Hiring Mike Brown Is The Right Move For The Lakers

 

~ The Lakers are reportedly ready to bring in their 22nd head coach in team history. For Mike Brown, what a difference a year makes. For fans of The Los Angeles Lakers, when Phil Jackson stepped away as head coach, how many of them could have possibly seen this coming? Coming out of nowhere to emerge as the leading canidate for the job, Brown is expected to be offically named the new head coach of the Lakers. This is indeed a stunning move, however it is also the right move.

 Mike Brown isn’t going to be another Phil Jackson. He is not flashy or smooth like a Pat Riley. He does not teach the game like a Larry Brown or even a Hubie Brown for that matter. What Brown does bring to the Lakers is intangibles that none of the other canidates the Lakers targeted could bring at this time.

The 41 year old Brown led the Cleveland Cavaliers to two 60-win seasons and the NBA finals one time. Those teams were led by a superstar and elite player, LeBron James. He inherits a Lakers team that is led by a superstar and elite player, Kobe Bryant.

The Lakers are a team that’s defense was badly exposed in this year’s playoffs. They couldn’t rotate at all and at times looked completely lost while being swept out of the playoffs by Dallas. Brown is a defense-first coach.

The isssue being argued by many fans of the Lakers is that it’s Mike Brown replacing the great Phil Jackson. The saying goes that you’re only as good as your last performance. For Brown, it was a year ago that his Cav’s were bounced from the playoffs and set off 12 months of change with LeBron James leaving for Miami and Brown losing his job almost as soon as he got off the team plane back from Boston.

First of all, no one is going to replace what Phil Jackson has done. It didn’t work with the Bulls in the 90’s and Tim Floyd. It didn’t work for the Lakers either with Rudy Tomjanovich. At some point, the time comes when you have to reinvent yourself. It’s no different for a professional basketball team.

 For all the criticism that Mike Brown will get during his transition into taking this job, Brown is a good basketball coach. He went to the playoffs in every year he coached the Cav’s. (5 seasons)

Did he have an elite basketball player? Yes. He also didn’t have very much else to work with either.

In Brown’s 5 seasons as Cav’s coach, the organization didn’t exactly surround LeBron James with many 2nd or 3rd options like Kobe Bryant has had with Paul Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum. An aging Shaquille O’Neal and an inconsistent Mo Williams don’t count.

 Brown made mistakes as Cav’s coach and his rotation moves were questionable. However, he did what he could with what he had and wisely ran everything through his one star player.  He now gets a clean start, just like the Lakers get a chance at a clean start.

Brown reportedly will sign a contract for four years and $18.2 million dollars. As good a track record as Brown has a defensive minded coach, he’ll need to establish quickly what his offensive gameplan will be for the Lakers.

 This is a team that definitely wants to get back to running up and down the court and entertaining the fans. A lot will depend on what the Lakers do this summer to rebuild around Bryant. Does Gasol, Odom, and Bynum stay with the team? Do they begin to make plans to go after Dwight Howard?

 This Laker team needed to turn the page after bowing out to Dallas this year. The team needed a facelift and Mike Brown will help provide them a new idenity on defense as well. For both sides, it’s the right move at the right time.

The NBA Should Have Suspended Joakim Noah For Anti-Gay Slur

 

~ Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls has been fined $50,000 for directing an anti-gay slur towards a fan during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. Noah did admit to the use of the slur and apologized for it as well. Clearly, he knew an expensive fine from the league was on the way. What Noah should’ve gotten along with that fine was a 1 game suspension.

Throughout the playoffs, the NBA has produced PSAs about the use of slurs regarding race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.  Kobe Bryant of the Lakers in a game towards the end of the regular season was caught on national television using a gay slur in the direction of an NBA referee.

 NBA players all saw what happened, and agree or disagree with it, they know what the punishment is going to be if they get caught.

Bryant was fined $100,000 for his actions, so Noah didn’t even get punished to that extent. The fact that Noah’s incident occured so soon after Bryant’s though clearly shows a lack of discipline just as much as it showed a lack of professionalism on his part.

I understand this is basketball and trash talk on and off the court is apart of the game. It’s a very emotional game. Professional athletes have to endure the bad from the fans just as much as they love the good from them. Those bad times can be a test of ones composure. The reality of the situation though is these are also professionals that we are talking about. They are being compensated a lot of money to play this game and should be held accountable for their actions.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) wasted no time to reach out to the NBA about the Noah incident. It did the same with Kobe Bryant.

 Everyone knows going up against GLAAD is not a battle any image-conscious multi-million or multi-billion dollar business would want to take on. It’s a pubilc relations nightmare.The league wasted no time and handed out fines to Bryant and Noah the next day after their incidents.

Giving players a fine for rule violations is one thing, however when it becomes a repeat offense is when it gains the potential to become a pattern. Thats an expensive risk to take for the player, that player’s team, and the league that the team and the player represent. If the message did not get across the first time, what do you do next? Fine the player again? These are multi-million dollar athletes we are talking about!

Eventually a message has to be sent from employer to employee that clearly gets across that certain things just can’t be tolerated. Most fans who have regular 9 to 5 jobs would have been terminated by their employers for that type of conduct. The punishment has to be one where other employees know that such behavior will never be accepted.

I’m not saying Joakim Noah should lose his job. Professional Sports operates a little differently than Corporate America. The tolerance lever is higher. However in this case, the punishment did not fit the crime and a strong enough message was not sent out to the rest of the league.

Fighting had become such a major issue in the league to the point where the Commissioner implemented a stronger punishment for players who were seen leaving the bench to involve themselves. Leave the bench …  it’s now an automatic 1 game suspension … not up for debate. It’s now time for the league to make another major statement. If a player is seen on camera making anti – gay slurs or gestures, don’t just fine them for it anymore … suspend them from their next game.

In the case of Joakim Noah, the punishment would have cost him not only $50,000 it would have also cost him the next playoff game. Noah would have realized that because of his unprofessionalism the team would be punished right along with him.

Here is the reality of the situation as it stands now …

The cameras are always watching the players. They are watching as soon the players step onto the court. Noah is young, however that’s no excuse. The use of Anti-Gay Slurs has been a hot topic across the country for years now. The NBA is realizing just how hot a topic it really is.

NBA Playoffs > ( Video) Kevin Durant With The Monster Dunk On Brendan Haywood!

~ Kevin Durant Leaves Peja Stojakovic Standing And Proceeds To Throw Down What Could Be The Dunk Of The 2011 Playoffs So Far. Not One of Brendan Haywood’s Better Moments In The League … Throw It Down KD!!

NBA Draft > Cleveland Wins No. 1 Pick, Irving On The Radar

 

~ The Cleveland Cavaliers had just about as good a night as a team can possibly have that didn’t make the playoffs. The Cav’s came away from the NBA Draft Lottery with the number one pick. To add icing on the cake, the Cav’s also have the number four pick in the draft. The team that within the last 12 months lost LeBron James to South Beach and endured a nightmare season with one loss after another, has finally come across some good fortune. The number one pick came from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Baron Davis trade. The pick only had a 2.8 percent chance of winning and it wasn’t protected. It ends up turning into the top pick in the draft. Cleveland is most likely to take Kyrie Irving of Duke with the number 1 pick to jumpstart the rebuilding process they are currently going through.

The draft class this year is not a deep one by any means. Teams are going to have to dig deep with their scouting departments in finding a gem in this year’s draft. That’s why having 2 of the top 5 picks in the draft is such a big win for the Cav’s. The Minnesota Timberwolves will draft second and it’s expected they will take Derrick Williams of Arizona. Once Irving and Williams are off the board, that is where the draft is expected to take a turn for the unexpected. The Clippers can now only imagine what a lineup with Irving and Blake Griffin could have done for their franchise.

The Utah Jazz came out ahead as well by securing the number 3 and number 12 picks in the draft. The number 3 pick came from the New Jersey Nets courtesy of the Deron Williams trade. There is a sub plot here to keep an eye on. It remains to be seen if Williams will sign his contract extension with the Nets. If he decides not to sign, the Nets could possibly come away from the trade with Utah empty-handed. To acquire Williams, the Nets also gave up Derrick Favors who was their 1st round pick last year and they also gave up their 1st round pick for next year. This would be a major setback for their rebuilding plans.

Here Is A Look At The Draft Order

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (from L.A. Clippers)
2. Minnesota Timberwolves
3. Utah Jazz
4. Cleveland Cavaliers
5. Toronto Raptors,
6. Washington Wizards
7. Sacramento Kings
8. Detroit Pistons
9. Charlotte Bobcats
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Golden State Warriors
12. Utah Jazz
13. Phoenix Suns
14. Houston Rockets
15. Indiana Pacers
16. Philadelphia 76ers
17. New York Knicks
18. Washington Wizards (from Atlanta)
19. Charlotte Bobcats (from New Orleans via Portland)
20. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Memphis via Utah)
21. Portland Trailblazers
22. Denver Nuggets
23. Houston Rockets (from Orlando via Phoenix)
24. Oklahoma City Thunder
25. Boston Celtics
26. Dallas Mavericks
27. New Jersey Nets (from Los Angeles Lakers)
28. Chicago Bulls (from Miami via Toronto)
29. San Antonio Spurs
30. Chicago Bulls

Additional Info: Pro Basketball Talk

Photo: Getty Images

NBA Playoffs > Westbrook Gets The Point, Thunder Advance To West Finals

 

~ For the Oklahoma City Thunder, it took seven games to get done. They took out the Memphis Grizzlies to advance to the Western Conference finals. The Thunder now head to Dallas for Game 1 against a well rested Mavs team. To become a championship team, adversity must be taken on and there is no way around that. The Thunder needed game seven to happen for them to take the next step. The next step to not only reach the next round, to also grow as a team that is now eight wins away from playing for an NBA championship.

This was a great series and the Memphis Grizzlies deserve to be applauded for the run they put on in this post season. They came in as the 8th seed, new to the playoffs and looked like they have been playing playoff basketball for years. Zach Randolph took full advantage of the national spotlight this series provided. One look at this Grizzlies team and I can only wonder what would have been had Rudy Gay been healthy enough to play. Memphis grinded it out with a blue-collar work ethic on the court that the uptempo, run and gun Western Conference was not prepared for. It almost took the Grizzlies into the next round. When it mattered most though, they needed another scorer on the floor, and thats where Gay would’ve came in hand. We’ll now see how they go about preparing for next season because they are no longer the unknown playoff team now. The expectations will definitely be set.

 

The playoffs are now down to four teams. No Lakers, Celtics, or Spurs. It’s a brand new show this year with new and younger faces. That means growing pains are to be expected. The Thunder are a young team, fresh faces, and the talent to win an NBA title this year. They have the 1-2 punch of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In a era where teams are rushing to put together their own versions of “The Big 3”, the Thunder are a throwback to the playoff teams that featured a big time scorer for a big man and a point guard who could drop 40 points if called on. However, this team needed adversity to challenge them. Westbrook is really a scoring guard who is playing the point guard position. A look back at the most recent “scoring guards” in NBA history and you already know where the storyline is going to go …

“SHOOT THE J’ … SHOOT IT!!!”

During Oklahoma City’s 1st round series against Denver and throughout the series against Memphis, Westbrook’s shot selection became a national headline. If Durant is the face of the team, why is Westbrook taking more shots than him? There was a stretch where everytime Westbrook brought the basketball up the court, it could be predicted that he was going to shoot first and ask questions last. History has a way of repeating itself. The Minnesota Timberwolves had a young 1-2 punch back in the day and basketball fans know what happened to that duel. The point guard / “scoring guard” Stephon Marbury became “Starbury” and Kevin Garnett didn’t exactly want to share his nickname as “The Big Ticket”. Marbury ended up being traded away and Garnett eventually won his NBA ring … with the Boston Celtics.

Westbrook and Durant made it clear to the media and fans that there is no beef between the two. Durant has come out and said that he actually encourages Westbrook to keep shooting. However, if the playoffs have shown anything this year it’s how important the point guard position is to a team’s title hopes. Here are the Thunder now in game seven, one loss away from elimination and Westbrook clearly had to make a choice. Play within the system or go against the system. He went with the system and at least for one day was the most dangerous point guard in the league. Westbrook didn’t score 40 points … he only scored 14. It was the 14 assists and 10 rebounds to go along with those points that made him the key to sending Memphis home for the summer. He became only the 5th player to register a game seven triple-double.

What Westbrook’s game did allow for Durant to do was what’s expected of him and that’s score, 39 points to be exact. The facts are the facts at the end of the day. Westbrook played in control, within the system and got his team involved in the offensive flow. It allowed for Durant to go off for 39. It allowed for James Harden and Nick Collison as role players to play their parts. The Thunder are tough to beat when they play like this. It remains to be seen how they respond to a well rested Dallas team that has been waiting over a week to play this series. A lot will depend on Westbrook and if he is ready to embrace what it takes to lead his team more as a point guard than a “scoring guard”. At least they are now a playoff team that has faced adversity head on and know now that they can overcome it.

NBA Playoffs > One Big Step for Miami & One Bigger Step for LeBron James

 

~ One big step for the Miami Heat and one bigger step for LeBron James. For this one night watching the Miami Heat, we “can’t knock da hustle”. The Heat eliminated the Boston Celtics from the playoffs to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They will now await the winner of the Atlanta Hawks-Chicago Bulls series. For the Heat, it was a dramatic ending to a series they needed to win for a number of  reasons that go beyond just advancing to the next round. It wasn’t Dywane Wade closing the show out for the Heat though, it was the man most love to hate … LeBron Raymone James. 

Before I even go any further with this post though, congrats to the Boston Celtics. They went out like champions which is unlike how the defending champion Lakers bowed out to Dallas over in the west. The Celtics were badly outmanned, and had to face a team that was just as hungry however had younger legs than them. This series saw Rajon Rondo give everything he had despite dislocating his elbow. It also saw the possible end of Shaquille O’Neal’s great NBA career. The mind and heart may have wanted to give more, the body just would not allow it though. This was very much like a heavyweight fight and Boston being the old, savy, and crafty veterans were not going to go down easily. Their legacy is implanted firmly though as the original “Big 3” and a championship team.

The way Miami finished Boston off was a script made for Hollywood. A 16-0 run to close out a game they trailed most of. The last 10 points scored by LeBron James. That stat alone is as strong a sub-plot as there has been this season in the NBA. As Miami went through their struggles to gel together as a team, James was dealing with adversity over not being able to close out a game. The irony now to see James not only close out the game for Miami, he also puts the dagger in the Boston Celtics run in the playoffs. It was as fitting a closure to the last 12 months for James as one can possibly get. The journey is not over for him and Miami, they still are 8 wins away from the ultimate goal, a championship. However, they deserve the moment right now.

 

Dywane Wade realized he needed help in Miami this year if he was going to get out of the first round. James realized he needed help that Cleveland didn’t have to get past the Celtics. After years of barely making the playoffs in Toronto, Chris Bosh realized he needed LeBron James and Dywane Wade. We all don’t have to like how this all went about coming together in South Beach. There will always be criticism to eqaul whatever acheivments they accomplish. At the end of the day, the bottom line is what matters. For the Miami Heat and LeBron James, the bottom line was:

• Becoming a Basketball Team and not just a collection of NBA talent and the 2 best players in the world.

 

• Defeating the Boston Celtics. It would not have the same effect, had it been the Knicks, or the Magic … it had to be Boston.

 

• Winning an NBA Championship.

 

They took the first two steps and now all that’s left is that one last one.

NBA > (Video) Derrick Rose Named MVP

~ The case could’ve been made that Derrick Rose should’ve been handed the MVP award at the All-Star Break. At that point, it was pretty much a conclusion that Rose would become the first Chicago Bull to win the award since the great #23. The NBA made us all wait though until after the season to officially name him the Most Valuable Player. Rose is the youngest to ever win the award at 22 years of age. He also became the 2nd player in history to win the award while playing for his hometown team. Wilt Chamberlain did it in Philedelphia.

For all of the highlights that Rose provided in the regular season, his acceptance speech for the award has to go up there as one of the great acceptance speeches in recent history. It was a personal and emotional thank you to his mother for the sacrifices she made to help him.

At only 22 years old, Rose wining the MVP is truly a remarkable accomplishment. He is only going to get better which is scary for the rest of the league.

Images by: Getty

Video: ThaMagicalNegro

Memphis-OKC / NBA Playoffs > Why The Memphis Grizzlies Could Win The West

 

~ While watching Game 1 of the 2nd round series between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder, I came away with this conclusion… the Grizzlies are the real deal. This isn’t exactly news anymore to basketball fans. They took it to the top seeded San Antonio Spurs in round 1, taking them out in 6 games. This is the 8th seeded team in the west doing this. Every now and then in the NBA Playoffs, a low seeded team will come along and steal a 1st round series and some headlines. I’m always curious to see how they come out to play in the next round. I look to see if that team comes out flat after riding the high of a 1st round victory that some didn’t think they’d get. Quite frankly, the Grizzlies came out against the Thunder ready to play and  punched them right in the mouth. This isn’t just a 8th seeded team that is making a little noise in the playoffs. The way things are shaping up this year, Memphis could find themselves playing in June for an NBA Championship.

 Many considered what the Grizzlies did to the Spurs as an upset. I didn’t share that same thought process. Memphis wanted the Spurs in the 1st round, they knew how well they matched up with them. The Spurs were just an example of why you can’t really hold stock in regular season win-loss records. What we are also seeing right now is that if you look at the Grizzlies as a team, they are built for a strong playoff run. They matched up well with the Spurs and they match up just as well with the Thunder. It’s an old school Eastern Conference Playoff team playing in the west. Defense and big time play from the go-to guys wins championships. They beat you with big time play in the frontcourt with Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. They get leadership from players like Tony Allen and Shane Battier. OJ Mayo is maturing before our eyes and they almost traded him away this year. This is not the team you want to lose Game 1 to on your home court.

A sub plot has emerged in the playoff run of the Thunder and that is the inconsistent play of Russell Westbrook at the point guard position. His shot selection and decision making throughout the post season so far has been borderline at best. What is even more troublesome is Westbrook’s dominating of the ball has come at the expense of more shots for Kevin Durant. Westbrook is an explosive offensive weapon for OKC and the 1-2 punch with Durant is why the Thunder are strong contenders for the Finals this year. However Westbrook is also the point guard. Durant is the franchise player and Westbrook has to do a better job of making that clear on the court. The reality is that if Durant is option 1, Westbrook is option 1A, and it remains to be seen if Westbrook is really okay with that. While the Thunder continue to build their playoff resume’s, it will be a point of interest to see if the Durant-Westbrook combo becomes just as good or better as Stocton-Malone of Utah. It has the potential to also become Marbury-Garnett of Minnesota. That would be a major problem for the Thunder.

 Charles Barkley recently made a great point on the overall outlook of the Grizzlies. They are a deep team. Denver became a deep team after the Carmelo Anthony trade. However they didn’t have a go-to closer and that cost them in the playoffs. The Grizzlies are a deep team … with a closer. Randolph is playing the best ball of his career right now and the Gizzlies in the frontcourt are having their way in these games.

 It’s also hurting the Thunder that they don’t have that third scorer right now. There is no Jeff Green this year and maybe that has contributed to the Westbrook’s poor shot selection at times. It might be a good time to get Nate Robinson involved in this series. Robinson may provide that extra shot of energy that might be missing from the Thunder right now. What is apparent right now though is that major adjustments will have to be made by OKC to beat the Grizzlies in Game 2. It’s a statement game in every sense of the word for the Thunder if they want to win this series.