The Irrational Confidence Guys: Mr and Mr Smith

Two Smiths, two irrational confidence guys and two players who have won important playoff games for their teams. In fact, both came up absolutely huge, and thats the point of an irrational confidence guy, sometimes it pays off.

Josh Smith

Houstons mid-season acquisition paid off. Josh Smith was essentially dropped by the Pistons this year due to his poor fit in the team. Again and again he has been critiqued for the extreme amount of deep two's and threes he takes as the athletic big man that he can be. Although the thing that makes Josh irrational, is despite the lack of success as a shooter, he just keeps on pulling the trigger. Now we look now with him at Houston and think yeah its fine, thats the offence, shoot lots of threes, but he was doing this well before he put on a rockets uniform.
In recent past it has been almost laughable how eager he can be to get up ill-advised shots, although isn't that why you want an ICG on you team, because one day, it might just work out.

That day eventually came for  Josh Smith, game 6 of the western conference semi-finals, a closeout game where the Clippers had the Rockets on the ropes. Yet with Harden on the bench, all those ridiculous threes seemed to be just fine.

 on'ya JSmooth.

JR Smith

A rather different ICG, although one just the same. JR is the guy that can go 3 of 18 for a game, or 8 of 12 from 3, you never know. Although today he is growing up slightly, having played beside a leader such as Lebron in a winning environment and not have the temptation of the raging night life available in NYC.

You never know what you are gonna get with JR, sometimes he can be massive. Ignite the offence with he shot making ability whilst playing reasonable defence, although other times he get punches someone and gets ejected.
You just never know -

Although he absolutely mutilated the Hawks in game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. When it goes right with JR, it goes right.

Breaking News: Austin Rivers takes over GM Responsibilities for Reeling Father

The Clippers Clipped.

Personally, in the past, I have disliked the notion of calling the clippers chokers because they have been unable to reach the conference finals. Sure they haven't made it and they have been good enough, although its not like they are playing in the NBA's 2nd division (the East). They have been competing with the likes of the OKC Thunder and Spurs for the last 4 playoffs, and to say they choked because they didn't win is ridiculous, they just got beaten by different teams.

Although after this 7 game series with the Houston Rockets, I'm not too sure. They were the better team, playing better basketball, and had a 3-1 lead in the series. This year is the first in which they have been the favorites to make the conference finals (after beating the spurs). They were comfortably favoured, yet they couldn't finish the job. So maybe now we can justify calling them chokers, but ill leave that up to you.

Game 7 was a mess for the Clippers, after watching it again, they just got beaten. From the get go they just didn't look like the team they were in game the first 4. They were shaken. Their big three had great statistical games sure, but that's what happens when you play just about every minute. And to me, that was the biggest problem. For Game 7 the Clippers came out slow, they didn't have the urgency they needed to be playing with, and they couldn't match the Rockets. Chris Paul didn't start aggressive enough, and when he really started to get it going it almost felt too late. A lot of the problems we all knew the Clippers had, ended up coming back to bite them, they just didn't have enough players they could rely on in the playoffs. And it resulted in a team, that just seemed mentally, not to mention physically, exhausted.

Since the crushing game 7 loss, fingers are being pointed. Because who put this team together for the 2014-15 NBA season anyway, Coach/GM Doc Rivers. Doc is undeniably one of the best Coaches in the league, although his tenure as the general manager of the Clippers has not been as successful as many expected. With the Dudley trade, Hawes accusation (and burying) and the self sacrificing effort to keep his own son in the league, Doc created a title contender with only 6.25 capable players, sometimes less.

The avalanche of expectations is now crashing down upon the champion head coach.

Although in breaking news, sources report that the Head Coaches favourite son has stepped up and taken the role as general manager to allow his father to focus more on leading the team.

After an up and down postseason Austin felt like he wasn't being utilised how he had hoped. He admitted that after being purchased, at the high cost of his fathers human soul, he would be given a high position in the team, simply because of his dads favour.
Austin has thus decided to step up and take over management responsibilities for the basketball organisation.
Clearly covering up the frustration he is experiencing due to his lack of minutes, he said about the move "That's what we do in this family, when one of us is struggling the rest of us are here to help out."

In response to the move, Doc refused to respond although was obviously disgusted and disappointed with this offsprings actions. He was heard mentioning off record "that at least I don't have to coach his arse anymore."

We imagine that this may cause an extreme rift in both the family life and working life of the duo. As we have seen around the head office tension can be the undoing of teams, although we can only hope that that this Rivers duo turns out more successful than Docs solo escapades.

- Sorry for the Satire

Can the Conference Finals redeem the Eastern Conference?

Really, it was all heading to this, even though for most of the time, it didn't seem like it at all. The Atlanta Hawks, the epitome of team basketball in the modern era. Or at least they can be, or we think they can because they once were, for a bit.
Earlier this year they went on a 19 game win streak, driven by team basketball which shocked everyone. They moved the ball, stretched the floor, Kyle Korver shot the crap out of it from the two spot in their Eastern All Star line-up. A "star studded" team which many have agreed doesn't have a star at all. seriously, who is their best player? It can be each of their starting five at any given time.

Although, they ended the season playing reasonably average basketball, and through the first few rounds of the playoffs were not impressing anyone despite finishing with the Easts best record (60-22).

Say what you like about the awfully miserable, catastrophically old, even laughable NBA organisation we know as the Brooklyn Nets, yet they did put up some sort of fight and gave the Easts one seed a bit of trouble. And even without John Wall for the most part the Wizards had many people thinking that we were going to be seeing BB's delicious jumper for at least another round. The Hawks seemed to have lost their flair, some games they just couldn't hit shots, and others their team defence just wasn't up to scratch, and now many are left wondering if we are ever going to see the team that shocked the East.
Although despite the adversity they faced in the playoffs, they are still here, and so are the Cavs.

Whom have had to overcome their fair share of problems. Primarily coming in the form of injuries. Unlike Atlanta the Cavs started off the year in an absolute mess, which is expected. No team who has brought a whole new design together, is good straight away. Especially when three high ego players who demand a lot of the ball play together for the first time.


Although they made some major changes, got their defence sorted out and brought it all together to finish the season on a high. Then the playoffs hit, along with the plague of injuries. Yet, they are still here. Due to some outrageous play from those they had left, and a supporting cast carrying Lebron's poor efficiency (for him), both shooting the ball and controlling it.
Last year in the playoffs he averaged 56% from the field and 40% from deep, this year so far just 42% FG and an abysmal 14% from three (Per: basketball-reference.com). Got to mention also the apocalyptic failure, collapse, choke, whatever you want to call it from the Bulls which did help them out some. Seriously the Bulls couldn't have had a much better opportunity to finally beat Lebron. But again he knocked them down like a teenage guys confidence that just cant get his high school sweetheart to go out with him.

Think about this, if I told you at the start of the playoffs that the 4 top seeds from each conference would be playing each other in the conference finals; you would have laughed at me, or at least have had a great deal of questions. Sure the Cavs and Warriors were favourites to come out, but you would have said, "are you sure, are Houston even a real 2 seed, and the Hawks haven't been playing great, and don't count out the Spurs and Clippers man?"
So we get to the 2nd round and all is on track, and I tell you again, that 1 and 2 seeds will make the conference finals.
After game 1 of each we defiantly wouldn't have believed it, each team lost, Kevin love is out, the Bulls are looking pretty good. The Clippers just passed the Spurs and look like they may sweep the Rockets and the Hawks continue to be average.
So many times throughout the last few weeks it seemed highly unlikely that we would be where we are now. JR suspension, Kyrie injury, Clippers go up 3 to 1, The Truth (PP) trash talking the Hawks bench and then nailing the 3 in game 5.
Yet somehow, even though several times we may not have been able to believe it, the four teams with the "best chance" of making it are here.

And now, in the East at least, bias's aside, we have what we have all really been wanting to see. Hawks-Cavs.
All season long we have been whinging about the peasants that make up the Eastern conference compared to the kings of the West.
The only real beacons of hope were a transcendent basketball machine that went on a regular season tear before slowing down, and a team lead by its super star that once got rejigged starting to make some noise.

And now they are the two that are left. At the climax of the conference the two that kept us interested through the season are the only ones which remain. The Cavs a few men down from where they started and the Hawks still underachieving, yet that may just create the best result for all us fans. There is a chance that this matchup may single handily reconcile and rectify the rubble that has been the 2014-15 East Coast basketball venture.


The FIBA World Cup: The Unveiling of the Next Shaq

There has never been a basketball player much like Shaquille O'Neal. The 7 footer who will forever been known as the most dominant player of all time, until now. Shaq was the definition of a beast, he pushed others around like a child pushing around toy cars and made his opponents look like that very kid. We have never seen someone much like him, the combination of immense size, immeasurable strength and irrefutable power. Although with the coming of the FIBA world cup has also arrived the second coming of this monstrous type of basketball player.

Only a few games in it is undeniable as to the emergence of the next Shaq like superstar. Coming in the form of one of our very own Australian ballers. They call him the "Outback Shaq,"and they call him that for a reason.

That Asian Guy is 7 foot 2 and weighs 123kgs

Nate Jawai, the Outback Shaq, built like a truck, moves like a deer and has a booty to be jealous of. He truly has all the attributes needed to become the next Shaq, I suppose only time will tell. Considering, that since he was born in august 2001 he has just ticked over to 13 years old. The 6 foot 10 Australian teenager has an extremely promising future and during a recent interview was asked about that very thing. Although due to his teenage stage in life his voice broke several times and he ended up just walking off embarrassed. His mother, who travels with him everywhere and still tucks him into bed later told reporters that since he had an early growth spurt, "puberty seems to be taking its time."
As the back up centre, its hard to say exactly what his future will show, due to the lack of heavy minutes, although we can be certain he will be as good as the famous Shaquille O'Neal.

Several NBA scouts are already reporting back to their respective teams on the 13 year old centre. Saying "yes he is young, but just think how much growing he has ahead of him."
A Spurs scout wondered "is he actually 13?" Although that scout has not been heard from since asking the question and it is recommended that no one else do so.

Be aware, and be waiting, because the Outback Shaq is going to take over the basketball world. Touchstone Pictures knows this, and have recently offered Jawai a lead role in their latest film. A story about a rough outback Australian kid from a broken home who is sad about his dad or something and then runs into a massive black genie and then a heap of incoherent bullcrap happens. They are calling it KaShiiiiiiii#$%^ttttttttttt.

- Sorry for the satire -

Offseason Boredom: NBA Playoffs Historically, where basketball actually happens.

The Boston herald, under the Celtics and NBA category just posted an article about how an NBA referee is going to marry her long time partner. I'm so sorry palmer, but I care more about the itching unwanted lump on the underside of my lower leg than I do about your impending nuptials.
The majority of offseason moves are over, just waiting on Kevin Love to hurry up and flipping happen. But besides that we are into the ongoing drone of the offseason. The world champs will come around soon I suppose, which will be great to get to see Anthony Davis and KD wreck havoc on the world. Alongside a band of guards, besides Klay, all of whom were in the conversation for worst Defender in the League. (Jimmy Harden, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard, and Kyrie Irving, D Rose who couldn't stop anyone last year, and assuming John Wall doesnt make it), (which he should because it would be so much more fun to watch, they should play him at the 2 with Steph).

Also looks like Jim had quite the lazy offseason.

Maybe Harden learnt a few too many things from Hasheem back in the day. In light of this, why hasn't there been any talk about the outrageous slapping that Houston took this offseason? In the year it has all been leading up to, their big break out, they just got considerably worse. Whoring themselves out for a star who never came.

Anyway, I also don't really understand why there is so much talk about season stats. Fans love raw stats, I get that, and thats fine, its fun to look at box scores and season averages. Although there isn't nearly enough conversation about postseason stats. Because really, that is the time when basketball, real competitive basketball actually happens. During the season, players are resting, teams have stopped trying and basketball doesn't completely happen. This is a look back on some of the best stat lines from Finals MVP's over the years going back to as late 1980. A real fan should have a historical awareness of how good some players actually were, when it really mattered.

I totally understand and agree that raw stats don't tell us even close to everything, but it's still fun. Only listing the best and most important ones, (these are playoff averages, not just Finals).

1980 MVP - Magic Johnson (rookie)
PPG    - 18.3
APG   - 9.4
TRPG - 10.5
SPG   - 3.1
PER   - 22.1

1983 MVP - Moses Malone
PPG    - 26
TRPG -18.2
SPG    -1.5
BPG   -1.9
PER   - 25.7

1984 MVP - Larry Bird
PPG    - 27.3
APG   - 5.9
TRPG -11.1
SPG   -2.3
BPG   -1.2
PER   - 26.3

1986 MVP - Larry Bird
PPG    - 25.9
APG   - 8.7
TRPG - 9.3
SPG   - 2.1
PER   - 23.9

1987 MVP - Magic Johnson
PPG    - 26.2
APG   - 8
TRPG - 13
PER   -  26.2

1990 MVP - Isiah Thomas
PPG    - 20.9
APG   - 8.0
TRPG - 5.5
SPG   -2.2
PER   - 21.0

1993 MVP - Michael Jordan - (along with every other year being just about the same)
PPG    - 35.1
APG   -  6.0
TRPG - 9.7
SPG   - 2.2
BPG   - 1.0
PER   - 32.0

1994 MVP - Hakeem Olawajuan
PPG    - 33.1
APG   - 4.5
TRPG -11.1
SPG   - 1.7
BPG   - 4.0
PER   - 27.7

1999 MVP - Shaquille O'Neal
PPG    - 30.7
APG   - 3.1
TRPG -15.4
BPG   - 2.4
PER   - 30.5

2003 MVP - Tim Duncan
PPG    - 24.7
APG   - 5.4
TRPG -15.4
BPG   - 3.3
PER   - 28.4

2006 MVP - Dwyane Wade
PPG    - 28.4
APG   - 5.0
TRPG -5.9
SPG   - 2.2
BPG   - 1.2
PER - 26.4

2007 MVP - Tony Parker
PPG    - 24.7
APG   - 5.8
TRPG -3.4
SPG   - 1.1
PER - 18.7

2009 MVP - Kobe Bryant
PPG    - 30.1
APG   - 5.5
TRPG -5.3
SPG   - 1.7
PER - 26.8

2012 MVP - LeBron James
PPG    - 30.3
APG   - 5.6
TRPG -9.7
BPG   - 0.9
STL    - 1.9
PER - 30.3

Obviously I skipped a few, Mr Big Shot, because that was more of a team performance, and same with Dumars and Kawhi. Not to bring them down in any way although their performances just weren't on par with some of the others. As fans we should have a far stronger appreciation for the the legends of the game, because of what they did when it truly counted. Not during the dull marathon of the regular season but the exciting sprints of the playoffs, when every game is played to make the season worth while.

Comment, on anything you pull out of this. From who was the most impacting MVP legend of the last 30 years to why it is forgotten that Wade's and Kobe's lines where almost identical. Go ahead.

Take a moment to remind yourself of the greats so you don't go insane due to reading the 59th article on the Love trade that hasn't happened yet or the marriage of long time lovers.

Comeback Kids

Everyone loves a comeback story. After seeing Russell Westbrook as his dominant self in the playoffs, fans generally forgot the fact that he had recently endured eight million knee surgeries. His comeback, and return to past form was literally unfathomably smooth. In retrospect it seems unbelievable that a person could undertake 3 knee surgeries, (the knee being an important part of the leg and the leg an important part of basketball) within a year and still be able to contribute and any level. Although he returned with next to no hiccups, to the outrageously athletic and explosive form of not really playing defence "most of the time" level that he usually competes at.
On top of that he averaged 26 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds a game during the post season, something that hasn't been done since the Big O.
He absolutely deserved the ESPYS award for best comeback athlete of the year.

Although I want, and the NBA world needs another one. The League needs Derrick Rose back.

An injury of any form is awful to comprehend and deal whether it's your own, a team mate's or your favourite player's.
But to see a superstar forced to the sideline for the best part of 2 years is demoralising.
I'm not a Rose or Chicago fan, yet I miss Derrick. No one wants to see someone as exciting as he having to fight injuries just to get on the court at this young point in his career.
He has always been ridden for not having a good enough shot as "his shot mechanics are not fluid," and he isn't a vocal enough leader as well as an average defender. I agree, he generally took far to many deep threes relative to his shooting percentage, but all players have flaws, and really, I don't give a flip about any of that right now. I just want him back on the court.
Explosive, blindingly quick, handles like a F1 car and one of the best finishes around. An MVP calibre player, even if he did win the "can't be stuffed voting for LeBron this year," trophy.
Derrick Rose needs to come back.

The East desperately needs him, if he can be healthy this year, there is no reason why the Bulls don't win the East. Not because they will be great, but because the East sucks. Washington could be up there, but they are young still, Miami will be strong but will have to adapt to their new changes, plus Wade is a question mark. The Pacers had no offence last year and just lost their primary offensive source. Cleveland have a lot to figure out, they will be good, because they have the best player in the L, although it always takes time to sort out how players work together on a new team. And that will be even more noticeable if they get Kevin Love. Yeah they will have a great "Big 3," but they are going to have a lot of issues as well. LeBron and kyrie both need the ball, and both work out of Isolations, Love isn't a rim stopper and Varajao can only play 30 games a season. Then they have whoever they don't trade and some old people most likely, it will take time.
Remember Miami's big three was "a bust" most of their first year together, and those three were far better than the three Cleveland could possibly put together.

(In saying that, if there was a market for it, Im betting that whoever comes out of the West will sweep the team that comes out of the East).

The Bulls biggest problem last year was scoring the ball. A healthy Rose does that. Pau also provides options for them on the court. With their offensive floor general back, the Bulls will be good again.

Basketball needs Derrick to come back. He is too much of a distinctive player not too. A successful return will be great for the League, because no one wants to have to consider T-Mac in this situation.

Dwyane Wade: the Finals, the Aftermath and the Offseason

As a long time Dwyane Wade fan, the last few weeks have been very uncomfortable. There are just so many questions that I have no answers too. Watching Wade throughout this season has been a roller coaster. 

In some ways he has added to his legacy this year, shooting an outrageous 55% from the field and being a star on a team who made it to their 4^th straight finals. In other ways he has shown more of his age than ever before, clearly unable to play at a high level every night of the NBA season. Through the playoffs, Wade looked very good in patches, again being very efficient and making huge plays on both ends. He also had a strong start to the finals. He then faded quickly over the last three games, showing the state of his body and also state of his mind. He’s simply missed too many games and hasn’t taken enough shots over the past year to maintain his very important level on confidence. 

This heat roster, Wade being the prime case, looked far worse in the Spurs series than they probably are. Coming up against a hungry, ready force like the 2014 spurs would have been very tough. On the back of three straight finals appearances, and with a team so reliant on players at the very end of their careers, the heat simply didn’t have the energy to play with the spurs, and they knew it. I cant imagine how hard it would be mentally to play with a high level on energy and commitment when your opponent is running an almostperfect offence and not missing any shots in doing it. There were many times throughout the series when the heat simply didn’t work hard enough, or weren’t able to contest the shots that they had easily contested in the previous three years. Even when they did play adequate defense, the spurs hit the shots anyway. This made the heat look so much worse than they probably deserved to look. The spurs were the worst possible team to come up against, and they took full advantage of the heats deficiencies. Also, a team like Miami thrive off missed shots and getting out in transition. Its very hard to do that when your opposition literally never misses a shot. The boys were flat, deflated, exhausted, and outmatched, Wade included. By the end of the series Wade could not play the defense required, and on the other he consistently beat his man off the dribble (often spectacularly) but then almost never attempted to finish at the rim. His confidence and energy were shot. Wade constantly and effectively made outrageous passes to wide open perimeter shooters, who missed every time. Chalmers, Cole, Battier etc were awful, and Wade couldn’t simply go into top 20 all time mode anymore. That season is over.

So as a Wade fan, what do I want to happen now? As a fan who likes seeing him win championships, the ideal situation this off season is obvious. Wade follows Lebrons lead in opting out, and the signs a new 3 or 4 year deal worth less per year allowing the heat to retool. Wade could still be paid respectfully, but allow the team to add depth of which the heat had literally none of for most of the season. The perfect comparison here is Tim Duncan ,who in my mind has become the all time great franchise player. In 2012, Duncan had 4 rings, multiple MVPs and a top 10 NBA career. If Duncan had asked the Spurs for a max deal to see him out, he would have earned it,though it would have prevented the Spurs from filling out their roster withquality role players as they have now. Instead Duncan took a 3 year deal worth around 10 million per year. Still an amount that aligned with his worth in terms of production, but not a deal that handcuffed his team financially. 

On the other hand Kobe was in a similar position last year, coming off a majorinjury after a very productive, but in no way elite season. Kobe decided totake a 2 year deal worth roughly 24 million per year. Again, Kobe had earned this pay day after all he has done during his great career for the Lakers. Even though his current production did not warrant anywhere near that money, hiscareer had justified giving Kobe whatever he asked for. The issue here is that Kobe has long said that his only motivation to keep playing is to win championships. By signing that contract, Kobe signed away any chance he had of achieving that dream, and he knew it. So now the narrative quite tragicallygoes, that Kobe has been let down by the Laker front office for not surrounding him with quality teammates, while Tim Duncan is lucky to continue to play with great team mates. The truth is that both of these players sealed their fatewhen they signed these last contracts. This brings us back to Wade. Wade could easily decide to opt in to his current deal, and earn just over 20 million for the next 2 years. This would leave him at age 35 with 3 rings, and a top 20 NBA career. 

Nothing to sneeze at and he has earned the right to do this. If this is his decision, I will be disappointed that Wades championship window has closed, but not angry. The media of course will go after Wade as they often seem to do. While Kobe was signing an extension, Wade would simply be playing out his current deal, and should not be heavily criticized for it. If he wants to win however, he will opt out and sign or more Duncanesque deal. I think that Wade probably will do the winning thing over the money thing, but I cant be sure. I would not be surprised if Wade already knows his plan, and knows exactly how things will go from here. Theres no way that he, LeBron , Riley and Co haven’t already discussed this in detail. Wade is probably waiting it out, letting the world talk about him as he has always liked the attention (so does every other player in the L, Durant and Rose included).

This whole thing is just very uncomfortable, rooting for your boy to accept that hes not as good as he used to be. Im not ready for this heat team to stop competing for rings, although Im not the one who has to give up 10 million a year. Of course the average NBA fan can just move on, find a new guy, treat their old favorite like that Great Aunt with dementia that you have stopped talking about. But I cant, even at this point he's still worth watching for the chance that he will fake right, go left while splitting the double team, gather with two strides going opposite directions and then finish at the rim. It still happens sometimes, but not as much as I would like.