This year in the playoffs, we had the potential for one of the more story-laden first round series in recent memory with Dallas (7 seed) facing Houston (a 2 seed). We had the obvious Chandler Parsons squares off against his former team dynamic, and seeing if he made the right decision this summer leaving a potential contender for the money. Man, not even speaking as a Rocket fan I wanted to see the inevitable battles between Harden and Parsons just to see how annoyed they would get with each other. They used to be bros, not sure if they still are, but I think there are two definite ways to kill a friendship: Rooming with them in college, and playing an NBA playoff series against the other guy. I also would have loved seeing the inevitable 20 brawls started by Patrick Beverley and Rajon Rondo simply because I've waited 3 years for them to be in the same conference, and they still haven't logged serious minutes against each other (needless to say, I'm devastated).
Instead, we are witnessing the potential death of a career. I'm glad all those Celtics fans have fond memories of 'Playoff Rondo,' because he so bad now. Their entire offense flat out dies when he takes the court. The man is -35 in point differential right now, its atrocious. At this point I'm fairly positive he's doing it on purpose just because he just doesn't want Carlisle to win a single playoff game out of spite. His biggest contributions are, in order, getting a technical foul trying to fight James Harden and fouling James Harden after playing some of the most ridiculously hilarious poor post defense I've ever witnessed from him. Last I knew he is, or was a good defender. I'm not sure if it's the ACL or what, but he just doesn't have it anymore.
But wait! There's more to the NBA playoffs then just the western conference! Over on the east coast, We are witnessing an equally high level of career-ending terminal illness from the once great Deron Williams. I have seen this guy hit like 11 3's in a game. I have seen it happen against my favorite team, it felt like he had 50 of them. I have been terrified of what Deron Williams can do. When he missed that baseline shot in Game 2 against the Hawks, a shot which would have tied game 2 in the closing seconds, it didn't look like it was going in at any point. In fact, I was mildly surprised he hit rim at all. He put it up like he just didn't care. In fact, he hasn't cared much at all this post-season, notching a number slightly below Rondo's -35 at -32 in plus-minus.
There’s a fascinating difference though, especially as a young coach watching this unfold from the outside perspective. Rick Carlisle has come out and said Rondo will never play in a mavericks uniform again. Conversely, Lionel Hollins is still playing Williams 30 minutes every game, despite the fact that Jarrett Jack has been averaging 18 ppg (to Williams' 7) and has a +/- of 37. To be fair, 2 games. All of this is in 2 games. No reason to freak out. Williams could still turn it around. After all, the two posted near identical numbers during the regular season in just about every category per 36 minutes especially if you hypothesize that Jack's assist numbers and +/- would improve with the starters. Yet Carlisle has freaked out, and Hollins is staying the course.
But here's the real point here, why is Carlisle dubbed a control freak and Hollins judged unwilling to adjust? Which is the right move, and why are fans of both teams proverbially crucifying the men in charge? The answer is, frustratingly, that each coach has made the absolute perfect decision. They are both down 0-2, and they need to win, but that is just about the end of the similarities in the two situations.
For Hollins, there is nobody on his roster outside of Joe Johnson who can produce offensively at all. Not to mention they're playing the “Spurs of the East” in the Atlanta Hawks, so any adjustments may not result in success anyway. But he needs to put faith in Deron, because if Williams can get back into his groove they actually still stand a chance of making this series competitive. I say that as someone who watched a LOT of basketball in the 2000's (And still remember cp3 vs Deron debates) because the regular season series between these teams sure points to a sweep. But Williams was producing at a relatively high level as late as last season, and he went into the playoffs on an upswing averaging almost 15 ppg during April to end the 2015 season. Considering Williams is averaging about 7 PPG right now, and both games of the series have been decided by 7 points or fewer, there are certainly opportunities for a turnaround of Cinderella type proportions. Not that I want to see the Hawks lose, as I said, I'm a Rockets fan and my ultimate dream this season is to see a Hawks-Spurs NBA Finals.
Carlisle needs wins, but unlike Hollins, he has no reason to believe there is any possibility that Rondo will reward his faith with them. Williams may be apathetic, but Rondo is a grown man throwing a temper tantrum every time he steps on the floor. Hell, even sitting stretching on the baseline he looks like he’s trying to figure out a way to throw a stick into the spokes on Carlisle's gameplan. Rondo's numbers are amazingly awful as I mentioned before. With him off the court, the Mavs offensive rating is above the league average of 105.1, at 106.5. With him? That number plummets to 93.8 (for reference, the worst offensive team in the league (76ers) offensive rating this season was 95.5), and playing with the starters lineups with him are averaging a -33.8 point differential. Compare that to the same lineups with JJ Barea instead and the Mavericks are averaging more points than the Rockets. On defense its more of the same. Rondo on the court results in an opponent offensive rating of an astounding 133 (the Clippers led the NBA this season with 112.4), take him off and that number careens down to a below league average 100.8 (The Rockets averaged 107 this year). Nothing about any of those numbers indicate Rondo should return to action for the Mavericks this year, and Carlisle made the right decision. So from a coach to all the fans, back off a little bit. We need wake-up calls occasionally, but for the most part we know what we're doing, and these guys are the best of the best. There's a reason they coach professionally and you do not.
But wait! There's more to the NBA playoffs then just the western conference! Over on the east coast, We are witnessing an equally high level of career-ending terminal illness from the once great Deron Williams. I have seen this guy hit like 11 3's in a game. I have seen it happen against my favorite team, it felt like he had 50 of them. I have been terrified of what Deron Williams can do. When he missed that baseline shot in Game 2 against the Hawks, a shot which would have tied game 2 in the closing seconds, it didn't look like it was going in at any point. In fact, I was mildly surprised he hit rim at all. He put it up like he just didn't care. In fact, he hasn't cared much at all this post-season, notching a number slightly below Rondo's -35 at -32 in plus-minus.
There’s a fascinating difference though, especially as a young coach watching this unfold from the outside perspective. Rick Carlisle has come out and said Rondo will never play in a mavericks uniform again. Conversely, Lionel Hollins is still playing Williams 30 minutes every game, despite the fact that Jarrett Jack has been averaging 18 ppg (to Williams' 7) and has a +/- of 37. To be fair, 2 games. All of this is in 2 games. No reason to freak out. Williams could still turn it around. After all, the two posted near identical numbers during the regular season in just about every category per 36 minutes especially if you hypothesize that Jack's assist numbers and +/- would improve with the starters. Yet Carlisle has freaked out, and Hollins is staying the course.
But here's the real point here, why is Carlisle dubbed a control freak and Hollins judged unwilling to adjust? Which is the right move, and why are fans of both teams proverbially crucifying the men in charge? The answer is, frustratingly, that each coach has made the absolute perfect decision. They are both down 0-2, and they need to win, but that is just about the end of the similarities in the two situations.
For Hollins, there is nobody on his roster outside of Joe Johnson who can produce offensively at all. Not to mention they're playing the “Spurs of the East” in the Atlanta Hawks, so any adjustments may not result in success anyway. But he needs to put faith in Deron, because if Williams can get back into his groove they actually still stand a chance of making this series competitive. I say that as someone who watched a LOT of basketball in the 2000's (And still remember cp3 vs Deron debates) because the regular season series between these teams sure points to a sweep. But Williams was producing at a relatively high level as late as last season, and he went into the playoffs on an upswing averaging almost 15 ppg during April to end the 2015 season. Considering Williams is averaging about 7 PPG right now, and both games of the series have been decided by 7 points or fewer, there are certainly opportunities for a turnaround of Cinderella type proportions. Not that I want to see the Hawks lose, as I said, I'm a Rockets fan and my ultimate dream this season is to see a Hawks-Spurs NBA Finals.
Carlisle needs wins, but unlike Hollins, he has no reason to believe there is any possibility that Rondo will reward his faith with them. Williams may be apathetic, but Rondo is a grown man throwing a temper tantrum every time he steps on the floor. Hell, even sitting stretching on the baseline he looks like he’s trying to figure out a way to throw a stick into the spokes on Carlisle's gameplan. Rondo's numbers are amazingly awful as I mentioned before. With him off the court, the Mavs offensive rating is above the league average of 105.1, at 106.5. With him? That number plummets to 93.8 (for reference, the worst offensive team in the league (76ers) offensive rating this season was 95.5), and playing with the starters lineups with him are averaging a -33.8 point differential. Compare that to the same lineups with JJ Barea instead and the Mavericks are averaging more points than the Rockets. On defense its more of the same. Rondo on the court results in an opponent offensive rating of an astounding 133 (the Clippers led the NBA this season with 112.4), take him off and that number careens down to a below league average 100.8 (The Rockets averaged 107 this year). Nothing about any of those numbers indicate Rondo should return to action for the Mavericks this year, and Carlisle made the right decision. So from a coach to all the fans, back off a little bit. We need wake-up calls occasionally, but for the most part we know what we're doing, and these guys are the best of the best. There's a reason they coach professionally and you do not.