AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May > 08
Monday, May 8, 2006
Playoffs and a movie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just when you thought the NBA playoffs would usher in a new era of unpredictability and excitement, reality struck.
It turns out the lower seeds weren’t going to shock the world and move on. The Pistons and Spurs are on a march to an NBA Finals rematch (welcome to the real playoffs LeBron, where someone on the other team might actually play a shred of defense) and no amount of wishful thinking could keep Steve Nash from his second straight MVP. (I’m not a Nash hater — quite the contrary. I just struggle with the historic significance of a guy who’s not an all-around great player winning back-to-back MVPs.)
A few other revelations after what seems like a month of NBA playoffs:
*Kobe and the Miracles turned out to be the same Los Angeles Lakers we saw most of the season, a flawed bunch with the league’s most explosive and best individual player (but a guy who’s still learning the hard way how to be the game’s greatest player).
All KB8 (as Sam Cassell referred to him last week) had to do was play the way he played in the Lakers’ three wins. But instead, he reverted back to November Kobe and the Lakers folded up like a cheap suit. They let Leandro Barbosa run through them in the final three games, a dude who did a grand total of nothing in the three games the Suns lost in the series. How does that happen?
*Gilbert Arenas is human.
I knew his one-man scoring assault would come to and end. But for it to fizzle at such an important time – botched free throws with the game on the line in front of the home crowd… are you serious? This from a guy who had been nothing but money for his team since the All-Star break. It was a tough way for it to end. But with his track record for using his lumps as motivation for bigger things down the road, teams should fear Arenas going into next season. I imagine he’ll be on a mission to redeem himself.
*Back to the Suns and this wonderfully fertile debate about Boris Diaw (and the like) being “system” players or not.
Isn’t it too early right now to judge? Based on his first two years nobody would have assumed Boris was capable of the monster numbers he’s put up this season. So why now, after one magical season, are people ready to anoint him an MVP candidate ( the Most Improved honor was well-deserved and yet another dagger aimed directly at the heart of Hawks fans). My motto on guys like Boris (situation players, more on that in a minute) is that they’re never even close to as bad as people assume they are and never as fantastic as they seem when they’re in the ideal situation. And that’s my explanation for players in the Suns’ system that put up great numbers there but have done little else in other locations.
The fact is, other than Steve Nash and Shawn Marion (Amare’s hurt but he fits here, too), most of the Suns were pedestrians elsewhere. To suggest that Boris, Raja Bell, James Jones, Tim Thomas or any of these guys would be this productive elsewhere is pure conjecture, because the facts insist something totally different.
I know we’re arguing semantics here, but calling these guys “system” players insults their talent and hard work. But assuming that their current production is anything beyond a marriage of “right player-right situation” is foolishness. In my estimation there are about two dozen players in the NBA that could go to any team and post impressive numbers regardless of the situation (hence the huge amount of players who flourish in one place and crash and burn in another). It’s not a knock on anyone’s ability or work ethic, it’s just the nature of the beast.
*I don’t care how many times I see him live, I still can’t get over how good Shaun Livingston can be.
The Clippers’ backup point guard isn’t exactly a household name among casual NBA fans, but his development has reaffirmed my faith in the NBA’s talent evaluation/cultivation process. When I saw Livingston play as a high school junior (at a tournament in St. Louis) I leaned over and told my dad that “this boy is a pro.” Saw him again the next year in the same tournament (serving LaMarcus Aldridge and his high school team from Texas) and I was even more convinced.
Sure, we all say that when we see an ultra-talented teenager for the first time in person. But his court vision, even then, was otherworldly. The fact that he was 6-8 and had ridiculous bounce only sweetened the package. He was a string bean then, still is really, but I figured once he got into the weight room everyday and had someone to detail a diet and nutritional program that he’d be off to the races.
Then he got drafted by the Clippers and I figured he’d be the next in a long line of players that didn’t reach their full potential simply because he had the bad luck of being drafted by the Clips. But Livingston is on target for stardom, even if it will take a bit longer.
Everybody raves about Chris Paul when they talk about young point guards, and rightfully so. But I’m telling you now, Livingston is going to be a terror when he’s given the keys to the castle in L.A.
*If you’re like most people, you’ve already seen enough of Tim Duncan to know that he’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game. But do you really appreciate what he can do?
I watched dude go to the basket twice with the left hand with the Game 1 momentum up for grabs Sunday afternoon. I mean, he did it like it was nothing, like he knows its nearly impossible for the rest of the 6-11, basketball playing big men on the planet. Watching these games day in and day out, it’s easy to become desensitized to what’s really going on. But Duncan is so unbelievably good that it’s freaky.
I feel bad because whenever the conversation starts about the league’s very best players, you almost have to remember to include him because he’s such an unassuming guy. And to think people used to knock this guy because he had his early success playing alongside David Robinson. More foolishness.
*Now for my one (sort of) non-basketball related item of the week. While in L.A. last week I saw Andy Garcia at the Lakers game. Stood right next to him as everyone filed off the court at halftime. He was shorter than I imagined.
After years of seeing him on the big screen, I didn’t realize how much older he is now than when he was starring in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Internal Affairs” with Richard Gere, a flick I saw with a honey during my senior year of high school.
So of course, what’s on TV while I’m venting here? That’s right, “Internal Affairs.” Freaked me out a bit, too.
The reason I bring this up is that I spent money to see “Mission Impossible III” on Friday and almost fell asleep. It had all the explosions and nonsense anyone could ask for. But it had that been-there, done-that feel to it. I don’t want to sound like some nostalgic piece of junk here, but why don’t they make movies like “Internal Affairs” anymore? Seriously. Now a days it seems like a movie is either an Oscar winner or a colossal flop.
I don’t care what Andy Garcia and Richard Gere have done in other movies, in this one they were sick. They did some serious acting. TiVo it or rent it and tell me if it’s not crazy good.
