Tag: Paul George

I Think I Left My Clutch Gene At Home Today

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

When your team wins you get all the accolades, and when your team loses you get all the blame. Thats how it works in superstar land. Today, Lebron James is shouldering 100% of the blame for Friday night’s loss. It was an enormous loss for James and the Heat as the Indiana Pacers secured home court advantage in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pacers will travel back home with their confidence at an all time high after coming within inches of stealing both games in Miami. The biggest question after their heartbreaking Game 1 loss was how would they respond? Well I think we all found the answer to that question. The Pacers stayed true to themselves and they continued to highlight their strengths on the floor. They stayed physical with Miami, they used their length and size on the defensive end, and most importantly they utilized Roy Hibbert early and often. In turn he responded with another career game in these playoffs. He put in 29 huge points while grabbing 10 rebounds. While Hibbert was a big part of their victory, the Pacers showed that you don’t need to rely on one superstar to win. The Pacers starters all scored in double figures and their bench only contributed 5 points. This shows you how balanced they are, and that they all subscribe to the “team” concept. At the same time I must not overlook Paul George’s effort last night. He is truly solidifying his ranking as one of the best all around players in the NBA. He has the daunting task of guarding Lebron James, and at the same time is being asked to contribute 20+ points every night. Yes, Lebron’s stat line was godly (as it always is), but when it mattered most what did “king” James do? To find out you gotta keep reading…

With the game on the line, Lebron committed two consecutive turnovers!! Ouch!! This was not one of his brighter moments. The first turnover was really bad. Let me set the scene for you: George Hill had just knocked down two clutch free throws to put the Pacers up 95-93 with 48 seconds left. As Lebron brought the ball up he attempted to lob a pass over David West across the top of the key. Instead West stuck his arms up as if he were a cornerback who didn’t turn back to play the ball and stole the ball. The Pacers went on to turn the ball right back over on a shot clock violation. So despite the Pacers trying their darnedest to give another game away, Lebron just wanted to not win it even more. He got the ball just inside half court with the clock running down. Everyone was holding their collective breaths wondering if Lebron could pull some more heroics out of his you know where, but NOPE. He drove the lane and attempted to swing the ball outside, but the pass was intercepted by George Hill. Hill calmly walked down the floor and knocked in two more clutch free throws. This put the game nearly out of reach with the Pacers going up by four with 8 seconds to play. Chris Bosh threw up a last effort 3-pointer but it missed and the Pacers held on to win 97-93. Now in just 48 short minutes the momentum has completely shifted and there is a new question to ask today. How will the defending champion Miami Heat respond to losing on their own floor in the playoffs? I, like most, think that the Heat will still win this series, but Indiana is a difficult place to win basketball games. The road to the finals has been slightly tilted uphill for the Miami Heat, and now it is their turn to stare adversity in the face. To see what happens in the next chapter of this story, tune in to TNT on Sunday @ 8:30 p.m.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Not Your Everyday Buzzer Beater

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

When you think of buzzer beaters, you usually see someone hitting a three pointer or someone hitting a jump shot with a hand in their face. Well, how does making an uncontested shot in a layup line sound to you to win a playoff game? Yeah, that sounds ideal to me too. Well, for those of you who couldn’t stay awake to watch the closing minutes of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night, that’s what happened. Lebron James drove down the lane for an uncontested layup to beat the Indiana Pacers 103-102. Now, the majority of the blame is being placed on Pacers head coach Frank Vogel for not having 7 foot 2 inch Roy Hibbert on floor for the final possession of the game. Yes, some of the blame rests on Vogel, (and I’ll get into why in a minute) but the majority of the blame should land on Paul George and his “defense” on the final play.

For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, click below to watch Lebron’s game winner:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GqSXLCuANiY

There are 2.2 seconds left on the clock and everyone and their mother knows who’s getting the ball. The problem you normally have in attempting to guard Lebron James is that you never know if he’s going to shoot, drive, or pass the ball. However, with 2.2 seconds left, whoever gets the inbounds pass is going to either shoot it right away, take one dribble into a jump shot, or if he magically gets an opening he’ll take it to the hoop. So the excuse that Paul George hesitated to get out to Lebron James because Ray Allen happened to run through the lane is ludicrous. George needs to chase the best player in the world around and let Allen’s defender worry about Allen. The biggest problem with George’s defense though is that he overplays James, so when he gets the ball he already has a step on George. This horrid defense allows an unprecedented wide open layup for the game winner. Now the other hot topic is why in the world Roy Hibbert was not on the floor for the final possession?!?! To that question I have no rational response. Coach Vogel had a response, but his didn’t make much sense either. He said he left Hibbert on the bench because Chris Bosh was in at center for the Heat. Since bosh can shoot from the outside he stretches the floor and in turn pulls Hibbert outside (where he is mostly useless). This is why Roy Hibbert, the Pacers best interior defender was watching Lebron drive down the lane from the bench. Yeah, good idea Frank. His explanation is all well and good during the 1st quarter, but with 2.2 seconds on the clock it’s almost physically impossible for Lebron to get the inbound pass, drive the lane, draw a double team from Hibbert, and then hit Bosh for a wide open 12-footer. No one thought Lebron could get to the basket that fast by himself let alone pass off to someone else. Now, if Bosh somehow got the inbound pass and was to take the game winning shot, I think Vogel would have lived with a somewhat contested shot from 15-18 feet. Hibbert might by 7’2″ and not very mobile, but I’m sure he could have gotten a hand in Bosh’s face if that was the case. But that was not the case. James scored, the Heat won, and it’s only a matter of time to see how the Pacers respond.

Will they be demoralized after losing a heartbreaker on Miami’s home court? Will they bounce back and play Miami to another close game? I always thought this series was going to go 6 hard fought games, so I don’t believe this loss is the beginning of the end for the Pacers. Look for Hibbert to stay out of foul trouble early in game 2 and play the Heat tougher down low. He’ll need to play well for the Pacers to have a chance, but more importantly the Pacers, (a solid defensive team) need to play tighter defense, especially down the stretch of games in order to win. You can catch Game 2 on TNT, Friday night @ 8:30 p.m. Enjoy!

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Okay We Are Going To Start Trying….Ummm…..Starting Now!

~ Dave Ettinger ~ Leave a comment

Can the Indiana Pacers play any better, and can the New York Knicks possibly play any worse? I don’t think so. I’m not trying to make any excuses for the Knicks. Trust me, I watched that entire game and let me be the first person to say that the Knicks made me throw up in my mouth; twice. Now, I’m also not trying to take anything away from the Pacers victory, but everyone needs to hop off that panic button once again. Let me shed some light on what the Knicks have done and what they need to do to make it past the Pacers.

If J.R. Smith can remember that he is allowed to take the ball to the basket, they might fare better in the rest of the series. And Mr. Anthony is not getting let off the hook so easily either. Since the end of game 3 against the Boston Celtics, he has been downright awful! We all know the statistics, so I’m not going to bore you with those. He, and the rest of the Knicks, are a jack up shots and hope they go in team right now. Despite what everyone thinks, their best recipe for success is not to live and die by the 3. Yes, they succeed when they hit OPEN 3-pointers at a high percentage, but they really work best off of dribble penetration by Raymond Felton or Carmelo Anthony. This either leads to a bucket or trip to the foul line for Anthony, or an open shot for Felton or Iman Shumpert. Their other best offensive option is the high pick and roll involving any combination of Felton/Pablo Prigioni and Kenyon Martin/Tyson Chandler. This has led to the best offensive possessions the Knicks have seen all year. For some reason Mike Woodson doesn’t stick with what works. No matter how good the Knicks look at times they always revert back to their old habits (Iso-Melo). What Woodson needs to preach is sound defense first and smart offense second. They also need to recognize that the pace of play from game 1 completely favors the Pacers. The Pacers want to slow the ball down and work the ball through the low post (because they have a clear size advantage). The Knicks should look to push the pace at all times and take Roy Hibbert and their other big men out of play. And for the love of god, Coach, please leave Jason Kidd at the hotel napping next time you head over to the arena. He is god awful. Even when he’s wide open he doesn’t shoot the ball, so what’s the point of having him out there anyway? I’ve been screaming this from the hill tops all season, but Woodson has this secret love affair with Kidd that no one else is talking about. And at the same time, he has this odd hatred for Iman Shumpert that I can’t seem to figure out. Shumpert, especially against a defensive minded team is one of your most valuable weapons. They need Shumpert’s young legs and energy on both ends of the floor. And think about any of the Knicks fast breaks that aren’t being led by Raymond Felton. They’re being led by Shumpert aren’t they? Chew on that thought for a minute while I delve into what occurred on the Knicks home court Sunday afternoon.

As I stated before, the Pacers played a very solid game on Sunday, especially their role players. Now if Lance Stephenson is going to have a double double every night and D.J. Augustin is going to hit 45 three pointers than the Knicks have no chance in this series. However, if you want me to realistically believe that that’s going to happen, that also is not going to happen. I just can’t see the Knicks rolling over and dying in this series. Maybe I’m telling you what I want to see more than what I think, but for everyone’s sake they better show a better effort than they did in game 1. I think we will all see what this team is made of in game 2. At this point in the season, they need to lay it all on the line and leave every ounce of energy on that floor Tuesday night. I think they’ll stand up to the challenge and win what is without a doubt their biggest game of the year. It’s playoffs time baby! It’s do or die! 99-88 Knicks. Book it.

If you enjoy my writing, follow me over to intheneutralzone.com where I am a contributing author there as well. Also you can follow me on twitter @DaveEttinger2 or like me on Facebook at http://www.Facebook.com/DaveTalksSports. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Mid-Season NBA Awards

~ Dave Ettinger ~ 3 Comments

It’s that time of year again. We’ve played about 50 games so far, and it’s time to gear up for the All-Star Game. It is also time to dish out some mid-season awards. The awards to be given out are MVP, Sixth man of the Year, Defensive Player of the year, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. Some of these races have clear cut winners at this point in the season, and some are so difficult to differentiate a front-runner that we need to delve further into each category. I am here to clear up any confusion as to what you’ve seen thus far in the 2012-2013 NBA season.

Let’s start with the easiest debate, Rookie of the Year. If the season were to end today, the obvious winner for this award would be Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. There are some other nice rookies this year(Anthony Davis, Bradley Beal, and Dion Waiters come to mind), but Damian is head and shoulders above everyone else right now. He has started every game this season for the Trailblazers. In those games he is averaging 18.2 points on 42% from the field in 38.5 minutes per game(not to mention he’s shooting an impressive 85% from the charity stripe). That is the easiest award to give out, but the rest are a little tougher. Don’t be scared. Just close your eyes, count to three, and rip off that band-aid.

Let’s move on to Sixth Man of the Year. For me this is a two man race between Jamal Crawford and JR Smith. Both have been instant offense off their teams bench. They have both been an integral part of their teams success this season. As much as I love the Knicks, this award has to go to Jamal Crawford. Not only did he outplay JR this past Sunday in a head to head match up, but he has been the better player all season, barely.

Next let’s talk about Coach of the Year. This is a tough one, so let’s throw all the potential candidates out there and then break them down until this makes sense. The candidates are Mike Woodson, Mark Jackson, Frank Vogel, and Tom Thibodeau. If you read my blog you know I am a die hard Knicks fan, and while Woodson has done a phenomenal job with the team so far, their most recent struggles against good teams might hurt him for now.  He did, however, do a great job right from the start of the season.  He was motivating Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Jason Kidd, and even Rasheed Wallace to maximize their potential out on the floor.  He had everyone buying into his concept of team defense and an uptempo offense.  It was working perfectly until Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert came back from injuries.  I believe it will work out in the end for the Knicks, but there is definitely a growing period that the Knicks and Woodson are going through right now.  The final chapter for the Knicks will determine whether Woodson is the Coach of the year or not.  As of now, I say he is not.  As for Tom Thibodeau, he has impressed by continuing to succeed without his superstar.  For the second straight season Derrick Rose has missed a significant amount of time, yet the Bulls continue to put up winning records. His team plays a defense first, physical brand of basketball that creates nightmare match-ups for smaller teams and turnover prone teams.  It is also extremely impressive to win with Luol Deng as your best player(no offense to Luol he is a nice little player, but let’s be real, he is NOT a #1 guy). With all that being said Tom is still not the coach of the year. Who is? I’m getting there just calm down! The popular pick right now is Mark Jackson.  I like what Mark Jackson is doing with Stephen Curry and the rest of those boys, but his team is not good enough to push him to the top of this debate. While I always liked him as a player, and I personally always thought he would make a good coach some day(ahem, Jason Kidd, ahem), he is not the coach of the year at this point of the season.  My pick for coach of the year right now is Frank Vogel.  I bet most of you don’t even know what team he coaches. That is part of the reason why he is coach of the year right now.  He is a nobody to most people, and he is succeeding with nobodies.  Even his best player who is not playing right now due to injury is a nobody amongst the ranks of superstars. I like Danny Granger’s game, but he like Luol Deng is not a #1 guy. The only problem for the Indiana Pacers(ohhh that’s who Vogel coaches) is that Granger IS their #1 guy. Frank Vogel is my pick for Coach of the Year.
There could have been a nice segue into this next category, seeing as The Pacers have two candidates for Most Improved Player, George hill and Paul George. They have both vastly improved their games, but I think this award is a two man race. Greivis Vasquez and Jrue Holiday have both taken their game to the next level. They have both increased their points and assist totals tremendously from a year ago, and they both have bright futures ahead of them. No disrespect to Greivis, but Jrue Holiday has taken his game into another stratosphere. He has quickly become one of the premier point guards in the NBA, and the league recognized this by selecting him to his first all-star appearance. My award for most improved player goes to Jrue Holiday.
This next category is the toughest for me to choose. It is difficult to find a clear cut winner for Defensive Player of the Year. There are many worthy candidates so far this year that include: Tyson Chandler, Serge Ibaka, Larry Sanders, Lebron James, and Joakim Noah. Larry Sanders and Serge Ibaka will most likely be battling each other for this award for years to come. They are both physical presences underneath the hoop and both block approximately 3 shots a game. It is not due to their lack of defensive effort that they aren’t going to win this award, it’s because someone else on this list has managed to stand out above all the rest. This is me building suspense. Next, what else can you say about Lebron James? The guy is as physically gifted an athlete as anyone who has ever stepped foot on the hard wood. He can guard 4 positions at anytime while still managing to dominate on the offensive end. He is not going to win this award though(at least not this year), but don’t feel too bad for him I’m sure he’ll win another award real soon(hint hint). The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Tyson Chandler, has yet again found his way into contention for this award, however when he played the Bulls earlier this season he learned why he isn’t going to repeat as DPOY(he would get my vote for the most intimidating man on the planet though if that was a real award). Joakim Noah has placed himself at the forefront of defensive forces in the NBA. Man is he ugly!! Anyway, as much as I dislike Noah, he does anchor the best defense in the NBA. When he’s on the bench they give up 10 more points then when he’s on the floor.  Joakim Noah gets my vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Finally, last but not least, the MVP award. This is always a fun debate because people think it’s strictly about offense. It mostly is, but you really need to look at the overall skill-set of a player plus his impact on his team to measure the MVP. The candidates this year are: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony. There are two honorable mentions for this category, Chris Paul and Tony Parker. Parker is doing spectacular things that go mostly unnoticed, especially with a banged up Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli on his team. Chris Paul will be in this conversation at the end of the year because he is clearly the best point guard in the NBA. For right now though he has missed too many games to be considered for this award. I love what Carmelo Anthony is doing this season, and I hope he can sustain his outstanding play throughout the whole season, but he doesn’t do enough of the little things to make his teammates better. Let me see if I can use an analogy that makes sense for this argument. Kevin Durant is like The Utah Jazz in the 90’s. If it wasn’t for that Jordan guy and the Chicago Bulls, they might have a couple of rings right now(sorry John, sorry Karl). Get it? Not yet? See, Kevin Durant has improved every facet of his game this year. The problem is that there is this guy named Lebron James in the NBA. As good as Durant is(28.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 51% from the floor, 43% from three point range, and 90% from the free throw line), Lebron is better. Sorry Kevin, I know I’m pulling for you because I certainly don’t like Lebron “I can’t win a title without an all-star roster” James, but Lebron is on his way to another MVP.  As much as I don’t like Lebron, I must give credit where credit is due.  My vote for MVP and best player on the face of the earth is Lebron James.