Welcome to the playoffs, C.J. Watson, John Lucas III, Keyon Dooling

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The Chicago Bulls played 27 games without Derrick Rose during the regular season, and they won two-thirds of them. They were without Richard Hamilton for more than half of the season. They lost Luol Deng for a long stretch.

So if there’s any team prepared to deal with the calamity that was the season-ending injury to Derrick Rose, it is them.

C.J. Watson will take over the starting point guard duties for the Bulls as they resume their first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, and John Lucas III will be the backup. Is that enough to get the Bulls out of the Eastern Conference and into the NBA Finals, where they’d have homecourt advantage. Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com discusses with CineSport’s Noah Coslov in the above video.

In the Boston-Atlanta series, the Celtics are certain to be without Rajon Rondo for Game 2 after he bumped a referee in the final minute of his team’s Game 1 loss. Can Keyon Dooling stick with Jeff Teague? Will Ray Allen be available after a sore ankle forced him to miss Game 1?

And finally, what about the Memphis Grizzlies? Can they rebound — especially mentally — from the epic collapse of Game 1 in which they blew a 24-point fourth-quarter lead? Or was this the type of series that was decided, for all intents and purposes in Game 1? (There’s one every year).

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Tweet of the Day: Brian Schmitz

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If Rajon Rondo doesn't step to ref, everything's fine. But he did and he's looking at Game 2 suspension. Dumb.
April 30, 2012 9:03 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@MagicInsider
Brian K. Schmitz

Everybody by now is aware of the amazing comeback of the Clippers by now. It was extremely impressive, even if it was accompanied by the loss of Caron Butler for the rest of the playoffs. (4-6 weeks, broken hand) The more important story, I believe, is that of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics lost Game 1 to the Hawks, and it could have been one had Rajon Rondo not got tossed. On top of that, he now faces possible suspension following his dumb chest-bump of the referee. Rondo better get it together, because the way I see it, the Celtics have the best (and maybe only) shot at taking town the Heat. I’m not saying other teams can not do it, but with Rose and Shumpert out, the rest of the East just doesn’t look like it has what it takes. Rondo is a fantastic point guard, but he needs to desperately avoid issues like this on the court.

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Hubbard: How important is Tim Duncan’s legacy? And is he really a center?

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For NBA writers, pregame with Gregg Popovich is a little like trading engaging barbs with Bill Maher.

It can be humorous, but the guy you are talking to is a minimum of two times as quick as you and five times as smart, so step carefully.

Pop is a guy who majored in Soviet Studies at the Air Force Academy and worked in highly sensitive missions on the border of Russia and Turkey when he was a younger man. So while he loves to compete, he has a different perspective on sports.

The result is if a writer begins a question with, “How important is . . .” the Spurs head coach will raise his eyebrows, raise his voice, flap his hands and say, “Very important!”

Then he’ll smile while the troubled questioner fumbles to reconsider how different wording might result in a serious answer.

Some don’t take too well to Popovich’s curt humor. Before a game a couple of years ago, Manu Ginobili was hurt and had been examined by the doctor in the late afternoon. Pop was asked about Ginobili’s status and answered, but then a TV reporter wandered over and asked the same question.

Pop answered with a colorful burst of words that roughly translated were, “How the hell should I know? They just looked at him a few minutes ago.”

When the media surrounding Popovich started laughing, the TV guy became so upset that he walked away in a huff. As he did, Pop started yelling at him to come back. When the guy kept walking, Pop said, “At least shoot me the finger,” and then laughed and said, “He won’t even do that.”

Rarely are pregame sessions with a head coach as entertaining as they are with Pop, and he doesn’t limit his surprises to humor. Before the Spurs opened the playoffs with a 106-91 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday, Popovich told the media that he had been playing a practical joke on them for 15 years.

He didn’t exactly put it that way, but he made an admission that was the equivalent of saying that since Tim Duncan arrived in 1997, Pop has been filling out the starting lineup with his fingers crossed.

When asked who the starting center would be in Game 1 against the Jazz, Pop treated it as a silly question and said: “Tim Duncan, like we have for the past 15 years.”

That was news on a number of fronts. First of all, we discovered that for the last six years of his career, David Robinson played power forward.

But the bigger news was not only for bloggers, Twitterers, Facebookers and barroom debaters, but also for NBA purists and historians.

Because even though Popovich would be dismissive about an argument centered on who is the greatest, one of the attractions of sports is that we argue about who is the greatest. And for a number of years, there are those of us who have said Duncan is the greatest power forward in history.

There are multiple reasons to believe that, but that’s not the point today. Pop has now told us that Duncan has never been a forward, which has to be a surprise to Robinson.

Since the Admiral left, we know that Duncan played center. One clue – he jumps center on the opening tap every game. We can figure this out. It’s not like translating Russian.

There are reasons Duncan is listed as forward. One came up a few years ago when a well-meaning panel of NBA writers moved him to center on the All-Star ballot because of the scarcity of centers in the Western Conference.

And also because in each game he is the center on the opening tip.

That audacious move, however, became quite a scandal because at center, Duncan was facing a one-on-one popularity match with Yao Ming. And in the savvy and spirited sports culture in China, every man, woman and child with internet access blitzed NBA.com with votes for their favorite countryman.

That meant it was unlikely Duncan would continue his streak of starting All-Star games, and that turned out to be important to him. The Spurs and, well, some individuals close to Duncan protested, so Duncan was moved back to forward for the All-Star ballot.

The problem for NBA big thinkers is legacy. The competition for greatest power forward in NBA history is considerably lighter than it is for center.

At forward, Duncan faces Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Elvin Hayes and, as a service to those even older than me, Bob Pettit. All are great players. But . . .

You want to argue Duncan as the greatest center? Better than Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone or, for the very old-timers, George Mikan?

We have a disclaimer, of course. As Pop might say, who gives a damn? If Duncan and Popovich win a championship, they’ll have a ring for each finger. Mythical titles or designations are insignificant.

But if the head coach says Tim Duncan has never started a game in his career at power forward, then it’s difficult to argue that Duncan is the greatest power forward in history.

Talking to Pop pregame is one of the delights of covering the NBA. And in the real world, winning an argument about the best power forward in history is not a big deal at all.

But if it is important for a player to be listed at a certain position for nothing more than an All-Star ballot, his legacy at that stated position should carry a certain amount of weight. And for me, for purposes of the big historical picture, I would have preferred for Pop to have left Duncan at power forward.

Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years in between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.

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Team USA draws Argentina, France in opening round of Olympics

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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Team USA will play against France and Argentina in the opening round of the 2012 Olympics.

FIBA held its Olympic draw today, and the Americans (who have lost Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups from their original preliminary roster) were also grouped with Tunisian and the top two teams from the play-in tournament to be held in Venezuela in early June.

There are six teams in each group, and the top four classified teams from each group will then move on to the quarterfinals of the Olympics, which begin July 28 and run through August 12.

The other group is comprised of Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, Spain and the third-place qualifier from the play-in tournament.

The teams in the 12-team FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament taking place in Caracas, Venezuela, June 2-8 are Angola, the Dominican Republic, Macedonia, Greece, Jordan, Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Russia and
Venezuela.

“The 2008 Men’s Final between the USA and Spain was one of the greatest Olympic moments. It showed the huge strides international basketball had made in becoming more and more competitive. I expect this year’s Olympic Basketball Tournaments will be a great and memorable spectacle for all,” FIBA Secretary Patrick Baumann said.

For more information, visit http://london2012.fiba.com.

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Playoffs Day 2: What did I tell you about Chris Paul?

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Shame on you if you turned off the television early last night. (Or the night before, for that matter).

If you did, you missed one of the most epic comebacks in the history of the NBA playoffs. And you also missed a chance to see an example of just why Chris Paul is indeed worthy of MVP consideration (even though it seems like a foregone conclusion that LeBron James is going to get the award.)

The Clippers were down 24 points early in the fourth quarter Sunday night. Twenty-four points! That’s a good halftime total for Philly or Boston the way things have been going.

And what happened from there?

“It was unbelievable,” Blake Griffin said. “”I don’t think I’ve been part of a game like that ever.”

Paul begged coach Vinny Del Negro to put him back into the game, and Los Angeles matched the largest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history by rallying for a 99-98 victory in the eighth and final game of a weekend of playoff openers. Just like on Saturday night, you had to stay up until the very, very end to see the very, very best game.

The Clippers lost Caron Butler to a broken left hand (you’ll have company, Mr. Rose and Mr. Shumpert), and Nick Young stepped in and scored 19 points with three 3-pointers in the midst of the Clippers’ 26-1 run. Paul finished with 14 points while playing a team-high 38 minutes. (Boxscore here).

From Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “”Man, they want to talk all that [stuff],” Chris Paul said to his brother, C.J. Paul, on the court after the game. “Now what!” ”That’s going to hurt,” a dejected Memphis fan said. The Clippers were down 27 with 2:38 left in the third, down 24 with 9:13 left, down 18 with 7:21 left and down 12 with 5:08 left. And yet these Clippers who are so new to the playoffs, these Clippers who had Paul playing with a mild left groin strain, these Clippers who lost Caron Butler in the third quarter to a fractured left hand, pulled out a victory to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and to take away the home-court advantage from Memphis. ”We put a mask on and robbed that one,” said Blake Griffin, who had eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Clippers outscored Memphis 35-13 in the fourth quarter. They ended the game on a 28-3 run. The Clippers shot 76.5% in the fourth, 83.3% (five for six) on three-pointers. They held Memphis to 26.3% shooting (five for 19) in the final 12 minutes. ”I don’t remember what happened right now,” said Paul, who had 14 points and 11 assists. “It’s all a blur. It’s too intense. Man, what a win for us. A big win for us. ”We came to get one. Now it’s time to get greedy.”

The Tribune Company even sprang for a second plane ticket and sent acerbic yet brilliant columnist T.J. Simers to Elvis’ hometown. Money well spent:

From Simers’ column: “A lifetime watching sports, and just wow! The emotional high belongs to the Grizzlies. They send out an 8-year-old girl from St. Jude’s to sing the national anthem, and the noise never stops. There are fireworks, the music louder than anything Lon Rosen tried to introduce to Dodger Stadium, and it looks as if a professional basketball team is taking on well-meaning church league players. This one is over after the first quarter. The Clippers are history by halftime, cooked by the end of the third quarter. And Chris Paul is telling Coach Vinny Del Negro he doesn’t want to come out of the game. The team’s trainer is telling Del Negro that Paul needs a breather, everyone concerned about his groin injury. But Paul wants back in, telling Del Negro, “There’s a chance.” His teammates hear him. As Del Negro will say later, “It’s contagious.” And what happens next is fantastic, and that word still isn’t enough. It’s mind-blowing, shocking, dumbfounding and did I mention shocking? ”We had it all the way,” deadpans Del Negro, like the Dodgers did a few years back getting back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs to tie a game and then winning it in extra innings. And I had to rewrite a Page 2 column that night as well, the bums going Cinderella on everyone just in time to beat deadline and be crowned heroes. Standing in the hallway outside the Clippers’ locker room, the players float by on air. There isn’t a sound in an arena filled with more than 18,000 fans looking for a way out. Paul, meanwhile, is walking toward the Clippers’ locker room and shouting, “Heck yes, it’s not over until it’s over.” Absolutely stunning! The Clippers are a Memphis sweep waiting to be completed and then suddenly they are 99-98 winners.”

And to think, up until then the story of the night was going to be Rajon Rondo losing his composure (and his mind?) and earning himself an automatic suspension for Game 2 of the Boston-Atlanta series, which the Hawks lead 1-0 after a surprisingly easy 83-74 home victory. (Boxscore here).

Rondo got a technical foul for arguing that a jump ball should have been called, then intentionally bumped referee Marc Davis to get himself ejected. And there’s no question he’ll be banned from the building for Game 2. Just look at the wording from the NBA rule book, and have a looksee …

From Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: “They escaped the first round in 2008 without winning a road game in Philips Arena. But after last night, with homecourt advantage no longer an asset, the Celtics may have to admit they need a new GPS. Last night’s 83-74 loss to the Hawks was rooted in one of their coldest openings of the season, and culminated in a late meltdown by the one player who appeared to be oblivious to the cold. The moment of no return came when Rajon Rondo (20 points, 11 assists) was thrown out of the game with 41 seconds left for complaining and bumping referee Marc Davis after teammate Brandon Bass was called for a foul during a fight for a loose ball. The Celtics, trailing 78-74 at the time, fell seven points behind when Joe Johnson hit a free throw and Josh Smith followed with two more. The free throws capped one of the most impressive postseason performances of Smith’s career — a 22-point, 18-rebound classic that was immune to coverage from Kevin Garnett. And now the Celtics are forced to revisit this season’s most numbing theme: the prospect of playing yet again without one of their stars. Rondo was suspended for two games after throwing the ball at a referee during a Feb. 19 game at Detroit, and the Celtics lost both games without him (in Dallas and Oklahoma City) to fall two games below .500. But that was also during the Celtics’ worst stretch of the season. The Celtics have since come back as one of the most resilient teams in the NBA. They’ll need that quality tomorrow night.”

There were two other games utterly devoid of drama, so we’ll stick to the basics:

  • For the first time in four years, the San Antonio Spurs won a series opener. In his best playoff game since 2009, Tony Parker scored 28 points and the top-seeded Spurs erased four years of putting themselves in 0-1 deficits, defeating Utah  106-91. It marked the 11th straight win for the Spurs dating to the regular season, when they also had a pair of 11-game win streaks. Back then, coach Gregg Popovich was willing to sacrifice games to rest his older players. Now? Don’t bet on it in Game 2 Wednesday night. Paul Millsap led Utah with 20 points, but the Jazz couldn’t keep up when the NBA’s top 3-point shooting team made three treys in a two-minute burst to finish the third. Here is the boxscore.
  • Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, Andrew Bynum posted the Lakers’ first playoff triple-double in 21 years, and Los Angeles completely controlled their 103-88 victory over Denver in Game 1. Bynum had 10 blocks to tie the record held by Mark Eaton (Utah) and Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston), getting the record-tying block against Timofey Mozgov with 3:02 to play. He also had 10 points and 13 rebounds. ”It’s the only way really possible for me to get a triple-double — through blocked shots,” Bynum said of his first career triple-double. “If I play good D, we’ll win games. I think I’m just going to be as aggressively as I can defensively to contest their shots. … You’ve got to win Game 1. Statistics are against the teams that lose Game 1, especially on the home court.” Here is the boxscore.

For the full playoff schedule, click here.

 

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