Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker and Kelcey Wright Johnson weigh in on the most pertinent news from around the NBA. What’s lit? What’s lame? Find out each week right here.
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2020 9:41 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Hey Kelcey! As I write you this email, it’s Monday morning, just a few hours after Anthony Davis drilled the game-winning three to put the Lakers up 2-0 over the Denver Nuggets. I assume you, like me, were watching and were as excited by that shot as everyone else. (Well, except Nuggets fans.)
There are plenty of things to question about that last play, particularly about the way Plumlee/Grant defended it—letting Anthony Davis just run unbothered to the three-point line was a bold choice—as well as about the way Mike Malone handled his lineups—maybe you could stick Bol Bol in there for that final play? But at the end of the day, Anthony Davis made the shot. He was open, sure, but he had to knock it down. And with the clock running down and hitting zero point zero, Davis drained the jumper.
Which made me start thinking about game-winning shots as the clock expired over the years. What comes to mind for you as some of the ultimate buzzer-beating game-winners? (And I’m posing the question, so I get to go with Michael Jordan over Craig Ehlo as my favorite of all-time.)
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2020 10:23 AM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Lang,
First off – that’s hurtful (haha!). I told you I was part of Nuggets Nation last week, so I was not excited! I was crushed! I was standing up and yelling at the TV! Honestly, I think it was a brilliant play drawn-up by the Lakers because you know the Nuggets will be switching everything — but to use LeBron as a decoy roller to the rim makes Jeremi Grant’s switching decision a truly difficult one. Do you go out to put a hand up on AD’s 3 and leave a potentially wide-open roll to the hoop for LeBron? Obviously the answer is no, and AD hit the 3. But at the end of the day, it is the choice between a LeBron lay-up and an AD fade-away three… it probably still was the best decision (just really bad communication by the Nuggets defenders).
I was also thinking, when was the last time a coach drew up a play and used LeBron as a decoy in a one-possession game? The 2018 finals come to mind when J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t get LeBron the ball at the end of regulation in Game 1 and LeBron punched the whiteboard and hurt his hand. Do you remember that? All that to say, the Nuggets probably thought LeBron was rolling to the hoop which is why Grant didn’t switch in time as he held off LeBron from cutting even when Plumlee tagged him out. Can you tell I stirred about this all night last night?
But back to your question. Because I wasn’t alive, or was an infant for most of the big Jordan moments, I’m gonna bring one up that I lived up-close-and-personal just last year. Kawhi Leonard‘s Game 7 *bounce bounce bounce bounce* shot over the Sixers. While the ball was in the air, I swear time literally stopped. My parents have this picture with Kawhi crouched down framed in their basement.
The other one that I could watch a thousand times is Damian Lillard‘s 37-foot *bye bye* series clinching buzzer-beater against OKC last year. His nonchalant dribbles, the quick step-back, the turn and wave and then the straight face camera eye contact while his teammates pile on top of him. That was an instant classic.
Back to the Lakers for a second, Lang. On the weekend, LeBron was very raw and honest about how he felt about only receiving 16 first-ballot votes for MVP this year. Do you think he deserved more votes, or do you look at the votes and agree with them?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2020 6:26 PM
To: Kelcey W. Johnson
Subject: Re: IMHO
LeBron has a case. But there are some other things that need to be addressed as well.
To begin with, looking through some of the names on the voting list, I had to wonder why 100 people are voting on these awards. There were several votes that could only be considered questionable, to be kind. It made me think about events like the NBA Finals or Summer league, when a select panel of like 7 people makes the vote. Then you can ensure that the people voting deserve to shape these awards. I covered the league for like a decade before I got a vote in the postseason awards, and I had a vote for a bunch of years. I was always upfront and published my ballot and explained my ballot, and was willing to engage in discussion with fans around my votes, because it was something I took seriously. That one dude who voted for Zion said he voted for him in part because he was scheduled to be on TV a lot. Which makes no sense.
The other thing we need to decide is what exactly does “valuable” mean in this context? When Shaq was in his prime, I always thought you could make a valid case that there was no player in the League as valuable as Shaq was. Giannis presents a similar conundrum: He’s not the most polished player or the slickest, but he definitely was the best player on the best team in the league all season. The way the Bucks play doesn’t work without Giannis in the middle of it. His value to the Bucks is unquestioned. But when we try and extrapolate that out and examine his value relative to the league’s other top players? It’s tough.
The League doesn’t make it easier — nobody really defines what “valuable” means. You just get a ballot and have to fill it out. I still think LeBron is the best player in the NBA. But this isn’t the best player award. It’s the award for the player with the most value to his team. And that player, to me, was the guy who didn’t have Anthony Davis on his team. I think Giannis deserved the award, but I hear LeBron loud and clear.
But back to the Nuggets. You’re Mike Malone. You’re down 0-2 to the Lake Show. On the bright side, at least you were in that game with the Lakers until the last shot. What do you do? Change the lineup? Find a spark somewhere? Or keep doing what you’ve been doing and hope your luck changes?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 9:19 AM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Lang, if I’m Mike Malone I’m chilling. That sounds crazy, right? But the last two series, the Nuggets went down 3-1 and were able to claw their way back.
Now the series is 2-1, so keeping with tradition; the Lakers should win the next game and the Nuggets will win out from there.
Ok – obviously that’s not the goal for this Nuggets team, but all that to say: this team never stops playing. When they’re down, when they’re up (except for that horrible 20-2 run in game three), when they’re injured, when they’re tired. I know I called for a Nuggets and Heat finals and it sounded ludicrous, but I really like the way the Nuggets play, and the grit and resilience the team has. They don’t have the best player on the court, or the best duo, or the expectations… but they’ve got incredible heart and mentally they’re TOUGH. Just look at the rebounding battle last night; they won that 44-25 — that’s a pure ‘we want it more’ stat.
In Game 3, they had 27 points from their bench and then 26, 22, and 28 from Jokic, Murray and Jerami Grant. Whereas the Lakers had only two players with over 20 points in AD and LeBron. It’s tough to play a team night-in-and-night-out that scores by committee so well because you can only take away so many open looks.
So if I’m Mike Malone, I’m doing exactly whatever it was I did in the last two series to keep my team motivated and prepare for *yet another* comeback.
But on the ECF side, the Heat have taken the series lead. Miami has said they need a faster start heading into the remaining games — what do you think Boston needs to pull out the W?
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2020 9:51 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: Re: IMHO
If I’m the Celtics, I’m actually of similar thought process as you are with the Nuggets: I’m OK with where we are right now. The Celts got completely confused in Game 1 when the Heat went to that zone defense, and the Heat seemed like they couldn’t miss a shot if they were trying to miss.
I said on “Rise & Grind” the other morning that if I was the Celtics, and you told me I was going to lose to a team where Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic were making the big shots, I would actually be kind of OK with that. And I like how the Celtics have made an effort to make Robinson and Tyler Herro be involved on the defensive end, to attack Miami’s weakest links.
To me, if Boston is going to win this series, Jayson Tatum has to be the best player in the series. Tatum might be the most talented player in the series, but he hasn’t consistently played like the best player on the court. And if he can pull that off, the Celtics will roll to the Finals.