Holding Court – Previewing the NBA playoffs matchups

When the Memphis Grizzlies took out the Phoenix Suns on April 14 at the latter’s home court, 97-91, the cast for this year’s playoffs was completed. The gallant Suns, the year’s Cinderella team under rookie coach Jeff Hornacek, wanted to prolong their life but Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol wouldn’t allow it. Atlanta, meanwhile, took the last berth in the East with a victory over Miami two days earlier to leave Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks, not to mention new president of basketball operations Phil Jackson, outside looking in.

The pairings for the postseason, however, were not completed until Thursday morning, ensuring that Toronto stayed at third while seeing Washington overtake Brooklyn for fourth place in the East, and making certain that Oklahoma City remained at second while witnessing Memphis edge out Dallas for seventh in the West. This prevented the Grizzlies from getting an early confrontation with San Antonio, or is it the other way around? Remember 2011 when the Grizzlies beat the Spurs 4-2 in the first round? Although San Antonio got back with a 4-0 sweep of their own in last year’s conference finals, there are pundits who believe that Memphis, with its frontline, would have again given the Alamo squad a hard time if they faced up in the opening round. The Spurs, however, will enjoy home court advantage throughout the playoffs with their league-best 62-20 mark, assuming, of course, that they make it to the finals for the second straight year.

Still, the surprising but definitely admirable Spurs will be challenged, and the biggest challenge could come from two other West teams, Oklahoma City and the LA Clippers, whose capability to unseat them and get the right to represent the conference in the finals can’t be questioned. The Thunder, who had the second-best record in the league after the Spurs, are back at full strength with backcourt star Russell Westbrook again in full throttle, while the Clippers may have never been as deep in franchise history as they are now, nor as potent as their franchise-record 58-24 slate suggests.

The East, on the other hand, may not have as many high-powered teams as the West does but barring unforeseen circumstances – like a Jekyll-and-Hide personification the Pacers pulled off towards the end of the regular campaign – conference supremacy may go down to a two-team battle between defending champion Miami and the Pacers themselves. Fact is, the Pacers almost pulled it off against a much-better Heat team in last year’s conference finals. Now, can they finally match up with LeBron James and company and not blink after pulling off a last-minute heist of the home court edge in the East?

Below is our preview of the first-round matchups, and how we see them ending up.

No. 1 Indiana (56-26) vs. No. 8 Atlanta (38-44)

Season series: 2-2

Indiana almost became a victim of its lack of offensive firepower, which was caused, in part, by burnout and in some measure by a self-inflicted flaw in execution, but the Pacers got lucky as Miami also went through its own blahs, enabling Indiana to capture home court in the end, the first time in a decade it won the East’s top seed. And this is despite the Pacers’ scrambling finish that saw them go 11-13 since March 1 and fail to win consecutive games after a four-game win streak ended March 19, that is, until the season’s last two games.

The question now is, are these Pacers back to their normal elements when Atlanta comes for a best-of-seven opening matchup for the second straight year? If they are, no amount of derring-do by the Hawks can prevent the Pacers from advancing with the former’s best player, Al Horford, having been out since late December after undergoing surgery for a torn right pectoral muscle. The 6-10, 250-pound Horford, the other half of that formidable frontline that made Florida the NCAA champion in 2006 and 2007 along with Chicago’s Joakim Noah, would have been the only Hawk who could have done battle with the Pacers’ big frontline. As it is, not even the presence of All-Star Paul Millsap, who blossomed in the absence of Horford with averages of 17.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.74 steals, and playmaker Jeff Teague (16.6 ppg, 6.7 apg) can offset Indiana’s big edge in talent.

The Pacers, who had the league’s best home record at 35-6, are simply deeper with All-Stars Paul George (21.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.89 spg) and Roy Hibbert (10.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.26 bpg) plus David West (14.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg), Lance Stephenson (13.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 4.6 apg), George Hill (10.3 ppg), Luis Scola (7.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg), Evan Turner (6.8 ppg) and C.J. Watson (6.6 ppg). One of the league’s toughest defensive teams, the Pacers should be able to regain their swagger after looking fatigued and out of sync for most of the last two months, what with home court advantage now theirs throughout the East playoffs.

One big mystery for the Pacers is the condition of Andrew Bynum’s knees. Indiana signed Bynum late in the season and the seven-foot center, who unbelievably is just 26, averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games and 18 average minutes. His knees acted up after that and that’s made the Pacers more cautious in bringing him back. It’s no secret, however, that team president Larry Bird spent $1 million on him with an eye trained towards the playoffs. “Obviously we brought him in for one reason and that’s the playoffs,” Bird declared.

Stephenson, meanwhile, was just glad they fulfilled their goal of winning home court over Miami. “We set our goal at the beginning of the season, and we accomplished the job,” he said. “Now we’ve got to take it to the next level and finish the job.” Of course, the Pacers have the capacity to do that with their talent. It’s just a matter of execution – on the floor and on offense.

Prediction: Indiana in six games.

No. 2 Miami (54-28) vs. No. 7 Charlotte (43-39)
Season series: 4-0 Miami

This should be a cakewalk for Miami, right? Maybe, but that’s only as far as the series count may go, as Charlotte has the best big man in the series – Al Jefferson – and that season sweep is a little misleading since one game was decided by one point and another was settled in overtime. All right, let’s get serious here. No one is expecting the Bobcats to pull the rug from under the two-time defending champions, but we can expect highly-competitive games, with the Heat prevailing only on the strength of their greater depth and that man monster named LeBron James, who may be continuing to build a niche only a few has ever reached, regardless of whether it’s a Mount Rushmore-like niche or not.

James, who this season again had MVP-caliber numbers of 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.57 steals, will try to impose his will on the Bobcats even with his chief second, Dwyane Wade (19.1 ppg, 4.7 apg), just coming off an assortment of injuries that saw him miss 29 games. Chris Bosh (16.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg), meanwhile, will continue masquerading as a center in a ploy coach Erik Spoelstra took straight out of Boston’s playbook when the Celtics played a mobile Kevin Garnett there with some success. They are the Heat’s only double-figure scorers in a demonstration of the team’s great dependence on the Big Three, but make no mistake, the bench is almost as potent as last year’s when Mike Miller was still in South Beach and not in Memphis. Guys like Mario Chalmers (9.8 ppg, 4.9 apg), Ray Allen (9.6 ppg), offseason addition Michael Beasley (7.9 ppg), Chris Andersen (6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.53 bpg) and Norris Cole (6.4 ppg) may still be as reliable as they can be although Rashard Lewis, Shane Battier and Udonis Haslem are another year older and are showing it. It’s doubtful if midseason acquisition Greg Oden (3.0 ppg and 2.2 rpg in 22 games) can be a big factor in the playoffs although he adds a big body inside.

The 6-10 Jefferson (22.0 ppg, 10.8 rpg) will lead this Bobcats squad, and he will get support from Kemba Walker (17.6 ppg, 6.1 apg), Gerald Henderson (14.1 ppg), former San Antonio guard Gary Neal (11.5 ppg), Josh McRoberts (8.5 ppg) and Michael Kidd-Gilcrhist (7.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg). It’s obvious though that these Bobcats are dwarfed by the Heat on sheer talent and experience, and the reigning champs should not have much trouble with them while they learn the finer points of postseason success in this matchup.

Prediction: Miami in five.

No. 3 Toronto (48-34) vs. No. 6 Brooklyn (44-38)
Season series: 2-2

This is a matchup between two guard-centric teams, with the Raptors depending to a great extent on All-Star DeMar De Rozan and Kyle Lowry and the Nets, out of necessity, being carried for the most part by former All-Stars Joe Johnson and Deron Williams plus Marcus Thornton and Shaun Livingston in a small-ball lineup forced by injuries to big men Brook Lopez (who’s out for the season), Kevin Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko. DeRozan and Lowry combined for 40.7 points, 11.4 assists and 2.63 steals per game while Johnson, Williams, Thornton (a midseason acquisition from Sacramento) and Livingston accounted for 50.4 points, 13.1 assists and 4.26 steals among themselves.

As much as both teams depend on their backcourt, however, this matchup will be won in the trenches, with both clubs among the league’s better defensive teams. The Raptors held opponents to 98.1 points per game, seventh in the league, while the Nets were not that far off, allowing just 99.3 per contest, ninth in the circuit.

Toronto coach Dwane Casey may have submitted a job worthy of Coach of the Year honors this season if only guys like Gregg Popovich of San Antonio and Jeff Hornacek of Phoenix didn’t do even better with the way their teams responded to their direction and leadership. What’s impressive about the job done by Casey is that he did it all – win the Atlantic Division, secure a club-record 48 victories and earn third seed in the East – without the player, Rudy Gay, expected to lead the Raptors’ campaign after the versatile forward was traded to Sacramento just 18 games into the season.

Casey will now call upon his backcourt leaders, plus a chuckful of young players led by second-year center Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross and Amir Johnson, to overcome a veteran-laden Brooklyn team. The 6-11 Valanciunas (11.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg) is coming around as the front court leader. He’ll receive support from Johnson (10.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Ross (10.9 ppg), as well as fellow youngster Patrick Patterson (9.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg), who came in with guard Greivis Vasquez in that Gay deal, and veterans Chuck Hayes and Tyler Hansbrough.

The Nets, meanwhile, had to go through some adjustments under rookie coach Jason Kidd, the former Nets star himself who had to break into the rotation new guys like former Celtic stars Paul Pierce (13.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.15 spg) and Garnett (career lows of 6.5 ppg and 6.6 rpg in 20.5 minutes), who arrived as part of that blockbuster deal Brooklyn pulled off with Boston last July. Combined with the injuries to both feet of All-Star center Lopez that ended his season just 17 games into the campaign, as well as various other nicks that hit Garnett, Kirilenko and Williams himself, the Nets staggered to a 10-21 record our of the gates. It was a tribute to the Nets’ resiliency that they were one of the best teams in the league when the new year came, posting a 33-13 mark that only lost a little luster when they dropped four of their last five games while resting their veterans.

The question is, will the Nets’ veteran stars provide the difference when everything is on the line, as Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov hoped they would when he committed a record payroll of $102.6 million to his team? This matchup doesn’t only promise a lot of action inside the court; there could also be drama when it’s over.

Prediction: Nets in six.

No. 4 Chicago (48-34) vs. No. 5 Washington (44-38)
Season series: 2-1 Washington

Did Brooklyn really want to avoid facing Chicago in the first round, resting all its major stars while losing in a blowout on the last day of the regular season to lowly Cleveland? Or did Washington just prefer to face the Bulls by beating undermanned Boston notwithstanding the fact that it knew the Nets had lost their game, and the Wizards therefore stood a chance of matching up with Chicago?

Either way, Washington may have gotten more than it bargained for. The Bulls are simply as tough as they come, thanks to Joakim Noah, that paragon of defensive hard work that rallies his team when the chips are down. Let’s look: The 6-11 Noah may be a shoo-in for Defensive Player of the Year honors not only for his numbers (1.51 bpg, 1.24 spg) but for the way he’s able to help make his teammates assume the same defensive philosophy preached by that defensive genius of a coach, Tom Thibodeau.

This enabled the Bulls to post a 48-34 record despite the virtual season-long absence of their acknowledged top star Derrick Rose (just 10 games) and the trade of another defensive wingman, Luol Deng, 23 games into the season. And this is of course notwithstanding the fact that the Bulls ranked dead-last in league scoring with a 93.8-point average.

Of course, part of that is a function of the absence of Rose and the departure of Deng, but can there be a stronger sign that this Bulls team is able to compensate for its offensive deficiency with its outstanding work on the other end, as attested to by its league-best 91.8 points allowed? If you can’t shoot the lights out, then you don’t allow the other team to do it either. Fair enough?

To be sure, the Bulls need to put the ball in the basket in order to win a game at all, and to this end, they’ve chosen the spread-the-wealth philosophy with six double-figure scorers led by waiver acquisition D.J. Augustin (14.9 ppg), who is supported by Carlos Boozer (13.7 ppg), Taj Gibson (13.1 ppg), Jimmy Butler (13.1 ppg), Noah (12.6 ppg) and Mike Dunleavy (11.3 ppg). Chicago also does its playmaking by committee, with Augustin (5.0 apg), Kirk Hinrich (3.9 apg to go with 9.1 ppg) and Noah (5.4 apg) all contributing to the offense, although it has made the Bulls vulnerable somewhat in turning the ball over on 16 percent of their possessions, the third-worst figure in the league.

On the other hand, the Wizards are a good defensive team in their own right, ranking third in forcing turnovers (16 per game) and 10th in points allowed (99.4 ppg). The Wizards actually scored a breakthrough this season by giving coach Randy Wittman his first playoff berth in 15 years as an NBA headman, a stretch spanning a record 519 games. As much as the Wizards did it, however, Wittman was the mastermind of his own success, pushing the right buttons and applying a more liberal style and positive reinforcement to his players. He now has a team that is finally healthy save for left knee and calf injuries to valuable front court man Nene Hilario (14.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg), and he has a deep roster led by All-Star John Wall (19.4 ppg, 8.8 apg) and backcourtmate Bradley Beal (17.0 ppg, 3.3 apg). With Trevor Ariza (14.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.66 spg), Marcin Gortat (13.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.49 bpg), Martell Webster (9.8 ppg), Trevor Booker (6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and midseason acquisitions Andre Miller and Drew Gooden backing up those two, the Wizards finally got into their first playoff in six years. But they’re up against a blue-collar team that finds a way to win, and they have to match that for them to have a chance.

Prediction: Bulls in six.

No. 1 San Antonio (62-20) vs. No. 8 Dallas (49-33)
Season series: 4-0 San Antonio

Some teams simply have no luck. Backed into a corner by Memphis on the last day of the regular wars, the Mavericks just couldn’t overcome, losing in overtime and being rewarded (punished is more like it) with a first-round confrontation with the Spurs.
No, don’t get us wrong. This is not as lopsided as it seems, but if there’s any matchup that’s bad for Dallas, it is this one. The Spurs are simply the epitome of a team that does things as a unit, giving justice to that worn-out phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The Mavs, on the other hand, present an antithesis to that concept, finding success through the star system that finds one or two of its players as the focal point, thus making a large part of the team’s schemes revolve around them. The pitfall of that system is that once any one of these stars falters, the whole team goes with him.

Not with the Spurs, who have been the model franchise in terms of being able to nurture a transition from one era to another almost without missing a beat. This year is no exception, with no team in basketball better than the Spurs, who hung a 62-20 record that could have been even better had coach Gregg Popovich not also opted to follow a time-worn practice of resting his stars to prepare for the real wars. Why break it when it has served you well?

Tim Duncan (15.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 1.88 bpg), Tony Parker (team-bests 16.7 ppg and 5.7 apg) and Manu Ginobili (12.4 ppg, 4.3 apg), the Spurs’ Big Three who have been doing it together for San Antonio – meaning, play brilliantly, star in victories and lead their teammates – since 2002, when Ginobili joined the Spurs from the Italian League, have been aging like fine wine, thanks to a system that makes use of every player on the team and translates that collective effort into won games. Duncan is 38 this month, Manu 37 in July, and Parker 32 in May, but behind them are descendants of that system that made them thrive not only for their individual brilliance but also for the environment they played in: Kawhi Leonard (12.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.75 spg), Marco Belinelli (11.4 ppg), Patty Mills (10.2 ppg), Danny Green (9.1 ppg), Tiago Splitter (8.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) and Boris Diaw (9.2 ppg).

For the Mavericks to beat that system, it will take a really superb effort from Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis, the Mavs’ top two stars at this stage, plus consistent support from the likes of Vince Carter, Jose Calderon, Shawn Marion and Samuel Dalembert. The seven-foot Nowitzki, who himself is turning 36 in June, still makes a case as one of the league’s true superstars with norms of 21.7 points and 6.2 boards, but at this stage, his effort – and that of Ellis (19.0 ppg, 5.8 apg) – wouldn’t be nearly enough to do battle with a whole platoon drilled in collective warfare.

Prediction: San Antonio in five games.

No. 2 Oklahoma City (59-23) vs. No. 7 Memphis (50-32)
Season series: 3-1 Oklahoma City

Memphis avoided a first-round encounter with San Antonio just to face up to Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City. Go figure.

Yes, it was a choice between two evils, but such is life for playoff wannabes in the fringes. Maybe when the Grizzlies find that franchise changer that approximates a Durant or a Tim Duncan, they can go on their own without regard to whoever they meet in any round.

Right now, what the Grizzlies and rookie coach David Joerger have are three of the most versatile players at their positions – power forward Zach Randolph, center Marc Gasol and point guard Mike Conley – plus a bunch of supporting players that have to produce consistently to give Memphis a chance to win a playoff series, let alone one against Oklahoma City. The 6-9 Randolph (team-best 17.4 ppg and 10.1 rpg), the 7-1 Gasol (14.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.29 bpg) and the 6-1 Conley (17.2 ppg, 6.0 apg, 1.51 spg) are among the game’s best at their positions. But they have to get steady support from former Celtic guards Courtney Lee (11.0 ppg) and Tony Allen (9.0 ppg, 1.64 spg), ex-Heat swingman Mike Miller (7.1 ppg) and such role players as Tayshaun Prince (the former Detroit defenseman-cum-shooter), James Johnson and Kosta Koufos.

The Thunder, of course, can counter with the best scorer in the game, Durant, whose 30.2-point average has given him his fourth scoring title in five years, and whose developing all-around game is reflected in his other norms of 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.27 steals. And the 6-foot-9 Durant has plenty of help, starting with All-Star guard Russell Westbrook (21.8 ppg, 6.9 apg, 5.7 rpg, 1.91 spg) who’s back after missing 36 games due to knee injuries, and defensive demon Serge Ibaka (15.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.70 bpg) who’s started to come on his own on offense. Behind them are such solid supporting players as Reggie Jackson (13.1 ppg, 4.1 apg), Thabo Sefolosha (6.3 ppg), Jeremy Lamb (8.5 ppg) and veterans Caron Butler, Derek Fisher, Nick Collison and Kendrick Perkins.

Coach Scott Brooks has his Thunder humming through most of the season and the team has found a healthy balance between offense and defense, which is perhaps a reflection of its alpha dog Durant’s own transformation into a potent all-around star. While the Grizzlies are an example of a well-balanced team that works hard, it will take more than their usual solid play to overcome this Thunder club.

Prediction: Oklahoma City in five.

No. 3 LA Clippers (57-25) vs. No. 6 Golden State (51-31)
Season series: 2-2

Clippers vs. Warriors. What more delightful basketball matchup between West Coast clubs can be found? Honestly, this is a dream matchup between high-scoring but well-balanced and well-coached teams, except for one thing: The Warriors’ starting center Andrew Bogut, who could have provided a good matchup to his Clippers counterpart DeAndre Jordan, is out of the series, and possibly the entire playoffs, because of injury. The seven-foot Bogut fractured a right rib in a game against Denver on April 10, and only when x-rays confirmed it did he finally get deactivated by the Warriors.

Bogut’s injury will impact the Warriors particularly with David Lee, whom coach Mark Jackson plans to alternate at center with Bogut being mothballed, playing with a nerve injury in his right hamstring, Jermaine O’Neal (yes, he’s still alive) struggling with pain in his wrist and knees, and Andre Iguodala enduring tendinitis in his right knee. Bogut averaged just 7.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.81 blocks in 67 games this season, but he is still among the league leaders in several defensive ratings and was a vital cog in Golden State’s run to the second round of last year’s playoffs.

The injuries to his teammates put a greater onus on the shoulders of Warrior hotshot Stephen Curry, whose 24.0-point and 8.5-assist averages have to find a complement from the remaining healthy Warriors, if not from those now hobbled. These include backcourt partner Klay Thompson (18.4 ppg), Harrison Barnes who’s had a down year (9.2 ppg), Jordan Crawford (8.4 ppg), Marreese Speights (6.4 ppg) and Draymond Green (6.2 ppg).

Even without the injuries, however, the Warriors are still bound to find the Clippers too hard to beat in a seven-game series. Coach Doc Rivers simply has at his disposal probably today’s best point guard, Chris Paul, plus perhaps one of the top two or three power forwards in the league, Blake Griffin.

Paul (19.1 ppg, league-highs 10.7 apg and 2.48 spg) and Griffin (24.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg) are already a handful, but when you still have a 6-11 pogo stick named Jordan who leads the league in rebounds (13.5) and field goal percentage (.676) and is near the top in shot blocks (2.48), it could be too much to handle. And you’re not even speaking yet of a deep bench that includes prospective Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford (18.6 ppg), a return-to-action J.J. Redick (15.2 ppg), Darren Collison (11.4 ppg), Matt Barnes (9.9 ppg), Willie Green, midseason pickup Danny Granger (currently on rehab), Jared Dudley, Hedo Turkoglu and Glen Davis. Any way you cut it, it looks like it will be the Clippers doing the West Coast proud this year, not the Warriors, and certainly not the Lakers.

Prediction: Clippers in five.

No. 4 Houston (54-28) vs. No. 5 Portland (54-28)
Season series: 3-1 Houston

This matchup features two of the most high-powered offenses in the game, with the Rockets, under coach Kevin McHale, employing the run-and-gun game and churning out 107.8 points per game, second in the league only to the LA Clippers’ 108.0 per outing. The Trail Blazers are right there behind them with a third-leading 106.7 points a game.

What this should tell you is that with the two teams’ offenses canceling each other out, it will be the squad that succeeds in minimizing the other’s high-octane attack that will have the edge in the end.

Portland coach Terry Stotts hopes it will be his Blazers, and while his club went through a slump of their own, going 9-10 the month after the All-Star break, including losses to 10 teams with a .600 record or better, the Blazers reeled off nine wins in their last 10 games. It’s no surprise that the stretch coincided with top star LaMarcus Aldridge’s return from a lower back contusion, and that should tell you about the value of the 6-11 power forward, who averaged career highs of 23.2 points and 11.1 caroms this season.

Aldridge is ably supported by Damian Lillard, whose 20.7-point average makes the Blazers one of only three teams (the others are OKC and Sacramento) with multiple 20-point scorers, as well as by Wesley Matthews (16.4 ppg), Nicolas Batum (13.0 ppg), Robin Lopez (11.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 1.70 bpg), sixth man Mo Williams (9.7 ppg), Dorell Wright and Thomas Robinson.

If the Rockets have any edge, it is in bench depth, where McHale can pull out any reserve and hardly miss a beat. Top scorer James Harden (25.4 ppg, team-high 6.1 apg), for example, can be substituted by Francisco Garcia (5.7 ppg), a battle-tested veteran, Dwight Howard (18.3 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 1.80 bpg) can be relieved by former starter Omer Asik (5.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg), Patrick Beverley (10.2 ppg) can be pulled out for part-time starter Jeremy Lin (12.5 ppg. 4.1 apg), Chandler Parsons (16.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) can be relieved by veteran Omri Casspi (6.9 ppg), and budding star Terrence Jones (12.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg) can be substituted by Donatas Motiejunas (5.5 ppg).

The Blazers have not won a playoff series since the 1999-2000 season, having lost their last six trips to the playoffs right in the first round. They would obviously want to end that drought with a victory over the Rockets. They may have a strong enough team to do it in other years, but unfortunately, they’re running into a Rockets team that would by itself want to break a drought, and with better personnel in trying to do that.

Prediction: Houston in six.

SHORTSHOTS: Joe Dumars stepped down as Detroit’s president of basketball operations after the Pistons finished with their sixth consecutive losing season and a fifth straight year without the playoffs. Dumars, a Hall of Famer as a former Pistons star, was responsible for putting together the Pistons team that won the title in 2004 by trading for Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace and drafting Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet Okur. But he’s also had his share of personnel blunders, including the draft of Darko Milicic with the second overall pick in 2003 (when Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh were still available) and the signing of free-agent busts Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to big contracts in 2009. That 2004 title squad, however, remains the cherry in the cake of Dumars’ career as a basketball executive, the rare example of a squad without a true superstar that went all the way to the top… Could Carmelo Anthony have played his last game as a New York Knick? Melo, a free agent-to-be this July, would miss the postseason for the first time in his 11-year career. He missed the last two games of the season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder just after the Knicks’ playoff bid officially ended. This was despite a 16-5 run over the last five weeks, which was not enough to overcome a 21-40 start even in the relatively weak Eastern Conference. – Rappler.com

Bert A. Ramirez has been a freelance sportswriter/columnist since the ’80s, writing mostly about the NBA and once serving as consultant and editor for Tower Sports Magazine, the longest-running locally published NBA magazine, from 1999 to 2008.  He has also written columns and articles for such publications as Malaya, Sports Digest, Winners Sports Weekly, Pro Guide, Sports Weekly, Sports Flash, Sports World, Basketball Weekly and the FIBA’s International Basketball, and currently writes a fortnightly column for QC Life and a weekly blog for BostonSports Desk.  A former corporate manager, Bert has breathed, drunk and slept sports most of his life.