Man of Steel
04-24-2007, 12:17 AM
Disappointed by Dirkposted: Monday, April 23, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry
filed under: NBA
Wow.
What a weekend! The NBA playoffs are becoming like a long, slow, extended NCAA Tournament. Fantastic.
Obviously, there were some stunning developments, so let's just get right to it. Here are my observations of opening weekend:
Biggest Surprise: In a weekend that included several shockers, the biggest had to be Golden State's defeat of Dallas. Chicago besting Miami at home was no surprise, New Jersey is essentially favored over No. 3 Toronto, and San Antonio often has sluggish playoff games (though Denver is certainly for real). After being swept by Nellie's crew in the regular season, the Mavericks had every reason to come out and put the hammer down on the Warriors and they couldn't. The most surprising part of the game was Golden State's defense. Nellie's "Dirk Rules" worked terrifically and a team that gave up 107 points a game on 46-percent shooting held one of the league's most dangerous offenses to 35-percent shooting.
MVP: Chicago's Luol Deng was a close second, but Baron Davis has to get the nod. Davis is just flat-out outstanding -- when healthy and motivated. Well, he's both right now and there is no stopping him. To date, I put Baron's career in the same category as that of Rod Strickland's. Their games are not similar, and Davis is clearly a more explosive scorer. But they are two guys with Hall-of-Fame talent who, over the course of their careers, haven't (in my opinion) given the 110-percent effort it takes to reach their potential. Now Davis is playing like he can and there's no one better right now. Baron's only 28, and if this year's determination and play is a sign of things to come, he can not only regain his star status but become a superstar.
MDP (Most Disappointing Player): Gotta be Dirk. He's my regular-season MVP, but he was horrible on Sunday. He might have been thrown off by Avery Johnson's lineup change, but there's no excuse for such a poor performance in such a big game. Dirk is probably going to win the MVP award and that could be both a blessing and a curse. If he and the Mavs go down in the first round, his award will be sullied, big-time. Remember all the flak David Robinson caught after Hakeem outplayed him in the postseason of Robinson's MVP year? Well, that was a drop of rain compared to the deluge of criticism Dirk will receive if he and his crew don't get it together, especially in light of his meltdown in last year's Finals. Dirk appeared clumsy in Sunday's speedy game of small ball and against Nellie's slick double-teaming. He's going to have to find a way to exploit his height advantage.
Worst Coaching Job: Avery Johnson is easily one of the league's best coaches, but his decision to start Devean George instead of center Erick Dampier was terrible. The Warriors already felt like they had Dallas' number going in, but when they saw that, I'm sure they knew they were in the Mavericks' minds. When you win 67 games, you make teams adjust to you, not the other way around. To me, that played right into Golden State's hands. It makes you wonder if Avery was thrown off by the notion of going up against his mentor, Don Nelson. Alonzo Mourning used to get outplayed annually by his mentor, Patrick Ewing, in the playoffs, even when Ewing was past his prime. This might be a similar situation, where Avery has too much respect for the opposing coach. Just a theory.
Which powerhouse should be most concerned? San Antonio has its hands full, but the Spurs will figure it out and prevail (I think). Dallas is in as tough a first-round fight as possible, but the Mavericks should survive. But the Miami Heat? This probably will be their toughest Eastern Conference series of the playoffs, if they survive. The Bulls give the Heat so many matchup problems it's not funny. They defend Dwyane Wade better than anyone in the league and on Saturday, they won with Kirk Hinrich scoring just two points in 19 minutes. Their physical play has to be scary for Wade. The Bulls are better than they were last year, and the banged-up Heat are worse. I picked Miami so I'm sticking with the Heat, but I could easily see Chicago prevailing.
filed under: NBA
Wow.
What a weekend! The NBA playoffs are becoming like a long, slow, extended NCAA Tournament. Fantastic.
Obviously, there were some stunning developments, so let's just get right to it. Here are my observations of opening weekend:
Biggest Surprise: In a weekend that included several shockers, the biggest had to be Golden State's defeat of Dallas. Chicago besting Miami at home was no surprise, New Jersey is essentially favored over No. 3 Toronto, and San Antonio often has sluggish playoff games (though Denver is certainly for real). After being swept by Nellie's crew in the regular season, the Mavericks had every reason to come out and put the hammer down on the Warriors and they couldn't. The most surprising part of the game was Golden State's defense. Nellie's "Dirk Rules" worked terrifically and a team that gave up 107 points a game on 46-percent shooting held one of the league's most dangerous offenses to 35-percent shooting.
MVP: Chicago's Luol Deng was a close second, but Baron Davis has to get the nod. Davis is just flat-out outstanding -- when healthy and motivated. Well, he's both right now and there is no stopping him. To date, I put Baron's career in the same category as that of Rod Strickland's. Their games are not similar, and Davis is clearly a more explosive scorer. But they are two guys with Hall-of-Fame talent who, over the course of their careers, haven't (in my opinion) given the 110-percent effort it takes to reach their potential. Now Davis is playing like he can and there's no one better right now. Baron's only 28, and if this year's determination and play is a sign of things to come, he can not only regain his star status but become a superstar.
MDP (Most Disappointing Player): Gotta be Dirk. He's my regular-season MVP, but he was horrible on Sunday. He might have been thrown off by Avery Johnson's lineup change, but there's no excuse for such a poor performance in such a big game. Dirk is probably going to win the MVP award and that could be both a blessing and a curse. If he and the Mavs go down in the first round, his award will be sullied, big-time. Remember all the flak David Robinson caught after Hakeem outplayed him in the postseason of Robinson's MVP year? Well, that was a drop of rain compared to the deluge of criticism Dirk will receive if he and his crew don't get it together, especially in light of his meltdown in last year's Finals. Dirk appeared clumsy in Sunday's speedy game of small ball and against Nellie's slick double-teaming. He's going to have to find a way to exploit his height advantage.
Worst Coaching Job: Avery Johnson is easily one of the league's best coaches, but his decision to start Devean George instead of center Erick Dampier was terrible. The Warriors already felt like they had Dallas' number going in, but when they saw that, I'm sure they knew they were in the Mavericks' minds. When you win 67 games, you make teams adjust to you, not the other way around. To me, that played right into Golden State's hands. It makes you wonder if Avery was thrown off by the notion of going up against his mentor, Don Nelson. Alonzo Mourning used to get outplayed annually by his mentor, Patrick Ewing, in the playoffs, even when Ewing was past his prime. This might be a similar situation, where Avery has too much respect for the opposing coach. Just a theory.
Which powerhouse should be most concerned? San Antonio has its hands full, but the Spurs will figure it out and prevail (I think). Dallas is in as tough a first-round fight as possible, but the Mavericks should survive. But the Miami Heat? This probably will be their toughest Eastern Conference series of the playoffs, if they survive. The Bulls give the Heat so many matchup problems it's not funny. They defend Dwyane Wade better than anyone in the league and on Saturday, they won with Kirk Hinrich scoring just two points in 19 minutes. Their physical play has to be scary for Wade. The Bulls are better than they were last year, and the banged-up Heat are worse. I picked Miami so I'm sticking with the Heat, but I could easily see Chicago prevailing.