Another example of how careers are judged by the playoffs: Josh Smith does the swoop-in-from-behind-blocked-shot thing all the time, but when Sasha Pavlovic got Jason Kidd yesterday on a huge rejection that was right out of J-Smoove’s playbook, what did everyone compare it to? Tayshaun Prince’s famous come-from-behind block on Reggie Miller in the ‘04 playoffs … Either way, Sasha’s swat saved the day for the Cavs in Game 1. With Cleveland up four in the final minutes and struggling to maintain, J-Kidd stole the inbounds and was coasting in for a bucket that would have cut it to a one-possession game. You could just see the momentum shifting until Sasha (15 pts, 3 blks) stepped up … LeBron went for 21 points, 11 boards and 7 dimes, and unless you missed all forms of media on Sunday, you know he did it while fighting a cold. It seems everyone’s trying to make this into some kind of MJ Flu Game Jr. for LeBron, but on the real, it’s just a cold. Call us back when he’s so sick he can barely stand up and still drops 30-something in the Finals … This is going to be an interesting series. It’s clear that Jersey doesn’t have anyone who can physically match up with ‘Bron 1-on-1, but unlike a team like Detroit, their team D isn’t strong enough to bottle him up either. So when healthy and when his J is falling, LeBron could dominate. At the same time, the Cavs don’t have the defensive ability to really hang with Kidd/Vince/RJ if those three are in a groove. Yesterday Carter (7-for-23) and Kidd (2-for-11) shot horribly, Jefferson had five turnovers, and it was still a close game. Too bad Eddie House is hurt; this is pretty much why NJ picked him up, so he could come in and knock down shots in a game like Sunday’s … Is David Wesley hurt? He’s not getting any tick whatsoever, but you’d think he could be of some kind of help with his playoff experience. And speaking of guys getting no tick, what’s up with Damon Jones? Is he even on the team anymore? … Jay-Z and Brady Quinn were at the game (not together) … Will the Suns trainer still have a job this morning? Yeah, Tony Parker was doing his thing (32 pts, 8 asts) and yes, Phoenix had no answer for Tim Duncan down low (33 pts, 16 rebs), but a big reason the Suns dropped Game 1 is because Steve Nash had to sit out some crucial stretches of crunch-time with a bloody face. Nash and Parker collided late in the fourth, opening up a nasty cut on Nash’s nose that we would have sooner expected to see in the Mayweather/De La Hoya fight this weekend. The Suns’ staff couldn’t keep the bleeding under control, and according to the rules, Nash (31 pts, 8 asts) had to keep sitting down whenever his cut started bleeding … That said, it’s obvious the Suns have a problem ahead of them with San Antonio. Even with the score (111-106) more up Phoenix’s alley, the Spurs kept with that pace and still pulled out a road win … First we were hearing reports yesterday that Jeff Van Gundy was going to retire. Then it came out that Van Gundy hadn’t said anything like that and was still making up his mind. Then we heard that even if JVG didn’t retire/resign, he might get fired anyway. All we do know is that the coach is supposed to address the media today and then we’ll know what’s up. As far as the rumors of Van Gundy possibly getting fired, what’s the logic? Sure, the Rockets have egg on their face following the Jazz series, and you wonder how a team with arguably two of the Top 10 players in the League can’t get past the first round, but slow down. A few weeks ago JVG was right up there for Coach of the Year honors, and now he deserves to get fired? Besides, who else out there would be an improvement? … We’re out like Damon …
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May 7th, 2007 at 5:45 am
Fish says:
Although Houston has met with some success this season and hung together through some tough injuries, you can’t really say they fully gelled when all their pieces came back together. Personally, I think some of the responsibly must sit with the coach.
Also, for McGrady to come out and publicly lambaste his team mates more than once near the end I fear that the atmosphere Van Gundy has created in the Houston camp is not a positive one. If McGrady were to come out after their ultimate defeat it would have been one thing, but to undermine his confidence in his team mates throughout the process of a series is just wrong. They need a more positive coach who can bring this talented roster together.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:04 am
K-Dizzle says:
Yeah, I said it before, but I’ll say it again…Steve Nash is the MVP. Name another candidate who’s still in the playoffs. Dude was gushing DNA and the Suns lost by what? Say what you wanna say. Matrix is a stud( all NBA ‘NO DEFENSIVE TEAM” - sorry but the voters are high). Bad news for me - these people also vote for the MVP…Amare can rebound and put it on your dome, Raja can lock you down and Barbosa can light you up, but Steve Nash is the lion from VOLTRON that connects them all. He’s the V-12 in your Lamborghini.Dirk? Nope. I don’t care when the voting is. Josh Howard held that team down. Kobe? Not when he don’t average 50. Lebron? nope. D-Wade? Nope. This is what Ray Emery is going thru with all the pasty hockey analysts who say he isn’t “good enough to win it all”. See thru the COLOUR, haters.
May 7th, 2007 at 6:15 am
A$$Cube says:
I didn’t watch the game but I catch the recap later on, and Pavlovic block on JKidd was dis-gus-ting ! Kidd just cruised the way he’s always done, went up unfolding his right-handed layup and got smacked! by the Cavs swingman. That’s what happened when you’re not athletic enough to change the ball from hand to hand while in air…
Duncan and Parker just perform classic surgery on the Suns. French dude is too much for Nash to lock up and Duncan is still the best inside player in the world. I can’t see the Spurs losing this series — and the Playoffs.
If the Rockets fire JVG, it’ll show how desperate they are. They lost because of the lack of guts from Pumpkin and Yao. Both of them should have averaged 30 apiece against the Jazz — the good-old Kobe/Shaq way. Back to JVG, I think he’s done a pretty nice job this season and as a long-time Knicksfan, I wish him the best if he wants to call it a career. Dude deserve some credit for what he’s done all those years for NYC and Clutch City.
May 7th, 2007 at 8:46 am
SoopaTroopa says:
looks like eva longoria is paying for tony parker’s acting classes…after the collision, did anybody else see tony parker go down like a 25 cent hooker and lay there for a good 2 minutes?…while nash looks like he got the “Karl Malone” treatment??…awesome…
May 7th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Bron says:
I was at the champion center on saturday and they already have House running through shooting drills but no contact stuff yet. So he could be around if they push it to a game 7. Nenad is still done till the finals(if they make it). And havn’t you learned yet, people hype up everything lebron does. He could play with a hangnail and people would make it like hes TO playing through the jacked up knee. Also the reason they compared it to prince and not josh…JOSH IS EXPECTED TO DO THAT. Hes what, 6′9 with hops. So him pinning people isn’t really that huge of a idea. Now when pav comes out of left field and pins a game changing shot, that kinda surprises people.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:21 am
Tom from Cleveland says:
Obviously you guys didn’t watch any Cavs games this year. David Wesley is WASHED UP. Go on YouTube and check out the videos of him missing wide-open layups. I’m glad he’s only been in suits during the playoffs. I never understood why the Cavs ever bothered dressing him.
As for Damon, Daniel “Boobie” Gibson brings the same outside shooting, with much more defensive ability. That’s why DJ’s on the bench.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Bron says:
How are you still chirping that nash is MVP When they lost? at least wait till and if they win a game. And your argument was who is still in the playoffs? wow, way to back that up. so then lebron is still in the mvp hunt too huh? Like i said, nash is a good player, but he can’t even take his team all the way when hes playing with ALL-STARS(both on mavs and the suns) let alone a crappy team. He was easily replaced on dallas, and hasn’t changed the suns much either..wow they get most assists, but still can’t win it all. They were in the playoffs with marbury (no assists but better defense) and their also in the playoffs with nash (all assists, no defense). You could put Mike conley on that team and they’d still be in the playoffs with that core. as marbury proved, any B list pg could run that team, and if nash was the savior to all PGs like everyones tryin to make it, he’d have 4 rings by now, but he can’t carry a team the way the greats did or the way people wanna make it seem. Also,they lost cuz duncan had a time machine and got his youth back and flambasted amare.
May 7th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Jay says:
call us when Josh Smith has a block like that in the playoffs
May 7th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Amar says:
I still don’t get why people were so on the Rox jock and expected them to beat utah in the first place . . . utah is a better team, and the biggest advantage (yao) was completely neutralized. utah had 2 guards scoring like crazy on them this season — but still managed to pull out wins. yao made it so hard for t-mac that t-mac had to play the perfect game to win.
when you’re in a situation where one of your players has to play the perfect game to win then you shouldn’t be called anything but the underdog.
houston looked good when half of utah looked bad. (boozer, andrei, memo) the longer the series went the more exposed houston got. too bad the media didn’t get the memo. yao sure did on defense though.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Bron says:
lol “get the memo” thats catchy. I wouldn’t say that utah was a better team but they did chop houston up at time. Houston should be lucky though, if they won they would of had to face golden state and I can’t even imagine how bad the running game they play would of made yao look. He would of had Matt Barnes puttin up 40 on him. He would of fouled out by half time.
And Jay, forget calling us when josh blocks a shot in the playoffs. How about calling us when josh is in the playoff period
May 7th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
jonny says:
Yao shouldn’t have been guarding a PF. It’s obvious that boozer is too quick for him. They should have put him on Memo, or at least tried. Memo is not quick and doesn’t move around much. Sure, the rockets might have lost some rebounds, but is that worse than letting boozer get whatever he wants?
May 7th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Bron says:
uh, they tried puttin him on memo, cuz memo was guarding him and blcoked a few of his shots. Problem was that memo stays at the 3 point line and yao doesn’t come out. so 3 points easy. Face it, yao isn’t a defensive threat, hes soft on offense and has no foot speed. He can’t guard memo outside the paint, cant guard boozer in the paint, who is he gonna guard?
May 7th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Bron says:
Memo even said yao was too predictable and easy to guard…memo….not even 3rd team all defense and hes sayin yao is a chump..i’d trade yao for dwight howard and jj reddick
May 7th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
shock_theatre says:
Phoenix lost and they lost at home. Very important loss for them, their season is over(as usual). We see what both “MVPS” will truly do in the playoffs. Nba and Dime don’t vote these overhyped clowns up again. Please!
Playoffs exit left.
San Antonio and Detroit in the Finals.
(Kinda like Golden State though, good story if they push forward).
This year’s playoffs are alot more exciting than years lately.