Apr

17

What Is Stevenson Thinking?; David Stern’s Dream Final Four

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I have a couple thoughts on the NBA Playoffs before they begin Saturday:

What in the world has gotten into DeShawn Stevenson? What does this guy put in his coffee every morning? It was one thing for him to call LeBron James overrated a few weeks ago, although Stevenson may have had a point. James should be averaging a triple-double by now, his fifth season; putting up 30 points (on 48 percent shooting from the field), 8 rebounds and 7 assists per game is unacceptable for a player as lauded as James.

But Stevenson’s latest rip extended past any active NBA player. He talked smack to a Hall-of-Famer. After TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley (23,757 career points, 12,546 career rebounds, 11-time All Star, 11-time All-NBAer, one gold medal, one of the 50 greatest ever) called Stevenson’s Wizards the “dumbest team in the history of civilization” for the amount of frivolous trash talk they participate in, Stevenson had some choice words for Barkley, a player who accomplished more in one-half a season than Stevenson has in his eight-year career.

“Are we really going to listen to a guy who said Yao Ming would not be an All-Star in this league,” Stevenson wondered. “I mean really. So who cares what he has to say? Tell Charles Barkley to chill and worry about other things. Don’t worry about the Washington Wizards.”

Well, since Barkley is paid to analyze the NBA, it is his job to worry about the Wizards. Stevenson might want to introduce himself to the idea of a totem pole. Bums like him, whose career accomplishments register barely a blip on the NBA radar, probably shouldn’t be calling one of the league’s current best players overrated, in the first place. But to question the statements of one of the game’s all-time greatest players ? and to do it in such a callous manner ? is outrageously insane. Not only does Barkley talk trash with the best of them, his past success gives him the credibility to criticize loudmouth players who haven’t done anything to justify being loudmouthed.

I can’t wait to watch the NBA on TNT’s next studio telecast for Barkley’s thoughts and I can’t wait to watch King James torch the Stevenson and the Wizards in the first round. So, I guess we can thank Stevenson for at least giving us a reason to check out a first round Eastern Conference series.

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Even though David Stern would probably deny this to his deathbed, the NBA’s dream final four scenario for the upcoming playoffs had to be the Lakers vs. Suns and Celtics vs. Cavaliers. The first match up, still a Conference Finals possibility with the Lakers slotted #1 and the Suns #6, has so many interesting layers to it.

The Suns have knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs the last two years. The Shaq-Kobe face-off has a new plot twist since this is the first time each has faced each other in the postseason. Pau Gasol’s career has been revitalized now that he is on a championship contender, Lamar Odom is thriving as the third man on the Lakers, Amare Stoudemire is decimating the Association since Shaq joined, Steve Nash is on his last legs as a truly elite player and there is the added story line of Andrew Bynum’s return. Plus, Grant Hill is still searching for his first ring.

The Celtics and Cavs don’t have a rivalry, but they have the interesting match-up of the league’s possible best team against the possible best player. Kevin Garnett and the Celtics, with their mystique, vs. LeBron James. It’s reminiscent of Bird and the Celtics vs. Jordan in the ’80s. However, the match-up would have to take place in the second round, rather than the Eastern Conference Finals, since the Celtics own the top seed and the Cavs the four seed. Nevertheless, it would be an extremely fun second round battle if the Celtics knock off the Hawks and the Cavs dismiss the Wizards. LeBron and his quest to become an NBA immortal vs. the Celtics’ Big Three and their quests to win their first titles. It’s ironic that the the Big Three have played 33 cumulative seasons without an NBA Finals appearance, but LeBron made the Finals in just his fourth season.

Apr

3

Could The “Sports Guy” Be A Good G.M. In Milwaukee?

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ESPN.com columnist Bill Simmons has been campaigning recently to be named general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Coincidentally, he began his online campaign just before the Bucks dismissed Larry Harris from the position. Now, Simmons has been practically pleading his readership to consider him a practical choice for the position.

I am sure some readers blow this off as hot air. Others probably view it as a pipedream. I think it is a fantastic idea.

Simmons is notorious for emphasizing a ?common sense? approach to running sports teams, much the way he has introduced that philosophy to sports writing. Now, while there is much more to the general manager position than simply deciding which players to sign, trade and/or release, that is still the crux of the job.

With any job, it seems that thinking outside the box is often a way to reach the preferred results that often aren?t met by those who are supposedly qualified for the position. Experience can be vastly overrated. If that were the deciding factor for success, why wouldn?t teams with longer-tenured general managers ? the Pacers with the formerly employed Donnie Walsh, the Clippers and Elgin Baylor, the T?Wolves and Kevin McHale ? be the most successful?

Simmons uses logic and rationale in his thought process. It often seems that most general managers wouldn?t know the definitions of those words if they were staring at them in a dictionary. How else do you explain McHale agreeing to a $100-plus million deal with Joe Smith? Or Atlanta ?s Billy Knight passing on Chris Paul to draft Marvin Williams when he already had two or three competent swingmen, but no point guard?

The major problem that Simmons would confront is the resentment he would meet from other teams? front office personnel. He wouldn?t be accepted. There would be backlash from other GMs about how irrational it is for a know-it-all, na?ve sports writer to be running a professional sports team. And to a certain extent, those GMs would have a valid point. Surely, there is much more to their positions than meets the eye. Sports writers have the convenience of sitting back and criticizing any part of a GM?s decision that they feel is flawed. GMs have the inconvenience of having to make a slew of important decisions for an organization that is worth in the hundreds of millions.

Some might think there would be a conflict of interest between Simmons? sports writing and his hypothetical role as a general manager. In this case, I think his journalistic mindset would help him with his job as a general manager. After all, the logic he uses in writing about and analyzing sports would be his greatest characteristic as a general manager. Obviously, his role as GM would conflict with the objectivity he would have to maintain as a journalist if he were to keep writing.

I think this is a fantastic idea mostly because, as a writer, I would love to see someone at the top of the profession take a dip into a professional sports league. I would love to read and listen to writers and radio hosts debate whether it would be a successful move. I want to see just how well Simmons? logic transfers from the written word into action. Are his articles much like the Phoenix Suns? roster: Great on paper, but short on substance? That really is the question I want answered.

Apr

2

Bucks Battle Against Knicks Win In Overtime 119-115

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Bobby Simmons signed a $47 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks nearly three years ago. He earned a little chunk of that contract on Tuesday night as he scored 12 of his 24 points between the end of the fourth quarter and overtime to lead the Bucks to a 119-115 win against the New York Knicks.

Simmons made a jumper with 2:40 left in the fourth to bring the Bucks to within 103-98. After an Andrew Bogut layup, two Simmons free throws shortened the Knicks (20-54) lead to 103-102. A Simmons layup with one second left on the clock gave the Bucks a 109-107 lead and the assumed victory. However, New York ?s Quentin Richardson drew a foul on the ensuing play and knocked down both free throws to send the game into overtime.From there, Simmons continued his hot hand, nailing a mid-range jumper, hitting two free throws and drilling another jumper to give the Bucks (25-48) a 115-111 lead with 2:47 remaining in the extra period. Michael Redd scored 36 points with nine assists and six rebounds for Milwaukee.

Former No. 1-overall pick Andrew Bogut added 24 points and 13 rebounds.Richardson dropped in 22 points for the Knicks and Zach Randolph added 19 points and ten rebounds. Jamal Crawford scored 19 points and dished eight assists.

Mar

22

Age Limits Are Unrealistic

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There has been recent talk on ESPN.com (in J.A. Adande?s chat and Henry Abbott?s blog) regarding the NBA?s age limit, which is currently set at 19. Points have been made that many of the primary MVP candidates ? Kobe, Bron, Garnett ? were high school-to-NBA guys. As are Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O?Neal and Monta Ellis, all successful NBAers. Of course, there are plenty of high schoolers who never came close to meeting their NBA expectations, including Korleone Young, Jonathan Bender and even Darius Miles.

At the same time, there are many college-tested players, like Adam Morrison, J.J. Redick and Sheldon Williams, who haven?t reached anywhere near the same level of success in the NBA as they did in college.

I?ve argued amongst friends that age limits in any profession, including professional basketball, are unnecessarily restrictive. It is unfair and unrealistic to protect people from failure. Certain people are built to succeed and others to fail in every segment of life. A guy like Kwame Brown may not have been better served by going to college. Perhaps his innate immaturity and lack of awareness would have been detrimental to his college development, thus stifling his NBA potential and possibly preventing him from earning millions of dollars. Maybe he actually recognized this and decided to take the millions once he could get them. In that sense, he is at least smart enough to be a capitalist.

Guys like Kevin Garnett or LeBron James or Kobe Bryant were built to withstand the pressure of professional sports stardom. They had the physical maturity to cope with the long, taxing NBA seasons, the emotional maturity (for the most part) to deal with the extreme optimism and pessimism they faced and the work ethic to realize their development as a player was just beginning as they entered the NBA.

There are guys like Greg Oden or Michael Beasley who could have made The Jump. Their time and earning potential shouldn?t have been compromised with the fa?ade of them going to class and actually caring about school. Their space in classrooms and attention from professors and teaching assistants should have been given to more ?normal? people who literally have to go to school to land a job.

But with David Stern stating in a recent interview that he would like to increase the age limit to 20, it looks like this unrealistic rule will be instituted well into the future.

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Mar

21

Jerry West Eyes New York

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Newsday is reporting that a source close to Jerry West says that West is interested in running the New York Knicks. West, a Hall of Fame player with the Lakers and an equally effective general manager with the team, has been out of the NBA since resigning as general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies last year.

West would really be a great choice to run the Knicks as he at least exhibits the class and integrity that the franchise currently lacks. Current president and head coach Isiah Thomas is clearly overmatched in nearly every phase of his job and he seems to be sleepwalking the rest of the season.

West is called The Logo due to him being the model behind the silhouette used as the NBA logo, but he should be called The Architect. He helped build and maintain the Lakers’ Showtime dynasty of the ’80s and was single-handedly responsible for building the Lake Show dynasty of the late ’90s/early ’00s.

Even though he didn’t have anywhere close to the same success with the Grizzlies, he was working in a completely different environment. He had better resources with the Lakers, whether it was operating with a bigger payroll budget or just being able to “sell” the Laker name and legacy to prospective players.

With the Grizzlies, it always seemed that West was trying to jump two pegs up the ladder with every move. He had to overpay certain players (ahem, Brian Cardinal) just to entice them to come to Memphis. He never had to do that in Los Angeles, as it has always been a destination. And New York would provide that same advantage.

No matter how poorly run the Knicks organization is, no matter how aloof its owner, James Dolan, can be, New York City will always be a place at which players are drawn. The stage of playing in Madison Square Garden and the marketing opportunities in the most dynamic city in the world are enticing to any player - especially 2010 free agent LeBron James.

West would thrive in the pressurized environment of New York. He is a perfectionist and a notoriously heated competitor, which is the kind of attitude the once-proud Knicks franchise so desperately needs.

The Knicks may be floundering now under the stewardship of Isiah Thomas, but they would thrive with Jerry West as its leader.


Mar

21

Haslem Out For Season With Foot Surgery

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ESPN is reporting that Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem will have season-ending foot surgery. Although the sports news network is reporting it as foot surgery, the procedure will actually remove bone spurs from Haslem’s ailing sprained left ankle. Miami is in the midst of a dire season, as they have lost Alonzo Mourning to a season-ending knee injury, traded Shaquille O’Neal and then lost Wade for the rest of the year.

Miami is currently 12-55, good for the worst record in the Association. Haslem, a 27-year-old fifth year player out of Florida, is averaging 12.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Mar

19

Fourth quarter rally gives Minnesota 98-94 win over Memphis

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?In what was truly one of the most meaningless games of this fantastic NBA season, the Minnesota Timberwolves came back from a 16-point second quarter deficit to beat the equally hapless Memphis Grizzlies 98-94 Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

One day after questioning his former star players? desire, T?Wolves owner Glen Taylor was able to enjoy a spirited comeback by Minnesota, capped by a 36-point fourth quarter.

Rashad McCants scored nine of his 19 points in the final period as Minnesota took its first lead of the game on a short Al Jefferson jumper with 5:20 left in the fourth.

Memphis jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the first quarter and built a 48-32 lead on a Rudy Gay dunk with 3:14 left in the second quarter.

After holding a 52-38 halftime lead, the Grizzlies saw their lead slowly fade in the third quarter. Minnesota started the third with a 14-2 run in the first 4:19 of the quarter before Memphis took a 20 second timeout to regroup. Memphis widened its lead back to 68-62 at the end of the third quarter before Minnesota went on its offensive rampage in the final period.

Al Jefferson scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Minnesota. McCants added five assists to his 19 points and second-year guard Randy Foye chipped in 12 points and ten rebounds.

Rudy Gay led the Grizzlies with 25 points and contributed seven rebounds. Mike Miller achieved a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds while Hakim Warrick scored seven points to go with his 11 rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

The win gives the T?Wolves their 17th win in 67 tries this season. Memphis? loss leaves them with a 16-51 record.


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