The Finishing Flourish of the Brush or the Canvas?

Vince Carter are his dunks are featured in a new add where he says that "Coach says a dunk is only worth two points" before disagreeing. "Coach" is presumably Dean Smith, winner of two National Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal. It's true that dunks can change the game in a way that a lay-up cannot but their effect is over-rated by players with limited skill sets.

After VC crowned Fréderic Weis in the 2000 Olympics, France was not coming back to win the game (they weren't going to win in the first place). However, Lithuania wasn't intimidated in the least. Basketball players are professional athletes whose success is defined by whether they are still playing in June, not just their commercials. No matter how many second round series that Vince Carter loses, he will still have less credibility than Coach Smith.

Dean Smith doesn't care whether you dunk or not, just whether you score two points. When Dywane Wade or Manu Ginobli steal the ball, they finish with a simple dunk that always goes in the hoop. Fancy dunk attempts that don't go in are as practical as the avocado green in the sports coat that Amare Stoudamire has been wearing on the sidelines lately: nice as a colourful accent, atrocious when passed of as the main feature. The benefits of creativity aside, both show how some players should leave art to the real artists and focus on winning. Many athletes forget to establish their credibility before establishing their style.

Willy Wonka and the Association

The Suns took the Lakers apart in Game 7 of the first round series. PHX is a shallow team but make us of about seven contributors. Los Angeles is a one player team. Bill Simmons wrote that all Kobe-Jordan comparisons should cease if Kobe didn’t destroy Raja Bell in the deciding game. Simmons is right: MJ would have dropped forty-eight points after the game 5 clothesline and post game comments. Michael Jordan always came through when the season was on the line

As for the rest of the Lakers, some played as if they were not aware of 2002-03’s rule change to extend first round series to seven games. Others simply played as if they were not very good. Luke Walton, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker, and Sasha Vujacic all received Golden Tickets when they signed their Laker deals. Los Angeles played well for a few games but in the end their mediocrity shone through. Walton fell into a chocolate lake, Brown swelled up like a giant blueberry, Parker fell in the garbage shut, and Kobe got shrunk to the height of about six inches tall. Or at least it seemed like he did when he was held to three shots in the second half of Game 7. But at least they all got to be Laker fan Terrell Owen’s friends during the season, something Donavan McNab never got to do.

Steve Nash’s ability to make his teammates better is over-rated. Granted, he accentuates their strengths by forcing the defence to help, distributing the ball, and controlling the tempo. Certainly, the rest of the team wouldn’t perform as consistently with another guard. Raja Bell made his name in Game 1 of the 2001 N.B.A. Finals when he shut down Kobe Bryant. Only Steve Nash helped him do it all (well, most of the) series in 2006.

More importantly, Mike D’Antoni and Jerry Colangelo have assembled the right personnel for the team they want to have. They out-scouted everyone regarding Diaw and Barbosa and although it was thought that they overpaid Nash at the time, they definitely got their money’s worth.

Isiah Thomas signed Tim Thomas to an eight figure contract then traded him to Chicago, who wanted to unload Eddy Curry because they were worried he’d die of a heart condition. The Bulls suspended him for most of the year for being a jerk then released him. Phoenix signed Thomas to play the 3 spot in the Steve Nash miracle offence, where he rejuvenated his career and saved the Suns’ season by making a game-tying three-pointed shot at the end of regulation in Game 6.

The Knicks missed the playoffs again and the Bulls lost a tough series to Miami. PHX is still playing because they used independent thinking to solve their problems (open perimeter spots and interior injuries). Denver fired Mike D’Antoni after a fifty game season (the players were awful and necessitated a G.M. change shortly afterward). Phoenix gave him a chance, acquired players that fit his system, and filled the holes with creativity and pluck.