Less Is More: Best Of 7 In Round 1

It’s been about a week and a half since the last time I made mention of the NBA playoffs, and, well, we are not much further along from where we last left off. Ever since the NBA switched from a best of 5 to a best of 7 format for the 1st round before the start of the 2003 playoffs, that’s pretty much been the norm though. That combined with the need to space the games out so that every game can be seen on national TV at a time that doesn’t conflict with another game has caused the NBA postseason to drag on until what seems like Halloween. If the NBA cared about making a better playoff system, they would at least go back to a best of 5 series in the 1st round. It will never happen because the NBA is a business, and the current system is more profitable; however, the NBA and all the other major professional sports leagues would be wise to understand that “more profitable” and “a better product” don’t always come hand in hand. With that being said, let’s look at each 1st round series and see whether a best of 7 is necessary in each.

Bulls-76ers (76ers lead 3-2)…In a best of 5 series, the Sixers would have taken this in 4 games, but even with Rose out, Noah out, and Deng hobbled I don’t trust Philly as far as I can throw them. They are just too young, inexperienced, and limited on the offensive end. Still, this had the makings of an ugly series ever since Rose went down at the end of game 1. This could very well end up going 7 games, but who honestly cares?

The verdict: This series should have been put out of its misery already…Best of 5.

Heat-Knicks (Heat lead 3-1)…This series is tailor-made for a best of 5 series. As Miami jumped out to a 3-0 series lead, it was clear as day that the Knicks weren’t going to offer the Heat a stiff challenge. Watching New York’s entire backcourt’s knees shatter every game didn’t help, but the Heat are overwhelmingly better. What was the result of having this series be a best of 7? A game 4 in New York where Miami looked bored and disinterested. There’s still no excuse for playing bored and disinterested in any playoff game, but do we really need to see the Heat smash the Knicks for 4 games instead of 3 to know they’re the better team?

The verdict: Was I not clear?...Best of 5.

Really? More?!?

Pacers-Magic (Pacers won 4-1)…In game 1, Indiana looked so much better than Orlando and somehow lost the game anyway. After that slip-up, the Pacers pretty much put their foot on the Magic’s throat in the next 4 games. This series probably would have been very interesting with a healthy Dwight Howard. Without him, it was a laugher.

The verdict: At least it was already put out of its misery…Best of 5.

Celtics-Hawks (Celtics lead 3-2)…I still maintain that for whatever reason Atlanta is a tough matchup for Boston. If this was a 5 game series, this would have been over already though. But with some what-ifs (the game 2 loss in Atlanta with Rondo suspended) and woulda-shoulda-couldas (the game 3 overtime loss in Boston) the Hawks could have conceivably been up 3-0 in the series too.

The verdict: And yet there’s almost no hypothetical scenario where I could see the Hawks winning a game 7 against the Celtics, which makes this kind of a silly argument…Best of 5.

Spurs-Jazz (Spurs won 4-0)…I thought Utah might have been able to at least make things interesting, but San Antonio just keeps rolling along. Just a quick note on the Spurs: including the end of the regular season they have won 14 in a row and 25 of 27 now!

The verdict: 1st degree murder. Wait, sorry…Best of 5.

Somebody notice us! We've only lost 2 games since mid-March!

 Thunder-Mavericks (Thunder won 4-0)…Would have liked to see the defending champs not go down in flames so quickly and give the young Thunder some of their comeuppance, but after deflating losses in the 1st 2 games in OKC this 1 seemed academic. The Thunder (and Spurs too by the way) did what Miami couldn’t in this 1st round: not get bored and disinterested in game 4.

The verdict: Sensing a pattern here?...Best of 5.

Lakers-Nuggets (Lakers lead 3-2)…This series is only interesting to me because I like watching George Karl teams play. There are no stars or egos. Everybody just plays hard. It’s almost like a college team in that respect. It’s especially fun since they are matched up against a Lakers team (that I loathe) who is the complete polar opposite of the Nuggets, where Kobe seemingly shoots 10 for 27 every night and Bynum looks like he’s always about to pout about something. And yet, much like the Hawks, the Nuggets would have been eliminated in 4 games if this was a best of 5 series. And, much like the Hawks against the Celtics, I have no confidence in the Nuggets eliminating LA no matter how many games they push them to.

The verdict: I gave love to Nick Young in a past post after constantly crushing him, so here’s some dap for JaVale McGee too, who has had a very nice couple of games in this series...Best of 5.

Grizzlies-Clippers (Clippers lead 3-1)…There have been other good games and good moments so far in these playoffs, but this has actually been the only series worth watching in its entirety. Both teams are young and hungry, there is a distinct contrast in playing styles, and it’s the only series where there seems to be some real animosity between the 2 teams (which is always fun). Still, you could argue that if this had been a best of 5 series it would already be over, and it wouldn’t have even gone the distance. With all that being said, LA has needed 1 of the greatest comebacks ever, a 1 point nail-biter, and overtime for each of their respective wins. The Grizzlies protecting home court in game 6, stealing a game at Staples Center, and coming back to Memphis for a deciding game 7 doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities.

The verdict: This is the only series where the NBA’s current best of 7 1st round series actually works for me. In fact, I’ll take best of 9 for Clips-Grizz please…Best of 7.

The Grizz had a chance to win every game in this series so far, so don't count them out yet.

A Slave To Technology And All Its Wonders

I once wrote that while I enjoyed being a technological contrarian and resisting the urge to go buy an iPhone, I thought that it was inevitable. This weekend may have inched me even a little bit closer to that inevitability. Normally, I don’t bring my Blackberry to the field with me when Krissy and I have a football game. Instead, it sits in my truck (uselessly, some people may add parenthetically) until the game is over…not this past weekend though. I foolishly left it in a side pocket of my duffel bag while we played. Meanwhile, a fluke 15-20 minute rainstorm decided to pass by just as the game started. The refs flirted with the idea of calling the game off, but eventually decided to let us play it out…which was a lot of fun to be honest. I probably hadn’t played a muddy, rain-soaked football game since I was a kid. It also ruined my Blackberry though. I used to think my Blackberry Bold was the tank of all smartphones, capable of having giant boulders smashed down on it while showing no ill effects. Unfortunately, it apparently was not an amphibious tank. A better phone case probably would have helped, but you will be hardpressed to find any Blackberry accessories anywhere but online anymore.

Since I had insurance on the phone, Krissy and I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to just go swap out a new phone from a Verizon store, but we couldn’t find a store in the area that even carried that. We then figured we would just call Verizon and have them ship us 1, but we discovered that we would have to fork over $100 for the replacement phone (the retail price of a new Blackberry Bold is $200…so much for insurance). We decided to simply deactivate my data plan for now and reactivate my old enV 2 for the time being. This was distressing to me. I had had my Blackberry for almost 2 years, but I had just now finally started to use it for what is actually good about Blackberries compared to other smartphones. I finally synced-up my work email with my phone, I had actually gotten into the habit of using the phone’s calendar to set reminders for appointments, and I developed a system of internal memos so that I always had running grocery and to-do lists with me at all times…trivial things, I know, but what can I say? I had become just as much of a slave to technology as the next poor slob.

By the way, what kind of guy would be texting courtside with Rihanna sitting next to him? Wait, don't answer that.

At some point late on Sunday I entered the acceptance stage though. I thought, how quickly I became dependent on something that didn’t even exist 10 years ago (well, it existed, but I don’t think I knew anyone my age who had a smartphone until I was well into college…it didn’t exist in my world at least). Somehow people managed to live before smartphones or cell phones though. When you left the house, you didn’t worry about how someone would contact you; they would contact you when they contacted you. Now, if I leave the house and forget my cell phone, I feel as though my entire family is going to die by the time I get back to it…and yet I don’t think full family homicides were any more prevalent before the cell phone age started. I also thought about the money we would save in the months that we would be paying for only 1 data plan instead of 2. All of it made me think about the Louis CK clip that went viral a few years ago where he famously said, “Everything’s amazing, and nobody’s happy.” Not a bad perspective…maybe I would just go back to a regular ol’ cell phone and be done with smartphones altogether. How much better is the quality of my life by being constantly plugged into my email and the Internet anyway?

And then Krissy came home from work and said she had been talking all day with coworkers and family trying to get them to lend me 1 of their old smartphones that had been lying around until I got a new 1 of my own. Apparently, the unlimited data packages that Krissy and I have are not offered anymore. Since we already have those packages, we are grandfathered into them, and they can’t be taken away…but if we didn’t call up Verizon within a certain amount of time we would lose that option forever (on my phone at least). I tried to reason with Krissy that this was ok, and that I could survive on a lesser data plan. After all, I don’t use that much “data” to begin with, and I think I could make do not playing any word games on my phone until I got home from work. Let’s just say that my wife knows a bargain when she sees 1 though, and she was having none of this. Probably smart in the long run, but I had just gotten to the point that I was actually ok not having a smartphone for a while! Oh well…I guess I’m resigned to being a slave of the smartphone again. Just another poor sap who can’t stop taking the world in from a 3 inch screen while real life passes him by…nevermind, it’s my turn in Lexulous. Peaceout, motherf*****.

The Kid's Alright

With my “government Friday” winding down and not much chance of a blog post tomorrow, there’s simply too many things to write about…the Redskins (RG3, Kirk Cousins, etc.), the Clippers-Grizzlies game from last night, the Heat at MSG tonight, my newfound commitment to get to the office before 8am, and on and on and on…how about we stick with Bryce Harper?

The kid.

In 4 games since being called up to the majors, Harper has definitely caught a lot of people’s attention. 1st, there’s his ability. It’s a small sample size, but in 4 games he’s batting 0.385 with 3 doubles, and he’s shown he has a Howitzer for an arm to boot. His swing seems to be effortless and completely violent at the same time somehow. It’s the kind of swing that makes it easy to misjudge the ball off of his bat when watching on TV. What look like nice line drives are suddenly careening off outfield walls once the behind-the-backstop camera view is switched to. And while he may be the type of guy that draws the ire of opponents now and again (his blatant look-at-me helmit flip on his way to 2nd base following a double to the gap a couple nights ago, his ridiculous haircut and eyeblack, and his brash personality will no doubt get some sweet chin music thrown his way sometime in the not so distant future), he also seems to be the type of guy that is going to do everything 100 miles per hour all the time. Ruffling people’s feathers is expected with Harper, but I doubt it will be for dogging it on his was to 1st after a groundout or anything hustle-related. He appears to be a balls-to-the-wall kind of player. And behind that ability and machismo might even be a cool dude in his own way. YouTube was blowing up the other day with this clip of Harper taking a couple of swings in a slow-pitch softball game at the National Mall in DC.

Apparently Harper was just doing the tourist thing in the nation’s capital, was walking by the game, and decided to pick up a bat for a minute or 2 in what looked like a local beer league game. That doesn’t seem like something a lot of “modern” athletes would do in an era that’s all about protecting one’s brand. (Think back to a couple of summers ago when there was that whole “videogate” episode over whether LeBron either did or didn’t have Nike pull the grainy footage of Jordan Crawford dunking on King James in a summer pick-up game.) So yea, Harper may rub some people the wrong way early on in his career, but it’s cool to see a 19 year old kid actually be 19 sometimes. And 19 year old kids, even ones with superhuman talents, have bad haircuts, can be loudmouths, and can get themselves into trouble from time to time…and they also play hard and don’t worry about getting struck out by some pudgy weekend warrior in a park either. Like I said, it’s a small sample size, but despite his foibles it’s hard not to like Harper’s swagger, game, and charm. Whether he becomes a superstar or not, the Nationals need a guy like Harper. The Nats are full of do-gooder, yessir-nossir types. Just look at their other phenom, Stephen Strasburg. When he’s not on the field, Strasburg appears to be perfectly content being completley ignored. The limelight is not for him. Harper, on the other hand, seems to embrace it. The coming weeks, months, and years will tell us whether he’s worth all the hype or not, but 1 thing seems certain: the Bryce Harper era is going to be fun.

Putting The Finishing Touches On A Wild, Wild NBA Weekend

It’s weekends like this past 1 that make me wonder how as kids we used to play in those weekend basketball or soccer tournaments where you play 2, 3, or 4 games in a single day. When you’re young, your body seems like this unbreakable rubber band. No matter how far or how many times you were stretched, you would always “unstretch” back to your normal shape. At 27, my body is still relatively young, but the rubber band doesn’t stretch back exactly the way it used to. God help me if I ever had to do some type of 6 games in a weekend tournament now.

So, I called for craziness from these NBA playoffs, and the 1st 2 days gave us nothing short of that. Let’s take a chronological look at the happenings from this weekend’s opening round games.

Bulls-76ers…The 1st game of this year’s playoffs cast a somber mood over the entire league. Reigning league MVP Derrick Rose’s leg buckled as he planted off it late in the 4th quarter of Chicago’s Game 1 win against Philadelphia, thus greatly diminishing the Bulls’ title chances this year. Fortunately for Chicago, they have grown accustomed to playing without Rose. While no one would suggest they are better without him, their record was still respectable in Rose’s absence this season, and Rose was out so much towards the end of the year that he always kind of seemed to be out of rhythm whenever he was inserted back into the lineup for a game or 2. Still, it’s not exactly what Bulls’ fans had in mind.

Not what the doctor ordered.

Heat-Knicks…So, that was interesting. Krissy and her brothers (all Knicks’ fans) were irate at the officiating in Game 1, but I personally think the calls that went against New York simply served to cause what would have been a 20 point blowout to be upgraded to a 33 point drubbing. Yes, you can argue that the Chandler foul altered the game’s momentum, but it’s hard to argue for the Knicks’ chances when Carmelo and Amare shoot a combined 5 for 22 and when they cough the ball up 27 times as a team. Also, I have gone back and forth on whether or not LeBron is a big faker or he really did get jolted by that Chandler screen. It was a dumb play by Chandler in the 1st place because it was an obvious moving screen by a guy who already had 3 fouls, but a flagrant? Really? And James’ head definitely whiplashed due to the hit and him not seeing it coming, but I can’t decide whether I’m buying all the histrionics after the play or not. James’ also flopped a few plays earlier to draw a foul on JR Smith, and then somehow had the strength to hit a couple impossible jumpers with guys hanging all over him later in the game. I begrudgingly accept that just like in soccer flopping is a part of the game now, but I’m not sure what to think about this? Whatever happens in Game 2, I can’t wait for this series to move to New York, where a hostile crowd surely awaits.

Magic-Pacers…How great would it be if Orlando somehow won a series or 2 this year with all their daily Dwight drama once he’s on the shelf? Anyone who watched Game 1 would say that Indiana should win the series. At any given time, it looked like they always had the better player at every position on the court. For Pete’s sake, Glen Davis had his shot blocked so many times by Roy Hibbert that he looked like the little brother who was playing in a pick-up game with big bro and all of his friends. And yet there are 2 things that put the Orlando upset in play here: the Magic shoot (and can make) a lot of 3’s, and while the Pacers are talented and very deep they lack that 1 true go-to guy that they can give the ball to in crunch time…without travelling, that is.

Thunder-Mavericks…Went to bed at halftime thinking that the Mavs were going to pull this game out somehow. Then, I woke up, turned on Sportcenter, and, “Boom!” Kevin Durant happened! Durant had a poor shooting game, but how about a 1-handed floater fading to your left with 1 of the best perimeter defenders in the game (Shawn Marion) contesting the shot to win the game?

Hawks-Celtics…Day 2 of the playoffs opened with a couple of ho-hum wins for the Spurs and Lakers over the lower seeded Jazz and Nuggets, respectively, but the NBA was apparently saving up its more theatrical games for the night cap. Year in and year out, the Hawks are 1 of the least interesting “good” teams in the league. With their current core group of players, they have made the playoffs every season, but they don’t ever seem to get better from year to year. They are usually good for somewhere between a number 3 and 6 seed in the East, a 1st round playoff series win, and a quiet 2nd round exit. For whatever reason though, they always seem to give the Celtics fits. Even during Boston’s championship run a few years ago, the Hawks stretched the Celtics to 7 games, and that was a 1-8 matchup. While this version of the Celtics is older, more injured, and less, well, “good,” they still seem to give the Bulls and Heat problems, but the Hawks remain a thorn in their own side for some reason. And while the C’s struggle to generate offense anyway (74 points in Game 1), it’s going to be even tougher if the league comes down hard the engine that makes them go, Rajon Rondo, for bumping an official at the end of last night’s game.

Come at me, bro.

Grizzlies-Clippers…This series has maybe the most interesting contrast of styles of any 1st round matchup, but for the majority of last night it appeared that Memphis had made it their type of game. Much like with the Thunder-Mavs game the night before, I went to bed at halftime. While OKC still had a fighting chance in that 1, the outcome of this game didn’t appear to be in doubt anymore. The Clips were down nearly 20 at the break, but more than that it just seemed to be the Grizzlies’ night. No one in red seemed to be playing well, the crowd was really into it, and it seemed like every shot was falling for Memphis. And similar to the morning following the Thunder-Mavs game, I woke up in shock, this time to find that LA had completed 1 of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history. I guess for all the Nick Young bashing I do on here regularly, I should mention that Young was crucial to the comeback, hitting 3 triples in the 4th quarter. If days 1 and 2 of this year’s playoffs are any indication, we’re in for a wild ride.

Step Aside, Regular Season...Make Room For The Playoffs

Typical...

This fast and furious NBA regular season ended with a whimper last night, as most playoff-bound teams rested the majority of their stars. It’s hard to blame them considering the toll this condensed season has put on a lot of players’ bodies and the fact that the playoffs start tomorrow, but it made for some oddities for sure. For example, my Wizards (who I wrote a pretty optimistic post about earlier in the week) closed out the season with their 6th win in a row. They doled out a 30+ point thumping to the Heat, who basically only dressed a D-League team. I still have a tiny bit of hope for them next year, but they closed the season in a fashion that this Washington franchise has perfected over time: charging fast and hard towards the finish line while the outcome of the race had already been decided some time ago. I think the phrase that Tony Kornheiser would use to describe the Wizards late stretch is “passing tired horses.” Anyway, if that wasn’t enough, Washington’s season closing stretch of winning 8 of their last 10 still didn’t bump them from having the 2nd worst record in the whole league (and therefore the 2nd best odds of winning the draft lottery). What a great strategy: play so terribly early on in the year that you can’t hurt your draft position no matter how many games you win at the end of season. Speaking of terrible, the Bobcats finished the year with the worst single season winning percentage of any team in league history. As nice as it would be for Anthony Davis to be wearing Washington red, white, and blue next year, I can’t help but root for Charlotte to get that number 1 pick…either that, or they should just be contracted.

Oh, dear.

As for the playoffs, here’s my official preview…I have no idea. Despite my power rankings, this crazy NBA season has succeeded in completely throwing me off the prognostication trail. Let’s look at the best teams by seeding. The Spurs have looked surgical as of late, but while I could see them winning the whole thing I could see them potentially losing to any team in the West (including the number 8 seed, Utah, who they are matched up with in the 1st round) as well. I’ve said all along that OKC is the most talented team from top to bottom in the whole league, but their recent struggles have shown that they can be beat when their outside shooting goes a little cold, and they are young enough that they still may need to go through 1 more year of growing pains anyway. The Bulls? They tied San Antonio for the best record in the whole league, but I’m not sure what to expect of them when Rose is inserted back in the lineup. Can he stay on the court and get himself in rhythm quickly enough? Even so, is Chicago really any better than last season when Miami dispatched them in 5 games? And what about the Heat? Much the same as last year, they will be the most heavily scrutinized team this postseason. The supporting cast might be slightly better than last year’s playoffs, but James, Wade, and Bosh are still going to have to carry the load night in and night out. I’m just not sure they have enough to win it all this year either. Do Boston and the Lakers have enough in them to make a strong push? Or will it be whichever Western Conference darkhorse makes it out of their 1st round series, the Griz or Clips? S***, even as a number 7 seed the Mavs are just as dangerous as they were last year (when they were a 6). In short, I don’t know…time to just sit back and enjoy.

No pressure...it's not like your legacy depends on this postseason or anything.

1 Best Friend Plays And The Obligatory Injury Update Post

Being employed by a company that works with the federal government, I have to take some bulls*** online trainings every so often, but 1 in particular was a doozy. It’s called something like “Trafficking In Persons” training or something…yes, it has to do with human trafficking. No, it doesn’t teach you how to perform human trafficking, as the title seems to suggest. It’s meant to give guidance when it comes to travelling overseas and what to do if you encounter certain scenarios that could tip you off to human trafficking, but part of the training utilizes some crude, 2-D, role play style videogame scenes…the training content is pretty “icky,” which I’m sure is an intentional scare tactic given the subject matter. I don’t want to make light of a serious issue, but if I could ever do a “Two Best Friends Play” style play-through video with running commentary, this would be the time. “Ok, dirty, dimly lit night clubs aren’t really my style, but I guess I’ll go inside,” and, “No, I don’t want to see what’s going on behind that dumpster in the alley! Nothing good ever happens there! Dear God, why!?!” Glad to see our tax dollars aren’t going to waste at least.

It’s been over a month since I’ve done any personal injury update kind of posts, and work is slow as of this moment, so I figured I would delve into that a little bit just to pass the time. I am relatively healthy right now (knock on wood), but let’s start from the head area and work our way down (that’s what she said).

Shoulders…I feel like my left shoulder may always be a problem for me off and on from here on out unless I go under the knife and get it cleaned out (or whatever would need to happen), and it still feels somewhat weak, but all things considered I think I’m finally starting to see it heal from whatever I did to tweak it a couple months ago. It’s just one of those things that I’m probably always going to have to monitor and be extra careful with. I actually felt some pain in my right shoulder, which has always been my good shoulder, when lifting sometime last week, but that pain has since gone away. Looking back now, I think that was just some general muscle soreness, and it’s probably something I don’t have to worry about.

Hands/Fingers/Wrists…These are a couple other nagging injuries that just don’t seem to want to get all the way better, and I’m doing something (whether it’s playing basketball, playing football, or lifting weights) that is putting stress on them just about every day too, so it’s not like they are going to heal any faster either. My left hand/index finger has actually healed to the point that I can basically use it normally. I can shoot a left-handed layup (just as poorly as ever, but still…), I can open doors with my left hand, and I can grip heavy or awkward objects with my left hand now as well, which were all things I was previously struggling with, so those are good signs. I still notice discomfort doing certain things like gripping heavy weights doing dumbbell shoulder presses, but I don’t think it’s preventing me from doing anything anymore, whereas I was avoiding certain activities before. For example, to break-up our training routines sometimes Krissy and I will go throw a football after work instead. I can recall at least 1 occasion where I declined because after an hour of catching balls my hand would be throbbing. Now, if I catch a pass awkwardly, it may sting for a few seconds, but it seems like I’ve gotten through the worst of it. Likewise, my right wrist has improved, but it’s something that’s not all the way better either. I can at least do a pushup now without much pain, but every time I hit the deck while playing football or basketball, I can’t help but use it to break my fall, which of course makes it sore all over again. Like a sprained ankle, it might be 1 of those things that never gains full strength again now that it’s been weakened.

Lower Back…Alas, my “old man” back. This is 1 of those injuries that just seems to come and go. I could take a hard fall while playing football or something, and my back will feel fine, but 2 weekends ago it started to stiffen up just from standing up too long after we finished playing basketball. This week it’s been fine. I usually shy away from doing dead lifts and other lower back exercises at the gym, but aside from trying to strengthen it and just babying it when I do start to feel it spazzing out, I’m not sure if there’s anything else that can be done.

Knees/Hamstrings/Groins…This is going to be a short section because none of these have given me any trouble lately. Let’s hope that I can keep it that way.

Achilles…2 years ago when I 1st started to feel achilles pain, it was on my left leg. Now, my left achilles feels pretty good, and it’s my right 1 that’s aggravated. Just as long as both of them don’t hurt at the same time (like they did last summer), it’s bearable at least. From everything I’ve read, pretty much the best thing you can do if you have achilles tendonitis is rest them. Because of that, I’ve cut down on my running at the gym during the week, and I’ve been trying to save any running/jumping/cutting for when we play different things on the weekend. I’ve also heard that the kind of shoes you where and how you run can contribute to achilles pain, but at the end of the day it’s still mostly an overuse injury, so I think I’m just going to have to deal with it for now. Maybe once football season ends, I will get some relief though.

Ankles…Krissy jokes with me that she’s not sure I have any tendons or ligaments even left in my ankles (especially my right 1), but it’s been like 3 or 4 years since I’ve suffered a serious or semi-serious ankle sprain. I did have a minor tweak playing football a month or so ago, and my ankles are weak enough that at this point even minor twists or exaggerated for me, but it hasn’t really given me any problems since the weekend that I sprained it. As I sit here at my desk, if I try to turn my ankle, it doesn’t feel so great, but I’m not sure it felt great before I tweaked it anyway. Summer is around the corner though. It’s time to try to get as healthy as possible. Maximum healthiness equals maximum playtime, and maximum playtime equals maximum fun. So, being “not injured” equals “fun.” There you go…the transitive property at its finest.

Nobody Beats The Wiz

As a sports fan, there are 3 kinds of bad teams. Using the NBA as an example, there are generically bland bad teams like the Hornets or Cavaliers, who try hard, but just don’t have the talent to succeed night in and night out. There are historically bad teams like the Bobcats, who are interesting solely because of their badness. In terms of team personality, they are usually just as ho-hum as the 1st kind of bad team, they just have even less talent. The 3rd kind of bad team is interesting not only because of how terrible they are, but because they are terrible in a completely bumbling fashion. This would be my hometown Washington Wizards. They started off the year with the kind of roster that could almost be a caricature of what a bad team looks like. It was like the casting call for a Disney sports movie. You had the overpaid, out of shape, too sensitive about being booed by the home crowd power forward. You had the self-absorbed, happy he put up his own stats in another loss, 1 assist per game shooting guard. You had the goofball, running the wrong way down court, mom blasting the coach in the media center with no self-awareness center. You had the former college stud point guard who seemed to regress being surrounded by his current cast of misfits. You had the old vet who gets paid like he’s 1 of the top 5 players in the league, yet rides the bench on a bad team. You had about 6 other impressionable and unproven young players who were being poisoned daily by the multiple bad apples in the bunch. And you had the embattled coach who didn’t really sign up for a rebuilding job when he got to town, but now was forced to deal with the situation. That was your 2011-2012 Washington Wizards, folks. By the middle of the year though, the Wizards brass seemed to finally gain some perspective, and realized that this ship was going nowhere fast. In no particular order, they canned the embattled coach (Flip Saunders), shipped off the self-absorbed shooting guard (Nick Young) and goofball center (JaVale McGee), and basically told the out of shape power forward (Andray Blatche) and overpaid vet (Rashard Lewis) to make themselves scarce.

Sigh...poor John Wall.

Since the moves, the Wizards have lost games at mostly the same rate, but their little addition by subtraction moves at least cleared up playing time for some of their younger guys so that they could be further evaluated. While Washington has made some abysmally bad moves in the past couple of years (one example is how they extended Blatche’s contract last year, which basically made him untradeable as well), most of the Wizards’ most recent moves have actually made sense. They have been able to stockpile young talent. The Wizards have 5 guys on their roster who were 1st round picks during the last 2 drafts, and another (Shelvin Mack) who was an early 2nd rounder. Including John Wall, that’s 7 high picks from the last 3 drafts. If you’re going to lose, you might as well lose with young players. Also, Rashard Lewis’ contract continues to seem like an anvil strapped to the franchise’s neck, but acquiring Lewis for Gilbert Arenas actually did save the Wiz 10’s of millions of dollars in the long run. Lastly, Washington got back a legit veteran low post threat in the McGee-Young deal this year. Even if Nene’s creaky knees only allow him to be a part time presence, he can at least serve as a mentor to Washington’s young bigs, Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, and Jan Vesely.

All in all, I doubt the Wizards front office truly believed they could make a playoff push with the roster they had in place this year, but I think they could have lived without the nightly Sportscenter jabs at their players’ tomfoolery. Maybe even more maddening than that, Washington has shown a penchant for showing up against the better teams. At 18-46, they boast the 2nd worst record in the league to the Bobcats, but they have made a killing against Charlotte this year (4-0). That leaves 14 wins against the rest of the league, but those 14 include victories over the Thunder, Lakers, Bulls, and Heat. (In their wins against Chicago and Miami, those teams rested what seemed like their entire starting lineups, but still…) Despite all that inconsistency and every other bad thing I’ve said about this team so far, they are actually on a 4 game win streak, and they have won 6 out of their last 8. So, while riding high with 2 games left to go this season, it’s probably a good time to recap this year and look towards the next.

John Wall…Wall is probably the hardest Wizard to grade. His assists and 3 point shooting were down and his turnover rate was up compared to his rookie season, but it’s hard to blame him too much with all the moppishness that went on with this team earlier in the year. Anyone who watched Wizards games earlier this year knows John Wall was not having any fun. His listless expression all but said, “Get me out of here!” Still, I think he gets brownie points for showing up every night (he hasn’t missed a game this year) and playing hard on a team that didn’t exactly inspire good morale. And while he would do well to get in the gym and work on his outside shooting every day this summer, I actually like that he took less 3’s per game this year compared to the year before (which caused his overall shooting percentage to go up a tick). To me, he still projects as a Rajon Rondo type player. And actually, he is bigger, faster, and has a better looking jumper than Rondo, but while Rondo is a pure point guard, I’m not sure Wall has that same knack as a passer. Wall’s career assist numbers (8.1 a game) might be deceptively high just because he has his hands on the ball so often. To the naked eye, he makes nice passes to open guys, but watching Wall I don’t get the sense that he has any idea how to do things that good point guards do like get the ball to his teammates in the exact spot that they like or having a sense that he needs to get a particular teammate a shot to keep them interested on defense. While he might not be as explosive a leaper, Wall might want to more closely model his offensive game after Russell Westbrook in the future, but that comparison is still a long ways off.

The Bigs…I have always liked Nene’s overall game, but I wonder about his durability at this stage of his career. Since the trade, he has only played 9 games in a Wizards uniform and 37 games this year overall. Even so, I think it was a good trade for Washington just because it allowed them to move 2 guys who were bogging down their team, and even if Nene can’t play it will at least free up time for Vesely, Seraphin, and Booker. To anyone who just looks at stats, Vesely might look like somewhat of a bust for a lottery pick so far, but he is still very young and adjusting to the NBA game. I would like to see him add some strength and work on a midrange jumper, but I think that most people who actually watch Wizards games have actually liked what they have seen from him. I don’t ever think he will be a guy you can dump the ball into the post to, but if you watch him he always seems up to stuff…he’s a good screen setter and passer for his size, he seems to track rebounds pretty well, and it looks like he has a good sense of where to be on the court based on how a play is developing. The counter to that is that you don’t look for solid role players with lottery picks; you’re looking for an All-Star caliber player…but I have to say I’m a fan, and I think he’s worth paying attention to next season. I also liked what I saw from Trevor Booker this year (when he wasn’t battling injuries). I could see Booker developing into a left-handed, poor man’s Paul Milsap maybe, but at the worst he’s a high energy banger off the bench. Kevin Seraphin might be the most intriguing of the 3 young bigs. For his 1st season and a half in the league, Seraphin looked like a complete project. He seemed slow of foot, awkward, and uncoordinated. Since he’s gotten the opportunity to play he looks like, well, a young Nene. His footwork in the post is excellent, he has a nice soft touch around the basket, and he’s more athletic than I initially thought. In April, he’s averaged close to 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks a game. He still needs to get stronger and become a much better passer out of the double team, but the kid actually looks like he can play.

Since Washington cleaned house, Seraphin's been a pleasant surprise.

Perimeter Scoring…A scoring point guard and a stable of young athletic big guys is nice, but without a franchise player, you’re not going anywhere. And unless your name is Chris Paul or Dwight Howard, if you’re a franchise player in today’s NBA, you’re most likely a shooting guard or small forward that can score from the wing. Simply put, the Wizards don’t have that. Right now, they have Wall and a bunch of “nice” perimeter players. Mack is a nice backup point guard. Chris Singleton is a good perimeter defender and hustle guy. Jordan Crawford can shoot you both in and out of games…they are all nice players. All of that is well and good, but without a LeBron/Durant/Kobe type player, well, your ceiling is probably only as good as the Indiana Pacers. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing given that this franchise has been floundering for what seems like forever, but for the most part you don’t win championships without “that” guy. The fact is that the Wizards have to get lucky in the draft again this upcoming summer…and not so much as getting lucky enough to get the number 1 pick and get Anthony Davis (which I wouldn’t hate either), but getting lucky in a sense that the draft is a crapshoot, and they need whoever they pick to turn into a real player. Otherwise, all this optimism is just a waste of time on my part…and I will be writing a similar post about the Wizards this next time next year too.