May 21st: VECSEY, "Sir Charles Schooled" "NBA: Breathless and down to the wire"

[Phil]

SIR CHARLES SCHOOLED

By PETER VECSEY


May 21, 2006 -- PHOENIX - Predictably, Charles Barkley backpedaled, back stroked and principally punked out in Kobe Bryant's presence Wednesday when they met face-to-fool on TNT's Atlanta set. Predictably, the mouth big enough for two sets of teeth swallowed his tongue.

Predictably, when confronted by someone he couldn't bully, Barkley folded up along the dotted lines.

Predictably, host Ernie Johnson accidentally on purpose forgot to raise Barkley's slanderous indictment of Kobe.

The crux of his crude presumption wasn't Bryant's alleged selfishness for taking a mere three shots in the second half of the 121-90 Game 7 loss at Phoenix, or, for that matter, shooting too much, 35 times for 50 points in Game 6; it was the accusation that he lay down on the job to show up his teammates and/or coach Phil Jackson.

Asserting someone tanked a game is about as reprehensible as it gets. Yet that's the defamation Sir Babble was spouting without being harshly challenged. He arraigned Kobe for deliberately shutting down his offense to prove a point. The stuff about being selfish was harmless in comparison.

Naturally, a decision had been made to hide behind that part of his condemnation.

[Phil]

NBA: Breathless and down to the wire

snippet: "Fourteen games have been decided by one or two points in this season's playoffs, tying the record set in 1995, according to the National Basketball Association. There have been eight overtime periods thus far, also a record.

Including the Suns' first-round victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, four series so far have gone to seven games, compared with a total of four last season. In the first round against the Lakers, Phoenix became only the eighth team to come back from a 3-1 deficit. San Antonio is trying to become the ninth - and the seventh one with a home- court advantage - to do so.

[Phil]

Something's missing in NBA

[published on Sun, May 21, 2006]

David Stern still hears conspiracy theorists talk about how he rigged the 1985 draft lottery so the New York Knicks could draft Patrick Ewing.

The league supposedly wanted the next dominant center in its largest media market, thereby creating higher ratings and louder buzz.

"Preposterous," the commissioner once said of the charge.

The accusation might have little merit, but it speaks to the perceived importance of major markets to the NBA. Successful big-market teams are a boon for the league, which has struggled in some respects since the Los Angeles Lakers' title run ended a few years ago.

The NBA rode glamour franchises such as the Lakers and Boston Celtics in the 1980s, the Bulls and New York Knicks in the '90s and the Lakers again earlier this decade to mainstream popularity.

Today, the Bulls and Lakers are middle-of-the-pack. The Celtics are a non-contender. The Knicks are perhaps the most dysfunctional franchise in the league.

[Phil]

NBA playoffs off to a rousing start
BY DAVID ALDRIDGE
Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA - These are, simply, among the best playoffs in NBA history.

If you don't enjoy this, it's on you.

And if you think this is gushing, just call me Niagara Falls.

There have been years with pre-Finals series worth remembering (like Lakers-Kings in 2002, Bulls-Pacers in 1997, Celtics-Pistons in 1987). And there have been individual performances - like Michael Jordan's 63 in the first round against the Celtics in 1986, or the Larry Bird-Dominique Wilkins shoot-out in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semis in 1988 - that were as memorable as the championship series that followed them.

But there has never been a postseason in the modern, 16-team playoffs era, in which almost every series has been as competitive as in this one.

There have been 12 series so far. Of those, only two - Dallas' ho-hum first-round sweep over Memphis and Detroit's five-gamer over Milwaukee - haven't delivered drama.

The Spurs got all they wanted in the first round from Sacramento. The Heat looked as if they were coming unglued after the Bulls punched them in the mouth in the opening round. But Miami survived, and has since thrived.

"You learn in this league from the mistakes that you make, and also you learn by going through some hard times," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "That's how teams sort of come together. They sort of weather the storm, whether it's internal, whether it's external, wherever the challenge is coming from, and sometimes, when you go through some failures and doubt - even internal doubt - if you hang in there, when you start winning is when you start coming together."

Was there a more exciting six-game roller coaster than Cleveland-Washington in the first round? Actually, yes: Phoenix-Lakers, with Kobe Bryant hitting two miracle shots to win Game 4 and to give Los Angeles a three-games-to-one lead, followed by Raja Bell's clotheslining Bryant in Game 5, Leandro Barbosa's filling in heroically for the suspended Bell in a must-win Game 6, and the Suns bringing it home in decisive fashion in Game 7.

The second round has

[Phil]

Steve Clark Column: Teams to root for in NBA Game 7s

As a sports fan, there are certain situations when the team you want to win isn't necessarily the team you think is going to win.

It's not a matter of stinking thinking, it's just a matter of reality. And the reality is, you aren't always rooting for the better team.

Take for instance, this year's NBA Playoffs which, starting today, will offer three Game 7s in a 48-hour span. In all three, the team I'm rooting for isn't the team I'm expecting to win.

Cleveland at Detroit

Rooting for: Cleveland. LeBron James has been better than advertised since he first stepped foot onto an NBA court three years ago and his maturity — both on and off the court — is just as impressive as his all-around game. It's simply hard NOT to root for the guy. Plus, I like watching the guy with all of the hair.

Going to win: Detroit. Too much experience, too much balance and, when they want to, too much defense. I expect James will get his points but he just doesn't have enough help around him. It took Michael Jordan a couple of tries before he was able to lead his Chicago Bulls past the Pistons in a playoff series, and, although it's a different time and a different team, I don't expect James to do it on his first attempt.

L.A. Clippers at Phoenix

Rooting for: L.A. Clippers. Who didn't root for coach Buttermaker, Timmy Lupus, Kelly Leak, Amanda Whurlitzer and the Bad News Bears? Well, meet the NBA's version. I would love to see these long-time losers finally have some success and what better way to stun the world than to make it to the Western Conference finals? Plus, the Clippers have a strong to connection to the Milwaukee Bucks (no, not with the losing) in point guard Sam Cassell and head coach Mike Dunleavy.

Going to win: Phoenix. The Suns blasted the Lakers in a Game 7 in the first round and I can't fathom that two-time MVP Steve Nash would allow his team to lose this Game 7 on its home court. It almost looked like Phoenix took Game 6 off and take the three days rest before Monday's game. With the rest, the Suns will have rested legs to run and shoot and that's likely to spell big trouble for the Clippers.