Rockets run out of fuel in final minutes

Houston- Two Texas powers clashed in Houston. One churned out a win in an evenly-matched game with playoff intensity.

After an 0-4 skid by the Rockets in the absence of their star player, Tracy McGrady came back from his hyper-extended elbow and sparked a stagnant Houston offense with his confident play-making.

Although Houston led for much of the game, the fourth quarter was highlighted by Brandon Bass's inside play against a slower Yao Ming; propelling the Mavericks to a 9-2 record with a 100-94 road win.

A physical and heated game from the onset, Josh Howard came out strong with 15 points in the first half, displaying his versatility with a smooth outside stroke and speed rare at his height.

The Mavericks, who finished last year's regular season with an NBA best of 67 wins, had trouble getting past the swarming defense of the Rockets. With an enthusiastic Houston home-crowd behind them, the Rocket's defense shined in the half-court as well as in transition, as Dallas players resorted to one-man offensive tactics, with Devin Harris pushing the ball up court and often times forced into a difficult shot. He finished with 22 points.

The score at half-time was 48-47, with the Rockets ahead in a tightly contested first half.

In the 3rd quarter, the Rockets moved the ball efficiently, which lead to wide-open perimeter shots. Shane Battier and Rafter Alston went a combined 6 of 13 from distance, and finished with 12 and 18 points respectively.

At the 5 minute mark in the 3rd, with several sharp passes from McGrady to Yao, the lead was spread to 15, and it looked as though the Rockets had it wrapped up. Yao would end the night with 30 points and 15 rebounds.

But the Mavericks would find their way back into the game, with Brandon Bass's soft touch around the paint, and utilizing his quickness on the slower Yao. Bass had a prolific game with 17 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

In the fourth, Devin Harris's relentless attacks to the basket, combined with several of Dirk's post-up plays, put the Mavericks in a position to strike.

The Rockets' lead in the waning moments of the fourth were wiped out with Jerry Stackhouse's corner three and clutch free throws. This put the Mavericks up and would seal the deal for a Mavs victory.

Until proven otherwise, the Mavericks will be the ones to beat, at least in the regular season.

The Dawn of a New Season

Los Angeles - Summertime is like winter for the NBA season. Those tiny seeds buried in the off-season begin to surface as snow-capped buds at the end of October, and continue their growth until full bloom in June.

Granted, teams will not be in mid-season form until presumably mid-season--the start of the 2007-2008 NBA games are just 4 days away and that gives us enough reason to start celebrating.

Let's briefly take a look at things to look out for.

-Kobe Bryant. He's a man on a mission, but will his venture ultimately be a round-trip to anywhere but a championship contender? If he does leave Los Angeles, he's jetting away on coach, courtesy of Jerry Buss.

- The Boston Big Three. What it do, you may ask? Kevin Garnett is playing in the pre-season like he would be playing for the O'Brien trophy in June. That should be enough to vault them into the East elite.

- Dallas resurgence? I think so. Last year they had the luck of facing the only team that could have possibly knocked them out in the first round. Up until then, they were the ones knocking opponents down like bowling pins, and switching styles up like a cross-dressing hipster.

-Phoenix rising? Boom or bust year for the NBA's sweethearts. A lot of speculation on Grant Hill's impact on this team. I say it's marginal, if they still think they can outrun opponents come playoff time.

-Enough fight in the Bull? Heralded rookie, Joakim Noah makes his debut. Ben Wallace gets his head-band back. Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich will be running the show. And Luol Deng is the heart and soul of this team. Chi-town has something (not named Air) to root for again. They are certainly wild cards in the East.

- Motor (City) running again? Yes. The usual ballers (Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince) will be hungrier after being embarrassed by Lebron James in the East Finals last year. One look at their roster tells you they're still in serious contention for a Finals berth, with big bodies like Nazr Mohammed, Jason Maxiell, and Amir Johnson doing the dirty work. I'm looking forward to their comeback this year.

- Sleeper Picks? The Toronto Raptors showed some promise with their late-season run last year. They are still relatively young, but they can be a legitimate force in the East if they continue building on last year's effort.

-The Rest? The defending champs, San Antonio Spurs will be in the thick of things when it matters. They should cruise their way into the playoffs with a #3 seeding. The Jazz, led by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer will have plenty to prove this year amongst the stacked West powers. The Cavs made their fluke Finals appearance last year by taking down the Detroit behemoth, but they'll need more than just fireworks from Lebron James to take it to the next level.


So that about wraps it up for my pre-season discussion. Questions and comments are always appreciated. Hope you'll enjoy this upcoming season as much as I will! And don't forget, offense starts on defense.

More Mid-summer Chatter

Best Coach of All-Time?
I may sound a bit biased but Phil Jackson. His accomplishments speak for themselves and his coaching philosophy is admirable. He doesn't take the cookie-cutter approach like many others, instead he's one of the best at tapping into the true potential of almost every player and team he's coached. Not to mention, they always come back to him.

Jason Kidd, Derron Williams, or Chris Paul?
Kidd can push the ball, thread the needle, and throw oops upside your head. D. Williams has good D, and plays the half-court set better than most PGs in the league right now. Chris Paul is one of the poster childs of the rising young NBA stars, but he has a lot more to prove if he wants
to be considered part of the elite. I give the nod to Derron Williams.

Kobe vs Lebron, who would win right now mano-a-mano?
My buddy asked me this. This is a tough one. Kobe's lost some weight, which makes him quicker and more capable of penetration. He has a better J than Lebron. Lebron can overpower him, but his passing skills won't do him much good in a one-on-one.

Winner: Kobe

Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, who will win a title?
I'll be honest, I haven't seen either of them play much. But I know that Durant is a natural
and Oden is a throwback center with great agility. It all depends on whether Durant ever develops other parts of his game besides scoring. There's a lot of players that can score, only few that are successful within the framework of a team to win consistently. I got a gut feeling, Oden is going to be part of something big.

Molten Lava

Puerto Rico entered the first quarter playing with the passion and urgency needed for an underdog to pull off a miracle. The score was 33-27 at the end of the first.

But then, the inevitable happened.

Just like you can't expect Vegas summers to remain cool.

There was plenty of heat inside the gym as well.

It was like Tiger Woods on the final day of a major. Nobody was stopping them.

Through the first half of the game, Puerto Rico led by Carlos Arroyo and Larry Ayuso were playing an uptempo game reminiscent of last year's Golden State Warriors. Hardly any structure, but an excellent way to keep the opponents guessing.

But the U.S. kept adding to their point total, and Puerto Rican players were harassed on all angles from a swarming defense led by Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd. And after a series of plays involving Melo crushing an alley-oop and Lebron James orchestrating a magnificent concert in the form of crisp passing and in-the-paint drop-offs, the game was over.

I'm pretty sure, Puerto Rico got the memo.

"Mamba, Melo, and the King are in town."

But there was no stopping the three greatest scoring threats on planet Earth.

The plays were different, but the story remained the same. Carmelo scorched Puerto Rico from the perimeter. Lebron showed the world, an uncanny completeness and hunger in his game. And of course the now 30 year old, and veteran of the team, Kobe, who can and will score from anywhere on the hardwood.

The total points scored read like a runningback's rushing yards:

68% shooting, good for 130 points in 8 less minutes than in an NBA game.

Even the Phoenix Suns couldn't do that.

They went 23-36 from three point land. Lithuania-esque numbers.

It all adds up to a huge W, an Olympic berth, and a renewed confidence in international play.

The drama continues....I mean, the routs continue.




















(Good vibes on Dream Team 2007)

U.S. cruises past Argentina

Kobe Bryant came out swinging--17 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 3 for 4 from distance, in his first 10 minutes of play to be exact.

As did Carmelo Anthony--demoralizing Argentina with his brand of offensive versatility which has characterized his play in this tournament. He made the play of the game with a monster finish over a hesitant Argentinian help defender.

With both teams boasting 6-0 records heading into this quarter-final round, ESPN and other media outlets made it sound like this was going to be a game. It didn't take long to realize, this wasn't.

With many of the original players from the 2004 Argentinian national squad including Manu Ginobili and Fabricio Oberto missing from action, the U.S. once again displayed the kind of individual and collective dominance that has placed them comfortably for an Olympic berth.

Make no mistake, Argentina is no slouch. These guys can flat out play. And they certainly posted (at least on paper), a respectable final score of 91-76, which is closer than the U.S. blowouts in the tournament thus far.

It's just that when you're going up against behemoths like Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Amare Stoudamire with Jason Kidd running the show with a dazzling array of half-court tosses and back-door dimes, it puts the opposition on tilt. And when teams become hesitant, they create turnovers, much like Argentina did in this game, due to their reduced scoring options and consequent turnovers.

In contrast, the U.S. creates match-up nightmares for the defense, because they can attack in unlimited ways. On one play where Lebron James took a loose-ball and was fouled for a basket-count, the Argentinian center, Scola was the one on the floor, seemingly hurt for a second. It was evident that on an individual basis, these guys will overpower and outrun 90% of international competition. They train harder and are pulled from the deepest talent pool in the world.



























(Josh Howard with the two-hand flush)

This is a different brand of basketball than that of the '92 Dream Team, but it's just as fun to watch. School was in session any time any one of the U.S. players took the ball in their hands tonight. I'm no longer questioning the talent that this roster consists of, and these games can only get better as the U.S. faces stiffer competition against Spain and Greece in the Olympics.

For Team U.S.A., the first 4 games were a warm-up. The last 3 a reminder that they can take on better competition. But if there's one thing missing from this team, it's a consistent and fluid offensive execution. Their defense has been amazing, with Kobe Bryant putting heavy pressure on guards, and Lebron and others waiting to make steals, but their offensive execution leaves much to be desired.

The pros and cons of assembling an All-star team is that the subtle nuances of playing championship basketball are seemingly lost. Most of these guys are franchise players on their respective NBA teams, and each have their unique ways which make them great. So in this sort of assembly of All-star talent, the fundamentals to a great team operation like ball movement and help defense take a back seat to sensational plays like guards tossing half-court alley-oops and power forwards bulldozing their way through 2 opponents.

So what are the true prospects of Olympic Gold? They certainly have a great opportunity in their hands, but you and I both know those hopes can be squandered rather quickly when matched up against a superior team. In order for U.S.A. basketball to regain glory, they'll have to realize that it will take substantially more than dunks and 20fters.

No Carnival for Brazilians in Vegas

"U.S.A. basketball is not a tropical storm, it is now a full-fledged hurricane."

At the end of the 1st quarter of U.S.A./Brazil, I was planning on writing up an article on how the two South American soccer powers were now part of world basketball elite.

That statement most certainly would have been premature, as the U.S. cruised to another easy victory over Brazil, 113-76.

Against a confident and physically capable Brazilian team, led by current NBA players like Leandro Barbosa, Nene Hilario, and soon to be NBA player, Tiago Splitter, Team U.S.A. seemed disoriented matched up against a substantially better international team.

But those first quarter uncertainties didn't linger for long, as Lebron James' playmaking in the 2nd quarter, opened up the floor for Michael Redd and Kobe Bryant to hit open threes. Carmelo Anthony was off to another fast start as he was the beneficiary of many easy buckets.

In the 3rd quarter, a series of spectacular plays courtesy of the NBA's best, sealed the deal for the U.S. Back to back threes by Kobe Bryant, followed by a Lebron- Carmelo alley-oop connect, and seconds later, a stolen inbounds pass led to a basket-count for Lebron James. They were up by 26 at this point.

The team would go on to stretch the lead at one point to nearly 50, with a combination of individual domination, and with less frequency, a seamless team operation.

But the story of the game was Kobe Bryant's lock-down defense on the leading scorer in the tournament, Leandro Barbosa, who entered this game with 27 points per. For much of the first 3 quarters, Bryant would play air-tight defense on Barbosa, as soon as he got the ball. This proved to be the key to setting the tone for Team U.S.A. Barbosa would finish with 4 points.

The first three games of the tournament for the U.S. were characterized by a high-octane offense that was largely led by Jason Kidd, Carmelo Anthony, and Lebron James in the open floor. I'm sure Mike D'Antoni has a hand in much of the fast-breaking inclinations of the team.

But tonight's game required team U.S.A. to play in more half-court sets due to the Brazilians' excellent help defense. This is where veteran players like Kobe Bryant excel. With a player like him in the mix, there are no wasted movements; everything is under control. And this is just the sort of subtle leadership that the previous teams were lacking.

In an example of veteran leadership and control, Coach K can watch with confidence as Chauncey Billups drains a pull-up three in transition. In past outings for the Bronze medal teams, these sort of shots would have been all too frequent and without promise. But the new additions to this team include some tough competitors that have endured 82 seasons in the premier league, and for those like Chauncey, have once or twice reached the pinnacle of basketball. In every definition of the word, these are veterans.

On another sequence, Lebron James threw a perfect pass to a cutting Kobe Bryant.

This is showtime.

There are resemblances of the former greats, like Magic and Michael.

Lebron to Kobe.

This is their generation. They are showing the world why America is still home to the best basketball players in the world.

If it's any indication after the first 4 preliminary games, the European powers like Greece and Spain better brace themselves. The former glory of the U.S.A. is returning, and although too early to call, this team is well on its way to shining brighter than those Las Vegas lights on the horizon.

Old NBA clips

Just found these awesome clips of NBA All-Access from the 2006 NBA Allstar game.

Some behind the scenes footage and humorous moments from the game's best.

Enjoy! (I sure did).