A FRONT ROW SEAT



LORD OF THE RINGS

The curtain rises tonight for the debut of The Three Basketeers!

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, together for the first time, ready to conquer the world for "Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five... "

Whew... not even Richard Pryor could have pulled that joke off.  Ease off the hype throttle a little big fella. The fact that James and Bosh have to date won "Not one, not one, not one..." championship, makes me hold off on getting the popcorn ready.  They're used to the heat in Miami, but fans have been drinking SPF 70 ever since James and Bosh decided to join Wade.

Tonight's game at Boston needs no introduction.  The Celtics have added the Big Leprechaun in Shaquille O'Neal to fill a void in the middle that clearly cost them a championship last season.  That's the same O'Neal who won three championships with Kobe Bryant, one with Wade and zero with James.  The Celtics are long in the tooth with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but they are all battle tested veterans who've tasted the ultimate prize as a unit.  You don't have to convince James that experience matters down the stretch.

One of 82.  That's really all tonight's matchup means.  The outcome won't give either squad an edge over the other for later matchups.  Only a number of games will reveal if the Heat's bench is adequate enough to give The Three Basketeers a lift.  Injuries have to be avoided for both the Heat and Celtics.  The same can be said for other contenders.  The Lakers can't lose Paul Gasol and the Bulls can't have Carlos Boozer or Joakim Noah sidelined for any measurable length of time.

It should be an interesting race to the finish and if the Heat manage to pull of a championship, they will have done so before packed arenas and the best even the lowly Timberwolves can muster night in and night out.

So I have a front row seat for tonight.  The beer is perfectly chilled, not six dollars a bottle and there is no line to the men's room.  Bring on the 2010-11 season!

GOING TO NEED MORE THAN ZEN... or how the Lakers can beat the Celtics

NOT JUST AN X's & O's GUY

The Motrin challenged Boston Celtics are primed to deliver a knockout blow right at the doorstep of Hollywood's elite.  For Game 6 in LA, I wouldn't be surprised to see Homer Simpson sitting courtside.  For the Los Angeles Lakers, the finals have certainly reached the "D'oh" point.

So far, Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers has not only out-coached The Zen Master, he's won the motivational battle as well.  The Celtics have bought into the team concept, content to live with contributions from whichever player in green and white steps forward to capture the moment.

For the Lakers, no matter how much he tries to get his teammates involved, it seems to always come down to Kobe Bryant time.  The bad news is, Bryant can't do it alone and the Celtics are making him work very hard for the majority of his points.

As each game passes, the Celtics seem to expose more and more of Ron Artest's basketball IQ.  He has mental lapses and lacks confidence in his shot.  His free throw shooting has become almost Shaq-like.  For Game 5, Paul Pierce made him look like the Invisible Man on defense.

Rajon Rondo's athleticism has been a nightmare for the Lakers.  He pushes the ball up the floor, plays sneaky tough defense and his rebounding skill for a 6-1 point guard is just sick.  Bryant gives him a license to kill from the outside but somehow Rondo still manages to make it to the hoop, giving the Lakers bigs all kinds of problems. 

JACKSON NEEDS TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

The Lakers are certainly a different team with 7-footer Andrew Bynum in the lineup, but his bum knee limits his time and production and drastically changes the method by which LA can attack and defend.

So what is Phil Jackson to do?  First off, he has to get more comfortable playing his bench.  To mix it up and give the Celtics a different look, I would start Lamar Odom in favor of Artest and let the agile 6-10 forward chase Pierce around.  Pierce is not overly quick and when he tries to back a defender down, it's effective but not pretty.  That step back or turnaround jumper would have an added degree of difficulty over the outstretched arms of Odom.  At the opposite end, I'd either clear room for Odom to take the 6-7 Pierce to the hole or post him up.

How to handle Rondo?  He's an excellent leaper as well but the Lakers have 6-4 Shannon Brown who can get up as well.  If nothing else, I'd combine him with Jordan Farmar in order to throw bodies at Rondo to wear him down.

The Lakers also need to clear space in the middle.  Boston only respects Bryant and Derek Fisher from the outside, but Sasha Vujacic has demonstrated confidence in his long range shot and Brown and Farmar have been known to nail a 3-pointer.  With the Celtics spread out, Pau Gasol becomes a dangerous piece down low and if Bynum can play through the pain, the Lakers would be in position to exploit the inside.

Spell Odom with Artest and then let him get physical with Pierce.  Also, to get Artest going offensively, the Lakers need to set back screens so he can break free for layups.  Artest hurling up trays only reduces the Lakers effectiveness in the paint.  He's a space eater as well and should be playing more inside where his physical nature will have more of an impact.

Now add in a lethal dose of a not so worn out Bryant and the Lakers have a blueprint for winning back-to-back titles.

That, at least, is my two cents worth for getting the Lakers over the top.  Is the Cleveland job still open?

LeBron lets talk...

KOBE BRYANT - THE GREAT DIVIDE

Where is the love?

When discussing the NBA's best player over the past several years, there doesn't seem to be a middle ground.

You either love or hate Kobe Bryant.

I can understand the love.  Bryant is fiercely intense, always engaged on the court.  He demands the best of himself on both ends of the floor.  At times, he makes the incredible look routine.  With each postseason appearance and NBA Championship ring, he creeps ever so softly into the Jordan discussion.  He may never be crowned with the "Best Ever" label, but Bryant definitely owns property in the neighborhood.

You'd expect a player with those attributes and drive to be cherished and admired by all who claim to be students of the game. You don't necessarily have to root for Bryant, but you should  at the very least, respect his talent.

So why the hate?  Especially it seems from women.  Is it totally based on the 2003 Colorado incident when he was accused of sexual assault?  A case that prosecutors dropped after his accuser was unwilling to testify.  Of course, she later brought a separate civil suit against him that was settled out of court.  One only needs to read the details of the case to make a judgement on what possibly happened that night.  But since there was no one else in the room that night except for Bryant and her, it became a he said, she said regrettable moment in their lives.

I would like to know how many women would stay with their man if they truly believed he was a rapist?  Sure, the financial cost to Kobe was astronomical.  There's never been an account of how much the civil suit was settled for.  He lost a number of endorsements (only to eventually either gain most back or get new ones).  Bryant also did what all guys do when they really have to apologize to the wife.  Nothing says I love you like a 4 million dollar ring.  To this date, Vanessa is still Mrs. Bryant.  Guess Kobe had to wait on purchasing the big screen TV that year.   

Is the hate because Kobe isn't outwardly fun loving as say Dwight "Superman" Howard?  If that's the case, and he's judged as being unapproachable, too bad.  There's no law that says Kobe has to kiss babies and pose for photos.  If he isn't on Facebook or didn't accept your friendship request, get over yourself.  If Kobe doesn't Tweet, perhaps he realizes he doesn't have to brag or boast or let you into his world.

Is it that Bryant sometimes gets on his teammates for not giving more when they should be leaving everything on the floor?  Michael Jordan certainly required the best from his supporting cast and they were better for it.  A lot of people and players in the league didn't like Jordan either.  Six rings and the Hall of Fame later, guess we know who dominated that era. 

When Kobe Bryant walks through the tunnel to take the court, I wonder if the lyrics of a popular song are   looping through his head.

So hate on but guess what

I feel like I can't miss

I know they want me to fall

But ain't nothing bigger than this

So just pass me the ball

You know you looking at a...

Winner

Winner

Winner

MIDNIGHT RUN

WHEN WINNING ISN'T ENOUGH

Late last night, Mike Brown learned two things. 

One, it ain't easy being Cinderella.  Like the babe with the glass slippers, Brown had to hit the road before midnight.  Though in this economy, I wish someone would send me packing with a severance check of over two million dollars.  If the Cavs had let the clock tick to midnight, they would have been on the hook for 4.5 million.

Brown guided the Cavs to the ball in each of his five seasons at the helm, making it to the big dance in 2007.  Brown's record of 317-177 makes him the most successful coach in Cavs history and he was tabbed coach of the year in 2009.  Guess he forgot how to coach in one season.

The second thing Brown learned is why Phil Jackson is so revered.  It ain't easy coaching superstars.  Jackson has handled and gotten the respect of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant -- no small order.  But championships don't lie, and Jackson has run out of ring fingers.

Understanding that James was one of the prominent faces of the new NBA, Brown was careful not to publicly criticize the franchise.  That street didn't run booth ways.  James had no problem in past years questioning Brown's offensive strategies and during the recent Boston series, when O'Neal sat on the bench except for 49 seconds in the fourth quarter of a Game 4 loss, James openly wondered why.

Knowing Brown was being evaluated by owner Dan Gilbert and General Manager Danny Ferry, James elected to have no input, which in itself was an indictment.  If James wanted Brown back, all he had to do was pick up a phone or in this social networking age, even a tweet would have been sufficient.

 

Again, don't feel too bad for Brown. He'll certainly get another job and has a nice down payment toward the purchase of another house.  And there were times in the series against Boston when he seemed clueless as to how to combat the cohesiveness of the Celtics veteran squad.  Remember, it wasn't long ago that critics said Doc Rivers couldn't coach either.  Talent has a funny way of paving the way for success.  To that end, how much responsibility falls on Cavs management?  They tried to surround James with workable pieces but the Cavs have learned the hard way deficiencies show up in the playoffs.  Why didn't the Cavs for instance go after Pau Gasol when the Lakers snapped him up from Memphis?  I can tell you for a fact the Cavs never thought they had a shot to get the All-Star center, but somehow the Lakers found a way.

While the James sweepstakes chatter continues, perhaps he has learned one lesson.  Magic Johnson did it.  Jordan did it.  Kobe went through it and DeWayne Wade endured it.  All either had coaches fired or sat on the sideline while management figured it out.