Nba Coaching moves

Well first off what the hell is wrong with Lionel Hollins’s hands? Two of his fingers don’t really fuck with the rest of them like that. They’re off trying to do their own thing. 5 pop 6 drop.

The Nba coaching scene is itself getting out of hand. Coaches are getting fired left and right. A record 11 coaches have been let go since the start of the season. 3 in particular were surprising to me.

We’ll start with a guy in Larry Drew who was kinda doing everything right. He coached the Hawks for two years. In his first season they finished 14 games above .500 and won a playoff series. In his second season Joe Johnson was no longer on the team and Al Horford missed 55 games. That Hawks roster had no business making the playoffs but they did. He’s a winning coach and the Hawks should’ve kept him.

The Grizzlies just had their best season in franchise history even after trading their top scorer away midseason. Clearly things weren’t working out for the Grizzlies. They had to make some changes and the coach was the first to go. Hollins should have no trouble finding a job and should be back with another team soon enough.

The one that made the least sense this offseason was when Denver let George Karl go. Just a couple weeks ago he was named the coach of the year. That means he was the best coach in the league this season. The best. He’s been coaching for over 20 years and is a sure hall of famer. He made a team full of young role players with no superstar on the roster look like contenders for much of the season. If it wasn’t for some late season injuries, they might have even made some noise in the playoffs. He’s one of the best coaches in the league and he’ll have his choice of job openings. That weed legalization in Denver is really clouding the thinking of the front office.

Then there’s a guy in Jason Kidd who just retired like a day ago and wants to jump right into coaching. Jason calm down. Go take a vacation. Find your son some hats that can fit him. Coaching opportunities will always be there and I’m sure you’ll be a great one.

Game 1 Thoughts

What a game ladies. We’re in for a great series here. I’m hoping the rest of the games in the series are just like this first one.

There are plenty of things to take away from this game. Not many of those things are positives from the Miami perspective. For three quarters everything was going perfectly for Miami. Wade looked like the Wade of old getting to the basket and hitting turnaround jumpers off one leg. Chris Bosh was feeling it early hitting several jumpshots. The role players were on fire from three point range shooting 40% in the first half. Tim Duncan started the game 0 for 5 and got into some early foul trouble. The rest of the Spurs couldn’t hit an open 3 to save their lives.

And all that only got the Heat a 3 point lead going into the 4th quarter. That wasn’t enough. The Spurs continued to clog the paint forcing Miami to shoot from the outside and those 3’s and jumpshots the Heat were making in the first half weren’t going to fall forever. The Heat need to find other ways to score if they are going to win this series.The Spurs want them to shoot jumpshots.

Chris Bosh wants to be Steve Kerr soo bad. Seriously when did Bosh strictly become a spot up 3pt shooter? He’s on a 110 million dollar contract. I thought for sure that when Jason Collins revealed his secret that it would positively affect Bosh. I thought Bosh would start playing like a fabulous Hall of Famer. The complete opposite has happened. Bosh hasn’t been the same since that day. In his last 3 games he’s shooting 10 for his last 37 with 17 rebounds. 17 rebounds in 3 games. From your Power Forward! Lebron had 18 rebounds himself last night. You’re one of the best post players in the league, act like it Boshy.

Lebron had himself a good statistical night with 18, 18 and 10. That was Lebron’s 10th triple double in the postseason (tying the great Rajon Rondo for 3rd all time). Even with those numbers, I still feel Lebron was being too passive especially in the 4th. There were a couple of times where Lebron seemed to have good shots available but passed them up. Chris Kerr should not be taking the most shots out of any Heat player in the 4th quarter. Lebron should win those games in late situations.

The 4th quarter, as it usually does, decided the game. Tony Parker took over the game. He was hitting several jumpers in a row, spinning Norris Cole out of his flattop on his way to the basket and hitting a shot that Heat fans will have nightmares about for years to come. Parker scored 10 points in the 4th. The Heat as a team scored 16 points in the quarter.

Turnovers were a major story in this game. The Spurs as a team only had 4 the entire game. The Heat had 9 (which isn’t bad at all actually). The problem was that 5 of those turnovers came in the 4th quarter. Can’t have that. The inexperienced Pacers were constantly hovering around the 20 turnover mark. These aren’t the Pacers that the Heat are going up against in this series.

Can’t wait for Game 2.

Nba Finals Preview

It’s here girls. The Nba Finals are finally upon us and we really got a treat this year. The two best teams in the league are meeting each other and that’s all we really could’ve asked for.

We also have two teams that couldn’t be any more different from one another. On one hand we have a bandwagon (lead by David Vielmann) that completely filled up once Lebron decided to take his talents and gigantic headbands down to South Beach. Girls that don’t even watch basketball (David Vielmann) are Heat fans. On the other hand we have a completely empty bandwagon. People don’t like watching the Spurs. I’ve heard stories of people falling asleep and not waking up til two days later when they turn on a Spurs game. Tracy McGrady now has two sleepy eyes. The Heat are always in the spotlight and seek it out while the Spurs run from it.

There are so many different storylines to look at in this series. Tim Duncan is looking to win his 5th Championship and remain undefeated in finals appearances. You start to wonder whether he’s going to ride off into the sunset if he wins it this year much like David Robinson did. Greg Popovich said he’s leaving once Timmy leaves. It would be the end of an era and kinda bittersweet to see.

The last time Lebron met the Spurs in the finals it was the worst Championship series I’ve ever seen. It was really kind of embarrassing how much better the Spurs played that season. Lebron shot an atrocious 14% (8 for 56) on shots that were outside the paint. The Spurs were daring him to shoot and he couldn’t hit them. It’s a different Lebron now. This guy is easily the best player in the world now. You struggle to find weaknesses in his game. You now have to be in his face even on 3pt shots. Kawhi Leonard and the rest of the Spurs have their hands full .

Lebron will get his. The key for the Spurs is to slow everyone else down and don’t let guys like Almario Chalmers, Norris Cole and Birdman Birdman beat them. They actually matchup very well with all of these guys and should be able to keep them in check. The Spurs are a very disciplined team and don’t give up as many points in the paint and offensive rebounds as the Pacers allowed against the Heat.

Erik Spoelstra decided to rest Wade and Bosh for the first 6 games of the series against Indiana. It ended up being a brilliant coaching move but it won’t work against the Spurs. Miami will need the Wade and Bosh of past years to be able to win this series.

Speaking of brilliant coaching. Greg Popovich is the best coach in the league. He just got an extra 10 days to prepare for the Heat. Huge advantage for the Spurs.

We talked about the trouble San Antonio will have guarding Lebron. Miami should have similar problems covering Tony Parker and Tim Duncan. Roy Hibbert caused the Heat all kinds of trouble. Timmy should be even more difficult for the Heat. Mike Conley and Tony Allen were all defensive team selections. Marc Gasol was the defensive player of the year. They couldn’t do a thing to prevent Tony Parker from doing whatever he wanted. That doesn’t bode well for the Heat. It’ll be interesting to see whether Lebron tells Spo to decide to put Lebron on Tony. Miami might not want to put that kind of burden on Lebron though. He didn’t cover Paul George in the Pacers series.

There are 4 former Finals Mvps in this series in Tim Duncan, Lebron, Wade and Tony Parker. The first time that has ever happened.

It’ll also be interesting to see whether Tracy McGrady decides to put the team on his back and make the league his again. Only time can tell.

This is gonna be good.

Spurs in 6 bubba.