Around the Association (5/8/2013)

An assortment (dare I say…a hodgepodge) of contemplations and ideas about the state of the NBA.

This post is reflective of the league landscape as of 4:00pm EST on 5/8/13*

*Which is to say, each and every one of these opinions may be invalidated and tarnished by the end of the evening; here is hoping that the Basketball Gods let them have more of a shelf-life than that.

  • Hats off to George Karl, who 1000% deserves his Coach of the Year honours. The only criticism I have here is that this is somehow Karl’s first time receiving the aware. He was terrifically overdue. Coach Karl led Denver to a team-record 57 wins, all without having a “star player” to his name.
  • Erik Spoelstra was runner-up for the award, with less than half of Karl’s vote total. It is an easy criticism to say that the panel of writers and broadcasters often are misguided when handing out this particular award, but it would seem they generally got it right here. On my own ballot – which is completely a work of fiction, hypothetical, and meaningless, I’m aware – I had Karl narrowly ahead of Gregg Popovich, and then Spoelstra, with Tom Thibodeau and Mike Woodson rounding out the Top 5.
  • Speaking of Pop, “I Want Some Nasty” + “It’s a Big Boy Game”+ The Newly Minted “No Second Question, huh?” = Why Pop is The Best
  • After giving us the Game of the Year (official title) on Monday night, what will San Antonio and Golden State serve up for an encore? If you have “Curry goes for 40 + Duncan puts up 20,10 + Spurs win with big plays in the last 90 seconds of regulation”, then stop reading over my shoulder and write you own test.
  • While we are having fun with math equations, here are some others, if only for the sake of expanding on this gimmick:
    • Having a handle on the ball OR Having a Conscience < Having Steph’s Range/Touch
    • The Flu > Tim Duncan > Father Time
    • Importance of Winning the Last Game of the Series = (Importance of Winning the First Game of the Series * 100) *Looking at you here, Chicago. Keep this up, guys.
    • SVG > Steve Kerr > Hubie > CWebb > Anyone Else > Having No Second Commentator at All > Reggie
    • A Healthy Steph Curry = Never Being Out of a Game (/Series?)
    • LeBron’s Dominance > Nate Rob’s Self-Confidence
  • If Game 2 in New York proved anything, it’s that when the Knicks are hot and in their offensive groove, their ceiling is probably higher than that of any other team. Case in point, NY put up 20 points to start the fourth quarter before the Pacers scored a single basket, and if you go back to the third, they actually outscored Indiana 36-4 during a 12-minute stretch.
  • That said, if Games 4-5 of their Boston series proved anything, it’s that when the Knicks are cold they are arguably the most vulnerable of any team still alive. Their bipolar nature on offense means that no other team has anywhere close to their standard deviation in quality of performance.
  • Weird Stat of the Day: Last night was the first time the Knicks scored 100 points in a playoff game since 1999 and their largest postseason margin of victory since 1992. If you needed more proof that New York basketball diehards are a long-suffering bunch, this qualifies.
  • Completely agree with Michael Wallace’s take on Twitter earlier this afternoon: Robinson will need to earn LeBron’s defensive attention; that matchup is not happening unless Nate is white-hot during the 4th quarter like he was in Game 1
  • Conversely, I fully expect Miami to exploit Robinson on the other end, attacking the rim relentlessly to make up for a lack of free throws on Monday night. Expect LeBron and Wade to each try to earn themselves 10+ FTs
  • Hope to expand on this later this week in a full column, but it warrants mentioning as much as possible: this year’s playoffs are just fundamentally less fun than usually, because of the host of injuries around the league. And this doesn’t just mean the ailments of the mega-superstars like Kobe, Westbrook, and DRose; I am just as disappointed about the likes of non-super-nova stars like Blake, Lee, Deng, Henrick, Nash, Amare, Felton, Splitte… Playoffs basketball will always be beautiful and tragic and glorious to league lifers, but it’s a profound shame to see so many relevant players out this spring.

Leave a comment