SB Nation Boston: All Posts by Steve von Horn

Pacers lose opportunity to beat Heat in Miami on final play

2013-05-23T14:00:04Z

Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Eastern Conference Finals could not have ended in a more dramatic fashion. When Paul George nailed a 30-foot three-pointer to send the game into extra time, it became an unforgettable night for everyone involved. By the time LeBron James guided in the game-winning layup with his left hand to give the Miami Heat a 103-102 overtime win, the contest had transformed into an instant-classic. Here's a peek at the reactions from the SB Nation team blogs after the drama from Game 1.

Heat 103, Pacers 102 (OT)

The typical collapse/comeback narrative never really developed in this game, because the Pacers kept things close for the entire night. Miami never led by more than seven points, despite a playoff career-high 16 points on 7-7 shooting from Chris "Birdman" Andersen and a historic 30-point, ten-assist, ten-rebound triple-double from LeBron James.

LeBron James is the 1st player with at least 26 Pts, 10 Ast, 10 Reb & 3 Blk in a playoff game since Ralph Sampson in 1986. @eliassports
— NBA History (@NBAHistory) May 23, 2013

The lead changed hands 17 times and the score was leveled on 18 occasions, as neither group got hot from beyond the arc (Indiana shot 4-14 from three, Miami shot 5-18). The Heat built up a healthy advantage in the paint with 60 points on crisp 30-44 shooting -- compared to 48 points on a middling 24-46 for Indiana -- and no two points were bigger than LeBron's final bucket in extra time.

For more on this series, visit: Pacers blog Indy Cornrows Heat blog Hot Hot Hoops

The stage for the stunner was set by a Dwyane Wade foul that sent Paul George to the line for three free throws and pushed George's total to a team-high 27 points, as he gave Indiana a 102-101 lead with 2.2 seconds remaining in overtime. Every Miami fan moved to the edge of their seat as Shane Battier made the sideline inbounds to LeBron, who torched George at the point of attack and put in the game winner just like this:

Miami Heat blog Hot Hot Hoops couldn't believe things came together so beautifully at the end for the defending champs:

Overtime found many of the players fatigued, tallying 40+ minutes. Paul George caught more rhythm in overtime taking over for the Pacers, while the Heat struggled to manufacture offense. Chris Bosh's 2nd rebound of the game got him and and-1 put-back that tied the game at 99 with under a minute to play. The next Heat possession found James getting a layup as Indiana took Roy Hibbert out to match up with the smaller Heat. After a inbounds scramble, Wade fouled George on a long three and George knocked down all all of them to give the Pacers a 1 point lead.

Then, it happened. Vogel took Hibbert out again, not sure why, but he did. And LeBron drove straight to the rim past George and scored a layup as time expired. The Heat won the game 103-102 and took Game 1.

Meanwhile, the decision to put Roy Hibbert on the bench in big defensive situations befuddled the other side. Matchups with Chris Bosh aren't ideal for someone like Hibbert, but the question about late-game substitutions by Frank Vogel simply had to pop up in the game recap at Pacers blog Indy Cornrows:

Vogel's decision to force James into a jumper failed when George was in bad position backfired in a big way, leading James towards the basket for the game winning layup. With Hibbert on the bench, it allowed an easy path to the basket instead of using Hibbert's defense to what was assuredly heading towards Chris Bosh to pop up the game winning shot instead.

Vogel played his odds that his defense could stay in front of James and came up snake eyes. His adjustments this postseason have been good enough to rebound from losses (usually anyway), yet there's something demoralizing about giving up Game 1 to the Heat when you have the lead. The Pacers didn't have to win this game, but they failed to seize the opportunities they have and not having this game could easily cost them later on in this series.

Despite the call, Vogel remained optimistic, citing Bosh as the reason he had Hibbert on the bench, also noting, "We'll probably have him in next time."

If Game 1 is any indication, NBA fans have one hell of a series on their hands. Game 2 in Miami is set for Friday night at 8:30 p.m ET.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: No prize is guaranteed for Cavs

• NBA mock draft consensus: Noel to Cavs | SB Nation's Big Board

• Cavs win the Lottery | Complete draft order

• Mavs could shop 13th pick

• O'Donnell: The mysterious Rudy Gobert

• Longform: Basketball and chaos in Europe

Lakers GM denies Dwight Howard complained about Mike D'Antoni

2013-05-23T13:52:55Z

Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak probably didn't expect to conduct exit interviews so early in the postseason, but even after a subpar season L.A.'s GM is still publicly stepping up to defend soon-to-be free agent Dwight Howard and embattled head coach Mike D'Antoni. A rumor has surfaced that Howard spent a portion of his exit interview complaining about D'Antoni, but Kupchak unequivocally refuted the report when speaking with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, saying:

"Criticism of a coach did not come up. Our coach did not come up."

...

"Everybody felt the season didn't go the way they wanted. They all felt there are ways to utilize their talent better going forward. That would include Dwight."

For more on Howard and the Lakers, visit: Silver Screen and Roll

When Howard hits free agency this summer the Lakers can offer him more years and more money on his next contract than any other team, which is part of the reason why Kupchak is still "optimistic" about Dwight signing with L.A. The refutation of the report fights the perception that the Lakers' front office will have a decision dictated to them by a player with regards to the coaching situation, and it helps to protect everyone involved. In other words, a firm denial was probably Kupchak's best move under the circumstances.

Medina's report suggests that Howard is considering the Lakers, Mavericks, Rockets, Hawks and Warriors as potential landing spots and that he's looking for "the best chance to win championships" with the team with the "best system around him." All Kupchak and the Lakers can do now is wait for a decision:

"The sooner he makes his mind up, the better for everybody," Kupchak said. "But I told him when he first got here, 'I'm not going to bug you. I believe this is the place for you. When you make your mind up, let me know.' "

The Lakers can't officially sign Howard until July 10, so expect the rumors and whispers trying to peg his intentions to continue for at least another month.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: No prize is guaranteed for Cavs

• NBA mock draft consensus: Noel to Cavs | SB Nation's Big Board

• Cavs win the Lottery | Complete draft order

• Mavs could shop 13th pick

• O'Donnell: The mysterious Rudy Gobert

• Longform: Basketball and chaos in Europe

Byron Scott, Brian Shaw to be Clippers coach candidates, according to report

2013-05-23T13:13:48Z

The Los Angeles Clippers have elected to let go Vinny Del Negro, and although the team hasn't officially talked to anyone about the job yet, an initial list of coaching candidates has emerged. The "top candidates" for the Clippers job are former Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, Warriors assistant Mike Malone and Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, according to Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times. Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw, former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy and former Suns coach Alvin Gentry are also reportedly candidates to be the next head man in L.A.

The team is expected to have a coach in place before the 2013 NBA Draft on June 27.

For more on L.A.'s coaching search, visit Clips Nation

The Clippers will be looking to re-sign Chris Paul this summer, and Scott has worked with Paul in the past during his time in New Orleans. That doesn't necessarily mean he will have an advantage in the interview process, however. The team apparently hasn't talked to any of the candidates yet, and they are just starting the search process. Team owner Donald Sterling popped up in San Antonio before the Del Negro decision was official for a playoff game to watch Budenholzer and the Spurs take on Lionel Hollins (also a potential candidate) and the Memphis Grizzlies.

For a breakdown of every top candidate in the search, head over to Clips Nation and check out a preliminary look at the field.

More from SB Nation:

• Flannery: No prize is guaranteed for Cavs

• NBA mock draft consensus: Noel to Cavs | SB Nation's Big Board

• Cavs win the Lottery | Complete draft order

• Mavs could shop 13th pick

• O'Donnell: The mysterious Rudy Gobert

• Longform: Basketball and chaos in Europe

Is Bucks GM John Hammond too nice to run a great coaching search?

2013-05-23T12:05:03Z

When the excitement of the 2013 NBA Draft Lottery ended on Tuesday night, Milwaukee Bucks fans were once again left to ponder their team's placement in the middle of the NBA pack. General manager John Hammond has somehow managed to pull off a rare triple play for his team heading into the draft: no lottery pick, no playoff wins and no head coach. Now the only one of those things that Hammond will address this summer is irritating me.

John Hammond works really hard. He is a good man. That's what he wants us to say, and he told us so in his introductory press conference (around the 8:37 mark). He's a nice guy who doesn't mind being known as a nice guy, and I think it shows. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but at a critical juncture where the perception of serious culture change is so important to a broken down fan base on the brink of a revolt, his steady approach has left me feeling like the Milwaukee Bucks are still squarely in the middle of the pack, even on something as basic as a coaching search.

It's not just the fact that the top two candidates -- Jerry Sloan and Stan Van Gundy -- turned Hammond and the Bucks down without even making a formal interview. And it's not that Milwaukee's GM said he was "honored" that an out-of-work head coach known to be interested in returning to the NBA (Sloan) was gracious enough to welcome him to a farm to chat casually about a legitimate NBA job opening. That stuff was bound to happen. Hammond hasn't made Milwaukee a prime destination for the cream of any NBA crop. Instead, it's the timing of the recent failures that really bothers me.

When the Bucks were quietly eliminated from the postseason by LeBron James and Miami Heat, Hammond moved quickly to wipe Jim Boylan out of the picture for 2013-14 and beyond. I would have asked our GM to give himself a round of applause for making that move, but I assumed at the time that he was still sitting on his hands.

Recall that he was too nice to call Boylan an interim coach, despite the obvious reality of the situation. I truly believe that he wanted to give Boylan a full vote of confidence. Hammond probably thought there was a universe where things could work out just right and everybody could stay. It's the same optimistic impulse that led him to give big second chances to failed team leaders like Corey Maggette, John Salmons, Drew Gooden, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis. It's why the Bucks are still feel like they're fighting for scraps that other teams discard.

I don't think he ever even considered starting the real coaching search in January, like he should have, because that's a bit more cutthroat than most nice guys are willing to be. The moment Skiles walked away from the team on Jan. 8 -- or at least by the time Hammond received a three-year extension on Jan. 24 -- the Bucks' GM should have been finalizing his list together and working the back channels with NBA agents to gauge the interest of various coaching candidates.

The largely unfortunate informal conversations with unemployed coaches like Stan Van Gundy, Jerry Sloan and Nate McMillan should have taken place months ago. The so-called "top targets" should have been crossed off the list long before the Heat swept the Bucks out of the playoffs. It would have saved the team a bit of public embarrassment, and it could have helped the front office focus on finding the best young assistant (from current candidates Kelvin Sampson, J.B. Bickerstaff and Steve Clifford) to target with an offer they would not be able to refuse. Instead, it feels like the process has stalled and the franchise is scrambling to react to bad news. They're now cobbling together a longer list of secondary candidates that other teams don't want (Larry Drew and perhaps Lionel Hollins). It's become yet another layer of frustrating inertia for fans to deal with.

At a moment in Bucks history where perception feels like reality, Hammond and Milwaukee are stuck in the middle without a clear plan to communicate to the masses. This isn't the first time things have played out this way, either.

In the introductory press conference I linked to above, literally seconds before he asked us to remember him as someone who worked hard and was a good man, John Hammond declared that he was going to take the coaching search at his own pace (no set dates!) and that he was looking for a coach with "the kind of qualities that Larry Krystkowiak has."

Yes, he did indeed utter those words. Even after a 26-56 season that prompted Hammond to fire Krystkowiak in one of his first moves on the job, he not only couldn't bring himself to say a bad word about Larry K, but he couldn't even manage to avoid praising a guy who was clearly in over his head. Larry freaking Krystkowiak, for goodness' sake!

Maybe I'm overthinking things at the outset of a slow offseason. Maybe the perfect plan is already in place. Maybe the Bucks have their man in their sights, and the rest of this coaching search noise is just part of a GM's due diligence. We may find out when the dominoes start to fall, because eventually some of the candidates on Milwaukee's list will starting taking other jobs. Maybe John Hammond likes all of his options so much that he can't decide on one. That would certainly be the nicest way to conduct his search.

It's been said that nice guys finish last, but John Hammond has proven to me that in the NBA nice guys can easily get you stuck somewhere in the middle. That's probably the nicest thing I can say at the moment, because unfortunately he has yet to prove that he get the Bucks where we actually want them to be. I don't know what John Hammond is searching for, but I sure hopes he finds it soon.

Greg Oden making progress in comeback effort, according to Deshaun Thomas

2013-05-17T18:46:43Z

Greg Oden hasn't played in the NBA since the 2009-10 season, but he's still working toward a comeback and may be making progress in his quest to return to the NBA. Oden, who is a free agent, has been helping Ohio State forward Deshaun Thomas prepare for the 2013 NBA Draft, and Thomas thinks the former No. 1 overall pick looks great on the court (via The Oregonian):

"Man, he looks unbelievable," Thomas said. "He's running, he's lifting weights. You might be seeing a comeback. He looks like he is ready to go. He's running, getting in shape. I'll tell you one thing: For a big 7-footer, that's all he does -- running and getting in shape. He's looking right."

There are more than a few qualifiers to this report, however. Thomas is not an NBA scout or talent evaluator, "running and getting in shape" is not playing in a full-contact game against NBA top competition and both players belong to an Ohio State basketball family that probably wants to help each member in any way possible. Thomas tossed out a lot of superlatives in his sound bite on Oden, and perhaps that's the best thing he can do for a fellow Buckeye.

On the other hand, this isn't the first time we've heard about a possible comeback. Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant acknowledged the team's interest in signing Oden to a new deal back in February. At that time it was rumored that the Cavaliers were preparing to offer Oden a two-year deal with a team option for a third year. Nothing substantive ever materialized from that report, but now the big man is back in the news and the normal free agency period is rapidly approaching.

If a team isn't willing or able to gamble big money of the oft-injured Andrew Bynum this summer, maybe they will take a chance and sign Oden to a smaller speculative deal. At the very least, it seems that Oden is still preparing himself for that type of opportunity.

More from SB Nation:

• 3 reasons the Thunder have gone fishin'

• Watch Kevin Durant's sad Charlie Brown walk

• Sacramento's wide open future

• Ziller: 8 thoughts on the Kings staying

• J.R. Smith had a dream

• Flannery: The Pacers are happening

NBA Draft Combine 2013: Victor Oladipo's vertical stands out in athletic testing results

2013-05-17T17:38:01Z

Day 2 of the 2013 NBA Draft Combine featured athletic testing drills for top prospects and NBA hopefuls, and some of the players who failed to post prototypical physical measurements on Thursday responded by excelling in strength and agility testing. Indiana guard Victor Oladipo certainly wowed some observers with his vertical jump numbers. Here's a rundown of some of the numbers for top prospects, via Chad Ford on Twitter.

Victor Oladipo raised a few eyebrows on Thursday when he measured 6'4.25 tall with shoes, but he left no doubts about his elite athleticism on Friday. The 21-year-old defender recorded a 33-inch standing vertical leap and an eye-popping 42-inch max vertical. Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore also posted top-notch numbers, including a 32-and-a-half-inch standing vertical and a 42-inch max vertical. Both players fared well in the sprints and agility drills, too. They are currently projected to be top-10 picks in the upcoming draft.

The raw athletic numbers still aren't the end-all-be-all in the draft process, of course, as some of the best athletes at the combine have failed in the NBA due to holes in their game:

42-inch vertical for Victor Oladipo. Others w/42 or better, via @draftexpress: N. Robinson, Claxton, Shumpert, Ewing Jr., Selby, Farmar.
— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) May 17, 2013

Some guards didn't fare as well in the tests. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope only registered a 29-inch standing vertical and 34-and-a-half-inch max vertical. Archie Goodwin posted a 30-inch standing vertical and 36-inch max vertical.

Visit our 2013 NBA Draft section for more coverage

The big men also performed the same tests, and interesting results emerged from that process as well. Rudy Gobert's freakish length impressed scouts on Thursday, but his 25-inch standing vertical and 29-inch max vertical were low numbers for a big man. By contrast, Cody Zeller impressed observers as he reached 35-and-a-half inches on his standing vertical and 37-and-a-half inches on his max vertical. Zeller actually tested out as one of the best athletes at the combine, according to Ford.

Power forward Tony Mitchell from North Texas opened eyes with his max vertical leap when he cleared the rack and hit 38 inches -- tops among power forwards.

More from SB Nation:

• 3 reasons the Thunder have gone fishin'

• Watch Kevin Durant's sad Charlie Brown walk

• Sacramento's wide open future

• Ziller: 8 thoughts on the Kings staying

• J.R. Smith had a dream

• Flannery: The Pacers are happening

Hawks considering Ettore Messina as head coach, according to report

2013-05-17T14:15:35Z

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry is giving "significant consideration" to hiring CSKA Moscow head coach Ettore Messina as the team's next head coach, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. No NBA team has ever hired a European-born coach as a head man, so the move would be an historic one for the league.

Messina has won four Euroleague Championships and two Coach of the Year awards. He previously worked in the NBA on Mike Brown's staff with the Lakers in 2011-12, and he is reportedly "intrigued with the chance to be a global trail blazer in the NBA." He and Ferry have discussed the possibility of the hiring, but Stan Van Gundy is still the team's top target.

For more on the Hawks' offseason, visit Peachtree Hoops

Head coach Larry Drew is technically still under contract as the coach of the Hawks, but Ferry has been active in searching for someone to replace him when his deal expires on June 30. Ferry interviewed former head coach Nate McMillan for the job on Wednesday, and he has granted Drew permission to talk with other teams.

This isn't the first time Ferry has taken interest in Messina. When Ferry was the GM of the Cavaliers, he sent Mike Brown overseas to study Messina's offense in action.

More from SB Nation:

• 3 reasons the Thunder have gone fishin'

• Watch Kevin Durant's sad Charlie Brown walk

• Sacramento's wide open future

• Ziller: 8 thoughts on the Kings staying

• J.R. Smith had a dream

• Flannery: The Pacers are happening

Spurs vs. Grizzlies schedule, 2013 NBA Playoffs: Series begins on Sunday

2013-05-17T13:38:17Z

The San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies are the two Western Conference teams left in the 2013 NBA playoff bracket, and Game 1 of their Conference Finals series is set for Sunday, May 19, at 3:30 p.m. ET in San Antonio. The Spurs were in the Western Conference Finals last season, while the Grizzlies are wading in uncharted waters. Every game will be broadcast exclusively on national telecasts -- in this case, ABC or ESPN -- and the dates and times have been pre-determined for all seven games.

For more on this series, visit: Grizzly Bear Blues Pounding the Rock

Tim Duncan will have his hands full with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, while Tony Parker will need to find an edge against Mike Conley if the Spurs hope to make it back to the NBA Finals with their aging core group of star players.

The winner of the series will take on the Eastern Conference representative in the 2013 NBA Finals, which are set to start on June 6. The Miami Heat will take on either the Indiana Pacers or the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals.