Surprise: No Sweeping Yet

The first round of the NBA Playoffs have been full of surprises.  Unexpected teams have shown flashes of brilliance and relentless effort while some of the big guns have shown more vulnerability than ever before.  The disappearing acts being performed by the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks continue to highlight the playoffs this year.

The Suns will most likely being headed home after being down 1-3 to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.  The play of the Suns has been more of an embarrassment than a disappointment.  While Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire have been orchestrating the Suns offense so fluidly, once again its the lack of a bench and the porous defense that continues to defeat the Suns.  The addition of Shaq has clearly not paid dividends for the Suns as Tim Duncan is having his way in the series.  Also, the loss of Shawn Marion’s ability to defend multiple positions is also missing.  Tony Parker is driving to the hole at will and making jump shot after jump shot because no one on the Suns can keep up with him.  Nash has always been a liability on defense.  Grant Hill has been a walking corpse for many years now and makes the job so much easier for Bruce Bowen on defense.  Simply put, the Spurs may be a older team this year and have had a number of doubters all year long, but they prove to be a smart team that can execute when they need to.  The Suns showed their offensive potency in Game 4’s demolition of the Suns, but to win 3 straight games against the Spurs is just asking too much.  Ginobilli, Duncan, and Parker are the best trio in the league .  (Even better than Garnett, Pierce, and Allen as a team, but not talent-wise)

Even more disappointing has been the performance of the Dallas Mavericks.  Dirk Nowitzki just doesn’t have his head in the game.  Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse are shooting enough bricks to build a new stadium for Mark Cuban and the Mavs.  Josh Howard enjoys smoking marijuana during the off season (why would you admit to that…idiot).  The biggest issue for the Mavs, is the inefficieny of Jason Kidd, their blockbuster trade deadline aquisition.  They lost a heartbreaker to the hands of Dwayne Wade two years ago and blew off last year’s first round loss as a fluke.  They have no excuses this year.  Kidd was supposed to be the missing link to lead the Mavs to the championship.    They traded away the future of the team in Devin Harris, Diop and draft picks, only to get burned over and over by Chris Paul and his entourage.  Kidd is being exploited play after play by the younger Paul, while David West and Tyson Chandler are playing in the post as if it was recess time instead of a playoff game.  If the Mavs can put together three straight wins agaisnt the Hornets, Avery Johnson might still keep his job.  If not, you can see Johnson at the unemployment office in the off season.  (D’Antoni might join him too if the Suns lose one more game)

 

The Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia Sixers have been the teams that have surprised everyone so far.  They both squeaked into the last two spots of the playoffs and were both expected to be swept.  Yet, the Sixers have been a solid team handing the second ranked Pistons two losses and have the series knotted at 2-2.  They have been very impressive for a young team that was expected to finish last in the Atlantic Division.  While the Hawks got spanked in games 1 and 2 in Boston by an average of 21 points, they showed why they are such an entertaining team in game 3.  All you need to know is Josh Smith has serious hops.  The guy definitely has springs in his legs.  His 27 point, 9 rebound performance and the help of Al Horford’s dominant contribution in the post (and taunting of paul Pierce) showed a promising future for the baby Hawks.  While, I don’t see Hawks or the Sixers winning their series’, both teams have provided fans with enteraining games and have had a chance to display some of their great young talents.  

It has been less than two weeks since the playoffs have began, but the excitement is high now.  Hopefully, the second round will promise us the same excitement.

Extra:  No multimillion dollar NBA facility should have shot clock malfunctions like the Hawks did in Phillips Arena.  The PA announcer was counting the shot clock down at 15, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 seconds through out the 3rd quarter.  It must have been quite embarrassing for the owners/managers of Phillips Arena.