2013 Finals: One for the Ages.

We won’t be forgetting the 2013 NBA finals for a long time, and as the confetti settles, the rarity of what we just witnessed is still sinking in. From the opening tip the series was ultra competitive and of an incredible standard, culminating in an enthralling Game 7 on Thursday night. The enormity of a season defining 48 minutes can go one of two ways, stifling (Lakers – Celtics ‘10) or raising the standard of play. Thankfully, 26.3 million of us were graced with the latter last week.

It was so close, the whole series seemingly played on a knife edge, being held by a Heat fan 15 beers deep, standing on the shoulders of a Spurs fan 30 beers deep, balancing on one leg, on an indo board, on ice.

What if Timmy Duncan doesn’t miss the easiest shot of his life in game 7? If Tony Parker’s hammy doesn’t flare up? If TD is on the floor for the last 30 seconds of game 6? If Ginobli doesn’t turn the ball over 6 million times? If Lebron’s headband doesn’t fall off? If Ray Allen wasn’t a machine?

Your 2013 NBA Champion – San Antonio Spurs.

So close. Here’s how it almost happened.

Game 1

Lebron’s casual triple double (18pts/18reb/10ast) wasn’t enough for Miami, who got nothing from Wade and Bosh in the 4^th quarter thanks to some stereotypically stellar Spurs defence. Tony Parker sums up his whole bi-polar series in one play by being tantalizingly close to losing the ball for the full possession before displaying an instant of genius with the off balance, step through, double pump, bank shot high off the glass, off a pirouette pivot, out of the splits as the shot clock expires with 5.2 seconds left in the game to get the Spurs the road win. Danny Green only takes a half dose of his new shooting potion, warming up with a measly 4 for 9 from behind the arc. Parker’s shot was being touted as the best of finals history (and surely the series…?), Charles Barkley said Miami could be swept (really Chuck?), and everyone agreed Lebron needed help…

 

Game 2

Lebron got help. Wade (10) and Bosh (12) were OK, but it was the role guys that really stepped up, Chalmers (19) led the team in scoring, with Allen (13) and Miller (9) chipping in. None of the Spurs showed up on offense apart from Green, who takes a full dose and lights it up with 5 of 5 from downtown. Oh and Lebron embarrassed Tiago Splitter on national TV with a monster block… (before posing for the cameras mid possession and embarrassing himself… sigh).

 

Game 3

Danny Green (7 of 9) shares the good stuff with Gary Neal (6 of 10) who contribute the lions share of a finals record breaking 16 treys for the Spurs on the way to a gargantuan 36 point blowout. Mike Miller (5 of 5) does his best to resist the onslaught but cannot make up for the consistently mediocre to date Wade (16) and Bosh (12), the absolutely woeful Chalmers (0 points and 1 assist… ouch), and a career playoff low from Lebron (15 on 7 of 21 shooting) – thanks to some awesome defence from one of the few consistent players in the series, the long armed and large handed, Kawhi Leonard. Amidst the long ball euphoria at the AT&T centre, Tony Parker left the game with a sore hamstring which bothered him the rest of the series.

Game 4

It happens very rarely – but the Heat’s big 3, to varying degrees, all played up to their name in the same game!  Bosh was fairly sizeable (20pts/13reb), Lebron was massive (33pts/11reb/4ast), as was Wade (32pts/6reb/4ast/6stl). Not much the Spurs could do about that. Heat win by 7.

Game 5

Desperate for some production from the painfully, well, old, Manu Ginobli - Popovich gives his aging Argentinean the start to boost his confidence. The move works as Manu (24pts/10ast) remembers, for one game at least, how good he once was.  Wade matches Ginobli (25pts/10ast), but Lebron can only manage an inefficient 25 points on 8 of 22 shooting when faced with the confusing reality of not being able to score on unlikely defensive juggernaught - Boris Diaw (….WTF!?!?!). The Spurs shot an awesome 60% from the field; during which, Danny Green went 6-10 from 3 point range, smashing the Finals 3 ball record of 22 makes previously held by Ray Allen (who would have the last, shrill, cold blooded, evil laugh…) by making 25 of 38 on 66% shooting from downtown. This sensational shooting display had Green odds on for Finals MVP heading to Miami for the potential Championship clinching game 6 for San Antonio.

Spurs win by 10.

After the game, Shane Battier, whose shooting touch had been as toxic as Greens had terrific, suspects some shifty behavior on Greens part and sends the otherwise useless Norris Cole to the Spurs locker room to investigate. None of the Spurs players recognize young Norris, who swipes Green’s 3-point potion, delighted to make a contribution to his teams cause.

Game 6

Sensing he is 48 minutes from cementing himself as the greatest player of his generation, Timmy Duncan (30pts/17reb) winds back the clock and hauls his Spurs into pole position going into the 4^th period. With 9 minutes to go in the 4^th, Lebron loses his headband, and unleashes the fury (of his until now shackled receding hairline) for 18 4^th quarter points, getting into the paint at will and bringing his Heat back from the brink of Finals doom and into a game that could go either way heading into the final 2 minutes. Now things really get good…

Tony Parker makes huge back to back buckets - a surprising step back 3 and unsurprising reverse layup. Putting the Spurs up by 2 - 60 seconds away from a legacy making, legacy breaking, fifth Franchise Championship. Lebron turns it over, Ginobli gets fouled and makes both free throws – 4 point game - 37 seconds left. Lebron turns it over again, Ginobli gets fouled again and splits free throws. 5 point game - 28 seconds left – the NBA trophy was in the tunnel ready to be wheeled out and awarded to the Spurs, the arena staff had lined the court with rope ready for the presentation. IT WAS THAT CLOSE. Lebron bricks a 3 pointer, Mike Miller grabs an offensive rebound, Lebron nails his second look at a 3, Leonard gets fouled and splits free throws. Spurs up 3 - 20 seconds left. Lebron bricks another 3, Bosh grabs another offensive rebound (with Duncan inexplicably on the bench… I’m looking at you Pop) and shovels it to Ray Allen in the corner – 5.2 seconds left – Ray somehow steps back behind the 3 point line as he rises up into his shooting motion and lets it fly………….“GET THOSE MOTHERFUCKING ROPES OUT OF HERE!”.

Awesome. Heat win by 1 in overtime (after Allen gets away with fouling Ginobli in the dying seconds…). Lebron (31pts/11reb/10ast) finishes with a triple double, Bosh comes up with 2 big blocks in OT but does little else, Wade (14) is OK, Ginobli has 7 (8 if we’re counting the no-call) costly turnovers, Danny Green finally hits a shooting slump and goes 1 of 7, Shane Battier finally gets out of his shooting slump and goes 3 of 4, Mike Miller hits both his 3 point attempts and goes 1 of 1 with 1 shoe on.

And that was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Finals games of all time.

 

 

Game 7

Onto a final 48 minutes for all the marbles. Danny Green couldn’t buy a bucket going 1 for 12, and Shane Battier couldn’t miss going 6 for 6 (that’s about a 30 point swing right there). Wade (23pts/10reb) has a nice game but Bosh is scoreless in the biggest game of his life. For the Spurs the consistent play (all series long) of Duncan (24pts/10reb) and Leonard (19pts/16reb) was undermined by the inconsistent play (all series long) of Parker (10pts/4ast) and Ginobli (18pts/5ast – and 4 brutal turnovers). Ultimately it came down to Lebron, (37pts/12reb) hitting jumper (dagger), after jumper (dagger), after jumper (dagger).

 

Your 2013 NBA Champion – Miami Heat.

Lebrons game 7 performance showed a few things. 1) His growth, from a bad to a great shooter. 2) His balls, to win that game in that way. 3) His potential, the guy is getting better, the guy that’s won 4 MVP’s and back to back rings is getting better – a very scary thought.

Quick thoughts on next year…

Lebron better be getting better, because he was getting less help than last year from Wade, and Bosh was getting massacred by Duncan. If the Heat are going to pull off the 3-peat next year, James will have to really, really earn it – because the big 3 is fading fast.

Wade is 31, and although still very good, rarely is he great. His body no longer allows his game to resemble the dazzling, blinding, flash of the 06’ Finals; nowadays it’s more of a consistent high beam with the occasional knee drain induced flash. Robin will be doing less and less heavy lifting from now on in.

The Chris Bosh situation is even more worrying than Wades wobbly knees. There was talk of trading Bosh before he had even sobered up after drowning his game 7 sorrows – and they won! The reason goes beyond his pointless performance Thursday night. If the blueprint for beating the Heat wasn’t common knowledge before the playoffs, it should be now. Interior offence – in the two unlikely Bulls victories this postseason they played inside out, carving up the Heats undersized frontline with tidy interior passing and crashing the boards. More of the same was dished out in the Conference Finals by a boisterous Roy Hibbert and his Pacers, who lest we forget, also took the Heat to a game 7. All the while Tim Duncan was salivating at the chance to get one foot in the paint with Chris Bosh on his hip, a chance he got and used to punctuate the gaping hole in Miami’s defence, exposing Bosh’s abilities as a post defender and rim protector, and raising serious questions as to whether his strength as a stretch four floor spacer outweigh his weaknesses in the paint.

These questions and a Greg Oden renaissance notwithstanding – any team trying to knock Lebron James off his perch next summer will have to find a way of stopping him getting to the rim without letting him shoot or leaving assassins with one shoe on open around the 3 point line. Lebron James, “Ain’t got no worries”, except a French free agent named Boris of course, who should be expecting calls from a number of would be contenders pretty soon.

Roll on next year...

And the Coach of the Playoffs award goes to - Tom Thibodeau.

Coaches earn their money in the playoffs. In 2013 Tom Thibodeau earned every cent, laughing in the face of injury after injury whilst modestly stacking up unexpected win after win. George Karl won Coach of the Year for a great regular season, but if a coach of the playoffs award existed the Bulls coach is a runaway winner. Perhaps the only other coach in contention would be Golden States Mark Jackson, who exceeded expectations in his first taste of the playoffs as a coach. An underrated but by no means exceptional X’s and O’s guy, incredible motivator and a definite players coach – Jackson upset the fast paced Nuggets before giving the Spurs a lot of trouble in the second round where Steph Curry’s agonizing, pitiful, feeble excuses for ankles and the Spurs relentless efficiency colluded to end Jackson’s postseason. It was a great run and the future looks bright for a young and talented Warriors roster.

Tibs and his Bulls have had a conference worth’s experience with pitiful body parts this year, let’s take a painful trip down memory lane and look at the bruised and battered Bulls season…

Derrick Rose - former MVP, perennial All-Star, cornerstone of Chicago’s offense, franchise and City - was out for the season with a torn ACL.

Joakim Noah - All-Star centre, defensive general and soul of the team – battles with plantar fasciitis all year and hobbles into the playoffs. He plays but isn’t close to 100 percent.

Luol Deng – 2 time All-Star, iron man of the NBA and probably the league’s best “glue guy” -  also battles a torn ligament in his wrist all year before succumbing to meningitis in the 1^st round of the playoffs and having to sit out the remainder of the post-season.

The list is ridiculous. Kirk Hinrich missed 22 games in the regular season with a strained hip, groin, elbow as well as sore thumbs and toes. He then misses game 7 of the 1^st round and beyond with a sore calf. Richard Hamilton missed 32 games in the regular season and languished on the bench throughout the playoffs due to lack of game shape.

Putting this into Eastern Conference perspective - I wonder how good Miami would be without Lebron (Rose), Wade (Deng), Battier (Hinrich), Allen (Hamilton) and with a banged up Bosh (Noah) carrying the team?

How about Indiana without 2 Danny Grangers (Rose), George (Deng), Hill (Hinrich), Stephenson (Hamilton) and a banged up Roy Hibbert?

What about New York absent Melo (Rose), Smith (Deng), Shumpert (Hinrich), Kidd (Hamilton) and a banged up Tyson Chandler?

In this debilitated context the way Thibodeau has steered a seemingly sinking ship past the higher seeded Brooklyn in 7 games and into a competitive (to start with) series with a full strength Miami Heat is nothing short of miraculous. It is testament to an extremely talented coach implementing a system so efficient and robust that it has tamed the anarchic Nate Robinson, turned Italian journeyman Marco Belinelli into a productive playoff performer, and facilitated the growth of “Glue-All” Deng 2.0 – Jimmy Butler – who was a steal at the 30^th pick in 2011.

The greatest players and coaches of all time made the guys around them better – maximizing contribution. Thibodeau has achieved this to extremes, and hasn’t got nearly enough credit. He hasn’t just carried his team this year, he’s dragged them through some of the worst luck imaginable, with the taglines “Next man up” and “More than enough to win” masking equal parts coaching genius and work ethic. The Bulls are a team carefully created in his image, high character guys who understand the game.

The fact that the wheels came off a couple of times for Heat blowouts in games 2 and 4 doesn’t take away from Thibodeau’s genius, those games were just Miami showing how good (and fresh) they were.

If I’m Miami, a healthy Bulls team led by a healthy Derrick Rose next season is a very, very scary prospect.

My Westbrook theory (rant)...

Let’s talk about Russell Westbrook.

Since being taken 4^th in the 2008 NBA Draft the 6 foot 3 guard from California has been busy. A 3 time all-star, World and Olympic gold medal winner, widely regarded as a top 3 athlete in the NBA, this year he finished 6^th in the league in scoring and 7^th in assists at 23.2 and 7.4 a game. All this earned him an 80 million dollar, 5 year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC is on the path to a championship, losing to the eventual champs in each of the last 3 seasons, but getting a step closer every year; 1^st round to the Lakers in 2010, Conference Finals to Dallas in 2011, and the finals to Miami in 2012. According to this trend, the Thunder was poised to complete their ascent to the pinnacle of the NBA this year, or at the least give us a mouth watering finals rematch against Miami. Then something unusual happened, Russell got hurt. Not as you would expect on one of his kamikaze missions into the paint, but in a bizarre collision with Rockets rookie upstart Patrick Beverly who was going for a steal as Westbrook called a timeout. Not only did he miss the first game of his career in game 3 of the first round against Houston, he missed the rest of the playoffs. Without Westbrook, Kevin Durant carried the Thunder past a young Rockets squad, but couldn’t get past an excellent Memphis Grizzlies team in the 2^nd round. OKC’s fairytale rise to a championship will have to wait till next year, as will answers to ever more frequent questions on how much the Thunder could regret trading away super sub come superstar James Harden at the start of the year.

Will they win it all next year as currently constituted? Possibly, but I’m going to argue for a pretty major adjustment in OKC’s makeup: shifting Westbrook to shooting guard. This is not a revolutionary idea and has been tabled with gumption after each of OKC’s recent playoff “failures”. My argument is based on giving the Thunder a better chance to win one, and potentially multiple championships. This is not to say they cannot or will not win with RW at the point guard spot, as his career thus far has already demonstrated this is highly possible, but that they will be a better team with a better chance of a ring with him at the 2.

We’ll start with an overview of his strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths – The foundation of his game is athleticism. Speed, strength, quickness and hops make him a terror going to the rim in the half court and transition. Defenders have to respect the drive and he can punish them with his mid range jumper. He’s a more than adequate post up player. He gets to the line frequently. Effectively he’s a great scorer. Defensively his athleticism helps too, he’s a tough on the ball defender and great in the passing lanes leading to easy transition buckets, and he’s an excellent guard rebounder. To go with that athleticism is a ferocious competitiveness, which overall is a positive but contributes to some of his weaknesses as well. The positive side means he never takes plays off (effort wise) and provides constant energy on both sides of the floor. Together these mental and physical attributes combine a relentless scorer and highly disruptive defender in an (until recently) indestructible and explosive body.

Weaknesses – As is often the case his primary strengths double up as weaknesses. Scoring – the guy can score, but he’s often erratic and inefficient, taking bad shots at bad times way too often. Although his 3 point shot is improving, it’s still below average. Tied up in this shot selection is decision making, the presence and application of basketball IQ. One consistent flaw is pulling up for a quick shot in transition with teammates out of position to challenge for offensive boards, which gives the defense plays off, he then compounds the error by pressuring the opposing ball handler and overstretching his teams defense immediately in a possession. Often times it seems like he has one gear, or that the gear he’s in is way too fast for the scenario, which may involve slowing the tempo to protect a lead, clock management or simply feeding the hot hand. He’s not a bad passer, but he’s not a great one either, and even though he averages a bunch of assists, the stat is misleading in measuring his efficacy as a facilitator. His out of control play is often representative of his fluctuating temperament. He moans at refs, snaps at reporters and rants at coaching staff. Ultimately his lack of consistent composure on the floor often hurts his team.

My premise is this: his weaknesses are exactly the strengths required of a good point guard, while his strengths are exactly that of a scoring 2 guard (minus 3 point shooting, but I envision Russ as more of a Wade than Korver type 2). Conclusion: he’s a shooting guard, and should be played as one.

The point guard spot is arguably the most important on an NBA roster, they are the fulcrum of the team, an extension of the coach on the floor and therefore they bear a huge mental burden to ensure team execution of the offense. Furthermore, if the offense is struggling - which is more likely to occur against good teams in more important moments – the point guard has to be able to read the defense and adapt accordingly. Pure point guards of the past make guys around them better, if playing well is to do your job, and your job is to get guys easy buckets, then when you play well, by default, your team is better. Traditional point guards have this mindset, together with the basketball intelligence that gets wins. They more than most understand the elusive truth that winning is the result of a collective rather than individual effort. Of the 18 ex professional players coaching in the league today, 13 were point guards, which is indicative of the tactical feel for the game the position requires.

Not only does Westbrook not possess these attributes, but they are active weaknesses of his. Therefore, playing the point emphasizes these weaknesses. To make matters worse, the Thunder offence is overwhelmingly iso-oriented. Makes sense right? Westbrook and Durant are 2 of the best isolation scorers in the league, and Scott Brooks has created an offence in their image. It works well enough against bad defensive teams, but is liable to be exposed as one dimensional by good defenses given the opportunity to make adjustments over a 7 game series. Where do you go when your system can no longer generate high percentage looks if you’re a non traditional scoring point guard with a quick trigger? You take the low percentage look and hope for the best. Both Westbrooks limitations as a point guard and the limitations of the Thunder offence make it easier for opponents to expose his weaknesses.

It’s not just Westbrook, scoring point guards are common and highly sought in todays NBA, guys like Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry. But as has been pointed out (with help from an excellent barman analogy), in the last 30 years no point guard on a championship team has taken more than 19% of their teams shots. Westbrook in the regular season took 25% of his teams shots, Kyrie is at 21%, Rose at 21% (in 11/12 regular season), Curry is at 21%. Perhaps the catalyst for today’s tendencies towards ball dominant guard scoring is the great Allen Iverson who really set the bar at taking 35% (in 01/02) of his teams shots, now I’m not denying AI was a great scorer in his prime, but he is the blueprint for scoring point guards everywhere, and he never won a ring. Oh and the guys who took 19% of their teams shots - Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas, two of the greatest point guards and players ever, so they probably could justify the extra looks. Granted, there are limits in using the past to predict the future, is the absence of scoring point guards because of a fundamental floor in the concept? Or is it just that the game has evolved to favour perimeter scorers only recently? I’d say it’s 70/30 in favour of the former, and until a banner says otherwise, I’m using history to guide how I construct a championship team rather than putting my chips on a player transcending both history and tradition.

Besides the flaws in the concept of a scoring point guard, the argument is reinforced for the Thunder by the presence of Mr Kevin Durant. Irving, Rose and Curry they are the best offensive players on their respective teams – but this is not the case for Westbrook who takes more of his teams shots than any of those guys by a not insignificant 4%. It is incredible that Durant has won the scoring title 3 times without a pure point guard getting him easy points. It’s true that Westbrook creates looks for Durant indirectly on drive and kicks and the defensive attention he himself attracts, but there is no reason he can’t still do this off the ball on the opposite wing to Durant. This would give the Thunder a more balanced attack whilst making life easier for both players.

Westbrook is at 7.4 assists per game this year, 7^th best in the league, and I’m going to argue he’s not a great passer. Why? Because stats can be empty and misleading.

Here’s a comparison of stats indicating how a team scores, shoots and passes with PG’s on and off the floor, first up, here are the effects of Westbrooks 7.4 APG.

	ON COURT	OFF COURT	DIFFERENTIAL
Points per 100 poss.	115.6	109.6	+5.7
Effective FG%	53.1%	51.5%	+1.6
Assisted FG’s	55%	56%	-1

 

Here’s Steph Curry, at 6.9 APG,

	ON COURT	OFF COURT	DIFFERENTIAL
Points per 100 poss.	109.3	101.3	+8
Effective FG%	51.6%	47.3%	+4.3
Assisted FG’s	59%	55%	+4%

 

Steph’s cumulative differential of +16.3 dwarfs Westbrooks +6.3, despite his lower APG. Both scoring point guards, with noticeably different impacts on their teams collective performances.

As a yardstick for both here’s Chris Paul, the best PG in the league in my opinion, and a pass first PG at that, with a cumulative differential of +20.8

	ON COURT	OFF COURT	DIFFERENTIAL
Points per 100 poss.	116.7	104.8	+11.9
Effective FG%	54.1%	50.2%	+3.9
Assisted FG’s	63%	58%	+5%

 

So why are his assists reasonably high? Two reasons, 1) The Thunder is the 2nd best offensive team in the league with an offensive efficiency of 110.2 and 2) Ball dominant point guards overwhelmingly get dimes; Iverson 7.9, Rose 7.9, Steve Francis 7.0, Baron Davis 8.9, even Gilbert Arenas had 6.1 a game in his most prolific scoring year (05/06). Accordingly, I think it’s fair to doubt assists as a standalone indicator of a players ability to, and effect of, “Spread the Sugar” as the great Bob “Da Cooz” Cousy described it.

Decision making has been a constant criticism of Westbrook, especially in recent playoff runs where he has been benched or moved off the ball for important stretches. In the Western Conference Finals of 2011 against Dallas, Westbrook sat for the whole 4^th quarter as Scott Brooks went to Erik Maynor at the point after Westbrook made a series of poor decisions and out of control plays meaning the team failed to run the offense. The Thunder were a -10 in Westbrook’s 28 minutes, compared to a +18 in Maynor’s 19 minutes, and OKC won game 2 to level the series. There’s clearly something wrong with sitting a multiple all star in the biggest 12 minutes of the season because they were hurting your team, but it’s not a surprise, given Westbrooks strengths (scoring) and weaknesses (being a point guard), and how the two so blatantly conflict.

Moving on a year to the WCF in 2012 against the Spurs and another example of how in big moments and games, Westbrook is better off without the offensive load of scoring and running the team. This time he wasn’t benched but relieved of his primary ball handling duties, which were given to James Harden. The story of the series so far was this; in games 1 and 2 the Spurs had played arguably the best team basketball seen for decades and jumped out to a 2-0 series lead with the series heading to OKC. In game 3 defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha was assigned to slow down Spurs point guard Tony Parker, which he did brilliantly and without their enigmatic point guard, the Spurs offense broke down, and OKC won game 3. In game 4 the Sefolosha adjustment works again, but the game is tight in the 4^th, when Harden starts running the offense – which consisted of a single devastating play. Harden has the ball on the left wing, waits for Durant to come up from a downpick from Westbrook on the weak side, and gives KD the ball. It was that simple. KD scored 16 consequetive points in 6 minutes off options from that one magical play. Harden had 6 assists to Durant. OKC wins the game and goes on to win the series.

These two episodes are extreme versions of a fairly regular problem Coach Scott Brooks faces, one that he prefers to address with short term Erik Maynor and James Harden shaped band aids rather than a once and for all solution. The issue resurfaced in the Finals against the formidable Miami Heat, after game 2 Westbrook took heavy criticism of his point guard play by the greatest point guard of all time – Magic Johnson. In game 3 Westbrook was benched midway through the 3^rd for a series of bad shots and turnovers. Testament to his competitive edge he responded to subpar performances and criticism with an historic and notably efficient 20 of 32 shooting 43 point outburst in game 5. However with the Thunder down three with 17.3 seconds left, Udonis Haslem and James Harden lined up for a jump ball. If the Heat retained possession, they would have five seconds left on the shot clock. Westbrook didn’t recognize this, and when Mario Chalmers tracked down the tip, Westbrook made the mistake of intentionally fouling him. OKC lost the game and the series, his game 4 performance perfectly epitomized Westbrook the player - potentially sensational scorer, regularly reckless decision maker. So logically, put him in positions to score, and take him out of positions where he has to make decisions.

On the assumption that Westbrook is properly classified as a shooting guard, General Manager Sam Presti and the Thunders already debatable decision to trade James Harden becomes more contentious. After Hardens great year in Houston, it could be argued Sam Presti moved the wrong player. Harden may not be as athletic as Westbrook but is a more versatile offensive threat as a better 3 point shooter and passer, and thus a better complement to KD. After Westbrooks injury in the playoffs this year, Serge Ibaka was expected to take on more of an offensive load, but he couldn’t do it, lending weight to the popular theory that it should have been Ibaka that was moved. But that’s an argument for another day.

This years playoffs were interesting in a number of ways though. Most people will point solely to the absence of Westbrook for the Thunders struggles after he went down in game 3, and they definitely missed him, but his absence wasn’t the whole story. They struggled initially in the Houston series as Durant played a lot of point forward, and Westbrooks replacement sophomore Reggie Jackson struggled to define his role under immense pressure to fill Westbrooks shoes. After a couple of close Houston wins however, the Thunder won in 6. Let’s not forget though that Houston was right there and almost stole game 2 on the road, when Russell was playing, losing a nail biter by 3 points, and so were more of a threat with Westbrook on or off the floor than most people give them credit for. In the second round the Thunder lost in 5, but this belies how close this series was – with the 5 games being decided by 2, 6, 6, 6 and 4 with the Thunder losing the game on the inside rather than on the perimeter, Perkins offered no offensive threat and as already mentioned Ibaka struggled against the Grizzly big man tandem of Gasol and Randolph. Reggie Jackson though actually had a solid postseason with per game averages of 14 points, 3.6 assists, and 5 boards on 48% shooting, notably with 2.1 turnovers per 36 minutes to Westbrooks 4.2. Quite impressive considering the first 4 games were his first real taste of the playoffs in turbulent circumstances as the Thunder offense was in flux after losing Westbrook, and the next 5 games were against the best defense in the league.

Phil Jackson has always said that the game reveals the player as it reveals the coach. In time it will reveal Russell Westbrook, his success or failure as a point guard, the strategy of coach Scott Brooks, the decisions of GM Sam Presti, the legacy of running mate Kevin Durant and ultimately the Championship pedigree of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Will they win it all next year, or any year, as currently constituted? Possibly.

Will they win it all with Russell at the 2? Probably.

Knicks 12/13 Season: Post Mortem.

The Knicks season ended prematurely, and frankly, I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.

The fact that we grabbed the number 2 seed is testament to how bad (banged up) the Eastern Conference is rather than how good NY is. Let’s break down our 2 seed consensus “contender”. How many potential Championship pieces were sitting in the Knick locker room after being bullied by the Pacers for 6 games? I count 3; Melo, Shump and Chandler. I’ll talk about them last. First let’s break down the rest of the room.

The Veterans: Camby (39), Kidd, (40), Q. Rich (33), Martin (35), Prigioni (36).

Camby did nothing all year, was hurt a lot, and ended up just being a veteran voice in the ear of cinderalla man Chris Copeland. I have no idea why Richardson was bought in. When the Knicks were good during the regular season – Jason Kidd was invariably involved. Making decisions in the 4^th quarter, swinging the ball, knocking down timely 3’s, directing traffic all over the floor and being in the right place on D – he did all the little things. He was reliable, master of the clutch play as well as the odd clutch bucket, and the perfect pass first counterweight to Melo’s isolation. Then in the playoffs he disappeared, ran out of gas, lost his stroke – he probably played too many minutes in the regular season, regardless his lost production hurt the Knicks as much as or more than the more publicized J.R Smiths struggles.

Now two guys who stepped up in the postseason, Martin and Prigioni. K Mart was huge towards the end of the regular season and against the banged up Celtics. He played defense and rebounded – exactly what the playoffs place a premium on and the Knicks lack. Prigioni was the most refreshing of revelations all year, a reliable pass first PG, who earned his nickname “Sneak” with unrelenting pest like defense. He made big shots in the playoffs. Frankly the Knicks don’t get past Boston without these two, neither of which is likely to return next year due to the woeful cap situation in NY, and both – rightly – looking to cash in on good seasons.

Atleast Kidd and Camby made it to the postseason, unlike Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace. 

Kurt Thomas is a favourite at the Garden, and he proved why this season. After being used sparingly by Woody all year, he played his best game of the year on the road against the Jazz on a broken foot to drag the Knicks out of a 4 game slump and into a 13 game win streak. It was a hearty but costly performance by the NBA journeyman, ending his season and leading to foot surgery.

And who could forget Sheed, who was looking good to start the year – knocking down 3’s, dropping in that timeless turnaround baseline jumper, giving the second unit some much needed offense and getting plenty of comical technicals, including this little beauty. Ultimately though, after two years of inactivity, his body couldn’t handle the night in night out banging down low and he called it quits in the middle of the season. It’s a shame, the Knicks bet big on the vets, but only two of six survived.

The ball don’t lie, neither do birth certificates.

Next up, the role guys: Felton, Smith, Novak, Copeland.

Felton is a tough, scoring (slashing not shooting) point guard who thrives in the pick and roll. Ray is OK, he’s solid, rarely hurts you, but I can’t see him marshalling a team to a championship. Smith took his polarizing play to a whole new level this year with his chalk and cheese regular to post season play, from 6^th man of the year to generally a burden with one stupid swing of an elbow. He can shoot you in or out of a game, and a series. He has an opt out for next year which word is he’ll take, despite saying he wants to retire a Knick - gulp. Steve Novak can do one thing – shoot. It would be ok if you’ve got a system strong enough to hide in like say Matt Bonner for the Spurs, but even Bonner can be in the right place on defense, box out, and has a jump hook to go to when he drives. Not to mention the Spurs spacing is close to perfection, the Knicks spacing is streaky at best. The problem is that when you only do one thing well and everything else terribly, you’re useless in the playoffs, much to Miami and Indianas delight the last two years. If you are useless in the playoffs, and your team is supposed to be a contender – you’re a negative on the roster.

Now onto Chris Copeland. The man of the moment, Mike Woodsons last roll of the dice against the Pacers. Don’t get me wrong he was productive in games 5 and 6, but his production just showed how shallow the Knicks are offensively. Yes he has a knack for scoring, but he’s still not a good option, I bet Frank Vogel was delighted when Woody and the NY media started looking to 29 year old rookie journeyman fresh out of Belgium Chris Copeland to help carry the offense alongside the already overburdened Anthony.

Skipping past the totally irrelevant James White and Earl Barron, we arrive at…

The cap space monster: Amare Stoudemire.

He was an offensive threat in Phoenix because he was an incredible athlete, and when fed by Steve Nash he was a beast. His athleticism partially hid how bad he was on defense, as did the D’Antoni run and gun system. He’s lost the athleticism, Nash, and the system he was perfect for. His worth lies in being in the pick and roll, he is good at that, but that’s it. He’s a bad low post option, hasn’t been knocking down his foul line jumper consistently for a while. He’s a bad rebounder for his size and a terrible defender. Simply put, he does more damage than good. This reality is even more debilitating for the franchise given his horrible contract, which pretty much cripples the Knicks for the next few years, and explains the veteran quick fix contracts this year.

I’ll put my worn out over optimistic Knicks fan hat on for a second – even if he does get healthy, gets his jumper half consistent, gets his groove back with Felton (making Ray a whole lot more useful aswell) like the good (terrible) ol’ D’Antoni days… he’ll still be a problem! Because this interferes with one of the only good things to come out of this season – Melo at the 4.

Now onto the 3 potentially Championship pieces.

The first one is easy – Tyson Chandler. He was the difference maker in Dallas when they stunned Miami to get a ring, for that the Knicks gave him a big contract, and he repayed us by winning defensive player of the year in his first season. This year he underperformed, but he’s a valuable piece. He’s a great team defender and a great team-mate. He needs to be better than this year, but in his defense the roster was all over the place and he had a few annoying injuries – including the flu in the playoffs which limited his usual intensity.

The second guy is Iman Shumpert. He took a while to get his groove back after his ACL injury, but he really showed up in the playoffs, he is potentially the best perimeter defender in the league, and he’s a 22 year old sophomore. His jump shot has gotten better and he needs to work on his offense in general, but he gets the nod as a championship piece on his defense alone. Basketball attributes aside, this kid is made for New York, he was an instant fan favorite in the Garden in his home debut, and has shown this postseason that he’s not afraid of the lights as a lonely bright spot in the Indiana series.

Last but not least, the centerpiece, Mr Anthony. The Knicks gave up a lot to get Melo, who needs to step up if he wants bring a banner to New York. He needs to be MVP Melo, which is NOT scoring champ Melo but atleast 25, 10 and 5 Melo (29, 7 and 2.6 this year). He has the potential to do this, but he wasn’t there individually this year, nor did the pieces around him facilitate him getting there. That’s why I’m going to give his isolation heavy year a pass because 1) He had to score, who else was going to? And 2) Woodson lives and breathes isolations, the system made it hard for Melo to evolve. All year it was - isolate Anthony, when they double find the open man, if they don’t double go to work – when we knocked down the shots we looked great, when we didn’t we lost. It’s no surprise we struggled in the playoffs – as Magic said about the Warriors, jump shooting teams just don’t win championships. If the "greatest shooting backcourt of all time" (Mark Jackson) can’t win shooting jumpers, then neither can we. Yes it will work against bad teams in the regular season, but it is an awful game plan for the playoffs, as Indiana proved by just not doubling and making Melo beat them, which he couldn’t do, even with Chris Copeland as his right hand man – what a shock.

Winning the NBA title is about collective will (meaning there must be a true collective, a team – which is rarer than you think), a whole lot of luck, and most importantly – knowing what the other team is going to do and stopping it. This is where the Knicks make it so easy for teams by being so Melo-centric, good defensive teams beat good offensive players. Ask the isolation heavy Thunder last year, the isolation heavy Heat the year before. Ask Jordan about Detroit. This is where Melo and the Knicks have to grow. Unfortunately as much as I love Woodson’s solitary gobsmacked expression, his love of isolation offense will not help the Knicks win it all. We underperformed as a 2 seed not getting to the Conference Finals, and struggled against a Celtics team who literally didn’t have a point guard on the roster, and still caused the Knicks serious problems. A rondo-less Boston against a Melo-less Knick team would not have gone well for NY, because Boston has an offense that Rondo does a great job running, and we have an offense whose name is Carmelo.

In summation, we had a bad team (for a “contender”), and a bad year (for a “contender”), and somehow managed to make it look half reasonable.

The most painful part of it all is that we cannot win it all with Amare’s current contract – simple as that. We can’t improve a roster that’s already over the salary cap, and we haven’t got enough pieces as currently constituted. Buckle up for a few years of (predictable) playoff disappointments NY.

Being a Knick fan is fun.