No Steals, but a Huge Defensive Presence

It’s impossible to talk about game 5 of the Suns – Lakers series without mentioning Ron Artest. One second he takes an ill advised three, allowing the Suns to get back into the game, and the next second he puts back Kobe Bryant’s air ball to seal the victory. This moment will be the most memorable part of the game, however one key player to remember for the Lakers is Sasha Vujacic.

By the box score, it appears that Vujacic had no impact on the game as he had no rebounds, steals, blocks or assists. In reality, he prevented Dragic from penetrating the lane, causing him to turn the ball over and take off-balance shots. It also seems like Phil Jackson may not value Vujacic’s play as he only played 10 minutes. What the box score is missing, however, is when he played. Vujacic played over six minutes in a close fourth quarter of a pivotal game 5. He played solid defense and hit a big three when the Laker lead was cut to six at 83-77. After game 4 it was clear that the bench would be a crucial aspect of this series, and tonight in game 5, Vujacic was the player that stepped up and helped put the Lakers in a position to close out the series in game 6.

Momentum

The Phoenix Sun bench was unstoppable in game 4 of the Suns – Lakers series, outscoring the Laker bench 54-20. Each of the Sun bench players had more than a +10 point differential when they were in the game, while each of the starters had a negative point differential, suggesting that the bench was largely responsible for the victory. One key reason for the strong bench play was the reemergence of Channing Frye.

Frye, a guy that went 1-20 in the first three games of the series and that missed his last 17 field goal attempts, was the player that flipped the switch in game 4, sparking a flurry of threes by his teammates. Frye hit his first three with 7 minutes to go in the second quarter – the crowd erupted, and his teammates were fired up to have him back. He was the missing piece for the Suns during the series and by hitting a shot, he brought himself and his team confidence, leading to 5 straight three point shots - Dudley (1), Barbosa (1), Nash (1), Frye (2). The same trend happened again at the 8 minute mark of the fourth quarter – Frye hit a three which sparked two more threes by Barbosa and Dudley. These shots extended the lead to 9 points and the Lakers were unable to respond. Frye’s 4 threes do look impressive in the box score, but what he brought to the game was far more than points – he shifted the momentum of the game and lifted his teammates, helping even the series at 2 games apiece. It is now a best of 3 game series and the bench play will be critical in determining which team will advance to the finals.

Magic Outhustled

If you decided to tune out of the Boston Celtic - Orlando Magic series, all you need to see is this clip.

The Celtics were up 17 at this point, yet Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics is the one diving to the ground for the ball sacrificing his body, not Jason Williams in a must win game for the Magic. This play sums up game three and the series overall. It is about the desire to win and how a team reacts when the opposition makes a run. Instead of fighting back when the Celtics took a lead, the Magic were outhustled and outplayed. They had three offensive rebounds as a team displaying a complete lack of effort. Yes, the Boston Celtic defense is largely responsible for shutting the Magic down, but not to the extent that it happened – a 23 point blowout victory with the Magic down 0-2 in the series. Hopefully the Magic at least go out trying in game 4, but one thing is clear – they should start making summer vacation plans.

Experience of the Boston Celtics

The experience of the Boston Celtics showed in game 2 against the Orlando Magic as the Celtics were able to stay poised down the stretch. In the final minutes of the game, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo hit clutch shots and remained cool under pressure. With 34 seconds left in the game and the Celtics up by 1, Paul Pierce was fouled and calmly hit both free throws, whereas Vince Carter, who was fouled on the next play of the game, missed both key free throws, leaving the Magic down by 3. Garnett then missed a 20 foot jumper, J.J. Redick got possession of the ball, and the Magic had a chance to tie the game. Here is where a big mistake came into play: instead of calling a timeout immediately after Garnett's missed shot and having over 7 seconds to craft a play on the sideline, Redick took several dribbles and then called for a timeout. This left the Magic with only 3.5 seconds for the last shot of the game - a 60 foot jumper that missed the mark. Making smart basketball decisions and remaining calm under pressure is what experience brings to a team - something that the Magic lack. The Celtics experience has helped them secure a 2-0 lead with a chance to close out the series at home.

Position in the Paint

The Boston Celtics locked down the Orlando Magic on the defensive end in game 1 of the eastern conference finals, allowing the Magic to score only 88 points, a team that averaged 101 points in the first two rounds of playoffs. One major factor in the game was the inability of Dwight Howard to establish position in the paint. Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace each successfully prevented Howard from catching the ball close to the basket, creating a lower percentage shot for Howard. When Howard was able to establish good position, he was fouled, forcing him to earn his points from the free throw line where he generally struggles. A hard or soft foul shows up as just one foul in the box score, but there is a big difference between the two. The fouls that the Celtics committed on Howard were hard fouls – fouls that send a message - no points will come easily in this series.

Howard shot 3-10 from the field and 7-12 from the line. Of the three shots that he made, only one was directly under the basket - a tip off of Jameer Nelson's missed shot with 26 seconds left in the game. The other two shots he made were 4 ft and 7 ft jumpers. He was not able to dunk the ball or get easy layups like he was in the first two rounds. If the Magic want to have a chance in this series, Howard will have to establish his position in the paint before he catches the ball in order to shoot a higher percentage shot - otherwise he will be forced to earn each point at the line.

Rondo Sets the Pace for Game 5

Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics came up empty in the box score (by Rondo standards) in the first half of game five against the Cleveland Cavaliers with 0 points, 3 assists and 1 rebound. However, Rondo set the pace and tone of the game by pushing the ball, driving to the basket, and getting his teammates involved. Rondo’s ability to draw multiple defenders when he attacks the rim benefits his teammates even when he misses a shot. In the second quarter, Rondo drove to the basket and four Cavalier defenders collapsed on him, preventing them from boxing out and obtaining the rebound. Instead, Glen Davis of the Celtics was able to secure the offensive board, get fouled, and shoot two free throws. Glen Davis received credit for a rebound and a point at the free throw line - Rondo was credited with a missed field goal, yet Rondo’s drive to the basket is what created the opportunity for Davis. Even though Rondo did not have a triple double like he did in game 4, and appeared to have limited impact on the game based on his stats, his presence on the court in game 5 was immeasurable.

Gasol Draws Five Fouls on Boozer, Commits Zero

No one on the Utah Jazz could stop Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers in game 4 of the western conference semi-finals. He had 33 points on only 18 field goal attempts, along with 14 rebounds. Taking a deep dive into the fouls that Gasol drew compared to the fouls that he committed in order to measure the effectiveness of his aggressive play, it is clear that Gasol impacted the game in many ways not displayed in the box score. Gasol kept Carlos Boozer out of the flow of the game by drawing 5 fouls, including Boozer's 6th foul to remove him from the game. Boozer, who has averaged over 17 points per game in the series, ended up with 10 points (no points in the fourth quarter) and only 5 fourth quarter minutes as he was plagued by fouls. For the game, Gasol drew 8 fouls, took 11 free throws (made 9), had 7 offensive rebounds, and blocked two shots – meanwhile, he committed 0 fouls in 40 minutes of play in a physical elimination game. His energetic play contributed to the Lakers +11 advantage at the free throw line, kept Boozer out of sync, and helped lead the Lakers to the western conference finals which begin on Monday, May 17th against the Phoenix Suns.

Dragic Unstoppable in the Fourth

Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns, a player drafted 45th in the 2008 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs, made the Spurs think twice about giving him up. Dragic was unstoppable in game three between the Suns and Spurs, scoring 26 points off the bench, and going 5-5 from three point range. While his numbers were impressive, it was the timing of his play that was significant. Dragic scored all of his points in the final 14 minutes of the game (23 of 26 in the fourth quarter) and he gave the Suns their first lead at 73-72. Because of Dragic’s fourth quarter explosion, the Suns big three, Stoudemire, Richardson, and Nash, only played 98 minutes combined compared to an average of over 110 minutes in the first two games of the series (Stoudemire and Richardson watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench and Nash played the final 3 minutes of the quarter). Alvin Gentry’s decision to go with the hot hand over playing his regular fourth quarter unit payed off as the Suns not only won the game, but also the starters reduced their minutes – rest is key in the playoffs as they are a long, hard fought battle.

It will be interesting to see if Jerry Sloan, head coach of the Utah Jazz, follows Gentry’s lead in game three between the Jazz and Lakers. In the first two games of the series, Ronnie Price led a fourth quarter comeback, but Sloan decided to replace Price with starting point guard Deron Williams to close out the game. The Jazz came up short in both games which begs the question - should Sloan have stuck with Ronnie Price? We will see what he decides to do in game 3 tonight between the Jazz and Lakers. It seems like going with the hot hand might be the way to go.

Dudley's Aggressive Play

Jared Dudley left an imprint all over game two between the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs. He grabbed four offensive rebounds (the same amount as 6-10 Amar’e Stoudemire) and hit a key three pointer in the fourth when the game was tied at 80. But what Dudley brought most to the game was his intensity. The Suns struggled early and Dudley's aggressive play brought the team a boost off of the bench. In the second quarter alone, Dudley drew fouls on 4 Spurs: Richard Jefferson, Manu Ginobili, Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair, contributing to the Suns 14 point advantage at the free throw line. With 3:47 left in the third, Dudley drew Tim Duncan’s third foul which was key as only a minute and a half later, Duncan picked up his fourth foul and was taken out of the game. The Suns then went on a 6-0 run. For the game, Dudley drew 8 fouls and despite his intensity on both the offensive and defensive end, he only committed 2 fouls. His energy off of the bench was crucial to the Suns victory. Proposed new stat: number of fouls drawn by a player. Then you can go a step further and look at the ratio of fouls drawn to fouls committed - an efficiency metric similar to the assist to turnover ratio, but used to measure the effectiveness of a player's intensity. Thoughts?

Centers that can Shoot the Three

It’s hard to call out just one great performance in game two between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers as everything was pretty much going right for the Celtics. However, there was one player that changed the composition of the game and that player was Rasheed Wallace. If Wallace plays the 5 spot, he is matched up against Anderson Varejao or Shaquille O’Neal – both centers that like to play in the paint. While Wallace can post up and pound the ball inside, he is also a great three point shooter. Due to his shooting ability, he often plays on the perimeter, dragging his defender from the key and opening up the floor. If the Cavs centers come out to guard Wallace on the three point line, the entire paint is left open for Rajon Rondo to easily penetrate to the basket. However, if O’Neal or Varejao do not come out to guard Wallace, he ends up being guarded by the Cavaliers backcourt, leaving the 6-11 center with a smaller defender and therefore a higher percentage shot. Another player with this type of impact on the game is Channing Frye of the Phoenix Suns - Frye is also a 6-11 center with the ability to shoot the three. Just by Frye standing on the perimeter and bringing out his defender, Steve Nash has more room to operate and create shots for his teammates. It would be interesting to track the difference in points scored in the paint by guards when they are playing with a center that is able to shoot the three, versus when they play with a traditional post up center - the shot blockers are removed from the paint thereby opening up the lane for the guards. Spreading the floor does not show up in the box score, but it is incredibly valuable to a team.

The Value of a Head Coach

The Denver Nuggets were expected to advance to the second round of playoffs. They had home court advantage and were facing a depleted Utah Jazz squad missing two starters in Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko. Jerry Sloan, head coach of the Jazz, replaced his injured starters with Kyrylo Fesenko and C.J. Miles who averaged 8.3 and 23.8 minutes per game respectively during the regular season. While the Nuggets had their starting line-up intact, they were missing one key piece: head coach George Karl.

Karl was replaced by Adrian Dantley due to Karl’s battle with neck and throat cancer. Karl was 42-21 (.667 winning percentage), while Dantley was 11-8 (.579). This isn't to say that Dantley did not do a good job given the situation he was thrown into, but it makes one think about the value of a head coach. In his career, Karl has over 900 regular season wins and over 70 post season wins. He has been the head coach of the Nuggets since the 2004-2005 season, leading the team to the playoffs in each season. Needless to say, Karl has a lot of experience under his belt and was able to create a cohesive unit for a team that is often emotional and volatile. Playoffs is all about making adjustments, exploiting matchups, and getting the best out of personnel - a job that requires experience. Removing a team staple like George Karl toward the end of the season was detrimental to the success of the Nuggets.