Pride or Fanhood

So Tuesday night, as I was preparing for my onslaught of finals this week, I was keeping on an eye on the Celtics-Cavs game via gamecast expecting brilliant star performances and perhaps an upset victory. While KG showed up in a big way, carrying most of the offensive load for Boston on the night, and once again proving himself to be one of the most reliable players in the league, Lebron was nowhere to be found. Ten turnovers, shooting 2 out of 18 from the field including rimming out a game tying layup with just seconds left to play. One of the worst games of his career and one of the worst in recent memory for an MVP caliber player in the post-season especially.

Yet, sitting at my laptop, studying some genetics and noticing the game's score slowly increasing in a way that could only be described as Eastern Conference basketball, I could feel myself hoping that the Cavaliers would hold on for the win, despite shooting a collective 30.7%. I'm sure though I was rooting more for a Boston loss than a Cleveland W. The reason? Primarily, because I have been telling people ever since the week of the draft, "Oh, the Celtics won't be that good," or "There is no way they could win a championship." They've got three guys, a decently talented young PG and for all I'm concerned, that's about it. How these are the pieces to win a championship in a league filled with the most talent it has ever seen, I'm not exactly sure.


Despite my pessimistic attitude towards the C's, I'm a big fan of Garnett and Ray Allen. They are likable guys. Garnett is the definition of a fierce, passionate competitor and who can't get behind a guy like that? Not to mention he is an avid soccer fan and so am I. And, Mr. Allen has the most revered shooting form in the NBA and loves to come up big in the clutch.

All this being said, I'm torn. It's the March Madness syndrome. Whether or not you've got money on your bracket, you expect/hope all 63 of your picks turn out to be the right ones and you root for that (exception being that you pick against your #1 team - you shouldn't ever bet against your team, it's a bad deal anyway). But the Celts aren't my number one, so here am I having to pick between my pride and my main men (thanks Ahmad Rashad).

Dissapointing Dallas

Here we go again.

After losing 12 of their last 15 playoff games, Mark Cuban decides to fire Maverick's head man Avery Johnson. Avery became the fastest head coach in NBA history to win 50, 100, and 150 games; however, those numbers are accumulated in the regular season.

What it really boils down to is the team's lack of passion and intensity, particularly on the defensive end. Normally, such characteristics of a team are signs of poor preparation, yet in this case, we need to look a little deeper. The Mavericks traditionally have played decently as a defensive unit, but one on one allow individuals to tear them apart. For example. look at the career defining series that have precipitated as a result: Dwayne Wade in '06, Baron Davis in '07, and Chris Paul + David West in '08.

I still vividly remember Wade transcending into his superhuman form in order to demolish a 13 point lead with 7 minutes left in game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals. Yet, where has Wade been ever since except for becoming fabulous wealthy thanks to T-Mobile?

Flash Forward to the present defensive disaster. Paul averaged 24.6 points, 12.0 assists per 1.2 turnover per game, while his counterpart West added 22.6 a night. Let it be made clear, the Mavericks had no answer for either. The only reason the Mavericks won a single game in the series was due to 4 out of 18 shooting from Paul and 6 out of 20 buckets converted by West in Game 3. This had much less to do with a slightly improved defensive effort from Dallas than it did with the tandem not knocking down the open shots they normally bury.

The Mavericks' only true center, Eric Dampier was rendered entirely useless by the Hornets' frontcourt duo of Chandler and West. That left Dirk to defend West, with defense not exactly being the German's strong suit.

The Mavericks attempted defending Paul with an entourage that included Kidd, Terry, Howard, and George to name a few. Half court trapping proved disastrous, along with posting Kidd on the other end to wear down Paul on defense. So the Kidd trade sent away arguably the Mavs' two best defenders in Harris and Diop for a slow 35 year old who will make 21 million dollars next season. Not to mention that Dallas has to deal with slowing down Deron Williams, Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Allen Iverson, and Paul all throughout next season. A young, adept defensive point guard could really help in the mighty West.

All this being said, is it really Avery's fault that the Mavericks' slow and aging roster could not defend against the explosive youth of Paul, Chandler, and West (or stop Peja from consistently knocking down everything he shot)? Give me your opinion.

Warmly,
Derek