Finally Advancing Past the First Round

Most NBA fans are familiar with Tracy McGrady's struggles to get past the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Technically, McGrady was out for the season when his Houston Rockets advanced last season. Yet, people tend to forget about his former teammate from Orlando: Grant Hill. Hill finally got a chance to advance past the first round, as he had not won a playoff series during his days with the Detroit Pistons or the Orlando Magic. It was only fitting that Doug Collins--who coached Hill in Detroit--was one of the commentators for the Suns' clinching game versus the Blazers.

Of course, Hill has fallen out of the public eye due to his injury problems over the last decade. Now, Grant Hill's Phoenix Suns will take on Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs. Oddly enough, when Hill joined the Orlando Magic in 2000, Duncan was expected to join him there. This was highly speculated in part because they had the same agent. However, Duncan opted to stay loyal to San Antonio--winning 3 titles since then--while Hill and McGrady toiled in injury-plagued seasons and first round defeat.

Lucky #7

The San Antonio Spurs knocked out the Dallas Mavericks from the 2010 NBA Playoffs, closing the best-of-seven series with a 97-87 Game 6 victory in San Antonio. As TNT displayed on the television screen at the end of the game, the Spurs are the first #7 seed in the best-of-seven first round format to advance past the first round. They are only the fifth #7 seed to advance in NBA playoff history and the first since the New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat in 1998. Sadly for the Mavericks, they were also the first #1 seed to lose in the best-of-seven first round format era when they fell at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in 2007. Interestingly enough, the Heat followed their first round loss as a #2 seed in 1998 with a first round loss as a #1 seed in the lockout-shortened season of 1999 (to the rival Knicks, nonetheless).

Then again, the Western Conference was as competitive as can be this year, with all 8 playoff teams winning at least 50 games. And, with a team that had won 4 of the last 11 championships, the argument can be made that this was not that much of an upset. Although Dallas surprised the league with its bold and effective roster moves over the past year, the moves were not enough to win the championship this year.

Playoff Notes

> Employee #34: Former Boston Celtic Antonie Walker was nicknamed "Employee #8" when starring for the Celtics a few years back. Yet, it is Paul Pierce who has stuck around and become the heart of the franchise. Pierce added another clutch basket to his clutch portfolio last night, hitting a shot over Dorell Wright at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 3-0 series lead over the Miami Heat. While Pierce made it look easy, Wright made it easier by allowing Pierce go to his strong side (his right). For any future defenders covering Pierce in the clutch, as much as possible prevent him from going to his right.

> Forgotten Point Guard and Head Coaches in Utah: Frequently, players such as Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, and Jason Kidd are named as the best point guards in the league. Yet, Deron Williams only gets mentioned after at least one of the other guys is mentioned. Williams continues to quietly be one of the best point guards--and players--in the NBA. Last night, he finished with 24 points and 10 assists as the Utah Jazz took a 2-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets in their first round playoff series. Likewise, Jerry Sloan has never won Coach of the Year honors in the NBA. Yet, he remains the longest tenured coach in the league, with over 200 coaching changes taking place around the league during his tenure in Utah. His counterpart, George Karl, also does not get as much recognition as he deserves. Denver's morale seems to have taken a huge hit since Karl revealed his bout with cancer.

> Van Gundy's Simple, Yet Effective Comeback Strategy: Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy has worn a microphone enough the past few years for his motivational words to be heard during games. While some question his calmness and his ability to coach in the clutch, one thing he clearly does well is help his team come back from deficits during games. His strategy: having them break down deficits into smaller pieces. This was a big part how they beat Boston and Cleveland last year, and how they have held off Charlotte so far this year.

> Never Count Out the Spurs: The Dallas Mavericks made arguably the best trade this season, swapping out Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton for Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, and Brendan Haywood. This put them in position to possibly be the Los Angeles Lakers' biggest challenge in winning the Western Conference. Yet, the Mavericks ended up drawing the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. The Spurs have won 4 championships during coach Gregg Popovich's tenure, including 3 with their current core group of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. Adding in solid role players with either playoff experience or youthful potential, San Antonio remains a championship contender.

> Bogut's Value: This may be as obvious as any story so far this postseason: the Milwaukee Bucks climbed into the Eastern Conference playoff picture amidst solid play by center Andrew Bogut. While players such as Brandon Jennings, Ersan Ilyasova, and John Salmons remain, Bogut's presence/absence again reiterates the value of having a quality big man as a feature player on a team. The Bucks lack interior scoring with Bogut out, allowing the Atlanta Hawks to control the paint.

> Playing Veterans Versus Young Talent Rising to the Occasion: The Cleveland Cavaliers bolstered their roster this season, making a number of free agent signings and trades. This left their roster stacked with 15 capable players, from superstar LeBron James down to rookie prospect Danny Green. As recent champions such as the Spurs, Heat, and Celtics have shown, having a mix of capable players enables contenders to play the hot hands and make lineup changes as necessary throughout a competitive series. The Cavs have such the opportunity, but have kept improving forward J.J. Hickson and sharpshooter Daniel Gibson on the bench in the first 3 games of their series against the Chicago Bulls. Their reliance on veteran players has left them exposed to Chicago's youth, including a loss in Game 3 Thursday night.

> Game 1 Wake-up Call: Amidst an injury-riddled season, the Portland Trailblazers have been underestimated the past few months. Game 1 was an indication of the team's potential, as they overcame the absence of star Brandon Roy to beat the Phoenix Suns. Yet, their win in Game 1 may have been just what the Suns needed. While the Blazers have been underestimated, the Suns remain a trendy pick by league analysts and fans, based on the presence of Steve Nash, Amar'e Stoudemire, and a high power offense. With Alvin Gentry having a full year with the team--and no midseason trade of Stoudemire--the team may finally be in position to take the West this year. As the Suns have seen in this series, anything less than their best is beatable, but when at their best, they are a difficult matchup.

> Collective Team Effort: Kevin Durant's offense has been billed the Oklahoma City Thunder's only chance to beat the Los Angeles Lakers--not for the series, but for just a single game. Yet, coach Scott Brooks and his squad challenged this hypothesis on Thursday night and seemingly disproved it. While Durant struggled en route to 29 points, teammates Russell Westbrook and James Harden combined for 45 points in a winning effort. While Durant finished at 8-24 shooting, he showed how valuable his defense is, holding Kobe Bryant to 10-29 shooting, including only 2-10 in the clutch fourth quarter. The victory reiterated the selection of Scott Brooks as NBA Coach of the Year and the legitimacy of the Thunder's 50-win season.

Howard Named Defensive Player of the Year

Yesterday, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. Howard is the first back-to-back winner since Ben Wallace took the award in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. Behind Howard in voting were Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks and Gerald Wallace of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Overall, the top 5 vote-getters came from the Eastern Conference. In 6th place in voting was Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers, who received the award as a member of the Indiana Pacers in 2003-2004.

Regarding team defense, Orlando (with both Howard and Matt Barnes nominated for the award)was 4th in points per game allowed (95.3 PPG) and tied for 1st in field goal percentage allowed (43.9 FG%). Atlanta ranked tied for 9th in points per game allowed (97.0 PPG) and 16th in field goal percentage allowed (46.0 FG%). Charlotte finished ranked 1st in points per game allowed (93.8 PPG) and tied for 6th in field goal percentage allowed (44.8%).

The Cleveland Cavaliers, with reigning Most Valuable Player LeBron James (4th in voting) and potential Most Improved Player candidate Anderson Varejao, finished the season tied for 5th in points per game allowed (95.6 PPG) and placed 4th in field goal percentage allowed (44.3 FG%). The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers--who had both Artest and Kobe Bryant nominated for the award--tied for 9th in points per game allowed (97.0 PPG) and ranked 5th in field goal percentage allowed (44.6%). Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics--with Rajon Rondo 5th in voting and Kendrick Perkins also receiving consideration--tied for 5th in points per game allowed (95.6 PPG) and tied for 9th in field goal percentage allowed (45.1 FG%).

The Defensive Player of the Year Award has been given 28 times, beginning with the 1982-1983 season. Overall, 16 different players have won the award. In fact, Dwight Howard is the 8th repeat winner of the award. Ben Wallace and Dikembe Mutombo lead the all-time list with 4 awards apiece. While Wallace took all 4 awards while playing for the Detroit Pistons, Mutombo was recognized while playing for 3 different teams (the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, and Philadelphia 76ers). Of the award winners, 8 appeared in the NBA Finals the year they won, including 4 NBA Championship winners (Michael Cooper - Lakers; Dennis Rodman - Pistons; Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets; Kevin Garnett - Celtics).

Over the past 14 seasons, the award went to an Eastern Conference player 13 times. Before Marcus Camby of the Nuggets won the award in 2006-2007, the last Defensive Player of the Year from the Western Conference was Gary Payton of the Seattle Supersonics in 1995-1996. This may be influenced by a typically faster, higher-scoring style of play used in the West as opposed to a slower, more methodical style of play typically used in the East. At the same time, dominant defensive players during an era can sway the voting in their favor based on defensive consistency and their reputations as the best defensive players in the league. In the end, team success is critical to winning the award. Alvin Robertson's San Antonio Spurs of 1985-1986 had the lowest record (35-47) for a Defensive Player of the Year Award winner. The only other players to not have their teams finish above .500 when winning the award were Mark Eaton and Dikembe Mutombo, whose Utah Jazz of 1984-1985 and Denver Nuggets of 1994-1995 both finished at 41-41. Robertson's Spurs, Eaton's Jazz, and Mutombo's Nuggets all made it to the playoffs in those respective years, though.