Oh, yeah, I have a blog. What's happened in the last week and a half? (Aside from the obvious.)
1. When I said the Spurs were the best team in the West, I used some statistics, but one expression would have summed it up more quickly:
Tim Duncan > Steve Nash > Dirk Nowinzki
Duncan's a proven winner and probably the best player ever at his position. He's got two MVPs and won three Finals MVPs as the key to three championship teams. Basically, to me, he's beyond reproach.
Nash has never played in the Finals, but he has won two MVP awards. He didn't deserve either one, but it's an honor just to be nominated. Nash puzzles me because he's so wildly overrated (no defense and no rebounding, and before you say he's a point guard just remember that Jason Kidd, the best NBA point before Nash, routinely notched impressive numbers in the category), yet it's obvious he makes a huge difference to his current team. He's MVP-like in the sense that losing him would be so damaging to his team, though I've always thought that was a dumb reason to call someone MVP. (I'm more of a best player in the league kind of guy, regardless of whether his front office has a good contingency plan.) Anyway, he always plays his guts out, even if the nose thing the other night was pretty disgusting.
Nowinzki, on the other hand, played like garbage in this year's playoffs. It's true that he had a good game or two and was terrific until the Finals last year. I'm not saying he's bad at basketball or anything. I'm just pointing out that great players make a positive impact in almost all of their team's playoff games, and Nowinzki still doesn't quite do that. Unlike truly great players, he can be schemed against, which makes him the Shaun Alexander to Duncan's LaDainian Tomlinson.
2. So yes, the Mavericks got a nightmare matchup in the first round and lost. Pretty historic upset, though the Mavericks weren't as good as you'd expect a 67-win team to be. Good for the Warriors and good for Don Nelson, who I never really would have thought of rooting for otherwise.
3. Now the Warriors are playing the Jazz. For a spot in the Western Conference Finals. That sort of blows my mind, though I don't think either team has a prayer against San Antonio or Phoenix. Clearly the NBA needs some kind of reactionary change to how the playoffs progress. (Not really.) Hey, here's a question now that we're on the Jazz: who's better, John Stockton in his prime or Steve Nash now?
4. If I hadn't just checked, I could not have told you the matchups in the Eastern Conference. Pistons-Bulls and Nets-Cavs. Yay. How about that? (I would say Suns-Spurs right now is the real NBA Finals, if I hadn't just gotten burned on that Patriots-Chargers Super Bowl. But seriously, can this play out any other way?)
Comments
i'd take nash, just because he's grittier and more dimensional. stockton looked like he was running the court in cinderblock reeboks.
stockton and the pick & roll, and malone. he benefitted from a one trick pony system where he was the pony doing the trick.
nash is a better ball handler, and a better shooter.
and, by birthright i'm required to never like, nor root for any jazz team or related entity
Despite last night's loss, I still like the Spurs to take it all. And I would love to see Cleveland knock out Detroit in a battle of Rust Belt urban blight.
The only player more incapable of getting it done in the postseason than Nowinzki has to be Tracy McGrady - seriously, can that guy be any more cursed?
Nash's career stats
Stockton's
I agree that Nash is a better ball handler, or at least displays more creativity. (Back in the '90s I was told that dribbling between one's own legs was a perversion of pure basketball values, and something Stockton wouldn't stoop to.)
Nash is a better shooter and scorer. I think they're close enough as passers that the distinction is close to meaningless.
I do think Stockton was more clutch. He hit a game-winning three to put Utah in its first Finals. I can't remember a similar shot or anything close from Nash, who's never been to the Finals.
The biggest disparity comes on defense, where Stockton holds a huge edge both in the passing lanes (league's all-time steals leader) and in dirty play.
Stockton was a joke on the boards, where Nash at least used to be capable.
I think it's almost too close to call. Defense and clutch play mean more to me than scoring, though Nash is probably a little better in his prime than Stock was. I'm up in the air on this.
It's funny - I actually forget T Mac exists every year until the playoffs, when he always plays consistently.
I honestly forget about T-Mac, too-actually the whole Houston franchise, which is odd considering how many names on that team are really familiar. To be fair to McGrady, he's a career 28.8 per game scorer in the postseason.
if you aren't a nugget, you are dead to me.
the nba is lacking something big. i don't know what it is, but its like the NHL for me. its that bad.
i say you transition this blog into a full broncos rag and never look back.
; )
There is a lot of dead weight in the NBA, which is problematic for a league built around the star quality . . . and the post-season rivals the MLB season for mind-numbing longevity.
Before the transition to complete Broncos rag is complete, how about some commentary on Barry Bonds? I thought without steroids he might never reach Aaron's record - but he has bounced back surprisingly well.
i recently took some to help with my back pain.
ergo, all steroids are good.
Counter, you're ugly.
The steroids thing really is kind of interesting to me, in part because some supplements, like andro, supposedly blur the line pretty well. (Not that I'm a scientist; that's just what I've heard.) Let's not forget that steroids weren't against the rules of baseball when Bonds broke the season HR record, so blame baseball for not forcing the issue. But then if they had held so firm that there had been a lockout, fans would have blamed the greedy players and stopped watching baseball all together. So blame the public for not caring/knowing about the difference between a strike and a lockout. Man, I already stopped caring for today, though I'll definitely talk Bonds more as he closes in on Aaron's mark.