Canadian Sun Set, or Miami On Ice?

by Rob King

Dr. James Naismith would be proud to see the remarkable run of his fellow country man and regular season MVP Steve Nash. Over the past four games Canadian son, Steve Nash surpassed Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan, becoming the first player in NBA history with four consecutive playoff games of at least 25 points and 10 assists. The nasty Nash show recorded this feat in the final two contests of the Dallas series and the first two games of the Conference finals against San Antonio.

Nash’s run will conclude quickly unless Phoenix can rise from the ashes and get back into their Western Conference series with the Spurs that resumes tonight. After dropping the first two games on their home floor, the Suns are confronted with the challenge of having to win tonight to prevent the Spurs from putting a stranglehold on the series.

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2 Err On The Side of Crushing

It is easy to play ‘Chicken Little’ and exclaim the season over, because these past losses are a stark reminder of last year’s lost season when the infielders committed errors at inopportune moments. When starting pitchers rarely went past five innings, often spotting opponents early runs. When relievers failed to provide reassurance that the other team will not get another insurance run.

The stark difference between these recent losses and last year’s: one really felt the Mets would win these games with late inning heroics. Though manager Willie Randolph sees the errors as growing pains, some of the plays are signs the young infielders are not throwing caution to the wind, and have instead adopted a reckless streak in their approach to the game.

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Playoffs Wrap-up: Three The Hard Way

by Rob King

It’s now obvious where the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion obtained their brain, heart and courage. All items came courtesy of the Washington Wizards who played the Miami Heat without all three. Now they’re off to the Land of Oz after melting under intense playoff Heat.

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sunday wrap-up: Deuces Are Wild

When it comes to what plagues the NBA, many point to the lack of fundamentals exhibited by the league’s new entrants. If either of these teams wins the Western Conference or the championship, this series is the precursor to a pint-sized defensive style of play that will afflict the NBA for decades.

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NBA Playoffs First Round Wrap

by Rob King

For authentic hoop heads the 2005 playoffs have been entertaining. Personally I have been rolling with the Wildcats as former University of Arizona point guards wrapped up their first round playoff series - Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, and Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards.

Up in Boston, the Celtics hoped to emulate their New England neighbors in the NFL and end the title hopes of another team from Indiana. They tried beating the Pacers in game seven and putting Miller time on ice forever. But, the Indiana Pacers showed they could handle “The Truth” and beat Boston for a Game 7 road win.

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Phil’s Texas Ten Spot

by Rob King

A playoff series loss to the Mavericks would further cement the Rockets M and M boys’ reputation for melting in the playoffs. McGrady has never advanced past the first round of the playoffs in his career, while Ming seems to be folding in the postseason under pressure like a bad poker hand. Add Phil Jackson to the mix and the Rockets will not only easily move past the first round but become instant threats to dethrone the winners of this year’s championship. Phil’s reputation alone assures this outcome.

When Jackson peruses the current NBA landscape, coaching Houston is the only position that provides a real opportunity to get his record breaking 10th NBA title. The Rockets’ star players Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming along with role players like David Wesley and Scott Padgett are well suited to execute “Chief Triangle’s” offense.

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Sunday wrap-up: Series Business

With one week of NBA playoffs done, it is rather easy to discern the trouble spots for a team’s losing ways.


3 & 6 match-ups – The Truth: it’s Miller time ‘cause He Got Game

In both conferences, there was a common theme of the three lower echelon teams wanting to finish as the 6th seed in order to face Seattle or Boston. Even if you’re not religious, Sunday night, you had to give praise to Ray Allen doing his best ‘Jesus Shuttlesworth’ impersonation, as he torched the Sacramento Kings for 45. Allen could have easily gone for 55, had not the team decided to involve Jerome James and Rashard Lewis.

The most up & down series to date features two teams with short fuses. Game 2 and 3 was about Reggie Miller’s range, while in Game 4 Paul Pierce showed why he was dubbed ‘The Truth'…of the matter, Antoine Walker - getting suspended for Game 4 - gave credence to Danny Ainge’s concern, and why this team’s core (Pierce and Walker) need to be traded, unless they reach the Conference Finals.


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Phil’s Not My Father

In contemplating a return to coaching, Phil Jackson has placed himself in the unenviable position of being seen as a weary, wayward traveler always in search of greener pastures. Jackson’s prior success with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers places him in the pantheon of coaching greats. Detractors are quick to point his success lies in his choosing teams where superstar players reside, bemoaning the fact that Phil may know Zen but he’s no master of the X’s and O’s.

When it comes to winning NBA championships, even Larry Brown, the great re-builder, had to go where the players were. Many label the Detroit Pistons as a team void of superstars, evidently using the label to mean “media darlings” and not players with well-rounded offensive and defensive prowess.

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NBA Playoff Picks

Triangle Offense resident columnists pick the NBA Playoffs:

See what Rob King & Guichard Cadet have to say!


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A Steph Closer?

…Knicks’ Year-End Grade

Steph is the epitome of a player who embodies a city and the dominant (hip hop) culture of our times. His persona is best described by the words of two hip hop icons who were cut down in their prime: 2Pac Shakur’s album title (me against the world) and Notorious B.IG.’s lyrics from “Hypnotize” (you got it, flaunt it… that Brooklyn bullsh!t…we’re on it).

The numbers the music or the player puts up to lay bare his value are used as fodder for critics. Though he will never win his critics over, Marbury will do best to realize he cannot lead those who refuse to follow, until they fail at leading. This past season he often played the passive role, letting his teammates shine or fade.

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Ishii as 1, 2, 3…

It really was not easy for the Mets to win these past 3 games. They could have easily stumbled and be 0-8. Instead fans have been treated to a multi-faceted team, anchored by starting pitching, solid defense and speed.

The wins have a few things in common, mainly great starting pitching, from the Mets and their opponents.

Kaz Ishii joined the team late in spring training after Steve Trachsel's season-ending injury. The knock on Ishii has been his high walk-to-strikeout ratio. Though he walked 3 batters yesterday, Ishii mixed his pitches well and only allowed 2 hits in 7 shutout innings.

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Mets Play Eight-Ball In Consecutive Victories

By Rob King

Martinez’s performance trumped his Met debut last Monday, when he struck out twelve batters and allowed three runs on three hits over six innings. He ended up with a ‘no decision’ as he watched the bullpen squander a three-run lead over the final three innings to lose 7-6 to the Cincinnati Reds. On Sunday Martinez took fate into his own hands with the 101-pitch, 9-strikeout, 2-hit complete game masterpiece to break the Mets five-game losing streak.

Yesterday in front of a capacity crowd, the Mets engineered another eighth inning comeback in their 8-4 victory over the Houston Astros in their home opener at Shea Stadium. Mets starter Tom Glavine pitched six effective innings allowing one run on four hits. Glavine left the game with an opportunity to secure his first win of the 2005 campaign when the Mets scored three runs in the bottom of sixth inning to take a 3-1 lead.

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sunday wrap-up: The Battle for New York

Except for the NHL Devils, New Jersey team sports seem to be the result of a bad bluff by team owners who did not think New York politicians would let them bolt. For football, fans only have to trek across the river 8 times a year for regular season games. The teams benefit by keeping the New York name and identity, and fans get the extra space to tailgate.

The Nets had the option of moving from Secaucus (the Meadowlands) to Newark, where the Devils plan to build their new arena. As a former New York team now owned by a New York real estate developer, the team is actually an ancillary part in the new owner’s desire for other real estate ventures in Brooklyn.

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Can Rivera Regain His Mojo?

by Rob King

Over the last eight seasons Yankee manager Joe Torre would strike fear in the hearts of opponents with one phone call in the eighth inning of games in which the Yankees held slim leads. They knew that phone call would tell the bullpen coach to loosen up Mariano Rivera. Soon number 42 would take off that jacket, warm up and all hopes the opposition had of coming back vanished, along with Maalox moments for Joe Torre in the ninth.

Mariano pitched the ninth inning of those contests but essentially the game was over. The other team didn’t believe they could come back and were accurate in that assessment. Mariano was unhittable!! When opponents did connect it seemed like an act of providence. Mariano’s blown saves during the 1997 American League Divisional playoffs and the 2001 World Series are memorable because they were so infrequent. The New York Yankees and their fans have been spoiled the past eight seasons watching baseball's premier "fireman" extinguish opposition rallies in routine fashion. Recently it seems as if the top "fireman" in the game is burning out.

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Not A Closed Loop

After using two relievers who pitched shutout seventh and eighth innings, Randolph relied on what he knows best. He brought in his closer, as if reliving his days with Gossage and Rivera.

The call was right and wrong. Today’s game has become one of specialists. Managers often bring in relief for pitchers who are not even on the brink of struggling.

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The Fork in the Road

The Knicks’ problem can be narrowed down to one item. Isiah Thomas’ road map to the future has a fork in the road. No one feels secure as to his future with a team, headed by 2 defacto leaders – a much-maligned point guard, and a rookie head coach.

Recent Knicks history proves front office and coaching hiring/firing decisions are made in a New York minute. By the end of next season, unless the team shows significant improvement, Isiah may no longer be with the team.

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Pat reaches Summitt as Dawn rises

by Rob King

Summitt’s recent accomplishments combined with the recent firing of University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach Buzz Petersen led some in the media (mostly male) to debate whether university officials should offer the position to her, and whether Summitt could successfully coach male student athletes. When Dean Smith passed renowned Kentucky coach the late Adolph Rupp to become the winningest coach in Division I college basketball he was allowed to relish the significance of the accomplishment without sports talk shows speculating on how he would fare coaching a different gender. Coach Summitt wasn’t afforded the opportunity to enjoy the moment the same way. Why?

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"Major MC’s become Minor B Flats…"

--L.L. Cool J

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The media witch-hunt to prove Bonds is a cheater has knocked over a generation of Hall of Fame statues. Sammy Sosa. Rafael Palmero. Mark McGwire. Barry Bonds. Though they all may still make the Hall, history will prove the real interest in a maturing Bonds was not worth the investment, especially when dealing in a sport with few guiding principles.

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As it stands, the number of Power Conference teams who lost in the first 2 Rounds to lesser-ranked opponents is practically equal to the number who gets to go to the Sweet 16.

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The Engine that Drives March Madness

by Anthony Robinson

The tournament is reality television in its essence. There is a script that each game follows but only fate controls how it’s played out. The players, coaches and officials involved in the games and the spectators watching in the stands or on TV all ride an emotional roller-coaster from first whistle to final buzzer.

Upsets happen all the time in the tournament especially in the early rounds. A school from a power conference unhappy with their seeding or coach from a school feeling the pressure of fans and alumni catch an upstart program with something to prove or nothing to lose, and someone’s going home early. In many cases we know who’s going to win but there’s that “anything can happen” element that keeps games compelling. Someone twists an ankle, someone gets their third foul or someone is in the zone; and that overwhelming underdog smells an upset.

However the NCAA tournament is one Big Dance where Cinderella may even electric slide past the first weekend, but it won’t hustle beyond the second weekend and it definitely won’t rock away home with the title. The NCAA basketball tournament is a battle where only the schools from the strong conferences survive.

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Closing Seconds

…Who is the Knicks’ Go-To Guy?

Two more 4th quarter collapses begs the question: who is the Knicks’ go-to guy? It should be the same for every team – the coach. Each time a game comes down to the final seconds my mind flashes to Bill Parcells’ first visit to the Meadowlands as coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

...

Herb Williams has done a good job at strategizing and using all of his personnel. Yet, when it comes to closing out games, he has followed where his predecessors left off. Squandering double-digit second half leads has been part of the Knicks repertoire since the Pat Riley days. But, ever since Don Chaney’s regime, the team has not been able to continually hit the shot to salvage the win.

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Spurred Then Nearly Stung

Though the Hornets had made 5 straight playoff appearances, the job had one major parallel to Scott’s former job in New Jersey: a disgruntled Point Guard making ‘max’ money. Such situations can take a coach to Hall of Fame potential a la Pat Riley’s good fortune in becoming Magic Johnson’s guy after the firing of Paul Westhead. Scott has not been so lucky, except that he was not fired and the Golden State Warriors took Baron Davis off his hands.

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Isiah’s Taylor-Made Trade Has Herb Smelling Like A Rose

A few weeks ago, it was not a smell but a stench coming out of the garden. Where there are dead bodies, they are reporters hovering like buzzards, devouring the carcasses by writing premature obituaries.

The season is far from saved, but the recent winning has brought smiles to the players’ faces, and a wait-and-see attitude from the media, who blasted the trade and, more specifically, the man who orchestrated the move to acquire Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor.


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