Dreary Weather Does Not Put a Damper on the Start of All-Star Weekend in Dallas
Global warming has definitely not reached Dallas, Texas. Those of us who left the Eastern and/or Midwestern regions of the country to cover All-Star Weekend found a disturbingly familiar sight upon arrival in the Lone Star State: snow falling from the sky, snow piled up on the ground, slick roads/sidewalks and minimal visibility on many roadways. I am not big on reading/watching weather reports, so I did not receive my first warning of trouble until I boarded my connecting flight from Atlanta to Dallas; my seatmate had been stranded in Atlanta because his American Airlines flight never arrived from the East but he was fortunate enough to be provided a seat on this Delta plane. He contacted his family to let them know about the delays and he found out that Dallas already was blanketed by several inches of snow, with more on the way. Ground transportation from the airport might be a problem, he warned me as we sat in a huge "traffic jam" waiting for takeoff (four planes were ahead of us and at least that many were behind us). I naively asked why the Dallas authorities would not have the roads plowed by the time we arrived but he replied that Dallas is completely unprepared for this type of weather.
The strange thing about air travel these days--besides the fact that a tube of toothpaste may be confiscated as a potential weapon of mass destruction--is that the airlines are so desperate to avoid having flights classified as late that they rig the schedules to allow far more than the necessary time to reach a given destination; thus, my Atlanta flight took off a half hour late but still arrived five minutes "early"! Between the wacky scheduling, the time zone change and the bizarre sight of a snow storm in Dallas it truly felt like I had ventured through some warp in the space-time continuum.
I read somewhere that the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport is bigger than the city of Manhattan, so I had this nightmare vision of wandering around for two hours before being able to leave the premises but fortunately my plane landed at a gate right next to the exit for ground transportation; I walked out the door and immediately encountered a limo driver. I asked him the going rate to ride to my hotel and he offered to take me in his limo while only charging the normal rate for a cab (I knew that the number he cited for cab fare is reasonable because I researched it prior to making this trip). As we walked to his car I asked him how unusual it is for Dallas to get this much snow and he thought for a moment before saying that he believes that it has been close to 20 years since Dallas last had a winter storm like this. He pulled out of the airport and despite driving at a very reasonable speed we slid gently into a curb--the streets in Dallas are extremely slick; he got out of the car to inspect the damage and promptly slipped and fell. I was about to get out to check on him when he stood up and came back in to the car; the car was undamaged but he had suffered a bruise between his pinkie and ring fingers when his hand got caught on the front bumper as he braced his fall. Visibility was extremely poor during the 20-25 minute drive to the hotel but we arrived safely without any further incidents.
After checking in, I hailed a cab for the short trip to American Airlines Arena to pick up my credential; the credential facility is a nondescript trailer that you could easily miss if you did not know exactly where to look for it but I managed to find it without too much trouble. Unfortunately, the NBA does not provide shuttle bus transportation to All-Star venues until Friday, so media members who arrive earlier are left to their devices; last year in Phoenix that was hardly a problem: the weather was great and the credential facility was located right across the street from Jam Session. However, in Dallas none of the venues are within walking distance of each other, so I stood in the trailer with credential in hand but no readily apparent way to get to Jam Session (which is located this year at the Dallas Convention Center)--but then I overheard another media member asking about Commissioner David Stern's upcoming appearance at the opening ceremony for All-Star Weekend, so I mentioned to him that this would take place at Jam Session at 4 p.m. and I asked him if he was heading that way. He immediately told me that he would be glad to drive me there.
It turns out that my Good Samaritan is
Cedric Bailey, a Dallas-based editor, reporter and radio personality. Only when we arrived at Jam Session did I realize that Bailey had not actually been heading in that direction; he went out of his way to help me because he said that if he had just arrived in a strange city he hopes that someone would provide a similar kindness for him. Bailey is a man of deep faith and it is clear that he felt that there was a reason I encountered him precisely at that moment in the credential trailer. Bailey gave me a copy of
La Vida News--the Black Voice (he is the paper's sports editor) and I look forward to seeing him again during All-Star Weekend.
Despite the delays and the snow, I actually arrived at Jam Session about an hour before it opened to the public--but with my media credential I was able to go inside and give myself an unguided tour. As I have mentioned in several previous All-Star Weekend reports, Jam Session is a perfect and economical way for you to really get the flavor of All-Star Weekend if you are in town but unable to get tickets for the "main" events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Jam Session includes over 40 different exhibits, stores and/or activities, plus many food and beverage options--Taco Bell even provides free food at regular intervals.
The All-Star Weekend Opening Ceremony featuring Commissioner David Stern started about 10 minutes late--presumably because of the inclement weather. Commissioner Stern declared "North Texas is the capital of the basketball world" for this weekend and that Jam Session is the "nerve center" of that capital. Perhaps those words sound like hyperbole but they are nevertheless true: All-Star Weekend does in fact bring together the legends, the current NBA stars, the WNBA players and the future stars and it is possible for fans to interact with players from each of those categories by visiting Jam Session's various games, autograph sessions and player exhibitions.
The Panini Company recently bought out venerable card manufacturer Donruss and now owns a license to produce NBA trading cards. In the past few years, trading cards have lost a lot of the youth market due to escalating prices, market saturation and the appeal of other hobbies like video games and
Yu-G-Oh!. So Panini has countered this trend with a savvy strategy, lowering the price to $1 per pack for the new Adrenalyn NBA cards (available at the NBA Store, located right in front of the main Jam Session entrance); the cards can simply be collected like any other trading cards but they can also be used to play the new Adrenalyn game, either face to face or
online. Even better, if you visit Jam Session you can spin a
Wheel of Fortune-style wheel free of charge, after which you receive a pack of cards plus one special Panini card embossed with the All-Star 2010 logo (the card you receive depends on where the wheel's pointer lands). The Panini folks also supply a free game board, plus the opportunity to practice playing the Adrenalyn game. The creator of the game explained to me that the simple board version of the game is geared toward kids aged roughly six to 11 but that the online version can be played in a more complex fashion that should appeal to fans of fantasy sports; also, if you play online you can accumulate points and Panini is running a contest so that the person who gets the most points will have an opportunity to meet Kobe Bryant face to face and play the game against him! Bryant is the official endorser of the Adrenalyn cards and he is scheduled to make an appearance at Panini's Jam Session station on Saturday. I had this conversation before finding out that Bryant will not play in this year's All-Star Game due to his sprained ankle, so I am not sure if that will change Bryant's plans regarding Jam Session; as you likely have already heard, Bryant will be replaced on the West All-Star roster by Jason Kidd, while Allen Iverson--who will miss All-Star Weekend due to an illness in his family--will be replaced on the East All-Star roster by David Lee.
I proceeded straight from the Panini station to Center Court to watch the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Classic; this is the fourth straight All-Star Weekend that I have covered the NWBA All-Star Game--for me it is a can't miss event (here are the links to my coverage of the game in
2007,
2008 and
2009). I really enjoy watching the game and trying to give my readers some sense of the flavor of the event. This year, 22 players participated, selected by the NWBA coaches and divided into two teams of 11 players each. The game lasted 40 minutes (two 20 minute halves with a running clock). The West team took a quick 6-2 lead after David Gonzales of the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks went coast to coast for a layup but David Kiley of the Charlotte Rollin Bearcats nailed two straight midrange shots to put the East up 26-25--and he just missed hitting three in a row, as his third shot looked true before bouncing in and out. The teams battled to a 31-31 halftime tie as Kiley led the East with eight points while Gonzales scored 13 for the West. The East relentlessly pounded the ball inside early in the second half, with Curtis Lease of the Chicago Wheelchair Bulls and Willie Hernandez of the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks each scoring on nice drives to the hoop (Dallas had seven All-Stars, four who played for the West and three who played for the East). After Lease pump faked and made a shot off of the glass from just inside the free throw line the East led 45-37 and seemed to be in control--but then the West ramped up their defensive pressure, forced several turnovers and repeatedly scored on quick drives off of nifty feeds by Jason Nelms of the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks. The West regained the lead with a few minutes left and held on for a 61-53 win. Rodney Hawkins earned MVP honors for the West on the strength of a fantastic all-around box score line--13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and seven steals--while Kiley's early sharpshooting and his deft playmaking throughout the game (five assists) were rewarded with recognition as MVP for the East. Gonzales finished with a game-high 23 points, while Kiley and Jeremy Day (Orlando Magic Wheels) led the East with eight points each. Nelms had a game-high six assists.
The Legends Shootout followed the NWBA All-Star Game. Detlef Schrempf attempted to defend his 2009 Shootout title but even though he looks to be in excellent condition he finished last with just two points (the players had 45 seconds to shoot three pointers from three racks of four balls each--two on the baseline and one at the top of the key--with the last "money" ball counting as two points instead of one). A.C. Green scored six points and Mitch Richmond tied Bruce Bowen with seven points, necessitating a tiebreaker round under the same rules. Richmond went first and appeared to be fully warmed up, having a
Run TMC flashback while blistering the nets for 12 points (out of a possible 15); Bowen slumped to just three points, unable to consistently nail his trademark baseline treys. The four players ribbed each other good-naturedly throughout the event and then concluded the proceedings by autographing t-shirts and throwing them into the stands, providing some nice souvenirs to the enthusiastic and grateful fans.
After pausing to get a bite to eat, I spent the rest of the evening exploring as much of Jam Session as I could. Windows has a cool exhibit of the new Windows 7.0 program, a free copy of which they raffled off every hour on the hour. Next to the Windows exhibit is "NASA Launch Pad," where you can see scale models of various famous NASA spaceships--including the Space Shuttle and one of the Apollo rockets--and watch interactive videos about the history of man's exploration of the Moon. You can also touch a 14 gram fragment of an 8000-plus gram Moon rock that astronauts brought back to Earth decades ago; the Moon rock has been carbon-dated to be more than 3.7 billion years old, older than virtually anything on Earth! The rock probably arrived on the Moon via a collision with an asteroid or other celestial body. The NASA folks also have some nice free handouts, including a 3D viewfinder about "the amazing future in space" and a pair of holographic information cards. One card lists the many ways that NASA technology has led to the invention of consumer products that we take for granted, including home security systems, flat screen TVs, scratch-resistant glasses and cordless power tools; the other card notes how NASA technology has impacted the sports world by improving everything from stadium materials to shock-absorbing athletic shoes to tennis rackets to pool purification.
If you have appropriate gear with you and are not afraid of being embarrassed then you can test your skills versus the "ballers" at the adidas Court; "the ballers"--several players with college and/or low level professional experience--play three on three to five points (by ones) versus all comers. Be warned that if your trio beats the "ballers" then the "ballers" automatically get a rematch to prove that your win was not a fluke. Taking on opponents ranging from little kids--against whom the "ballers" charitably extended the length of the games by dribbling around as opposed to just scoring instantly--to some pretty solid players in their late teens/early 20s, the "ballers" unofficially compiled a record of 30-2 on Thursday and have yet to be defeated twice by the same team. The "baller" called "Maurice" is my favorite: he has very quick hands and tremendous dribbling skills.
The inclement weather likely prevented many ticket holders from making it to Jam Session on Thursday, so the NBA will be opening Jam Session two hours early (2 p.m.) on Friday; fans who bought a Thursday ticket with a 4 p.m. entry time will be permitted to enter Jam Session at 2 p.m. on Friday, while fans who have Thursday tickets with an entry time of 5 p.m. or later will be permitted to enter Jam Session at the corresponding time on Friday.
Labels: A.C. Green, Bruce Bowen, Detlef Schrempf, Mitch Richmond, NBA All-Star Weekend, NWBA All-Star Game
posted by David Friedman @ 1:05 AM
Cavs Bounce Back, Rout Spurs
LeBron James set the tone by scoring 18 first quarter points and he finished with 38 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers ended their two game losing streak by beating the San Antonio Spurs 101-81. Delonte West and Mo Williams added 22 points each, mainly by draining open looks after the Spurs were forced to double team James lest he score 50 or 60 points. Only three other Cavs scored but the Cavs held the Spurs to .392 field goal shooting and won the rebounding battle 44-34. Tony Parker led the Spurs with 24 points but former Cav Drew Gooden (15 points) was the only other Spur who scored more than eight points; Tim Duncan had just six points on 2-7 field goal shooting, while Manu Ginobili scored four points on 2-9 field goal shooting.
The three foundations of Cleveland's success are defense, rebounding and the individual brilliance of LeBron James and all three of those elements played crucial roles in this win. Cleveland's defense and rebounding versus the Spurs are even more impressive considering that the Cavs were without the services not only of Ben Wallace (broken bone in his right leg) but also Anderson Varejao, who was a late scratch due to a wrist injury; it is not clear exactly when/how Varejao got hurt or when he will return to action.
Like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, James often eases into a game, involving his teammates early and then shouldering the scoring load late--but following disappointing losses to Washington and Orlando, James decided to be very aggressive right from the start versus San Antonio. He shot 6-9 from the field and made all six of his free throws in the first quarter. Four of those six field goals were midrange jumpers, including three from the left wing and a turnaround shot from the right elbow, the shot that became a trademark move for Jordan during the latter stages of his career. James is still an erratic midrange shooter but this game provided a glimpse of just how good he could become if he starts to consistently connect from that area; basically, he can be a "supersized" version of Jordan or Bryant, because there is no defense for a player who goes to the hoop as powerfully as James does and who can make the midrange shot. It remains to be seen how long it will take for James to fully and completely develop that aspect of his game but what he did on Sunday has to send a shiver up and down the spines of the other 29 NBA coaches.
After James' 18 point first quarter, the Spurs began to "blitz" (double team) him as soon as he caught the ball, sometimes even sending that second defender toward him while the pass was still in the air. James is a very poised and unselfish player who instantly reads situations and makes the right pass; in other words, he does not hold the ball or even just make a generic pass out of the trap: he zeroes in on who has been left open in shooting range and delivers the ball right in that player's shooting pocket, which is why West and Williams not only had big games but shot 10-15 and 9-15 from the field respectively.
It is interesting to note that even with James' early scoring outburst the Cavs only led 28-27 after the first quarter. Cleveland broke the game open in the second quarter as their reserves outplayed San Antonio's reserves. As San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said after the game, "When we subbed in the second quarter is when everything went south--and he (James) wasn't on the court." There is a misconception in some quarters that James does not have as much help as, say, Kobe Bryant does with the Lakers, but the reality is that the Cavs are at least 10 deep with veteran players who have playoff experience and can be productive for at least 15 minutes per game if necessary: Wally Szczerbiak is a former All-Star, Sasha Pavlovic started for the Cavs in 2007 when they made it to the Finals, Joe Smith is a former number one overall draft pick, Daniel Gibson hit many big shots during the 2007 playoffs and Varejao--who has been starting only since Ben Wallace got hurt--is an excellent defender, rebounder and screener. Even young players such as J.J. Hickson, Darnell Jackson--who started on Sunday for Varejao, contributing four points and five rebounds--and Tarence Kinsey have been productive during spot duty throughout this season.
Cleveland Coach Mike Brown was understandably pleased with how his team responded to the mini losing streak. In his postgame standup he said, "I thought that at the beginning of the game we had a few breakdowns defensively but as the course of the game went on, our guys' focus, energy and effort got better and better. That was great to see. Defensively, we have gotten hurt in transition the last two games, so it was good to see us get back and not give up any easy (baskets)." Brown made an adjustment to his normal rotation by playing West and Williams together with the second unit in order to have multiple players on the court who can create shots for themselves and for their teammates.
After Parker's big first quarter, James often had the defensive assignment against the super quick point guard. Coach Brown explained, "We've done that in the past. We did it in the (2007) Finals. We just knew going into the game that first we were going to play our traditional defense, then if that hurt us we were going to play Tony soft and give him the jump shot coming off (screens) with a late contest and then if he knocked down those shots we were going to put a bigger body on him, which is LeBron. Our pick and roll defense was getting hurt initially and then Tony started hitting jump shots, so we continued playing Tony soft but just put a bigger body on him so that when he came off and we got a late contest maybe he will see that body more than when we play him with a guy his size."
While the Cavs have been a dominant defensive team this season, the Spurs have had a subpar year--at least by their lofty standards--at that end of the court; the Spurs rank just 10th in defensive field goal percentage, the statistic that Coach Gregg Popovich looks at first when evaluating his team's performance (see Notes From Courtside). Although 10th in a league of 30 teams may not seem that bad, the last time that the Spurs ranked lower than fifth in this category was the 1996-97 season, when Popovich fired Bob Hill after a 3-15 start and took over as the head coach. Under Popovich, the Spurs have led the league in defensive field goal percentage three times and ranked in the top three seven times in the past 11 seasons.
*****************************
Notes From Courtside:
During Coach Popovich's pregame standup, he said that the Cavs are "a significantly better team" than they were in 2007, when the Spurs swept them in the NBA Finals. "We definitely caught them at the right time (in 2007). They understand Mike's system much better (now). They are a deeper team--the pieces fit better and there is more talent. The most important ingredient, LeBron, has really matured. He's worked on his game. He is sharing with his teammates, he is depending on them more, the way that Kobe depends on his teammates more. He has worked on his shooting. He is a much more confident player in that respect. For all of those reasons the improvement is obvious and that is why they are a top contender to win the championship this year."
I asked Popovich, "What specific improvements have you seen with LeBron defensively? What do you notice that is different from earlier in his career?"
He replied, "I'm glad that you mentioned that. I think basically he is just taking more pride in it and playing it with more purpose, understanding when stops might be very important and taking it upon himself to set that kind of an example. That's important--when your best player sets a standard, at either end of the court, everybody else follows and it's infectious. I think that he has done that to a much greater degree than he did a couple years ago." In response to a followup by USA TODAY's Chris Colston, Popovich said that the Olympic experience was good for James and many other members of Team USA, because the players learned by "osmosis" the importance of unselfishness and defense. The crucial role that Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd played in emphasizing those things cannot be stressed enough; this not only helped to bring the gold medal back to the United States, but elevated the games of James and other young stars who proved to be eager and enthusiastic students.
I then asked Popovich, "When you evaluate your team, either after a game or after a series of games, what are one or two statistical areas that you particularly look at?" Mindful of Popovich's tendency to sometimes answer questions sarcastically--though I felt that I was on safe ground because I was not asking the sort of banal and/or stupid questions that bring forth sarcastic replies from him--I added, "Other than the final score, of course--the sarcastic answer." At that point, Popovich reassuringly said, "Sure," making it clear that he did not intend to give a sarcastic reply, and I concluded, "What categories do you look at to see if your team is on target or not?"
Popovich answered, "The first thing that I always look at is field goal percentage defense. To me, that tells a lot about how things are going. At that point, I just look for aberrations--have we been getting our clock cleaned on the offensive boards or did we have an inordinate amount of turnovers, that sort of thing. Field goal percentage defense is what I look at. Offensively, I don't look at much, because it is obvious--either you shot well or you didn't. Either you made your free throws or you didn't. Those aren't very controllable but rebounds are more controllable, turnovers are more controllable. Defense is controllable. So those are the things that I look at."
I asked Popovich what his defensive field goal percentage goal is but he said, "I don't have a number in mind. It changes year in and year out based on possessions and competition but it's usually going to be in the low 40s--difficult to do, but that's what you'd love to have. I don't know what Cleveland is right now--I think that they are number one or number two in field goal percentage defense."
I informed him that Cleveland is holding teams to right around .420-.430 field goal shooting and he said simply, "That's good."
Popovich has a very high opinion of Mike Brown, who was a member of San Antonio's staff during the 2003 championship season: "The basic qualities that make Mike a wonderful coach are, number one, he has a game plan that he believes in. He knows what he wants to coach and teach. That's the first step. A coach has to feel very confident in what he is teaching and know it inside and out. I think that secondly he understands that no team wins championships without being a hell of a defensive squad. He has done that consistently, been persistent, has demanded year in and year out, practice to practice, game to game that everybody understands that. A lot of coaches give in but he hasn't, so his overall system and the emphasis on defense are what are really important basically to go after an NBA championship. After that, I think that he is a great people person. He is willing to talk to players, he's willing to listen, he has a sense of humor--all of those things are important in an 82 game season. He added to our defensive philosophy (as an assistant coach in San Antonio). I put things in the program that he initiated...Some people just have it and he's got it."
When I
recently asked Coach Brown what he thought about Houston's reliance on basketball statistical analysis, he replied, "Not to knock that, because I think it is great to use if you have some solid information, but how many championships has that gotten them?" Naturally, I sought out Popovich's take on this issue as well: "Did you see the article in the
New York Times about how Houston uses 'advanced' statistics both in how they evaluate players and how they game plan?"
He answered, "I know about it."
I then asked, "What is your opinion about that kind of use of statistics? How much do you rely on that kind of thing versus the eyeball test?"
He said, "I think it's just a common sense thing--by the seat of the pants, eyeball, 'feel,' is very important. Stats can be important. Both can be taken to the point of diminishing returns. So it's a common sense thing that works."
I told Popovich, "Coach Brown said that when he was on your staff that you very much went by feel but that P.J. (Carlesimo) was much more stat oriented and he kept telling you about this number and that number."
"That would be an accurate statement," Popovich replied.
"So you are more of a 'feel' coach in general, even though you said that it can be done either way?" I asked.
"Yes. I would depend more on what I see and feel than on overdosing on stats."
***
Before the game, I approached San Antonio defensive specialist Bruce Bowen--a five time All-Defensive First Team member--but he told me that he only talks to the press after the game. This kind of thing annoys some media members and probably is not permitted under a strict interpretation of media availability rules but I understand and respect that every player has his own way of getting mentally and physically prepared to play. On the other hand, the reason that I try to talk to players before games--particularly when my questions are of a general nature and not specific to a particular game--is that if their team gets blown out or they get ejected or something else goes awry then they may either not be available after the game or may not be in a mood to say much of substance. Bowen scored two points on 1-4 shooting and had a -17 plus/minus number in 17 minutes of action, so you can imagine how he must have felt after Sunday's game. I went up to him in the locker room and reminded him gently that he had promised to talk and I noted that I only had a few questions about the general subject of defense. Understandably, he was hardly enthusiastic, but he did not shoo me away, either, so I asked my first question: "Are you familiar with the
New York Times article about how the Rockets use statistical analysis to decide how to play defense, particularly in terms of trying to force Kobe to certain areas of the court? Did you see that article or hear about it?"
Bowen replied, "I haven't. Didn't see it or hear about it."
I then asked, "When you play against Kobe or LeBron, do you look at that kind of stuff, like how they shoot from certain areas of the court? How do you decide how to guard players like that?"
Bowen said, "Nine times out of 10, it's what the coaches want. You get the game plan from the coaches and you go from there. I don't think that you can force anybody in this league to go to a certain particular point to shoot the ball or anything like that. They are All-Stars for a reason, because they are able to do things on the floor that others can't. I don't know about all that mumbo jumbo."
I asked Bowen to describe the similarities and differences from his perspective regarding playing defense against Kobe Bryant and LeBron James but he said, "I haven't put too much thought into that right now, so it would be hard for me to give you a sufficient answer about that."
***
Ben Wallace--who is still on the inactive list--warmed up on the court prior to the game. He wore a black protective covering on his lower right leg and noticeably favored that leg as he shot from various midrange areas, including the free throw line. He jogged through some basic sets with an assistant coach, setting screens and then popping out to shoot jumpers. He tended to shoot well on his first few attempts but then miss wildly the longer he shot from the same spot. For instance, he hit seven of his first nine attempts from the right baseline but ended up making 11 out of 20 from that area. He shot 10-17 on midrange jumpers from the left baseline. Wallace shoots a better percentage on practice jumpers then you might expect from watching him shoot during games but it is important to keep in mind that great NBA shooters typically shoot 80% or better on uncontested practice shots from midrange areas, so making more than half of those shots is not a tremendous percentage, even if the casual fan might be surprised that Wallace can do that in light of his dismal free throw percentage.
***
Eric Snow, who was technically still on Cleveland's roster but did not appear in a game this season and has been working as a commentator for NBA TV, was formally released by the Cavaliers on Sunday due to medical reasons. The knee injury that he suffered prior to the 2007-08 season ultimately ended his career.
Labels: Bruce Bowen, Cleveland Cavaliers, Delonte West, Gregg Popovich, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili, Mike Brown, Mo Williams, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker
posted by David Friedman @ 7:50 PM
