All-Time Great Scouting Reports

On Eddie House: "Won't shoot it unless he has it in his hands." (Page 74)

On Jerry West: "Okay guys, West can only go right. But don’t concern yourself with that because you can’t stop him anyway. He’s been going right for twenty years." (Page 197.)

From Seven Seconds or Less, by Jack McCallum.

Bye-Bye in Big D

For the second year in a row, the Dallas Mavericks were eliminated in the first round. But unlike a year ago, when Golden State shocked the Mavs, this year it was a quiet 4-1 loss to the resurgent New Orleans Hornets.

The immediate casualty was, as predicted here, Coach Avery Johnson; but GM Donn Nelson may also be feeling the heat.

Just before the trading deadline, the main Western Conference contenders all 'armed up' by acquiring missing pieces: Kyle Korver to the Jazz (12/29/2007), Pau Gausol to the Lakers (2/1/2008), and Shaq Fu to PHX (2/7/2008).

Dallas was the last to 'respond', and had a lot of trouble getting the Jason Kidd deal done; in the end, Kidd was not the piece that Nelson (and others) felt that he would be, and the Mavs now have to rethink their future.

53 weeks ago, the Mavs were coming off an NBA Finals appearance (where they might have won), had the best record in the League (67-15), and were a leading contender for the NBA title. The leading question was whether Mark Cuban could keep a straight face as David Stern was handing him the Lawrence O'Brien trophy.

Today, after a mediocre 51-31 season, with another first round exit and the salary cap a distant memory, the Mavs may be out of options.

3-1

Before the NBA Playoffs began, the marquee first-round matchup was undoubtedly the Suns-Spurs. With the history of the series a year ago, the Tim Donaghy scandal, and the all-in trade for Shaq this winter, there was every indication that this would be another classic.

But when the Spurs jumped out to a 2-0 lead at home, followed by a desultory Suns effort in Game 3, the only question was whether the Suns experiment had imploaded spectularly.

Now after the kind of effort that, frankly, have occurred in Game Three, the Suns are showing a pulse. As the Red Sox famously showed, 0-3 is not impossible (although it has not occurred in the NBA), and the defensive changes, together with the (re-)emergence of Boris Diaw (and the subsequent control of Tony Parker), means that if the Spurs don't win Game Five, the pressure starts to mount.

The other team that gambled to 'win now' -- the Dallas Mavericks -- are also looking into the abyss, and it appears that the Avery Johnson era may be coming to end in the Big D.

Celts Hit the Skids

For more than three months, the Celtics have been the toast of the NBA, racing off to a league-best 41-9 record at the All-Star break.

But since then, the Cs have gone cold, losing their third game in a row last night to a revamped Suns team in a game that reminded at least one observer (commentator Hubie Brown) of a rivalry game from the rough-and-tumble 1980s, rather than the more recent trend of the kinder-and-gentler NBA where every player is "Fav 5s" with everyone else.

Last night's mano-a-mano battle between Kevin Garnett and Amare Stoudemire was reminiscent of Kevin McHale and Kurt Rambis:

But unfortunately for Boston fans, last night it was the Celtic (KG) who was knocked down; Amare went for 28 (don't forget, the Suns only scored 85 as a team) despite absorbing a flagrant foul (from Big Baby Davis) and dishing out a technical (for bumping KG after a vicious spin-dunk):

Despite a tremendous team defensive effort (including holding the Suns, the second-best scoring team in the league, without a field goal for more than one whole quarter), the Cs looked like a AAAA-level opponent playing in the major leagues. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were a combined 5-for-25, and more troubling they were held in check by a Suns that is not known (ex. Shaq) for defense (#25 in opponents' PPG).

GM Danny Aigne elected (so far) to stand pat with a team that is built to win now. Unfortunately, the other NBA title contenders are also looking to win this year, and some of them have gambled more than the Cs have to make it happen.

Arming Up in the West

Although the Celtics remain atop the NBA standings, with a 40-9 record, the Western Conference is still the most likely to produce the eventual league champ.

Three different contenders have made moves in the past 10 days to 'upgrade':

1. Dallas. In a deal that has yet to be finalized, the Mavs were set to ship Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager, and Devean George for Jason Kidd and Malik Allen. George has (as of this writing) vetoed the deal based on a provision in his contract, although the bet here is that the teams will find $ome way to get George comfortable with the potential move to New Jer$ey.

Assuming the deal gets done, the Mavs have made a major move in a very competitive conference. The move would be a return to Dallas for Kidd, who was drafted out of Cal by the Mavs management (pre-Mark Cuban), and was Rookie-of-the-Year (along with Grant Hill) before being shipped to Phoenix. Although getting long in the tooth at age 34, he would provide Dallas with a 'true' point guard who might help the Mavs fill the slot that has been empty since 2004-05 when another point guard was shipped from the Big D to Phoenix.

2. PHX. The Suns, meanwhile, rolled the dice a week ago by trading Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks for the Big Diesel. At age 35, Shaq has even more miles on the treads than Kidd (or, for that matter, Indiana Jones), but he offers the Suns something that they have not had in years: a low-post presence.

Since 1999, only one team (the 2004 Pistons) have won an NBA title without either O'Neill or Tim Duncan in the middle. The Suns, who have tried to win with a European-style fast-strike offense that has bogged down in the playoffs in each of the past three years. Despite the brilliance of back-to-back MVP Steve Nash, the Suns weren't going to win with this group.

Suns GM Tim Kerr rolled the dice with Shaq, and like Dallas, the "future is now."

3. LA Lakers. The Lakers, having seemingly settled the differences with Kobe Bryant, made their own move by acquiring Pau Gasol for his brother (Marc) and a collection of marginal NBA talent.

P. Gausol is just 27 years old, and has already been named the MVP of the FIBA World Championships (in 2006). Although the move helps the Lakers now, it also makes them contenders for the next few seasons.

The Suns and Mavs, however, can't think about tomorrow. They have to win now.

Hill to Phoenix

A bright star in college (his Duke teams went to three Championship Games, and won two titles during his four years there), Grant Hill's began with a flourish, winning Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 1994-95. But his career has been hampered by injuries, and his pro teams have never had the success that he enjoyed in college (the best was the 1996-97 Pistons team that went 54-28, but lost in the first round of the Playoffs).

But it was a shock to read this morning's Globe, and to find that Hill had moved to Phoenix in a free agent signing yesterday. The shock was not that Hill had switched teams, but that news about this one-time "next great thing" was mentioned in passing in the "NBA Notebook" column.

Here's hoping that Hill can stay healthy -- and contribute -- to a Suns team whose window is closing.

Suns-Spurs Part II

The worst possible outcome for the NBA: Suns play a gritty, gutty game, but lose when they run out of steam in the last five minutes. Playing essentially six players (Dublin's own Pat Burke played just 3 minutes), it is impossible to argue that Amare Stoudemire (and to a lesser extent, Boris Diaw) would not have made a difference.

All that being said, the Spurs had best win Game Six, and avoid another trip to the Valley of the Sun. The NBA, meanwhile, would probably love to see the Suns somehow win Game Six, and have the series come down to a single game, with both teams at full strength, in Phoenix on Sunday. Wonder who the NBA will task with refereeing on Friday night?

Paging Bennett Salvatore...

Spurs-Suns Game Five, Part I

Watching the first few minutes of the Suns/Spurs Game Five, the most surprising factor is that the Suns are not doing more to press the Spurs physically. After all, it would be a brave ref to call a flagrant foul on the Suns (esp. with public opinion running well against (i) the Spurs and (ii) the NBA office after l'affaire Horry on Monday.)