2005 Redux

Both opening games of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals demonstrated the importance of mental training. I’m disinclined to blindly use the term “experience” but feel that a large component of the differences between the respective winners and losers can be described as the “mental training that comes from being there before and making use of that experience appropriately.” Self-confidence, team chemistry, pre-game planning, and court-sense are among other elements constituting the mental training.

Utah was totally taken to the cleaners by San Antonio; like the 1998 Lakers, the Jazz were unprepared as to what to expect when playing a seasoned playoff opponent. Gregg Popovich employed a post rotation to contain Carlos Boozer and sicced Bruce Bowen on Deron Williams. It’s unfortunate that the role players on Jerry Sloan’s team were unable to execute the coach’s and take advantage of a tired open.

Cleveland’s cavalier attitude in the fourth quarter was contrasted by Detroit’s intensity when the game was on the line. LeBron James and company seemed to treat winning the game as a bonus whereas the Pistons thought it was a necessity. The Cavaliers - with the exception of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, nobody wanted to get to the line or the rack - lacked determination at both ends of the court. An unwillingness to drive to the basket lowered the quality of the shots they took down the stretch.

LeBron James is the most talented player on the court, faces the largest expectations, and has been promoted as the future of basketball. He must take the ball to the basket. It seemed as if LeBron was looking to pass the ball in the last few minutes.

The pass to Donyell Marshall was not the worst decision: LeBron passed out a triple team to an open teammate in his highest shooting percentage zone. Michael Jordan would have taken the ball to the rim, made the shot, and drawn the foul, but LeBron’s decision to pass was not atrocious.

The previous play, when LeBron received the ball in the post, waited until the double-team arrived and kicked the ball to Ilgauskas for a twenty-foot jumper that they could have taken at any time. It was an utter abdication of leadership.

Firstly, Dwyane Wade showed last year how much the referees would reward the superstar and send him to the line, whether the rules called for it or now. Secondly, Magic Johnson and other elite players possessed an array of post moves that could be used with the back to the basket or facing the hoop. Thirdly, the entire play was designed to get LeBron the ball, which took about fourteen seconds -- Lebron exhausted another eight ticks jab stepping repeatedly. A rocker step would have been wholly appropriate.

A final comparison between LeBron and the superstars of the 1980s was the missed corner three point shot with 1:34 remaining. It may have been an awkward shot following a loose ball, falling out of bounds, and from behind the backboard but Larry Bird would have drilled it while LeBron merely threw it off the side of the backboard.

Players Win Games

On Wednesday night, Dwyane Wade dropped 37 on the Raptors and LeBron James lit up the Mavericks for 46 points. Underlines the idea that players win games and explaining why college coaches recruit.

According to Albert Camus, the essential concept of existence is the struggle against mortality, a world not particularly suited to humans, and perhaps even mediocrity. Camus might have enjoyed the game, although it may have been frustrating to watch, it was probably a good effort for the Raptors, given their talent and the injury to Chris Bosh -- is putting a ball in a hoop any less absurd or Sisyphean than devoting hours towards writing the perfect sentence or reading the train schedules even though one never travels?

Which is why the Raptors badly need a wing player. The heroics of Wade and James show that the Association is a league for guards and existential posts. If Mike James is the Raptors’ key free agent signing, nothing much will change. Bryan Colangelo will be condemned by the gods and Maple Leafs Sports and Entertain to roll a giant boulder up the hill during the day, only to watch it roll down at night and repeat the process the next day, until he acquires a 2 or 3 who can play with Bosh.

A point guard is nice, but not critical since you can fill the third point of the triangle with lots of different options. Mike James is a satisfactory point guard and spaces the floor well but he is not the only player who can fulfill this role, especially if he’ll cost a lot of money.

Unless the Raptors undertake something drastic to augment the current core (which is promising but ultimately limited), re-arranging the current players or replacing them with similar players will be rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Not that the franchise is going under but if M.L.S.E. wishes to improve the experience of the Raptors’, they need to think bigger.

Perhaps missing the playoffs and competing for the last few playoff spots every few years is the best the Raptors can hope for. The Association isn’t really suited for them. Examples of this are the lottery rules from the mid 1990s, player stereotypes about Canada, and the value of the dollar (although the last one has improved and will continue to do so). Maybe the team should give up chasing abstract goals such as winning and focus on defining and improving themselves. This philosophy probably wouldn’t sell tickets (although the Leafs have proven otherwise since 1967) but it might be very rewarding.