Kawhi Not? Leonard Leads Way as Raptors are One Win Away From Dethroning Warriors
Kawhi Leonard dominated in all phases of the game as his Toronto Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors 105-92 to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals. Only one team has ever blown a 3-1 Finals lead--the Warriors,
in 2016 versus LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. Leonard finished with a game-high 36 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and a game-high four steals while shooting 11-22 from the field (including 5-9 from three point range) and 9-9 from the free throw line. He also had no turnovers in a team-high 41 minutes of action. Leonard is well on his way to claiming his second Finals MVP in the past six seasons. Serge Ibaka contributed 20 points off of the bench in just 22 minutes, Pascal Siakam added 19 points and Kyle Lowry had a significant impact that is not captured by his pedestrian box score numbers (10 points, team-high seven assists).
The most important name in the Golden State box score is the name that did not appear: Kevin Durant. Have you seen any articles in the past few days about "gravity" and about how much better the Warriors are without Durant? The silence on that front is deafening, and refreshing. The playoffs do a wonderful job of myth-busting. Not only can everyone see the truth now about Durant versus Curry but every year in the playoffs we get to examine--and refute--the notion that James Harden is a "foundational player." There are major cracks in the "foundation" when Harden falls apart every postseason without fail and when he cannot lead his team to a series victory against a Warriors team sans Durant who--in case you did not realize it--is clearly Golden State's best player.
Klay Thompson and Kevon Looney both returned from the injuries that caused them to miss
Toronto's game three win and they both made significant contributions--a team-high 28 points on 11-18 field goal shooting for Thompson, 10 points and six rebounds off of the bench for Looney--but, as is often the case in the NBA, these games are decided by which team's best player has the most impact. With Durant sidelined, Curry is the Warriors' best player, and he finished with 27 points and six assists while shooting 9-22 from the field (including 2-9 from three point range). Curry did not have a terrible game but he did not have a good game by his standards, and he certainly did not play as well as Leonard did. It should not be surprising that Curry is wearing down as the series progresses.
Size matters in the NBA and that is a major reason that guys like Curry and Steve Nash simply are not as good or as valuable as Finals MVPs such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant--and Kawhi Leonard.
Draymond Green narrowly missed posting a triple double (10 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds) but he also had the second-worst plus/minus number on the team (-13) and he often let his temper get the best of him; he was whistled for four fouls and one technical foul but on several occasions he chirped loudly enough to earn a second technical foul and automatic ejection. While Lowry's impact was more than the sum of his boxscore numbers during this game, it could fairly be said that Green's impact was less than the sum of his boxscore numbers during this game.
Much is said about Golden State's championship DNA and grit--deservedly so--but take note that in this key road game the Raptors bounced back to win after trailing by double figures in the first half. The Raptors started out the game shooting 3-13 from the field and in the first quarter Raptors not named Leonard shot 1-13 from the field; fortunately for Toronto, the Raptor named Leonard scored 14 first quarter points on 5-8 field goal shooting, so the Warriors only led 23-17 after the first stanza.
Toronto shot 15-44 (.351) from the field in the first half but only trailed 46-42 at halftime. During the famous "Rope a Dope" heavyweight boxing match between champion George Foreman and challenger Muhammad Ali, Foreman hit Ali with everything that he had for several rounds before Ali looked at him and asked, "That all you got, George?" Foreman later recalled that
this was the moment he realized, "This ain't what I thought it was." The Warriors had their "This ain't what I thought it was" moment in the third quarter, starting with Leonard drilling back to back three pointers to give Toronto a 48-46 lead. The teams traded the lead for a little while but Leonard had set the tone for what turned out to be a 37-21 Toronto third quarter explosion, paced by Leonard's 17 points on 5-7 field goal shooting.
The Raptors led 82-72 with 9:35 left in the fourth quarter after Shaun Livingston hit two free throws. Livingston clocked Fred Van Vleet with an inadvertent elbow on the play, opening a nasty gash underneath Van Vleet's right eye and knocking out multiple teeth. Van Vleet has been a major spark plug for the Raptors. If there was ever a time for Curry to take over and the Warriors to make a series-saving run, that was it--but, instead, Ibaka answered with a three point play on the next possession, Thompson missed a long three pointer and Leonard drilled a "That's all, folks" three pointer to put the Raptors up 88-72. The Warriors never got closer than eight points the rest of the way and when they were down 10 with about two and a half minutes to go Curry uncorked an airball that punctuated the final sentence in the Durant-Curry "debate" that made about as much sense as "debating"whether or not the Earth is flat.
The series is not over until one team wins four games, so now is not the time to place this series in historical context, but two diverse sets of thought come to mind:
1) The last time that we saw a healthy Kawhi Leonard playing for the San Antonio Spurs, they
were pounding the Golden State Warriors--with Kevin Durant--before a dirty Zaza Pachulia play took Leonard out of the series. There is a lot of talk about Gregg Popovich and the "Spurs way" but ever since Leonard got hurt and then left San Antonio the Spurs have not been anything special while the Raptors are on the verge of winning the franchise's first title. The common denominator in dominating the Warriors for the Spurs and then the Raptors is Leonard. Alienating and then trading Leonard is not adding much to Popovich's legacy.
2) After hearing so much about "gravity" and about Golden State's regular season record without Durant here are some numbers to consider in the next few days before game five: Curry has no Finals MVPs in his first four Finals appearances, he has a 1-6 record in his last seven Finals games without Durant and in his last full Finals without Durant the Warriors became the only team in NBA history to squander a 3-1 lead. "Gravity," indeed.
Labels: Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Stephen Curry, Toronto Raptors
posted by David Friedman @ 12:53 AM
Civility is a Two Way Street
During Oklahoma City's 98-89 win at Utah on Monday night, a Utah fan named Shane Keisel peppered the Thunder's Russell Westbrook with a variety of unacceptable taunts, including racist ones. Westbrook, who has been the target of much fan abuse--particularly in Utah--pointed Keisel out to security, adding that he would "f-- up" Keisel and Keisel's female companion. Westbrook later stated that Keisel had urged Westbrook to "get down on your knees, like you are used to," and Westbrook added, "Throughout the whole game, since I've been here, especially here in
Utah, there's a lot of disrespectful things that's said. I'm not going
to continue to take the disrespect to my family. There's gotta be
something done. There's got to be some consequences for those types of
people."
In some quarters, there is a false conception that playing in the NBA is a privilege, while attending a game as a fan is a right that entitles the fan to say and do just about anything. Playing in the NBA is an accomplishment that players earn through hard work. NBA players are not just the best basketball players in the world; many of them are among the best athletes in the world, regardless of sport. NBA players, like highly skilled professionals in any walk of life, deserve a tremendous amount of respect. Does that mean that a fan cannot boo and/or express a rooting preference? Of course not--but the idea that because a fan pays for a ticket to attend a game he or she can therefore say anything is incorrect not only morally but also legally.
From a moral standpoint, players are human beings, and part of the social contract that keeps society from descending into anarchy is that everyone should be treated with basic respect. There is also the respect that fans owe to other fans--including children who may be attending the game--to create and maintain a certain amount of decorum. Get loud, cheer, boo--but there is no place for profanity and there is certainly no place for blatant disrespect, let alone racism.
From a legal standpoint, a ticket is a revocable, limited license. What that means in plain English is that purchasing a ticket to a sports event provides the purchaser with the limited right to enter the venue, watch the game and then leave after the game is over. The right is "limited" based on the whims of the venue's management, who can revoke that license at any time--and that is the remedy that the Utah Jazz have properly taken in this instance.
On Tuesday, Jazz President Steve Starks announced that Keisel has been banned for life from attending any events at Vivint Smart Home Arena, including but not limited to Utah Jazz games. The Jazz released a statement that explained, "The organization conducted an investigation through video review and eyewitness accounts. The ban is based on excessive and derogatory verbal abuse directed at
a player during the game that violated the NBA Code of Conduct. The Utah Jazz will not tolerate fans who act inappropriately. There is no place in our game for personal attacks or disrespect."
Starks added, "Everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy and play the game in a
safe, positive and inclusive environment. Offensive and abusive behavior does not reflect the
values of the Miller family, our organization and the community. We all
have a responsibility to respect the game of basketball and, more
importantly, each other as human beings. This has always been a hallmark
of our incredible fan base and should forever be our standard moving
forward."
In the wake of his improper conduct, Keisel did TV interviews during which he lied about what he said/did and attempted to spin the story in his favor, but the Jazz did their due diligence to uncover the truth.
Meanwhile, the NBA fined Westbrook $25,000 for using profane and threatening language. Westbrook left the league little choice considering the intemperate way that he directed attention toward his abuser but the focus here should be squarely on the instigator and not the injured party who responded. Imagine for a moment that you are at work doing your job and someone shows up and hurls offensive, racist language directly at you. Sure, the correct response is to politely contact security or the police and have the offender escorted out of the building. How many of you would do that without saying anything at all to the offender?
Charles Barkley once joked--but may have been half serious--that every player should be permitted to go in the stands once per season and beat the you know what out of a loud-mouthed fan. Obviously, that is not a realistic or legal solution to this problem but Barkley's point is that because of the NBA's weak response to this ongoing, escalating issue fans have become emboldened to say and do things that they would likely not do on the street. NBA security should be protecting fans from other fans, and players from fans--but fans who seek out conflict with players must face immediate and drastic consequences. If that does not happen on a consistent basis, Barkley's half-joke is going to become a reality that will be a nightmare for the NBA. Remember the Malice at the Palace? Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and the others were wrong to do what they did but fan misconduct needs to be addressed as well.
Monday was not a great day in the annals of NBA civility. During Cleveland's 126-101 rout of Toronto, Serge Ibaka grabbed the Cleveland's Marquese Chriss around the neck from behind and then threw a wild punch--that fortunately missed, or else would have done serious damage--in Chriss' direction. Chriss, taken by surprise, threw one punch in self-defense before retreating to safety as the players were separated. The NBA suspended Ibaka for three games because he is a repeat offender who was the primary instigator, but the NBA also suspended Chriss one game for throwing a punch. Under NBA rules, throwing a punch--whether or not it connects, and regardless of any mitigating circumstances--automatically leads to a suspension of at least one game.
The NBA's no-tolerance policy for punches is understandable, and can be traced back to the infamous Kermit Washington punch that nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich, who was not even involved in the initial altercation; that incident is also one reason that the NBA has a no-tolerance policy for any player who leaves the bench area during a fight or altercation: while Tomjanovich was in the game at the time that the fight started, the NBA later realized the great potential danger involved with players running on to the court and either escalating a situation and/or possibly being severely injured by a player who believes that the player running on to the court is a threat.
However, criminal law recognizes that in some cases there are mitigating circumstances; that is why we have laws for manslaughter and involuntary homicide, plus laws that provide for a right to proportionately defend oneself.
In this particular instance, Ibaka attempted to put Chriss in a chokehold from behind and then Ibaka threw a hard punch at Chriss' head. No reasonable law or rule should require Chriss to passively wait for help. Chriss threw one punch, clearly in self-defense, and showed little if any further interest in engaging with Ibaka--which is remarkable restraint given the situation. The NBA should amend its no-tolerance policy for punches to include a provision that if a player is attacked in such a fashion that he cannot break free without throwing a punch then he will not be punished for throwing that punch, provided that he does not escalate the situation. Call it the "self-defense" exception. If the NBA is unwilling to provide such a provision for its players to defend themselves, then the NBA should not be surprised if another player gets seriously injured a la Tomjanovich, in which case that injured player would have every right not only to file criminal charges against his attacker but also perhaps a civil suit against the league for creating or fostering an unsafe work environment in which employees are subject to assault and battery but unable to protect themselves without being suspended.
Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Marquese Chriss, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz
posted by David Friedman @ 5:35 PM
Requiem for a Contender: Westbrook Injury Sealed Thunder's Fate
In the wake of the Memphis Grizzlies' victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, many theories and explanations have been offered for--depending on how you look at it--why Memphis won/why Oklahoma City lost. It has been suggested that Oklahoma City made a mistake choosing to keep Serge Ibaka while trading James Harden for Kevin Martin. The Thunder had a .712 winning percentage in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, finishing with the second best record in the Western Conference (47-19); in the 2012-13 season, the Thunder had a .732 winning percentage, finishing with the best record in the Western Conference (60-22). The Thunder did not miss a beat without Harden and, in fact, proved to be a better team without him over the course of the grueling 82 game NBA season. Ibaka has led the NBA in blocked shots per game the past two seasons and in
total blocked shots the past three seasons. He finished second in the
2012 Defensive Player of the Year voting and third in the 2013 Defensive
Player of the Year voting. Ibaka
is a very valuable player but he should not be expected to replace Harden's scoring; that is Kevin
Martin's job and Martin filled that role very well, averaging 14.0
ppg on .450 field goal shooting in 2012-13.
The Thunder took a 2-0 lead over Harden's Houston Rockets in the first round but Russell Westbrook--one of the top five players in the NBA--suffered what proved to be a season-ending knee injury in the first half of game two, though he limped his way through the second half of that contest. Without Westbrook, the Thunder struggled to finish off the Rockets--going 2-2 the rest of the series--and then lost 4-1 to the Grizzlies; that adds up to a 3-6 record sans Westbrook in 2012-13 after going 62-22 with him. It should be obvious that the Thunder's problem is not the Harden trade but rather the Westbrook injury. Harden performed markedly worse in the playoffs than the regular season in both 2012 and 2013, so the idea that he could have filled Westbrook's role in the 2013 playoffs is speculation not supported by facts--and if the Thunder had elected to keep Harden then, for financial reasons, they likely would have been without the services of Ibaka, one of the league's top defensive players. Under those circumstances, the Thunder would have been worse off than they are now; without Ibaka they would not have posted the West's best record and they would have been even less equipped to deal with Westbrook's freak injury.
Westbrook has been one of the NBA's most durable players. He will return to action fully healthy next season and the Thunder will most likely once again be the best team in the Western Conference. Barring a major move, Harden's Rockets will again struggle to make the playoffs before losing in the first round.
From the Memphis perspective, it has become popular to suggest that the Grizzlies have benefited from the
Rudy Gay trade but that assertion is a major exercise in denial. Gay is an 18 ppg scorer who is also one of the top rebounders at the small forward position; the Grizzlies traded him for Tayshaun Prince,
Austin Daye and Ed Davis. Daye and Davis rarely play at all, while Prince--who has taken over Gay's starting role for Memphis--averaged 8.8 ppg while shooting .429 from the field
during 37 regular season season games wtih the Grizzlies and he has been even less productive during
the playoffs: 7.5 ppg, .354 field goal shooting. Yes, Prince is a better defender than Gay but you would have to believe
that Prince is by far the best wing defender in the league in order to
suggest that he is not having an overall negative impact in light of his total lack of offensive production. Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol have dominated in the paint but replacing Gay with Prince has made their job tougher, because opposing teams can leave Prince to trap in the paint--something that opponents would be reluctant to do with Gay on the floor. The Grizzlies beat the overrated L.A. Clippers in the first round and then had to work very hard to defeat the Westbrook-less Thunder in the second round; the Thunder won the first game of the series before the Grizzlies took the next four games, but the Grizzlies achieved three of their victories by just six points each (including one overtime contest) and they won the other game by four points. The offensively challenged Grizzlies averaged 93.6 ppg versus the Thunder but, without Westbrook, the Thunder only averaged 89.6 ppg versus the Grizzlies after ranking third in the league with a 105.7 ppg scoring average during the regular season. In the game five series clincher versus Oklahoma City, Memphis scored 88 points on .370 field goal shooting; Prince contributed eight points on 3-13 field goal shooting and he had a
plus/minus number of -21, which is hard to do when you play 31 minutes
in a game that your team won by four points! Yet Bill Simmons is
gloating that he was right to support trading Gay.
The
reality is that if Russell Westbrook had been healthy then the Thunder
would have defeated the Grizzlies; he would have changed the result of most if not all of the games that the Grizzlies barely won. The Grizzlies would not have been able to survive while posting low scoring totals with poor shooting percentages--and those scoring totals/shooting percentages would likely have been even worse if Westbrook had been on the court, because the Thunder not only missed Westbrook's scoring and playmaking but also his defense: Westbrook would have slowed down Memphis point guard Mike Conley. This series debunked the theory that Westbrook shoots too much and that he negatively impacts Kevin Durant's game; it should be obvious that without Westbrook on the court it is much more difficult for Durant to post his typically efficient numbers. A good analogy for this is how Kobe Bryant improves the Lakers' overall offensive efficiency even though his field goal percentage is usually "only" in the .450 range. What "stat gurus" fail to understand is that Bryant and Westbrook distort opposing defenses to such an extent that they create many scoring opportunities for their teammates; shot creation is something that the "stat gurus" are not able to quantify, so they don't believe that it matters or even exists (which also may partly explain why the Grizzlies traded Gay).
The best thing that can be said about the
Gay trade is that even though it left the Grizzlies offensively
challenged it did not damage their team more than the absence of
Westbrook hindered the Thunder. It will be interesting
to hear what Simmons says when the Grizzlies struggle to score 40 points
in a half in the Western Conference Finals--and they are trailing instead of leading because in that round
they will be playing a full strength contender.
Labels: James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kevin Martin, Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder, Rudy Gay, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Zach Randolph
posted by David Friedman @ 4:49 PM
Tony Allen Leads All-Defensive Team Voting, Larry Sanders Snubbed for Center Spot Despite Receiving More Votes than Marc Gasol
Tony Allen and LeBron James each received 25 First Team votes for the All-Defensive Team; the NBA's 30 head coaches select the All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position and are not allowed to vote for their own players. A First Team vote is worth two points, while a Second Team vote is worth one point. Allen received three Second Team votes, meaning that only one coach did not select Allen (since Allen's Coach Lionel Hollins is not permitted to choose Allen). Allen's 53 points pace this year's All-Defensive Team. James received one Second Team vote and thus finished with 52 points. James also finished second (to Marc Gasol) in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, which is conducted among media members; Allen finished fifth in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Serge Ibaka is the other All-Defensive First Team forward (17 First Team votes, 12 Second Team votes), while Chris Paul (15 First Team votes, seven Second Team votes) completes the First Team backcourt. Tyson Chandler and Joakim Noah each earned 24 points, so they split the First Team center spot; Chandler received nine First Team votes and six Second Team votes, while Noah received eight First Team votes and eight Second Team votes.
The All-Defensive Second Team consists of forwards Tim Duncan and Paul George, center Marc Gasol and guards Avery Bradley and Mike Conley.
The NBA's official press release states that Larry Sanders finished with 16 points (including four First Team votes); it is not clear why he is not listed as the Second Team center over Marc Gasol, who earned 12 points (five First Team votes, two Second Team votes). Sanders is designated as a center at the Milwaukee Bucks' official website and at every other website/publication that I have seen.
Another irregularity in the press release is that only 149 of the 150 First Team votes are noted; the listed point totals correctly add up to 450 (30 coaches multiplied by five positions multiplied by two points for each First Team vote and one point for each Second Team vote), so apparently whoever put the press release together neglected to account for one of the First Team votes by listing it in parentheses next to the name of the player who received that vote. Also, although the voting is supposed to be done by position, the listed First Team votes do not add up properly. Forwards received 56 First Team votes (LeBron James 25, Serge Ibaka 17, Paul George seven, Tim Duncan three, Luol Deng one, Kenneth Faried one, Nic Batum one, Metta World Peace one) instead of 60. Since Sanders received four First Team votes it really looks like the coaches and the NBA wrongly classified Sanders as a forward. Guards received 60 First Team votes. Centers Chandler (nine), Noah (eight), Gasol (five), Dwight Howard (three) and Roy Hibbert (two) received 27 First Team votes. Those numbers--56 votes for forwards, 60 votes for guards, 27 votes for centers, four votes for Sanders--add up to 147, with the one uncounted vote pushing the total to 148.
The other two First Team votes belong to Andre Iguodala; it is not clear how the voters and/or the NBA categorized Iguodala but regardless of whether one correctly lists Iguodala as a guard (Danilo Gallinari is Denver's starting small forward) or whether one lists Iguodala as a forward (he can play that position, though he mainly played guard this season) the positional numbers still do not add up to 60, 60, 30 (i.e., two First Team forwards, two First Team guards and one First Team center on each ballot) the way that they should. Perhaps these concerns seem trivial but--unless Sanders has suddenly changed positions or unless the listed vote totals are wrong--the NBA should issue a correction and award Sanders All-Defensive Second Team status over Gasol.
As usual,
my All-Defensive Team selections closely mirrored the coaches' choices. The coaches agreed with three of my First Team picks (Allen, Ibaka, James) and six of my 10 choices overall--seven if in fact Sanders actually was voted as the Second Team center even though the press release does not list him as such. I left Avery Bradley and Joakim Noah off of my team because they missed 32 and 16 games respectively; I don't see how Bradley is a valid choice after missing nearly half of the season. I chose Thabo Sefolosha (who finished just four points behind Conley) and Roy Hibbert instead of Bradley and Noah.
I don't understand why the coaches picked Chandler over Hibbert. Chandler made the All-Defensive Second Team last season but this season his individual numbers are slightly worse (6.5 defensive rebounds per game in 2012 plus 1.4 bpg; 6.6 defensive rebounds per game in 2013 plus 1.1 bpg) and the New York Knicks' team defense is worse: the Knicks ranked 10th in defensive field goal percentage in 2012 but dropped to 19th this season and they dropped from 18th to 25th in defensive rebounding, though they did improve slightly (from 11th to seventh) in points allowed. Hibbert and Gasol clearly had more impact defensively both in terms of their individual statistics and in terms of their teams' defensive statistics.
Previous Articles About All-Defensive Team Voting
Interesting Contrasts Between All-Defensive Team Voting and Defensive Player of the Year Voting (2012)
Bryant and Garnett Each Earn All-Defensive First Team Honors for the Ninth Time (2011)
Analyzing the Votes for the All-Defensive Team and the All-NBA Team (2010)
Howard, Bryant Lead All-Defensive Team Voting (2009)
Labels: Avery Bradley, Chris Paul, Joakim Noah, Larry Sanders, LeBron James, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Paul George, Serge Ibaka, Tim Duncan, Tony Allen, Tyson Chandler
posted by David Friedman @ 5:43 PM
Durant, James and Bryant Lead as Team USA Beats Spain in Gold Medal Game
Team USA's 107-100 victory over Spain in the Olympic gold medal game answered two questions; we now see the wisdom of how Jerry Colangelo
constructed the U.S. roster--favoring talent, speed, quickness and depth over size--and we now understand why the Spanish players were confident about their gold medal chances prior to the Olympics: when the going got tough, Team USA used a small lineup to fend off a serious challenge from a Spanish team that not only kept the game competitive but had a realistic chance to win until the final moments, trailing by just six with 2:24 remaining.
Statistics from blowouts can be deceptive--Carmelo Anthony's
record-setting 37 point explosion versus Nigeria was an extraordinary shooting exhibition but is not necessarily indicative of his true value--but one excellent way to determine how to rank players from the same team is to see who the coach trusts in a tight game. Kevin Durant played 38 out of 40 minutes versus Spain, Chris Paul played 33, LeBron James played 30 (and would have probably played about four more minutes if not for foul trouble), Kobe Bryant played 27, Carmelo Anthony played 21 and Kevin Love played 18. No one else from Team USA played more than 10 minutes. Durant scored a game-high 30 points and tied for game-high honors with nine rebounds. James once again filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Bryant finished with 17 points, two rebounds and two assists; he will turn 34 on August 23 and after the game he confirmed that this was his final appearance for Team USA. Bryant first joined the squad for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and the defensive presence that he and Jason Kidd provided in the backcourt helped to right the ship after Team USA suffered several embarrassing defeats earlier in the decade. Bryant went 26-0 as a member of Team USA (not counting exhibition play, during which he also did not lose a game), winning two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012) in addition to the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship title. Paul's boxscore numbers (11 points on 4-9 field goal shooting, two assists) do not completely reflect his impact on the game, particularly during the fourth quarter. Love added nine points and nine rebounds. Pau Gasol led Spain with 24 points on 9-17 field goal shooting and he also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Juan Carlos Navarro scored 21 points, Marc Gasol had 17 points on 8-10 field goal shooting in 17 foul-plagued minutes, Rudy Fernandez chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds and Serge Ibaka made his presence felt in the paint with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Anyone who thought that this would be smooth sailing for Team USA was not paying attention when Team USA
barely defeated Lithuania in Group A play, let alone when Spain pushed Team USA to the limit in the
2008 Olympic gold medal game showdown. Team USA starting center Tyson Chandler scored the opening basket off of a nice feed from Bryant but that play was not at all indicative of how the game would go; Spain rarely made things that easy for Team USA at either end of the court and Chandler ended up with just two points and one rebound in nine minutes. Navarro answered with a four point play (Bryant fouled him on a made three pointer) and Spain utilized a 1-2-2 zone to entice Team USA to shoot jumpers and discourage Team USA from driving to the hoop. After Durant's three pointer put Team USA up 5-4, Spain went on an 8-2 run to build their biggest lead of the game; Navarro drilled two three pointers during that stretch--one after Durant sagged too far off of him and another after Spain collected two offensive rebounds to extend a possession--and Pau Gasol connected on a hook shot. Bryant responded with a three pointer and then Durant made two free throws after Calderon was called for an unsportsmanlike foul for flinging Durant to the ground as he drove to the hoop. Under FIBA rules, Team USA retained possession after the free throws and Bryant hit another three pointer to give Team USA a slim lead that they would retain until the second quarter.
NBC's Doug Collins offered this early take on the action: "The United States has been very soft defensively to start this game." In any form of competition, players and teams have to play to their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses; one of Team USA's big keys in FIBA play is to shut down opposing three point shooters without giving up easy layups: if the perimeter defenders can do that, few opposing players are going to be able to hurt Team USA by playing one on one in the paint regardless of the size of Team USA's players. The one thing that can cause Team USA problems is a squad that executes middle screen/roll plays effectively enough to consistently generate either wide open three pointers and/or layups when someone cuts to the hoop. Collins is correct that Team USA played "soft" defense for much of the first half, neither shutting down the paint completely nor keeping the three point shooters--particularly Navarro--under control.
NBC's basketball coverage during the Olympics was pretty good overall--with excellent analysis by both Doc Rivers during the studio shows and Collins during the games--but it was annoying and inexplicable that even though the games were presented with "limited commercial interruption" the viewers still missed snippets of the action because of those commercials; I'd rather have been subjected to more commercials but see the entire game than to have fewer commercials but miss what could turn out to be key plays. We never saw Pau Gasol's two free throws at the 3:09 mark of the first quarter or a replay of James' foul against him; it is possible to analyze the game without seeing those things but it would have made more sense for NBC to figure out how to squeeze the entire 40 minute game into their two hour or so broadcast window.
Team USA led 35-27 after the first quarter as Durant poured in 12 points--the 15th time during the Olympics that a Team USA player scored at least 10 points in a quarter--but Spain used a 14-2 run (starting late in the first quarter and then carrying over into the second quarter) to go back on top 39-37 after Sergio Rodriguez made a three pointer. Rodriguez and Chandler then each received a technical foul after Rodriguez elbowed Chandler while Chandler was setting a screen and the two players confronted each other. The teams traded the lead until Love hit a pair of free throws at the 5:29 mark to put Team USA ahead 48-44; Marc Gasol picked up his fourth foul on that play and sat out the remainder of the second quarter plus the entire third quarter. FIBA aficionados often brag about the strategic prowess of the FIBA coaches compared to NBA coaches but it was questionable--to say the least--to keep Gasol in the game after he had already picked up three fouls in the first half.
Even with Marc Gasol on the bench, though, Team USA could not create any separation and they only led 59-58 at halftime. Team USA relies on pressure defense to force turnovers and prevent opponents from getting open three point shots but in the first half each team only committed five turnovers, while Spain enjoyed a slight rebounding advantage (21-19) and shot 7-13 (.538) from three point range, a much higher percentage than Team USA should allow. Spain converted their extra possessions from the rebounding advantage/taking care of the ball into three point baskets.
With Marc Gasol out of the game and Team USA finally locking down the three point shooters, the third quarter became the Pau Gasol show: he scored Spain's first 13 points of the stanza and Spain took a 71-70 lead after his three point play. Team USA generated a mini 7-1 burst--a Bryant three pointer, a Durant jumper and two free throws by Bryant offset only by one Ibaka free throw--to go up 77-72 but when NBC returned from yet another "limited commercial interruption" Team USA led 80-76; yes, NBC abandoned a
live telecast of the gold medal basketball game with the outcome very much in doubt during the second half in order to show viewers some commercials and this time viewers missed much more than just a couple of free throws. Pau Gasol scored 15 third quarter points overall but Durant countered with his second double digit quarter of the game (10 points) and Team USA owned a precarious 83-82 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
With the game on the line at the start of the fourth quarter, Coach Mike Krzyzewski went with a small lineup (small being a relative term but none of these players is considered a traditional power forward or center in the NBA): LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. That group pushed the one point lead to six before James had to sit out for 4:03 after picking up his fourth foul. Team USA maintained that six point spread with Kevin Love playing center while James was out of the game. Spain shifted to a box and one defense against Durant, quite a show of respect for Durant's skills considering the talent level of his teammates. Team USA briefly enjoyed a 10 point lead after Bryant secured an offensive rebound and made a short jumper but baskets by Navarro and Fernandez trimmed the margin back to 97-91 before James came into the game for Anthony (as usual, Anthony took a seat on the bench for Team USA in crunch time of a close game). James drove to the hoop and dunked with power to put Team USA up 99-91 and he answered Marc Gasol's basket with a three pointer to make the score 102-93 at the 1:59 mark. Paul drew a charging foul on Pau Gasol but James airballed a three pointer that could have sealed the win. Bryant extended the possession by retrieving the miss and throwing the ball out to Paul but Paul missed a three point heave with the shot clock about to expire. After Navarro missed a three pointer, Paul faked out Spain's defense and drove to the hoop for a layup that inspired Coach Krzyzewski to jump out of his seat and celebrate: Team USA led 104-93 with just :53 left. Marc Gasol then scored inside and Coach Krzyzewski made the perhaps premature decision to remove Durant, James and Bryant from the game with :37 remaining; in light of the sometimes bizarre FIBA officiating--on prime display during a game in which each team was whistled for 27 fouls, many of them involving slight, incidental contact--and Team USA's controversial 1972 loss to the Soviet Union, a 104-95 margin is not a 100% lock. Sure enough, Paul split a pair of free throws and Marc Gasol converted a three point play to cut the lead to 105-98 with :19 remaining. Then James Harden split his pair of free throws and Marc Gasol's layup made it a two possession game with :13 left. Collins tried to allay any fears by saying that all Harden had to do was make one of his next two free throws but I cannot fathom why Coach Krzyzewski would take the slightest risk of losing the gold medal just to put a few reserves in the game and/or let his stars receive an ovation. Yes, Harden made one free throw to push the lead to 107-100 but what if he had missed them both and Spain hit a three pointer, stole the inbounds pass and hit another three pointer to force overtime? Admittedly, this is an unlikely scenario but stranger things have happened--and the point is that there is nothing to be gained by risking this at all. The game should have been played out to the very end, with the best players/best free throw shooters on the court--and I don't include Harden in that category on this team because he was cold after sitting out the whole game: the ball should have been in Durant's or Bryant's hands for those final free throws.
Team USA outscored Spain 24-18 in the fourth quarter, with Paul contributing eight points, James scoring seven, Bryant adding four, Durant hitting one three pointer and Harden shooting 2-4 from the foul line to stave off any potential comeback. The most important statistic is that Team USA limited Spain to 0-6 three point field goal shooting in the second half; Team USA controlled the three point shooters without getting dissected by cutters and that is consistently the recipe for Team USA to beat the better FIBA teams. Yes, Pau Gasol had an outstanding third quarter and a great game overall but no one player is going to single-handedly beat Team USA. Team USA strayed from their defensive principles in the first half--or, to give Spain credit, maybe it just is not possible anymore for an American team to lock down a top FIBA team for an entire 40 minute game--but in the second half they went with the small lineup for extended stretches and used their quickness to hold Spain to 42 points, a significant improvement after giving up 58 points in the first 20 minutes.
Despite the slightly disorganized conclusion to the game, this was an excellent win for Team USA against a very tough opponent. Team USA went 8-0 during the Olympics and it is important to keep in mind that, based on expectations, Team USA must win every game, while Spain faced little or no criticism for losing two preliminary round games prior to the gold medal contest. Team USA's players and coaching staff deserve praise for their long term commitment to return the United States to the top of the basketball world and wipe out the dreadful memories of the dreary, listless performances by Team USA in FIBA events from 2002-2006.
Kevin Durant scored 156 points in eight games (19.5 ppg) during the Olympics, breaking Spencer Haywood's 1968 Team USA record (145); Charles Barkley is third on that list with 144 points (1992). Durant also ranked second on the team in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and steals (1.6 spg) and fourth in assists (2.6 apg). Kevin Love led Team USA in rebounding (7.6 rpg) despite only ranking seventh in minutes played; he padded those rebounding numbers a bit in garbage time but he also played some meaningful minutes, most notably against Spain in the gold medal game. LeBron James paced Team USA in assists (5.6 apg) and shot .603 from the field, second best (to Love's .630) among the nine players who attempted at least four shots per game. Chris Paul led Team USA in steals (2.5 spg) and ranked second in assists (5.1 apg). Thanks mainly to his explosion versus Nigeria, Carmelo Anthony finished second in scoring (16.3 ppg) even though he was often on the bench when the score was close. Kobe Bryant seemed to pace himself offensively during Group A play but he still ranked fourth on the team in scoring overall (12.1 ppg) and he increased his scoring during the three potential elimination games (16.7 ppg, including a team-high 20 points
against Australia).
Labels: 2012 Olympics, 2012 Team USA, Chris Paul, Juan Carlos Navarro, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Spain
posted by David Friedman @ 5:15 PM
Team USA Trails Early, Rallies to Rout Spain
Team USA concluded their five game pre-Olympic exhibition tour with a perfect record after registering a 100-78 win over Spain, widely considered to be Team USA's toughest potential London opponent. Carmelo Anthony led Team USA with a game-high 27 points, shooting 10-15 from the field and 5-8 from three point range. LeBron James started slowly but finished with 25 points on 10-15 field goal shooting plus a team-high seven assists. Kevin Durant was Team USA's only other double figure scorer, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds. Kobe Bryant did not aggressively look for his shot, scoring six points on 2-3 field goal shooting, but he finished second on Team USA with four assists--he also had a few "hockey assists," making the pass that led to the assist--and he again had an impact defensively. Kevin Love grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes, though he padded that total a bit in garbage time with the outcome of the contest well in hand. The rebound battle was close in the first half but Team USA finished with a 37-26 advantage. Pau Gasol led Spain in both scoring (19 points on 6-9 field goal shooting) and rebounds (five). Serge Ibaka scored 16 points--all in the first half and most in the first quarter--while Juan Carlos Navarro added 11 points but also committed a game-high six turnovers. All-Star center Marc Gasol did not play for Spain due to a shoulder injury that is not expected to keep him out of action during the Olympics.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski went with a starting lineup of Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Tyson Chandler. That quintet got off to a slow start--or Spain played very well, depending upon your perspective--and fell behind 10-3 as Gasol and Navarro each drained three pointers. Chandler picked up two quick fouls (he eventually fouled out after playing just eight total minutes) and Anthony checked in for him at the 5:40 mark. Anthony started shooting--and scoring--as soon as he took off his warmups but Spain still pushed the lead to 22-13 before Team USA's defense settled in and stopped giving up wide open shots. Ibaka scored 12 first quarter points on 6-6 field goal shooting, with most of his attempts coming from point blank range. It is well documented that Chandler is the only true center on Team USA's roster, so some of the bigger FIBA teams--like Spain--should have some success attacking Team USA inside the paint; Team USA must counter this by pressuring the ball very aggressively on the perimeter and by making sure that their weak side rotations are quick and precise (Anthony provides points at one end of the court when he shoots like he did against Spain but he also consistently gives up points at the other end of the court). Spain led 23-21 at the end of the first quarter.
Chandler committed his third foul early in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the half but Team USA finally started to make their move with him on the bench; the lineup of James, Durant, Anthony, Bryant and Paul proved to be too quick for Spain. Back to back three pointers by Anthony and James put Team USA up 28-26 and, although Spain remained in contact for the most part until the fourth quarter, Spain never led the rest of the way. Team USA led 48-40 at halftime. Anthony poured in 23 first half points.
Anthony started the third quarter instead of Chandler and Team USA's "small" lineup once again gave Spain a lot of trouble; Durant scored 10 points in less than four minutes as Team USA pushed the margin to 14, 60-46. Bryant went to the bench at the 6:17 mark and the other starters soon joined him. Team USA's reserve players extended the lead to 69-48 but then sloppy play at both ends of the court by Team USA enabled Spain to whittle that advantage to 74-59 entering the final period.
The Spanish team did not seem to overly exert themselves trying to come back in the fourth quarter--ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla has repeatedly mentioned that many FIBA coaches believe that their teams can beat Team USA once but not twice and thus are not inclined to go all out for 40 minutes during exhibition games--and Team USA outscored Spain 26-18 in the final stanza as Anthony Davis, James Harden and Kevin Love received garbage time minutes.
It is important to remember that
Team USA blew Spain out in a 2008 exhibition game only to face a real dogfight
in the gold medal game at the Olympics. Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka can do damage inside against Team USA, not only scoring points but also potentially getting Team USA in foul trouble. Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook can have success putting pressure on Spain's guards but Spain is not likely to just throw the ball all over the court the way that some of the weaker FIBA teams do, so Team USA will have to play good half court defense and execute well in their half court offense in order to beat Spain if the teams meet in the medal round. Team USA shot 13-23 (.565) from three point range while holding Spain to just 5-19 (.263) shooting from behind the arc; the latter number is more significant: Team USA does not have to shoot a great three point percentage to win FIBA events (though Team USA is almost unbeatable if they do shoot a great three point percentage while not neglecting the defensive end of the court) but it is important for Team USA to effectively guard the three point line without giving up easy points in the paint. Team USA struggled defensively early in the game but looked much better in that regard during the final three quarters.
Labels: 2012 Team USA, Carmelo Anthony, Juan Carlos Navarro, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Spain
posted by David Friedman @ 1:47 AM
Interesting Contrasts Between All-Defensive Team Voting and Defensive Player of the Year Voting
Media members vote for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award, while the league's head coaches select the All-Defensive First and Second Teams (coaches are not permitted to choose players from their own squads). There were some interesting differences in the specific choices made by the media and coaches this season.
Tyson Chandler narrowly defeated Serge Ibaka to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, 311-294; players receive five points for a first place vote, three points for a second place vote and one point for a third place vote. Chandler's name appeared on 81 out of 121 ballots while Ibaka's name appeared on 82 ballots but the difference was that Chandler received 45 first place votes while Ibaka received 41. Dwight Howard, who won the award the previous three seasons, finished a distant third, followed by Kevin Garnett, Tony Allen, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Marion, Luol Deng and Josh Smith; except for Smith, each of those players received at least one first place vote.
Media members can be easily swayed by compelling narratives (hopefully they are not influenced by who speaks with them on a given day or who gives them the best quotes) and the two narratives that apparently influenced the Defensive Player of the Year voting are (1) Tyson Chandler "changed the culture for the New York Knicks" (even though the Knicks
were not any better this season than they were last season) and (2) Dwight Howard is annoyingly wishy washy and did not always play hard (even though he ranked third in the league in bpg, led the league in defensive rebounds for the fifth year in a row, tried to play with a ruptured disk in his back that ultimately required surgery and was the defensive linchpin for an Orlando team that does not have any other above average individual defensive players). In my
2012 NBA Awards article I explained why Howard should win the award, with James finishing second and Ibaka placing third.
The All-Defensive Teams are selected by position, so the raw voting totals cannot be directly compared with the Defensive Player of the Year voting totals, but the coaches did not value Chandler quite as highly as the media members did. Dwight Howard earned the First Team nod at center with 16 First Team votes and nine Second Team votes, while Chandler received Second Team honors. LeBron James received the most overall votes and was the only player chosen by every coach (24 First Team votes, five Second Team votes). Ibaka received the second most votes overall and joined James as a First Team forward. Chris Paul and Tony Allen are this year's First Team guards.
Kobe Bryant's streak of six straight All-Defensive First Team selections was snapped but he made the Second Team along with Rajon Rondo, Chandler and forwards Kevin Garnett and Luol Deng. Andre Iguodala actually outpointed Bryant 19-17 (First Team votes are worth two points, while Second Team votes are worth one point) but Iguodala presumably did not make the squad due to positional designation (Iguodala is a forward and he received one fewer point than Deng).
For the fourth time in the past five seasons,
the coaches selected eight of the 10 players who I selected for the All-Defensive First and Second Teams (last season the coaches and I agreed on six of the 10 choices). The only difference between my First Team this season and the coaches' First Team is that I chose Grant Hill (who received one First Team vote from the coaches but did not get enough overall points to make the squad) while the coaches picked Chris Paul, who I put on my Second Team. The coaches and I both "demoted" Bryant to the Second Team but I chose Iguodala as a Second Team forward and I did not pick Rondo at all. My reasoning for leaving out Garnett is that he did not excel early in the season at forward and that even though he played very well for the rest of the season as a center he did not have more defensive impact at that position than Howard and Chandler did. While Garnett did perform at an All-Defensive Team level, he did not do so at forward and in this instance the lack of adherence to positional designations cost Iguodala. Hill is nominally a small forward but I put him at guard because he often defended point guards so that Steve Nash could "guard" the weakest perimeter scoring threat on the opposing team.
The "stat gurus" only know what their spreadsheets tell them--and their spreadsheets can only reflect back the biases that went into creating those spreadsheets--so each year around this time there is a torrent of articles declaring that NBA coaches do not have a clue about defense, which is a funny assertion considering that the coaches have to game plan for each team in the league and thus have at least some notion about which defenders cause problems for their teams.
Labels: Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Luol Deng, Rajon Rondo, Serge Ibaka, Tony Allen, Tyson Chandler
posted by David Friedman @ 3:05 PM
