Joe Mama

Here is another enjoyable article from Eddie Johnson. I like his response to the first question as it is what I have been saying about the Detroit Pistons since last year. They are a good team no doubt, but they have been the luckiest team in the playoffs the last two years. They were even more fortunate last year.

I also think he sells Robert Horry a little short. He hasn't just ridden the coattails of greater players to all his championships. He has been a key contributor. Obviously he chooses the teams he joins very well, and it is important to him that he is on teams that will be competing for championships. I didn't like him on the Phoenix Suns, but I'll tell you what. If he had magically jumped from the San Antonio Spurs to the Phoenix Suns in the WCF we would be watching the Suns in the finals right now.

Oh yeah, there was one other thing. Rasheed Wallace does not get away with more than the average player before he is called for a technical. In fact I would say he is on a shorter leash than most players. Everybody is allowed to do a bit more in the playoffs and especially the finals.


http://www.hoopshype.com/columns/finals_johnson.htm

Questions from a casual basketball fan
by Eddie Johnson / June 13, 2004


THE AUTHOR:
EDDIE JOHNSON

Played 17 years in the NBA for the Kings, Suns, SuperSonics, Hornets, Pacers, Nuggets and Rockets.
Won the 1988-89 NBA Sixth Man Award averaging 21.5 ppg.
NBA all-time leading scorer among players with no All-Star appearances.
He is in his fifth year as the color analyst for the Phoenix Suns broadcasts.
You can visit his website at www.jumpshotclub.com

I have been reading all the articles concerning the beating the Spurs have been laying on the Pistons in the first two games of the Finals. Most writers and broadcasters depend on stats to validate their assessment of a series, which they should do. But I would like to take a different angle. Imagine that I am
sitting next to a casual fan that rarely watches an NBA game unless it's the Finals. You know, the crossover fan whose real love is hunting and fishing, but once a year will sit down and watch the playoffs. The kind of fan you hate to sit next to because they keep asking questions about different players and why this and why that.

His first question would be: How did Detroit make it back to the Finals?

Well, let's see. My response might be that they are the luckiest team in history when it comes to the opposition having key injuries during a playoff run. Jermaine O'Neal of the Pacers played basically with just one arm in the conference semifinals and Dwyane Wade went down with a bad back with his team up 3-2 in the conference finals.

I thought they were a great defensive team?

Yes, they are. But great offense will always overcome great defense when it is committed and has a variety of weapons to attack you with – and the Spurs have plenty.

Yeah, they do. Man, that Ginobili is unstoppable. Why is he so good?

It's hard to guard someone you can't catch. I don't think he even knows what he is going to do. He looks out of control, so I guess that's his secret. The defense tends to think he can't make that shot or get a pass through traffic. But time and time again, he gets it done.

Why does he flop so much? I think that's so phony.

Yeah, me too – but he is good at it. He does whatever it takes to win while also irritating fans in the process. He might be the first flopper in the history of the game that legitimately gets fouled 90 percent of the time.

I thought that Tim Duncan was the man on this team, not Ginobili.

.Oh he is, don't fool yourself. Manu would not be the Manu we are seeing if it wasn't for Duncan. Duncan makes everybody better because of his ability to read defenses and play unselfish. The Pistons have no answer for him.

Didn't I hear that Ben Wallace was the Defensive Player of the Year?

Yes, but didn't you hear me say that great offense will overcome great defense if it has a variety of attacks? Well, Tim Duncan is the best post player in the league and can also take you on the perimeter – shooting jumpers in your face as well. Wallace is at his mercy because he is not strong enough in the post and he gives up height on the perimeter. That's why the Defensive Player of the Year has been relegated to guarding Nazr Mohammed, who has outplayed him as well.

I always see Robert Horry when I watch the playoffs. It seems like he is always in the Finals.

Yes, some people have all the luck. I played 17 years and sniffed the Finals four times, but lost in the conference finals every time. I hate him.

You are just kidding, right?

No, I do really do hate him – but in a respectful way. Horry and Steve Kerr are the two most fortunate individuals to ever play in the NBA. They saw things us other players didn't see. Horry has found a way to play with the best players in history. He won two titles with Hakeem Olajuwon in Houston, three in Los Angeles with Shaq and Kobe and now he is two games away from winning his sixth with Tim Duncan.

Who is the Pistons' best scorer?

Well, it was Richard Hamilton, but he is a little occupied right now. Why? He has put on some added weight – and his name is Bruce Bowen.

I saw Rasheed Wallace fall on the floor in Game 2 and he was kicking his feet like a spoiled baby. He did not get a technical foul. What's up with that?

Hmmm. Well, all I can say is, that's Rasheed. The officials have a much longer rope for him because they expect him to act that way sometimes, but Rasheed has to start playing much better if his Pistons want to come back in the series.

I thought Larry Brown was the best coach in the league.

Yes, he is in a lot of people's minds.

Well, how come his team has been outscored by 41 points and outplayed overall in the first two games of the Finals?

Let's say Gregg Popovich has done a better job so far at getting his team to play better. But the series is not over and Brown is notorious for making adjustments and getting his team back on track.

What do you think of the series and how will it end?

I think the Pistons are a tired team from being pushed to limit the last two seasons and it has finally caught up to them. Plus the Spurs are just too good. The Spurs have too many weapons for the Pistons to contend with. I think the series will end in Motown in the fifth game.

Now let me alone!

Eddie Johnson is a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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Chaplin

I can't believe you actually wrote that.

Let's take a look at Robert Horry. There is no denying that he is a clutch player and a very good player in the playoffs. But does he ride coattails? Absolutely, and I'll tell you when he rides coattails: In the Regular Season. The guy is AT BEST a mediocre player in the regular season--but because he seems to turn it on in the playoffs, coaches and GMs just dismiss it. Horry contributes almost nothing to the team actually getting a record good enough to MAKE the playoffs, but once there, he finally decides to play. That's being a primadonna.

That last sentence you wrote makes me laugh--you are saying that either a) Robert Horry was the reason the Spurs beat us, or b) Robert Horry on the Suns would have been the difference in the WCF. And both are ridiculous.

Joe Mama

I won't argue with you about Horry's contributions during the regular season because honestly I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to them. In the playoffs Robert Horry was the best player off the bench for San Antonio. He defends. He grabs rebounds. He can score. Depth, especially from court depth, was the biggest deficiency for the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs and more specifically the WCF. I believe that if you took Robert Horry away from the San Antonio Spurs and put him on that Phoenix Suns team you would have been the difference. Disagree with me if you want to, but it certainly isn't a ridiculous notion.

Joe Mama

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elindholm

It depends on which Horry you'd get. He was pretty lousy for the Suns, but maybe, as Chaplin said, that's because he makes a habit of coasting through the regular season. I guess that's somewhat understandable when you expect to be in the Finals every year. Horry's clutch shooting is vastly overrated -- look at his career 3FG% in the postseason -- but I agree with Joe Mama that he made a lot of important hustle plays against the Suns.

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Chaplin

I'm not disagreeing that he was great in the postseason, and against the Suns. I do disagree, however, that Horry was "the difference" in our series vs. the Spurs.

fordronken

It's not that he's clutch all game. It doesn't matter how many you miss over your life, if you make the last one to win a game in the playoffs, and do it multiple times, you're clutch.

AZZenny

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elindholm

It doesn't matter how many you miss over your life, if you make the last one to win a game in the playoffs, and do it multiple times, you're clutch.

Has he done it multiple times? I think the only "last shot" he made was against the Kings. My point is that he's made a number of "big" shots down the stretch historically, but he's also missed plenty.

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elindholm

I do disagree, however, that Horry was "the difference" in our series vs. the Spurs.

You can't ever say that one player was "the difference." This was pointed out in another thread. If Team A wins by 3 points and some player scores 5, was he "the difference"? No, there's no more reason to assign the victory to that player than to any of his teammates, or (for that matter) to any missed shots or turnovers by the losing team.

When people say that one player was "the difference," what they usually mean is that his contributions, while modest, helped his team to a narrow victory. I think that's safe to say about Horry in the Suns series. But maybe it would be more accurate to say that he was "a difference," because the same argument could be made for pretty much any of the role players. For instance, Barry's three straight three-pointers late in Game 1 were a critical momentum shift that pretty much set the tone for the entire series.

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Joe Mama

Three of the four losses for the Phoenix Suns in the WCF were close games that San Antonio pulled out late in the fourth quarter. Even though the Suns lost in just five games I don't think San Antonio was significantly better than Phoenix. Robert Horry would have helped with the Phoenix Suns' two biggest deficiencies in this series. Those are Defense and depth. I. I don't see what is so hard to follow what this. If you removed his contributions from San Antonio and added him to the Phoenix Suns I think that difference would have put Phoenix over the top.

There are any number of players we could call "the difference" in the series. My main point was that Robert Horry didn't just tag along for a championship. His contributions have made a significant difference for the teams he has won championships within the past and will probably win one with this year. This has nothing to do with his stint with the Phoenix Suns 10 years ago or how I feel about him as a person. I'm just saying that a player just like him would have been great for the Phoenix Suns.

Joe Mama

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"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

justAndy

Horry is my least favorite Sun ever - he put forth NO effort, because the Suns didn't have a dominant big man and expect Horry to play like the 6' 10" guy that he is.
No character at all.

Chaplin

I think we just really disagree on this. While a player "like him" would help, I believe the player that was "the difference" in the Spur series was BY FAR Joe Johnson. No contest.

Joe Mama

Do you even read posts before you respond to them? It's as if you just look at a few words and start responding. I never said Robert Horry was "the difference" in the Spurs series. In fact in the post of mine that you directly quoted in your own post I specifically pointed that out.

Again, the point of my original post was that Robert Horry has not been just riding coattails to all of these championships. He has been an important contributor, Especially in the Playoffs. Even without Joe Johnson in the first two games I believe the Phoenix Suns could have and would have beaten the San Antonio Spurs in the WCF with Robert Horry coming off the bench. I'm talking about a swap of teams. If he had been on the Phoenix Suns instead of San Antonio I think Phoenix would have won the series. I wasn't intending to get into a bunch of "what if" arguments. The point is that Robert Horry is a good, important player.

I'm not sure you'll even read this before responding, but before you get and out of shape about the top of my post please read the following.

Joe Mama

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"A good way to threaten somebody is to light a stick of dynamite. Then you call the guy and hold the burning fuse up to the phone. 'Hear that?' you say. 'That's dynamite, baby.'" - Jack Handy

Chaplin

"If he had magically jumped from the San Antonio Spurs to the Phoenix Suns in the WCF we would be watching the Suns in the finals right now."

That was YOUR quote. Perhaps you didn't mean to imply that he was the difference, but that is exactly what that sentence portrays. And it has taken you this long to disagree with that part of it? If you didn't want to imply it, then maybe you should have said "we would have had a much better chance at winning the WCF if Horry was on our bench and not SA's."

You weren't intending to get into a bunch of "what if" arguements? Well, there's only one and you started it by saying IF Horry was on the Suns, we would have beat the Spurs. And that is, besides being unprovable, laughable to an alarming degree.

Read your post? Are you seriously bringing that childish arguement into this? I QUOTED your post!

Oh, and regarding my last line about what you were saying, perhaps semantically I should have used the word "implying" rather than "saying". Sorry about that.

cheesebeef

is there a reason to get ridiculously personal here Chap?

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