Good Confronts Evil in the NBA Playoffs

The first round series between the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls was widely lauded as the greatest first round series in NBA history, and some even called it the greatest series in playoff history. But the second round tilt between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers has been the most compelling series of this year’s playoffs, an engaging and meandering skirmish between two foils who regard each other with disdain. We haven’t seen a good and evil juxtaposition of this lucidity in American sports since the famous 2004 Red Sox/Yankees ALCS, or perhaps any game the New England Patriots played during their 18-1 season two years ago.

The Boston/Chicago first round series was an entertaining seven-game affair between a wounded, staggering former champion and an alleged up and comer who lost as many games this season as they won. Four of the games were decided in overtime, including double and triple OT games, but ultimately we knew that the winner of the series was not going to compete for a championship this season. Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers sweep Detroit in four, the Lakers cruise past the Jazz without breaking a sweat, and the Denver Nuggets slap a 58-point road beating on the Hornets was like watching 1-seeds crush 16-seeds in the NCAA tournament. Watching the Celtics/Bulls series was like watching a quadruple-overtime first round 8/9 NCAA game. It was fun, everyone played hard, some money may have exchanged hands…but ultimately nothing happened to influence who will be the last standing when the dust settles in June.

The Lakers and Rockets, on the other hand, are Contenders. The Lakers were the obvious pick to represent the West in the Finals, right up until Houston strolled into the Staples Center last Monday, smacked the Lakers in the face with 48 minutes of physical, fearless ball, and emerged with a stunning road win to take a 1-0 lead and effectively wrest away the coveted homefield advantage. The Lakers responded with a predictable, muscular burst to take control early in game two, only to see the Rockets mount a shocking comeback. That barnburner went to the half tied at 57. The Lakers were able to put together a workmanlike second half and win going away, but not before five technical fouls had been administered, two players had been ejected, and Houston coach Rick Adelman had sent guard Von Wafer to the showers. LA point guard Derek Fisher, often cited as one of the NBA’s “good guys”, was suspended for this hit on Luis Scola.



LA won game three in Houston Friday night without too much trouble in the kind of performance that re-establishes a clear pecking order and puts upset talk to rest. The Rockets later learned oft-injured star 7’-6” center Yao Ming had a hairline fracture in his left foot and would have to miss the rest of the playoffs. All hope was lost.

But, lest we forget, the NBA Playoffs are Where Amazing Happens. The undermanned Rockets trounced LA in game four. Houston scampered to a 29-point lead after three quarters, embarrassing the Lakers Sunday afternoon and spontaneously hatching the first Double Ewing Theory. The anti-Lakers chants of the giddy Houston crowd grew louder and louder as the blowout’s shock dissipated and its severity swelled. The win was even more surprising considering Ron Artest, the closest thing to a “star” the Rockets have left, had just 8 points on 4-19 shooting.

The face of the Rockets since 2004, shooting guard Tracy McGrady, was lost for the season to microfracture surgery in February. It has been well-chronicled that McGrady has never been on a team that has won a playoff series. Of course, Houston dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers in round one in their first recent appearance without the services of McGrady. And now they are 1-0 without Yao.

Sunday’s stunner does not come as such a shocker when one considers the team’s history of overcoming adversity. Dealing with disadvantage is an area of expertise for these Rockets, both as a team and individually. Houston won 22 games in a row last season after Yao was injured, the second longest streak in NBA history.

Second-year forward Carl Landry, a key contributor to that 22-game streak, was shot in the leg on March 17 during an attempted carjacking of his SUV. Landry is an undersized power forward with an affinity for defense and rebounding. Another second year player, point guard Aaron Brooks, is one of the smallest players in the league – listed at 6’0, 160. Brooks scored 34 points on Sunday. Houston’s other point guard, Kyle Lowry, is also just 6’0, and can’t shoot all that well from long distance. He lives in the lane, and like most of his teammates, plays defense with passion. Chuck Hayes, who now starts due to the Yao injury, is another undersized, defensive-minded young player. Despite a stellar career at Kentucky, Hayes went undrafted and didn’t get a look in the NBA until after a stint in the D-League – which he led in rebounding. 29-year-old Luis Scola was a rookie last year, same as 20-year-old Kevin Durant. That’s the last you’ll hear Scola compared to Durant – Luis is an ungainly long-haired Argentine. By the way, none of these guys were lottery picks.

But the most likable of them all is Shane Battier, defensive specialist du jour, consummate team player, and all-around good guy. Like everyone else on the Rockets, Battier has a glaring weakness – his is a dearth of athleticism and offensive skill. But Battier plays with unmatched intellect and magnanimity, concentrating his efforts on the defensive end while aspiring to maximize offensive efficiency. Scoring outbursts have never been his forte, but he did step up with Yao out and Artest struggling to score 23 points on Sunday -15 in the decisive first half.

Battier often defends Lakers all-world superstar and despicable human Kobe Bryant, framing a vivid contrast between good and evil. It is a great pleasure to watch Battier go to work on Bryant, expending dogged effort, attention to detail, new age strategy, and a lot of heart. Kobe always gets his, but Battier often meddles with his efficiency. You can tell Battier is frustrating Bryant by the reactions Kobe has been making when he sinks a shot, by the taunts he flings out after a made basket. It is wonderful to watch Bryant’s jeers – these are signs of a bully being challenged, worried for the first time that his seat atop the mountain may come tumbling down.

Single Thought of a Single Man

In college there was a girl in the psychology department a year below me I “know” would have been perfect for me, but I never got to know her. I remember late one night Senior year I was working in the lab alone on my directed research project muttering to myself about t-tests and P-values when this girl walked by and gave me a huge, dazzling smile as she passed. These are the kinds of things I think about late at night trying to fall asleep.

My 100 Favorite Songs: #44

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

I think this is the only cover on the list - original spawned by Leonard Cohen.

My 100 Favorite Songs: #45

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing

I distinctly remember taking a train from Philadelphia to Atlantic City in 2005 as I hit "The Circuit" for the first time, listening to this song as the towering casinos approached, thinking the lyrics sounded inspired by Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth.

Single Thought of a Single Man

“You’ll like Tom,” the older brother said. “He’s a professional gambler.”

We talked for a bit about that. At this stage of my career it sounds more exciting than it actually is.

“So what do you do?” I asked.

“I’m a sophomore,” she said.

Offseason Observations Part I: The Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos have had by far the wildest offseason of any team in the NFL. It began with the controversial firing of Mike Shanahan and hiring of Josh McDaniels, continued with an aggressive slew of free agent signings, and rocketed out of control with the Jay Cutler saga which ended in a blockbuster trade landing Cutler in Chicago. Then came a nutty draft in which the Broncos took Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno with the twelfth overall pick, traded a 2010 first-rounder to get Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith, and traded their two third-round picks for the last pick of the second round, which they used to take North Carolina tight end Richard Quinn.

Let’s start with the Shanahan firing. Shanahan possesses one of the premier Xs and Os minds in football, possibly even the best. The Broncos were generally powerful on offense during his tenure, though they have had little consistency at the skill positions since the Super Bowl years of John Elway, Terrell Davis, and Shannon Sharpe. Running backs not good enough to make most NFL rosters have had great success playing for Shanahan, a long list which includes Olandis Gary, Reuben Droughns, Quentin Griffin, Mike Anderson, Tatum Bell, and Mike Bell. Half these guys are selling cell phones these days, while the other half are struggling to make NFL rosters. The only real talent Shanahan has had in the backfield since Davis is Clinton Portis, who was traded to the Redskins for Champ Bailey.

The Broncos have not had a potent passing game since Elway retired, but that all changed last year as Jay Cutler made The Leap. Ryan Clady and Eddie Royal proved to be brilliant first and second round picks, and Brandon Marshall continued to elevate his game after a turbulent offseason. The offensive line played as well as any in the league, and Peyton Hillis emerged as the most popular Bronco since Ed McCaffrey. The Broncos finished second in the league in total yards.

But the defense was atrocious – one of the worst in the history of the game according to some new-age statistics. They lacked talent in every position, had arguably the worst defensive linemen and safeties in the league, and gave up tons of big plays while creating very few.

When he was let go, Shanahan had assumed much of the organization’s personnel decisionmaking power. The Broncos were coming off a great 2008 draft, but years of defensive busts (anyone not from Colorado, have you ever heard of Jarvis Moss, Tim Crowder, Willie Middlebrooks, or Eric Brown?) left the cupboard bare. Ultimately Shanahan was fired because of his decisions regarding defensive personnel.

In a perfect world, the Broncos would have retained Shanahan while cutting back his role in personnel evaluation. Instead, owner Pat Bowlen rolled the dice on then-32 year-old wunderkind Josh Daniels, previously offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Defensive coordinator Bob Slowik was sent packing and replaced by ex-Niners head coach Mike Nolan. Quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, a sharp young mind similar to McDaniels and a close ally of Cutler’s, was uncertain of his role and decided to take a position with the USC Trojans. The Broncos also overhauled their personnel department and brought in Brian Xanders as the new General Manager.

Somewhere in this mess word leaked that McDaniels & co. were shopping Cutler around. McDaniels wanted Matt Cassel, who he coached last year in New England after Tom Brady was injured. Cutler was not pleased when he got word of these developments, and reacted immaturely. Cutler asked to be traded, and when communication between Cutler and the Broncos disintegrated, the Broncos complied with his request.

As a lifelong Denver Broncos fan and current NFL diehard, the Cutler saga made me somewhat queasy. We all know quarterback is the most important position in the league as well as the scarcest. By my count there are only 20-25 people in the world who can play quarterback at the level necessary to win in the NFL, there are only 10-15 who I would feel okay about playing for my team, there are only 5-8 who played as well as Cutler last season, and there may not be a single person in the world who possesses as much talent as Jay Cutler does for the quarterback position. So the idea of losing Cutler before his 26th birthday did not sit well with me.

But the Broncos got two first round picks, a third round pick, and Kyle Orton in exchange. Orton was really starting to figure it out himself and play at a high level before his injury midway through last season. I can live with Orton and the picks. At this moment in time, I think the best word to describe the trade is “fair.”

But why did Denver’s new brass bring in LaMont Jordan, Correll Buckhalter, and JJ Arrington, then draft Moreno at #12? Prevailing wisdom in the Rockies was that running back was not a position of need for the Broncos. Selvin Young, Andre Hall, and Hillis were all successful under Shanahan, and the hype around 2008 fourth-round pick Ryan Torain reached deafening heights during an injury-riddled rookie campaign. Even PJ Pope averaged 7.6 yards per carry last season. Merely adding one running back in the offseason would have been viewed as gratuitous; adding four including a first round pick is clearly ridiculous.

As curious as these signings were, I do have some points worth mentioning to panicking Bronco fans:

1. As both the Broncos and Patriots found out last season, you can never have enough running backs. They get injured more often than any other position and seem to function best playing two or three in a game. NFL teams should have a bare minimum of three good backs (think what Mewelde Moore did for the Steelers after Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall went down last season) and could get significant contributions from as many as five or six throughout the season.

2. McDaniels is clearly bringing in players to fit his system. Selvin Young and Andre Hall may have functioned competently in Shanahan’s design, but maybe they won’t for McDaniels. LaMont Jordan and Jabar Gaffney might not have helped last year’s team much, but they will help institute the McDaniels system.

3. McDaniels wants competition. He wants these guys driving each other to get better, knowing jobs are at stake. Running back is largely a position of effort, and all these guys should bring out the best in each other.

4. I watched a few Georgia games the last couple years, and always got the feeling Knowshon Moreno was the best player on the field. I never had that feeling for Matt Stafford.

5. It has occurred to me that McDaniels may have something crazy, something revolutionary in mind. Perhaps something akin to the single wing. Maybe he took a look at tape of Denver’s offensive line and ideas started popping in his mind. Maybe he wants to make a splash with something bold and creative, something that could make him a legend. It’s an unlikely theory of course, but perhaps the offense Denver plays in 2009 will be unlike any we have ever seen in the National Football League.

No matter how the rookies turn out, we already know Denver's draft was rather inefficient. They traded a first round pick for a second and later traded two third rounders for the last pick of the second round, for a player who wasn't projected to be drafted anytime soon. Changing the offense, shuffling the coaching staff, bringing in your own style of players - these things don't bother me so much. McDaniels was hired as head coach - I believe he should get a chance to put his system into play. But blatant disregard for economics, trading 1s for 2s - those sort of wasteful transactions make me nauseous. You don't see the Patriots engaging in that sort of inefficiency.

Single Thought of a Single Man

Not long ago I was talking to some guys about using 4 Ss to evaluate women - sexy, smart, sane, and single - and which was the most dispensable. A couple guys said single, and then the one married man in the room said that obviously sane was the first to go, since all women are completely insane. And I thought - I couldn't agree more, that guy knows what he's talking about.