Reaction to the May 13, 2010 game. Cleveland loses to Boston.
This had to be written before I read about or heard about anything the next day.
LeBron James is leaving Cleveland. In 7 years of dominance, the organization has managed to surround him with Larry Hughes (a product of the db Boozer fallout), Shaq, Jamison, Mo Williams, J Moon, A Parker and Boobie. Look at Sam Presti… Inherits KD through sheer luck and the fact that every gm in the league would have taken oden w the first pick. He’s an incomparably gifted scorer… shoots over everybody, makes good decisions, is starting to rebound, and is showing some mile interest in defense. He’s skinny and doesn’t look for teammates the way a perfect player should. But his team remained patient, acquired draft assets and cap room, and OKC is best positioned for the next 10 years. Scary to think of how good this team is when the nucleus finally averages 25 years old.
No player is perfect. Kobe focuses on himself too much, Bosh takes refuge in the fact that his team is terrible and, thus, doesn’t take responsibility for them sucking. Dirk can’t hide from his eternally steady superstar production and the fact that his team perennially underachieves. Duncan can’t hide from his knees. KG is a jabbering asshole that lost a step and gained a grudge. Let’s see, who else is good… Joe Johnson is interested in his contract and nothing else. Atlanta endured 5 years of Iso Joe, and he publicly stated that he doesn’t care if the fans come or not. Gone. VC is nothing but terrible, which could be the super climax of the 2010 NBA season. He didn’t-cared his way to the ECF, and, facing an aged, overplayed Boston team, will have one or two retro games in which he convinces his pundits that he was up for the challenge all along.
My perfect scenario: VC plays an extraordinary game one, and the Magic win by a landslide. In the second quarter of game two, he drives the lane and somebody benignly knocks him off balance during a circa 2000 dunk. He writhes, wriggles, and bitches his way into the locker room. But, Orlando still wins in a landslide.
Sure, they’re paying the luxury tax out the wazoo like only LA and Cleveland can boast. But the thing is, if one of their 5 best players gets hurt, it doesn’t matter. They have a capable backup at every position, and this team thrives on a new player stepping up every night. Jameer, Dwight, Lewis, or even Pietrus can knock in 20 a game (and occasionally all at the same time) so it doesn’t matter if Vinc-elderly is crying on the trainer’s table. If he stays upright, great. But if not, then he can take the blame because he kind sucked all year and everyone else has room to prosper.
The series with Boston is a joke. Cleveland was a joke; BOS has no business being near the top of the heap. D Wade slaughtered this team in game 4 with no earthly belief that MIA would advance. He didn’t care, it was an advertisement and he still dismantled an aging crew of greenies.
One thing the 2010 playoffs guarantee, RR is by far the best player in green. The big 3 are becoming the big liability. Rondo is the only Celtic that can create, or even move for that matter. His historic game 4 sets him apart from all other playoff PGs. Watch out.
He still has to pass the ball somewhere, and with Wallace already planning his retirement villa, Allen reduced to a spot up 3 shooter making 18M, and Pierce only thriving when all of his teammates are triple teamed, Rondo is the one to look out for. I hated him, and at times questioned whether he’d ever develop into an NBA starter. His attitude does not matter now, he is that good. No longer the big 3, they are now the supporting 3.
I don’t care. He’s better than Nelson, but JN can dish it off to any of 6 options that can shred the Cs like no other. Dwight will get is 15 boards, but those turn into second chances for lights out shooters like JJ, Lewis, MB, JN, and VC (if he gets over his tantrum). Orlando wins, and it’s not close.
Now for PX.
I have been a huge Suns fan since the JJ days, then went to school in Atl to see what an average “star” JJ could be for a middling team. JJ is not special. He’s tall and can shoot, but that’s about it. 20’/game is not worth 20/year.
I’m not too unsettled about him leaving in 2005. Sure, he would have been a nice complement to the Nash, Amare driven Suns… but guess who they have now after many incarnations and years? Mr. Richardson, that’s right.
JR is not that different from JJ. He shoots the 3 (exceptionally well during the playoffs), slashes, and occasionally throws home a perfect lob from only the greatest Vancouverite to ever play NBA basketball. Other than that, they have Frye to stretch the floor and bring Pau or Bynum away from the paint for Amare to go ballistic offensively. Of course this is a liability defensively, but it shouldn’t matter much if PHX scores 130 a game. That’s the style that got them here, and that’s the style they’ll live with.
Alvin Gentry is a saint, or god’s gift to Phoenix. The fact that he hung around for the Porter debacle then showed the cajones that he could revert back to run and gun… it’s solitarily unique. He gets it, he understands Nash and the personnel, and he lets them run. Like a pack of gazelles, they run.
I live in San Antonio and couldn’t help but get caught up in Spurs frenzy in my time here. I was heartbroken by the sweep, but if any team were to do it, the Suns deserve the glory. I can’t piss into a toilet with one eye, and Nash was hitting 3s. Unbelievable, and he deserves all the credit in the world. Phoenix WILL beat LA, and it will send an ever so satisfying hush over the superfluous, ego-centric Mecca of basketball for the last year (and many from the past few decades)
The point is, Orlando is far better than any other team. If Kobe gets hurt, LA is done. If Nash gets hurt, Phoenix is done (while one could argue the case for Dragic to lead them to the promised land after his game 3 explosion, one could counter with the concept of hot-streaks). If Orlando loses any one of its best 5 players, I still pick them to win. Any Magic can have an off-night, and it doesn’t matter. Central FL has been building an arsenal that few have cared to pay attention to, but it will be the team that undoubtedly ends this postseason on top. I’ll bet you an egg roll.
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