AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May > 01
Monday, May 1, 2006
All over the playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s too late for you to retract that MVP vote. So Steve Nash will win it again, never mind the protests of many (myself included). Now before you assume that this is going to be some pro-Kobe Bryant/anti-Nash rant from your favorite blog, slow down.
I’m sticking by my choice (Detroit’s Chauncey Billups) for the reasons made in the paper two weeks ago. What I am willing to concede after watching Bryant and Nash on the same playoff floor the past two games is this; there’s a monumental difference between guys who knock down big shots and make the biggest plays in the biggest moments (Bryant and certainly Billups — remember his assassin’s work in the playoffs the past two years) and guys like Nash, who are truly elite players but simply not on the same level. In short, when Nash is handed that MVP trophy he needs to walk across the floor and pass it to Bryant to legitimize the thing. Otherwise, it becomes as useless as the Heisman Trophy was when Gino Toretta or Eric Crouch got the thing over much more deserving candidates.
Nash wasn’t a crunch time player in Dallas (last I remember it was Nick Van Exel that carried them in their deepest run in the Western Conference playoffs a couple years back). And the history of the MVP award is what bothers me about Nash winning the thing back-to-back. Consider that Jason Kidd did what Nash has done the past two seasons while taking his team to back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals and didn’t win the thing once. That really bothers me. How do you value what Nash did more than what Kidd did with the Nets? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Now, people will come up with all sorts of theories as to why Nash won the MVP and Kidd did not. But none of those theories can ease my mind. And it is a wrap on the Lakers-Suns series, the Suns are done. It’s over.
Fine, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let me ramble on here for a few minutes about the playoffs (and other things that come to mind from the hotel here in LA):
*I’m going to try and make it to the Clippers-Nuggets game tonight. But if the rumblings about the immigration reform boycott out here are accurate, I imagine some logistical difficulties getting downtown to the Staples Center in time. They’re expecting more than a million demonstrators in the streets, which is something I’m more excited about witnessing than any basketball game. I plan on doing both.
*Anyone complaining about Atlanta’s wicked traffic should thank their lucky stars they don’t have to navigate LA’s freeways on a daily basis. Lord knows I love this place, but 10 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic on the 405 at 11 p.m. is a little much, even for an adventure junkie like myself.
Still, I love LA! And if you’re coming to the area anytime soon and looking for an offbeat place to stay, try Manhattan Beach or the areas immediately south of LAX. I stay down here because it’s around the block from the Lakers’ practice facility and near the beaches and Marina Del Rey, plus there’s easy access to the freeways that take you downtown for games. But it’s a totally different slice of LA compared to the Hollywood area, the Beverly Hills scene, the San Fernando Valley or the real OC.
*Atlanta needs some NBA playoff action as soon possible. The atmosphere at Staples Center was electric both games. Since it’s nearly impossible to recreate that without a dude named Bryant playing on one of the teams, we’d have to settle for something a little less. But if you could have seen the way people reacted after Kobe’s game-tying shot and then his game-winner, you’d have been floored. It was stunned silence for a nanosecond after the game-winner and then pandemonium. Mike Warren (former UCLA star guard and veteran actor) was sitting behind me. When the shot went down I turned around to see his reaction and he looked at me and we both said the same thing everyone else around as was saying, “Unbelievable.” People lingered for at least 10 minutes after that, just buzzing about Bryant’s shot.
I just kept thinking about how wild the atmosphere was and how the fans in every town, particularly Atlanta, deserve to experience those moments.
*I believe it was mentioned somewhere around here a while back that the Cleveland-Washington series would be fantastic. But I had no idea LeBron James and Gilbert Arenas would raise their games to this level. Both those guys are playing like maniacs right now and you can’t ask for anything more from the guys who do it week-in and week-out from the start of training camp until now. You’re talking about two 30-point scorers maintaining that pace from October to now (not even Kobe has maintained his scoring pace during these playoffs).
Seriously, how crazy is that?
*This isn’t supposed to be an NFL forum, but I have to throw my left hook at the Houston Texans for botching the draft in a way that left my stomach turning. How in the world could you pass on Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart (three cats who, like I mentioned above, performed at the highest level on the biggest stage) for Mario Williams? I don’t know what Mario Williams will do at the NFL level. But this idea that just because he’s roughly the same size as Julius Peppers he’ll play like Peppers is preposterous. Peppers was not only a terror for North Carolina’s football team, he also started on the basketball team and did work. He’s one of the handful of elite athletes on the planet that could excel at a high level in two different sports.
I read where Mario Williams didn’t even record a sack against N.C. State’s three Division I-AA opponents last season. Peaking at the fallout from the NFL draft only reinforces my belief that aside from folks in the political world, there is no other group more willing to overanalyze things to a point that they distort what should be a fairly obvious situation than these NFL decision makers.
*Football tidbit No. 2: I saw where the Falcons drafted Jerious Norwood from Mississippi State. He’s a great kid who I’ve known since he was in junior high school. I wrote the story when he committed to the Bulldogs (he called me on a cell phone 20 minutes before deadline while he was on a fishing trip). He’s as hard working as any player I’ve ever covered and he’s one of my favorite kids from all my years in this business. I’ll enjoy watching him run around for the Dirty Birds (do people still call them that?) along with my other favorite Falcons (T.J. Duckett is family and Justin Griffith is another good cat I know from my Mississippi days).
*Back to hoops. Anyone ready to indict Pat Riley for making what appears to be a mess of a team that was seven seconds and two key injuries away from the NBA Finals last season? The feisty Baby Bulls are making a mess of a Heat team people yapped about making the NBA Finals. At this point, that looks like nonsense. I’m not ready to predict a Bulls upset just yet. But it looks as possible as anything else right now.
*Boris Diaw wasn’t the only player with Hawks ties in the house for Sunday’s Lakers-Suns game. I stopped and hollered at Salim Stoudamire, who was sitting near courtside in some seats Tyronn Lue (former Laker) snagged for him. And Al Harrington was in the house, too, taking in some of the action.
*And anyone wondering why I’m always complaining about a team not having enough quality big men on the roster should ask Mike D’Antoni what he thinks. His Suns are about to get bounced because Amare Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas aren’t available. They’ve got absolutely nothing inside. Nothing (hence Kwame Brown and Luke Walton’s breakout performances in the series).
*Since 24 is my new favorite non-sport show on TV, I can’t tell you how hilarious it was to see Curtis (you know, the smooth CTU agent who rolls with Jack Bauer sometimes) at this Hollywood club Saturday night. I’m not one for the star-struck thing. But seeing Curtis (his real name is Roger C. Ross) made my trip.
*And hey K.T., I didn’t forget about you.
