| 05 April 2009
var iamInit = function() {try{initIamServingHandler(320,456,821347,"http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/Resources/Css/css2.css")}catch(ex){}}()It came from the Associated Press and was in the Orlando Magic's thumping of the Cleveland Cavaliers recap. It wasn't an error of reporting the wrong events of the game. It wasn't an error of poor analysis of the contest at hand or what was at stake. It was simply an error in not really knowing the game of basketball in terms of pickup basketball. Here's the quote and let me know if you can spot the mistake:
Never in LeBron James' entire basketball life could he recall being down by more than 40 points.Not in the NBA. Not in high school. Not even playing pickup basketball as a kid.
Who in the hell has ever been down 40 points in a game of pickup basketball as a kid?!? Most often, you're playing to 11, 15, 17, or 21 points. I don't know many kids that have ever played to the rules of Clippers play-by-play man, Ralph Lawler that states first to 100 wins. I don't know if people play pickup games to 11 in Ohio but start out both team scores at -40. And I don't know if LeBron James has been such a prodigy his whole life that in every game of pickup basketball he played as a kid had an official, four quarters, and a box score afterwards. But what I do know is that I stopped reading this recap after I read those first two lines.
Alright, now on to the rest of the observations:
Well, that settles THAT. Normally, when a drubbing like this happens with the team on the losing end of the stick needing the victory, we (or I ) chastise the team of professionals with words of failure, giving up, and lack of pride. No team fighting for their playoff lives against the one team that stands in their way should give up 39 points by the end of the quarter, 81 by the end of the half, 114 by the end of the third, and an embarrassing 140 at the end of the game. The Mavericks all but clinched their playoff lives with a win over the Suns by shooting 60% from the field and 60% from the three-point line. That is NOT prideful basketball by a Suns team.
But something keeps me from wanting to bury this Suns team without mentioning that they were set-up to fail, whether it was accidentally or on purpose. Now, I am positive that Steve Kerr and Robert Sarver did NOT put together a team of players that would miss the playoffs. This isn't Major League. But they did put this team and their fan base into a completely up-hill situation. They cheated on the Suns fans like a guy/girl cheats on their girlfriend/boyfriend. They formed a relationship with the Suns fans with a fast-paced, fun brand of basketball that was enticing and exciting. Then they went behind their backs to form a "team that can compete for a championship." They kept all the elements of this running team and decided to go intimate with the idea of a defensive team when the Suns lacked those pieces. And when it was all said and done, they tried to get back with their run'n'gun girlfriend because they realized the defensive team relationship wouldn't work out.
The Suns fans are now left hurt, confused, disappointed, and hopelessly still in love with their team. They'll keep going out with this Suns team. And just try to put this ugly episode behind them.
Mavs' fans, get ready for the Lakers in the first round.
Jason Kidd Passes Magic Johnson
During that blowout and near-clinching victory over the Suns, the Mavericks point guard needed 13 assists to tie Magic Johnson on the all-time career assists list and 14 to pass him. Well, he settled that early by getting 16 assists in the first half of the game and passing Magic into sole possession of third all-time in NBA history with an assisted mid-range jumper by Josh Howard. And it starts to bring up the situation of deciding Jason Kidd's place in history. Now, you don't HAVE to figure out where Jason Kidd fits into the point guard rankings of NBA history but it is an interesting conversation have.
Kidd has long been one of the most frustrating players for me in NBA history and this was long before his knee injury and the subsequent 40 points he gave up to Anthony Johnson in a playoff game. He was always a jumpshot away from being in the conversation of greatest point guards of all-time. In his day, he was a top-notch defender that could shut down the best point guards and create points off of his defense. He's always been one of the greatest passers in the NBA. And he could get to the basket fairly easily, especially on a fast break. But he was always a terrible shooter. He had what Steve Nash always needed on the defensive end but also needed what Steve Nash always had in the shooting department.
And yet, Steve Nash is probably regarded in a higher manner right now for a lot of NBA fans because our memories as fans tend to be in the short-term. Steve Nash will never end up having close to the amazing career that Kidd enjoyed. But has Jason Kidd ever had a prime that would match Steve Nash's prime years? That's a whole other argument in itself.
Congratulations to Jason Kidd, who will pass Mark Jackson next season for second on the all-time list in NBA assists.
Will Bynum Is Better than Stackhouse and Zeke in Fourth
At the start of the regular season, who would have thought that Andrew Bynum would not be the best Bynum in the league in the month of April? Besides Lakers fans and fantasy owners? Everybody else. (Just kidding, Lakers fans). But it's true. Will Bynum has not only been the best Bynum in basketball over the past two months (by default of course) but he's also the greatest single quarter scorer in Detroit Pistons history.
Bynum scored 26 of the Pistons' 36 points in the fourth quarter of the Pistons' much-needed victory over the Charlotte Bobcats to nearly guarantee the Pistons don't miss the post-season for the first time since the 2000-2001 season. It knocked the Bobcats three games out of the playoffs with five to play. Bynum made all six of his field goals and 12 of his 14 free throws to help lead the Pistons to victory. He beat the previous record of 25 points in a quarter set by Isiah Thomas, and later matched by Jerry Stackhouse, after Richard Hamilton was ejected before the start of the fourth quarter.
If you were a savvy/lucky fantasy owner, Will Bynum could be the reason you're writing annoying emails and message board braggings this morning.
More Bad Reporting
I just wanted to end this on another pretty egregious mistake, this time by ESPN and more specifically Hannah Storm or whomever writes her on-air material. I don't like being the type of person that mentions when someone has a slip-up or minor mistake, only to plaster the web with the Youtube video to bring about constant ridicule for an honest mistake. But like the inexcusable mistake above in the AP recap, this one seemed like just not paying attention to detail. Hannah Storm was giving us the highlights of the Clippers-Lakers contest from last night and talking about the 16-0 run that the Clippers used to get back into the game. She mentioned that the Clippers started the assault against the Lakers' reserves. Well, I checked to see who was on the court with the magic of TiVo.
And guess who was out there? Kobe Bryant and Trevor Ariza. Not exactly, Sun Yue and Adam Morrison giving up a lot of points. And that was just for the first highlight of the montage. On the next couple of highlights during this run "given up by the Lakers' reserves," I saw Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Now, why make a point of saying it was the reserves? Is Hannah a Lakers' fan that doesn't quite want to admit that the Lakers aren't storming (poor word choice, I know) in the playoffs? It just doesn't make any sense. I hate being petty like that but it was just something that furthered my assertion that Hannah Storm has no business trying to spice up my morning SportsCenter. Go back to studio work for network sports, please. I really am not interested in someone trying to pass her off as a sexy way to start my morning. I'd much rather look at SVP.
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