It’s great to hang out with you again. There’s nothing like
playoff hockey!
True, we spend precious little time together during the regular
season. But, you know, so what? Don’t take it out on me just because you’ve
been here for the entire slog. Others have watched from afar, watching and
flipping the calendar.
We grabbed a seat and enjoyed the Maple Leafs series, a tasty
first-round appetizer.
Now comes a meatier course, the nemesis from Steel City. Go
Caps!
Maybe it’s just me, but I thought this Washington Wizards squad was better than the playoff version two and three seasons ago.
I thought the current edition was superior with a wiser John Wall and sturdier Bradley Beal. The starting lineup was more balanced with a versatile Markieff Morris and improved Otto Porter. The reserves had more firepower with a streaky Bojan Bogdanovic and feisty Kelly Oubre.
And the team updated to a 21st century approach with scrappy Scott Brooks in the first seat on the bench.
So why is this series against Atlanta so darn hard? Game 5 on Wednesday wasn’t decided until Wall’s jumper created the final margin,103-99, with 47 seconds left. All that remained was surviving another drive by Paul Millsap, who was challenged by Gortat and thudded to the floor without getting a whistle.
The Hawks’ All-Star forward, who also was rejected in the paint by Beal with 1:36 left, complained bitterly after the buzzer, following a referee to half court. Then Millsap turned and sulked off the court with his teammates, losers for the third time in three games this series at Verizon Center.
This was the closest contest yet, the four-point victory preceded by an eight-point edge in Game 2 and a seven-point margin in Game 1. The Wizards haven’t had a breather at home and definitely not away. They were whipped by 18 in Game 3 before suffering a more-respectable 10-point defeat in Game 4.
“All three games here we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We feel like we can play better.”
The Wizards can say the same thing, but they certainly played better defense Wednesday, blocking 10 shots, recording eight steals and holding Atlanta to 40.9 percent shooting from the field.
Credit a defense-focused film study that Brooks said was “pretty direct and honest.” Beal put it this way: “He basically told everyone whether or not they can guard and said he won’t play you if you can’t guard. It was something we needed because our defense slacked in Atlanta.”
For all the goodwill and happy feelings the Wizards engendered with a 49-win campaign, none have carried over to the postseason.
Numerous common sayings have been around forever and are flat-out wrong.
For instance, “time heals all wounds.” That’s only true in certain cases when time includes death. Because we know some folks never get over the hurt of old grievances and failed relationships, carrying that pain to the grave.
Washington’s team is on the clock entering the 2017 NFL draft, the first since supposed savior Scot McCloughan was fired as general manager. McCloughan’s two-year stint spawned a phrase that grew in popularity as the Skins grew in credibility: “In Scot we trust.”
But that idiom turned out to be idiotic, like the one that declares words can never hurt you, only sticks and stones.
Putting faith in McCloughan meant putting belief in team owner Dan Snyder and team president Bruce Allen. Shame on us for doing so; the dud of a duo had fooled us way more than twice before McCloughan arrived.
Maybe we’re among the segment of people that can be snookered all the time.
Some are smaller than others. Others enjoy more fame and acclaim. Some are taken for granted; some get more credit than merited.
But in the end, a role is a role. The MVP-candidate or end-of-the-bench cheerleader. The company clerk or the CEO. The school principal or school custodian. Each has a job and can be graded on individual performance.
I mention this in reference to Russell Westbrook, who took offense to a question after Oklahoma City’s loss Sunday against Houston. A reporter asked Thunder center Steven Adams, essentially, why the team struggles so much when Westbrook heads to the bench and if the Rockets seem reinvigorated when he departs.
For context, Houston had just won a 113-109 affair in which Westbrook had 35 points, 14 points and 14 rebounds. During 39 minutes with him on the court, the Thunder was plus-14. During the nine minutes – nine minutes! – that Westbrook rested, the Thunder was minus-18.
Through four games in the series, OKC is plus-3 with him and minus-40 without him.
“I don’t want nobody trying to split us up.” Westbrook said before Adams could answer the question. “We are one team. We’re in this together. Don’t try to make us go against each other. I don’t want to hear that. We playing as a team and that’s all that matters.”
That’s an admirable response, I suppose, good-hearted and well-intentioned. Westbrook is rejecting the “me and my guys” style of leadership employed masterfully by LeBron James and comically by Paul George.
But the response was a bit naïve and disingenuous, too.
There was a concert Wednesday night at Verizon Center. Unfortunately, it starred The Three Whistlers instead of The Three Tenors.
The Wizards and Hawks tried to play Game 2 of their first-round playoff series between chirps. The rest of their time was spent complaining about the referees’ choppy performance.
Here’s what the contest — a 109-101 Wizards victory — felt like in a nutshell:
Washington on offense. Tweet! Hawks throw up their hands in disbelief. Atlanta on offense. Tweet! Wizards’ mouths hit the floor in amazement.
To keep things from becoming too routine, each team reacted with exasperation whenever it wanted to hear a blast but didn’t.
No one was happy. Not the players, not the coaches and not the fans. Count me among that number, too. It was a brutal experience, where virtually every stoppage led to cringes and every non-call was treated like a capital offense.
“It’s tough and we can’t do anything about it,” Wizards guard John Wall said of the flow, after scoring 32 points to match the playoff-career high he notched in Game 1. “All we can do is go out there and compete. The referees are trying to do the best they can.
A Seattle Seahawks defensive end, No. 72, was surrounded by a small gathering at Busboys & Poets on 14th Street last week. His size made him stand out in the theater room, a few minutes before the doors opened and 200 folks piled in for “Silenced No More: Michael Bennett on Activism and Pro Sports.”
“I’m here because a bunch of friends locally asked me to come and speak about some things I’ve been doing,” Bennett told me. “They want me to talk about what athletes have been doing and what’s going in America right now.”
Star athletes typically don’t interrupt their offseason to catch a flight and speak at a lecture. Jet off for a commercial shoot? Sure. Fly away for a vacation? Absolutely. Hop a plane for business opportunities. Yes.
But Bennett, a Super Bowl champ and two-time Pro Bowler, is far from your ordinary athlete. He puts his family and community – local, national and international – ahead of his industry. That makes speaking out on conditions and current events only natural for him.
“I have kids,” he told me. “I want them to look back and say, ‘Daddy was a part of change. He just didn’t sit back and play sports. He really tried to help people.’ That’s my main goal.”
Of course, that makes him a controversial figure to those who are uncomfortable when athletes step outside the lines and speak about issues like human rights and social justice.
When your team hasn’t hosted a first-round playoff opener in 38 years, whatever happens is bound to feel strange. It could administer a blowout, be on the receiving end or fall somewhere in between. Reasonable expectations are fluid and possible outcomes are all over the board.
We’re still wrapping our heads around the fact that Washington is a bona fide contenders. So, it wasn’t far-fetched to believe they might fall flat Sunday afternoon against Atlanta. The way history works in these parts, optimism is a rare commodity and typically goes unrewarded.
Would we get the Wizards team that won 43 games since Dec. 5 (behind only Golden State and San Antonio), or the team that limped to a 7-9 record down the stretch? Would Markieff Morris (no postseason experience) and Otto Porter (three postseason games) be up to the challenge, or would they shrink under the magnitude of playoff basketball? Would the Hawks steal the opener and homecourt advantage, or would the Washington live up to its seeding en route to the second round?
The situation was dicey in the first half. But in the end, the Wizards let everyone know it’s OK to believe, at least for Game 1. A heavy dose of John Wall and liberal sprinkles of Morris were the perfect recipe for a 114-107 victory and series lead.
When coaches complain that something is “not good for college basketball,” chances are great that the source of irritation is good for college basketball players.
Funny how that works, no?
Imagine that your son, nephew, brother or cousin is a super-talented freshman with “NBA lottery” stamped on his game. He’s smart, mature and well-balanced for an 18-year-old. You wouldn’t worry that a one-and-done season makes life harder for the coach and dampens the team’s outlook next year.
You would celebrate the fact that Junior positioned himself to sign an eight-figure contract that pays him more in two years than you’d make in three lifetimes. That’s great news for him and the family.
Here’s a scenario that doesn’t involve the NBA draft:
Only the NFL is obtuse enough to celebrate putting a franchise in Las Vegas and criticize players for attending an arm wrestling tournament there.
That’s like your company setting up shop in a new town and complaining that the locale has a negative influence on employees and the product.
In case you missed it, the league isn’t pleased with the Pro Football Arm Wrestling Championship that was held at the MGM Grand last week. More than 30 current and former players reportedly attended, including Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and retired halfback Marshawn Lynch. NFL Network reported Monday that fines are forthcoming.
The made-for-TV event concluded on Sunday and is scheduled to air May 27-28 on CBS, with the championship round broadcast the following weekend. A portion of the prize money is supposed to be donated to charities of the players’ choice.
Star players. Major network. Prime Vegas venue. Sounds like a winning combination that would be hard to miss. But the league officials said they were clueless until the event began. And they weren’t happy.
“Had we been asked in advance if this was acceptable, we would have indicated that it was in direct violation of the gambling policy,” Joe Lockhart, NFL vice president of communications told USA Today. “No one sought pre-approval.”
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
North Carolina has been released from the penalty box.
After repealing the controversial “bathroom bill” last week and replacing it with a compromise measure, the state was rewarded by the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference. Events that were pulled due to the anti-LGBT nature of House Bill 2 can return.
The ACC voted to put North Carolina back in the running for conference events last week and the NCAA followed suit Tuesday, announcing that the state will be considered for championship events in the 2018-22 cycle.
“We are actively determining site selections, and this new law has minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a non-discriminatory environment,” the statement read. “If we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.
“The board remains concerned that some may perceive North Carolina’s moratorium against affording opportunities for communities to extend basic civil rights as a signal that discriminatory behavior is permitted and acceptable, which is inconsistent with the NCAA Bylaws.”
Economic pressure by the NCCA and other entities paid off. The 2017 NBA All-Star Game was played in New Orleans, instead of Charlotte as originally planned. PayPal canceled an operations center that represented a $3.6 million investment and would’ve created 400 jobs. More than 120 companies signed a letter protesting the law while scores of entertainers and conventions canceled bookings. Several governors and mayors banned non-essential government travel to North Carolina.
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