SB Nation User Blog: Steve Weinman

The Babble Signs Off...For Now

Steve Weinman — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:16:08 -0000

Oscar the Grouch's alter ego takes a temporary sabbatical.

A Daily Babble Production

By definition, this is not an easy piece to write. That's because it will be the final edition of the Daily Babble to come your way for the foreseeable future.

I received an offer from the National Basketball Association for temporary employment this summer, and I have accepted what I consider an opportunity I can't pass up. For the next couple of months, I will be working in the league office, completing a myriad of tasks for the NBA's marketing communications department. I'm thrilled to have the chance to expand my understanding of the league's operations and sports media relations, and I'm looking forward to meeting any number of new people and engaging in a set of new experiences in the time to come. Thanks to Heather Roberts, Michael Bass and Adam Silver at the NBA for helping make this possible.

I'm proud to say the offer from the league came about largely as a result of the work I have done since arriving at CelticsBlog nearly a year and a half ago. However, while working for the Association, I will be unable to continue writing for a team-oriented site such as this one.

At this point, I expect to be with the NBA through early August. As WFAN's Eddie Scozzare once told me, there are no guarantees in this life, and I have no idea what the next couple of months will hold for me on a personal level. But as it stands now, I have no reason to doubt that I will return to my role as your humble Daily Babbler here at CelticsBlog during the latter portion of the offseason's dog days.

But as long as I've got your attention one last time for now, if you wouldn't mind, please indulge me for just a few more minutes for some scrambled thoughts as I offer you my temporary farewell.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of four o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, I sent a hurried email to a prominent blogger named Jeff Clark. I had been writing daily for a small but growing audience at my old site for nine months at that point. I told Jeff that I wrote a general NBA column but was a huge Celtics fan and had enjoyed reading his rather Celtics-centric site from afar. I was looking for something new for myself at the time and figured it couldn't hurt to take a shot in the dark by asking if there was anything at all I could do to help out around the site.

When I woke up a few hours later, I found myself the new lead man on the general NBA beat at CelticsBlog.com.

You can imagine how surprised I was to receive an email telling me that I didn't need to introduce myself, that Jeff already knew who I was. Count me even more surprised when, just like that, he asked me to bring my work aboard. So that's where the debt of gratitude begins: Jeff Clark took a chance on me. Then-webmaster Bob Day took a chance on me. So did managing editor Green17. When he offered me the honor of serving as a moderator several months later, forums manager Roy Hobbs followed suit. Same goes for Justin Poulin at Celtics Stuff Live, the man who eventually offered me the chance to represent CB and CSL at the 2008 NBA Draft, which in its own right marked a new beginning of my odyssey toward the inside of the NBA.

Those individuals offered me the chance to do my own small part to play a role in what was already a fantastic community of a web site. I can't thank them and the rest of our fine writing, editing and moderating staff enough for the honor of sharing this corner of the Interwebs with them.

Of course, I have thus far omitted one other major factor here, perhaps the biggest one of all: you.

No matter what we on staff do here, you make this site the community that it is. You give our words meaning by coming to read them, offering your feedback and driving discussion in the comments sections and forums.

You welcomed me into this community with open arms and made me one of your own almost instantly. You tolerated and in some cases even embraced content in every area imaginable, including screeds after every Celtics game, musings about Renaldo Balkman's trade value, tales of hooping with Missouri starters Zaire Taylor and Leo Lyons, philosophical ramblings about statistical analysis, the background of my hate-hate relationship with the Knicks and the piece that has carried the most significance for me, the narrative of my trip to the finals with my dad. You supported me in blending chatter about obscure free agents around the league, statistical numbers crunching, game analysis and personal sentiment into one small block of web space. You helped a Long Island native buried in the Midwest feel as though he were always in the midst of a sea of green diehards.

You allowed me to turn my dad into a mini-celebrity. The Guru enjoys telling people that he got intercontinental birthday wishes (thanks in particular to Casperian) each of the last couple of years. You made me stop and self-edit "fans around the country" to "fans across the globe" more times than you can imagine (thanks, ACF, cordobes, celticmaestro, Drucci, blueygreen, Edgar, Kiorrik, nox45 and several others). You reminded me that despite being more than 1,000 miles away from the hub of Celtics fandom, I wouldn't be dining alone as I tried in vain to find a sports bar that carried Celtics-Knicks in the Midwest as my gift to myself for my most recent birthday (thanks, Thruthelookingglass).

So many of you have welcomed me into your lives. As I wrote my postgame piece on the night the Boston Celtics' won their 17th NBA championship, CelticBalla32 and I rejoiced via Instant Message until the sun rose in the East. In those same wee hours, Who and I celebrated by exchanging links to clips from the "Karate Kid" trilogy. I've greatly enjoyed hearing about Hoyo de Monterrey's youth basketball coaching triumphs and tribulations, Redz's journey back into academia, Toine43's college application process, Thruthelookingglass' enjoyment of the Spartans' run to the NCAA tourney final, The Walker Wiggle's updates on life in New York when I'm out of town, nazzbo's love of Monta Ellis, Finkelskyhook's plans to journey to Kansas City to see his beloved Red Sox and cordobes' road trip plans for the Euroleague championships.

I miss no kidding and Bahku and wonder when they are coming back. We need to hear more often from Reyquila and Cousin It, two of our finest. Same goes for Celtics Central's Tom "tenaciousT" Halzack, one of my most respected writing mentors. DJ Bento Box and wondahbap have done an excellent job providing commentary from the purple-and-gold side of the tracks, and I can't believe it took me this long to publicly congratulate wondah on earning a writing position at Silver Screen and Roll. My ego is still swelling from the time bdm860 asked me about meeting up at a Celtics-Knicks game that I was unfortunately unable to attend. Same goes for Reggies Ghost telling me it would be an honor to use his graphic talents of Web-wide renown to design me a forums signature meshing the Celtics and Oscar the Grouch.

Master Po is one of a kind. Schupac and I share a love of "The Big Lebowski." I still feel bad about the first time I called Eddie House "Eddie Money" without attributing to theBird, who thankfully forgave me. Our dark lord always manages to stay positive. I enjoy how often crownsy and Celtic save me some typing by writing what I'm thinking in a more concise and entertaining matter. Nickagneta is awesome to the point that I can forgive his being a Nebraska fan. I can't thank CoachBo enough for constantly sharing his insights about coaching high school hoops, teaching journalism, Danny Ainge, James Posey, Tony Allen, dumpster diving and everything in between. The same goes for Roy Hobbs, with whom I've conversed about matters in all walks of life. A year ago, I had never met my oft-referenced friend Lee, who has contributed so much to the Babble and Boxed Out this season. Now, we chat almost daily, and I owe him plenty for making this season that much more enjoyable by chatting with me throughout each game this season.

The list goes on. And on. And further on. So if I haven't mentioned you by name here, you had best believe it has more to do with time and space constraints than anything else. Because all of you have made being involved here an absolute pleasure from day one.

And so have two more folks despite the fact that they are a bit less vocal in the comments section on site. In addition to leading the Celtics in plus-minus over the last two seasons, Mama Weinman has always provided unwavering support for all my efforts, emailed quick notes to remind me of embarrassing typos and pushed me to keep looking for more from myself. Thanks for everything, Mom.

That brings us to the final thank-you, to the man who has read and printed every word ever written in this space without ever charging me for the reams of paper or binders this required or complaining about the space in his office they took up. It would take another several years worth of Babbles to say enough about The Guru, but I will say this: If being Steve Weinman's father ever brings him even half as much pride as calling myself Howard Weinman's son brings me, I'll feel pretty good about myself.

Never for a second have I regretted the many nights spent in front of my computer until three, four or five o'clock in the morning, writing until I passed out at my desk or on my floor. I relish the fact that this constituency of fans won't accept laziness in my content, that you keep me honest and hold me accountable for my oft-silly predictions and ramblings. I learn a ton from many of you each day. Seeing the support in this thread was humbling. Serving such an insightful and informed readership has made my role more of a joy with each passing day, and I will miss it while I'm gone.

There is no doubt in my mind that CelticsBlog will not miss a beat in my absence. While I won't be Babbling, I'll certainly be lurking on the front page and in the forums when I have a free moment. It is always a pleasure to hear from any of you, and I will be readily available via personal message in the forums or by email at sweinman43@gmail.com. Feel free to drop me a line anytime to chat about hoops or just to let me know how the world is treating you.

At long last, I'm out of words, and I've probably used far too many for what may amount to little more than a summer absence. But it never hurts to say thank you, and I owe each of you no shortage of gratitude.

Catch ya on the flip side of many meridians.

-sw

Looking Back At the Green's Midseason Pickups

Steve Weinman — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:14:55 -0000

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

Over a three-day span in the final week of February, Danny Ainge added the last two pieces to the roster with which the Celtics attempted to defend their title this spring. One of them caused me great internal tumult beforehand, and the other struck me as most likely to make a marginal positive impact rather than one significant enough to merit his round-the-clock news cycle among Celtics fans in the week leading up his acquisition. With free agency impending for both of them, it's time for an evaluation of the respective green tenures of Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury.

In Moore's defense, the Celtics signed him with the expectation that he would be the fifth or sixth big man (depending on Brian Scalabrine's role) if the team reached full health for the stretch run, which it never did. The various injuries to Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, Glen Davis and Scalabrine forced Moore into a more expanded role than projected, and averaging 19 minutes in 24 regular season games no doubt accentuated his flaws.

But the blame deflection disclaimer ends there, and it doesn't change the fact that Mikki Moore is a subpar NBA player who did not do a good job as a Celtic this season. Rewind for a moment to February. In his writing at FanHouse, top-of-the-line Kings blogger Tom Ziller offered us a scouting report before Mikki came to town:

Moore has springs in his legs, but he does not block shots (6'6 Francisco Garcia had more per-minute last season). He can do three things well: take charges (though he'll also rack up a ton of fouls trying to get those), hit the elbow jumper and finish at the rim, provided the ball is handed off to him within five feet of the basket and there are no defenders within 10 feet.

While TZ drew the ire of Celts fans by referencing Mark Blount (whose effort level is nowhere near Mikki's), albeit strictly in terms of rebound rate (where the two are comparable over the courses of their careers), his assertions about Moore proved spot on.

Mikki hit the mid-range jumper (48.8 percent effective field goal mark on jump shots while with the Celts), and he did finish at the rim, posting a fine regular season true shooting mark of 62.1 percent. This is good, but it bears remembering that as someone who can't create his own shot, Moore's shots came in small volume, and he posted 4.8 points per game and 9.2 per 36 minutes as a Celtic. Meanwhile, his hands of stone combined with his propensity to set illegal screens led to an 18.4 turnover percentage, a mark worse than that of any regular but point guards Stephon Marbury and Rajon Rondo, starting center Kendrick Perkins and oft-out-of-control Tony Allen. This is not good.

At the other end, calling Mikki Moore a poor defender rings similarly to calling Ray Allen a good shooter. It is true but quite an understatement. While one could still argue that a full training camp and beginning the season with the team would make a difference, Moore failed time and again at the defensive end as a Celtic. He did a poor job playing the screen and roll, often either jumping out with poor timing to commit a foul while hedging or losing his man entirely, resulting in opposing baskets. When guarding players with the ability to step outside, Moore vacillated between losing them to the point of not being able to close out on shots and flying out of control at shooters and committing silly fouls on the outside. On the interior, he found himself out-muscled and outsmarted by stronger and savvier players with regularity.

Moore did draw the occasional charge, but just as Ziller predicted, he did so while fouling like there was no tomorrow: Mikki averaged four fouls per game and a whopping 7.6 per 36 minutes. For all his size as a seven-footer, he didn't do much shot-blocking or altering either, but again, this shouldn't have been much of a surprise: Moore blocks just 1.1 shots per 36 minutes for his career, and he managed just 0.4 per 36 minutes as a Celtic (for reference, Marbury and Gabe Pruitt checked in at 0.3). He actually exceeded his standard rebounding production, though a 14.1 percent rebound rate isn't much to write home about (and the fact that it was markedly higher than Davis' is more a poor reflection of the Infant's rebounding than a testament to Mikki's boardwork). It comes as no shock that the Celtics were 5.6 points per 100 possessions worse defensively with Mikki on the court than off it.

The truly frustrating part is that so much of defense is based on effort, and Moore always tried hard. But his energy constantly seemed to be misdirected, and he proved remarkably ineffective at the defensive end and made himself an infuriating-to-watch liability to this team. Mikki has achieved plenty for himself by making the it to and sticking in the Association for as long as he has, and I have no reason to believe that he is anything other than a nice guy and a good teammate. But Mikki's personal success story doesn't alter or outweigh his lack of efficacy on the court. I can think of a lot of fun ways to spend $378,683, but paying that sum (or its full-season equivalent) to Mikki Moore to play basketball isn't one of them. While it's a plus that there is plenty about Mikki as a person that would make it tolerable to root for him, count me as wanting no part of the Celtics bringing him back this summer.

Though the sentiments aren't quite as vehemently against it, my interest in retaining the other in-season acquisition isn't much greater. As detailed in my Facing the Starbury Fear narrative the week of the signings, I found myself turned off by Stephon Marbury's history of playing poor defense, quitting on his team, causing distractions and making questionable me-first decisions - but understanding that his offensive talent could provide a lift for this team and willing to hope for the best so long as the front of his jersey read "Celtics."

Thanks to going in with incredibly tempered expectations, I found myself pleasantly surprised with Steph on the whole. He said the right things off the floor, appeared to get along with his teammates and managed to avoid off-court distractions. He played with greater defensive intensity than previously witnessed, and he worked harder than I expected to stay with his man and to get through screens. Marbury displayed impressive offensive chemistry with Eddie House, and on certain nights he did an effective job keeping the offense running smoothly. He played a key role in breaking open Game 3 against the Bulls and had his crowning moment as a Celtic with a fourth-quarter scoring barrage in Game 5 against the Magic that propelled the green to an improbable 14-point comeback to take a 3-2 series lead. I applaud the effort he made to play unselfish basketball and to fit into the Celtics' system, nearly to a fault at times.

But even with all that in his favor, Marbury was far from a supersub or a roaring success in Boston. That he tried hard defensively was a step up from his lackluster performance elsewhere, but that doesn't mean he was effective. Bigger guards still shot over him with ease, and though he made more of an effort than expected to fight through screens, he still had trouble against the high screen roll. The Celtics' defense was 5.2 points per 100 possessions worse with him off the court than on it. While part of that is due to his tenure coinciding with Kevin Garnett's injury, part of it is a reflection of the fact that he remains a mediocre defender.

At the offensive end, Marbury had his moments as described above, but they proved the exception rather than the rule. Steph posted 3.8 points per game in an average of 18 minutes over his 23 regular season appearances. That's the equivalent of 7.7 points per 36 minutes, the lowest figure of his career. This wasn't purely the result of unselfishness and lack of volume shooting either. Marbury put up a true shooting mark of 37.7 percent in the regular season. To comprehend just how miserable that is, consider that 328 players qualified for the true shooting leader board this season. Had Marbury done so, he would have ranked 328th, barely edging out Chuck Hayes (37.5). True shooting figures less than 50 percent indicate significant inefficiency. Less than 40 percent is disgusting. Brought in partially for his ability to knock down jumpers from mid-range and beyond, Marbury did not shoot well from behind the arc or the floor on the whole. The playoffs saw more of the same, when his TS figure dipped to 37.2 percent despite his couple of well-timed scoring performances.

As far as running the offense was concerned, Steph looked up and down. At times, he played patient basketball and kept the ball moving both inside and on the perimeter. But he also commandeered his share of stagnant stretches and committed quite a few embarrassing turnovers, including losing the ball in the backcourt on multiple occasions. While assists are far from the be-all-end-all, Marbury's mark of 6.5 per 36 minutes joined his last three seasons in New York as the only campaigns of his career shy of seven assists per 36 minutes. He turned the ball over on an outrageous 24 percent of plays during the regular season and led ultimately ran an offense that scored 8.7 points per 100 possessions more with him off the court than on it.

As with Moore, a full training camp would help Marbury get better acclimated than he did at any point this season. But also as with Moore, this is not a player who was on the verge of excellence or anywhere close during his partial season as a Celtic. The green performed a net 13.9 points per 100 possessions worse with him on the floor, and this came under ideal conditions with regard to off-court circumstances for Marbury. If the guy were ever going to get his act together and behave like a teammate, it was this season, when he hadn't played for more than a year and knew that without guaranteed money for next season, another public relations disaster could have been the end for him.

Marbury earns praise for conducting himself well as a Celtic, but those few months don't erase a years-long track record of misbehavior. People can change, and changes of scenery sometimes help that happen. But Marbury's history leaves me wary, and his play this season was far from awe-striking enough to merit taking the risk for the future. That is especially true if he comes at any significant price tag, but even at minimal cost, the idea of his return doesn't excite me.

Credit Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury for playing hard and doing their best to fit in with their teammates upon joining the Celtics in the midst of the 2008-09 campaign. But here's hoping that each man has seen the last of his days in green.

No Avoiding Praising Rafer This Time

Steve Weinman — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:20:15 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

In an Eastern Conference Finals series that has thus far made me look every bit the idiot I so often am, the latest installment provided a cherry on top: Rafer Alston submitting a huge performance in yet another victory for the Orlando Magic.

As our archives demonstrate, I have made no secret of my distaste for Alston's game, and I have berated him at just about every turn in this postseason. While one night won't turn me into the president of his fan club, it seems the least I can do is omit the usual preface of laying out my case for not liking Alston's game. Because the Magic's 116-114 overtime win in Tuesday's Game 4 came on a night that belonged to him as much as anyone.

From the outset, Alston took what the defense gave him. With the Cavaliers sloughing off him early to pressure Dwight Howard and force the ball away from Orlando's more heralded perimeter players, Alston stepped up to knock down open looks in rhythm. He canned a three from the top to open the scoring on the Orlando side, and he drained another trey four minutes later when Howard found him open in the left corner. Six quick points on two shots set the tone for the later portion of Alston's night.

After quieting down for the remainder of the first half, Alston came alive in the third quarter. Again, he didn't force bad shots, choosing instead to take what Cleveland's defense offered. On consecutive possessions, he dribbled inside the arc for pull-up jumpers. Two good looks, four points. Twice more shortly thereafter, he spotted up on the left wing to receive passes from Hedo Turkoglu and Howard with room to shoot. Two more shots, six more points. Just like that, Alston reeled off the first 10 Magic points of the second half in a shade more than three and a half minutes. He totaled 15 before the period finished, and the Magic went to the fourth quarter having cut an eight-point recess deficit to one.

Alston's hot outside shooting forced the Cavs to come out on him a bit more, and he attacked the rim twice for lay-ins in the second half. The box score says he missed seven shots, but it's hard to remember them too well. Alston didn't rush his attempts or force the ball into traffic when he went to the lane. For the most part, every shot he took came off a quality look, and his selection merited little criticism regardless of each individual result. If any shot earned a question, it was a second-half left-wing three-pointer that appeared well-contested by LeBron James. And that rainbow kissed the backboard and fell in for three more points.

He hit his shots at one end, forced Mo Williams into another rough night (5-for-15 from the field) at the other and avoided silly mistakes throughout the contest. Before the evening at Amway Arena ended, Rafer Alston amassed 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including 6-for-12 on threes, and his plus-18 mark made him the only player on either side better than plus-8.

The Orlando Magic played excellent basketball when Rafer Alston was on the court last night. That came thanks in no small part to Rafer Alston.

Energetic Bench Propels Nugs To Even WCFs

Steve Weinman — Tue, 26 May 2009 03:57:05 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

The Denver Nuggets head back to Los Angeles having evened the Western Conference Finals at two games apiece, and they have their bench to thank for that.

When Denver took over last night's Game 4, Carmelo Anthony had yet to make a field goal. Chauncey Billups spent a five-minute stretch on the bench. But an energetic unit featuring four reserves set the tone for the rest of the game by stretching a three-point first quarter lead as high as 15. Though the Nuggets took a seven-point lead into recess, the Lakers spent the rest of the evening playing catch-up.

It began with J.R. Smith, who is known for his ability to do three things: shoot, shoot and shoot. He got around to doing some of that, but he got himself space on the floor by attacking the rim and demonstrating surprising passing vision early on. Three times in the first six minutes of the second quarter, Smith set up dunks for his teammates. He opened the period by forcing Pau Gasol to help on his drive in the middle of the lane and lofting the ball to a cutting Chris Andersen for an open finish. He followed this four minutes later by penetrating through the middle again and flicking a picture-perfect no-look pass to Nene for a slam. Two possessions after that, Smith drove right, drew more help and dished to Nene for another flush.

After indicating himself a threat to find the open man, Smith had that much easier a time finding space later in the quarter. A ball-fake, one-dribble move at the three-point line freed him to can an open jumper from 20 feet. Another drive to the basket resulted in an acrobatic lay-up in traffic. Smith finished with nine points in the period en route to 24 for the game, but the renowned gunner really made an impression as a distributor on this night.

The recipient of Smith's first lob made his mark at the defensive end as well. Chris Andersen came up with two crowd-pleasing blocks early in the quarter. The Birdman came from well behind Shannon Brown to block the guard's righty lay-up attempt hard off the glass, and he later stifled a baseline drive from Jordan Farmar. Each block resulted in a rebound for the Nuggets, and Denver points followed on the ensuing possession in both instances.

Two less heralded Nuggets reserves made their presences felt as well. Anthony Carter and Linas Kleiza (from the 'Zou!) teamed up twice in 36 seconds to stretch an eight-point margin to 13. Controlling the ball offset left of the top of the circles, Carter recognized that Kobe Bryant had over-committed to doubling him in hopes of forcing a steal. As Bryant turned to recover to his man, Carter snapped a pass on a line to the right side of the rim, where a waiting Kleiza jumped, caught it and laid it in. On the following possession, Carter brought the ball deep in the lane. As the Lakers' defense collapsed inside, Kleiza sprinted from the left wing to the top of the arc to give Carter an easier look to the perimeter. AC got the ball back out to him just as Kobe turned to see the cut and make a belated effort to close out. Count the three for the former Missouri Tiger.

Melo wouldn't make his first field goal until the final minute of the half after missing his first 10 tries from the floor, but it wouldn't matter. During the first 2:43 of the second quarter, with several reserves on the floor, the Nugs rolled off a plus-8 stretch to push the lead to 11. When Chauncey Billups sat for the next 5:04, the bench unit played plus-1 and handed a 12-point lead back to the starters late in the half.

Though the game tightened for brief stretches, the Nuggets never really looked back. Thanks to the momentum Denver's bench grabbed to start the second quarter, the powder blue folks ensured themselves another Pepsi Center home game this season with a 120-101 Game 4 victory.

Four Pair Swing Makes the Difference In Orlando

Steve Weinman — Mon, 25 May 2009 04:05:41 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

The Cavs send Dwight Howard to the line. Again.

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A Daily Babble Production

Given that LeBron James has never been confused for Ray Allen at the free throw line, I wouldn't call what happened in the fourth quarter in Orlando last night a full-fledged role reversal. But it had that feeling.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers trailing by six points and a shade outside of four and a half minutes to play in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, James drove to the basket and was fouled in the act of shooting. Two shots. Clang. Clang.

On LeBron's second miss, Anderson Varejao committed a foul trying to take the rebound away from Dwight Howard. With the Cavs in the penalty, the notoriously inaccurate (albeit not on this night) Howard headed to the line for two shots of his own. I wouldn't describe them as "swish and swish," but the results were just as good. Eight-point game.

Less than two and a half minutes later, after the Cavaliers had cut the deficit to four, the situation repeated itself in reverse order.

Howard drew a shooting foul from Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Again, not swish and swish, but good and good. Just as effective as swish and swish.

At the other end, the Cavs lucked out when the Magic tipped the rebound of a missed three-pointer out of bounds. Shortly after the ensuing rebound, Bron drew a tick-tack foul from Mickael Pietrus coming around a screen outside the top of the circles. Penalty situation, two shots. Miss. Miss. Orlando ball, leading by six, less than two minutes to play.

There are a lot of reasons why the Magic left Amway Arena late Sunday night with a 99-89 win, and most of the ones on the Cleveland end had little to do with LeBron James. But with the game's outcome hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter, each team's respective star contributed to an eight-point swing. The 60 percent career free throw shooter made four biggies (and 14 of his 19 attempts for the night) right around the time the man who shot a career high 78 percent this season missed four of his own en route to an 18-for-24 performance.

As promised, the Cavaliers hacked Dwight Howard all night long, and he got the job done at the stripe. In the meantime, the league's best player missed as many free throws in the fourth quarter alone as Howard did for the game. In a series that has shown itself to be far more of a competition than some idiots (read: me) predicted, that can make all the difference.

Other quick-hitters from the game that put my initial Cavs-in-five prediction to bed once and for all:

I wish I had kept track of the number of fouls the Cavs committed outside the top of the circles as a result of poor timing on hedging when their bigs jumped out to play the high screen-and-roll, usually initiated by Hedo Turkoglu. Of the nine fouls Turkoglu drew last night, only one came in the act of shooting.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas looks awful. He isn't moving well on defense and doesn't look comfortable shooting the ball. Rough 3-for-10 night for him.
Mickael Pietrus continues to impress me. His slashing earned him another seven trips to the line, and he made several effective defensive plays on LeBron, including a neat block once the game was no longer in doubt. If only he would stop walking.
Stan Van Gundy is the anti-Popovich when it comes to the dopey between-quarters interview in nationally teleivsed games. Whereas nearly every other coach in the league won't offer a syllable more than is necessary to get away from the microphone, SVG routinely goes above and beyond in offering us full paragraphs worth of a combination of raspy-voiced insight and goofiness. Last night's highlight: "If LeBron dribbles, it's a foul. He's going to the line for two shots." Count me curious to see if this earns him a $15,000 bill from the league.

Three Subplots From the Bronstrosity Game

Steve Weinman — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:16:14 -0000

More photos » by David Richard - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

In the likely event that you haven't spent the last 36 hours ensconced under a rock, you don't need me to tell you that a certain 32.8 percent career three-point shooter happened to convert a catch-and-shoot with one second left from two steps beyond the arc to win a rather important playoff basketball game on Friday night.

If you did happen to play the rock card this weekend, well, that's a nutshell version of how Game 2 of Magic-Cavs ended. Among other things, the unabridged version features some intrigue surrounding the Cavs blowing a 23-point lead at home and Hedo Turkoglu hitting a big shot to put the Magic ahead by two with one second to play. Rather compelling stuff.

Besides the general insanity of how great LeBron James is, three other thoughts struck me first after a game for the ages:

"Hey, Craig, man, we just couldn't afford to go down 0-2 in this series going into Orlando. Once again, Orlando kept their composure being down and made a run, and uh, that's just a great shot, man. You know, we gotta get ready for Game 3. That's a great shot, but we got a lot to clean up." That would be LeBron's answer verbatim to the impeccably dressed Craig Sager's question about how he kept his composure in the final second and what type of shot he expected to get. High comedy on a number of levels. Something about the way he made the "0-2" comment would have tempted me to follow up, "So you decided to make the shot because you lost the opener? Am I to take it you mail it in on this possession if that doesn't happen?" Add this to the list of reasons we have professionals with restraint instead of wiseacre Celtics fans on the sidelines at NBA games. Further, in one 17-second answer to the first postgame question, this man referred to his own shot as "great" twice. And was absolutely right in doing so. I thoroughly enjoyed this exchange. Thank you, Messrs. Sager and James.

Stan Van Gundy's immediate reaction to the play: arching his eyebrows along with a thin half-rueful, half-resigned What-can-you-do? smile. For a guy whose team had just suffered a hardly plausible gut-punch loss, SVG managed to look completely unsurprised. Since the man isn't renowned for masking his emotions on the sidelines, I took that as the latest testament to LeBron's growing legend. The look said, "I refuse to be shocked by anything this guy does at this point." Hard to argue that sentiment.
The buzzer-beating drama took the focus off a developing story down the stretch: a fourth quarter full of bizarre officiating that included two correctly called charges on LeBron James in a 51-second span and then a correctly called travel on James to wipe out a basket with 30 seconds remaining in a tie game. Make what you will of my reference to three absolutely, no-question-about-it correct calls as "bizarre." The two charges early in the fourth came on the heels of an odd sequence involving Marcin Gortat getting hit with a questionable foul to give Cleveland a chance at a three-point play followed by Gortat getting T'd up. It also came on the heels of an earlier-in-the-game text message from my buddy Matz expressing his surprise that LeBron is allowed "to play like Brandon Jacobs." In case there was any doubt about this, Matz is only a casual observer of the league. My response: "Sadly, I had prior knowledge of that."

Bron's two charges had plenty of company as the officials whistled five offensive fouls in the final 12:19 of regulation. Though I've made my discomfort with micro-assessing officials known in the past, I'm feeling bit less reluctant than usual to weigh in as a neutral observer on this one: Courtney Lee's at the end of the third quarter looked questionable, but it was hardly definitive on replay. That makes it hard for me to knock the refs for a call that could have gone either way on the game's toughest rule to officiate. Hedo Turkoglu's first charge appeared correct, but it's hard to say how much that mattered given that it came the possession after the James charge. For the life of me, I can't figure out what he did wrong the second time. Doug Collins, whom I hold in high esteem, claimed Turkoglu extended his right arm into Anderson Varejao at the left elbow as he drove, but it looked on the replay as though Turk kept his elbow relatively locked on that play. It does move but hardly enough to merit a foul.

The real disconcerting part of the whole sequence to me was watching LBJ after the calls that went against him. While it doesn't take long to figure out that no NBA player has ever committed a foul, the level of indignation in James' expressions after his charges took that to a new level. It left me wondering if he has gotten so accustomed to doing whatever he wants on the basketball court that he doesn't comprehend that lowering one's shoulder and relocating defenders is prohibited. That said, The Guru summed it up best: "I'm as surprised as he is that those calls were made. But we've probably got different reasons."

The Most Quotable Man of the 2009 NBA Playoffs

Steve Weinman — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:49:56 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

"I went there with the intentions of just telling Kobe, 'You got to relax. You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?'"

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A Daily Babble Production

[Note: We're going with the originally planned Saturday Babble because we're still in complete shock over the end of Magic-Cavs, Round 2. There will be thoughts forthcoming over the next couple of days on a series that grows curiouser and curiouser by the second.]

Ron Artest has engaged in his share of reprehensible behavior on and off the basketball court. He also plays as hard as anyone in the league, does a fantastic job at the defensive end and has his moments with the ball in his hands as well.

But love him or hate him, it's hard to deny Ron-Ron one title: As he spent the last month reminding us, the man gives the most consistently dynamic interviews of any player in the league.

I chatted last week with Detroit Bad Boys' Matt Watson, and we agreed that eventually, someone needs to devote a blog to a cause along the lines of Things Ron Artest Actually Said On the Record. As Matt says, Artest has no filter and knows no cliche.

In lieu of actually starting that site, but in the interest of doing my part to help the cause and to have some Saturday morning fun, we submit to you a collection of Crazy Pills Artest's memorable moments at the mic for the 2009 playoffs alone:

The Best He's Played Against (04.29.09)

Not only does Artest list Brandon Roy as the best player he's played against, he reasserts it when Craig Sager brings up LeBron James and Kobe Bryant and then takes a backhanded stab at Roy's defense also.

Bonus: shouting out the formerly best opponent, a buddy from Queensbridge who got incarcerated during his teenage years.

Double-bonus: potshots at Charles Barkley.

(via batkins1823)

Return To the Stands (04.30.09)

In the Rockets' series-clinching home win in Game 6 over Portland, Artest sprints off the floor and into the stands to save a ball out of bounds. Asked about it after the game, he reminds us that spectator seating isn't an unfamiliar area for him (1:02).

Bonus: Yao Ming cracking up and reiterating, "This time at homecourt!"

(via JTMteam)

The Conversation With Kobe (05.06.09)

My personal favorite of the bunch: After receiving a foul for taking an elbow under the basket from Kobe Bryant in Game 2 against the Lakers, Artest pleads his case to the officiating crew and then explains the situation to KB24. This earns him an ejection. Hardwood Paroxysm's Matt Moore did a great job with this one in The Beautiful Madness of Crazy Pills Artest.

Money quote: "I didn't go there with the intentions of getting ejected. I went there with the intentions of just telling Kobe, 'You got to relax. You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?'"

(via thund3rcat)

Accustomed To Playing Rough (05.06.09)

Also following that Game 2 ejection, but worth its own segment here, Artest offers a tragic and bizarre (but true) tale from his days growing up in Queensbridge. Not exactly funny, but, I reiterate, bizarre. Highly bizarre.

(via thund3rcat)

On the 2007-08 Lakers (05.07.09)

And what happened to the purple and gold when they met up with the mean green championship-winning machine last June. Enjoy, Celtics fans.

(via PaulFVillarreal2)

Three-Pointers Add To the Score (05.08.09)

The media wants to know about the impact Kobe's buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the third quarter had on the Rockets. Ron wants you to know that three-pointers merely raise the score (3:16). He proceeds from there into some semi-comprehensible babble about why he doesn't heed warnings about talking trash with Bryant.

Bonus: Ron makes guarantees about certain Rockets' health for the rest of the series.

(via WhereLakersHappen)

GEICO's Newest Pitchman (05.12.09)

On having to win without Yao Ming: "If it were easy, a caveman could do it."

(via OvertimeVideo)

Ron Artest: Where boring never happens.

Ariza's Decision-Making Impresses In Loss

Steve Weinman — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:14:25 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

Though the Lakers fell to the Nuggets last night to cede homecourt advantage in the Western Conference Finals, it was a member of the purple and gold who caught my eye with his wise play at the offensive end.

It has been evident for some time that Trevor Ariza can defend, hustle all over the floor and use his leaping ability and speed to make himself a finisher. His shooting odyssey remains a mystery.

Prior to this postseason, nothing about Ariza marked him a potent outside shooter. He shoots a shade less than 30 percent for his career behind the three-point line and never averaged so much as an attempt per game in any of his first four seasons. This year, with an increased focus on making himself an outside threat, Ariza took 2.3 treys per game but hit 31.9 percent of them. That doesn't scream sharp-shooter. He didn't shoot as well as 35 percent from deep in any full calendar month for the 2008-09 campaign, and he finished the regular season with a miserable 3-for-16 mark across eight April contests.

But the playoffs have brought out a brand-new Ariza from behind the line. He entered Game 2 against Denver checking in at 21-for-44 (47.7 percent) on threes in 13 playoff games. With opponents focused on limiting Kobe Bryant's penetration and the Lakers' huge front line's opportunities inside, Ariza continued to get open looks from the outside and somehow started hitting them with far greater proficiency than ever before. His confidence rose, too, as evidenced by his increase to launching 3.4 attempts per game in the postseason.

This brings us to last night, when the Nuggets started taking a more aggressive approach defensively after Ariza knocked down his first three-pointer in the first five minutes of the game.

The Lakers continued to move the basketball and get Ariza decent looks at the basket from behind the arc. It would hardly have come as a shock if he kept flinging, especially given that he is a young player whose confidence and trigger-happiness have been steadily rising over the last month. Several of the looks he had would have been reasonable shots.

But Ariza did something even better instead. He recognized the Nuggets looking to knock him off the line or at least out of rhythm. Several times through the course of the game, Carmelo Anthony or occasionally another powder blue shirt came sprinting out from sitting in help on the interior to challenge Ariza at the arc. Rather than taking a semi-contested shot, Ariza up-faked hard and attacked the rim.

The results were excellent. Usually coming from the right wing, Ariza let his man go by him and then took the ball straight at the Nuggets' bigs en route to the bucket. With the exception of his two made three-point goals, each of his other five shots from the field came deep in the paint. He finished four lay-ups and dunks, including a third-quarter posterization of Dahntay Jones. With his explosiveness on full display, Ariza drew five shooting fouls. They led to eight free throw attempts because he finished buckets twice despite the contact.

Ariza made a pivotal error in the game's final 15 seconds when he couldn't fully corral a jump ball and lost control as he tried to throw a pass while being hit, which resulted in a turnover. But his efficient offensive contribution of 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 foul shooting (not to mention his four mesmerizing steals at the defensive end) played an integral role in the Lakers getting off to the hot start they did and still being around to have a shot at the end of a 106-103 loss.

For a guy who hasn't always appeared to maintain control at the offensive end and once earned the "delusional" label from Larry Brown, Trevor Ariza looked like he had his thought process and body in near-perfect order at the offensive end last night.

The Dream Year and the Expectations Leap

Steve Weinman — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:07:57 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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A Daily Babble Production

In evaluating the 2008-09 version of the Boston Celtics, it's worth remembering that this team didn't just have to defend a championship. It had to follow up a season that came straight out of a storybook.

During the few times that the 2007-08 Celtics ran into adversity - mostly during those first two playoff rounds when they couldn't win a road game and had to go the distance to advance - I wondered a lot about how important it was for that team to win a championship. Not a team during this star trio era but that particular group that season. The thought came about because of the realization of just how hard it would be to follow up the sort of season that Celtics had enjoyed.

Last year's team wasn't merely great. It was a great team that had just about everything go right, both inside and outside of its control. From day one straight through the final romp of the Lakers on June 17, the stars, the role players and the coaching staff jelled as though they had played together for years. There was not a single extensive chemistry or attitude problem that became publicly known over the course of the season. No questions arose about effort levels because this team literally played harder than everybody else close to every single time out.

The 2007-08 Celtics won 66 regular season games and for the most part dominated those games. They won 21 contests by margins of at least 20 points. They posted an average point differential of plus-10.3 points per game. Exactly zero other teams posted positive double-digit differentials over the decade prior. All six games against the three Texas teams resulted in wins. These are not normal occurrences.

It didn't hurt that the Celtics enjoyed nearly impeccable health last season. While Kevin Garnett went down for a couple of weeks, it happened at the perfect time (during the 'dead air' lull of mid-January into February), and he still played more than 70 games. In fact, each of the Celtics' top eight players in average minutes played at least 70 games last season. With the exception of the couple-week run without Garnett, this team was never without a single key rotation player for an extended period of time.

The goal here isn't to romanticize last year's team to bash this year's. In fact, it's quite the opposite: The experience last year went beyond great and into otherworldly, and that shouldn't take away from this year's bunch.

Let-ups are part of human nature. Improvements made by others are out of one's control. A good portion of health is out of our control.

No matter how much this team wanted to keep up the every-game-is-life-or-death intensity that it brought last year, that's an incredibly difficult thing to do - and this one came darn close in trying. It also had to deal with being the bulls-eye on everyone else's schedule this season even more than last. The health simply wasn't been what it was last year, which was to be expected because the team experienced great fortune in dealing with injuries a season ago. Only five of the team's top eight average minutes earners made it through 70 games this season, and Garnett played exactly 81 minutes after the All-Star break.

Compared to 66 wins, 62 wins looks a little short. Compared to plus-10.3 and 21 wins of 20 points or more, plus-7.5 and nine aren't quite the same.

But in every other sphere of realistic expectations, especially considering the circumstances, those figures constitute yet another dream come true. We saw a string of Superman-like performances from our beloved Captain, a more consistent season from Ray Allen and immense growth from several young players, including big-time leaps from the starting point guard and center. Add on to all that another season of little to no chemistry issues despite the fact that the team watched two of its best glue guys walk last summer and picked up one of the basketball world's foremost malcontents and one of its worst defenders at the trade deadline.

***

Time for a brief intermission. In my initial planning for this piece, I exepcted to run something along the lines of what you've read so far on Friday, April 17, the day before the playoff opener. When that was the plan, I had in mind an ending that read something like the following:

As we begin the playoffs and watching our team pursue its second straight championship, the Celtics have won 60-plus games for the second time in more than two decades and encsonced themselves as one of three teams with a legitimate inside track to the championship if at full health.

So just as was the case this time a year ago, no matter what happens over these next two months, I can't say that I've had anything but a heckuva ride so far, and I'm proud as ever to root for the green.

Regardless of how the eight weeks of money basketball shake down, thanks for treating us to another fantastic six months, fellas.

When I rolled out of bed after oversleeping on Thursday, April 16, I found myself unceremoniously greeted by a rather unfortunate piece of news. You may know what went on after that: I spent most of the late afternoon and early evening walking for hours to clear my still-swirling head and wound up passing out on a park bench miles from my residence.

Given the pressing need for an emergency column regarding my continuing belief in the Celts, this particular Babble idea went on the back-burner for a while, and we did see the book close on this year's Celtics team. Which means there is more to this story, though my sentiments haven't changed a bit.

***

We then saw the playoffs come and with them the news that Kevin Garnett would not participate. Despite my willingness to maintain faith in an 18th banner to the bitter end, the toughest part early on was that immediate understanding on the day the news broke that in reality, the Celtics' season would soon be running on borrowed time. Here's how I phrased it in that "Fan As In 'Fanatic'" piece that ran instead of this one back on April 17:

Of course, part of me is frustrated. While I'm still upbeat overall...the rational and semi-objective being within me came to a stark realization when the news about Garnett hit. There is being in the playoffs, and there is being in it to win it. For all my mega-optimism over the years, I think a part of me has always subconsciously understood that most of the playoff teams I have rooted for in my lifetime were in the tournament, sure, but really just treading water until their time ran out. This was especially true with regard to my beloved pre-lockout St. Louis Blues over the 1990s and early 2000s. They were there to play and maybe even go a few rounds, but they would not realistically challenge for the ultimate glory. While it's no doubt easy to say this in hindsight, there was a different feel with last year's Celtics team, that no matter the obstacles this team faced in the first couple of rounds, that team was destined to be there or darn close at the end.

For the past six months, we watched our team face all manner of adversity in defending its title, and as of Wednesday night, we were rooting once more for an in it to win it team, one of three prohibitive favorites for the 2009 NBA title. Thursday morning, I felt that whoosh of air popping out of a ripped balloon as the world - SportsCenter, writers around the Interwebs, many downtrodden Celtics fans - declared our boys just another playoff team in one fell swoop. On a rational level, it's hard to blame them. As admirably as this Celtics team has fought, it is clearly not the same defensively without Kevin Garnett (and let's not short-sell what KG brings to the table at the other end either). Less than 36 hours ago, the objective part of me considered the first two rounds series that the Celtics likely would win with relative ease and the final two rounds something akin to a toss-up against excellent teams. Now, the first round will take more work than expected, the second will require more consistent focus than we've seen over the last month and the final two rounds will be monumental tasks.

Understanding that the talent levels in Cleveland and Los Angeles and the gravity of the loss of KG offer the many doubters a viable case for moving the Celtics back to mere "in the playoffs" status is a sobering thought...

But that's the great thing about sports: For all my blathering about being in the playoffs or in it to win it, these games don't always play out the way they are 'supposed' to go. So now comes the homer rub (and if you don't want the homer rub, which is understandable, please feel free to jump from here to John Hollinger's well-written and likely more realistic take at ESPN): If anyone has given us reason to believe that pleasant surprises await, it's this group of Celtics.

...

I've always said that I wish I had thought of part of Matt Watson's mission statement at Detroit Bad Boys: "completely fair and unbiased opinions of 29 of the Association's 30 teams."

I can play objective all I want in this space, but only up to a point. Until the fellows in the green jerseys are shown the door, I won't believe that they are headed for anything other than an 18th championship this spring. If that doesn't happen, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The time to cross that bridge has come. I believed this team had a miracle run to a title left in it until the final buzzer sounded, and I was devastated when the Celtics' season expired on Sunday night. I had hoped to spend Monday thinking of creative ways to justify my insane Celtics-in-seven pick for the Eastern Conference Finals preview I would write later in the week and instead saw Celts-in-seven move from insane to impossible. Sure, it bums me out to hear Mike Breen mention that we're down to the NBA's final four in 2008-09 while knowing that the Celtics aren't a part of that four this time around.

But not for a second does any of that invalidate or lighten the meaning to me of what we got to experience this year and even this postseason. The Celtics gave us a month of heart-stopping excitement, from winning the consensus greatest first-round series ever against a Bulls team better than its .500 record to locking up two particularly improbable wins and taking the Magic seven games despite being largely outplayed in six of those seven contests. They did that in spite of a spate of injuries and the necessary vast over-working of their star swingmen thanks to depth issues created a summer ago. Meanwhile, we witnessed playoff breakouts from the young point guard and center as well as replacement starter Glen Davis.

There is a lot of room for criticism, and there are plenty of questions going forward. Rajon Rondo's defensive inconsistency and shooting issues, the team's post-KG struggles at the defensive end, Ray Allen's second-round shooting slump, Paul Pierce's inopportune turnovers, Tony Allen's distractions on and off the court and Mikki Moore's general uselessness all offered cause for frustration down the stretch. The futures of the Infuriated Infant, Eddie House, Gabe Pruitt, Stephon Marbury and Moore are all uncertainties. There will be rumblings all summer that Ray Allen has played his last game as a Celtic. Unfortunately, perhaps the injuries will obscure in the eyes of many the fact that the front office had a poor offseason in the aftermath of the championship.

There will be time to discuss all those issues and many more over the course of the months to come.

But for now, it seems only right to take a moment to pay homage to the 2008-09 Boston Celtics not for what they weren't but what they were: a team and coaching staff that left everything they had on the floor and gave us several months of great basketball, a few months of very good basketball and nary a day without effort and excitement.

I loved every day that the 2008-09 Celtics were alive. I loved writing about this team all season, scouting its competition via League Pass on off nights, reading everything in sight and interacting with everyone in this Interweb community on a day-to-day basis. Most of all, I loved getting a legitimately strenuous workout just watching every game and then calling to chat with The Guru after each and every one.

And while the offseason will be interesting in its own right, I can't wait until the games that count start all over again in the fall.

No matter its early end, no matter how it stacks up to last year, thank you to our beloved Boston Celtics for another season full of beautiful fun.

TNT Will Know Little Drama In ECFs

Steve Weinman — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:15:38 -0000

More photos » by Fernando Medina - NBAE via Getty Images

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A Daily Babble Production

Eastern Conference Finals: (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic

By the Numbers	W-L	Reg Season Off. Eff.(Rk)	RS DE (Rk)	Playoff OE (Rk)	Playoff DE (Rk)
Orlando Magic	59-23	109.2 (11)	101.9 (1)	105.3 (5)	98.7 (2)
Cleveland Cavs	66-16	112.4 (4)	102.4 (3)	111.9 (2)	90.8 (1)

Congratulations to the Orlando Magic for knocking off our beloved then-defending champion Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Magic were only clearly outplayed in one game out of seven and earned the right to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the chance to represent the East in the 2009 NBA Finals.

But all signs point to this Orlando team finding itself in a situation over the next two weeks in which it is simply outclassed.

It wasn't by some accident that the Cavaliers won 66 games with an average margin of victory of nearly nine points per, or that they blew through the first two rounds of the playoffs without losing a game. My understanding is that it has something to do with the fact that they are really, really good.

This begins of course with the league's top performer and newly crowned Most Valuable Player, LeBron James. In case James' 28-7-7 regular season production wasn't enough, he averaged nearly a 33-10-7 over the first two rounds and did so on an incredibly efficient 64.4 percent true shooting. Like most teams, the Magic don't have a defender singularly capable of doing much to prevent LBJ from getting to the lane or the foul line at will. The fact that he is knocking down more than 36 percent of his threes in the postseason (including a 13-for-27 effort against Atlanta) is downright terrifying. If James can continue to make defenses pay for pushing him to shoot from the outside (the only area from which they can afford to give him a shot at this point), there won't be much the Magic can do to stop him.

The Magic did boast the league's top defense in the regular season, and they do have Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard to cause problems for LBJ inside. But Howard may find trouble with veteran center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. In addition to his ability to shoot over Howard and score in the post, the 7-foot-3 Ilgauskas is a terrific mid-range shooter, especially for a big man. If Howard stays home in the paint to help on James' penetration, Big Z will feast from the elbows and wings.

Similarly, when the Magic choose to bring help from elsewhere against LeBron, the rest of the Cavs' lineup is loaded with shooters who will make Orlando pay the price. While the Magic received a lot of attention for their free-flinging ways at the offensive end, the Cavs ranked fifth in the league at 20.4 three-point attempts per game for the season, and they made good use of those shots: Cleveland's 39 percent shooting from distance placed second in the Association. Three Cavs regulars (Mo Williams, Wally Szczerbiak and Sasha Pavlovic) knocked down better than 40 percent of their threes, and Delonte West came darn close at 39.9. Daniel Gibson rebounded from an awful start to check in at 38.2, and even Big Z knocked down 15 of his 39 attempts on the season (38.5). We've seen it all season with the Cavs; LeBron's abilities force defenses to come to him, which necessarily creates open looks on the perimeter, and this Cavs team will knock down those looks, no matter which guards are on the floor.

Two other keys when Cleveland has the ball: point guard play and offensive rebounding. Mo Williams still has his share of critics left over from his Milwaukee days when he was reputedly a classic numbers-first, everything else-second guy who didn't do much but get his and ignore the defensive end of the floor. But no matter what went on Milwaukee, and no matter the reason for his successes this season (better situation overall, higher percentage of open looks, more attentive coaching staff), it can't be denied that Williams has been a fantastic addition for the Cavs from day one. He gave Cleveland a legitimate second scoring threat and did it efficiently, getting his 17.8 points per game on 58.8 percent true shooting. Williams bombed from the outside, used his quickness to break down defenses for his hard-to-stop teardrop floater (especially in transition), missed just 20 of his 228 attempts from the foul line and willingly shared the basketball throughout the season. He will cause a significant problem for Rafer Alston.

The Cavs' frontcourt creates its share of extra opportunities. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace all pounded the glass to the tune of multiple offensive rebounds apiece per game over the course of the season. The Cavs offensive rebound rate has jumped from 12th in the league at 27.2 percent for the year to first at 32.9 percent for the postseason. While Howard will do plenty to stem this part of Cleveland's attack, the Cavs will be sending multiple bigs to the glass on every attempt, and they are going to end up with second chances as a result.

At the other end of the floor, the Cavs offer a greater challenge to the Magic's threes-and-Dwight attack than a depleted Celtics team could. In addition to marking himself the league's most dominant offensive performer, LeBron made his most significant commitment yet to the defensive end this season. He has become a good weakside shot-blocker and has shown on several occasions that he can lock up opposing scorers when needed. His physique will allow him to pose a greater challenge to Hedo Turkoglu or Rashard Lewis than either of them faced last round.

On the inside, Big Z's size along with Varejao and Wallace's hustle and strength will prevent Howard from spending the series making deep catches for dunks. He will have to make shots outside the restricted area, and he has yet to show that he can do that with any consistency. With those three as well as Joe Smith available, the Cavs also have the depth to engage in the smite-a-Dwight when necessary.

Beyond that, Mike Brown has gotten everybody on this Cavs team doing their jobs on defense throughout the year. Although Williams, West and Szczerbiak aren't known as premier individual defenders by any stretch of the imagination, each of them has done a sufficient job staying in front of their man, closing out on shooters and sliding to the lane to swarm the basketball and offer help against penetration. Nobody in basketball defended the three-point line better than the Cavs did this season (Cleveland allowed 33 percent shooting beyond the arc), and there is no reason to believe that they will not continue to rotate and contest shots, be they from Lewis, Turkoglu, J.J. Redick, Courtney Lee, Mickael Pietrus or any of the Magic's other swing players. Despite his couple of big shots down the stretch against the Celtics, I maintain that Alston should be encouraged to shoot and will find himself an offensive liability for the Magic against a strong Cavs defense.

To their credit, the Magic did take two of three regular season meetings from Cleveland. But one of those took place before Jameer Nelson went down for the season (a game in which Nelson knocked down four threes, in fact). A second came in early April when the Magic desperately needed a win to have any hope of grasping the second seed in the playoffs and the Cavs had already all but locked up the top seed in the East. Given the way Cleveland played throughout the season, I find it hard to believe that sample will be indicative of what is to come in this series.

As the Magic demonstrated in Game 7 in Boston, they can get white-hot from the perimeter at any time, and it seems reasonable to expect them to post one lights-out shooting game somewhere in this series. But it seems just as reasonable to believe that the Cavs will defend the three-point line effectively for much of the series and that the Magic won't win at Quicken Loans Arena, where the Cavs went 39-2 this season, the second loss coming when the Cavs rested their big guns in the last game of the year.

The Orlando Magic play very good basketball. The Cleveland Cavaliers play great basketball. This is their series to lose.

The pick: Cavs in five