2012 NBA Playoffs

I'm really sorry I didn't get a chance to preview the NBA Playoffs this year.  The bottom line:  I'm old.  Time that was there just isn't there like it used to be.  But even if I didn't get a chance to preview, these playoffs are too...interesting?  Compelling?  Fascinating?  Disappointing?  Outstanding?  I think all of those words apply at least a little.  So I have to chime in with my thoughts so far, and what I think is going to happen from here. 

* First, I'd like to address Ron Ron elbowing James Harden in the face.  Look, I think it's been well documented here that I am not a fan of Ron Artest.  I think he's an obvious steroids user that has been suffering from Roid Rage for so long it's literally driven him crazy.  I think he's a horrible basketball player: he's a throwback to the thugs on the Bad Boy Pistons/Pat Riley Knicks brand of basketball--you know, the type that almost killed the NBA in the 2000's.  There's nothing good about Ron Artest; the NBA would have been a much better place if he had never been there. 

That being said...I'm not 100% against both the elbow to Harden and his reaction afterwards. 

Look, the bottom line for basketball is that you want to play hard, play fair, and not get anyone hurt.  Guys like James Harden, and Bruce Bowen, and Anderson Varijeo (whatever on the spelling), and Manu Ginobli don't do that.  The constant flopping not only is annoying, it's not fair (they're intentionally trying to mislead the refs to swing the outcome of the game not on their skill, but on their acting ability) and it's dangerous (there's plenty of times they undercut or cheap shot players that can lead to injuries by sliding in when people aren't looking or are in the air for no good reason other than to flop).  I'm not a dirty player, but if a guy flops against me on the court, I warn him--loudly--that if he tries something again, I'm going to give him something to flop about.  And if he does it again, I make sure I knock the crap out of him next time it looks like I'm going to foul him, and then I tell him that yes, I meant to do that.  This is good basketball:  it's keeps that cheating wus honest, and it keeps him from hurting me with his cowardly play. 

Now, I don't run down the court and elbow the guy in the face so hard he gets a concussion.  BUT...for years, we've watched guys like Harden and Ginobli pull this shit and the NBA has let them get away with it.  I know that I've written here before that I wish someone would throw a (more subtle) elbow and knock the crap out of Ginobli or Varijeo and send them a message.  So while (as usual) Roid Rage Ron Ron took it too far, you did not find me feeling sorry for James Harden.  And Ronnies reaction afterwards--refusing to call Harden or apologizing in any way, and doing everything but say to the media, "Yeah, I meant to do it, and I'd do it again" was great, and was a message that needs to be sent since the NBA refuses to step in.  It's like I tell the refs in my games:  "if you don't stop him from doing that, then I will." 

So fuck you James Harden.  Don't play like a little bitch, and you won't get knocked out. 

* On a similar note, I'm fully expecting the NBA equivalent of this to happen at some point between Harden and Ginobli.  Those two deserve each other. 

* While I do feel sorry for Chicago because of Derrick Rose's injury, and I do give Chicago some credit because Philly is a good (not great, but good) team...doesn't the fact that they fairly handily lost that series, and lost it with Boozer shooting 1-11 in the final game tell them something about their team?  Someone on that team has to score other than by jump shots and Rose driving to the basket.  Until they have someone who can do that, they won't be a true championship contender.  More on this later. 

* I really like this Philly team...as long as you don't expect them to be a championship contender.  Look, with Brand and Iguodola's contracts, this team is what it is:  an atheltic young team who can't go out and improve anymore because of how they spent their money.  That being said, ask Phoenix how that worked for them in the Nash/Amare/Marion glory years.  This isn't a true championship contender, but it is a really good, fun team that can post some good playoff victories for the next coupla years.  I'm sure the reasonable and understanding fans in Philadelphia are smart enough to appreciate that, and enjoy the team as it is. 

* You know what I'm really happy about?  That people are finally starting to criticize Dwyane Wade.  Not that I want to stand up for Lebron James--he's devolved into literally one of the worst clutch players I've ever seen--but Wade has been treated as the Golden Boy for far too long.  First of all, he's one of the dirtiest players in the league, having hurt several players in, "did he mean to do that?  I can't tell...I guess we'll give him the benefit of the doubt since he acts like a nice guy" kind of incidents.  When one or two of those happen, fine.  When five or six of them happen (Simmons had a good list on his NBA playoffs column) it's a pattern.  Second, he's not a nice guy.  He's a smart guy, and has learned to hide the fact that he's a dick by being subtle about it and doing funny commercials over the years.  But he slipped up and proved he's a petty, whining bitch last season when he made fun of Dirk for being sick (and it was HIM making fun of Dirk, not Lebron...watch the video, Lebron just kind of chuckles awkwardly after Wade starts sneezing and saying "I'm sick, write that down" in a "man, I don't want any part of this, but I don't want to throw my friend under the bus either" kind of way), and added to it with his little hissy fit he threw towards Spolestra in Game 3.  Hey Dwyane?  Spoelstra didn't make you shoot 2-15 from the field.  Own it. 

And that brings me to the Wade/Lebron thing.  Everyone has been criticizing Lebron--and not unfailry so--for not being a closer.  But isn't that supposed to be Wade's job anyway?  Didn't Lebron take a backseat when he signed with WADE'S team?  Haven't his struggles in the clutch been well documented, and if Dwyane Wade is truly the great player the media likes to talk about him being, shouldn't he let the greatest all around player in the game right now carry the team through three quarters, and then step in and take over down the stretch?  Isn't that what a great player would do? 

Here's the thing about Wade:  how many championships has he won where the referees didn't call 25 free throws a game for him?  It's easy to knock those shots down when you know the league is doing everything they can to get you to win.  But what has he ever done deep in the playoffs to show us that he is this great player/closer other than that? 

Again, I'm not absolving Lebron here.  Pathetic is the only word that can describe him in the final minutes of close playoff games.  But I'm glad that the media is finally starting to question the supposed greatness of Dwyane Wade.  It's long overdue. 

* Nothing makes me sadder about watching the NBA right now than the fact that Roy Hibbert is a top five center in the league.  What in the Hell happened to this position? 

* I want to like OKC.  I really do.  Obviously I like the good people of Oklahoma.  Thunder fans are good fans, even if wearing blue tshirts when the away team is there wearing blue is the dumbest thing I think I've ever seen.  I like Kevin Durant--how can you not, really?  Westbrook is a facinating player to watch (more on this in a sec), and even though this season it seemed like Ibaka had taken a few to many classes in the James Harden Bitch Brand of Basketball school, he's still an incredibly exciting player to watch. The pluses outweigh the minuses in the "do I like the Thunder" column. 

But do I like them as a title contender?  Not really, no.  Durant has taken his game to yet another level this season, and that is incredibly impressive.  However, I still worry about him in the clutch.  It's a fadeaway jumper and that's it from him.  So far he's made them...but it's really hard to keep making a fadeaway jumper every time you have to through four rounds of playoffs.  There's still no low post threat on this team whatsoever; Ibaka is a better mid range jumpshooter than he is low post player, and that is the last thing this team needs from him offensively. 

And Russell Westbrook.  How do I put this...Rusell Westbrook is the one of the most talented and possibly the dumbest point guard I've ever seen.  As I mentioned earlier, he's facinating to watch: he's UNBELIEVABLY quick.  I wish I'd seen more of him and Derick Rose go head to head before Rose blew out his knee; I honestly think Westbrook might be faster than Rose.  His midrange jumper is good, he's a great leaper and he finishes strong at the hoop.  But the guy is a fricking moron.  He's worse than even Young Kobe was in the "It's my turn to shoot!" department.  It seems like every five minutes in a game Westbrook takes off down the floor having decided that--no matter what--HE is shooting this time, and let me promise you people, smart teams LOVE playing against a player like that.  It's bad enough when that guy is your shooting guard or small forward, but when he's your point guard?  I'm sorry, but you just don't win championships with guys like that. 

Don't get me wrong.  The Durant, Westbrook, and Harden have the ability to get hot enough to win a championship--ala Dirk in the playoffs last year--but in the end, I think this is going to be an Atlanta Braves-like team where you look at the talent and go,"Wow, they only one once in ten years?  I can't believe that!" when all is said and done.  There are just too many smarter, well rounded teams out there, like...

*...the San Antonio Spurs.  I swear on everything that is Holy, I would have picked the Spurs to win it if I had done a preview column.  The Spurs are healthier than they've been in years going into the playoffs.  The team is more well rounded than it's been in forever--they're getting good contributions from Kawahi Leonard, Danny Greene, Gary Neal, Dajuan Blair, Tiago Splitter, Stephen Jackson, and Boris Diaw.  That's seven fricking guys who are going in and making contributions every single night!  Combine that with the Big Three playing as well as they have in years--seriously, when was the last time that Timmy missed a free throw line jumper?  I feel like it's been two months since I've seen him not nail that--and that's two lineups that can play with anyone on any given night.  Add to that that the Spurs seem to specialize in peaking at the right time during strike-shortened seasons and that alone makes them the favorites.  But there are two more reasons that I think not only will they win the title, but win it in convincing fashion:  The Radar and IQ. 

First, no one was paying attention to the Spurs when the playoffs started.  They were the old team that got swept by an 8 seed last season.  So even though they were playing great, they got to sneak in both A) without any pressure, and B) with the ability to play the "nobody believes in us" card.  The media still isn't talking about this team as much as it should!  It's more fun to talk about the changing of the guard between Kobe and Durant, and the soap opera in Miami, and the Celtics struggles against a less talented Sixers team.  Championship teams always benefit from those two items; the Spurs will use this.  Most importantly, though, is the team IQ.  This team is flat out smarter than any of the teams left--both the team itself and its coach.  OKC has holes, Miami has holes, Boston has holes.  The Spurs have none.  Any style of play they can match up with, and any weakness another team has they are smart enough and egoless enough to go exploit that hole.  As much as it pains me to say it, it really is beautiful to watch.  They never get worked up, they never panic, the never get mad:  they know that they are better and smarter than everybody, both because they have faith in their abilities and because they've been there and done it all before. 

In the end, I'm really hoping for a Spurs-Celtics final, because I'd love to see one last matchup between Durant and Garnet--even though I like Garnet better, but know that Timmy will kick his ass.  It will be facinating to see two of the great power forwards of all time--both of whom are polar opposites, neither of whom like the other--go at it one last time.  It would also mean Miami doesn't even make the Finals, and I think we can all agree that that is something to root for. 

* So in the end, what a strange year.  It really is facinating...and mesmerizing..and sad...and pivotal...and groundbreaking. 

In the end, it is what it always is.  The NBA...it's FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!