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The Rockets officially announced on Wednesday that former Boston Celtics superstar and Minnesota Timberwolves coach and GM Kevin McHale will replace Rick Adelman as the coach of the Houston Rockets.
McHale was a seven-time All-Star, two-time Sixth Man of the Year, and three-time champion as a player for the Boston Celtics, and is generally considered to be one of the top low-post scorers of all time. He hasn’t been nearly as successful as a coach or general manager, with a 39-55 record as the head coach of the Timberwolves, but the Rockets clearly believe in McHale and feel he is the right choice for their franchise going forward. McHale will be introduced at a news conference on Friday.
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Mike Brown was hired because he was not Phil Jackson.
That’s not all of it — all accounts around the league are that Mike Brown gives good job interview, and his defense-first philosophy is a good fit — but not being part of the Phil Jackson coaching tree mattered. This was Jim Buss’ move to assert himself in the organization, to make his mark. And part of that was breaking from Jackson, who Buss did not get along with. At all. Jackson said they spoke once all season.
That doesn’t mean this can’t work for the Lakers.
But all that hinges on Kobe Bryant buying in. Completely.
There needs to be more, too — roster changes including a new point guard, for one — but it starts with Kobe. This is his team, he is the leader. Someday it will be Andrew Bynum’s team (he is Buss’ boy and if you think the Lakers are trading him you are mistaken) but right now it’s all about Kobe Bryant.
If he leads, others will fall in line. If he doesn’t, drama will ensue. As will losses.
Officially the Lakers are saying Kobe is on board, and during a halftime interview on ESPN Wednesday night Mike Brown said he has had a couple of texts with Bryant.
But when the Los Angeles Times reached Bryant to ask him about Brown, he had no comment. What is clear is that as part of Buss — both Jim and Jerry — reasserting themselves Kobe was not consulted on the hire. That’s not really a huge shock, the Buss family has done things like this before, but it chafes at Kobe.
Which brings us back to him buying in.
At the end of the day, he will (if he hasn’t already). Because he wants to win, and mutiny is not going to get him another ring. And not only will he fall in line, the team will come with him.
With Kobe onboard, this can work for the Lakers. Mike Brown is a good defensive coach and that is the end of the court where the Lakers need work. With Bryant, Pau Gasol, Bynum, Lamar Odom and others scoring points was never going to be the Lakers issue. Their offense was sixth in the NBA in points per possession last season. They will be fine.
They also have the sixth-rated defense in the league, but it was inconsistent. By the Dallas series it had collapsed, nobody helped the helper, guys just seemed to float through plays. Brown can change that. Will change that. If Kobe buys in.
There will need to be changes on the offensive end. Derek Fisher sort of worked as a triangle initiator. Barely. But as a traditional point guard he did not impress in Golden State and Utah — and that was five years ago. Steve Blake can be a backup, but the Lakers need to get a new, solid point guard. Not a ball-dominating guy, but a guy who can set the table and knock down shots, plus play a little defense.
They need a more athletic roster. They need to buy in fully for whatever offense Brown brings in. They have to play as a unit.
They know how to do it. They have done it. And if they buy in they can be contenders again under Brown.
But it all starts with Kobe.
There are a lot of Europeans near the top of this year’s draft. NBA teams are interested in part due to the looming lockout — draft a big man project and he can play overseas through a lockout, develop some more then bring him over in a year.
Meet Jan Vesely, who falls into that group. The Czech native is a long 6’11” but has the skills of a three, enough so he was voted FIBA Europe Player of the Year in 2010. He could provide a lot of versatility along the front line, if he develops. His potential has intrigued teams for years.
But teams are not going to get a chance to see that potential first hand this spring — his agent told Hoopshype Vesely will not work out for any teams before the draft. Teams may not be happy but it also is not that big a deal, he has played for KK Partizan Belgrade, a big time European team for a couple years and everybody has had a good look at him.
While everybody wants to compare lanky Euros to Dirk Nowitzki, the comparison more often used for Vesely is Andrei Kirilenko. But one who can’t shoot nearly that well yet. He has to get stronger and improve that shot — the shooting is a big thing, he shot just 51 percent overall and 33 percent from three in EuroLeague. He was inconsistent. But he could bring the defensive energy and rebounding that AK-47 brings.
That’s the high end, but even a poor man’s AK-47 would be welcomed off the bench by a lot of teams. It’s not a bad risk to take, and some team will do so — Rotoworld’s Steve Alexander has him falling (appropriately) to the Jazz at No. 12, but don’t be shocked if he goes in the top 10. Bigs rise as the draft gets closer. And if there is a lockout, he can play another season in Europe and work on that shot.
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Is the new reality show far in the offing? Kris and Kim’s big wedding adventure.
And yes, the Kardashian family summer barbeques will now have Lamar Odom and Kris Humphries hanging around. Discussing how much they both hate Bennett Salvatore.
Kris Humphries will marry girlfriend Kim Kardashian, the two are now engaged.
The proposal took place one week ago, on May 18, when the 26-year-old Humphries surprised his 30-year-old love in her Beverly Hills home. When she entered her bedroom, she saw Humphries already on bended knee with red rose petals forming what was by then a hopefully obvious question: “Will you marry me?”
“I didn’t expect this at all,” the bride-to-be told People. “I was in such shock. I never thought it would happen at home, and I never thought now.”
The couple has only been dating for six months, which may seem like a short time to the rest of us but compared to Khloe and Lamar this is a dragged out engagement.
Humphries, who is a free agent that the Nets say they want to re-sign, is clearly thinking his play from last season is going to get him a healthy pay raise from the $3.2 million he made last year (and it should). That’s really the only way to explain the 20.5-carat engagement ring.
No date or other details of the wedding have been announced, but as this is a Kardashian’s production you can bet it will exactly be a state secret. We’ll let you know where they are registered as soon as we know.
What is the only thing that could make the greatest moments in NBA finals history better?
Legos.
With that, we bring you the five greatest moments in NBA finals history, as acted out by Legos. Thanks to the people at Tauntr.com for this (via CBS Sports Eye on Basketball). And if you’re going to quibble over their list — they did them with Legos, so relax.
It was fitting. Maybe it was the only way it could be, with Dallas coming from behind again. Game 5 was a microcosm of the four before it in the Western Conference finals.
Oklahoma City came out and played with energy and passion. Their amazing athleticism caused problems for Dallas, but the Mavericks countered with savvy, good execution of sets and seemingly a different guy every night (Wednesday it was Shawn Marion’s turn). Dirk Nowitzki seemingly never missed (26 points on 15 shots), but still it was Oklahoma City with a healthy lead in the fourth.
Then, when the pressure really stepped up in the end, Dallas executed their plays while Oklahoma City made the mistakes of youth (like seven fourth-quarter turnovers). The result was a 100-96 win for the Mavericks that gives them a 4-1 series win and sends them to the franchise’s second NBA finals (the last was a loss to the Heat five years ago).
After a devastating loss in Game 4, many may have expected the Thunder to roll over and get this over with (like the Lakers did last series in the closeout game). But if you thought that, you don’t know this Thunder team.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, they all are old-school basketball warriors. They respect themselves and the game too much to fold like that.
And coach Scott Brooks had one wrinkle left — he went small. For long stretches the Thunder went with some smaller groupings, such as a lineup of Eric Maynor with Westbrook as the guards, Harden and Durant as the forwards and Nick Collison as center. That lineup played the entire fourth quarter.
“I knew that to win this game we had to keep moving (the Mavericks’) feet, and we put as much quickness on the floor as we could,” Brooks said afterward.
Westbrook seemed to thrive in it and he finished with 31 points and eight rebounds, some of them key ones at the end. It seemed to throw Dallas off-balance on defense, and the Thunder were getting some of the transition points they needed.
It all was a key reason the Thunder had an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter.
But going small had a couple of drawbacks, and the Mavericks eventually adjusted and made them pay for it. Like they had been doing all series.
One drawback is that Durant is not a particularly good pick-and-roll defender and he kept getting drawn into that play. It was just part of the reason J.J. Barea had 14 points and five assists on another huge night.
The other thing is going small makes it hard to rebound. Especially because Dallas coach Rick Carlisle refused to play along with Oklahoma City — he kept in a big lineup.
Dallas took the lead when Westbrook lost the ball going for a defensive rebound, it came out and Dallas ended up with the offensive board, four guys touched it in quick succession then Nowitzki drained a 3-pointer.
Then, with the Thunder down two and less than 24 seconds on the clock, Oklahoma City needed one more stop and a basket to send it to overtime. The Thunder forced Nowitzki to miss, but Marion was able to out-jump every Thunder player on the floor and tip it out to Jason Kidd, who passed to Nowitzki and then it was all over but for the fouls and the free throws.
That was just part of a monster game for Marion, who had 26 points on 17 shots, plus eight rebounds.
In the end, Dallas executed while the Thunder made crucial mistakes down the stretch. The Thunder had just six turnovers in the first three quarters but seven in the fourth quarter alone. Like all series, the Thunder looked like a team where all its key players are younger than 22 when it got late in games.
“Their time will come, but it’s not now,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said in his postgame interview broadcast on NBA TV.
It’s not, right now is the Mavericks time.
The Mavericks have the best player in the playoffs. They have a deep team where somebody different is stepping up every game. They have good defense. They have fantastic end-of-game execution.
They will have a chance to prove just how good they are one more time against the Miami Heat in the finals.
As Dave McMenamin pointed out earlier today, the newly retired Shaquille O’Neal made all of one three in his 19-year career. Darius Soriano was able to track down the video, and here it is in all of its glory: Shaq, playing for the Magic, banking in a desperation 35-footer as the quarter was ending. As we reflect on Shaq’s retirement, it may be worth remembering just about the only thing Shaq ever did once.
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It was like this all series.
In the big moments at the end of games, Dallas would make the play. The Thunder would not be able to execute. Nothing summed that up better than one play late in Game 5. The play had good defense by Dallas, questionable decision making by the Thunder and eventually a game-sealing dunk by Shawn Marion.
Watch for yourself. In a year or two, the Thunder are going to know how to close out games, but that time is not yet.
You can question if he got as many wins as one could out of the talent given him (which wasn’t much). You can’t question that the Raptors have been an abject disaster defensively for two years running.
That has led to Toronto not picking up the option on coach Jay Triano’s contract for next season.
He’s being let go as coach but will remain with the team as a “special assistant to the GM,” according to that GM, Bryan Colangelo. The move was announced during a team conference call Wednesday evening.
“I have great respect for Jay Triano both as a person and as a basketball mind,” Colangelo said in a released statement. “Jay deserves tremendous credit for developing our young players this past season and our most recent win-loss record does not appropriately reflect his many positive contributions to this organization.
“This was a difficult decision to make, but after almost three full seasons of observation and evaluation I believe that bringing in a new voice as head coach will accelerate the progress we are looking to make in the coming years.”
Colangelo, who built the Euro-heavy roster that has struggled so much, just got a very healthy extension. So what does Triano’s firing mean? That someone had to be the scapegoat, maybe. Or maybe we will see a shift to a more traditional roster.
As for who is next, good question. Look for the names being discussed elsewhere — Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank, Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, of course Rick Adelman — to get mentioned. It really depends on what the Raptors are trying to build. This team needs a new identity.
None of us have been able to figure out what the Raptors want to be. But whatever it is, the focus needs to be on starting to play some respectable defense.
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UPDATE 7:11 pm: Andrea Bargnani released a statement Wednesday to clarify his comments. Here it is (via the fantastic Holly McKenzie at The Score), you can make of it what you will.
“I wish to personally clarify and correct an inaccurate portrayal of my words that recently appeared in the media. Much of what I said was taken out of context with respect to an entire conversation.
“I want to make clear my love for Toronto and that I consider the city a second home. I never said that I want to leave Toronto and I’m sorry if fans interpreted the inaccuracy that way.
“I am proud to represent Toronto and the Raptors organization. I appreciate what Bryan Colangelo and the organization has done for me during the past five years of my career. I will always continue to work to improve myself as a player in an effort to reward the organization and our fans with the best team possible.”
2:13 pm: If Andrea Bargnani isn’t completely captivated with the city of Toronto, the feeling may be mutual.
The Raptors center that likes to hang out at the three-point line has been doing color commentary on the Italian feed of the Western Conference Finals and he did a segment talking about his NBA career so far.
Which included this quote, according to the Toronto Star.
“I want to stay in Toronto, at least this is the politically correct answer. If (I am) to go somewhere else, I’d like a warm climate city and a team where I can actually play in my role.”
It seems to me Toronto has been pretty accommodating about letting him play his game, but he apparently doesn’t see it that way.
Bargnani also goes and shows there’s an apparent rift between him and GM Bryan Colangelo. A GM who just got a contract extension, by the way. Colangelo after the season called Bargnani “the enigma of enigmas.”
“(Colangelo) had some unfortunate and not very courageous comments about me … The facts are there for everybody to see and judge.”
Does a sober reading of the facts make either Bargnani or Colangelo look good?
There have been reports the Raptors are open to trading Bargnani, but as he is owed $41.5 million over the next four years, that is not going to be easy to do.
