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Joe Johnson Goes Nova

April 29, 2008 in by with 7 Comments

“‘Going Nova”-v: To accelerate your game in an explosive manner, to the point where you are shining so bright it’s hard to see anything else happening on the floor.
(Ex. “Well, the Blazers hung in there, but then Kobe went Nova, and it was all over.”)

The Atlanta Hawks were hanging, but that’s not enough versus a team like the Celtics. With Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo, along with the best defense in the league this season, just chipping along isn’t going to get it done. They needed someone to go off, someone to push the Hawks over. After all, this was essentially a matchup of individual athleticism versus team concept and concentrated veteran star power. So naturally the only way Atlanta was going to even the series was if a player were to raise his game, to explode. And someone did.

Joe Johnson went Nova.

Scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter is the stuff of legend. To do it in the playoffs, on an 8th seed against a #1 seed, no, THIS #1 seed, is EPIC Nova. And it wasn’t a quiet, Tim Duncan Nova, either. It was a stunning combination of floaters, jumpers, and mid-slash faders. All of this punctuated, of course, by the absolutely sick, mind-melting, ankle-breaking, tell-Daddy-you-love-him-now-sit-down-and-let-him-roll-them-bones, crossover into the step back three.

This kind of offense is rare, it is beautiful, and it’s part of what makes this game so transcendent for small moments in time.

Joe Johnson just went from “that guy on my friend’s fantasy teams who scores all those points for Atlanta” to “the always-deadly Joe Johnson.”

That’s Nova, baby. That’s Nova.

I Lookz Into Ze Eyez Of Deth And He Turnz Hiz Bald Hed. He Scarz Of Me!

April 29, 2008 in by with 2 Comments

The following is a public service announcement from The Corndogg.

“You talkinz to me? You talkinz to ZaZa? Didn’t fink zo. HAHAHAHA!”

KG might just be Mr. Intensity in 10 Cities, but I’ll be damned if Atlanta is one. Leave it up to Zaza Pachulia to launch the first counterattack for the Hawks. He’s mad as hell and he’s not gonna take it anymore.

To be fair, the Hawks have always believed in themselves. Sometimes, to the point of delusion. Even when they were the butt of jokes since making that big trade, and bigger gamble, with $70 million for Joe Johnson, while the Suns got Boris Diaw and some excellent runs in the post-season. Even still, the Hawks felt they were on the right track. At their core, they are fighters and feel justified in being where they are right now. However, the simple act of resistance, pictured above, and fortitude shown by Pachulia in this picture was the start of something special for the Hawks last night.

In Game 3, they seemed to just barely be able to run away from the Celtics. In Game 4, they decided to plant themselves in the middle of the court and say “If you want a piece of us, you got it. Bring it on.” Unfortunately for the Celtics, the only people who brought it were Joe Johnson and Josh Smith (who is going to be P.A.I.D. this summer).

I thought about this last night and realized that this series could really go seven games. I don’t even mind being wrong (as I predicted the Celtics in 4 or 5, don’t remember which), especially when being wrong is this much fun. Perhaps the Celtics are like that other deified Boston sports team this past season. Everyone feels they are unbeatable and unbreakable, until a bunch of upstarts no one believes in (and who, in case you forgot, provide some god-awful match-up problems for the C’s) bust out the kryptonite and start beating down the warlords.

But then again, maybe its just another ploy by the most intense player to ever don a jersey, hoping to show his team that they can be punks too and if they don’t bust their freaking butts every single night that all their hard work can be stripped from them like the Sonics from Seattle. Maybe that is what some people will have you think. Personally, I just think the Hawkz cames ready for tha big fightz!

The preceeding was a public service announcement from The Corndogg.

Just For A Night

April 28, 2008 in by with 2 Comments

Earlier today, I wrote this:

But the bigger issue is this, and it’s something no one else is really touching on, because of the foregone conclusion this series results in. Boston’s not playing great. They’re just not. They’re playing well. And that’s enough to obliterate the Hawks at home. But this team is not nearly as frightening as we may have thought they would be.

And over at FanHouse, this:

But I feel like it’s my duty to inform the Celtics nation that things aren’t perfect so far. Of the Boston Big Three, only Kevin Garnett has scored more than 20 points in a game, and that was 32 points in the loss in Game 3. The Celtics are only shooting 2.8% better than the Hawks so far in this series, and the Hawks are hanging with them in rebounds and blocked shots. I’m just saying, this is the 8th seed. Boston needs to play like it, blowouts or no blowouts.

Now, I also said tonight the Celtics would blow them out of the water. I know better than to go out on a limb and predict upsets. Ask my partner in crime, I’m a worse jinx than Jessica Simpson. I wasn’t about to go ruining it by talking about a Hawks’ upset. In fact, I begged my FanHouse compatriot Ziller not to to post about it, I was so worried about it. Little did I know, there was no way to jinx Joe Johnson, and no way to unjinx Paul Pierce.

Yes, this one falls on Pierce. I’ve supported Pierce the entire season, saying how important he was to this club, and how he’d produced so diligently. When Al Horford barked at him in Game 3, I thought for sure Pierce was going to follow up on what the Celtics fans barked about, and annihilate Horford personally. Instead? 5 of 14 from the field, including a layup that would have altered the score, the momentum, and forced a very young Hawks team into gutcheck time. Instead?

This series is 2-2. 1 versus 8, tied 2-2. And despite the joy this has brought to so many of us whose blood does not run green, simply for the unpredictable nature of it and the amazing act by Joe Johnson (who we’ll get to in a few minutes in another post, it deserves such acclaim), none of this changes the fact that this series is still tied. There are still three games left, and two of them are in the zoo of Boston, who, after being sleepy and unimpressed with the competition in Games 1 and 2, will be rabid like never before this season. They have to protect this team, or else, well, the sting of 18-1 is not so far removed. They know embarrassment. On top of all that, this Celtics team is simply better, in every way, than the Hawks. They should win this series, but it may take seven games, I kid you not. This Hawks squad is ornery, excited, and confident. And that means they’re dangerous. Whether it ends in two or three, this has suddenly become the series to watch. This, amazingly, shockingly, has become fun.
*****************
I said that this Celtics team is simply better, in every way, than the Hawks. That’s only true if I mean on the court. Because now would be an excellent time to go ahead and clear this up so no one gets confused again.

Doc Rivers is a terrible in-game coach.

All season long I’ve put up with this line of thinking.

“Doc Rivers is the coach of the best team in the NBA, so he must be the best coach in the league.”

Are you kidding me?

“He’s done such a good job managing egos and getting the big three to play together.”

No, seriously, are you (expletive) kidding me?

And then tonight, when it mattered, when the overwhelming talent advantage that the Celtics have with three of the best players in the NBA on one roster wasn’t getting it done alone, Doc Rivers went and coached… like Doc Rivers.

He didn’t call for adjustments on Joe Johnson. While Johnson was breaking Leon Powe’s ankles, Doc wasn’t making any shift to get the ball out of his hands. He got beat by two players tonight. Two! You think Byron Scott’s letting that happen? Byron Scott is saying “Josh Childress can score a dozen points, Johnson doesn’t keep the ball.” Finally Garnett had to do what he’s done all season, coach this team, and he went out to double Johnson, when it was too late.

And oh, yeah, when your team is on the road, facing a dangerous athletic squad and you have reliable veteran shooters like, oh, say, Sam Cassell? You know what you need? Timeouts. The Celtics used their last full one with 2:12 remaining in the fourth.

Constantly down the stretch, he designed plays for Eddie House, Powe, people other than Kevin Garnett. Garnett, to his credit, tried to take over and do his thing. But that’s the limitation of Garnett being Garnett. He’s a power forward, and in crunch time you need shooters and slashers. Still, this team has more than enough talent to put together a crushing series of possessions and put this game away. Doc Rivers didn’t know how to do it. When the talent couldn’t match Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, Rivers didn’t have an answer. Because, he’s not an answer guy.

He’s a spokesperson. A figurehead. Someone that won’t rub against the big three the wrong way. Someone who won’t try and mess with what minutes they decide they want to put in. But not being in the way doesn’t make you a great coach. Saying the right things to the media doesn’t make you a great coach. And having Kevin Garnett doesn’t make you a great coach.

Doc Rivers is still Doc Rivers. He just has three of the best players in the league on his side (and I’m talking about Rondo, not Allen). And I still believe that will be enough to win a championship. But it won’t be because of Doc Rivers.

AK’s Wife Knows How To Party, Has Gigantic Hat

April 28, 2008 in by with 0 Comments

HT: Ziller at FanHouse, who is my now new god.

Thoughts on Round 1, Game 3s and 4s Through 4.27

April 28, 2008 in by with 1 Comment

  • I think a lot of us expected the Hornets to have a “Wow, isn’t it great we’re here!” feel to them. We expected the bench jumping up all the time, and unbelievable role players hitting shots we’d never imagine them hitting. That’s the prototype of a team that’s new to the playoffs. This team has nothing to do with that concept. They are cold, hard, killers. This team has an off shooting night Friday, and instead of getting rattled and questioning themselves and their strategy, they went right back to work. And executed to perfection. Which should be no surprise, given this team’s M.O.
  • There was something I realized late this season. I was marveling at the Lakers’ huge swings. When they’re hot, they’ve been nearly unstoppable. But then they’ll slump for several games, and look like they couldn’t defend against a Shriners’ convention. I truly believe that the Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference right now, and will end up in the Finals. That said, the point of this is when I was considering their swings, I asked if there was a team that was as good as the Lakers have been, but without the swings. And there was. It was the Hornets. Their performance doesn’t waver at all. They go out and consistently perform with the same level of execution, intensity, and precision. Sometimes the shots don’t fall, but they always come ready to play. They don’t possess San Antonio’s idling Borg-like drone, either. They hum at a high rate, ready to unleash a lethal combination of plays which put you down for the count. That’s been readily apparent in this series: The Hornets can hit you four or five times in the span of two minutes on both ends of the floor, and you won’t know you’ve been hit till you see the scoreboard. Again, Lakers fans, your team is the best in the Western Conference, and are playing better ball than the Hornets right now. I’m just saying that while LA depends on upswings and high momentum to carry them to victory (which they have loads of), the Hornets are able to consistently go out and execute everyone in the room at a moment’s notice.
  • Speaking of the Lakers, it’s time to give credit where credit is due. For years I have shrugged off talk of Phil Jackson as worthy of “best of all time” discussion. “How can you really judge a man that’s never had anything but the best players in the history of the game?!” I would yell. And while I’m still a long way from even saying he’s the best current coach in the NBA, I have to say h e’s impressed the hell out of me in the last three months. Anyone could win with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, surrounded by shooters. But Pau Gasol is a seven foot Spaniard with a history of offensive mastery and not exactly easy to miss. Yet the Denver Nuggets never seem to really notice him unless he’s in the post. I watched the Nuggets come out with fire and passion in Game 3, led by Kleiza who was producing at both ends of the floor? And what happened? Kobe dribble, Kobe dribble, Kobe penetrate, Kobe pass to Odom, Odom touchpass to Gasol. Open. Two points. To be able to engineer plays and spacing to create open shots around the basket, even against the defensive sieve that is Denver, is a masterful job. Throw in his ability to finally get Odom to understand how to best capitalize on his talents, and Jackson is leaps and bounds above everyone else right now.
  • Not enough is being made of Game 3 in Atlanta. Yes, the Celtics will blow them out of the water tonight. Yes, the Celtics will do so easily. But here’s a little run-down of teams that would have swept the Hawks in the Western conference. Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Jazz, Suns, Warriors (yes, even though they didn’t make the playoffs. The matchups would annihilate Atlanta. And no, Denver, you would have no chance. They might sweep you. Rockets fans, sorry, but Atlanta would at least get one on you, maybe two.). There is no excuse for Boston letting them have that game. But the bigger issue is this, and it’s something no one else is really touching on, because of the foregone conclusion this series results in. Boston’s not playing great. They’re just not. They’re playing well. And that’s enough to obliterate the Hawks at home. But this team is not nearly as frightening as we may have thought they would be. I have every reason to suspect they’re just having motivation issues, and Horford’s little mouth-run will get them in gear. But no one on the Celtics is really just blowing it up, they’re all just having nice, quiet, good games, and winning. Except they lost. The Celtics better realized that whichever team comes out of the 4/5 matchup (most likely the Cavs) will be running on adrenaline and will be looking to fight. Rajon Rondo is ready. I’m not sure the rest of the Celtics are.
  • It was nice of Greg Popovich and the Spurs to give the Suns one. You know, for their pride. Downright decent of them.
  • Speaking of Popovich, I love the comments he made defending D’Antoni. Now, Spurs fans and D’Antoni detractors are both going to come out saying this is another evil genius move by Popovich to try and get D’Antoni to be able to stay so he can continue beating the crap out of him. But that’s outright ridiculous. These guys have a tremendous amount of respect for one another, and Popovich is just not like most other high-profile coaches. He doesn’t care about getting in sniping fights with other coaches, doesn’t feel the need to degrade them, and honestly, if he loses to them, he doesn’t mind. This is a job to Greg Popovich, with long term goals and a long term vision. And while he’s done more than his share of accomplishing those championship goals, he also understands how easily it could change. Both coaches are aware that if Tim Duncan’s three-pointer goes the same way that it has gone 4 out of 5 times in his career, this series is knotted at two-a-piece. Likewise, if the Suns hadn’t gone completely frozen in game 2 in the second half, this is likely a different story. And for Popovich to come out and recognize that, for a guy across the scorer’s table, shows why this organization is considered so classy, Robert Horry and Bruce Bowen not included.
  • The current over-reaction of the day is that “clearly, D’Antoni should have started Boris Diaw instead of Grant Hill earlier in this series.” To that I say, anyone that suggest that should try examining a sample of games larger than “yesterday’s game.” Because that is the only way you come to that conclusion. Hill’s banged up with a groin injury that limits his abilities, that much is clear. But with an injury that you can’t evaluate until you actually get on the floor, I’ll still take Grant Hill with half-a-groin over Boris Diaw. Diaw has proven time and time again that he is unable to consistently perform. He had a wonderful game yesterday. Good for him. There is still a 70/30 chance that in Game 5 he’ll completely meltdown again and try backing down Tim Duncan. Let’s be clear. Boris Diaw can be effective at the 3 spot as long as Amare Stoudemire or Shaq are on the floor. But the second he finds himself in the post against any player with size or athletic ability (like, oh, say, 90% of the forwards and centers in this league), he becomes completely useless. To blame D’Antoni for trying to go to his star veteran with defensive presence over an inconsistent performer who many have said needed to be traded long ago is ludicrous.
  • Next up, how about this “the big difference on defense was just effort.” That’s patently not true. The Suns were trying in the last three games. They just had no answer for Tony Parker. At all. Or Ginobili on the left. In Game 4, however, as much as this was a complete “we’ll give you this one” by the Spurs, it was also a tremendous defensive adjustment. In Game 3, Tony Parker was obviously the killer. But he had been doing the same thing during the first two games as well. The high wing pick and roll with Duncan. The situation forced Shaq to either try and speed out to defend Duncan, where he obviously can’t, or stay at home and try and cut off Parker, which again, allows Duncan to do what he wanted. The Suns countered in those first three games by trying to have Parker’s man cut under the screen to stay with Parker. Unfortunately, in an amazing development, Tony Parker is really, really fast. Throw in the fact that his jumper was falling like crazy, and you have Game 3′s rout. But yesterday was different. Van Gundy remarked that Tony Parker’s jumper is not good enough to consistently fall like it did in Game 3. But instead of overreacting to Parker’s jumper, the Suns tried something different. They created an interior triangle with Amare, Shaq and Diaw. That play isolates the right side for the Spurs, to allow Parker room to operate. When the pick and roll happened, Shaq stayed home on the baseline. Parker’s defender went over the screen in pursuit, and Diaw or Amare came from the weakside to cut off the drive to the middle. Parker was flummoxed, blocked, and eventually had to settle for jumpers, which didn’t come to his aid this time. Now, Popovich will of course respond in Game 5 by presenting Parker with perimeter shooters instead of the ISO, and none of this has anything to do with Bell and Diaw’s complete inability to prevent Manu Ginobili from driving left on them every single time, but for one game, it was a nice adjustment.
  • Fear The Magic. I’m not kidding. No one is paying attention to what may have been the most exciting first round matchup in Orlando-Toronto, but it’s been terrific basketball, even with the 3-1 lead the Magic take into Orlando tonight. The other teams have significant leads thanks to a lack of efficient, smart play by their opponents. Toronto has actually played really well. They got everything they wanted out of their players in Game 4. Bosh had 39. TJ Ford was actually passing the ball. Kapono came to play. No good. The Magic are just better right now. Not enough can be said about the way Dwight Howard is playing defense right now. He’s consistently making plays. While his one on one game still needs work, he’s able to create key defensive plays which suck the life out of the crowd better than any player in the league right now. I’m telling you. Fear the Magic.
  • The Rockets just need one more weapon. One. More. Seven foot. Chinese. Weapon.
    But they don’t have it right now. And that’s this series. I am NOT impressed with the Utah Jazz, though. If they were the legit contender they like to make themselves out as, they would have wiped the floor with a team led by Tracy McGrady, without Yao Ming, without a healthy Rafer Alston, and wouldn’t need key official’s calls to secure wins. I keep desperately searching for a way to believe that this Jazz team is real like everyone keeps telling me they are. That annihilation of the Spurs? I think we can convincingly prove that was a rope-a-dope. The home court advantage? Where was that in Game 3? Let’s be clear. Houston is hanging with Utah in every single game with former D-Leaguers, Luis Scola, and Carl Landry. I love the work AK has done in this series. That’s it for the Jazz.
  • Corn’s been telling me all year about the Sixers, because he landed Andre Iguodala on his fantasy team and fell in love with him. I am not impressed, nor have I ever been impressed, with Andre Iguodala. But when Philly won game 1, and then game 3, Corn came out shouting about how the Sixers were going to possibly beat the Magic and make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Click. That sound was the Pistons flipping the switch. Game over. Nice try, fellas. I do love Samuel Dalembert’s energy, though.
  • Favorite energy guys this round: Julian Wright, Jannero Pargo, Linas Kleiza, Keyon Dooling, Reggie Evans, Brandon Bass, Ime Udoka, Luke Walton (cherry picker that he is), Carl Landry, Delonte West.

Because There Is Going To Be Way Too Much Talk About This BS, I Have Decided To Settle It Once And For All

April 28, 2008 in by with 8 Comments

The following is a special public service announcement from The Corndogg.

Jason Kidd should be suspended for Game 5 against the Hornets. Period. Fin. Over.
Not to recall everyone’s (very much including my own) bitching topic from last year, but if Amare and Diaw get docked a game (AND THIS WAS A GAME THAT MATTERED!) for stepping four freakin’ feet off the bench last year against San Antonio, then a man who violently horse collars a guy in mid-air just as the victim’s team is starting to put the game away, then he should get a game. No other argument.

I know the two scenarios are different. Amare and Diaw broke a “rule.” Well, you know what? So did Kidd. The NBA penalizes people who commit fouls. If you commit enough of them, you are sent out of the game. If you commit too many technical fouls, you are ejected as well. Sometimes, you get suspended for those. Therefore, if a foul that you commit comes striking close to causing a major injury to another player and you don’t pull a Duncan face (as if you did nothing wrong), then it is vicious and irresponsible basketball. Plus, awful sportsmanship.

So if the NBA brass has any balls (I hate to bring common sense into the equation, because that could be debated for years), they will suspend Kidd. Why does it have to take someone getting seriously hurt, which Pargo could have been, before they act? Oh, they can stop a couple of guys jumping off a bench in the heat of a moment to check on a teammate who got hip checked into the scorer’s table, but a guy who could have single handedly ruined a guy’s career and paralyzed him for life just gets a couple of “aw schucks” comments and a bad tongue lashing? The NBA makes me want to vomit. Just do what is right and suspend Kidd. So we can quit talking about this useless moment in series that is D-O-N-E, DONE!

The preceeding was a special public service announcement from The Corndogg.

Jason Kidd Decides To Make Jannero Pargo Like The Mavs’ Defense: Headless

April 27, 2008 in by with 0 Comments

Nice, Jason. Worth every penny.

Every. Penny.

Enjoy the offseason.

We’re Talking About Philly, Right? As In The 76ers?

April 26, 2008 in by with 2 Comments

So, they did it again. And this wasn’t exactly a “Pistons taking the night off” kind of game. This was a “yeah, so we can actually make your old players look silly if we bust out tails and get a couple of breaks” kind of game. But I mean, c’mon. This is the Sixers.
Personally, I think they can do it. And not just beating the Pistons. If they get the Magic in the next round, they can give up 25 and 20 to Superman every night, but they have the ability to totally wreak havoc on Hedo and the perimeter gang from Orlando.
Now, I know I am getting a head of myself. There are still a few difficult games left in the first round. But there is no denying that is the Sixers can just hold serve, they make it to the semis. Even us here at HP, who ever so delicately placed a solitary finger on the Philly bandwagon, we never thought this was possible. We figured they would be fun, make a good push for the playoffs, fall short, deal off Miller and maybe Dalembert and build for the future around Iggy and the Jets. But perhaps the future is now in the City of Brotherly Love. If they can hold off the veteran (read: mentally decrepit) Pistons, we might have the most exciting second round series in that bastions of basketball brilliance: Orlando and Philadelphia. Wonder what Barkley might have to say about this?

Ashes To Ashes, Suns to Suns

April 25, 2008 in by with 12 Comments

Someday, my kids will ask me, “What’s the best basketball team you ever saw?”

And I will tell them, with all honest, the 2006-2007 Phoenix Suns. That team, when it was at its best, was better, in every way, from talent to energy to fun, than any team I’ve ever seen. There are teams that were more consistent, there were teams that played better defense. But when that team was at its absolute best, it was the best I’ve ever seen, in a non-literal, conceptual way. This is not meant to say that they are better than the Spurs at what counts in championship basketball, because they clearly were not. The didn’t get the breaks they needed and were unable to get past San Antonio’s combination of talent and coaching. But in those select games (the triple overtime versus the Nets, the late season Mavericks thrillers) were they played to their full potential (which San Antonio never allowed them to do thanks to great defense), they were the best team I’ve ever seen. That’s not a fact, it’s an opinion.

None of that wins championships.

Tonight was the philosophical end of an era. There will be Game 4 and possibly 5, but then it’ll be official. Then the finger pointing, the cries for Mike D’Antoni’s job will begin. The cries for Steve Kerr, for trades and accountability. And the truth is that this team simply lacked one essential thing to win last year. A break. It never got one, and so it panicked, and committed to a $40 million liability.

I blame Steve Kerr for this, if the question is to be asked, because it, alongside everything else about the Suns, doesn’t matter. But I blame him for interjecting himself into the system, for demanding changes of D’Antoni’s style, and for the worst trade of the season. A trade which I defended and tried to rationalize. But behind all of it was this same feeling. Something was lost. And instead of improving the team with a combination of role players with either defense and rebounding, or ball handling and scoring capabilities, he went out and got the biggest name possible. And that big name talked big right into a very impending first round exit.

I won’t be able to forget the Suns. Not because I want to keep them in my heart, but because they will forever serve as a reminder that the teams that seem to hold everything a fan could want does not prosper. Teams with impeccable conservatism or unworldy talent do. And that’s just the breaks.

So long, Suns.

It was fun.

The Suns/Spurs Series In The Context Of Poker

April 25, 2008 in by with 4 Comments

Matt and I met through playing big poker games down in Texas. It was one of the few things we both found interesting (besides the NBA) and we always knew that life, and sometimes sports, could be understood lucidly through the context of poker. (If you don’t like poker, just go read Matt’s ‘>great T-Mac piece). Such is the case with the Suns/Spurs series.

The Spurs are the cagey, wily veteran (ever heard that analogy before?). They play a steady, solid game. They are very attentive to what is going on in the game, but they are older and their attention span dwindles from time to time. There is no hand they haven’t seen 1,000 times. They never lose too many chips, but never win an exorbitant amount either. They can smell a trap from a mile away and can always make a big lay down if their intuition tells them that something is up. They are always in control of their emotions, only play as long as they need/want to and never complain (okay, so the Spurs do complain. A lot).

But then, one day, you see the old man drive up to the weekly game in a brand new Lexus. He doesn’t say much about it unless he’s asked. He is just happy to be back at the game and wants to play some cards. While everyone else is talking and gambling around him, you slowly start to realize that the old man is on a fixed income and that there is no other way for him to afford that car unless he has been quietly kicking your butt and taking all of your money, while saving it for the day he wished and treating himself like a king. You respect his stolid ambition (even though you think his game stinks), but the results are undeniable. In another 4 hours, he is gonna cash out in the black… again.

The Suns are the internet wizkid. They play fast and loose, are never afraid of jamming chips in the pot and can always pull off a big bluff without a sweat. He plays hands that no one would ever conceive of, loves to gamble on coin flips and rolls up huge winnings when the deck is hitting him like a ton of bricks. He plays the live game while still running 4 tables on line and chugging a red bull. When he is running the table, he will swallow up every other players chips, build pyramids of cash in front of him to look like little plastic castles and break the game in an instant. He can be transcendant at times.

But then, you see the guy a week later and he looks like he hasn’t slept in 10 days (and, perhaps he hasn’t). He’s doing shots of Patron and slurring his words. Everyone at the table is sort of sad for him, but secretly making fun of him. They know it’s easy money because his faculties aren’t there. He makes stupid call after stupid call, desperately trying to get his money back. He may get one lucky break every now and again, but he keeps walking in to every trap and losing money. Any time he jettisons off another $500 bucks, he just keeps asking the game owner for more money, getting further into debt. He has imploded.

So tonight, when you watch Game 3, keep a few things in mind. In Game 1, the youngster (man it feels weird to call Hill, Shaq and Nash youngsters) ran as hot as star. They were pulling out every bluff and weilding their giant chip stack like a weapon. But, as the cards kept flying, the vet just started slowly chipping away, winning all the small pots and obsequiously mounting his own victory. Then, before you know it, the kid makes a dumb play (Amare fouling out) walks right into a cooler (Duncan 3 pointer) and its over. Aces vs. Kings. Suns go down hard.

Game 2 was the vet’s best game. This time, he just let the kid get off to a hot start. Folded the winning hand a few times just to blow up his self image. Perhaps there were times when he had the lower full house and just sniffed out the better one, only losing a tiny bit. But, all along, he was on the top of his game and didn’t need any luck to pull away. It was all skill and he made it look easy.

When Game 3 rolls around tonight and the Suns come in and crush the competition, it is going to look like the supernova is back. The kid will be flopping royal flushes and playing like his balls are made of steel. People will oogle at his skill and think he has learned his lesson.

But as the games progress, you will notice that the veteran doesn’t break a sweat. He’s playing with house money after all. And who knows, the house might even be in debt to him. Soon enough, he’ll be riding around town, in that new Lexus, with a full tank of gas. He has filled up his new trophy with your money and is heading to the bigger game down the street. Either in Dallas or New Orleans.

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