It doesn't get much better than this. Temperatures are starting to occasionally reach 60, unless you live in Colorado where the threat of 43 inches of spring snow is not diminishing, the NBA and NHL playoffs are under way and major league baseball has returned. As a sports fan, it's hard to focus on what is important when there are so many viewing options.
Was Saturday's spring football game at Alabama worth my time? No, but I did drop in for a visit to see if former Duke point guard Greg Paulus was going to take any snaps under center for the Crimson Tide.
Let's Hit It
Without The Big Ticket Kevin Garnett, the 2007-08 NBA champion Boston Celtics lost a Game 1 OT thriller at home to the Chicago Bulls, 105-103. Without Manu Ginobili, the San Antonio Spurs suffered the same fate losing at home to the Dallas Mavericks, 105-97, giving the Mavericks a one-game lead in their best-of-seven series.
Life in the NBA is fragile. The Celtics are going nowhere without Kevin Garnett and the same can be said for the San Antonio Spurs without Manu Ginobili. In the NBA, championships are not won with role players or clever schemes. Patriots coach Bill Belichick would not be able to draft guys in the second-round of the NBA draft to build a championship squad. World class talent, a general manager who understands how to fill out a roster to make a cohesive team, and a coach who is able to blend 13 oversized egos with three world class talents is the recipe for success in the NBA. You need three world class talents to win a championship in the NBA or maybe one LeBron James.
Without world class Kevin Garnett, the Celtics have Paul Pierce and Ray Allen who can both be described as possessing world class basketball talent. Ray Allen's performance in Game 1 versus the Bulls was beyond bad. How can a player with Allen's talent submit a 1-for-12 from the field and put up only 4 points on the scoreboard? Allen missed all six of his attempts from behind the arc.
Ray Allen is quickly becoming the Barry Bonds of postseason basketball. Last year, Allen played at a D League level for the majority of the playoffs, and Saturday afternoon's showing only reinforced that Allen is less than ready for prime time.
Ray is playing more like Jake Shuttlesworth than Jesus Shuttlesworth
Paul Pierce showed up less than ready to play and scored 4 points in the first half, but ended up with a respectable 23 points. At the end of regulation, Pierce had the ability to put the Bulls away, but missed a second free-throw attempt with less than three seconds on the clock that would have given Boston a 98-87 lead.
It's easy for Celtics fans to point to the performances of Pierce and Allen and say that's why the C's lost to the Bulls. If Ray Allen continues to play at a Eric Fernstein level, the Celtics are not going to make it out of the second-round, so there is certainly legitimacy for pointing the finger at Ray Allen. You really can't go 1-for-12 from the field and be a member of the Big Three.
But if you dig a little deeper, there's an interesting statistic that sheds even more light on the Celtics loss to the Bulls. Boston's second-team was ineffective versus Chicago. Here is a list of Boston's second-team and each player's plus/minus:
Mikki Moore 5:31 minutes of playing time -6
Stephon Marbury 10:03 minutes of playing time -4
Leon Powe 16:34 minutes of playing time -10
Tony Allen 8:24 of playing time -9
Eddie House 16:39 minutes of playing time -9
The absence of Garnett has elevated Glen "Big Baby" Davis to the starting five. Davis scored 18 points, going 6-for-8 from the field, with a measly three rebounds in 39:54 of playing time. Big Baby was a +7.
If Davis had remained a member of the second-team, would this have assured a victory? No, but an NBA team cannot replace a talent, such as Kevin Garnett, and expect to be a legitimate title contender. The underwhelming play of Boston's second-team has been a cause for concern throughout the season. It was obvious to Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni, and now it's clear to NBA fans in Boston, that Stephon Marbury is not the answer (Is Allen Iverson still The Answer?). Starbury's days as a productive NBA player are perhaps clearly in the past. Right now, Starbury blows.
Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was never able to find suitable replacements for James Posey and P.J. Brown. You can make an argument that an improved Big Baby was an adequate replacement for P.J. Brown - and I'll accept that. But why is it that Danny Ainge could never find a decent veteran point guard to anchor the second-team? Marbury was the best candidate for the job? This has been a glaring void for two years. Sam Cassell filled the role at the end of last year, but is it that difficult to find a veteran point guard to run the second unit? Forget the Marbury experiment and let Eddie House run the second unit. House is a flawed point guard, but Eddie is better than a tentative Marbury.
Derrick Rose vs. Rajon Rondo
Neither one could stop the other.
Bulls point guard Derrick Rose finished with 36 points, was 12-for-19 from the field, with 11 assists and ended the day with a +8 in 49:33 of playing time.
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo scored 29 points, on 12-for-21 shooting, dished 7 assists and had a +4 in 43:33 of playing time.
Everyone wants to talk about Rose and Rondo's offensive exploits, but each of them got lit by the other on the defensive end. The prevailing wisdom is to allow each of them only jump shots. You have to stop them first - and neither Rose nor Rondo could be stopped driving to the tin.
Joakim Noah
Joakim must still be smoking a ton of weed, because why else would he have fouled Paul Pierce taking a jumper at the end of regulation? Also, can someone take Joakim aside and talk to him about his barely pubescent moustache? Is that moustache a seventh grade science class experiment?
Joakim
Tyrus Thomas
When did he develop a jump shot?
Ben Gordon
The Celtics had no answer for Ben Gordon at the end of the fourth quarter. If anyone tries to tell you that Boston's Tony Allen is a defensive stopper, that person should be sent to attend Hugo Chavez University in Venezuela.
Yao Ming In a Reverse Ray Allen
In Houston's 108-81 dismantling of Portland, Yao Ming did not miss a shot. Yao went 9-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 from the line, which gets the big man - 24 points.
Are the Rockers better without Tracy McGrady? We will find out.
Danny Ainge
Get better.
Greg Paulus Reference
I had no intention of writing about Greg Paulus in this piece, but after writing about him in the second paragraph, I feel the need to address the Paulus situation right now. Paulus decided to play college basketball at Duke rather than pursue a college football career.
Looking at the records he set as a high school quarterback in the state of New York, Paulus probably didn't make the best decision for his athletic future in deciding to become Coach K's point guard/bitch. After starting as a freshman, sophomore and junior, Coach K decided this year Paulus should see more pine time than playing time. Paulus has been shopping his qb wares to those schools in desperate need of a quarterback (Duke football was interested in the former Coach K point guard as a wide receiver.), who has not played football in four years. Michigan appears to be the most interested in the Greg Paulus Experiment, which has nothing in common with the Joe Perry Project or Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Paulus needs to petition the NCAA for an additional year of athletic eligibility, and make the case that the additional year is fueled by an academic need. Are we serious? Paulus is considering grad school with the Maize & Blue because he didn't follow the example of Donovan McNabb. Paulus could get an additional year of athletic eligibility because five years ago he decided to play the wrong sport? You do the math.
This rule should exist for failed relationships. I went out with you for two dismal years, you sat me on the pine, you made me a scrub and I want my time back. That's right, let's get in "The Love Connection" time machine and go back and fix things. Works for me.
