Busy Sunday in the NBA

It was fitting that today was the launch point for network NBA coverage, because it was an extremely busy day in the league. All 10 games were within 11 points, and a whopping seven of them were decided by three or less. The Bucks beat the Wizards in overtime despite Caron Butler going for 40 and Michael Redd missing the game. The Suns got a W despite scoring just 88 points (in fact, they had the largest margin of victory with 11 over the Bulls). LeBron out dueled Kobe. Turkoglu sunk the KG-less Celtics with a ridiculous turnaround three. The Blazers stormed back from 19 down for a big win over the Hawks. Al Jefferson went for 40 and 19 in a win over New Jersey. Andris Biedrins snared 26 rebounds in a 106-104 victory over the Knicks. Chris Webber was rumored to be returning to the Warriors. Oh, and the Lakers-Cavs game was delayed because supposedly some wet rain gear was dripping on the court. That's a lot.

That said, here were the two key things I noticed amidst all the excitement:

1. Dwight Howard needs a passer. Hedo's big moment aside, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a doomed Orlando team today. Considering that the Magic has Dwight Howard manning the middle, plenty of shooting on the wings, and residence in the Eastern Conference, that shouldn't be the case. But watching them play is just extremely frustrating. That is because they have this monster of a lowpost player yet he gets the ball once every 15 possessions or so. Now, I understand that Howard still delivers exceptional value even when he's not getting post feeds, because he dominates the boards, protects the rim, and draws defenders into the paint. That said, the fact remains that he's Orlando's best player. He should be getting the ball! There was a stretch in the fourth quarter in which Howard went nearly five minutes without receiving a pass (he did snare three offensive rebounds). When they finally did throw it to him, he absorbed a double team, spun baseline, and dunked over two help defenders. "Effortless" doesn't even begin to describe the move. Yet the Magic went right back to not passing to him again. Obviously, it isn't hard to figure out why Howard is denied the rock. He's surrounded by poor passers. Some Orlando players simply lack tremendous skill in that area (see: Maurice Evans), but in most cases it is because the members of the Magic suffer from a terrible case of "get-mine-itis." Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis both carry themselves like superstars and take atrocious shots on a regular basis. Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling are point guards in name only, always looking for their shot first. Carlos Arroyo also shoots too much but is even more fond of over dribbling until he turns the ball over. Brian Cook heaves up shots like the ball is literally on fire. I've never seen a team with such a poor understanding of its own strengths and weaknesses. I can only imagine what Dwight Howard would do if he played with a point guard like Steve Nash or Chris Paul or Jose Calderon. Hell, even if he played with a point guard like Steve Blake. What a travesty.

(And let me just say for the record that while Turkoglu's three was impressive and a skillful shot, it was also one of the worst looks I've ever seen for a game winner, when you consider the circumstances. The Magic had the ball with 11 seconds left, at home, in a tie game and they wind up with a fadeaway 27-foot three-pointer. Yes, it went in, but that was a truly horrible shot.)

[Update: After posting this, I went back and checked the stats for the season and Howard currently ranks well behind both Lewis and Turkoglu in field goal attempts per game. Furthermore, he's only sixth on the team in FGA's per 48 minutes, which is just ridiculous. When you consider how many attempts come from his own offensive rebounds, it is increasingly apparent that he is actually thrown the ball about 10 times a game. I am growing more angry about this by the second.]

Brandon Roy is virtually unstoppable one-on-one. It was funny, because the Blazers-Hawks game today wasn't shaping up to be part of the Roy highlight reel. For the second time in less than a week, Joe Johnson was getting the better of him at both ends of the court and the Hawks appeared to be well on their way to avenging last Monday's home loss to Portland. For most of the game, Atlanta employed a very solid defensive strategy whereby they aggressively double-teamed Roy the minute Portland sent a high screen-and-roll in his direction. For reasons that I still don't entirely understand, Nate kept calling for that play and Roy kept picking up his dribble. Late in the third quarter the Blazers at least started using Channing Frye in the high post to exploit the obvious 4-on-3 advantage that the high double was creating, but Roy was still little more than a bystander. Then, just when it looked like the game was out of reach, the Blazers finally called off the pick-and-roll and just let Roy go to work. He promptly took over the game in the final three minutes, scoring on an assortment of impressive drives to the basket. The Hawks tried to put Josh Smith on him and they used Joe Johnson quite a bit, but Roy - with his exceptional ability to "be quick but not hurry" (in the words of John Wooden) - easily blew past his man and got to the rim. I think he's going to see a whole lot of double teams the rest of the year because A) it seems to work pretty well against him and B) the alternative just isn't much of an alternative. Oh, and Blazers-Hawks has the makings of a nice little rivalry going forward. Both are young teams playing hard and unselfishly and they have had consecutive thrilling finishes. Who would have thought that Portland-Atlanta would be must see TV before the season started?