Links: Playoffs Diary Day 17
Who needs networks? And following my perfect round one with my round two picks…
I’m glad that the Playoffs are not only exciting this season, but they also seem to be drawing attention from non-NBA viewers. Just got a press release from TNT that their numbers are up 25 percent with male viewers 18-34 years old. (That still doesn’t explain why they incessantly pimp “The Closer,” however.) There are a lot of fun young players that even a casual fan can tune in and appreciate. I was at a cocktail party/fundraiser last night here in NYC and ended up talking hoop with a Knicks fan who told me he hadn’t planned on watching the Playoffs until he happened to see a Hawks game and a Hornets game and found that he really liked the styles of play.
Why hadn’t he seen much of the Hawks or Hornets before? Because the NBA and their television partners (TNT and ABC/ESPN) haven’t done a very good job of publicizing the diversity of good teams throughout the NBA. Two of the East’s Playoff teams (Atlanta and Philly) went into the season with exactly 0 combined TV appearances scheduled. (Aside from the Playoffs this year, the Hawks haven’t been on national TV since 2003.) The Lakers, meanwhile, had 24 appearances. So did the Heat, maybe the worst team in the NBA this season. The Hornets? 2. Seattle? 8. Toronto? 1.
The lesson is that if you want free national publicity for your team, you better have some stars in your lineup. Who cares about stuff like wins and losses? The networks don’t care about good games so much as they care about big names.
And I know that SLAM can be guilty of this as well. People complain that we do the same covers year after year, and to a point they’re correct: There’s a handful of elite players that deserve covers and sell well, and we intend to keep those guys in the cover rotation as long as they’re playing well and their covers sell.
But we only do one issue every month or so. The networks have dozens of games. Even if they had Shaq and Dwyane Wade playing healthy all season long, did we really need to see Miami on national television 24 times this season? Fans aren’t stupid: They have the internet, they can get League Pass, they watch SportsCenter. They see plenty of the superstars. Maybe next year we’ll finally get to see some of the better young teams and budding rivalries.
I doubt it, but who knows?
• The first round finally came to an end yesterday, thanks to those strong, efficient Boston Celtics. I blame myself for not seeing that collapse coming because I didn’t watch enough Celtics games this season. So many other writers proclaimed their greatness that I took their word for it. Which I obviously shouldn’t have done.
Still, the Celtics advanced, meaning I went 8 for 8 with my first round predictions, which is better than every “stat geek” Henry Abbott recruited for his annual pick ‘em contest. Of course, I didn’t use numbers and statistics to form my opinions — I just used my gut and my brain. So apparently, I am superior to numbers. I already knew that, but it’s nice to see the numbers finally giving up fighting me and just acquiescing to my knowledge. I hope next year The Abbott allows me in the contest so I can blow them geeks out of the water.
Now, let’s go through Round Two and I’ll try to extend my perfect streak…
Detroit/Orlando — Watching that first round series, it seemed to me that Orlando still needs another year and another veteran before they become genuine contenders in the East. Dwight Howard doesn’t have enough offensive skills yet, though it’s pretty amazing that he can put up more 20/20’s than Hugh Downs without a go-to move on the block. I think Tayshaun negates Hedo Turkoglu, and I think Chauncey’s too big for Jameer to stick with. The only thing that gives me pause in this series is that Detroit has that lazy streak that occasionally rears its ugly head. You know, the one that causes the Pistons to play like they’re all 55 years old and appear to have never touched a basketball before. I think a great coach sees that coming and would keep that from happening (or at least come up with some wacky motivational ploy to keep his guys more engaged). But Detroit doesn’t have a great coach, only a good coach. Still, Detroit takes this series.
Boston/Cleveland — I think a lot of this is going to come down to Boston’s ability to use their stars without wearing them out. Time and time again during the Atlanta series, KG, Pierce and Ray Allen were sucking wind, hanging on to their shorts for dear life to keep from keeling over. And then Doc would replace Kevin Garnett with Big Baby, which is like replacing Joe Johnson with me, and the Celts would lose their momentum. (Nothing personal against Big Baby — he’s just no Kevin Garnett. And I’m no Joe Johnson.) Atlanta was able to find success against Boston by doing two things: pushing the tempo and rotating the ball against Boston’s double-teams. I think we can assume that Boston will double LeBron the same way they doubled Joe Johnson, and I think LeBron will react similarly to JJ, backing the ball out and looking for the open guy. But, and Jeff Van Gundy also pointed this out yesterday, Atlanta got good mid-range shooting from their bigs (Al Horford and Josh Smith) in the games they won. Perhaps not coincidentally, Atlanta got terrible games from their bigs when they lost. So does Ben Wallace even play for Cleveland in this series? Does Cleveland go small and hope to survive Boston’s halfcourt game so they can get jumpers for Joe Smith/Wally Sexyback?
As good as Atlanta matched up with Boston, I think Cleveland is bad matchup for Boston. And I think Boston finally found their swag again. Celts win.
Los Angeles/Utah — I used to be a huge fan of the Jazz, until they signed Carlos Boozer. I have nothing against Duke players or men from Alaska or men with a lot of chest hair, but when they brought in Boozer, then drafted Deron Williams, they suddenly went from ordinary to extraordinary. Back when they were ordinary, they seemed to play harder and hustle a little more. Lately they seem just a touch more complacent. Meanwhile, LA is rolling right now. I don’t think Utah can handle all the different was LA can attack. I’m not sure anyone in the NBA can handle it, actually.
LA wins.
San Antonio/New Orleans — This is the puzzler to me. I know a lot of people were picking Phoenix to beat San Antonio, but I learned many moons ago that San Antonio plays their best in the postseason, when they seem to find an extra level of concentration and execution and surprise everyone by winning games nobody expects them to win. They always seem to fall behind, keep it close and then come storming back and win the game. That alone should make me pick the Spurs.
But I’m not going to pick the Spurs. I know, just one month ago I picked them to win it all, but I can’t shake this feeling that New Orleans is on a mission to surprise the NBA. The Spurs can’t handle Chris Paul, and David West will get his, but I think Peja Stojakovic is the key for N’awlins — if he’s knocking down outside shots it opens everything else up for the Hornets. The Spurs have had a nice run, but New Orleans is going to inject some new blood into things. I’m riding dirty with the Hornets.
47 Responses to “Links: Playoffs Diary Day 17”
May.5 at 4:55 pm
Elvis says:
Go Lakers!
May.5 at 5:01 pm
TADOne says:
WHAAAAAAAT? Lang is backing away from the Spurs?
May.5 at 5:03 pm
Jackie Moon says:
Neither the Spurs nor the Suns were that good. The Hornet are good. The Lakers are better. The Celtics are FUGAZY.
May.5 at 5:14 pm
Diesel says:
Lang’s right, this is a game of mach-ups and Atlanta matched up well with the Celtics. Cavs, Detroit and LA (my pick to come out of the west) don’t. Celtics win it all.
May.5 at 5:28 pm
RollingOnClydes says:
Yo Lang, I’m sure it’ll be easier to pick who will win the round two series’ when you’ve already seen the outcome of three of the games.
May.5 at 5:42 pm
Jackie Moon says:
Celtics 2008 = Dallas 2007
May.5 at 5:43 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
All i know is Duncan had 5 points in game 1. Think thats happening again? No. Spurs win in 6 maybe 7.
May.5 at 5:48 pm
Diesel says:
Duncan won’t have 5 again, but Bowen also won’t hit 5 3’s in the first half. If they try and put Bowen on CP3, every other player on the team that could guard Peja will be undersized. Peja will be shooting 3’s over the top of people all series. NO in 6
May.5 at 5:53 pm
John D says:
Celtics 2008 >>>>>>>>>>>> Dallas 2007
May.5 at 6:01 pm
Double R says:
The Hawks and 76ers were not getting televised games because there wasn’t inclination that they would make the playoffs. Nobody expected the Heat to sink like the Titanic.
May.5 at 6:03 pm
Double R says:
*there wasn’t any inclination that they would make the playoffs.
May.5 at 6:08 pm
Arvydas Sabonis says:
Changing your mind about the Spurs Lang? Bad idea.
May.5 at 6:22 pm
Tommy Patron says:
We’ll see…
May.5 at 6:22 pm
Wongtouski says:
Would it ever work if the major TV networks only scheduled their showings UP to the All Star Break, and then during the break make the appropriate adjustments in terms of showing new/different teams? It sure beats the Miami crap we had to deal with and all those boring late games on TNT where I only watched in and out of sleep to wait for INSIDE to come on…
May.5 at 6:30 pm
Tariq says:
“I just used my gut and my brain. So apparently, I am superior to numbers. I already knew that, but it’s nice to see the numbers finally giving up fighting me and just acquiescing to my knowledge.” I liked this passage for a number of reasons. First, it contains delusions of grandeur, which reminds me of myself, which is my favorite thing to think about. Also, it has the word “acquiesce”, which I like to use when I’m proving my superiority to others. Also, your “gut” rationale reminded me of Stephen Colbert’s truthiness. That’s a triple whammy.
May.5 at 6:39 pm
Tariq says:
“I have nothing against Duke players or men from Alaska or men with a lot of chest hair” That’s where we differ Lang. I don’t care about Duke, but dudes from Alaska with lots of chest hair are plain evil.
May.5 at 6:46 pm
Tariq says:
“The Spurs can’t handle Chris Paul, and David West will get his, but I think Peja Stojakovic is the key for N’awlins” I said almost the exact same thing on my blog. In fact, in David West’s case, I actually used the phrase “get his”. But I picked the Spurs, which makes me a bad person.
May.5 at 7:21 pm
Cheryl says:
I love the Spurs and I love the Hornets. I don’t know which way this series will go until I see maybe 2 more games. But, Lang, if you’re basing your pick on Peja, I think you need to check his playoff history before you call him a “closer” (a wink at your favorite TNT show).
May.5 at 7:29 pm
peteb80 says:
Picking the higher seed in every single match-up doesn’t exactly make you superior to numbers, does it?
May.5 at 8:33 pm
David says:
That tv show ‘numbers’ is definitely beneath me.
May.5 at 9:44 pm
Hursty says:
why was Ratliff on the floor instead of Sheed? he shoulda shot the ball instead with less than a minute to go they get a violation. fool.
May.5 at 9:49 pm
Hursty says:
Jameer Nelson played good today, pity he fouled out. Chauncey was better though. Jameer=younger version of Chauncey??? he hit some big shots today to get them back in the game.
May.5 at 10:19 pm
Joel O's says:
The Pistons just totally out-veteran’ed Orlando today in the last 2 minutes. Rip going down was a smart move - he knew the much less savvy Bogans was too close to him, and so he tripped and let him run him down. SVG didn’t even argue that call - he knew it was a smart but opportunistic play. That kinda sealed the deal, I think.
May.5 at 10:21 pm
Joel O's says:
That said I think the refereeing was pretty bad for the game. Tons of stupid, ticky-tack away from the ball fouls. Let the players decide the game, geez. Everyone who mattered tonight was in foul trouble in the 4th, since they all picked up one or two stupid fouls jostling for position.
May.5 at 10:49 pm
thasam says:
Wongtouski: ABC does have flexibility to an extent, they added two Hornets games to their schedule late in the year (against the Pistons and Warriors), and replaced two Heat games, including one against the Lakers. TNT’s situation is much trickier; their games are often the only NBA games on those thursday nights - if they added more games to a particular thursday night they risk losing ratings to the local markets showing alternative games, and shifting a game form a Tuesday to a Thurday night would cause extreme havoc and often would be impossible. As for your All-Star suggestion, it would be nice if ABC actually televised the All-Star game one of these years
May.5 at 11:45 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
@Pete: Ha, didn’t even realize I’d picked all the higher seeds. That’s how much above the numbers I am.
@thasam: Good points, although besides the two TNT games on Thursday nights, there’s always one extra game scheduled in case there’s a storm or something and one of the TNT games is canceled.
May.6 at 12:16 am
thasam says:
Thanks for the props Lang. TNT at least tries to cultivate interest and promote the league and they do a very good job at it - the problem is ABC; until this year they seemed to show little interest and no clue in promoting the league and only focused on the firmly established stars - Shaq, Kobe, Wade. The fact that they had no Warriors games initally scheduled this season is a good example of this - you would think that their playoff success last year and exciting style would give them some national exposure - look at what happened when the Kings of JWill and Webber made the playoffs for the first time; the next year they were on national TV more than any other team, and they came from a very small market. but that was when the NBA had a network partner that had a commitment to marketing the league in NBC - to me the decision to leave NBC and go to ABC was one of the wost Stern ever made, especially since NBC was still prepared to offer the same coverage they always did (30+ games, playoff games on Saturday AND Sunday, and prime-time games after memorial day) and Stern chose to go with a network that didn’t even offer to televise the All-Star Game - all because he wanted the ESPN name so badly.
May.6 at 12:17 am
The Last Kings Fan says:
Hornets up 2-0 goin to the Alamo….
May.6 at 12:38 am
Nashty says:
Lang, I was gonna say u really know ur NBA hoops, but then I remember u are the biggest Stephon Marbury fan in the world so u really have no credibility……
May.6 at 12:56 am
RV says:
just like Dream did in 95, CP is showing who the REAL MVP really is, the one constant for the hornets has been CP, bad game for West, no problem, bad game for Peja, no problem, bad game for CP, BIG problem. Can’t say the same for kobe.
May.6 at 12:57 am
RV says:
i just wished they played the same position so it would really be like in 95
May.6 at 12:59 am
RV says:
i didn’t get to watch most game 1 or 2, but is byron focusing on different players of the Spurs’ big three from game to game? Seems like a good strategy to keep them guessing
May.6 at 2:52 am
James says:
Careful on the boozer. Alaskans have few non-dog mushing athletes to cheer for. Speak down on him and you risk alienating all 750,000 of us.
May.6 at 3:42 am
Krishan says:
I agree 100% with your predictions, Mr. Whitaker. Lakeshow, Detroit and Cs seem like a no-brainer. The only rough prediction is Hornets-Spurs, since San Antonio is the Hoops version of the Fat Lady: it ain’t over till she sings, or keels over and die. I’m leaning towards N.O. as well cause Chris Paul is sooooo goood.
May.6 at 3:42 am
karan says:
i realize that SLAM has to use the same cover guys every year to better sales, but please, please, please, no more lebron covers now until he either wins an MVP, a championship, or has a 100 point, 50 rebound, 50 assist game
May.6 at 7:39 am
Slobodan Chutzpah says:
Hey Will Ferrell: it’s spelled “fugazi”.
May.6 at 7:51 am
BETCATS says:
karan: LeBron is next season’s MVP
May.6 at 8:00 am
BETCATS says:
wamp wamp
May.6 at 8:22 am
BETCATS says:
Roger Brown!!!!!
May.6 at 8:32 am
Tariq says:
Reggie “Screech” Miller made his customary stupid remarks last night (e.g. “Chandler has reached his quota alley-oops.”) but he did make his first-ever intelligent observation when he likened Chris Paul’s style of play to Kevin Johnson. That Screech said something smart is more shocking to me than the Hawks taking the C’s to the brink.
May.6 at 8:39 am
BETCATS says:
Tariq!!!! do you know who Roger Brown is?
May.6 at 8:40 am
BETCATS says:
and Reggie ‘Shemale’ Miller always makes stupid words come out the pimple that formed from his head. Pay him no mind
May.6 at 8:42 am
BETCATS says:
KJ? i think CP3 is more of a Tiny Archibald type like NBA TV said he was. Also he kinda plays a little (note the word little) like Zeke, but he will never ruin the Knicks when he is done playing so i cant make that comparison
May.6 at 9:08 am
krod says:
spurs in 7…
May.6 at 9:38 am
Tariq says:
Bet: No, I don’t know Roger Brown. But I like the KJ comparison because they both are pass-first PGs who can easily average 20 PPG. Isiah was more of a scorer. I don’t know much about Nate Archibald, so maybe they do have similar styles of people, but I wouldn’t know.
May.7 at 12:11 pm
ciolkstar says:
The Spurs need to win 3 in a row. but I honestly think we can. There’s no way we have another collapse of a third quarter. The Hornets really haven’t played that well against us. Mistakes, turnovers, missed opportunities have killed the Spurs.
May.8 at 12:59 am
Dacre says:
Hornets will squash the suns-killers.