Luka’s Corner

Now that the Utah Jazz are down 3-1 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals and on the brink of elimination, I just wanted to talk about the superb play of Deron Williams during these Playoffs and the regular season. He not only led Utah to its first Conference Final since 1998, he did that in his first ever postseason. In the Playoffs, there is an incredible amount of pressure on players (especially young ones) to perform at the highest level possible, increasingly so when you reach as far as Utah did this year. But Williams, in only his second year in the league, just took that pressure and shoved it aside. It takes an incredible amount of maturity to do that, and Williams was definitely able to do that in all three of his series played this postseason.

His stats just speak for themselves (19.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 9.0 APG throughout the Playoffs), but his most impressive feat was stepping his game up to another level in the West Finals (when it matters most). Against the Spurs, he averaged an unbelievable 29.5 PPG and 9.3 APG. This is unbelievable on its own, but add the fact that he did it against San Antonio (who has the best perimeter defense in the league) and was guarded most of the time by Bruce Bowen, a harassing All-Defense First-Teamer. With his unique mix of speed, power, play-making, and scoring, Williams simply dismantled the Spurs outside, by shooting and making three after three, and inside, by driving past the defense and, specifically, Tim Duncan. This rare mix makes him very similar to another point guard, Baron Davis of the Warriors (who I talked about in The Beast from the Bay Area), because they both can blow by the defense and lay it in or post up the defense and finish strong down low.

Another skill that makes Williams unique is his ability to play the pick-and-roll game with Carlos Boozer (an acrobatic finisher) and play the pick-and-pop game with Mehmet Okur (a deadly shooter). Not many point guards are able to do this (only Steve Nash of the Suns), and it is a skill that all play-makers should master. It is because of Williams’ play-making and scoring that enable Utah to maintain a consistent offense in a half-court game and in a fast-break game. The majority of Jazz points come from either the screen game with Williams or an iso with Williams, in which he is able to drive and dish or finish at the rim.

D-Will’s ability to run the pick-and-roll have led many people to compare him and another Jazz icon, John Stockton. Stockton in his prime had the ability to figure out when to pass and when to score, a skill Williams has also mastered, but the two are also very different. Williams is a more prolific scorer (he’s able to score 40 points in a game) than Stockton, while Stock is a more prolific passer. Williams is also able to post up smaller defenders (like Chauncey Billups) if the need be or step outside and beat a bigger man off the dribble. These are two skills that Stockton was not able to combine in his game because he did not have the physical strength to do so. Williams, on the other hand, weighs an impressive (for a PG) 205 lbs. and has arms the size of tree trunks. This enables him to use one of his patented spin moves down low or give the defender a little nudge and fade away. While there are differences between the two, you cannot help but notice how similar their play-making abilites are, both able to dish out 10 assists on any given night. Williams, like Stock before him (with Malone), is able to get Boozer and Okur involved in the Utah offense (this has made Okur an All-Star). Andrei Kirilenko also thrives off of Deron because he gets constant feeds from Williams on fast breaks and backdoor cuts to the basket.

In my opinion, Deron Williams is the John Stockton of the 21st century. Not only because he plays on Utah, but because of his incredible play-making ability and pass-first mentality. He is simply Stockton equipped with a bigger body and quicker feet.

One of the biggest problems for the NBA these days, in my opinion, is the Western Conference’s dominance over the Eastern Conference. For example, in the All-Star Game, the West simply out-ran, out-hustled, and out-played the East on both sides of the floor, winning with a final score of 153-132. They were simply too talented for the East.

When you just look at the players from the West, you just find it unbelievable how one-sided the league is. You have Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire. In this list alone, we have the season MVP, All-Star MVP, scoring leader, assist leader, rebounding leader, and steals leader. Not to mention that Marcus Camby (of the Nuggets) was named Defensive Player of the Year and Monta Ellis (of the Warriors) was named Most Improved Player. This incredible dominance of the stats and awards given out during the season proves my point that the West is just too dominant at the time being.

As we all know Dirk was MVP this season, closely edging out Steve Nash (of Phoenix) and Kobe Bryant (of Los Angeles), but the most amazing feat for Nowitzki is his team’s sheer dominance during the regular season. He led the Mavs to 67 wins and three separate win streaks of 10 games or more. Not only did Dallas do this, but they also dismantled all Eastern Conference opposition, posting a 27-3 record against teams from the East. This shows you how much tougher it is to play in the West than in the East. Even when you look at teams contending for a title around the league, you hear the same old names (San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix). Only one team from the East (Detroit) is competing for a championship on a regular basis.

Now…as if Western dominance wasn’t enough already, the league also has two new potential superstars coming to play in the West also. These two stars are Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who are most likely going to Portland and Seattle. This makes competition even more one-sided because not only do you have most of the established NBA stars playing out West, but you will also have the two kids of the future potentially balling there also. This causes an even more serious problem for the league because the West’s dominance looks to stay put for the next ten years at least. The disappointing part of all this is that the East does not appear to be improving from its now miserable state. In the Playoffs, 3 out of the 8 Eastern Conference teams had only a .500 record or less (Orlando actually had a 40-42 record) and only one team posted more than 50 wins (Detroit, with 53). On the other hand, in the West, all of the Playoff teams had a winning record and five posted more than 50 wins (Dallas with 67, Phoenix with 61, San Antonio with 58, Houston with 52, and Utah with 51).

Unless some major change occurs where the East gains another superstar or two, I do not see Western dominance going anywhere. The West is the better conference in the NBA right now, and will also be better in the future (with Oden and Durant highlighting that future group of players).

While I was watching the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals, it became clear to me that only one Piston is so consistent and so versatile that he is truly the key to Detroit. That Piston is Richard Hamilton. He is so quietly dominant for Motown that he is usually overlooked by analysts and commentators, but not by me.

The one skill Rip revolutionized in the NBA is mid-range shooting. This is a part of the game that EVERYBODY has forgotten, fans and players alike. Every player either wants to shoot the impressive three or drive to the rim for the spectacular finish. Pulling up from about 15 feet is outdated in the high school, college, and pro level. Hamilton, on the other hand, made his name known in UConn and in the NBA by curling off of screens and using a simple one-two step to pull up from 15. He never stops running to get open (something that has frustrated everyone who has had the misfortune to guard him) and is motivated simply to tire his opponent until he can barely stand, let alone run. In my opinion, he is the best all-around shooter in the league, with a lethal short-range, mid-range, and long-range shot (Ray Allen and Michael Redd are only good from the three-point line).

The reason why Hamilton is such a major factor in Detroit’s success is that he is their most consistent scorer. Chauncey Billups always sees Rip in the corner of his eye coming hard off a screen, so he is always an offensive option. Throughout the season and Playoffs, Hamilton has averaged a solid 20 PPG. Some may think that that is not that spectacular, but I would always take a guaranteed 20 points over 40 points one day and five points the next (Ron Artest and Mike Bibby…I’m talking about you). Another huge advantage of Rip’s game is that he always tires his opponent, usually opposing teams’ stars. Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant have both felt his wrath and their offensive games immediately suffered on the other side of the court. This takes pressure off of the other Pistons on the defensive end because they need to only focus on their men. They do not need to help Rip defensively on Wade and Bryant, because they have already lost so much energy chasing Hamilton around hard screens set by Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince.

Rip might not be the strongest or most athletic guy in the league, but his conditioning is top-notch and unbelievably demoralizing to opponents. With this running ability, not only Hamilton prospers (with 20 PPG), but the whole Piston squad thrives on it. He is the most unique shooter in the NBA, with his mid-range shot, and unanimously the most annoying. He is the main reason why Detroit has been so successful in recent years.