Kobe Turned Down By Chicago?

Although Drive and Dish has historically declined to engage in rumor, gossip and sports geek-style feverish speculation (what if...if, then...if only...etc.), we'll jump in on the Kobe hype with this tidbit, courtesy of Arizona Central: "Although Kobe Bryant apparently would like to join (Chicago), Chicago general manager John Paxson sent a message to the Los Angeles Lakers' superstar on Monday: Don't count on it. "

Final List of Underclassmen In NBA Draft

Here's the final list of who's returning to school and who's forgoing his collegiate eligibility to stay in the NBA draft pool (and, in many cases, praying that he gets drafted).

Why Was Interest In the NBA Finals So Low?

The 2007 NBA Finals garnered the lowest television ratings of any NBA Finals in the post Larry Bird/Magic Johnson/Michael Jordan era. Many theories abound as to why.

As we've alluded to many times, the public just doesn't care about the San Antonio Spurs. They're a small market team in the middle of the country (and in a very non basketball oriented region - Texas) full of foreign born players and lacking a marketable, charismatic star player. Tim Duncan is one of the all time great big men in the history of the NBA, but he just doesn't have the requisite "sizzle" to make him compelling to casual sports fans (or, apparently, even to the average basketball fan). Duncan appeals to basketball purists (who constitute a tiny minority of the NBA fan base, let alone the general sports viewing public), yet lacks the "it" factor that has allowed NBA stars like the aforementioned trinity of Magic/Bird/Jordan, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and pre rape trial Kobe Bryant to transcend sports, and become international super celebrities. Those players drew wide spread interest to the NBA. Duncan and the Spurs can't do that.

What's more, having championship caliber teams in big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago was also, in part, responsible for delivering large television audiences to the league. The city of San Antonio can't accomplish that. And, despite the marketability and celebrity potential of LeBron James, having the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Spurs' opponent didn't do anything to help draw casual fans to the series. Cleveland, also in the middle of the country, is an even smaller market than San Antonio, and is also in a football crazed and non traditionally basketball oriented region (not to mention the fact that, in the public consciousness, Cleveland is associated with negative things - from rivers catching on fire, to its legacy of sports futility, to its general rust belt economic depression and dwindling population). To the most casual of sports fans, Cleveland teams aren't exactly sexy.

Whatever the reason (and there certainly may be reasons other than those mentioned in this early morning stream of consciousness posting), the NBA's popularity is at its lowest point in recent history.

Kobe Goes to Spain to Demand Trade

Friday, Lakers star Kobe Bryant flew to Barcelona, Spain to meet with Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Bryant reportedly reiterated his desire to be traded. Kobe's contract allows for him to veto trades and, rumors abound that Kobe wants to go to the Knicks or Chicago.

San Antonio Sweeps Cleveland, Wins Fourth Championship

The San Antonio Spurs have swept the Cleveland Cavaliers to become NBA Champions for the fourth time in nine seasons. Drive and Dish extends congratulations to the Spurs. They play the game the right way. They're a dynasty. We love them.


In the picture to the right, Tim Duncan (left) is holding the Larry O'Brien trophy, and Tony Parker is holding the series MVP award. Drive and Dish used to dislike Parker tremendously. However, he's really matured as a player. Early in his career he was a turnover prone shoot first showboat who just happened to start at point guard for the best team in the league. Now he's a top notch NBA point guard, who breaks down defenders, protects the ball and makes good decisions. We have become fans of his.

By the way, when the game was tied with five minutes to go, it was Manu Ginobili who took the game over. In the last five and a half minutes, Ginobili put on a show that rivals anything Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird ever did in the Finals. Although Parker was named as MVP, it was Ginobili who made the difference in the final minutes of this championship deciding game.

San Antonio One Win Away From Fourth Championship

Tonight, San Antonio went into Cleveland and won game three of the NBA Finals to take a 3-0 series lead. They are one win away from claiming their fourth NBA Championship.

San Antonio is generally viewed as a boring team. Their star player, Tim "Big Fundamentals" Duncan, is notorious for his efficient, but non flashy style of play. He's the ultimate "lunch pail" guy. What's more, he doesn't smile or exhibit any other marketable outward expression of personality.

The rest of the team follows Duncan's lead. Even Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, two formerly flamboyant players, have toned down their play. They've become solid pros, quite different from the gambling, ballsy, yet turnover prone daredevils that they once were.

Bruce Bowen is probably the best on the ball defender in the league. He absolutely locks guys down. Because of that, one might expect him to be widely hated, as he plays the role of the foil to the league's high scoring superstars. Yet, even Bowen elicits a yawn from the typical observer.

People just don't get the San Antonio Spurs.

But we here at Drive and Dish really like them. San Antonio is our favorite NBA team, at least in part, because of the aforementioned reasons. San Antonio is a great, veteran team that exemplifies professionalism. Year after year, game after game, they just go out and get it done. Drive and Dish loves them for that.

San Antonio Goes Up 2-0 In Finals

In the wake of Sunday night's smack-down of Cleveland, San Antonio appears to be on its way to its fourth NBA championship in eight years. If they do win a fourth championship, they'll deserve to be considered a dynasty. Since their first trip to the Finals in 1999 (which resulted in their first championship), San Antonio has remained one of the league's elite franchises. That's all the more impressive when one considers that, with the exception of stalwart power forward/center Tim Duncan, the team's roster has undergone drastic changes over the years. San Antonio is, undoubtedly, a top-notch organization: from the front office, to the coaching staff, to the players who get it done on the hardwood.

Too bad nobody outside of San Antonio seems to notice.

By the way, we're aware of the fact that Dallas took a 2-0 series lead before eventually being overtaken by Miami in last year's NBA Finals. But unless Shaq and Dwayne Wade suit up for Cleveland, don't expect the same thing to happen this year. Cleveland just isn't a championship caliber team ... yet.

Sopranos Finale Vs. LeBron and the NBA Finals' Game Two

Yesterday we noted the pathetically low television ratings returns for game one of the NBA Finals. Tonight, game two of the Finals will have to compete with the series finale of HBO's Sopranos. We can't even imagine how poor tonight's ratings will be. If game one garnered the lowest viewership since the 1981 Finals (which aired on tape delay), the prospects for tonight's contest are grim.

That's a shame. The San Antonio Spurs are becoming one of the NBA's great dynasties. LeBron James is the brightest rising star in the game. But nobody seems to be interested.

In the 1990's the NBA, with its emphasis on star player/personalities over team accomplishments, was the envy of every sports association (with the exception of the NFL). After the 1994 strike left Major League Baseball for dead, MLB remade itself (to the chagrin of the purists) into a high scoring (thanks to smaller ballpark dimensions, juiced balls and juiced up players), star personality dominated game. The traditionally conservative PGA aggressively marketed the phenom persona of Tiger Woods, which marked a drastic departure for the "gentleman's game." Seemingly, every major sport wanted a Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Larry Bird personality. It was all about the stars.

Oh, how things have changed. Now a decade removed from the Jordan era, the The NBA has really lost its luster.

Drive and Dish will watch the Finals tonight, but just about everybody else will be watching the Sopranos.

Is Anyone Watching the NBA Finals? Anyone ... Anyone?

Thursday's game one of the NBA Finals drew the third lowest television rating of any NBA Finals contest. Ever.

The ratings were on par with those of the 1981 NBA Finals. In 1981 the NBA Finals weren't even aired on live television. They were shown on tape delay, late at night, after Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.

Good Lord.

Earlier in the week, we linked to an article which argued that nobody (outside of San Antonio) cares about the San Antonio Spurs. The article mentioned relief among NBA executives, that rising star, LeBron James and Cleveland would be San Antonio's opponent, rather than the star-power-challenged Detroit Pistons. The thinking was that, despite the fact that Cleveland is a smaller, Midwestern television market, LeBron's star power would be enough to offset the blandness of San Antonio, and draw a national television audience.

On second thought...


Look, Drive and Dish is staffed by basketball people. We love the NBA playoffs. We wouldn't miss the Fianls for anything. But the rest of America, apparently, couldn't care less about the NBA.

David Stern and the "association" better watch out. Their league could become as irrelevant as the NHL.

Billy Donovan Bails On Florida, Then Bails On NBA and Goes Back to Florida

After leaving his job as the men's basketball coach at the University of Florida to become the new coach of the NBA's Orlando Magic, Billy Donovan has backed out of his commitment to Orlando, and returned to Florida.

Drive and Dish has historically disliked Donovan. We think that he's an outstanding coach (although it's taken him quite a few years to achieve this distinction), but that he borders on being an egotistical narcissist.

Donovan's jilting of Orlando does nothing to dissuade us from our previous perception of him.

By accepting the Orlando job, then backing out days later, Donovan screwed around with the livelihoods of Orlando's players and front office and Florida's players and athletic department.

Edit:

At least Orlando has landed on their feet with the hiring of Stan Van Gundy.

By the Way:

Despite our feelings about Billy Donovan's career as a basketball coach, we've always admired his work from his earlier career as a child actor. He was just priceless as Eddie Munster.

Nobody Likes San Antonio

Chicago Tribune NBA columnist, Sam Smith argues that San Antonio is one of the NBA's greatest dynasties, but that nobody (outside of San Antonio) cares. I think he's probably right. The staff here at Drive and Dish loves the Spurs. But we're basketball people (and defense minded, fundamentally sound point guard types who love to, well, drive and dish). We aren't representative of average fans.

So nobody cares about San Antonio.

Unfortunately, that's all too true.

Cleveland in Finals After Detroit's Free Fall

In earlier posts, Drive and Dish asserted that Detroit was the best team in the NBA, and would, most likely, win the NBA Finals. It was our opinion that while Utah and Cleveland were up and coming teams, and were led by dynamic young stars (or super stars in the case of Cleveland's LeBron James), they would have to wait for their shots at a championship because the balanced, veteran casts in Detroit and San Antonio were still superior and, at least this year, would be back in familiar territory: the NBA Finals.

So, we were wrong about Detroit.

Oh well.

I thought that Detroit was better than Cleveland. Guess what ... I still think Detroit is probably better than Cleveland.

Detroit absolutely imploded after going up 2-o in the series. Perhaps there were internal troubles that folks outside of their locker room aren't privy to. Chauncey Billups, the leader of that team and one of the best point guards in the league, was uncharacteristically awful in the series' later games. Rasheed Wallace reverted to being Bad Rasheed (and cost his team by incurring costly technical fouls and by not being mentally in the game - like Billups). At times, Antonio McDyess looked great, but eventually appeared to lose confidence and was, thus, intermittently ineffective. Richard Hamilton practically disappeared against Cleveland.

Who knows what was going on with Detroit. But whatever the reason, they didn't look like the solid veteran Championship team that that they have been in years past (and appeared to be throughout this season). Instead, they looked like a disinterested group of guys who couldn't stand each other's presence, and no longer respected their coaching staff.

A month ago Detroit looked like a championship team. Now they look like the Miami Heat - a dysfunctional, unmotivated, veteran team that's become uncoachable and needs to be blown up.

Donovan to Orlando

It looks like University of Florida head men's basketball coach, Billy Donovan, will be named as the new coach of the NBA's Orlando Magic.

In April, Donovan turned down overtures by the University of Kentucky to become its men's basketball coach. After winning back to back NCAA Championships at Florida, it appeared that Donovan was intent on building a super power at UF. But after losing most of the mainstays from the championship teams, and facing the prospect of rebuilding his program in a football obsessed environment, the timing couldn't have been better for Donovan to split.

Orlando wins by luring Donovan, at at time when he's on top of the basketball world, from nearby UF. Donovan likes it in North Central Florida. He won't have to move very far (but don't expect him to commute from Gainesville - anyone who's ever driven 241 from Gainesville to Orlando knows that it's not an easy drive).

A Quick Offering of Our Two Cents, For Free

In the last two days, Utah and Cleveland have bounced back from 0-2 starts by winning a game each in their respective Conference Finals playoff series.' San Antonio now leads Utah 2-1, and Detroit leads Cleveland 2-1 in the Western and Eastern Conference Finals.

Drive and Dish cautions its readers not to read too much into these wins. Both teams won home games that they desperately needed to win. Various "media types" are mouthing and writing predictable platitudes about Utah and Cleveland "growing up" and "learning how to win." But Detroit and San Antonio are the best teams in the league - they will eventually meet each other in the NBA finals.

Utah and Cleveland are up and coming teams. They will, no doubt, be heard from in the near future. But their time is not now. Detroit and San Antonio are the best teams in the league. Period.

LeBron Passes Ball, Causes Controversy

There's a ton of media chatter today the wake of LeBron James' decision to pass off rather than take the last (and potentially game tying) shot in last night's Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons. The typical commentary goes something like this: LeBron doesn't have the killer instinct, he's got to step up and want the ball at the end of the game, LeBron can't be the next Jordan until he takes over and makes game winners, etc. This kind of talk is, of course, ridiculous.

LeBron James was five of fifteen from the field and he failed to get to the free throw line. He was probably fouled several times taking the ball to the basket, but the referees just weren't giving him any calls. Therefore, it was a smart play for LeBron to drive, attract a double team and dish out to Donyell Marshall for an open three pointer (that could have won the game for Cleveland).

LeBron James is a special talent. He's able to score inside and out - he can easily take defenders off the dribble and finish in the lane, but can be equally dangerous from the perimeter. What sets LeBron apart from other scorers, though, is his ability to see the floor like a point guard, and create shots for his teammates. The dude is a the total package - a big, strong, athletic wing player with an all round game and a high basketball IQ. What's more, he's not an ego-maniacal ball hog. He wants to make the smart play. The best play.

He did just that when he dished off to Donyell Marshall last night.

You don't' have to step up and take every last shot to be a superstar. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird used their superior court vision and basketball smarts to win games by either finding open teammates or taking the last shot themselves. Bird and Magic always did the right thing at the right time. That's why they were so great. LeBron doesn't need to become a Kobe Bryant type ball hog. He needs to keep on making the smart play.

Utah Reaches Western Conference Finals

Last week Drive and Dish opined that the Utah Jazz were an up and coming NBA team, but weren't a threat to win the West this year. Last night Utah advanced to the Western Conference finals by beating the Golden State Warriors. Utah's opponent will be the winner of the San Antonio, Phoenix series.

Drive and Dish has been very impressed by Utah's performance in the playoffs so far. However, we think that Utah's next opponent, whether it's Phoenix or San Antonio, will be much tougher to get past. Golden State didn't have enough size to match up against Utah. Houston, Utah's opponent in the first round, had size and talent, but just hasn't put it all together yet. Phoenix and San Antonio are talented, veteran teams with size and playoff experience.

By the way, Chicago has made a nice push to regain some respectability against Detroit. But they're still not in Detroit's league.

Nowitzki Chosen NBA MVP

In what has to be one of the worst kept secrets in recent memory (kind of like Hillary Clinton's, John Edwards', John McCain's and Rudy Giuliani's Presidential aspirations - we knew, for years, that they'd run, so their official "I'm running" announcements were anti-climactic), Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been named MVP of the NBA. Nowitzki becomes the first European NBA MVP. It's been known, for nearly a week, that Nowitzki would get the MVP award.

Yay for him.

Too bad he couldn't get his team out of the first round of the playoffs.

Chicago Takes Game Four, Avoids Sweep

The Chicago Bulls finally pulled themselves together and held the Detroit Pistons off today, and, in doing so, avoided being swept by Detroit. But Chicago fans shouldn't get too excited. No NBA team that started a playoff series 0-3 has ever come back to win the series. And while Drive and Dish doesn't mind thinking "out of the box" (it's never happened, but that doesn't mean that it can't ever happen), we just don't think that Chicago is good enough to get past Detroit.

It was good, however, for Chicago to avoid being swept. Chicago is still, primarily, a young, developing team. And while they may not have all of the pieces that are necessary to be a championship contender, they are, ultimately, a team that's building and making progress (albeit slowly ... very slowly). Chicago has a looong way to go, but they won't have to end their season (most likely Tuesday night) having been thoroughly embarrassed. Chicago isn't in Detroit's league, but they will be able to go into the off season with a shred of dignity (and a glimmer of hope for the future).

Detroit Continues Beat Down of Chicago

Yesterday, Drive and Dish opined that the Detroit Pistons are the best team in the NBA. We said that we weren't surprised that they had taken it to Chicago (despite Chicago's sweep of defending NBA champ Miami in round one) in the first two games of their second round playoff series. Tonight, Detroit beat Chicago to take a 3-0 series lead.

Chicago is simply not in Detroit's league. Signing Ben Wallace away from Detroit wasn't enough to make Chicago a true contender in the East. Chicago will have to acquire Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, etc. in order to get past Detroit in the near future. Oh, and just in case you're thinking about how Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls couldn't get past the Bad Boys of Detroit in the late 80's and 1990, but eventually broke through in 1991 ( en route to winning the first three of their six NBA titles) - and are thinking that there's some kind of parallel going on now ... forget about it. This Chicago team is not "learning how to win," "gaining playoff experience" or any other tired cliche that many Chicago fans are, undoubtedly, spouting as supposed "words of wisdom" in order to explain Chicago's hideous play. This Chicago team doesn't have developing stars (don't be fooled by Luol Deng's output against Miami- Antoine Walker and Jason Kapono took turns "guarding" him - he's not a budding superstar). This Chicago team is a collection of role players who manage to get the most out of their talents. They won't win anything until they get a go to guy (and a secondary guy).

The truth is obvious: Chicago just can't hang with Detroit.

Chicago Gets Rude Awakening in Playoffs, Courtesy of Detroit

After Chicago swept Shaq, Dwayne Wade and the defending NBA Champion Miami Heat from the first round of the playoffs, many people started to speculate that the Chicago Bulls may be capable of making a deep playoff run. Despite their coterie of talent, Miami looked hapless against Chicago. Chicago's Luol Deng looked like an emerging star. Scott Skiles out coached Pat freakin' Riley, for god sakes. Anyone who had watched the Chicago/Miami series would have, understandably, said that Chicago's arrow was pointing up.

Well, Drive and Dish didn't really watch the Miami/Chicago series. We only watched game four (and only the second half, at that). We simply didn't think that Chicago was good enough to get past Miami, so we weren't really all that interested in the series. Chicago has made three straight playoff appearances, but have never been a threat to actually win a playoff series. Drive and Dish thought that this year's Chicago team wasn't really much different (save for Ben Wallace being better than Tyson Chandler) than the previous two Chicago teams. We thought that (even with an ailing Dwayne Wade) Miami had too much talent for Chicago. What we didn't anticipate, however, was how absolutely unmotivated Miami would be for the first round of the playoffs. Miami didn't take Chicago seriously. They barely even showed up to play.

So Chicago dispatched Miami easily. But sweeping an unmotivated Miami team, whose best player (Wade) was injured, was not a sign that Chicago is for real. It's merely an indictment of Miami.

Chicago has been blown out by Detroit in the first two games of their second round playoff series. Detroit is the best team in the Eastern Conference. They're probably the best team in the NBA. In fact, Detroit was probably the best team in the NBA last year, too (despite their playoff loss to eventual Champion Miami). The Detroit Pistons should win the NBA Finals this year. Detroit has highly skilled players at every position. They have serious depth. All five of their guys (no matter who's in the line up) can score and defend. And Detroit plays hard. Chicago is way outclassed.

So, we at Drive and Dish aren't surprised by how decisively Detroit has handled Chicago. Detroit is the best team in the league.