NBA Bubble Wrap

Thoughts and observations from yesterday’s playoff games…

 

 

The playoffs kicked off in the NBA bubble yesterday and as 17-year NBA referee Zach Zarba predicted on the Bill Rhoden On Sports podcast last week, playoff intensity was not lacking.

 

“These eight seeding games we’ve had have been akin to playoff games, in my mind” Zarba said last week. “They’re not playoff games, technically, but they’ve had the player intensity of playoff games.” When I asked Zarba if he thought the intensity could go to an even higher level come playoff time, he responded “Oh, we’re just getting started. Oh, yes.”

 

Zarba’s words proved prophetic. Yesterday’s Game 1s had at least normal playoff intensity and they again had the feel of NCAA Tournament games, with the uniform neutral courts and the sports fans’ dream: games starting at 1:30PM eastern time and ending just before midnight.

 

The first game of an NBA playoff series is usually the tone setter, maybe even more so now based on the condensed end of the regular season. Here are some thoughts from yesterday:

 

Jazz/Nuggets

 

Coming into the series, it seemed obvious that the current iteration of the Jazz was strikingly similar to their playoff teams the last couple years. Without Bojan Bogdanovic (wrist) and Mike Conley (paternity leave) it would again depend on Donovan Mitchell to do everything and more on the offensive end.

 

Mitchell did that yesterday, dropping 57 points to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists, but even that was not enough. Denver is just too talented and deep to let one man beat them.

 

Jamal Murray put on a show of his own, with 36 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds.

 

He and Mitchell are similar in that many fans and prognosticators are hesitant to put them in the up-and-coming superstar category, but my bet is these two will continue to force their way into that category.

 

Denver’s Michael Porter Jr., struggled a bit in his first playoff game. He scored 13 points on 5/13 shooting, but did grab 8 rebounds in 31 minutes. Welcome to the playoffs, young man.

 

Net/Raptors

 

There’s really not much to say about this one. The Nets are overmatched. They have a team resembling a G-League squad, thanks to many of their best players missing from the bubble. The Nets play hard and could sneak up on a team less prepared or less scrappy, but Toronto is not that team. The Raptors play just as hard, pay as much attention to detail and just happen to have much better players at the moment.

 

Fred VanVleet had a monster game with 30 points and 11 assists.

 

Caris LeVert was still impressive, however. He finished with 15 points, 15 assists and 7 rebounds. It’s all about health for LeVert.

 

Philly/Boston

 

The 76ers did show last night that this will not be an easy series for Boston just because Ben Simmons is out. Philadelphia is still a physical defensive team with heart. They will force Boston to beat them.

 

But, Boston just has too much fire power, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, two more budding superstars. In order for Philly to have a real shot at this series, Joel Embiid will need to match the scoring of Brown and Tatum combined and he was unable to do that in Game 1.

 

Embiid did post 26 and 16, but if Donovan Mitchell can drop 57, Embiid has to get you at least 40.

 

Gordon Hayward’s ankle injury is scary, however. Boston will need him in order to do anything serious, such as make a run to the NBA Finals.

 

Dallas/LA Clippers

 

This game was marred by the controversial ejection of Kristaps Porzingis early in the third quarter. KP was playing well and the Mavericks were up five at the time, but I’m not sure the Clippers wouldn’t have won the game anyway.

 

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George showed up as expected, scoring 29 and 27, respectively. Marcus Morris Sr. was the third scorer, hitting some big shots on his way to 19 points.

 

Montrezl Harrell got his feet wet in his first action in the bubble. He logged 15 minutes and had 6 points and 2 rebounds. Expect Harrell to become more and more comfortable in the next few games and eventually become the factor he was pre pandemic.

 

The Clippers are deep, but their backup guard situation looks shaky, as both Reggie Jackson and Landry Shamet looked terrible last night.

 

Luka Doncic was unstoppable as usual last night (42, 9 & 7), but he is prone to mistakes. The Clippers forced him into 11 turnovers.

 

Getting back to the Porzingis ejection, the referees may be more prone to overreaction in the bubble because of the quiet gym that allows them to hear everything at an amplified level. You may see more technical fouls because the referees hear more than they would if there were 20,000 fans drowning everything else out.

 

“You can now hear so many more things that the crowd might normally drown out,” Zarba said. “You know, we have to learn not to be so sensitive, because a lot of it is passion and wanting to win.”

A Look at the Knicks' Summer - Progress Made

It’s been a busy summer for Phil Jackson. A lost summer, if you are even half listening to the chatter.

Phil’s name, of course, triggers serious sports emotions in New York. So, when attempting to assess the job he’s done so far, New Yorkers must sift through that emotion.

With only two low salary spots available, we can now start to get a feel for how the team will look when the season starts in the fall.

Guess what? 

It ain’t as bad as you’ve heard.

The Knicks’ starting lineup will likely look like this: Jose Calderon (PG), Aaron Afflalo (SG), Carmelo Anthony (SF), Kyle O’Quinn (PF), Robin Lopez (C). However, Jerian Grant (G), Kristaps Porzingis (F/C), Derrick Williams (F), and Langston Galloway (PG) should all be in the rotation.

It is clear that Jackson’s plan was to create a roster that was more versatile, selfless and possessed a higher basketball IQ than the one he was saddled with last season.

I have heard arguments from Phil detractors – of which there are many – that the roster he inherited (J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Tyson Chandler, etc.) was more talented than the group he assembled this summer.

That may be true if you define basketball talent strictly as jumping ability, one-on-one prowess, name recognition, and swagger. But, Phil seems to have successfully put talented role players around the one true star on the squad.

Carmelo Anthony should enjoy playing with this season’s Knicks a lot more than he has in the past. He will be surrounded by guys who will be eager and capable of getting him the ball in the correct spots. Moreover, this team now has multiple players who enjoy doing the dirty work (see defense), which should also be appealing to Melo.

At the same time, this particular roster puts much pressure on Carmelo. Not only must he carry the team offensively, but the pressure is also on him to get this team into the playoffs, which a player of his talent and stature should be able to do, though it won’t be easy.

Now, are you ready for a shocking statement?

Wait for it…

Phil Jackson’s best work this summer was done in the draft.

I know, I know, what about that poor little Knicks fan whose hopes and dreams were shattered on draft night? No, not the actual draft pick, but the kid who was caught bawling on camera. Well, sources tell me he was actually planted in the crowd by ESPN (just joking).

In all seriousness, despite the crying and ridicule from fans and media after the selection of Kristaps Porzingis - including from yours truly, after two weeks of summer league play it is clear that Porzingis has as much potential as anyone in the 2015 draft.

The 7’3 Porzingis is fluid, athletic, has seemingly unlimited range on his jumper, and has a high basketball IQ. He is also tough and media savvy, which might be his most valuable traits while playing in New York City.

While my originally preferred target with the 4^th overall pick, Emmanuel Mudiay, has looked like a keeper for Denver as well, it was relayed to me that the Knicks’ brass felt Mudiay was too “ball dominant” for their liking.

Porzingis’s biggest question mark was basically just that. He was an unknown from Latvia whom fans and most media had never seen. But after seeing him play for all of ten minutes, you get a glimpse of the talent that reportedly prompted Knicks Head Scout Clarence Gaines to say he would’ve taken the 7’3 Latvian #1 overall.

With all this talk about Porzingis, it’s easy to forget that Jackson also pulled another first round pick out of thin air. He acquired the rights to the #19 pick, Jerian Grant, for Tim Hardaway Jr.

Grant, a 5-year Notre Dame combo guard who led the Irish to their best season since Digger Phelps roamed the sidelines, is kind of like a Mudiay-lite. He’s light on the Mudiay potential and athleticism, but also light on the ball domination and inexperience.

Grant is a very talented two-way guard that can score and pass and has a great chance to play major minutes in his rookie year.

So, despite all the Knicks/Phil Jackson jokes – and they will continue with force, New York has added some good pieces.

Yes, the Knicks struck out on all of this year’s “big” free agents. And yes, a couple of them refused to even meet with the Zen Master.

However, if there was a year to strike out, it was this year.

LaMarcus Aldridge is a high-end complementary player, but he is not winning you any championships.

By subtracting Chandler, Smith, Shumpert, and Hardaway Jr. and replacing them with Afflalo, Lopez, Porzingis, Grant and others, the Knicks have become more well-rounded and more importantly, more stable.

How many wins that translates into will depend largely on the type of bounce-back season Carmelo has, along with the type of coach Derek Fisher matures into.

But, the Zen Master has started the rebuilding process in an intelligent, responsible fashion that hints that he is in this for the long haul (his five-year contract), not the quick fix that New Yorkers irrationally long for.