Surprising Playoffs

As the marathon that is the NBA Playoffs enters its second Saturday today, a few things are becoming clear which seem to indicate times are changing.

The Chicago Bulls have matured much quicker than I thought; and, I definitely underestimated them when I picked the Miami Heat to defeat them 4 games to 3 in the first round of their series. The Bulls lead the Heat 3 games to 0; and, Miami has looked old and slow during each of the three games thus far. Pride may be a powerful motivator; but, pride may not be enough to keep the Bulls from sweeping the Heat out of the playoffs Sunday afternoon.

My next underestimation was placed on the Golden State Warriors. I didn't believe the sometimes very simple truism of a team simply having someone's number. The Warriors lead the Dallas Mavericks 2 games to 1 thanks to the 109 to 91 blitz of the Mavericks Friday night. I know the playoffs are not the regular season; but, it sure seems the Warriors and head coach Don Nelson are in the heads of the Mavericks players and head coach Avery Johnson.

I'm curious to see if the Mavs will "man up" and respond with a victory in game 4.

I'm not surprised the Denver Nuggets and the San Antonio Spurs are tied 1 - 1; and, I'm not surprised in the other playoff series (Houston leading Utah, 2-1; Detroit leading Orlando, 3-0; Phoenix leading the Lakers 2-1, the Cavs lead the Wizards, 2-0, and New Jersey leading the Raptors, 2-1). However, I have been surprised and disappointed in the woeful performances by the Rockets and the Jazz during the first three games of their series.

In two of the three games, the winning team has not scored more than 84 points! Houston defeated Utah 84 to 75 in game 1 while the Jazz defeated the Rockets 81 to 67 in game 3. Good defense is one thing; but, this series has featured more bad offense than I care to see. This series has been like watching an Eastern Conference series (at its worst) for goodness sakes!

I scored the same number of points as the Rockets bench players did in game 3; and, I didn't play in the game! Houston's bench reserves scored zero points! It takes some kind of work to be so inept in a ball game.

Thus far, though they haven't been very efficient, the Rockets Big Two of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady have done their part and combined for between 50 and 60 points per game in the series. Unfortunately, the role players have not played consistently well or well at all. Forward Chuck Hayes went from 12 points and 12 rebounds in game 2 to zero points and seven rebounds in game 3. Luther Head and Juwan Howard have struggled mightily.

On the other side, Utah's Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko haven't set the world on fire with their offensive production either. Kirilenko is a mere shell of the player he was just last season. He's outside shot is a bad joke; and, he's picked up more fouls (10) in this series than he's scored points (4). Okur, apparently, has convinced himself defending Yao Ming is the reason his jump shooting is struggling. Memo is using so much strength pushing Yao Ming away from the basket his legs are gone when Utah has the ball offense. At least that's what he believes. How about this Mr. Okur -- stop shooting 20-foot shots and beyond and go down to the low post. Maybe you can score a few more points if you were closer to the basket. Shooting 17.1% from the field is ridiculous.

Saturday's NBA Playoffs tip-off at 2 pm (Central Time) as Detroit tries to become the first team to advance to the second round with a series-clinching win over the Orlando Magic. Three more games follow that one.

Let's start dribbling...

New day for Comets

Today, the Houston Comets new director of media communications begins; and, she has her hands full. The Comets are still in a transition period as they move from previous owner Les Alexander to new owner Hilton Koch. Training camp began a few days ago; but, so far not much information has been released regarding the team which is also under a new head coaching staff.

The organization seems to be a bit understaffed; so, miscommunication is not an unexpected result.

I am not trying to bury nor praise the Houston Comets. However, I do believe the Comets need to improve their level of communication with the media and their fans and the community because the team has now fallen behind the Houston Dynamo (Major League Soccer) in terms of media attention and recognition.

Choosing to close practices (except for the final 30 minutes) to the media is not much of a big deal because Rockets' head coach Jeff Van Gundy has done that since he took over as the coach of the Rockets. (Heck, media darling, Rudy Tomjanovich closed practices to the media as well.) However, notifying, apparently, just three media outlets the times (and the location) of the practices is problematic.

I've heard the Comets are struggling with season ticket sales; however, I still find it hard to believe the very small number of season tickets sold. (By the way, I'm still waiting for someone with the Comets organization to answer that question for me.)

Hopefully, the organization will begin running more efficiently as everyone gets accustomed to their jobs -- on and off the basketball court.

The Comets' first pre-season game will be May 4, in Lubbock, Texas; and, their first regular season game is Saturday, May 19, on the road versus the Seattle Storm.


Update, 12:05 pm, 4-25-07: Here's a sign of hopeful progress: Fox 26 Sports is sending a photographer / videographer / camera person to today's early practice. Media availability is slated for 12:30 pm. I'll miss because I'm at Rockets' practice right now. The Comets have a second session this evening; and, I'll try to make that one.

Timmy D. vs Joey C.

Sunday's game between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs ended with the Mavs pulling out a 91 to 86 victory. However, more and more people are discussing (and will continue to discuss) what happened during the third quarter of the ball game.

Veteran NBA referee Joey Crawford ejected Spurs' forward Tim Duncan. Crawford called two technical fouls on Duncan which is an automatic ejection; however, Duncan received the second 'T' while he was sitting on the Spurs' bench.

Let the debate begin regarding who's right and who's wrong.

Personally, I believe Crawford went over the line and exceeded his authority as an NBA referee.

After the game, Duncan said, "Before he (Crawford) gave me the two technical fouls, he made a call and I was shaking my head, and he walks down and stares at me," Duncan said. "He says, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?' I didn't say anything to him there, either."

Clearly, the NBA (re: Commissioner David Stern) will investigate this matter further because Tim's statement if true opens up a HUGE can of worms for the NBA and its officiating crews.

Strangely enough, Crawford wasn't asked by the media if he made that statement to Duncan; but, Crawford did say, "He was complaining the whole time; and, then he went over to the bench and he was over there doing the same stuff behind our back.

"I hit him with one (technical) and he kept going over there, laughing, and I look over there and he's still complaining. So I threw him out."

Crawford was told Duncan felt he did nothing to warrant being ejected; and, Crawford added, "That's his opinion. He said nothing when he was walking off the court and he called me a piece of (blank). Is that nothing?"

Bold talk by both men indeed!

Like many NBA star players, Duncan does cry, whine, and bitch too much to the refs; but, Sunday, I didn't see Tim do or say anything out of line to receive a 'T' while on the bench. I wasn't at the game; but, I was watching on television. The cameras showed Duncan and teammate Robert Horry laughing. Granted, they were laughing after a foul was called on the court; but, unless Crawford has exceptional hearing as well as tremendous vision to read lips, how could he know what Duncan and Horry were laughing about?

Coming out of one the tv breaks, Crawford was talking to Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich; and, I could read Crawford's lips telling Pop something close to "He (Duncan, of course) was mocking us (the refs); and, I'll not have that."

Damn, Joey. You're sure seem overly sensitive on that one.

David Stern and Stu Jackon (Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations, a.k.a the league's Lord of Discipline) need to get to the bottom of this situation and resolve it quickly. I expect Duncan to receive a fine; but, Crawford should receive some sort of punishment, too.

While it may generate interest on pay-per-view, I don't want to see Timmy D and Joey C. throw any actual blows.


Update -- Tuesday, April 17, Commissioner Stern suspended Joey Crawford indefinitely.

Bonzi and Comets' Coverage

Bonzi Wells played his last game as a member of the Houston Rockets Sunday night in Sacramento versus the Kings. Though the Rockets played in Seattle Monday night versus the Supersonics, Wells was not with the team because he felt he was "a distraction to the team". In case you haven't read or heard, Wells sent a text message to Rockets' Team Trainer and Vice President of Basketball Operations Keith Jones informing Jones of his decision to not be with the team. Wells didn't contact Jeff Van Gundy -- he contacted Keith Jones which not only says a lot about the relationship between Bonzi and Keith but, more importantly, the lack of a relationship between Bonzi and Jeff Van Gundy.

Wells' last game as a Rockets player was versus the Kings which is ironic because, during last summer's NBA offseason, Wells turned down a five-year, $33.2 M contract from Sacramento to re-sign with the Kings. Apparently, Wells believed he would receive a better contract offer from a better team or he simply overestimated his worth on the NBA's free agent market. Wells a two-year contract with the Rockets; however, only the first year (worth $2.4 M) was guaranteed. The second year was at his option which everyone expected Bonzi to exercise and test the free agent market this summer. Despite his past productive seasons in the league, this season will truly impact any new contract offers Wells receives from other NBA teams. (Can you say "veteran minimum", Bonzi? I knew you could.)

Seriously, I hope Bonzi's decision to not play versus Seattle is based on a basketball decision and no personal demons or family problems in his life. However, I firmly expect the Rockets to release Bonzi later today.

Now, onto the coverage of the Houston Comets. The WNBA held its annual draft last Wednesday, April 4, in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Comets selected three college seniors in the Draft: guards Ashley Shields (from Southwest Tennessee Community College) and Dee Davis (Vanderbilt) and forward / post Kristen Newlin (Stanford). Kristen Newlin's father is Mike Newlin who played with the Houston Rockets from 1971 to 1979. Since I was not in Houston last week, I did not see the local sports news to see their coverage of the Comets' draft choices. However, it appears I was the only media person to interview Shields and Davis.

The Houston Chronicle had an article mentioning the Comets three draft choices inside an article about Houston's Lindsey Harding (from Cy Fair High School and Duke University) being chosen the overall number one pick and the Draft and, subsequently, being traded to the Minnesota Lynx. The article contained quotes from Harding but no quotes from the Comets draft choices. I'm not tooting my own horn for being the only Houston media outlet to interviewing Shields and Davis because I want to see the Comets receive as much coverage as possible; and, though I'm proud of the work of The Houston Roundball Review, the HRR pales in comparison to the outreach of bigger Houston media such as the Houston Chronicle and television stations.

The momentum and excitement generated from the sale of the Comets to Hilton Koch in January and the announcement of Karleen Thompson as head coach and general manager on Valentine's Day has waned; but, as the Comets' 2007 WNBA season approaches, hopefully, fan interest and media coverage will increase. Van Chancellor was a huge part of the Comets' organization; however, he is no longer part of the organization. Coach Chancellor was a big hit with the Houston media; but, the new Comets' regime needs to begin developing a good working relationship with the media and vice versa. I do not want the Comets to become the proverbial question of "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there, does it make a sound?" The Comets and their fans should receive better treatment than that.

I'd hate to receive a text message saying the Comets were no longer in Houston.

Stop Bizarre Comparison

Friday night after the Rockets - Blazers' game, while waiting for the players to speak to the media, some of my colleagues were discussing women's basketball -- not just the Women's Final Four which just ended with Tennessee defeating Rutgers 59 to 46 for title number seven; but, women's basketball in general. My colleagues were all men; and, for whatever reason, they bandied about this bit of logic to be critical of women's hoops: "I could get a boys' high school team or a men's junior college team and win the women's tournament."

Say what?

Though I've heard numerous spins on that sentence to demean women's hoops, I simply don't understand it. What does a boys or a men's team playing in a women's tournament have to do with anything? This just in...women's basketball is not men's basketball!

I'm not going to say women's hoops does not need to continue improving because it definitely does. For example, far too many women's basketball players (high school, college and pro) are still missing far too many lay ups. Today's basketball players are more athletic than they were just five years ago. However, I do believe the women are losing they're basketball skills at the sake of improving their athleticism which, ironically, is what has happened in the men's game.

Despite the apparent desire for men to see boys win women's basketball tournaments, I want to shift gears a little bit and discuss the view from some women such as Christine Brennan of USA Today to remove the word "Lady" from team nicknames such as the Tennessee Lady Vols because they believe "Lady" is a gender distinction which confines women to second class status. Brennan wrote a column "What's ladylike in a floor burn?" which appeared in the April 4 issue of USA Today.

In the article, Brennan quotes Aimee Mullins, President of the Women's Sports Foundation, stating "Lady" is "symptomatic of a larger pattern of women's programs beieng viewed as the stepchild of the men's programs...These programs are not spinoffs of the men's programs. It demeans the seriousness of the women's programs to use the term 'lady.' These women train the same hours. It's not a cute pursuit. But the 'lady' aspect makes it seem like that. It's a little bit patronizing. I think."

I would definitely like to speak with Ms. Mullins because I simply don't understand her point. Is she saying using 'lady' is demeaning; but, using 'women's college basketball and 'Women's' Final four are okay? By no means do I want to seem as if I'm insulting her; but, I truly do not agree with her on this issue. I just do not see 'Lady' as demeaning. If a team / school / program, such as Tennessee wants to use the term 'lady" as in Lady Vols, then I do not see a problem; however, if a team or teams decide to get rid of 'lady' in their nickname, then that's their choice and I'll respect the correct usage. If a school used, for example, "Lady Gents" I may believe that usage is silly; but, I would not call it demeaning.

Lastly, with the prevailing perception by many men (and some women) in society -- and not just in the media -- that women's basketball is inferior to men's basketball, using 'Lady' in a nickname is a minor problem in comparison.