He scored 32 points with nine rebounds and nine assists in the most important 48 minutes of his blossoming NBA career, helping Cleveland to an 88-82 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night that pulled the Cavaliers within 2-1 in the Eastern Conference finals.
“LeBron stepped up and put us on his shoulders,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. “He said, ‘Come along for the ride.’ And we all hopped on.”
The first thing I want to know is the individual shooting habits of each player.
What type of shot does he shoot? Can he be hurried? Does he have to be set when he shoots? Can he shoot while moving both ways? How was he guarded when he shot? Can he shoot over a zone? Can he drive against a man-on-man? Almost all of this information can be recorded on the shot chart that I include in the scouting kit.
Now I want to know about the individual size and speed of each opponent.
Can we floor five men who compare favorably with them in size and speed? How is their speed and size affected when they substitute? Will the use of the substitutes weaken their team? Do they appear to be in good physical condition, or do they begin slowing down late in the game?
If we cannot stay with them in a man-for-man situation, then what type of zone would be best to use? Should we use a set zone defense, or should we vary it? Why?
Our opponent’s style of offense is the next thing in which we are interested. Do they fast break? If so, how do they get the fast break started? Is it organized, or do they “race horse”? Do they pass to the middle, side, or use the long pass? Do they have any “half court Charley’s”? Do they use single-pivot, double-pivot, or flash pivot? Do they run a continuity pattern or freelance? Chart out-of-bounds plays. Chart jump ball situations to see where the tip goes. Do they foul a lot; especially, do key men foul a lot. Are there any poor free-throw shooters? Are there any out standing free-throw shooters?
These are the key things that I, as a coach, want answered by my scouts. I then ask him to match our team with theirs man-on-man, and explain the reasons for the matchups. After the matchups are made, our team members are assigned an opponent, and we make every attempt to impress upon them the individual characteristics of the opponent they will be guarding.
I will set up situations in practice using the individual patterns of the opponent and stress to the boys the things they are to look for.
There will be occasions when your team will probably get to see a future opponent play. This happens quite often in tournaments and can be very good or very bad, depending on the circumstances. If your future opponent looks very bad on that particular night, then your team might get overconfident and tend to take them lightly. If your future opponent has an outstanding night and looks unbeatable then your team might react that way too. During tournament play I often will let our players “scout” our next opponent with us. I will give every boy an idea of which member of the opposition he is likely to defense and have him keep notes of the boys individual maneuvers. This has worked very well for us on most occasions.
On several occasions the scouting done by the boys has paid rich dividends. Last year, in a Holiday Tournament, we observed one of our future opponents on three different occasions. Although we never met in the tournament, we did meet during the regular season, and the scouting information we gathered enabled us to defeat our tough opponent rather easily.
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Jason Kidd had his 11th postseason triple-double, breaking a tie with Larry Bird for second place on the career list, and the Nets beat Cleveland 96-85 Saturday to cut the Cavaliers’ lead in the series to 2-1.
The Pistons are 8-4 all-time when trying to complete a sweep. … The Bulls have not been swept in a playoff series since losing in three games to Boston in the first round in 1987. The last time they were swept in a best-of-seven was against the Celtics in the 1981 conference semifinals. … Billups and Hamilton fouled out in the final minute. … Webber was 0-for-8 with four rebounds and did not score in the two games in Chicago. That came on the heels of a 22-point effort in Game 2.
Did anybody order an NBA-sized upset? Hope so, because that is what the Golden State Warriors served America Thursday night after upsetting the Dallas Mavericks in what most thought to be a blowout. Many experts, including Charles Barkley, had Dallas cruising through the series, beating the Warriors in either 5 or 6 games. But in the end, the Warriors was the last team standing after a long, hard, seven game series.
The Warriors showed America they have something to prove, and they did it in front of a crowd that included numerous celebrities, including Snoop Dog, Jessica Alba, and Woody Harrelson. The fans also showed America that they would be behind their team all the way with shirts that read “We Believe”. The Warriors showed America that money and fame does not win games, but the passion and dedication for the game, and the teamwork, will prevail over all the money and fame. They also showed that a team should not focus on one key player.
Honestly, I am surprised that the Warriors made it this far. I did not expect them to make the playoffs, much less expect them to actually beat Dallas. I can honestly see why many had Dallas over Golden State. How many people ever heard of Baron Davis before the playoffs began? You could ask me how he was playing, and my only reaction would be to ask who the guy is. Not many people outside of the Oakland area actually get to see the Warriors play. Guess why? Many of the big name channels, like ESPN, have almost never aired Golden State games, because they would almost never pick a team with low rep over big names like LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.
After an upset of this size, many people are jumping on to the Warrior-wagon, myself included. Almost everybody I know is picking the Warriors to beat the Jazz, and after seeing the way the Jazz played against the Rockets, I have to agree with them. In fact, I believe that the Warriors have that series won in 6 games. I would not be surprised if the next time I looked on ESPN, their analysts all have Golden State over Utah. If, in fact, Golden State does beat Utah, they would be one step closer to winning their first championship since 1975. But there is a problem. If they win, they would also have to beat the winner of the Suns/Spurs series, and that would cause some problems for the Warriors. That series may be when the clock strikes midnight for this Cinderella story. But, you never know, because their determination may pull through and they may pull off yet another big upset for the world to see.
But, lets not jump to conclusions just yet. It is still early and the theories should wait until the games are actually being played. Until then, let us all watch, wait, and hope the Warriors pull through again, because here in America, we always love an underdog.
Like any other professional sports league, the NBA has some premier teams and some not-so-premier teams. If you are going to spend your hard-earned money on NBA tickets, you might as well enjoy seeing one of the league’s premier teams in action. That means you want to see teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls or San Antonio Spurs. And even though the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics have fallen on hard times lately, they are still two of the NBA’s most popular teams and it likely won’t be long before they are championship contenders once again.
The NBA is all about star power, and these elite teams almost have the market cornered when it comes to prime-time players. Of course Kobe Bryant alone is worth the price of Laker tickets, and that goes double when they are playing Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and the Heat. Miami Heat tickets have always been red hot, and now they are even hotter after the team won the NBA championship in 2006. San Antonio Spurs tickets give you the chance to see the big man Tim Duncan in action, and although you won’t be treated to a Michael Jordan appearance anymore with Bull tickets, Chicago ’s team has one of the most exciting lineups in the NBA with the likes of Luol Deng, Ben Wallace, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich. And Celtics tickets will get you into see Paul Pierce while Knicks tickets allow you to enjoy the talents of Stephon Marbury.
The number of NBA titles won by these elite teams is staggering – the Lakers alone have won 14 world championships. So if you are looking for the best of the NBA, make sure your basketball tickets include games with the Knicks, Celtics, Spurs, Bulls, Heat or Lakers. And if you can get NBA tickets for a game matching two of these teams, then you are really in for a memorable experience.
