Return Of The King Forces Warriors To Look Ahead

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.

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!

What The Flop Is The NBA Doing Fining Steph?

What the flop is the NBA thinking fining Steph Curry for flopping?

First of all, the rule that instituted fining people who choose to flop was a stupid rule to begin with.  Not that I didn't appreciate the league's attempt to keep Manu Ginobli from making me turn the channel until the part of the game when flops get ignored so that ref's don't dictate outcomes. The idea was beyond admirable, and my initial response came with an equal level of appreciation and trepidation when the rule came to be.  The trepidation, however, comes from the difficulty with determining a flop in the first place.


Some Dude's (Me) Hack Too Much

I've personally stopped playing a lot of organized basketball simply because of the referee problem that makes it difficult for guys like me.  While I admit to being one of the most skilled fouler's in the history of fouling, I also have never intentionally flopped.  I have come to accept that shooting and flopping are not easy to do at the same time if you have any hope of making the shot. Despite the high double digit fouling that I intentionally get away with every single game that I play, I rarely foul out of games.  On the other hand, since I don't understand the flop technique and usually absorb contact without major shot disruption, I often get fouled without getting the calls I deserve.  In the grand scheme of things, it all probably balances out in the end.

You see, the problem with this whole flopping debate is that most really good referee's do not lean towards the heavy whistle side of basketball, especially in the NBA playoffs or old men basketball leagues when physicality amps up a bit.  If basketball game officials chose to keep the whistle blowing in concert with the increased level of fouls in the playoffs, then the game would hardly be watchable.

In last nights Cavs .vs. Hawks game, I watched LeBron James drive to the whole with 3 dudes draped all over him on multiple occasions. No foul called.  In fact, the only real hope that even LeBron, the best player in the world, has of getting a foul called during late game action is to flop a bit.  Taking the foul strongly and focusing on finishing is a formula for getting the field goal, but not the "and one" or the two shot foul you probably deserve,

To Steph Curry's credit, he is paying $5,000 for a flop that really did happen, but not for the reason's that some guy's do it.  Steph is a reactionary flopper in that he focuses on the shot, and falls away from the contact because small guys better fall away just to minimize the bangs and bruises that come with being great.  If I were playing against Curry, I would have to assume he's shooting jump shots, and be near to poke, prod and manipulate his pre and post shot, until he becomes uncomfortable.

In other words, I would foul his arse as much as I could get away with.  Such an approach is not novel.  It is the only hope you have against these type of players.  Conversely, flopping or accentuating the contact is the only hope that such players have to shine a light on the extra that goes on when stars shoot the ball.  If you watch the play, Steph pushes off on Corey Brewer in order to gain the free look, and then gets brushed against the arm from a player trailing the action.  With this player coming from the trail side, his near block of Curry forced the contact that lead to Curry's $5,000 flop.

To the NBA's credit, they've warned players of these potential fines over a year ago, so anyone who pays has very little room to point fingers.  Actually, they could point fingers at the hundreds of players who continue to flop without penalty and ask the question of, why me? Why so sporadic in the enforcement of the rules and why would you decide to open blind eyes on this season's MVP, especially on a less than obvious flop?

There is a statement in this particular fine, but its neither clear or for Curry alone.

Denver Acquires Aaron Brooks, Trades Andre Miller To Wizards

The Nuggets just got a dose of penicillin.

With the type of ailments besieging our basketball community, sometimes you can't keep icing and patching up problems.  At times you need a cure and the Nuggets may have just traded for one.

Aaron Brooks gives Nuggets fan new hope.

Sending Jordan Hamilton to the Houston Rockets to give them some added size and shooting, the Nuggets will in turn acquire Aaron Brooks.  When the Jeremy Lin craze that began in New York ended up with a big time contract in Houston, Brooks was unexpectedly placed on the sideline.  Money talks, and despite the fact that Lin is hardly any better than Brooks, he was an unknown commodity that Houston took a financial risk on.  That risk forced Lin to the floor and Brooks to the bench.

The later acquisition of James Harden snatched the ball out of the hands of Lin as well who struggles to be the point guard on a team in which Harden dominates the ball.  Brooks ha shown glimpses of All-star potential over his career (19.6 pts per game in 2010), and is an above average, pick and roll, short shot jump shooter, which has been my biggest beef against every player on this team (and of the current generation of players).  Brooks has the potential to make us question Ty Lawson who is much more skilled than Brooks, but much less confident than Brooks is as a player.

Brooks will be able to play both a fast paced style, as well as a half court approach which is quickly showing itself as part of the hybrid identity of this team and its coach.  The only real question is whether or not Brooks can help Denver make a run at the playoffs.  Their schedule says yes as the worst is mostly over for this season.  The quality of western conference competition will have something to say in the end, but a Nugget team running proper sets and defending as they can, has shown signs of something intriguing.



In a side note, Andre Miller will be making a final attempt to resurrect his soiled image in Washington with the Wizards.  In the three-team trade, the Nuggets got 6-foot-11 forward Jan Vesely and Philadelphia received guard Eric Maynor and draft picks.