dunkside

Ever since the Heat signed him for the MLE I loved Udonis Haslem’s game. For me he is the prototypical role player. Adequate salary, tough, determined, energetic, hard working, a good addition to a lockerroom – and he brings it every night. He was a big reason why the Heat won the title in 2006, doing an excellent job defending Dirk despite an injured shoulder. At 6′7 he already was undersized playing PF, but this season he even played C for about half a season, did a decent job and never complained.

This season while watching the Cavaliers dominate the league, Anderson Varejao kept reminding me of Udonis Haslem. They are both PF role players on MLE contracts, they both defend well despite not being very athletic. They both take more charges than they block shots, and usually make smart decisions. They also seem to have a special connection with their superstars. Haslem is a co-captain of the Heat, the only other Heat player except for Wade that was part of their 2006 title team. In these playoffs him and Wade were the veteran voices in a lockerroom filled with rookies and young players. In a way he’s a mini-Zo and embodies the qualities Riley looks for in his players.

Varejao also seems to have a special connection with Lebron (as illustrated by the image above).  I remember when Drew Gooden used to be the starting PF for the Cavs you could often see he was a nuisance for Lebron. He had some game offensively, but he’d often make dumb mistakes that would drive the coaches and Lebron nuts. Once, after a time-out in which both Mike Brown and Lebron told him about 10 times NOT to jump when his man pump fakes, as soon as the ball goes to his man and he pump fakes, Gooden is flying through the air like a damn moron. You could hear the sound of  Mike Brown and Lebron slapping their foreheads from miles away. The dynamics between Lebron and Varejao are completely different. You can see they work in perfect sync. For example they have a pet play where Lebron is on the left side of the court at the 3 point line and Varejao cuts from the right corner on the baseline. Lebron makes a bullet pass under the basket for a reverse layup by Varejao. You can sometimes see that play 3-4 times in a game if the defense keeps falling asleep on Varejao.

Oh, I love you, Lebron. I want to have your babies.

There are some differences, of course. First, Varejao is about 4 inches taller, but Haslem looks to be a little stronger. Varejao is a slightly better offensive rebounder – and in these playoffs his offensive rebounding was off the charts. He had twice as many offensive rebounds per game than he had during the regular season.  Offensively, unlike Haslem who can hit the mid range J with consistency, Varejao is strictly a garbage points man. He can’t create his own shot and can’t hit a J regularly, but he moves extremely well without the ball so he gets his points on hard cuts to the basket (Lebron finds him every time he’s open), or on put-backs.

Overall their contributions are very similar, as are their stats. They are the kind of role players that you can find on a title team, those whose contributions go beyond what you see in the boxscore. They bring the intangibles, they do the little things and they help their teams win. And this season we could add another similarity between the 2, as Anderson Varejao might get a championship ring too.

Player analysis Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers, Udonis Haslem

Cavs @ Heat

• Not much to say about Wade vs Lebron. It was everything fans were expecting. There was scoring, there was dunking, there were blocks, 3 pointers and then some more dunking. It’s the second time Wade and Lebron put up 40 points each when playing against each other. It only makes you wonder if they can top it when they meet again this Saturday.

• Jamario Moon started again and played well. Can’t really blame him for not being able to do much against Lebron. When he plays like he did, especially when he’s hitting from long range (6-7 on 3 pointers), no one can stop the “new and improved Ron Artest” (I just can’t get enough of Ron Ron’s lunacy). Moon seems to have won the starting SF spot and neither James Jones nor Diawara look like they have a shot of taking it from him.

• Despite being down 11 points with less than 8 minutes remaining and the Heat seemingly rolling, the Cavs didn’t get fazed. They had a certain poise, showed maturity and got the job done. That’s the kind of attitude that could make the difference between winning and losing a playoff series.

• The Cavs are far from being at 100%. Ben Wallace is out with a broken foot (and he played much better for the Cavs than he ever did for the Bulls), Delonte West still has some problems with his injured wrist, Pavlovic just came back from injury. This thought should scare the crap out of the Celtics and Lakers, cause the Cavs just got Joe Smith to help with their depth in the front-court, and if they get everyone healthy they look to me like the favorites for the title.

• Moon and JO look like they have developed pretty good chemistry with Wade. The Heat don’t have enough weapons to compete with the big boys of the East, but they certainly can get to the 2nd round of the playoffs and throw a scare into the team they meet there.

• At the end of the game when the Cavs came storming back from 11 down by forcing the ball out of Wade’s hands, the Heat could have used the 3p shooting of one Cook, Daequan. It would have taken the pressure off Wade and helped to actually put some points on the board. However he has been reported missing since the All Star Weekend and has apparently been replaced with a version of Adam Morrison. Like, the new and improved Adam Morrison or something.

Game notes Cleveland Cavaliers, Daequan Cook, Dwyane Wade, Jamario Moon, Lebron James, Miami Heat

Game notes Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Lebron James, Yao Ming

The most exciting playoffs ever© have begun better than expected. And that is amazing considering the high expectations everyone had.

In the opener Lebron dragged the corpses of Ben Wallace (0 points, 6 reb in 23 min), Wally Szczerbiak (2-10 FG), Delonte West (3-10 FG) and Varejao (1-6 FG) to victory. He got a little help from Z with 22p and 11 reb and West who didn’t let his horrid shooting stop him from contributing in other areas and finished with 5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl and 2 blk.

The Wizards got a monster game from Antawn Jamison, who is in full contract year mode. He put up 23 p and 19 reb. Tough Juice had a quiet game, Arenas had 24 p on 50% shooting and Haywood contributed 15 p and 10 reb. But what everyone’s been waiting for was too see if DumbShawn Stevenson will walk the walk after talking the talk. Well, he walked all right. Walked on all fours, begging for mercy, after the Cavs made him their bitch. He finished with 3p on 1-9 shooting and managed to “hold” Lebron to only 32 points on a mere 12-19 (63%) FG. Good job, DeShawn. Your teammates and coach must be really proud of you now that you made Lebron mad.

This was followed by the Suns – Spurs series. And let me tell you: the Suns must have done something really really bad in some previous life, cause their karma is a bitch. First, Finley hits a 3 pointer to send the game into the 1st OT. Then, at the end of the 1st OT, Tim Duncan, of all people, hits a 3 pointer (his 1st of the season) to send the game into the 2nd OT. With Amare fouled out at the end of the 1st OT though, the Suns didn’t have too much of a chance and got beat on a last second shot by Ginobili.

The game had everything you could possibly want: went down to the wire (double OT is as good as it gets), intensity, emotion (I got to see Timmy3000 pumping his fist while screaming after making a shot as well as hear him laughing during a court-side interview), big shots, amazing shots, incredible shots, Shaq playing defense with passion, moving his feet and diving for the steal, huge blocks, heroic performances (did I mention Duncan had 40 points and 15 boards ?) and a couple of misses that really hurt (why Boris, why did you miss that layup ?).

Unfortunatelly it also had something that you don’t want in a basketball game: the refs have rewarded every single damn flop, which went in the favor of the Spurs since everyone on their roster except for Duncan is a grade A flopper. Kurt Thomas seemed especially bent on punishing the Suns for sending him in Seattle and he did it by throwing himself at the ground at the slightest contact. At one point it got so bad Mark Jackson called him “Denzel Thomas”. But otherwise it was a classic. The perfect start to the series and to the playoffs.

Playoffs Amare Stoudamire, Cleveland Cavaliers, DeShawn Stevenson, Kurt Thomas, Lebron James, Manu Ginobili, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Washington Wizards

Washington @ Cleveland

The only series in the East that features some bad blood between the 2 teams. With Arenas coming back from injury the Wizards sure feel confident, but Lebron will be on a mission. Add to that the fact that DeShawn Stevenson pissed him off with his comments, so he might just average 45 points and 15 rebounds by himself against the Wizards.

The Cavs, on the other hand, have nothing but Lebron. And that might not be enough. The more I look at that team and Danny Ferry’s track record, the more it seems Lebron will end-up requesting a trade or just signing with someone else when he becomes an UFA in 2010. And who can blame him ? He’s been carrying his team more than anyother superstar in the league. Kobe might complain about Kwame and Smush, but he had Phil Jackson and Odom. Lebron has Mike “what is that an offense ?” Brown and Ben “I used to be good, you know” Wallace.

Back to the WIzards-Cavs series, it may be the best and most memorable of Lebron’s career, but everything looks like it will end up bad for the Cavs. If I’m a GM in the NBA, I’m putting money aside for some tampering fines, cause I’d make absolutely sure that Lebron KNOWS that if he asks for a trade, I am willing to do anything to bring him in AND surround him with players and coaches that will help him win not one, but multiple titles. I am looking at you, John Paxson.

Oh, almost forgot about it: Wizards in 7.

Toronto @ Orlando

The backcourt has been Orlando’s major problem this season. And TJ Ford and Calderon could combine to give the Magic fits. But Dwight Howard will be too much for the Raptors to handle, even if Bosh is a difficult matchup for him. Superman has to prove he has made the leap to superstar by leading his team out of the 1st round. Magic in 6.

Philadelphia @ Detroit

Flip Saunders actually developed his bench this season. But he’ll still suck in the playoffs. And his players remain a bunch of whining bitches with a sense of entitlement, who’ll just choke in the playoffs. Too bad for the 76ers that they won’t choke in the 1st round. Well, at least Iguodala and Thaddeus Young will have the opportunity to see what the playoffs are all about and get some experience, which is what matters for them at this point. Detroit in 5.

Atlanta @ Boston

Hawks: please be gentle; PLEEEAAASE !!
Celtics: just be quiet; this won’t take long, anyway;
Celtics in 4.

Playoffs Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

And now we get the the most interesting part: the block buster trade between the Cavaliers, the Bulls and the Sonics. Chicago got Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Cedric Simmons and Shannon Brown from Cleveland. Cleveland got Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and a 2009 second-round pick from Chicago and Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle. Seattle got Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin (know around here as the mummy) from Chicago.

For the Bulls

I think that not even the Perdue for Rodman trade made the Bulls fans as happy as they are now. And considering that they are fully aware of how bad Hughes sucks (as documented here), it tells you just how much they wanted to get rid of Wallace. He’s been welcomed with open arms in Chicago and fans hoped he would be the one to lead the Bulls to the next level. But he only came to get the money while wishing he was still in Detroit with his buddies.

Joe Smith was a decent player for a decent salary – one of the few Bulls’ players who were actually worth the money they were paid (or they were seeking). Him being thrown in the deal should have meant getting expirings back instead of Larry Hughes. But even like this, it has the benefit of creating some more playing time for Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.

At the same time the arrival of Hughes creates the same kind of problems for the back court. With Hinrich, Gordon, Hughes, Duhon and Sefolosha fighting for minutes and with Boylan’s idiocy well documented, it will probably be Sefolosha that will lose minutes. It should be Duhon but he’s always been preferred by Skiles as a starter and Boylan is just mini-Skiles. I can’t really explain why except if he’s been giving them great blowjobs. Oh, wait. I remembered: he’s a shooting star.

What this trade does for the Bulls except for opening time for the young bigs is give them a real shot at making the playoffs. Which would not be such a great idea since they would be destroyed by the Celtics, Pistons or Magic. So for this reason alone it would be good if Larry Hughes would continue to take a lot of bad shots. The Bulls need a superstar, and since John Paxson is unable to get one in a trade, their only chance is the draft. So the smart thing to do for the future of the team would be to tank the season.

For the Cavaliers

They replace Hughes with a guy that can actually shoot (Szczerbiak 46% FG this season, 49.1% FG for his career) and they also replace Gooden with Joe Smith. Joe Smith is actually outperforming Gooden for the season. Smith averages 11.2 ppg on 46.6% FG, 5.3 reb, 0.9 ast, 0.5 stl, 0.6 blk in just 22.9 minutes. Gooden averages 11.3 ppg on 44.4% FG, 8.3 reb, 1.0 ast, 0.7 stl, 0.6 blk in 30.7 minutes. Per 40 minutes Smith pretty much owns Gooden and now that he gets to play with Lebron look for his numbers to improve.

Delonte West will take Eric Snow’s minutes at back-up guard. And that is a good thing, considering Snow has been shooting 15.8% from the field this season. That’s right. 15.8%. That is a guy who even started 5 games this season.

Above all these, the Cavs get Ben Wallace. He won’t do too much these days. Certainly won’t play elite defense, won’t provide elite rebounding (31 in the NBA in rebounds per 48 minutes). He won’t provide leadership or advice to the younger players. He might provide some hair care tips to Varejao, but that is about it. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot: he will want at least 30 minutes of “action” per game (where “action” in his case means not giving a crap, not playing much D, killing the offense and taking the occasional fade away turn around jumper that hits the shot clock). And he might just reveal your team’s plans to his pals in Detroit if your team plays them in the playoffs.

If he doesn’t find his motivation the way Shaq did when he moved from LA to Miami and now from Miami to Phoenix, the Cavs might be better off buying him out so maybe Detroit wants him back from a minimum salary. If he does get motivated he should benefit from playing alongside Z, which would allow him to roam on D like he did in Detroit next to Rasheed. But my guess is Ben Wallace would only be happy back in Detroit.

In any case, the Cavs made a move that should improve their chances of reaching the ECF. If the playoffs were to start now, they’d have to beat Toronto, Boston and then Detroit or Orlando in order to make the Finals. This would be a very difficult path, but at least now they are better prepared to handle it. And with Lebron leading them, they might just pull it off.

For the Sonics

They get expirings for players with longer contracts – Szczerbiak had one more year after this one, at over 13 million). In the process they also improve their chances of winning the lottery. They just got rid of Kurt Thomas and now with Wally gone, they will give Minnesota, Memphis, Miami and New York a run for their money in the race for most losses.

Trades Ben Wallace, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Larry Hughes, Wally Szczerbiak

Just as I was babbling writing about the Spurs and their chances of resurrecting themselves and making another run, Lebron James was getting dressed for the Celtics game (ie putting his cape on, underneath his uniform) and getting ready to bully the Celtics into submission. So far (10 min left in the 2nd quarter) so good: 16 points on 6-7 shooting, 3 reb, 5 ast. Seems like Lebron is really mad that Garnett, not him, won the mid season awards.

Pierce has been perfect so far from the field (4-4) but if things are close to the end of the game, look for him again to try and be the hero. Again. And mess things up for the Celtics. Again. But more on that in a later post. In any case, too bad Garnett is out, or it could have been a classic duel, one that might have influenced the actual MVP vote. Although last season Nash owned Dirk in the Suns-Mavs games, including abusing him whenever Dirk was left to defend on him after a switch on the pick and roll, yet Dirk received the MVP (and proved that he deserved it by choking against the Warriors in the 1st round).

Awards Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, Paul Pierce, Steve Nash