The NBA Rapidfire Report: First Round Action

The NBA Rapidfire Report: First Round Action

The first round of the 2008 NBA playoffs was heavily anticipated but turned into a flurry of surprises, with the relative easy dismantling of the Mavericks and Suns, the surprising audacity of underdogs Sixers and Hawks, and some midseason trades that turned out so bad their coaches are taking the fall. Four NBA superfans weigh in as the surprising first round winds down.

Most impressive 5 game knockout; New Orleans or San Antonio?

Alex Kennedy (Columnist): While both were impressive, I'm going to go with the San Antonio Spurs. Chris Paul had an amazing playoff debut and was very cool under pressure but the Spurs completely shocked the Suns. Nobody expected that series to end that quickly. Analysts talked about how it would be the best series in the first round and how it was likely to go to seven games after that ridiculous performance by both teams in Game One that ended in double overtime. Then the Spurs just clicked and did what they had to do. Also, the Suns brought in Shaquille O'Neal just so that they could match up with teams like the Spurs come playoff time so the fact that that San Antonio still dominated the series shows a lot about their team if you ask me.

Andrew Kneeland (Senior Writer): New Orleans because of their youth. I never cease to be amazed by the great Chris Paul, and I really think he should win the MVP Award after the way he dominated this series. He was phenomenal.

San Antonio did a great job of shutting down Phoenix, but the Suns helped them out a bit by poor play. Besides, San Antonio held the "older and wiser" appearance.

Erick Blasco (Senior Writer): Each five-game knockout was impressive for various reasons. San Antonio’s was because they showed that they can still adapt to any situation, that Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and Tim Duncan are the three most underrated superstars in the game, and that no team can match San Antonio’s heart and resolve. 

New Orleans’ was because of the ease with which they disposed of the Mavs. They were more physical than Dallas, better defensively than Dallas, and surprisingly had more ways to attack the Mavs than Dallas had answers. I didn’t expect the Hornets to be as disciplined defensively, and every time I try to diminish David West as a player, he comes out and provides the versatile post presence every good team requires. Plus, while Chris Paul’s series was overhyped (once Dallas started going under screens, Paul’s iffy jumper and ability to finish were exposed some), his patience and court vision were exceptional. New Orleans definitely surprised me more.

Joe Willett (Senior Writer): The most impressive five game knock-out, in my opinion, was New Orleans.  San Antonio did what they were expected to do, go in and dominate all the way through the series.  New Orleans, on the other hand, was picked as the underdog by a good amount of people.  New Orleans also did theirs in impressive fashion, and Chris Paul dominated the whole way through.  His triple-double in Game 5 was just incredible.

Most surprising underdog; Sixers or Hawks?

Alex Kennedy: Definitely the Hawks. This one isn't even close in my mind. The Sixers match up well against the Pistons because they are a running team. They were also very hot in the second half of the season and entered the playoffs with a ton of momentum. Meanwhile, Atlanta hasn't been to the playoffs in what seems like forever, have a roster full of young players, and are competing the team many thought was unbeatable. The Big Three, who many decided would win the championship since last summer, are being beaten by a team that lost more regular season games than they won? Atlanta has a basketball team? Seriously though, nobody expected this. It's like David versus Goliath except the little guy is taking down the giant with incredible layups (Joe Johnson, anyone?) rather than slingshots. If Atlanta can pull off this series, it may seriously take the cake when it comes to the NBA's greatest upsets of all-time, beating even the Warriors over the Mavericks last season.

Andrew Kneeland: The Hawks. Who would have thought that they would be where they are right now: only down 3-2. The series is going back to Atlanta, so the Hawks can show what they have in front of their home fans. Don't expect Atlanta to go down without a fight.

Erick Blasco: The Hawks, definitely. I still can’t understand how they won two games, aside from the fact that Josh Smith outplayed Kevin Garnett in Atlanta, Boston’s defense surprisingly broke down way too many times against Joe Johnson, and the Celtics played with a complete lack of urgency. Plus, Josh Smith is playing man-to-man defense!  

Philadelphia had shown their defensive talents for two months, and no team with Andre Miller ever deserves to be counted out. Atlanta, however, has come out of nowhere. Still, neither team will advance to the second round. 

Joe Willett: The Atlanta Hawks are impressing the hell out of me right now.  I half expected the Sixers to make some sort of series out of the 1st round, although I wasn't expecting this much.  But the Hawks, I thought, were just there for the Celtics to practice against while they got ready for the 2nd round.  With the way that this is going, the Celtics are going to be very worn down by the time the 2nd round comes up.

Worst midseason move; Shaq trade or Kidd trade?

Alex Kennedy: While I still don't understand what the Suns were trying to accomplish with the Shaq trade, I think the Kidd trade was even worse. Not only did Dallas lose in the first round, they gave away their future with that trade. Devin Harris, who Cuban vowed he would never trade, DeSagna Diop, Maurice Ager, and several first round draft picks was the price that Dallas paid in order to lose to the Hornets in round one. The average age of the Mavericks roster is 29.7 years old. Before the Kidd trade, it was significantly lower. Right now, Dallas in a very position. They have veterans that haven't really gelled with one another, very few young guys, and no head coach. Mark Cuban better get to work if he wants to make his team a Western Conference powerhouse again.

Andrew Kneeland: The Shaq trade. It didn't look nearly this bad when it first happened, but now it looks like the entire Phoenix management should be drawn and quartered. "What were they thinking?" seems to be the usual question, but if you were in their position, what would you do?

They had the chance to get a world renowned 'big-man' that would without doubt help out their team for one or two years. Hindsight is 20-20.

Erick Blasco: The Shaq trade has turned out worse, but still needed to be made. Phoenix’ gimmicky gameplan has never involved the defensive resolve or the halfcourt diversity requisite for a championship run. Unfortunately, while Shaq provided some post scoring and post defense, Shawn Marion is an incredibly talented and versatile player who fills a lot of holes on a roster. Plus, Shaq’s flaws were picked at mercilessly by San Antonio. 

The only reason why the Suns trade is bad is because Shaq will get even older, even slower, and will still eat up a gigantic portion of Phoenix’ cap. The Suns would have lost in the playoffs even if they had Marion and the season would still be considered a failure (only the fans would be blaming the refs instead of blaming Shaq). 

The Kidd trade wasn’t horrible at all. Sure Paul outplayed Kidd, but where were Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, Devean George, Eddie Jones, and Erick Dampier? Kidd still made the correct passes, drew double teams in the post, and played solid defense on Paul in Games 3-5 when he went under screens nullifying New Orleans’ screen/roll game. No, the Mavs loss can be blamed on anybody and everybody except Brandon Bass, Dirk Nowitzki, and especially Jason Kidd. 

Joe Willett: I think that the Shaq trade was worse than the Kidd trade.  Everybody knew that the Mavs had to do something to try to help them improve, but I didn't really see anything that bad with the Suns.  The trade really boggled the mind, in my opinion, because Shaq doesn't really fit in for anything that the Suns were trying to do.  However, Shaq didn't exactly play horrible, and I think that they would be in the 2nd round if they didn't have to face the Spurs, Lakers, or Hornets in the 1st round.  But the Shaq trade didn't need to happen.

Which other coaches will be fired by playoffs' end? Where will they all end up?

Alex Kennedy: George Karl won't be coaching in Denver next year. The fans hate him, he doesn't really have any offensive or defensive game plan. His team basically goes out there, slacks off on defense, and then takes ill-advised shots on the offensive end. He has talked about how it may be time for him to quit and spend time with his family and there have been rumors that he could be fired. Either way, I can't see him leading Denver when training camp rolls around.

Andrew Kneeland: I recently wrote an article on this subject. We know that Denver's Karl isn't going anywhere, but we are unsure about Seattle's PJ Carlesimo.
Byron Scott of New Orleans will certainly get an extension, and there are a few teams looking for coaching right now. Chicago and New York are both interested in the recently fired Avery Johnson.

Also, Phoenix's Mike D'Antoni is rumored to be contemplating about walking away from his two-year contract. Should be fun to watch.

Erick Blasco: I’m not a soothsayer but the writing on the wall says that D’Antoni’s time is up on Phoenix. Steve Kerr wants to put a championship-caliber team in place with sound basketball principles, and he looks at D’Antoni’s style as a sideshow rather than a true winner. D’Antoni might have a home in Toronto where the Raptors have Jose Calderon as a mini-Nash, Chris Bosh as a mini-Stoudemire, and an assortment of gunners that thrive on open threes. 

Sam Mitchell is another candidate for the chopping block as his Raptors didn’t make any improvement and actually regressed this season. If he takes the fall, don’t expect a quick resurfacing. 

Joe Willett: Technically, last time I checked, Mike D'Antoni was denying a story that he was going to step down.  So, I guess, by default, he would fall under the category of next to go because I can't see him sticking around much longer, although I think what he did for Phoenix was tremendous and he doesn't deserve to be fired.