Regret Is Insight That Comes a Day Too Late: The NBA Playoffs Wait For No Man

Regrets are never a good thing. When those regrets also affect an entire city that lives and dies by its basketball team, it goes without saying.
 
The following are a list of people that will be spending their summer vacation what what could have been, if only a break went their way.

Hedo Turkoglu

While the Pistons-Magic series is the only Conference semifinals series to have wrapped up in less than 6 games.

If you look at the fact that the Pistons won in five, you might get the impression that the series was as lopsided as the Hornets-Mavs or Spurs-Suns.

It's simply not the case. Three of the four Piston wins came down to the last minute, and those are the three minutes Turkoglu will be thinking about over and over again this summer.

In Game 2, with the Magic down by 2 with 45 seconds to go, they call a timeout.

Now, I don't know what play SVG drew up, but I'm pretty sure it didn't call for Turkoglu to launch a three pointer from the top of the three point circle, five feet behind it, with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.

That's exactly what he did though, and a few possessions later the Magic were down 0-2. You can blame all you want on the shot clock discrepancy that happened at the end of the 3rd, but I would rather have a player not jack up a desperation shot when its not needed, than rely on the timekeepers.

Fast forward to game 4. Tayshaun Prince (the anti-Turkoglu so far, in fact the anti-everyone on this list. He should have no regrets) hits a runner with eight seconds left to go up 90-89.

Turkoglu gets the call and misses a driving layup, and the Magic are down 3-1. Sure he drive against a tough interior defense, but you can't tell me that he's not replaying that in his mind now, as he makes the June plans he wouldn't have made two weeks ago.

Then game 5. Prince makes another key block on a Turkoglu dunk that would have brought the Magic within one with 15 seconds to play. While the play is actually more skill on Prince's part than poor play by Turkoglu, it is something he will be thinking about until next October.

Except for the bad shot taken by Turkoglu in game 2, his errors were not entirely his fault. But in sports, someone wins and someone loses. Prince and the Pistons live to fight another day, while Turkoglu is taking his vacation early.  

The Boston Celtics

The Celtics were in an unenviable position before game 5. If they win, no big deal, it was expected. If they lose, it is nothing short of a catastrophe.

Not only would they have to go to Cleveland and try and win for the first time on the road in the postseason, but the air of invincibility that soaks the TD Banknorth Garden would have suddenly disappeared.

Suddenly the fans wouldn't be able to spur their team onto victory. And should the C's advance further, there would be blood in the air with teams knowing that its entirely possible to steal a game on the road.

Sure, they won game 5, but they should have. And they also should be preparing for Detroit right now. And that's why the C's should have regrets.

LBJ has played awful for 9 out of 10 halves in this series, and he is supposed to be the only real threat on the Cavs. He is the difference between the Cavs being a playoff wild card and a lottery team.

How many teams would BEG to catch Bron Bron on not just a game, but a series where he isn't imposing his will on the rack? I know the 2007 Pistons would.

Not only have the C's let Delonte West, Joe Smith and Ilgauskas beat them twice, but they're rapidly wearing themselves out.

Can you imagine how Ray Allen's ankles will be feeling after two (possibly three if they go to the Finals) 6 or 7 game series? I wouldn't want to depend on those ankles hitting threes.  

Can you imagine a Celtics-Jazz Finals? It would be the most uninteresting 7 game finals ever, even more so than the Spurs-Pistons Finals of 2005.  

LeBron James

It's a measure of how this series has gone that both teams should feel incredibly frustrated.

Imagine you are King James. You know for a fact that you can single-handedly win a playoff series for your team. And last year's Cavs team was awful.

Now they have Boobie Gibson with an extra year of experience, and a good point guard backing him up (or vice versa) in Delonte West.

They have a rebounding/defensive force at the 4, even if it is the Artist Formerly Known as Ben Wallace, which can allow their jump shooting 7-footer to get away from the basket without sacrificing too many boards.

They also have another legitimate outside threat that can make teams pay when The Chosen One heads into the paint in Wally.

And last time I checked, an older Joe Smith is a massive upgrade over Larry Hughes.

So LeBron came into this series knowing that even though they weren't gelling, he had the talent behind him to get deep into the playoffs.

So what does he do? Submit four and a half bombs!And it's not like he's mailing it in like he has in the past. He just isn't hitting his midrange jumpers.

If I was LeBron, I would be pretty frustrated that he couldn't do the one thing it takes for his team to win, play well.
 

Stay tuned for part II as the playoffs continue...