I was watching the NBAtv replay of game 3 between the hapless Jazz and the eventual champion Lakers last night, the one where the Jazz blew several great opportunities to win the game and ended up down 0-3 in a series they never had a chance to win in the first place. The game was in Utah, so it appeared to be refereed fairly. It was then that I realized (or relearned) several things about today’s NBA:
1) Even in the playoffs, teams are not very well-coached.
Here we are at the pinnacle of basketball civilization, where giants and comparative midgets get paid millions of dollars to put a ball through a metal ring in front of an audience of millions. You would think that two of the best teams in the game would be able to plan and execute a strategy that made sense, but you would be wrong. Plain and simple: The Jazz lost game three because on the the three most important Laker shots of the last three minutes, they made huge defensive tactical errors. On two of them, NBA supahstar and pond scum Kobe Bryant was single-covered and ended up with a wide-open shot over a shorter defender. On the other, noted white boy and bad defender Kyle Korver was running out to stop the Lakers’ elderly three-point specialist Derek Fisher, but instinctively stopped short when he thought Fisher was going to dribble-drive instead of shoot. Now you must understand, Fisher has made about 1000 huge late-game threes over the course of his career; he also hasn’t driven the lane since 2001. It was a huge mistake that led to yet another buried three by the Lakers. It’s like the Jazz didn’t even scout their opponents or something. You might want to double-team Kobe (or at least put a bigger guy on him), and you might want to prevent Fisher from shooting money threes in the last two minutes of a game. And Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is one of the most respected coaches in the game*.
2) The power of evil can make the difference between a win and a loss.
Even after those three errorsf, the Jazz had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. The Lakers inexplicably let the Jazz’ best player get free for an open look from about 20 feet. OF COURSE it didn’t go in. Why? Because of the Lakers’ evil power, that’s why. You might think I’m crazy, but check this out: Not only did the shot fail to do in, but Jazz player and former Marquette star Wesley Matthews Jr. had a perfect opportunity to tip in the miss, but it careened harmlessly off Carlos Boozer’s ego as time expired. He was in such great position because the entire Laker team fell asleep and failed to box him out. Which leads us to…
3) The team that wins the game is not always the team that deserves to win.
I know nobody wants to hear this. We want our sports clearly defined into winners and losers, but we are wrong. The fact is, both the Jazz and the Lakers deserved to win and lose, and the game was decided by a muddled cocktail of successes and failures and blown calls and mental mistakes and strategy and etc. If I’m going to cover the NBA like a storybook, it’s going to be an honest storybook, and that means the narrative can’t follow the pattern the NBA wants — starting with the draft and ending with the championship, with the winners being the heroes. No, the winners are rarely the heroes. The winners are those who have more points at the end of the game, that’s all.
But for nearly all some people, that’s the only thing that matters. For the people involved in playing basketball, the “W” means everything. The W can get you money and everything your heart desires. As I try to wring some meaning out of this sweaty old sock of a league, I hope the trappings of the W don’t turn out to be the most important thing in the story. Sadly, I know they will. Oh, and by the way,
4) Carlos Boozer sucks.
Way to go to Duke, Carlos. Way to sue Prince. Way to be the original Cleveland betrayer. And way to throw the ball off the bottom of the rim in the last minute of a must-win NBA playoff game, then yell that you were fouled when nobody touched you. A class act all the way, this guy is.
*He being the same dude who refused to double-team Jordan in the NBA Finals. “I think Bryon Russell can stop him” is one of the stupidest thoughts ever uttered to oneself by an NBA coach, ever.
