The term “crazy” is thrown around a lot these days.
A plethora of armchair psychologists offer instant diagnoses on criminals and celebrities, pitchers and presidents. I’m as guilty as anyone, too easily applying the label to individuals who demonstrate egregious behavior that’s far from the norm.
In rare and extraordinary cases with serious consequences at stake, real doctors might offer public opinions on, say, a certain newsmaker they believe is psychotic and suffering from malignant narcissism. But sharing such analyses are frowned upon in the medical community and happen infrequently, leaving us laymen to reach our own conclusions.
Such as: “LaVar Ball must be crazy.”
What other explanation is there? The father of likely top-three NBA draft pick Lonzo Ball has launched the Big Baller Brand ZO2 sneakers and priced them at $495. That’s just nuts, right?
“I figure that’s what the shoe is worth,” he said Friday on ESPN Radio. “When you are your own owner you can come up with any price you want.”
The shoes might not be the most outrageous product in the Triple B catalog. A pair of shower sandals will set you back $220. Ball has a reason for that, too: “Prada and Gucci is selling theirs for what they want,” he said. “Ours is better than that.”
A quick Web search revealed Gucci sandals priced from $190 to $495. (I think that’s insane, too, but different strokes, etc.)
There are numerous ways to impact a basketball game. You can score. Set screens. Rebound. Make passes. Defend.
Washington coach Scott Brooks notes that many players are overly fascinated with putting the ball in the basket. Conversely, most coaches – with Houston’s Mike D’Antoni the notable exception – strongly prefer stops as difference makers.
Sometimes, both factions can have their way. Coaches get the extra-effort, in-your-face defense they crave, and players fly up down the court torching the scoreboard. When that happens, the result can be ugly for the opposition. Boston found out the hard way, 121-102, as it was routed for the second consecutive game in the second-round series.
Observers who went to Verizon Center only for the last couple of games are wondering how brooms weren’t passed out on Sunday. They find it hard to fathom that this Celtics team opened the series by beating this Wizards team twice in Boston.
Nothing that transpired in downtown D.C. suggests these squads are remotely close. The visitors were manhandled on the boards and in the paint, overwhelmed by the Wizards’ size and length. There were glimpses of the mismatch in Boston, too, just not long enough or convincingly enough for a win.
But if you look at the totality of Washington’s play in this series, there’s little doubt which team is superior.
Prior to Game 3 of the Wizards-Celtics playoff series, Boston coach Brad Stevens offered his assessment of the proceedings to that point. He said his team had been “pounded” in five of the eight quarters, even though Washington lost each game.
Make it nine out of 12. And a 2-1 series.
The Wizards battered the Celtics from wire-to-wire in a rounding 116-89 victory. If Boston stole Washington’s heart in the first two games, the Wizards snatched it back, punched the Celtics in the nose and kicked them in the rear.
The fight was over early but there’d be no standing-eight and Boston couldn’t throw in the towel. So Washington kept wailing away, leading by 22 points after the first quarter and 30 points late in the third.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had been ejected early in the second quarter for charging Kelly Olynyk like a corner blitz. Oubre took exception to a hard screen that included an elbow to the jaw. He eventually was joined by teammate Brandon Jennings and Boston’s Terry Rozier, who seemed on the verge of blows during a 60-second span in the fourth quarter when they received a pair of double technicals for excessive yapping and menacing behavior.
The night sparked memories of playoff basketball in the 1980s, when the term “flagrant foul” was redundant. The physical nature of the first two games was ratcheted up several notches, except this time the Wizards were the aggressors. Bad blood was on full display for two teams that … well, let the superstar point guards explain.
Since Allen Iverson was “The Answer,” Isaiah Thomas must be “The Question.” As in: “How does someone so small come up so large in moments so big?
It beats me. And he’s beating the Wizards.
A player who stands 5-foot-9 is not supposed to take over NBA games in crunch time. He’s not supposed to carry the team on his back like an ant hauling a picnic basket. He’s not supposed to score 20 points in the fourth quarter and nine in overtime while Washington’s entire team scores 30 points over that span.
But that’s what Thomas did for the Boston Celtics Tuesday night in a 129-119 thriller that left the Wizards behind in the series, two games to none. Thomas connected on 18 of 33 field goal attempts (54 percent) and finished with 53 points.
“A great player had a great game,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters.
The Wizards lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals for several reasons. They let Boston connect on 19 of 39 three-pointers. They were outscored by 20 points in the third quarter. They missed the difference that Markieff Morris can make.
In overcoming a 16-0 deficit to start, the Celtics later led by 17 points and eventually won, 123-111. The lead changed hands exactly once as Boston enjoyed sizable contributions from forward Jae Crowder (6-of-8 behind the arc) and center Al Horford (21 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists).
The biggest boost came from the smallest player, point guard Isaiah Thomas, who led all scorers with 33 points, hitting 5-of-11 3-pointers and dishing out nine assists.
Thomas has been the Celtics’ pivotal player all season. An unfortunate layer was added to his story with the death of his sister, whose funeral he attended on Saturday before flying cross country and arriving back in Boston at 4 a.m., nine hours before he torched the Wizards and lost a tooth in the process.
It’s hard to root against him. He’s 5-foot-9 in a land of giants. He’s looks like a cute little kid, a slightly bigger version than his son. He’s playing with a heavy heart. That’s Hollywood stuff. I get it.
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!
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.
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By DERON SNYDER
