For loyal fans of the Phoenix Suns, their closest link to the 2012
Western Conference finals is the in-game analysis Steve Kerr provides
for TNT.
The former Suns general manager, who usually
provides solid tactical explanations, knows both of this year's
combatants extremely well. Kerr's hired-gun tour of NBA glory included
reserve duty for the Spurs in San Antonio, where current Oklahoma City
Thunder vice president/GM Sam Presti cut his talent-evaluation
teeth.
During Sunday's broadcast of Game 1 between
the Thunder and Spurs, Kerr accurately credited Presti with making a few
prudent draft-night decisions in building a budding powerhouse. TNT
even provided a handy graphic element. Presti was pretty fortunate that
Kevin Durant was still on the board when the then-Seattle SuperSonics
had the second pick in the 2007 party, but his choices since then have
been fairly inspired.
It's truly unfortunate,
especially for Suns fans, that Kerr didn't provide Phoenix with the same
level of sage selecting. Kerr wasn't around all that long, but the
damage he and his personnel team did -- not to mention the garage-sale
approach that owner Robert Sarver used during preceding drafts --
continues to haunt the Suns on the floor.
Although
the current regime is on record as considering bringing back Robin
Lopez, Kerr certainly could have done better than the lesser 7-footer
from Stanford with the 15th pick in 2008. Still available when Phoenix
selected were Nic Batum, Ryan Anderson, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, JaVale
McGee and Presti selection Serge
Ibaka.
The following year, Kerr and the
Suns went with the marvelous Earl Clark at 14, passing on Jrue Holiday,
Ty Lawson, Darren Collison and post defender Taj
Gibson.
To be fair in this fish-in-a-barrel use of
hindsight, there's no guarantee that any of the aforementioned players
would have done as well in a Suns uniform. The Suns, you may have
noticed, really don't seem that committed to player
development.
By the way, this year's draft lottery
will occur Wednesday night. The Suns are 13th on the odds-to-win list,
with a 0.7 percent chance to land Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis. Under
the present system, the Chicago Bulls pulled the biggest upset in
winning the Derrick Rose draft of 2008, when they were ninth with a 1.7
percent opportunity.
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR
LAKERS?
We're not sure what Los Angeles
Lakers coach Mike Brown can do for his team next season, but he did
provide a timely strategy deficit during their recent
conference-semifinal loss to the Thunder.
"That's
why, if I'm the Lakers, I'd think twice before gutting the roster," an
assistant coach employed by another Western Conference franchise said.
"While I do think Oklahoma City's better, younger, more athletic and so
on, the Lakers might have actually won that series with a better plan in
the fourth quarter of most of those games.
"The
players definitely failed to make plays, and Kobe (Bryant) should be
singled out for going rogue in the offense. He's done that for years,
and maybe he was too tired to keep going to the basket, but it really
killed them against Oklahoma City. But the worst of it is the
adjustments, or lack of them, made by the coaching
staff."
How about an
example?
"Well, OKC would wait until deep in the
second half before having (center Kendrick) Perkins front (semi-comatose
center Andrew) Bynum on the block. Now, Bynum deserves some blame from
not working hard enough to keep his top foot above Perkins, but the
Lakers did nothing to exploit the fronting. They easily could have
emptied the space behind Bynum by lifting (semi-soft power forward Pau)
Gasol to the free-throw line or running a weak-side stagger for Kobe to
occupy the help defense."
Not so much,
huh?
"They (the Lakers) kept the lane congested, and
there was no opportunity to throw the lob over Perkins. Heck, someone
could have just shot a jumper and Bynum would have had inside rebounding
position."
With the number of jumpers missed by
Bryant in several fourth quarters, that should have been a
breeze.
THE PERKINS
PROBLEM
The same assistant said Perkins
looms as a tremendous liability against the
Spurs.
"He's one of the worst bigs in the league as
far as getting out and defending screen-roll," the coach said. "You saw
it in Game 1. Scotty (Thunder coach Brooks) has a dilemma there, because
when Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) goes small, (Thunder forward
Serge) Ibaka would have to guard someone on the perimeter, and that
takes the league's best shot-blocker away from the rim. That puts
Perkins in screen-roll with Duncan, and Perkins is terrible at getting
out there and taking the proper angle to at least slow down either
(Tony) Parker or (Manu) Ginobili until his teammates can recover to
them. He just left Ginobili one time before the guy guarding him had
gotten over the screen. Just left him.
Unbelievable."
But the solution isn't as simple as
directing Perkins to the bench and going small, with Ibaka as the lone
OKC big man on the floor.
"Ibaka is hardly great at
screen-roll defense himself," the assistant said. "And when that
happens, he has Duncan on the post, and Duncan would wear him
out."
These defensive issues won't seem as alarming
if the OKC big three -- Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden
-- can improve upon their combined 22-of-57 Game 1 marksmanship.
