Pimping is said to be difficult- but it can't be much harder than closing out a series with a sweep in the NBA semi-finals. That's the kind of thing only king's do well. Golden State, behind MVP Steph Curry, is a really good team. This team can truly play defense and crash the boards with the best of them, and at times they appear to be a team even LeBron can't handle. They will need to be all of that and more tonight since the Cleveland Cavalier closeout should add the same pressure to Golden State that Golden State's closeout of Memphis added to the Clipper's.
What happened to the Clippers ? Kevin McHale and Golden State?
If the Houston Rockets are trying to duplicate their unlikely triumph over the L.A. Clippers, spotting Golden State a 3-0 lead was a great way to do it. They might have gotten off of the snide by avoiding a sweep, but they've still got to do it again, and again, and again if they hope to be watched during the finals. Most likely, Houston will watch the finals as spectators just like the rest of us. However, they just got the same free agent addition that they received at the end of the Clipper series.
The agent is doubt from a Warrior team who is already starting to wonder if they can actually beat a rested LeBron- and free because such doubt won't cost Houston a dime. Golden State should have never forced Curry to return to the lineup after his nasty spill, but pressure causes missteps. If Curry needed a rest in game 5, the decision to force him back in game 4 made the game 5 decision for you.
Looking Ahead?
For a while, the Clippers were the story of the NBA playoffs after beating the defending champs and going up 3-1 to the Rockets. Suddenly. the resting Golden State Warrior team joined the Houston Rockets cause by adding "we're waiting for you" pressure to the equation. With a 19 point lead and a clear path to the Bay Area, the destraction became too much to bear, especially since the resting and waiting Warriors appeared unbeatable anyway.
Cleveland's sweep could be the opportunity that Kevin McHale needs to pull off his post season magic once again.. NO ONE thought Houston could do it without the services of guard Patrick Beverley, who went down at the the end of the regular season- or without their alMost Valuable Player James Harden, who sat on the bench during the magical 19 point, come from behind victory against L.A. that launched the Rockets into the next series. They did it, and from the looks of things, even if Dwight Howard loses a game or worse from trying to free himself from Bogut- or worse, Terrence Jones at center could be the right way to go since Howard's limited offensive ability and inability to make free-throws on a consistent basis has turned him into a real liability in the 4th quarter.
By the way!
Tristen Thompson could be putting his name in the hat for top center in the league after this outstanding playoff season.
Hack-A-Howard .vs. Hack-A-Dre .vs. Hack-A-Josh
While I am now rooting for Kevin McHale and his Rockets (if my team is out- give me the underdog everytime), I am not a fan of the intentional foul (a.k.a, Hack-A-Shaq). In fact, I really wonder if it even currently fits inside of the rules of the game, Every foul typically demands a play at the ball and not at the head or legs when a player actually has the ball. On every level of basketball, fouls that are intentional but not directed at the ball will typically invoke some version of a flagrant foul, much like it does in the final 2 minutes of the NBA. How can we ever justify and allow intentionally fouling a player who doesn't have the ball and call it a good rule or good basketball? While I can't understand how the rule gets allowed throughout the game, every team that does the tactic at least deserves shame and bad luck if you ask me.
It seems like a simple fix to force ALL intentional foul's to be allowed ONLY while making a reasonable attempt at the ball being held by the player holding or receiving the basketball. If such a modification goes into play, fouls against these horrible shooting post players will only happen when those players have the ball. This is important because RIGHT NOW, team's choosing to foul often mitigate their approach by selecting teammates with minimal fouls to do the dirty work. If off-ball fouling gets corrected, teams will no longer have the luxury of doing it with minimal risks.
Hack-A-Shaq doesn't seem to ever give good kharma to the team's that do it anyway. Nonetheless, despite having players that have endured this tactic all season/career long, the Rockets and the Clippers chose to do it towards each other. You would think that the teams with a Shaq (or whatever) would be more sensitive to the low brow approach that others have taken against them.
Obviously that's not true.
I have a soft spot for great coaching, so I am pulling for McHale, and generally I am a West Coast guy since my Denver Nuggets are a Western Conference team, but I have a hard time expecting good sports kharma from any team that tries to win a title through off the ball intentional fouls. From my best recollection, every team that did the Hack-A-Shaq lost to Shaq.
Make Your FreeThrows Kids
;That being said, if the league doesn't change the Hack-A-Shaq, I can live with that too because you already can't get away with it in the final 2 minutes, and kids really need a graphic example of the vital importance of making or missing freethrows. Crappy post season freethrow shooting has been a leaguewide horror flick, and it's not only Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan with the problem.
Ain't that right Josh Smith?
#7 Might Not Be So Lucky
Houston's two Achilles heel's, Josh Smith and Dwight Howard, are likely to cost the Rockets in the end, no matter how far the Rockets rise. A rested LeBron is surely enough pressure to make a team that's never been there before tighten up. Without question, the Warriors must dominate game 5. A loss in game 5 comes with a virtual guaranteed loss in game 6 at Houston as well. and #7 might not be so lucky if it goes that far.
#7 Might Not Be So Lucky
The biggest problem with making yourself believe that you are a contender when you really are not is that it totally delays the process of realizing and pursuing the truth. The Denver Nuggets were not really close to winning anything when they had Carmelo, and they moved even further away after he left, despite the illusion that 57 wins and a Coach of The Year create. These Nuggets have NEVER seen a sniff of the top pick because they've only recently come to recognize the value of sucking for a while to smell what big time losing provides.
This year's #7 might be the unluckiest of them all. Why? The Nuggets own it.
The last 7 at #7 have been more good than bad. Maybe even some greatness at 7.
2014 #7 Julius Randle UNC - Lakers
2013 #7 Harrison Barnes UNC - GS
2012 #7 Greg Monroe Georgetown - Detroit
2011 #7 Bismack Biyombo Congo - SAC
2010 #7 Stephen Curry Davidson - GS
2009 #7 Eric Gordon - Indiana - LAC
2008 #7 Corey Brewer - Florida -MIN
It could be a good pick, if my Nuggets weren't still looking for a coach, presumably one that might impress the front office more than interim coach Melvin Hunt does. Brian Shaw was really no different than Melvin Hunt relative to his experience as a head coach, but he had name recognition. If the Nuggets have chosen not to lock up Hunt as their next coach, its because they are, once again, waiting for another coach with a name, not one who clearly connects and can develop a team of up and coming players.
The problem with chasing big names is that it assumes that any recognizable coach will trust coaching for a team that got rid of George Karl after a 57 win, Coach of The Year effort, and won't hire an interim who did everything you hoped he could do. Shaw's failures might have removed the Karl cloud from above our next head coach, but any smart person must know to tread lightly with a front office that is more focused on the fish they would like to take the bait and not at the bait at all.
News Flash:
An up and coming coach is the right choice for an up and coming team.
These Nuggets need to lock up Melvin Hunt and give up that #7 to go up or down from that spot to get a player that doesn't need so much development. Keeping #7 means that the list of young Nuggets who need developing will only grow after next season unless we get a sure fire pick, or one that we won't need to develop so much while Jusuf Nurkic, Erick Green and Garry Harris prove their value. Frank Kaminsky should do just fine at 15 or 20.
Kaminsky has a lot of Kevin McHale in his game.
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| Is Frank Kaminsky the NBA draft sleeper? This Nugget fan hopes he is, for our sake. |
I have already confessed my support for coach Kevin McHale, the guy who took out the other coach that I was rooting for, Doc Rivers. I'm a coach. What can I say? I was also always a big McHale fan as a kid, especially when I discovered Larry Bird was quite the jerk. I encountered Bird's Boston Celtics when they borrowed our high school gym prior to a game against my Denver Nuggets. McHale was awesome, and his kindness and post moves have stayed with me for years. I still utilize a couple of his baseline pivot moves whenever I get a chance to act like a basketball player, although I typically credit Jack Sikma because his name sounds cooler to say.
7 game series?
Bleak seems to be the exact temperature that these Rockets perform best under, as if losing the weight of expectation allows them to takeoff. If this Rocket is losing fuel, McHale's championship history could become the power source for this series like it was in the last. It is reasonable to expect an up against the wall Houston team to fight, maybe even steal a game in the Bay area as they nearly did in the first two games. This series still feels like a 6 or 7 game brawl to me that sets the Western conference up to deal with the well rested Cavs.
Aside from the damage they might inflict upon each other before it's over, both western conference teams would be worthy opponents for LeBron, maybe even favored over him- yet both teams are young and new at all this, so neither will win a crown without a world class brawl, most likely one for the ages. If Golden State can actually win the west without a 7 game series (which I doubt), they almost certainly won't have the experience to beat LeBron's Cavaliers in less than 7 games.
Either way, buckle your seatbelts for the kind of NBA basketball that makes you need to sit and watch for 4 quarters.
Finally!
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