The Point Four-ward: Danny Goes Wine and Gold

Four points I’m thinking about the Playoffs…

1. After landing the top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery, the Boston Celtics are in a great position to improve their squad this off-season. With the Celtics already in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals, it would seem like a classic case of “the rich getting richer”. But for GM Danny Ainge, it provides a public relations conundrum. If an Isaiah Thomas led Celtics squad can take a few games from the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, the average Celtic fan would likely call for Ainge to offer Thomas a maximum contract this summer. The diminutive All-Star is rightfully a crowd favorite. Thomas is a classic underdog. He plays hard and his offensive production has been staggering this season. Still, Danny is no fool. Ainge understands the offensive value Thomas brings to Brad Stevens’ system, but he is also fully aware that any team featuring a sub-six-foot player is going to pay for it on the defensive end.

It doesn’t matter how hard Thomas plays on that end of the floor. His absolute maximum is still a severe minus. It is a testament to just how awful Scott Brooks is as coach that the Wizards didn’t consistently destroy the Celtics when Thomas was in the lineup. It didn’t help that John Wall also played regular season caliber defense himself, but my point remains. In the regular season, or against a miserable coach like Brooks, the Celtics can get away with playing 4.5 versus 5 on defense. Against a solid game-plan, Thomas doesn’t stand a chance.

If the Cavs knock off the top-seeded Celtics in four or five games, Ainge can easily blow this team up in the name of “good doesn’t win championships, great does”. If Thomas averages 40 ppg while giving it back on the defensive end, Ainge will still ditch Thomas this off-season, but will get plenty of criticism for it. There really is no likely scenario that Thomas is a good long-term investment for the Celtics. Danny Ainge just became a Cavs fan.

2. So why is it so hard for a small player to be effective on the defensive end? Defense takes an insane amount of effort and dedication to a game-plan. Even then, effort only gets you so far. If an offensive player can simply rise up and take an uncontested jumper over a smaller player, all the effort and game-planning is rendered moot. If a guy like Thomas is switched onto a center for even a moment, on or off ball, the offensive team is at a huge advantage. Just toss the ball toward the rim and let the big man grab it. What is often lost in this equation is the effect playing solid defense has on a player’s offensive game.

I incorrectly predicted that James Harden would have a bounce-back game against the Spurs in Game 6. Obviously, I was quite wrong. But to be fair, I most certainly did not expect Mike D’Antoni to inexplicably use Harden to defend Pau Gasol in the post. This is a fireable offense. It doesn’t even matter if Harden can use his strength to adequately prevent deep post catches for Pau. Putting your best offensive player in a position that requires him to constantly use maximum strength is simply idiotic. Whether Harden was sick or not is irrelevant. Defending bigger players takes a lot out of a player’s legs. That loss of lift robs a guy of range and quickness on the offensive end.

A smart opposing team’s game-plan will force a smaller player into consistent “weightlifting possessions”, killing his quick twitch on the offensive side. Stephen Curry was NOT injured last year. He was exhausted from being put through a physical gauntlet on every defensive possession. Harden was tired from guarding a Spanish Hall-of-Fame center on the block. And against the Cavs, Thomas will be tired after having to fight through multiple screens before ultimately being matched up against LeBron James or Kyrie Irving. The Cavs aren’t going to allow Thomas to float off-ball someplace and relax like the Wizards did. He will be punished and his jumper will suffer for it.

3. Watching the Western Conference Finals, we are all suffering. The Spurs were still underdogs in the series, even with a healthy Kawhi Leonard, but the Spurs’ chances evaporated when the rightful 2016-2017 regular season MVP limped off the floor with a re-re-(maybe another re? )tweaked left ankle. Coach Pop’s squad was firing on all cylinders during their Game 1 pre-injury dominance. The Warriors looked confused, sloppy, and somewhat overwhelmed trying to defend the Spurs consistent big to big ball actions. Defensively, the Spurs swarmed, closing out on the correct shooters, running them off the line into tough mid-range attempts. They basically let anyone other than the holy shooting trinity of Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry launch from deep.

It was a basketball clinic and seemed an indication of a long series. Instead, Zaza Pachulia brought back 80’s style goonery and we lost out on a chance to see an all-time series. Sure, had the Spurs not completely blown the last bit of Game 1, we could have pretended that there was still a sliver of hope for San Antonio. Really, it is over. Leonard needed to be completely healthy for the Western Finals to be interesting. Now, I just hope he doesn’t come back and do severe damage to an already fragile ankle. In any case, count me as one who believes that Zaza absolutely slid under Leonard with intent to injure. It is a classic move. Ask Larry Bird about that one.

4. It’s another reason I was hoping the Wizards’ talent would override their mental ineptitude. Washington has far more top flight talent than Boston. In a potential Eastern Conference Finals match, the Wizards would have had quarters or even halves that would have scared plenty of Cavaliers fans, but they surely would have mentally folded during crunch time. When the Wizards mentally fold, they become soft, floating around sadly without any real intent. The Celtics are different. Historically, when the Celts have folded, they have become extra-aggressive, dirty, and generally more physically dangerous to their opposition. Obviously, the Cavs have seen that first hand.

It’s important to get in and out of this series as quickly as possible. In the name of health, the Cavaliers can’t afford to mess around. I’m rather pleased the Celtics have home court advantage. It makes a sweep more likely. If the Cavs can take Game 1 convincingly and edge out the Celtics in Game 2, they can come home and take care of business in a place where the crowd isn’t against them. Considering Leonard’s injury out West and the Cavs/Celtics history, the fewer games the better. For Danny Ainge and Cleveland.