2023 NBA Finals Ruminations (June 5th)

THE KEVIN LOVE FACTOR

Kevin Love may not be the scorer he used to be, but he can still rebound his ass off, on top making a timely 3 at least once a game.  When he was traded to the Cavs, it's like Lebron sorta sonned him, but prior to that he was the alpha of the cursed Timberwolves for six seasons, averaging something like 20pts and 12 rebounds.  And there's always people out there who be like 'it's easy to be the star of a garbage team'.  Um, no it isn't, or else every starter on a garbage team would be a star, which is far from the case.

And let me remind the world that I did suggest the Heat start Love in Game 2, after not playing him at all in Game 1, in my last post.  Spoelstra followed that advice, playing him only 22 minutes, but Kevin the second highest +/-, at +18, in the entire game.  And who was at number one?  Gabe "Lil Homie" Vincent.

TF IS YOU DOING?! (MICHAEL PORTER JR.)

Believe or not, there's people out there in the world actually on their knees praying to grow past their natural height in the name of being a better basketball player.  Then you have someone like Michael Porter Jr. with that natural gift - wasting it on three-pointers.  Meanwhile there's little dudes, like Seth and Jamal, who can do it a lot better than he can.  In other words, play to your advantages, son.

I can think of four solid reasons why Porter has developed the habit of lingering out at the perimeter.  One, he has a frightening injury history, and staying out on the perimeter decreases his chances of being hurt .  Two, they don't really need him downlow like that with two better post players, Jokic and Gordon, on the roster.  Three, it takes less effort (i.e. work) to shoot jumpers than to drive the lane.  And lastly he is mad tall, meaning that it's virtually impossible to block one of his jump shots.

But maybe that's what the Nuggets need in this series.  Gordon has always been an exceptional post player, but sometimes that aspect of his game disappears.  And I've been saying for the longest that Nikola, as good as he may be, needs a consistent presence down there with him.  I always meant that more defensively, but now these days against Miami, like the last thing Denver needs is Michael taking 75% of his shots from outside and then missing most of them at that.

DOES MIKE MALONE REALLY KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING?

Mike Malone is considered one of the better coaches in the NBA, but it ain't like he turned around a garbage team or works for a braintrust that is inept.  Denver has been well-coached with a competitive roster, throughout the entire 21st century as far as I can remember.  Now they have a really-good roster that's also healthy, and in these cases you really have to ask whether it's the players, the coach or both that is the source of the squad's success.

For instance, for whatever reason Malone he refuses to play DeAndre Jordan, Ish Smith, Reggie Jackson(!) and Thomas Bryant(!!).  Earlier this season, Jackson was a starter for the Clippers and is one of the most experienced PGs in the NBA to never make an allstar team.  Meanwhile, Bryant was one of the better backup Cs when he was playing for the Lakers.  Ish Smith also, btw, ain't no slouch, and Jordan occasionally has his moments also.  And these moves, i.e. benching quality rotation players, look brilliant when you're winning.  But once you start losing it's definitely a point of scrutiny, running an eight-man rotation without bringing any true bigman, or PG for that matter, off the bench.

NBA Finals Ruminations (June 3rd)

DAMN, THE HEAT GOT THEIR ASSES BUST

Game 1 was what a matchup is supposed between a 1-seed and an 8-seed was supposed to look like.  The Heat are outmatched, but getting their asses bust like that it isn't only due to the Nuggets being flatout better.  Obviously there's also a major size discrepancy between the teams when for instance you regularly find someone like Gabe Vincent having to defend Aaron Gordon.

In fact now that I think about, the Nuggets can be considered to biggest team in this year's playoffs in general.  Their frontline has an average height of about 6'10".  This of course makes me think of all the dumbasses the last few years who've been indirectly saying stupid sh*t like size doesn't matter in today's NBA or forthrightly even saying dumber sh*t like there's no longer any place for traditional bigmen, which brings me to...

SHOUTOUT TO AARON GORDON

Jokic + Murray are such that they're going to do what they do regardless.  And there are a number of exceptional role players on their team.  But to me, the real ex-factor, when he's on, is Gordon.  And I have to give him his props because, he's not one of the tallest players on the court but out there settling for jump shots.  He's banging on the inside, and, if someone smaller tries to defend, will post them up.  This isn't how he played when he first came to Denver, but it seems that now, finally, he's been incepted.

And the really sad thing is that at least half of the teams in the NBA are currently lacking in size, either in quality and/or depth.  So the teams that already have bigman quality and depth, such as the Nuggets, Bucks or even Lakers I guess, should be dominating into the foreseeable future.

PLEASE HEAT, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

Erik Spoestra has been quoted by NBC Sports as saying "scheme is not going to save" the Heat.  Rather, he thinks the team needs to rectify its "toughness and... collective resolve".  And I believe that's a disappointing strategy for a Head Coach to adopt in this situation for a couple of reasons.

First is that just as the Heat can turn up their toughness and resolve, so too can the Nuggets.  And again, Denver is the better squad.  Do I believe they have the best starting 5 in the NBA in terms of raw talent?  Not particularly, though arguably.  But more importantly, their stars are more compatible than, say, the Suns.

But second and most importantly, as a coach you're always supposed to be looking for adjustments.  And that's especially true when the opposing team's starting five is more talented than your own.  I understand where Spoestra is coming from, that it does look kinda stupid trying to make major adjustments this late in the season.  But based on what I seen in Game 1, I have some suggestions.

For instance, I would consider starting Lowry and Highsmith in Game 2 over Strus and Martin.  Strus, Martin and even the beloved Gabe Vincent are arguably bench players anyway.  So the Heat are lucky they even got this far starting them.  But now, they really have to respect their opponent, if for no other reason then due to the height advantage.

I would also consider starting Kevin Love or at least, you know what I'm saying, giving dude some run.  I strongly doubt if Love can defend Jokic, Gordon or Porter.  But at least he has size and is an exceptional rebounder.

SHOUTOUT TO BAM ADEBAYO

That said, there's probably no other team in the NBA (besides the Warriors) as proven in turning unknown players into stars or notable names than the Heat.  For instance I remember when Bam Adebayo was drafted, and like no one was expecting him to be a perennial all-star.

Of course he's the one player the Nuggets have to worry about most.  Why?  Because first of all Jokic's defense is suspect, and secondly, Bam is the most athletic center in the NBA, meaning that there's no way Nikola can realistically defend him.  This is something I wanted to point out even before the series started, and now I wish I did since that theory proved true in Game 1.

But Adebayo is not going to be able to do this alone.  So I hope the Heat do the right thing and maybe, for Game 2, have a starting lineup like Bam + Jimmy + Gabe + Kyle + Highsmith.  That may not solve all of their problems, but maybe it will.  Or in the very least, it'll give them a better chance against a team as big as the Nuggets.

The Main Reason the Cavs Suck

Let's not get it twisted - the Cleveland Cavaliers, as of right now, do suck.  People are attributing this primarily to the construction of the superteam that is the Golden State Warriors, but being super doesn't make you invincible.

2004 USA BASKETBALL

I remember watching in glee/horror as Team USA Basketball got their asses handed to them by Argentina in the 2004 Summer Olympics.  I also recall that for some inexplicable reason Coach Larry Brown refused to give Lebron significant minutes during those games.  Whereas it may not have shown statistically, with LBJ only averaging six points and three rebounds, in the games I saw it was obvious when he was on the court that James was better than everyone else.

Reportedly LBJ's minutes were limited in Athens due to being "not 100 percent receptive", and if that was the case Coach Brown must be one of the greatest disciplinarians in the history of coaches to have been willing to sacrifice the then-untarnished name of USA Basketball just to teach a hard-headed youngster what was perhaps a much-needed lesson.  Well just like the great Michael Jordan can remember every time someone has slighted him on the court, in a slightly-similar fashion this injustice must be also still be stuck in the craw of Lebron James, because he basically did the same thing to Andrew Wiggins.

SKILL vs. STRENGTH

Now don't get me wrong - trading virtually any player for Kevin Love, especially a rookie (Anthony Bennett was virtually a non-factor in the deal) and especially a couple of years ago, is hard to argue against.  But at the time something about LBJ forcing that trade just didn't seem right.  Looking at the situation purely from the standpoint of trying to put together the best team I think at the time - and to some extent even to this day - one can rationalize choosing Love over Wiggins.  But this boils down to what is the more-valuable commodity in athletics - strength or skill?

It's of particular interest in this case that Lebron chose skill (win now) over athleticism (take longer to win perhaps) because he's considered by many the all-around best player in NBA history not because of his skill set but rather primarily his physical attributes, like him being born taller, faster and stronger than everybody else has absolutely nothing to do with his work ethic.  In 2004 I don't remember LBJ dribbling and shooting; I remember him being faster, stronger and more energetic than everyone else, teammate and opponent alike.

CONCLUSION: THEN vs. NOW

LBJ forcing  Kevin Love to the Cavs in 2014 proved to be a savvy move, because the next season Cleveland won its first NBA Championship ever.  But since then it's like the braintrust of the Cavs have been stuck in a time warp where they're convinced aging, skilled players are superior to younger, stronger ones, even if you can get two or three of the latter for the price of one of the former - like they're the Knicks or something.  If anything recent history should show that Love is still valuable yet to some degree expendable (if they can find someone who rebounds consistently) to Cleveland, and if they were smart would go shopping for youth this offseason, even if it means losing Kevin.  I don't think it was wrong to try to repeat with him on the roster, but you can't then go out and chase players like Kyle Korver and Deron Williams and expect your defense to hold up against the Warriors now featuring KD.  At the end of the day, no matter how you cut it, dominance in athletics, particularly when you're on the field at the same time as your opponent, is traditionally based more on athleticism than it is on skill, experience or popularity.