Monday 5/14
New Jersey v Cleveland (Cavaliers up 3-1) – Cleveland escapes the Swamp with a split in what was an ugly, defense oriented, 90’s style post season slug fest. LeBron James was great again (30 points, 9 rebounds & 7 assists), but he did everything he could to lose the game. In the final 6:46 Bron was 2-6 from the free throw line and 1-4 from the field with a turnover. Not exactly what you expect from a “closer”. Good thing for James that his counterpart on the Nets is shakier than Uncle Junior after a double shot of espresso.
When Vince Carter wasn’t engaged in talking junk with Sasha Pavlovic, he was busy shooting 1-7 from the field in the 4th quarter and turning the ball over twice in the final :46 seconds. Carter’s final possession with :10 seconds left and NJ down two was just plain awful. He somehow managed to let ERIC SNOW force him into losing the ball out of bounds. Why he just didn’t raise up and shoot over Snow I’ll never know. VC wasn’t alone in his utter ineptitude though. Vince, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd shot a combined 11-48 from the field (22.9%), including 1-13 in the 4th quarter. As a team the Nets did not make a shot from the field in the final 6:58 of the game and wasted a career playoff high 25 on 11-14 shooting from Mikki Moore.
I’m sure that Kidd and RJ will bounce back in Game 5, but I can’t help but notice that NJ just looks old. It’s also tough to see the Nets rallying back when Carter is shooting 34.1% (31-91) in the series. NJ President Rod Thorn is kidding himself if he thinks the return of Nenad Krstic and the further development of rookies Marcus Williams and Josh Boone is going to make the Nets a contender. Suddenly breaking this squad up doesn’t look like such a bad idea.
San Antonio v Phoenix (tied 2-2) – The Suns came through with a *huge* win last night to take back home court advantage and even up the series. What was extra impressive is that Phoenix won playing the Spurs style. The Suns closed the game on a 12 to 1 run and outscored SA 32 to 18 in the 4th quarter. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire overcame their individual difficulties (8 turnovers for Nash & 5 fouls for Amare) and were nails down the stretch, running the two man game to perfection. Watching Steve drop two behind the back dimes (in the lane no less) to Stoudemire who completed some very tough finishes in traffic was a sight to see. Phoenix definitely crossed a mental bridge against their nemesis in Game 4.
For the Spurs it was a combination of poor coaching decisions and Tim Duncan stinking up the joint. Duncan had five turnovers and two offensive fouls in the final stanza while only going 2-3 from the field. Timmy also had to sit from 8:55 to 7:33 after his fourth foul and from 5:35 to 2:42 after his fifth. Which brings me to SA coach Gregg Popovich. Not only did Pop wait far too long to reinsert Tim after his fifth foul, but he also failed in an area that he usually excels; designing plays after time outs. With the Spurs down one and :53 seconds to go he draws up a play for Michael Finley to get a jumper? Now if Finley was hot I could see it, but he wasn’t (5-12 FG). Then with SA down three and :32 seconds left Pop runs a clear out for Manu Ginobili (3-14 FG) who promptly throws up an off balance runner. My question: HOW CAN DUNCAN NOT TOUCH THE BALL ON EITHER OF THOSE POSSESSIONS?
I’m sure all the talk will be about Robert Horry’s forearm shiver that sent Nash flying when the outcome was already decided. Stupid play on Robert’s part, but what he did was no worse than what Jason Richardson did to Memo Okur in the other Western Semifinal. Horry was ejected and assessed a flagrant two, and I don’t expect him to be suspended. The bigger question is what the NBA does with Boris Diaw and Amare, both of whom *technically* left the bench to posture on Steve’s behalf. As Tim Hardaway would say, it’s going to be “very interesting”.
There are certain people out there, and you know who you are, that will always find a way to bash the NBA no matter what. Well I’m here to tell ya that this series has already delivered the goods big time. Granted, I’m an NBA cheerleader, but you don’t read me typing about how everyone should be watching Chicago-Detroit, do you? The next two to three games of this series are going to be instant classics, trust me.
When Vince Carter wasn’t engaged in talking junk with Sasha Pavlovic, he was busy shooting 1-7 from the field in the 4th quarter and turning the ball over twice in the final :46 seconds. Carter’s final possession with :10 seconds left and NJ down two was just plain awful. He somehow managed to let ERIC SNOW force him into losing the ball out of bounds. Why he just didn’t raise up and shoot over Snow I’ll never know. VC wasn’t alone in his utter ineptitude though. Vince, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd shot a combined 11-48 from the field (22.9%), including 1-13 in the 4th quarter. As a team the Nets did not make a shot from the field in the final 6:58 of the game and wasted a career playoff high 25 on 11-14 shooting from Mikki Moore.
I’m sure that Kidd and RJ will bounce back in Game 5, but I can’t help but notice that NJ just looks old. It’s also tough to see the Nets rallying back when Carter is shooting 34.1% (31-91) in the series. NJ President Rod Thorn is kidding himself if he thinks the return of Nenad Krstic and the further development of rookies Marcus Williams and Josh Boone is going to make the Nets a contender. Suddenly breaking this squad up doesn’t look like such a bad idea.
San Antonio v Phoenix (tied 2-2) – The Suns came through with a *huge* win last night to take back home court advantage and even up the series. What was extra impressive is that Phoenix won playing the Spurs style. The Suns closed the game on a 12 to 1 run and outscored SA 32 to 18 in the 4th quarter. Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire overcame their individual difficulties (8 turnovers for Nash & 5 fouls for Amare) and were nails down the stretch, running the two man game to perfection. Watching Steve drop two behind the back dimes (in the lane no less) to Stoudemire who completed some very tough finishes in traffic was a sight to see. Phoenix definitely crossed a mental bridge against their nemesis in Game 4.
For the Spurs it was a combination of poor coaching decisions and Tim Duncan stinking up the joint. Duncan had five turnovers and two offensive fouls in the final stanza while only going 2-3 from the field. Timmy also had to sit from 8:55 to 7:33 after his fourth foul and from 5:35 to 2:42 after his fifth. Which brings me to SA coach Gregg Popovich. Not only did Pop wait far too long to reinsert Tim after his fifth foul, but he also failed in an area that he usually excels; designing plays after time outs. With the Spurs down one and :53 seconds to go he draws up a play for Michael Finley to get a jumper? Now if Finley was hot I could see it, but he wasn’t (5-12 FG). Then with SA down three and :32 seconds left Pop runs a clear out for Manu Ginobili (3-14 FG) who promptly throws up an off balance runner. My question: HOW CAN DUNCAN NOT TOUCH THE BALL ON EITHER OF THOSE POSSESSIONS?
I’m sure all the talk will be about Robert Horry’s forearm shiver that sent Nash flying when the outcome was already decided. Stupid play on Robert’s part, but what he did was no worse than what Jason Richardson did to Memo Okur in the other Western Semifinal. Horry was ejected and assessed a flagrant two, and I don’t expect him to be suspended. The bigger question is what the NBA does with Boris Diaw and Amare, both of whom *technically* left the bench to posture on Steve’s behalf. As Tim Hardaway would say, it’s going to be “very interesting”.
There are certain people out there, and you know who you are, that will always find a way to bash the NBA no matter what. Well I’m here to tell ya that this series has already delivered the goods big time. Granted, I’m an NBA cheerleader, but you don’t read me typing about how everyone should be watching Chicago-Detroit, do you? The next two to three games of this series are going to be instant classics, trust me.
posted by D$ at 9:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home