Heat Taking Heat For The Heat
A broken air conditioner, in a crowded arena, during the summer in Texas is the recipe for an unpleasant experience. That's what the Spurs and Heat found themselves in during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Had it not been for a LeBron James cramp in the fourth quarter, this story probably would have been glossed over and chalked up to it being hot in San Antonio this time of year. Unfortunately for the Heat, the cramp monster came and bit LeBron during the critical stretch run when the Heat still had the lead. Without him on the court, Danny Green exploded down the stretch to make the final 110-95 score look a lot worse than how the game actually was played.
Anything that happens to LeBron nowadays, people are going to get all over him for. Some people went so far as to call him soft or say that he wasn't mentally tough enough to just battle through it. As someone who hasn't liked LeBron since he went to Miami, I have to say that is unfair. LeBron did try and get back in the game, scored on a pretty nice drive and layup, then couldn't even walk to the bench. Anyone who has ever had a cramp knows that they can be next to impossible to handle. If you didn't prepare for it with hydration, salt, etc., then it will be very difficult to overcome that, much less play a NBA Finals basketball game. Some people want to sound tough and say, "Oh, I could have played through that." In truth, no you could not have. You might be less prone to cramps or had prepared better than LeBron in that situation, but once you get those nasty cramps, you'd have been sitting on the bench too.
Where The Series Stands Now
Cramp or no cramp, the Spurs won the game. While I do think the heat had an impact on the game (Heat lose their best player down the stretch), I don't think it was the reason the Spurs won. The Heat were only up by two when LeBron played his last seconds in the game, so it's not like the Spurs were done for. The Spurs let Miami back in the game by being sloppy with the ball early, but their ball movement in the final minutes was vintage Spurs. Ball screen, pass to Duncan in the post, quick pass right back out to Tony Parker for an open 3. Just because LeBron was out, doesn't mean that a two point lead should turn into a 15 point deficit.
The good news for Heat fans is that the A/C is fixed, and nothing about Game 1 should have changed anyone's predictions. Whether you picked the Spurs in six or the Heat in six, you should still feel pretty good about your prediction. It was a close game with a score that was not reflective of the game itself. One thing that does have to worry Heat fans is Tim Duncan. The building might be cooler for Game 2, but Duncan isn't getting any shorter. He was a man amongst boys down low as he shot 9 for 10 from the field for 21 points to lead all Spurs scorers. The Heat don't have the personnel to guard him one on one, so more double teams will be in order, as well as doing a better job of denying him the ball down low in the first place. It's certainly a risk as the Spurs have Parker, Green, and Manu Ginobili running around on the perimeter, but I've always thought that you lose games getting beat from the outside, but you lose series getting beat down low.
They Never Lead, But They Always Win
See: 2014 Los Angeles Kings. For the second game in a row, the New York Rangers took a two goal lead in the first period, and for the second game in a row, they lost in overtime. The Kings have been doing this the entire post season as they kind of hang around for the first two periods, then finish the deal late. It's actually quite surprising that the Kings have had to rally in the first two games, despite out shooting the Rangers 87-65. Now they have home ice advantage, something they haven't had this entire postseason, and a 2-0 lead heading to New York. Is there any hope for the Rangers?
The answer is a hesitant and uneasy, yes. The outlook doesn't look good, but anytime you have Henrik Lundqvist back in net, you got a shot. Similar to an ace pitcher in baseball, if he plays at his best, you can turn a 2-0 series into an interesting one real fast. Speaking of fast, one thing that has really bothered the Kings in this series is the Rangers' speed. You saw some of that last series against the Hawks, but even more so with this Rangers' squad. There have been multiple times where the Rangers will win a face off in their own zone, flip the puck up in the air up ahead, and one of their speedsters will skate onto it and get a shot on goal. The Kings have gotten beat on a couple of occasions, so maybe they need to put at least one defenseman even further back, similar to a corner backing off a speedy wide receiver.
More good news for the Rangers is that they have come back from worse deficits this postseason. The Penguins were up 3-1 on them in the Conference Semifinals heading back to Pittsburgh. The Rangers had to take two in Pittsburgh and hold serve at home. Lundqvist dropped the hammer, allowing only three goals in the final three games as the Rangers advanced. If the Rangers are to win the Cup, Lundqvist will have to do the same in this series. He's made some great saves already, but the offensive waves just keep coming and coming for the Kings. Although the Rangers have been in both games this series, I think a high scoring shootout favors the Kings. Not pressing on offense, and playing sharper on defense is the formula for getting back in the series. The Rangers want to see scores like 2-1 or 1-0, rather than the scoring bonanza that has taken place the first two games.
Stay In School
Every year when there are coaching vacancies at the NBA and NFL levels, everyone looks to the college game and tries to make the case how this coach could fit in there. This off season, the head coaching job for the Los Angeles Lakers, arguably one of the most prestigious jobs in sports, opened up. Immediately, National Championship winning head coach Kevin Ollie (UConn), former Championship winner John Calipari (Kentucky), and Hall of Famer Mike Kryzewski (Duke) were all mentioned as possible candidates. Ollie actually grew up in LA, and was coming off a sensational coaching job by taking a UConn team that wasn't the most talented, to a National Championship. He was also a mentor and friend to Kevin Durant, so there was some appeal with Ollie perhaps being able to draw Durant to LA once his contract was up.
Calipari has already coached in the NBA and struggled to find success. In three years with the 76ers, he finished with a .391 winning percentage and only made the playoffs once (swept by the '98 Bulls). His success at the college level, however, has been spectacular. At Memphis, the Tigers were always near the top of the rankings, and were frequent tournament participants. Had it not been for their inability to make free throws, he might have won his first National Championship in 2008, with Derrick Rose leading the way. That first title didn't come until 2012 when he led a mostly freshmen Kentucky team to the title, while only losing two games the entire year.
Coack K always gets mentioned for any NBA coaching job, and rightfully so. He's already in the Hall of Fame, has four National Championships, and is a three time Naismith College Coach of the Year. While he hasn't had a head coaching job in the NBA, he has led NBA superstars to gold medals in 2012 and 2008. Any coach that can get Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Kobe Bryant to play as a cohesive unit is doing a pretty good job. As it stands, Ollie signed a new contract in May, Coach Cal signed a new contract this past week, and Coach K won't leave Duke, probably ever.
I think this is great for all parties involved that none of them jumped ship. Very rarely, in any sport, does a successful college coach go on to be a successful pro coach. Exceptions include Jack Ramsay, Jimmie Johnson, and Pete Carroll (took him a couple tries though) to name a few. Coach K is the only one of the three I could see being successful given how well he managed players and egos at the last two Olympics. Still, all of them have great programs going and are great for basketball in general in terms of preparing them for the NBA. Ollie hasn't had time yet, but Coach Cal has recently sent a flood of talent that has done well in the pros. The amount of Dukies that played under Coach K in the NBA is numerous. With them staying at their colleges, it allows young players to develop better, and also leaves the head coaching positions open to better fits, rather than just taking the best college coach at the time.
What Position Do You Play?
It's hard to argue that the best tight end in the NFL is the Saints' Jimmy Graham. Graham, however, would argue that he isn't even a tight end. Well, at least when it comes to getting paid. Graham is arguing that, since the Saints used the franchise tag on him, that he should get the money a wide receiver gets when franchised tagged ($12.3 million) rather than what tight ends get ($7.035 million). His argument is that he lined up either in the slot or out wide 67% of the snaps he played last year. Anyone who has watched the Saints play know that Graham plays very much like a wide receiver. While he did play the majority of his snaps like a WR, he did play 33% of his snaps as a tight end. Also, he is not listed on any roster as a WR. If you were to ask someone who the best wide receiver in the game is, I'm not sure if Graham's name comes up. Not because he's not a good receiver, but because no one thinks of him that way. Ask the same question about the best tight end, and he'll be one of the first two (other one probably being Gronk).
I agree with Graham on this matter that he should get paid like a WR, but I think the NFL's parameters for this should change. Where someone lines up in a formation shouldn't dictate the money they get paid and/or deserve. If Graham lines up at TE every play, runs routes from that position rather than out wide, and still gets the same stats, should he still get WR pay? I would say yes, because it should be based on performance rather than where they lined up. One example I can think of where basing franchise tag payouts on where someone lines up is flawed goes back to the Wildcat Miami Dolphins.
Normally reserved for the college game, the Wildcat formation exploded onto the scene in 2008 when the Dolphins lined up Ronnie Brown at quarterback and had Ricky Williams either standing beside him or coming in motion, with the option to keep it, hand it to Williams, or pass it. While they used it sparingly, let's say for argument's sake that it became the base set of their offense and had good success. Now, let's say Brown runs the ball 80% of the time, hands it off 15% of the time, and throws it 5% of the time from that formation. Should he get tagged as a quarterback? Of course not, but given the position where he lined up from, then the current system would argue that he should. So while I don't agree with how it is set up currently, I think that Graham has a case to take advantage of a broken rule. If the decision on Graham's tag doesn't change any policy, look for more players to do this. I think of a Darren Sproles type back or a defensive end/outside linebacker hybrid as players that could make a case to be tagged as a different position. His grievance hearing is scheduled for June 17-18.
World Cup Update
Big news on the World Cup front this week as Marco Reus of Germany and Franck Ribery of France were both declared out for their respective squads, less than a week away from the starting tournament. I think Germany has the means and strength in midfield to overcome Reus' injury. The loss of a Bastian Schweinsteiger would have been much more harmful. Ribery's injury, however, may not be so easy to recover from. Throughout his career, at the club and international level, he has been a great distributor of the ball, and France doesn't really have anyone to replace what they will lose with him. As it stands, nothing regarding Germany changes. They still win their group, and make it to the semis against Brazil where they fall. France, however, is in a bit more trouble. I now see the Swiss winning the group, and Ecuador possibly sneaking in the backdoor to advance. That's how much Ribery means to this team. If France falls in the group stage in back to back World Cups, expect a very uneasy next four years for everyone involved with the French National Team.
Matty O
No comments:
Post a Comment