Western Conf. Finals: Grizzlies vs Spurs

It has come down to this: the Memphis Grizzlies or the San Antonio Spurs are headed to the 2013 NBA finals. Whether advertisers are concerned about low ratings or conspiracy theorists believing the NBA matrix will somehow force the Miami Heat through to appease the masses is irrelevant. The bottom line is that everyone is in for some team basketball at its best. I’m in no way trying to downplay the leaders of either team which are comprised of champions, Finals MVPs, All-Stars and NBA award winners. I’m simply trying to highlight the fact that these teams continue to be successful without playing the now often preferred and very popular 'hero' type basketball.

The above may come off as me speaking as a bitter fan born in the 80s. Perhaps. Although I wouldn’t use the word bitter. I prefer the term nostalgic, as I am a fan of the tough team concept basketball I watched growing up as a kid. Believe me, witnessing Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Kevin Durant among other players have outstanding single performances is fantastic and is needed in all sports. I simply feel it unfairly sheds a light on individual success and overshadows what allows that success to exist. In the case of the Grizzlies and Spurs both the teams' stars are well known; not popular by mainstream standards, but extremely successful and the biggest threat to whichever team makes it out of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Numbers Don’t Lie:

The Grizzlies averaged 93.4 points which was 26th in the NBA this season. The Grizzlies beat both the Clippers who average 101.1 ppg at the 8th spot and the Thunder with 105.7ppg who owned 3rd place in the NBA scoring category. How did this happen you ask? Simple. The Grizzlies defence only allowed opponents to average 89.3 points per game in the regular season. Yes, you guessed it. They were 1st in the NBA in that category.

The Spurs are dangerous in their own right as they don’t sacrifice scoring for defence and rank high in both categories. Spurs were 9th in points allowed with 96.6 and 4th in scoring with 103. The Spurs swept the Lakers who ranked 6th in the NBA by scoring 102.2 points on their opponents and allowed them to score 101 for the 21st spot in the NBA. If you add the Warriors to the mix, who were 7th in scoring during the regular season, with 101.2 allowing 100.3 at the 19th spot, then it's clear why all of the above happened. Oh, I’m sure you saw this coming. Here it comes! Defence wins championships, or the very least, gives you the best chance at winning one.

“With our powers combined”:

We know that the Spurs have their own big three with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, while the Grizzlies have a scary dynamic duo of their own in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. The key factor for both teams is often opposing defenders who keep forgetting to put pressure on lesser known players until it’s too late. So far in this post season, the Spurs have had five players averaging 10 or more points totaling 76.9 which is more than most teams can say. The Spurs' bench players refuse to ride the starters coattails scoring 31.1 points per game respectively with less than twenty minutes of playing time. Almost mirroring the Spurs, the Grizzlies have four players averaging double digits for a total of 66.7 points, with the bench chipping in with 39.7 in under twenty minutes as well.

Bottom Line:

Even with all the numbers in the world any player can get hot at any time just as they can get cold. As much as the “defence wins championships” is a beaten to death cliche, so is “key matchups”, and with the Grizzlies and Spurs so well balanced I’m guaranteed at least two more series of my preferred nostalgic, defensive, textbook basketball.

Game 4 R2: Spurs vs Warriors

With Round 2 of the 2013 NBA playoffs upon us I thought it might be fun to try and see what advantages teams have over their opponents and which ones could come out with a win. Don’t get me wrong, I have no plans of predicting the outcome of any series, but I will at least put my money where my mouth is on a per game basis.

Western Conference

Game 4: San Antonio Spurs @ Golden State Warriors

Advantage Spurs: Although Andrew Bogut has been able to play quality minutes replacing the injured David Lee, Tim Duncan is still one of the most unguardable Power Forwards in the NBA. Carl Landry has been able to hold his own in the paint to a certain extent, the problem is that the Spurs still have two more big bodies in Tiago Splitter and Boris Diaw to throw at the Warriors who have no answer after that.

Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are hands down one of the best backcourt duos in the NBA. Both extremely skilled at driving to the paint and scoring, kicking it out to the open man or taking perimeter jump shots. That versatility often leaves Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jarrett Jack on their heels often becoming victims of screens and picks, never quite sure of what to expect every time one of the two guards brings the ball up the court.

Coach Gregg Popovich knows his stars needs rest and this keeps his bench involved and experienced. A bench that is capable of protecting, increasing the lead and in some cases go on a scoring run is the key to success for any championship contender with its stars comprised of veterans. A full team commitment to defence and textbook basketball rounds of the long list of advantages the Spurs have over the Warriors.

Advantage Warriors: Let’s face it. The Warriors have been fun to watch all season and they have brought that type of uptempo high scoring basketball with them to the playoffs. The guard play of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jarrett Jack are making it difficult for the Spurs to keep up when they get hot from the outside, making them virtually unstoppable.

Harrison Barnes and Carl Landry are benefiting from forcing the Spurs’ Forwards and Centers to come out of the paint to defend them due to their mid range shooting, resulting in mismatches in favor of the Warriors’ guards. Unselfish play is also getting Golden State open shots and easy layups which all take place early in the shot clock not allowing the Spurs to get settled on defence.

The Warriors 3 point shooting is one of their greatest advantages as it can help them come back when down or build on a lead when they get hot and go on scoring runs late in games.

Prediction: Spurs win Game 4

Although fun to watch, it’s always hard for me to believe in a team littered with youth that plays fast pace basketball and choose to live and die by the 3 pointer during the playoffs. Whenever a team decides to play that style of basketball their wins are based on whether or not their shooters are hot on that particular night. 

Even though 6 Warriors scored in double digits compared to the Spurs’ 4 players in Game 3, the Warriors shot 39% to the Spurs 50% who won that game by 102-92. The Spurs are efficient, disciplined, defensive, methodical, experienced and more than happy to let the Warriors gamble on their outside scoring to win the series. The reason being of course, the odds are in the Spurs favor.

Miami Heat Check

The question everyone has been asking since the Miami Heat hoisted the trophy at the end of last season was ‘can they do it again’.

They have since added Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to the team and left the remainder of the roster essentially untouched.

Lebron James is averaging 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Wade has 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Bosh is doing his part to share the load with 17 points and 7 rebounds. With the ‘Big 3’ rolling the Heat will go as far as they take them. Many still have the Heat as the sure fire bet to come out of the East and end up in the NBA Finals. It’s a pretty logical bet as long as they can get past the New York Knicks who are playing their best basketball in years lead by MVP candidate Carmelo Anthony.

With that being said, the playoffs and finals are months away and the Heat are currently 23-10 for the season. Out of 33 games only 7 of them were played against legitimate playoff contenders from both the Eastern and Western Conferences. Against those teams they went 4-3. To clarify my meaning of ‘playoff contenders’ I am referring to teams I truly believe could wind up NBA champions this year with either grind out, showtime, text book or fast break basketball along with a little bit of luck. The 7 games I am referring were those played against the Clippers (2), Knicks, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder and the Celtics. I added the Celtics more out of respect which I know I shouldn’t have, but should any upsets occur involving the Knicks or Heat the Celtics would be eagerly waiting to step in and take full advantage.

With the hype surrounding the team considerably less than it has been the last 2 years, fans may be upset about this but the Heat probably prefer it that way. With fewer nationally televised Heat games and the majority of TV time now going to the Clippers and Lakers many might forget how dangerous the Heat still are. Some might scratch their heads when the Heat lose to teams like the Wizards and Bucks but truth be told it would be a relatively easy playoff series to win should they meet in the playoffs and these losses should not be taken as signs of weakness. The issue with regular season games against lower ranked teams is that losing teams play their very best and want to beat the champs knowing it might be their only chance to do so and it would be a highlight on the season schedule when it ends.

With the Knicks as the only legitimate Heat killers in the East don’t be surprised if you see the Heat in the finals this spring. The real question is if whether or not they could win against this year’s Western Conference champs who could be one of many dangerous teams all who have posed the Heat problems as of late.

It would be at that point the ‘Big 3’ will have to decide whether or not to bet on themselves or the team as a whole. The Clippers who are sitting at the top spot in the West have a bench that averages 39.5 points per game mirroring the East’s 1st place often criticized Heat bench that averages a respectable 36.8 points.

The truth is it still looks like a cake walk to the Finals for the Heat, but it might not be as easy for the Heat to hoist the trophy when it’s all said and done. With a bitter Thunder team, newly revamped Clippers, consistent Spurs and blue collar Grizzlies all dominating the West you can be sure they have their eyes on Miami.

Whether or not we are seeing it on our TV screens, blogs or magazines the target on the Miami Heat’s back will always be there and is always getting bigger.

Time to Talk New York Knicks

If there is one thing that has remained constant over the years in the NBA, it is the labels that certain teams are awarded at the start of the season or that are carried over from years prior.

Since Lebron took his talents to South Beach, the Heat have been ‘favored to win’. Since Kobe got back on track with Pau Gasol, the Lakers have always been ‘a team you should never count out’. The Spurs have been ‘old reliable’ for the last 5 years and the Nuggets are ‘a team on the rise.’ Last, but not least, we cannot forget new additions such as the ‘likely to come out of the West’ Thunder and the Derrick Rose led ‘Heat killer’ Chicago Bulls.

With all eyes on the 2012 Championship Heat and The Avengers, also known as the Lakers, little else has been talked about. Shame on all of us.

The only team that has been historically bombarded with attention whether expected to do well or not with no label ever sticking, are the New York Knicks.

We all know the stories that the Knicks and Madison Square Garden can conjure up even during a terrible season. We also know what types of headlines they can create with a successful one. To be fair, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudamire are regulars on the All-Star Ballot; add to that last year’s Linsanity and everyone and their grandparents were talking about the Knicks. With a 2012 1st round playoff loss to the Heat, an injured Amar’e Stoudamire and a trade that sent Jeremy Lin to Houston, this season started with little hype outside the matchup with the NBA’s new darlings the Brooklyn Nets. Still, no label.

The number one story that we as basketball fans should be talking about to start this 2012-13 NBA season is the undefeated 6-0 New York Knicks. Beating the Heat by 20 points barely registered on the NBA Richter Scale. That win was followed up with a 16 and 22 point win in back to back games versus the 76ers. Again, not a blip on the radar. The Knicks didn’t mind one bit. They went on to beat the 2011 NBA Champions Dallas Mavericks by 10 points, took 3 days off and then did the same to the Orlando Magic. As if all that was not enough, they defeated the ‘old reliable’ San Antonio Spurs 104-100 last night in an impressive comeback victory.

With point averages like Carmelo’s 26, J.R. Smith’s 18, Raymond Felton’s 14 and Tyson Chandler’s 10, scoring has not been a problem. Throw in about 20 assists per game and 42% 3-point shooting, you have your answer as to why they are so good offensively. On the other hand, 30 of their 39 total rebounds per game are coming from the defensive end. Add to that an average of 9 steals and it paints a clear picture as to why only 1 team has come within 5 points when the buzzer goes off.

So what label should the Knicks get for starting the season so well and having the best record in the league? How about the ‘team with the best record in the NBA’ and leave it at that. I hate labels.

(Photo from streetball.com)