From Distance: He’s Somehow Stronger

Four points I’m thinking about the NBA…

1. In less than one quarter, Gordon Hayward’s leg injury eliminated much of the scheduled NBA media coverage for the 2017-2018 season. Already written were think pieces about the inevitable Cavaliers’ February swoon. Countless “Brad Stevens is a god” and “The real best team in the East, your Boston Celtics” articles that were written months in advance, will now never see the light of day. After The King’s seven consecutive NBA Finals appearances, the basketball world is desperately looking for the slightest possibility that LeBron James will fail to reach the series for an astonishing eighth straight trip.

The off-season roster additions to Danny Ainge’s squad certainly gave the media a chance at faux excitement. Boston added an all-around, glue guy star in Gordon Hayward and a deadly closer in Kyrie Irving. Of course, wizard coach, Brad Stevens was going to turn their talents into an Eastern Conference juggernaut.

It wasn’t completely ridiculous to make the claim that the Celtics were going to be a better playoff team than their previous iteration. BUT, the idea that they would improve upon their regular season record from a year ago, or have a legit shot at taking down James in a playoffs series, was always rather silly to me.

A Kyrie Irving team is never going to be fantastic in the regular season. He has spent his entire career stuck on regular season screens. LeBron James has spent his entire career destroying the Eastern Conference in the playoffs. Kyrie’s change of scenery isn’t likely to change his history (he is as sticky as ever through two games), nor has a year added to LeBron’s odometer yet seemed to affect his dominion over the Eastern Land.

Look, we all know that the NBA is entertainment. They need stories, narratives and drama. The fact that a disproportionate number of media members are from Boston does nothing to quell the Celtic Pride. Still, no amount of wishful thinking was ever going to prevent LeBron James from simply going through the Celtics youngsters.

It’s obvious that a healthy Gordon Hayward makes the Celtics a much better team. It’s just that the endgame was likely to always be the same, at least as it pertains to the Cavaliers and Eastern Conference supremacy.

What this injury really does, is buy Irving and Ainge some time. The expectations were simply too high. They were being set up for failure. I sincerely hope that Gordon Hayward makes a full recovery from the awful injury. Selfishly, I like to watch him play basketball, and I also like it when people are healthy (whether you consider the second part also to be selfish depends on how you feel about Ayn Rand). The Celtics, as an organization, is certainly not better off with Hayward out, but there are some advantages to the lost year.

If the Celtics’ young talent matures quickly and Hayward returns to form, the Celtics will be legitimately in next year’s conversation. This year, Kyrie will simply get a better chance to drop 30 every night. And hey, maybe Stevens is a wizard and they will snag a top 4 seed.

2. Poor Hayward aside, the East is already a helluva lot more fun this season. Boston had the misfortune of playing the visting Bucks for their home opener. Giannis Atentokounmpo further spoiled Boston’s spirits by being a terrifying mix of smooth and savage. He smoothly went coast to coast in four dribbles for an And-1. He splashed dazzling up-faked jumpers off the short roll and out of the post. He savagely dunked through, around, and over Aaron Baynes. The man is simply a Freak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4wwWqbzKRc

It’s fun to watch such an extremely talented player hone his skills. Jason Kidd leads the team with a quiet confidence. They move the rock well, and swarm on defense. It should also be noted that Mathew Dellavedova remains in the crunch time lineup. Delly did a great job of starting and restarting the offense for the Bucks down the stretch. Guys like Bill Simmons often say that Delly is “unplayable” for the Bucks. Sorry folks, stylish or not, Delly is a solid player. I expect his shooting numbers to rebound this year with The Freak’s continued evolution, and the full-season return of Kris Middleton. Oh, and Mathew drained the winning three of the game. Just sayin’.

The Wizards and the Sixers also gave the NBA world a thoroughly entertaining game one. Though the Sixers ultimately lost, the opener must have been exhilarating for Philly fans. Ben Simmons finally made his NBA debut and was positively electric. Dropping 18, 10, 5 and various change, the young Aussie playmaker made it abundantly clear that he is a legit point guard, or point forward. Or at one point, he was pointing up the point center! Point point point!!! The kid is ridiculous. In combination with Joel Embiid, who went for 18, and 13 himself, joy was emanating from the Sixers’ bench, their fans, and even much of the Wizards’ home crowd.

Chants of “Trust the Process” rang out in Washington. Yeah, it’s not a long drive from Philly, but I wouldn’t doubt that more than a few Wizards fans joined in. Really, it must be refreshing to see long-term planning actually pan out in Washington. A rarity worth cheering for. Let’s hope it is the beginning of a long and fun ride for Philly and NBA fans everywhere.

3. Other Eastern Conference related fun:

Stanley Johnson went 0-13 from the field and was Plus 6 in their win against the Heat.

The Nets and the Pacers combined for 271 points in regulation!!!!

The Nets lost. Cheer Number 1 for a Nets’ loss. Here’s hoping we get to 82.

Elfrid Payton shot and made a three. NBA. Where Amazing Happens.

Luke Babbit played nine minutes and led the Hawks with a Plus 17

4. Speaking of fun, maybe the most fun thing about the Cavaliers’ first win of the season was LeBron James, the power forward. LeBron did an obscene amount of damage in the paint versus Boston. I predicted last week that Kevin Love would lead the NBA in defensive rebounding this season. If LeBron keeps up this nonsense, Love won’t even lead his own team.

LeBron’s 15 defensive rebounds weren’t only Westbrookian freebies. James went up hard for those caroms, aggressively seeking men to box-out when the ball was in flight and ripping down the rock with authority. It also helped that Love seemed to box out half the Celtics’ squad on his own, with Crowder bodying up the others. The final rebounding disparity wasn’t absurd, but it felt as though the Cavs owned the glass at times.

LeBron’s weak-side defense was also locked in. He rotated early and with appropriate pace. Though the King didn’t seem to quite have all his quickness back post ankle tweak, he used his brain to move well on the backside of the defense.

Offensively, LeBron simply went through people he didn’t feel like spinning around. He repeatedly went to the move throughout the evening. If no one was there post spin, he punished the rim. If a defender had the misfortune of remaining an obstacle to LeBron’s desire, it was the defender himself that was punished. Bully ball at its finest.

In transition, James was more patient than frantic as he pushed the ball up the left wing. He hit players all over the floor with left-handed hook passes, flips, drops. Basically every kind of pass a human being can try this side of Milos Teodosic.

Another advantage of playing James at power forward is that he will be more frequently used as the roll man. He and Crowder will trade assignments all season on the defensive end, but Crowder is a spot up/dive guy off ball on offense. LeBron will be more regularly featured as screen and roller, especially with the first unit.

On the short roll or complete dive, James has been roughly unstoppable throughout his whole career. It just hasn’t happened with much regularity. In the playoffs, the Cavs would go back and forth between 1-3 and 3-1 PnR ball with Kyrie. Two years ago, Delly and Bron destroyed opposing second units at the beginning of fourth quarters. It’s been a devastating play. Even if the only advantage of sliding Love to center were that Bron rolls more frequently, it would be worth it.

Whether it was his ankle, conditioning, or age, LeBron was clearly not as explosive as we have seen him. But for the love of basketball, every movement was done with incredible strength. As the second greatest player in the history of basketball ages, the NBA has morphed into a game that requires less physical strength. LeBron’s freaky athleticism may be slowly winding down, but not his strength. If the league continues to get lighter, the King might be able to bully ball into his 40s.