NBA Playoffs 2011: Top 5 Storylines Left in the Playoffs
After an incredible month of playoff basketball, we are down to just four teams in the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Before long, we'll be down to two and just days from crowning an NBA champion.
One of the disappointing, yet inevitable things about the NBA playoffs is that as teams fall by the wayside, so do certain storylines.
With the series loss to Oklahoma City, the Cinderella story that was the Memphis Grizzlies ended. With the Magic's disappointing playoff run, the question of whether or not Dwight Howard can carry his team to a championship was ultimately answered.
That's not to say that the remaining series don't have interesting storylines. There are still a myriad of enthralling things that will keep viewers coming back for more, and here are five such things.
Can the Bulls Find Offense from Someone Other Than Derrick Rose?
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Coming into the playoffs, this wasn't really being discussed.
Sure, Rose made up a high percentage of the Bulls' offense in the regular season, but you figured they would win games with defense and overall team efforts.
Things have changed now that the Bulls are in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. For what it's worth, you could see this coming in the earlier rounds of the playoffs.
The Pacers gave the Bulls all they could handle the first round. Several games came down to the wire, and Rose was able to save Chicago by hitting circus layups or nearly impossible shots. You just knew that couldn't last.
The Bulls are still playing good defense, and they still have an advantage over the Heat in depth and bench play, but it hasn't been enough so far.
The Heat are playing defense just as well, maybe even better than the Bulls. They are double-teaming Rose early and forcing anyone else to beat them. Suddenly, the advantage of depth is no more as Chicago's role-players have wilted under the pressure of carrying the offensive load. When guys like Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng and Kyle Korver are forced to go and win games for Chicago, they can't do it.
If Chicago is going to come back and win the series, those guys are going to have to step up. They need to be decisive, knock down open shots and make smart decisions with the basketball. Even an MVP like Rose can't carry an offense when he is being double and triple-teamed.
Finding someone to step up and help him out is the single biggest thing the Bulls have to do to win the series.
Can the Thunder Find Enough Consistency to Get Back in the Series?
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After taking the defending champion Lakers to seven games in the first round last season, many expected this to be the coming out party for the Thunder as a contender.
While they may have already done that by getting this far, I think they are showing all of us why it's risky to put so many expectations into a team that is so young.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are so talented and fun to watch that it's easy to forget they are as old as your average upperclassmen in college. Heck, that's true of just about everybody on the Thunder; they are the second-youngest team to make it to the Western Conference finals.
There have been hints of their youth in spots during the postseason. In the last series against Memphis, the physical nature of the Grizzlies' defense obviously frustrated Durant. The veteran Grizzlies also knew just what to do to bait the inexperienced Thunder into technical fouls.
There has also been the issue of Westbrook finding the happy medium between slashing scorer and traditional point guard. Westbrook seems programmed to be either one or the other, without the ability to alternate between the two based on the situation.
Unless OKC can put things together and show they have grown up quickly, it will have to be another season where you have to say that the Thunder are not quite ready for prime time.
Can Dirk Nowtizki Alone Carry the Mavericks to the Championship?
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The narrative as it pertained to the Mavericks going into the postseason was that Dallas is made up of Dirk Nowitzki and a large amalgamation of spare parts.
So far through their run, that has proved to be false.
The Mavericks have gotten great scoring from both Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic. Jason Kidd has once again tapped the Fountain of Youth, and Tyson Chandler has given Dallas an elite post defender.
The question is, can the production from these role-players keep up? History says no.
Terry has always been known as a streaky scorer. He has been hot for the last month, so you have to wonder if his cold snap is right around the corner. Stojakovic has given his teams next to nothing over the last couple seasons, so the chances he keeps it up seem slim as well.
Chandler's defense likely won't drop off, but against a team like the Heat or Bulls, who have a bigger interior presence, he may be equalized. You also have to think that all the tough miles of playoff basketball have to be wearing on Kidd.
As they have been playing so far in the postseason, the Mavericks have the ability to beat anyone, but if any of the role-players fall off, I can't see it happening. There is a reason that just about every other playoff team wanted to face Dallas in the first round. If you can force Dirk to put the entire team on his back, it's not too tough to limit everyone else and win the game.
The problem for those teams has been that his teammates have stepped up their games. If their play drops off though, not even Dirk is good enough to take them to the championship. These other teams are just too good defensively and too talented.
Can the Heat's Role-Players Keep Up Their Level of Play?
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The biggest surprise for me so far in the playoffs has been the play of the Heat's bench and role-players. Even before the return and emergence of Udonis Haslem, the Heat have gotten great play from everyone on the roster.
That level of play allows Miami to succeed in the way that it was planned out before the season. The idea was that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would warrant so much attention that everyone else would be able to get just about any shot they wanted and run roughshod.
Thanks to the inconsistent play of Chris Bosh and injuries to players like Mike Miller and Haslem, it hasn't panned out. Now, with better play from everyone and better health, things are coming together.
I don't see any reason why the play of the role-players would decline.
The thing is, they simply aren't being asked to do too much.
Nearly washed-up point guard Mike Bibby is being asked to not turn the ball over and hit open three's. Haslem needs to rebound the ball and hit short jump shots. Joel Anthony is being asked to protect the paint. Miller's job is to make open three's and drive to the basket when defenders are nowhere in sight.
None of those assignments are asking too much in my mind. They have done a great job so far, and I see no reason why it won't continue.
Who Is the Best Coach Left in the Playoffs?
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The remaining head coaches in the playoffs profile as follows: a second-year coach who has been criticized for perceived mismanagement of late-game situations, a first-year head coach who had been a lifetime assistant prior to this season, a baby-faced head coach who was probably more likely to be fired than in the conference finals after the first quarter of the season and a veteran head coach whose abrasive coaching style and nature have been said to rub people the wrong way.
Each coach has a great case as the best remaining in the postseason.
Scott Brooks, the second-year coach, has led a team with an average age of about 25 to the conference finals and has done a great job massaging young egos who aren't used to being benched or even talked to sternly. His handling of the Russell Westbrook "benching" situation earlier in the Dallas series was a great example of how well Brooks deals with his players.
Tom Thibodeau, the first-year head coach, led his team to the NBA's best record in the regular season. His defensive prowess has been well-publicized and is a big reason why the Bulls are in the position there are in.
Erik Spoelstra, the nearly-fired coach, has had to deal with more media scrutiny than any coach in recent history. About 10 minutes after LeBron announced that he was heading to Miami alongside Wade and Bosh, talk began about Spoelstra's job security. First, there was talk that the superstars wanted Pat Riley to be their coach. Then, after a slow start to the season and a couple of embarrassing run-ins with players, many were ready to say that he wasn't experienced enough to handle this high-profile cast of characters.
Rick Carlisle, the veteran, had varying levels of success as a head coach in Detroit and Indiana before coming to Dallas. In both previous cases, his tenure came to an abrupt end when his supposedly abrasive personality caused friction with some players and even with ownership.
Carlisle's success in getting the best out of the players around Dirk Nowitzki is the reason I have him as the best coach left in the playoffs. Whether or not the reports about his personality are true, it's clear he isn't having those issues now.
No matter how much you value coaching in the postseason, I think it's easy to see that Dallas has the advantage in that respect.
