The Cranky Guy in the Easy Chair
January, 22, 2010
1/22/10
10:53
AM ET
When I watch basketball on TV, I take notes.
Near the end of last night's Cavaliers win over the Lakers, I scanned my notes and wondered: When did I become a cranky old man?
Some examples my inner Andy Rooney:
- The Lakers in home yellow, the Cavaliers in wine and gold. Would it be so hard for the home team to wear a light color and the road team to wear their regular team color? (I know teams want to bleed every last penny from jersey collectors, but enough already. I miss the days when you could glance across a crowded bar and know who was playing, and where, from the uniforms. How about that Sundiata Gaines game the other night? The Jazz, a team whose colors are light blue, dark blue and white, and who traditionally wear white at home, wore green and yellow. The Cavaliers, who usually wear "wine and gold" on the road, wore white.)
- With about 40 seconds left in the first quarter, Kobe Bryant completed one of the most amazing travels I have ever seen. He was running, initiating a fast-break. Before reaching half-court, he picked up his dribble with one hand, apparently to pass. Then he decided not to pass, switched hands with the ball, all while running, and started dribbling again. Watched it several times in slow-motion. The referees were sprinting to the other end themselves and were looking where they were going. If this had been pick-up basketball, Bryant would have just handed the ball to the other team without an argument.
- You know what's wrong with basketball? Not guns, not gambling, not any of that. The biggest problem in basketball is free throws. If there was some way to severely reduce the amount of standing around in games, I think games would be a lot more fun to watch in TV or in person.
- Ends of quarters really matter, not because of some weird "this is when winning teams score" voodoo. But because that's the only time in the game when a team can gain an extra possession. All game long, possessions alternate. (If my my team gets four straight offensive rebounds, that still counts as one possession. Possessions are not the same as plays, or scoring opportunities.) The only exception is at the end of the period -- because possession at the beginning of the next quarter is determined by who wins the opening tip. So here's a chance to take a shot, and make it or miss, and then (after the break) inbound the ball and take another shot. A typical NBA game is decided by three points or so. A couple of extra possessions matter! I think the Lakers know this -- they had the ball at the end of every single quarter of last night's game. In the first two quarters, they got it by fouling -- with seven seconds left in the first quarter, five in the second. I'm not saying those fouls were intentional, but in those moments, I'd sure coach my players to be extra aggressive. Either you get the stop, or you get the only fouls of the game that are rewarded with free possessions.
- This game could go down in history as the "heat check" game. In the big spotlight, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were both eager to prove how good they are, so they both indulged mightily in the worst parts of their games. If the Cavaliers had ended up losing, people would have had some serious questions about some of James' shot selection. (Also worth noting, Ron Artest also threw up some heat checks, but that's just what he does.)
- With about forty seconds left in the game, and the game tied, LeBron James drove to the left of the hoop and made a tough runner over two defenders -- his man Artest and the helping Lamar Odom. Remember this point. Superstar wing scoring over a helping big.
- As soon as that happened, the Cavaliers wanted Anthony Parker in the game for Daniel Gibson. Phil Jackson didn't call a timeout to let that good defender into the game. Clever.
- Then the Lakers ran a high pick-and-roll with Pau Gasol setting a high screen for Bryant. The brilliant part of this is that the guy guarding Gasol is charged with slowing Bryant so Delonte West could catch up. That guy was ... Shaquille O'Neal. There are a lot of things O'Neal can't do anymore. One of them is slow someone like Bryant on the perimeter. That requires nimble lateral movement, and it's not that O'Neal's lateral movement is slow at this point of his career. It's that it's gone. He just doesn't have that anymore. O'Neal made a little jab toward Bryant. The Laker star easily manuevered past and paraded into the paint unimpeded until other, more nimble Cavs were able to help, as O'Neal watched from a distance. (Prediction: O'Neal will sit for crunch time of many big playoff games. You can't play him on offense if you're ahead -- the other team would love to send that poor free-throw shooter to the line. And on defense, this is an example of what could happen against some teams.)
- Once in the lane, Bryant attempted a shot much like the one James had just made -- a runner from the left side of the paint. West was there, but Bryant's real issue was a helping Anderson Varejao. Varejao flew in and bothered the shot, either by blocking it or making Bryant change it at the last moment. Some will point out that 100% healthy, Bryant would have scored easily, and thay may be true. On this night, his finger injury loomed large. I also believe, however, that if Bryant were the size of James, he could have brushed off Varejao, like James did Odom. But Bryant's a little smaller, and Varejao bothered that shot, despite Bryant's tremendous position near the hoop. It's not fair, or right, but size matters in this game, and James has a little more of it.
Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
One of these players is bigger.
One of these players is bigger.
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Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
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