NBA Finals Aftermath

by Harlan Schreiber

Free agency is looming around the corner and 2009-10 will soon fade into memory.  But before we look forward, let’s look back for a few moments on some of the issues raised after the Finals.  Here’s a look:

-Despite having the two signatures franchises meet again, the Finals were hardly classic.  While both teams were very good defensively and were leaving everything on the floor, there were few compelling moments and the most memorable moments, namely the end of Game 7, were not played at the highest offensive level either.  While I enjoyed the series, there did seem to a bit of hypocrisy in hyping this as a great series.   In my mind, this series actually mirrored many of the plodding but competitive hard fought series of the 1990s, particularly the 1993-94 Finals between the Knicks and Rockets, which has been unfairly maligned as an ugly series by many. Continue reading NBA Finals Aftermath…

Playoff Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber

Lakers-Celtics, Again: Lakers-Celtics is always a fun Finals match up.  Of course, the fun was the surprise in getting this match up, more than the games that led us to this moment.  In fact, the actual games have been, for the most part, quite mundane.  Regardless of the workman like way that the Lakers and Celts have dispatched their opponents, this is a potentially very fun NBA Finals.  Predicting this NBA Finals is tough because both the Lakers and Celts struggled coming into the playoffs and have just turned it on since.  Boston looked as done as any team we’ve seen coming in and now they’ve knocked off both the Cavs and Magic (probably the two best teams in the NBA coming into the playoffs) to reach L.A..

As for Boston and Los Angeles, this is the storied rivalry in NBA history.  In fact, this will be the twelfth time the two franchises will meet in the NBA Finals.  For those readers who are not NBA history buffs, you might not know about how the Bill Russell Celts smoked the Lakers seven times from 1958-59 to 1968-69.  In the 1980s, the Magic Johnson Lakers took two of three Finals from the Larry Bird Celtics.  Most recently, in 2007-08, the historically tough Boston defense took out Kobe’s Lakers in six games.  In case you’re wondering, here are the most frequent NBA Finals match ups in NBA history:

1.    Lakers/Celtics, 11 times (Celtics lead series 9-2)

2.    Lakers/76ers, 4 times (Lakers lead series 3-1)

Celtics/Hawks, 4 times (Celtics lead series 3-1)

4.    Knicks/Lakers, 3 times (Knicks lead series 2-1)

Pistons/Lakers, 3 times (Pistons lead series 2-1)

6.    Celtics/Rockets, 2 times (Celtics lead series 2-0)

Bulls/Jazz, 2 times (Bulls lead series 2-0)

Bullets/Sonics (series tied 1-1) Continue reading Playoff Thoughts…

Playoff Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber

The reactions to Cleveland’s loss to Boston in Round 2 have been varied but most have been along the lines that the loss was a calamity and will set back the Cavs quite a bit.  Is this true?  Sorta.  Let’s go through the loss and try to separate fact from fiction:

Did the Cavs/LeBron Choke?

I don’t know if choke is the right word.  Clearly, the Cavs seemed to be the better team by all accounts going into the series.  There really is no one who could’ve predicted that the Celts would have Rajon Rondo morph into a transcendent guard  AND that the old guys would start playing like it was 2007-08 again (Kevin Garnett finally stopped limping while playing!).  Even so, it’s hard to explain away the Cavs getting blown away in Game 5 at home and this did not reflect well on the Cavs as a whole or on LeBron individually.  I know LeBron played very poorly in that game but the way the Celts were shooting (and the way Cleveland was defending) made a victory impossible unless James planned on scoring 55 points. Continue reading Playoff Thoughts…

Playoff Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber

A quick update on Round Two… 

-Celtics/Cavaliers:    A nice and shocking Game 2 win for Boston in Cleveland.  Could this augur an upset of a seven-game series?  Seems quite unlikely.  Yes, the Cavs could have issues with Rajon Rondo but he torched them just as much (if not more) in Game 1 and the Cavs still killed Boston.  The big difference in Game 2 was Rasheed Wallace.  The chances that he shoots 7-8 in another game seems highly unlikely.  The argument could be made that the Celts just need to hold home court to win the series, so another Rasheed burst isn’t needed.  But the Celts are a pretty mediocre home team (24-17) and were actually better on the road this year (26-15) and definitely need something out of the ordinary to hold serve. 

I see this situation very similar to the Nets/Heat match up in round two back in 2005-06.  The Heat (with Dwyane Wade and a still dangerous Shaquille O’Neal)were the favorites in that series but the Nets were given a puncher’s chance with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson all playing very well.  The Nets stole Game 1 in Miami by 12 and then proceeded to get walloped the next four games.  The Celts now are probably better than the 2005-06 Nets (though not by much) but the Cavs are better than the old Heat were (though they did go on to win a title that season).  It was a nice effort but I just don’t see Boston winning more than one more game this series. Continue reading Playoff Thoughts…

Playoff Thoughts

by Harlan Schreiber

Round One is under way and here are quick thoughts on the series so far: 

-Cavs/Bulls:  This series is basically over after LeBeron James tossed around the Bulls to take a 3-1 lead.  Even still, from the Bulls’ perspective, the series hasn’t been too bad.  Sure they have no shot of winning but they have played respectably for the most part and have gotten the one token win to build on for next year.  It appears that Vinny Del Negro is going to be fired because of internal issues (questions on his play calling and, more importantly, clashes with John Paxson).  It’s hard to make judgments on internal issues we are not privy to but based purely on his record on the court, he has been a solid enough coach. 

-Magic/Bobcats:  Like the Bulls, the Bobcats have been relatively competitive in their series against the heavily favored opponents.  Unlike the Bulls, they haven’t gotten a win yet.  Charlotte has been so good at home, they should be able to at least avoid the sweep.  The only reason this might not happen is because of the Bobcats’ main weakness (scoring) coincides nicely (or not so nicely depending upon your rooting interest) with Orlando’s strength (tough defense).  In the three games so far this series, Charlotte has an anemic 84 ppg and has not broken 90 points in a game yet (notably, Boris Diaw is averaging 40 mpg and has only 5.7 ppg).  Continue reading Playoff Thoughts…

About Hoops Analyst:

Hoops Analyst is the premier destination for in-depth basketball analysis, insight, and commentary.