Category Archives: NBA

Twenty years ago today: Jordan drops 3s on Portland

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All sportswriters have their treasure chest of favorite games and events they covered.

This one is on my list: On June 3, 1992, I was at the Chicago Stadium to cover game 1 of Chicago-Portland in the NBA Finals.

Michael Jordan’s six 3-pointers in the first half simply was unbelievable. I attended hundreds of games in the old barn, and it’s hard to remember it getting any louder than when he hit that last three.

Actually, the long-distance performance was out of character for Jordan. Marv Albert, calling the game for NBC, said, “It’s unusual to see Michael Jordan bombing away.”

He kept bombing, climaxing with the legendary shrug to Magic Johnson, who was working as an analyst. All Johnson could say was, “My-oh-oh-my.”

Enjoy.

 

Van Gundy defends harsh comments against Orlando; discusses sensitive players

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It should be interesting when Jeff Van Gundy calls an Orlando Magic game next year.

During a teleconference Tuesday, I asked Van Gundy about his comments in a radio interview last week with Stephen A. Smith in New York. He blasted Orlando for not only firing his brother, Stan, as coach, but also for the way they handled it.

I asked Van Gundy if that fact that Stan is his brother impacted his comments. He said:

Sure it had an impact. He’s my brother. I know in the three years before Stan came to Orlando, Dwight Howard had never had a winning record.  And he had never won a playoff game, and he had never been the defensive player of the year, he had never been an all‑NBA player.  So I know all those things.

And so when he was fired, listen, teams have the right to change coaches.  Dr. Jack (Ramsey, also on call) has been through it.  Every coach has been through it except for the very few lucky ones.

But there’s a manner in which you go about changing that shows you have a dignity and an integrity about you.  And so a couple ‑‑ their callous disregard for what Stan helped them do, winning more playoff series in his five years than they have had in the entire time that they’ve been a franchise, add into that he’s my brother, sure, it impacted my comments.

But I didn’t overreact.  In fact, if anything, I underreacted.  Because when you see leadership by appeasement or appeasement as a leadership strategy, I think it’s wrong.  I think it’s wrong for the individual player.  I think it’s wrong for the team and the franchise and that’s what I said in many different ways.

Van Gundy also discussed being ranked No. 2 in a Sports Illustrated poll of NBA players regarding their favorite announcer. Charles Barkley was first.

Van Gundy got the nod despite knowing he’s ticked off a few players with his pointed comments. He said:

I never really knew how sensitive the players are (in making the adjustment from coaching to analyst). You might say 99 percent good things, and if you say one thing that you would like to see have been done differently, they get quite angry. I was doing a game in the Playoffs where a player made a basket and he jogged down court, he didn’t look directly at me, but I knew he was looking towards me, and screamed something out I couldn’t share with you for print.

 

But I was amazed, I was like, wow, you know, I’ve been ‑‑ like I say what I see, but some of it I didn’t like in a particular game and I said that.  And I didn’t realize how sensitive guys were.

 

 

 

Jeff Van Gundy on broadcasting with brother: He’d verbally assault me

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How about this NBA broadcast team? Jeff and Stan Van Gundy working together as analysts.

You’ve got to think it will be discussed if Stan doesn’t land another coaching job. All you have to do is watch the HBO Real Sports profile of the brothers to see what great chemistry they have. Stan has shown he’s just as outspoken as Jeff.

I mentioned the possibility to Jeff Van Gundy during an ESPN conference call Tuesday morning.

“It would be fun,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t get to see that much of him. He’s always busy with his job and we live in two different cities. He’d probably verbally assault me like he has his whole life.”

Van Gundy thinks Stan would be a terrific broadcaster if he decided to go that route. However, he cautioned that his brother should take things slow before deciding his next move.

“Stan is extremely smart, intelligent and insightful,” Van Gundy said. “He does everything with a high amount of candor. With the record he’s amassed, he’ll have multiple opportunities. Unlike a lot of us, he’s smart enough where he can do something outside of basketball. He’s one of those guys who can do a lot of things and do them well.”

I’ll have more from Van Gundy later today.

 

 

Kerr, Miller preview OK City-San Antonio: Two contrasting styles

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TNT’s analysts Steve Kerr and Reggie Miller did a conference call earlier this week previewing the West finals. Here are some of the highlights.

Miller on Oklahoma City Thunder Sixth Man of the Year James Harden: “People underestimate his size, his ability to get to the rim and finish plays…once he gets to the lane off the pick-and-roll, he explodes like how [former NBA player] Detlef Schrempf used to. He’s so strong with the ball and entices you to try to strip him [of the ball] and that gets him the ‘and-one’ [foul shots]…You can definitely see his growth throughout his early NBA career.”

Kerr on James Harden: “He’s really their best passer, by far, and that’s why he’s such a great complement to [Russell] Westbrook and [Kevin] Durant. Those guys are thinking first and foremost about scoring and they’re really good at it. [Harden is] a terrific passer and gives the defense a different look with his skill set. Even though he’s coming off the bench, he’s one of the best two guards in the league.”

Kerr on San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich: “It’s pretty amazing. Very few coaches have the ability to adapt and change from what they once were. Pop is ahead of the curve and has seen the league evolve and he’s evolved with it.”

Kerr on the Spurs offense: “Offensively, this is their best team ever, by far. They’re explosive, they shoot the lights out and they move the ball better than any team in the league. They are totally unselfish and they don’t turn the ball over. They execute every possession and over the course of the game, that’s very difficult. They just wear you out.”

Albert on the Spurs: “Watching San Antonio…we were talking about comparing the Spurs to the Knicks of the early ’70s in terms of San Antonio’s ball movement and intelligent play. Gregg Popovich and [GM] R.C. Buford have assembled a team that is so deep. The match-ups in this [WCF] series are going to be really intriguing.”

Kerr on his interest in taking another front office job: “I’m really happy doing what I’m doing now. I’ll never rule it out and I’ll keep the door open for the future. I have no intention to go anywhere at this point in my life. I haven’t heard from the Magic, anyway, but it’s not something I would pursue.”

Kerr on Oklahoma City EVP & GM Sam Presti incorporating the Spurs model in OKC: “There’s no question the influence from San Antonio is huge. Sam started out as an intern there and really learned everything from the Spurs. And, let’s face it, it’s probably the best model you can pattern your own franchise after. It’s an amazing story and he’s done a great job. He’s established the way the organization is going to go about its business. Sam deserves a ton of credit.”

Kerr on his first reaction when you think about playing for ‘Pop’ [Gregg Popovich]: “The reason he is so successful is the way he manages his players. He’s really, really, fun and funny and outgoing but there is also a part of you that is a little bit afraid of him.”

Miller on his first reaction: “My one word would be ‘wish.’ I wish I could’ve played for him. It’s wish. I wish I could’ve played for a coach like that.”

Kerr on how he sees San Antonio dealing with Russell Westbrook and the type of series he expects from Westbrook: “It’s a totally different match-up. The Spurs had two-and-a-half guys on [Clippers] Chris Paul the whole series. They could funnel him right into their help. Now, the spacing changes. When the game goes small, and Durant is at the ‘four,’ things change health-wise. The Spurs will have to change their coverage completely and there will be much more room for Russell Westbrook to work with.”

Miller on how he sees San Antonio dealing with Russell Westbrook and type of series he expects from Westbrook: “That will likely be the featured match-up of the series – the two point guards. Tony Parker has improved defensively but I think he’s really going to attack Russell Westbrook offensively. From an offensive standpoint, Tony Parker is in his prime. The one thing he’s going to want to do in this series is put Russell Westbrook in a defensive stance moving back.”

Miller on the Southwest Division becoming the power division in the NBA: “You look at all the teams that are in that division, absolutely. Three years ago this team [OKC] started out 3-30 and that’s with Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Nick Collison. Fast forward to today…they very well could’ve had the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. You look at the Southwest Division on a nightly basis and you’ve got to bring it. When you go against the Western Conference, you’re going against a very high-caliber team.”

Kerr on the Southwest Division becoming the power division in the NBA: “You have two of the strongest organization in basketball with Dallas and San Antonio in that same division. I think it’s more coincidence than anything. Things usually run in waves. In this particular instance you have two special players in Tim [Duncan] and Dirk [Nowitzki] who reside in the same division and grew up in strong organizations that really knew how to sustain their success. You throw that in with the emergence of Memphis, Houston…the Southwest has been a pretty good division.”

Kerr on Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich seemingly not getting nationwide respect: “He doesn’t want the accolades. Most of that is just the fact that San Antonio is a small market and the team, there’s never a whole lot of drama. They are a machine and that’s the way Pop likes it. He actually enjoys not being out in the spotlight all the time.”

Miller on the issue of raising the NBA entry age limit: “I’m torn on this. We see tennis players start at 17, 18 years old. Golf prodigies start early. If any of these guys were geniuses where they could work for Apple or Facebook at 17, 18 you can’t tell me that none of those [companies] wouldn’t hire those people [17, 18 year olds] for a certain amount of money. On that standpoint, people should have an opportunity to make a living. As a broadcaster watching the NBA, some of these guys aren’t ready from a mental standpoint. From a basketball standpoint, 80 percent of the guys aren’t ready, really to become men.”

Kerr on the relationship between Popovich and Duncan helping to make the Spurs successful: “Pop is great because he’s constantly saying publicly that none of this [the way the Spurs play] would be possible without Tim. Their personalities blend very well. Pop is a genuinely good person who cares about his players, who cares about their families…the two of them are really the perfect fit. The reason the whole thing worked [the Spurs success] is because of their ability to accept it [constructive criticism from Popovich].”

Miller on going against OKC’s Westbrook, Harden and Durant: “The one thing about the Thunder, they are a jump-shooting team. When they have their jump shot going, they’re pretty much an unbeatable team. The key is to keep them out of the paint and contest those jump shots.”

Kerr on preparing as players to get to the Conference Finals: “To win the NBA Championship you have to win four rounds of playoffs. There is a lot of stress involved. By the time you’ve advanced to the Western Conference Finals you’ve been through it for about one month so you’re either really stressed out or you’re used to the routine. These teams are both pretty experienced.”

Miller on preparing as players to get to the Conference Finals: “Stress is good. When you get down to the [Conference Finals], that series is the hardest to win…you can see that light at the end of the tunnel, you can see tape at the finish line and you’re almost there…to me that’s the toughest part when you get to the Conference Finals.”

Kerr on comparing this year’s WCF to other year’s WCF: “It’s really two contrasting styles. In terms of a match-up…it reminds me of the Dallas/Miami series of a year ago.”

 

Will basketball fans tune into Oklahoma City-San Antonio series?

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This is a long way (as in light years) from Yankees-Red Sox. Or Lakers-Celtics for that matter.

The Western Conference final between Oklahoma City and San Antonio (game 1, Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, TNT) should provide a good barometer for the growth of the NBA. This is a highly regional match-up, although it’s not even close on the passion meter as Texas-Oklahoma in college football.

San Antonio is the nation’s 36th largest market, while Oklahoma City is 44th. San Antonio has the Alamo and a great River Walk. Not sure what Oklahoma City has, but from listening to a Bill Simmons podcast with SNL’s Bill Hader, an OK City native, it doesn’t sound like much.

As far as star power, San Antonio, with four NBA titles, continues to mysteriously fly under the radar. Tim Duncan easily is the most under hyped superstar in the history of basketball. It seems the only time he and the Spurs get on national TV is if they are playing Kobe or Jeremy Lin.

In fact, when it comes to star power, the biggest in this series will be Kevin Durant. We love the latest big thing, and there will be interest to see if he, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder can take it to the next level.

The NFL has shown it is immune from the small market factor with recent Super Bowls featuring Indianapolis-New Orleans and Green Bay-Pittsburgh. We’ll watch regardless of who is out on the field.

It’s still different for other sports. Star power and market size drive the ratings. You can bet ESPN, and the NBA for that matter, breathed a big sigh of relief when LeBron, Dwyane and Miami prevailed in their series. Nothing against Indiana, but the no-name Pacers would have been a ratings killer in the East finals.

So will you watch Oklahoma City-San Antonio? Basketball fans will, for sure. But the real ratings boost comes with casual, even non-fans tuning in.

TNT will hype this series to the max. Just the same, you know they would have preferred to see Kobe and the Lakers still on the floor.

 

 

 

Nash wins NBA’s good-guy media award

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Steve Nash also rates off the court.

The two-time MVP won his first Magic Johnson Award Monday. The Pro Basketball Writers Association gives the honor to the player who combines excellence on the court with cooperation with media and fans.

Writes Paul Coro of Arizona Republic:

Nash, who finished ninth in MVP voting announced Saturday, is as accommodating with the media as any superstar has been. Nash is respectful, thoughtful and obliging with reporters. He is often forthright in his responses and does not evade the media on difficult days. With fans and visitors, Nash talks to them with sincerity and does what he can within the team’s or a game day schedule’s constraints to acknowledge them, take pictures with them or sign autographs.

Nash beat out Manu Ginobili and Chris Paul for the award. Do that means those players have to suck up to the media more next year?

Previously, the PBWA also chose Boston coach Doc Rivers for the Rudy Tomjanovich Award, given to the coach who best combines excellence in his craft with cooperation with the media and fans. The Brian McIntyre Award for a public relations staff’s cooperation with the media went to Dan Smyzek and his staff in Milwaukee.

 

Posted in NBA

Saturday flashback: ESPN first telecast of LeBron in high school

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Since you’re going to be seeing plenty of LeBron James (the networks hope) in the upcoming weeks, I thought it would be fun to dig up the first time he was exposed on the national stage.

The hype was so great for James that ESPN televised one of his high school games on Dec. 12, 2002.

This clip features the open and some early action from the game. ESPN brought in all its big guns: Dick Vitale, Bill Walton and Jay Bilas. Dan Shulman handled the play-by-play.

Vitale: “If he’s half as good as I’ve heard about him, he’s going to be one special athlete.”

Bilas: “He’s the best high school player I’ve ever seen.”

Turned out James lived up to the hype.

 

 

Sweep: Nasty word for NHL, NBA playoffs

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The ultimate buzzkill for the network: a sweep in a playoff series.

The NHL got hit with the bug with the Los Angeles-St. Louis series. The Kings’ four-game run concluded with NBC doing a 1.0 overnight rating for Sunday’s finale, by far the lowest rating for a playoff game on NBC this year. The previous low was 1.5. In fact, it was the worst rating for a playoff game on NBC since 2009.

Meanwhile, the NBA has had two first-round sweeps. USA Today’s Michael Hiestand reports:

Here’s what happens when you gets lopsided playoff series, in any sport: You lose TV viewer eyeballs.

In weekend NBA action on ABC, TNT and ESPN, nine games got lower overnight ratings than comparable TV coverage last year. Just one game — ABC’s Miami-New York game Sunday — topped last year’s levels.

The only thing worse than a sweep is a five-game series. There’s a good chance all six remaining first-round series could be closed out in game 5.

The NBA and its TV partners obviously are hoping for better luck in the second round.

 

 

ESPN late SportsCenter chooses NBA first round over Rangers-Caps thriller

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Not to beat a dead horse here, but…

I found it interesting that the late version of ESPN’s SportsCenter led with the NBA over the NHL Tuesday morning.

My son, Matt, who knows what I have been writing about ESPN’s hockey coverage (or lack thereof), called it to my attention. An avid hockey fan, he said, “I can’t believe they’re starting off with Memphis-Clippers.”

Indeed, ESPN’s producers decided Game 4 of a first round NBA series was more newsworthy than Game 5 of a second-round NHL series. And that game featured an incredible finish with the New York Rangers scoring the tying goal with six seconds remaining and then beating Washington in overtime.

Indeed, not only did ESPN begin with the Clippers game (admittedly an exciting overtime game), but it went to the San Antonio-Utah game next with extended highlights and interviews. Then, SportsCenter finally turned to Rangers-Caps.

OK, maybe ESPN opted for the Clippers out of the box because it finished late. Most viewers in the East went to bed without knowing the outcome. Also, the late SportsCenter is geared to a West Coast audience, especially in LA.

However, we still can ask the question: Would ESPN have made the same news decision if the network had the NHL rights? Given the finish and the fact that this was a pivotal game in a second-round series, wasn’t the Rangers victory more important?

Where’s that dead horse…?

 

 

 

Rose injury: What they’re saying in Chicago; differing views

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The sun finally is out this morning, but it is a dark, dark day in Chicago.

Sports talk radio almost sounds as if it is in mourning. Perhaps, the hosts are mourning the likely end to an NBA title run.

Interesting to note the views from the various columnists on the Derrick Rose injury, especially on if he should have been in the game with the Bulls up by 12.

David Haugh in the Chicago Tribune:

There’s also little doubt in my mind that Rose’s season-ending injury occurred due to bad luck, not bad judgment by Tom Thibodeau.

Later, Haugh writes:

Rose needs to work on closing sounds as silly as Thibodeau needing to practice on his intensity. But Thibodeau had nothing to apologize for regarding Rose playing. You didn’t have to be the best coach in the NBA the past two years to understand why Rose was on the floor.
This wasn’t a meaningless regular-season game. This was the NBA playoffs. Momentum matters. Sixers coach Doug Collins sought any glimmer of hope in the final minutes to make Game 2 less daunting psychologically for his team. Thibodeau wanted to do everything to prevent that momentum from developing.

Rick Morrissey had a different view in the Sun-Times:

It had been established by the middle of the season that Rose’s body and hard-driving game were not built for a condensed schedule. He had gone down with a sprained left toe in January that caused him to miss five games, and from there, his season read like the index to a human-anatomy handbook: lower back, right groin, right ankle and right foot. In all, he missed 26 regular-season games.

It meant that every decision the Bulls made during the season should have flowed from the simple truth that he was brittle. The idea should have been to keep Rose healthy, to keep him off the floor whenever opportune and, above all, to keep him away from banana peels.

Later, Morrissey writes:

“It’s part of the game,’’ Thibodeau said. “There are going to be injuries. A guy can get hurt in practice. He can hurt in the first five minutes of the game. He can get hurt at the end of the game. You can get hurt any time.’’

You can get hurt playing in highway traffic, too, but it doesn’t mean you should be doing it. It’s the coach’s job to look at the scoreboard, see that his team has a double-digit lead and get his injury-prone point guard out of the game to fight another day.

Michael Wilbon at ESPNChicago.com:

It’s an unbelievable downer that Rose is now done for the season, just when the season starts to truly matter. And I’m dogged by this feeling there was something inevitable about it. But a very smart man I know who makes his living in the basketball industry is miffed by the notion, held by many of us, that the compacted season contributed mightily (not at all, in his opinion) to Rose’s injury. While, like the rest of us, he finds the injury to be a downer, my friend says Rose’s playing in five games the past 46 days and only 39 games in four months suggests he had plenty of time to recuperate. He contends the schedule didn’t have the wear and tear on him it might have had on others, and this was just a freakish thing the schedule had nothing to do with.

Melissa Isaacson at ESPNChicago.com:

While it is entirely fair to question Thibodeau and to engage in the debate, particularly given the fact that this was the league MVP who had five previous injuries, this was not February and these were not the New Jersey Nets. Rose was en route to a game-high 23 points, 9 assists and 9 rebounds. He was driving effectively though less frequently, shooting the 3 at a 50 percent clip, looking better than he has in any game since returning from his last (ankle/foot) injury a week and a half ago.

But he was also shooting 9-for-23, had five turnovers and needed the work. This is presumably what he was being saved for.

Sam Smith at Bulls.com:

 I can’t fault Thibodeau. There’s no blame there. He has been consistent and always coached this way. It is the playoffs, and the 76ers had shaved eight points off the lead in the last few minutes. They were about to have it down to 10 with over a minute left, and you still can lose that sort of lead as the 76ers shoot threes well in streaks. Rose had played 37 minutes and sat out the first four minutes of the fourth. Yes, he’s had multiple injuries this season, which was a concern. But he just jumped and was hurt. He wasn’t hit. So that could have happened anywhere and at any time. He jumps at all times in games.

 

Posted in NBA