I’m not sure which is more disturbing this cloudy Sunday morning — the possibility that Houston’s first round exit at the hands of Utah might spell the end of Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching tenure, or Peter Vescey telling us he finds Rachel Robinson “hot” (“take off that fake gray wig and she looks 30”). The Post’s Hoops Du Jour terrorist, typically, tears into Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki.
Never again will NoHitzki (eight puny points, 13 shabby shots in Game 6) be compared in the same sentence, graph or storyline with Larry Bird. I can’t seem to recall the Hall of Famer ever standing in one spot or another allowing two smaller defenders to dictate his shot allotment or permitting it to confine his offense to a remote area.
Larry Legend, I’m guessing, would’ve picked apart the Warriors with passes, motion, hostility and disdain.
At the same time, in all fairness, Bird was never forced to cover offensive explosiveness/nimbleness owned by the likes of Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson.
It’s safe to say the imperfectly constructed Mavs will re-appear next season fortified by imported athleticism, a guard with a playmaker’s mentality and a catch-and-score center who must be taken seriously by the defense.
Think Avery Johnson might be second-guessing himself for not trying to win the next-to-last game of the season at Oakland that established the Warriors as Dallas’ first-round opponent?
Rather than risk psychological damage in case Golden State won a game the Mavs demonstrated they wanted badly, Johnson sat four of Dallas’ top six players.
Think it might’ve been a better idea to confront the Warriors by trying to confront their matchup demons right then and there when a single triumph would’ve translated into a playoff meeting with my Paper Clips?
Of the the Nets/Cavs conference semi-final, WFAN’s Evan Roberts scoffs at Cleveland’s home court advantage. “The Quicken Loans Center…that’s an intimidating name. ‘Oh my god, they’re going to throw a loan at me.'”
Perhaps not, but they might refuse to pay the staff what they’re owed.