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.

You Do the Math: The New(?) Los Angeles Lakers

Coming off the bench, this season Russell Westbrook has averaged 1.5 rebounds less (6.2 vs 7.9) than Jarred Vanderbilt, a rebounding specialist, even though Vanderbilt started most of his games.  He's averaged more points that Malik Beasley (15.9 vs. 13.4), a scoring specialist, even though Beasley has started more games.  And he's averaged almost as many points (15.9 vs. 17.9) and more assists (7.5 vs 6.2) than D'Angelo Russell, a scoring PG, even though Russell has started every Timberwolves game.

So all things considered, such as the fact that the Lakers already have a couple of quality wings in Hachimura and Walker IV, this isn't an upgrade in talent but rather one in depth.  And in the grand scheme of the Lakers, that depth is probably going to prove insignificant.

THOMAS BRYANT vs MO BAMBA

Even though it involved two different trades, what ESPN is essentially reporting is that the Lakers got rid of Thomas Bryant and replaced him with Mo Bamba.  When I first heard they acquired Bamba for Beverly, I was more excited.  Now that I found out they got rid of Bryant also, that excitement has been tempered.

I believe that Bamba is a better all-around fit for the Lakers style.  Mo is sorta like a Russell Westbrook, i.e. someone whom the media seems to be against for one reason or another.  So even though he's having a down season compared to last year (since he's no longer a starter), I also feel he will be a better fit next to AD.  But Bryant is a quality bigman who has played hard for LAL, and speaking of AD, he's always hurt.  So why did they give up depth at C for draft picks if they want to compete for a title now?

And speaking of playing hard for the Lakers, Patrick Beverly really did give his all, for whatever it's worth.  This is one of the reasons that Lebron and LAL have like bad karma and shit.  But maybe he can push Markelle up to the allstar level.  One step forward, two steps backwards lol.

YOU DO THE MATH

You can only put five players on the floor at the same time, and the Lakers now having more depth doesn't mean that Lebron will now miraculously start playing good defense or that AD will get healthy (by this point, it's safe to say that he's permanently at least one step slower).  Getting Bamba, if they decide to start him next to AD, is huge.  But then, who's coming off the bench at C?

Also, I guess Russell is like a poor man's Kyrie Irving, so Lebron got his smallish scoring PG/SG to play with after all.  And then you slot Hachimura or Walker in at the 3, that's a pretty formidable lineup.  But then, how does that matchup to the new Suns?