Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The final count for the ’00s (and this is the 1999-00 season through the 2008-09 season): four titles and two MVPs for Tim, four titles and one MVP for Kobe, four titles and one MVP for Shaq. It’s also worth noting that Shaq had three Finals MVPs – all of them during the Lakers three-peat – while Tim won two and Kobe landed one. Based on all of that and Shaq’s importance to the 2006 Heat, it could be argued that O’Neal was the best player of the ’00s, even though he was a shadow of his former self as the Big Cactus and later LeBron’s consigliere. Either way, all three titans are neck and neck.
That Pau trade really did change everything. It kept Kobe in L.A. and allowed him to become one of the two or three greatest Lakers ever. It swelled the Laker Nation, multiplied Kobe’s army of fanatics and it even resulted in Ron Artest giving a championship speech on the floor after a heroic Game 7 in the NBA fricking Finals. Even this Lakers hater can admit that was a cool turn of events.
SB Nation – The rise, fall and revival of Kobe Bryant: Meet the NBA All-2000s team
In this series on all-decade teams, it was a given that Kobe would be highly celebrated on the all-2000s squad. Even Celtics fans understand he’s one of the best NBA players ever. Not the best ever, as many crazed L.A. fans would have us believe, but certainly in the conversation.
I’ve always wondered, though, what if Paul Pierce and Kobe had traded places in their early years? Pierce, too, is one of the best ever, a 10-time all-star and prolific scorer who won a finals MVP in 2008. The authors of the above article placed him on the second team and described him this way:
Paul Pierce
The Truth toiled on a second-tier East team until 2007, when KG and Ray Allen arrived. Pierce got one title, turned into a phenomenal LeBron foil and kept grinding (especially in the clutch). His elder statesman turn and championship land him above the two studs on the third team, but don’t underestimate how much of a killer he was early in the decade. Those Boston teams were almost good enough. Almost.
The questions, then, are: What if Pierce had played sidekick to Shaq on a Phil Jackson-coached team? And what if he later became the alpha dog on a revitalized roster enhanced by all-NBA player Pau Gasol? Would Pierce have five rings? How would he be viewed today?
Conversely, would Kobe have won anything in the early 2000s playing on teams with the likes of Celtics Mark Blount, Tony Battie and Vitaly Potapenko at center?
The answer is found in the Lakers’ results with and without Shaq/Phil. With the league’s best player and coach, L.A. won three straight titles in 2000-02, and almost another, losing in the 2004 finals. But after they departed, Kobe and the Lakers missed the 2004-05 playoffs and then had two straight years of first-round playoff exits.
So Kobe didn’t do so well when his centers were Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown. Only when the Lakers acquired Pau at his peak did L.A. get back to the finals.
Pierce experienced the same type of results. For example, when The Truth played with the very same Chris Mihm on the 2003-04 Celtics, Boston won just 36 games and was swept out of the playoffs in the first round. But when Pierce had all-world help from Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Cs won one title and came within four points of taking another.
Compare the individual career stats of Bryant and Pierce – especially the Per 36 Minutes breakdown – and there’s not a lot of difference, except that Kobe shot more and therefore scored more.
Player Comparison: Bryant/Pierce careers (courtesy of basketball-reference.com)
Now look at their stats from the 2001-02 season, when L.A. won the title and Pierce carried Boston almost all the way to the Finals. The numbers are amazingly similar.
Player Comparison: Bryant/Pierce 2001-02
The bottom line is that an NBA career does not occur in a vacuum. The coach, teammates and environment are all huge factors in a player’s outcome. Paul Pierce is every bit as good individually as Kobe Bryant. If their situations had been reversed, their legacies might be, too.
On Page 2: Lionel Hollins is not conceding
The potential point guard issues are driving the predictions that the Nets will finish outside the playoffs for the first time since moving to Brooklyn. But Hollins isn’t ready to waive [sic] the white flag before training camp has begun.
“They can say you’re going to be good, and they can say you’re going to be bad, but ultimately we have to go out and play,” Hollins said. “Last year we were in the playoffs and we lost the first two games in Atlanta and somebody said, ‘The percentages are that the series is over.’
“I said, ‘What do we do? Quit playing?’ We just have to go play. Injuries happen to teams, teams don’t meet expectations … anything can happen.”
NY Post – Lionel Hollins scoffs at idea Nets doomed without Deron Williams
Coaches and players think differently than fans and media. Whereas we will look at history and use it to predict the future, they will have none of it. Pro-caliber personnel are too competitive and confident to doubt themselves. They always think the next play will work, the next shot will go in, the next game will be won. If they didn’t believe that, they wouldn’t be in the NBA.
With that said, reality does play a role. As noted in the article, Williams is an above-average NBA point guard. The PGs on the Nets current roster, Jarrett Jack, Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan, are not. Over an 82-game season, talent always wins out in the NBA. Without it, you’re in the draft lottery.
Obviously, since the Celtics own Brooklyn’s 2016 unprotected first-round pick, that’s where we want them. In the end, all the confidence in the world is probably not going to help Lionel Hollins and the Nets.
And, finally… More negative predictions
PREDICTION: 3rd in the Atlantic Division / 10th in the Eastern Conference.
HoopsHype – Preview: Boston Celtics
How will Brad Stevens handle his frontcourt rotation?
You’d be hard pressed to find a more eclectic frontcourt in the NBA than the one Stevens will be working with in Boston. Lee and Zeller are potent finishers in pick-and-rolls, but offer almost nothing on the other end of the floor. Olynyk and Jerebko offer skill and shooting, but they too won’t be confused with a defensive stoppers anytime soon. Mix in jack-of-all/some trades, master-of-none types in holdover fourth-year big man Jared Sullinger and free agent acquisition Amir Johnson, and Stevens will have options aplenty.
Like Rick Carlisle has done for years in Dallas, Stevens has shown a unique ability to mix and match his in-game matchups and put his team in the best position to succeed. But this group, especially with their defensive limitations, will test Boston’s pragmatic head coach. The ability of Stevens to find workable frontcourt pairings on a nightly basis could very well define the Celtics season.
RealGM – NBA Season Preview: Boston Celtics
The parity in the East plays itself out when you start to look at teams outside of the top six. That’s where intangibles such as coaching come into play. You can talk all day about how Isaiah Thomas’ arrival was important last season, or the growth we saw in Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart and Evan Turner. But the real star of last season for Boston was Stevens. And that’s why I see them getting into the playoffs again even though there will probably be a couple of teams behind them that on paper at least, are better.
CSNNE – Blakely’s NBA Eastern Conference Preview
As covered in the Tuesday Morning Dump, this is the time of year for season predictions. So far, it’s mostly bad news for the Celtics. The prevailing view is that Boston will be a marginal team which, despite improving its roster over last season, might even drop out of the playoffs. The HoopsHype prediction is especially puzzling – 3rd in the division, behind Toronto apparently, but who else? Is Brooklyn (see above) or New York supposed to finish 2nd? We’ll have to see that to believe it.
It seems like most of these forecasters are looking only at the tangibles – stats, depth charts, experience levels – and not enough at the intangibles – desire, smarts, coaching. As Sherrod points out, it was intangibles that played a major role in achieving the playoffs last season.
The Celtics do lack star power, but we have to expect the roster won’t remain static for the entire season. If Ainge makes a major trade, the equation will change. Considering all of that, I’m taking these predictions with a large grain of salt.
The Rest of the Links:
CSNNE – C’s rookies discuss transition to NBA, expectations for 2015
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