing pissed off and wishes he could choke the officiating crew.

Case in point: Friday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, which Boston eventually dropped 110-92. The Celts were called for seven more fouls overall than the visitors, a fact that was clearly wearing thin on Mr. Heinsohn as the game spiraled towards its conclusion. He was already fed up and had made numerous disgusted comments about the officiating… then ref Violet Palmer blew the whistle on a phantom offensive charge (I think on Rajon Rondo, but not positive). Andrew and I waited… and waited… and waited for Tommy’s remark. Silence. More silence. Then, after a full minute or so… “I gotta say this…” Silence—Tommy is rethinking what he was initially going to say. Finally, the Heinsohn Payoff: “Violet is no flower tonight.” Ha! Classic Tommy.

Now, don’t mistake my assessment of Tommy’s rampant homerism as a criticism, because it’s not. The man has been associated with the Boston Celtics franchise for over 50 years as a player, coach, play-by-play announcer, and now color guy. He’s an institution not just in Boston but in the NBA. Sure, his whining can be grating at times (especially when you’re rooting for the other team), but his opinionated personality and knowledge of the game generally lends itself towards an entertaining broadcast. One question though: does this recognition of his perepheral contributions to the game earn me a Tommy Point?

Thoughts on Glen Davis’ actual weight, Seattle’s shameful on-court product, and why the Dallas Mavericks are (eventually) screwed after the break…

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