Fathead Blog

The first round of the NBA playoffs became survival of the fittest with player after player going down with an injury. The list looks like an all-star roster. The Bulls, Hawks, Magic and even Knicks could all blame injuries for their first round exits. As the conference semi-finals get underway, the playoff picture is much different than I expected with the 50-win Bulls and everybody’s “sleeper” team (Memphis) eliminated. Time to reassess and rank the eight teams still standing.

The Thunder have been very convincing during the NBA playoffs, already eliminating the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

No. 8   Philadelphia 76ers

This young team took advantage of an injury-riddled Bulls team and became the fifth No. 8 seed to advance to the second round. They have stolen home-court advantage against the Celtics with a game two win and showed that they will make Boston earn a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

No. 7   Los Angeles Clippers

The jam-packed NBA schedule has been tough on players and coaches but the group that may be the most exhausted by the whole thing is Clipper fans. These people are usually in wait-till-next-year mode by New Years and here they are in round two after a thrilling seven-game series against Memphis. How much more can they take?

No. 6   Los Angeles Lakers

This team looks like a championship contender. But only about once a week. They should be better than that with Kobe Bryant and two 7-footers. That was an embarrassing loss in Oklahoma City. It’s only one game, but the Lakers are in trouble.

No. 5   Indiana Pacers

Indiana has quietly been one of the best teams all season. Only four teams had more regular season victories than the Pacers. But they don’t seem to get much respect. Here’s their chance to change that. The Dwight Howard-less Magic didn’t give them any trouble in the first round. Can they challenge the Heat?

No. 4   Boston Celtics

It’s now or never for the Celtics. They caught a break with the Bulls going down after the Derrick Rose injury. They ought to be able to use their championship experience to get by the up-and-coming 76ers and likely have one more showdown with Miami. They know this is probably their last shot as a group. The question is how much is left in the tank?

No. 3   Miami Heat

Miami leads the Pacers 1-0 but it looks like the big three is down to a big two with Chris Bosh out “indefinitely.” Without Bosh, the Heat could be in trouble against Indiana. They are still the favorites but it may take six or seven games. They won’t win the NBA championship without a healthy Bosh back in the lineup.

No. 2   San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs have home court advantage as long as they are in the playoffs. It seems like they have had about two weeks off after the sweep of the Utah Jazz. A lot of people expected them to have a tough matchup with the Grizzlies after losing to them in the playoffs last season. But instead they get Chris Paul and the Clippers. This should be a good series.

No. 1   Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City has the look of a champion. Trailing by double-digits in game four against the defending world champion Mavericks, the Thunder could have easily let that game go and finished off the Mavs in another game. But Durant and company would have none of that and finished off the sweep. Then they absolutely destroyed the Lakers in game one. They look like they are on a mission.

Despite assembling a trio of some of the league’s biggest stars last year, the Miami Heat were unable to win the NBA championship, falling to the Dallas Mavericks. They received a bit of a pass since it was their first season together, but that won’t be the case if Miami fails to bring home the franchise’s second title this year.

The Heat may not have been the Eastern Conference’s best team this year, but there’s little doubt they are the favorites to advance to the Finals because of the huge rash of injuries to key players.

Miami’s already on the brink of disposing of the New York Knicks, leading their series 3-1 in the first round. The Knicks might have been in better shape against LeBron & Company if they were a bit healthier. New York was already without rookie sensation Jeremy Lin (knee injury) since late March. But then came Iman Shumpert’s torn ACL and a bizarre hand injury to starter Amare Stoudemire, who somehow thought punching a fire extinguisher case out of frustration after the team’s Game 2 loss was a good idea. After sitting out the third game, Stoudemire returned for Game 4. But missing Lin and Shumpert has definitely hurt the team in this series.

The Chicago Bulls, perhaps the best team in the entire league with a 50-16 record, were dealt a cruel blow in their first round series. With only a little over a minute to play in their first playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers, star point guard Derrick Rose tore his ACL and, just like that, his season was over. Rose was the team’s leader in scoring and assists and without him, the Bulls have been a shell of their former selves. Chicago won that first game, but has fallen short in the past three without Rose. And as if that weren’t enough of a hurdle to overcome, the Bulls lost center Joakim Noah in Game 4 to an ankle sprain. Even if they can somehow fight back and make it a series against Philly, there’s little chance they could do much more in the playoffs.

The Orlando Magic were another team expected to contend for the title. That all changed, though, once star center Dwight Howard went down with a back injury late in the season. Power forward Glen Davis has stepped up in his absence, scoring 20 points a game in the playoffs and pulling in nearly ten rebounds. But the team clearly misses Howard, who was their regular season leader in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals. Howard’s defensive impact is just as important as the one he makes on offense and the Magic are a weaker team on both ends without him.

There are also the aging Boston Celtics. The Celtics have been relatively healthy, but shooting guard Ray Allen missed the first two games of their opening series against the Atlanta Hawks. He’d been out for the past month with bone spurs in his foot, and even though he’s back, is still trying to get back into game shape.

Miami isn’t a lock to win the East by any stretch of the imagination. The Indiana Pacers are having a strong season and as one of the league’s best rebounding teams, could give the Heat some trouble. And the Atlanta Hawks’ sixth-ranked defense might be able to challenge Miami’s explosive offense as well. The Heat are a combined 6-2 against those two teams in the regular season, but in the playoffs, the intensity will be ratcheted up significantly. Despite all that, though, it’s clear that with all of the injuries to the Eastern Conference this season, Miami has a clear shot at reaching the Finals again.

Worst team ever?

Could the greatest player of all time also be part of the worst team of all time? Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats have lost 21 games in a row. They must find a way to win one of their final two games (at Orlando or home against the Knicks) to avoid finishing the season with the worst winning percentage in NBA history. I hope they get that win.

Best in the East

It is a long shot, but the Heat could still sneak past the Bulls for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. It shouldn’t matter too much for either team unless they meet in the conference finals and go to a game seven. Either way, it is highly unlikely the Bulls will let home court advantage slip away. Chicago is also currently tied with San Antonio for the best record in the NBA so home court in the NBA Finals could still be up in the air if those teams were to meet.

The Bulls and Heat will have to battle to the end of the season for the East's #1 seed.

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Final playoff spot

15 of the 16 playoff spots have been taken. The eight seed in the West and the right to take on the Spurs in the first round will go to either the Jazz or the Suns. They meet tonight in Salt Lake City. It is pretty much win or go home. It’s not a game seven, but it doesn’t get much bigger in the regular season. If you don’t believe me, just ask my boss. He’s a Jazz fan.

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World Peace?

The elbow that knocked James Harden out of the game on Sunday certainly wasn’t very peaceful. World Peace claims it was unintentional. Whether it was or not, he’s likely to be suspended. The question is for how long. If it is more than just one game, he’ll be sitting out of playoff action. How will this affect the Lakers?

Whose town is it?

Speaking of the Lakers, they are just a half game ahead of the Clippers in the race for the Pacific Division title and the three seed in the wide open Western Conference. I am sure both teams want the division title bragging rights and even more importantly, to avoid the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. And if you are the Clippers you really don’t want to lose your last two games and let Memphis steal the fourth seed and home court advantage in the first round matchup.

Scoring title

Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are both averaging 27.9 points per game. I’m wondering how bad Kobe wants the scoring title. We’ll find out when we seen how many shots he takes in a possibly meaningless game at Sacramento on Thursday night. Durant’s season will be finished and Bryant will know exactly how many points he needs in the last game of the NBA’s regular season.

Isiah Thomas' career off the court hasn't been as successful as his days on it.

Thomas was brought in after many consecutive losing seasons and was never able to turn it around at FIU. He didn’t even come close to a winning season and is leaving with a 26-65 record. Still, even with such little success, Thomas and his players were still shocked by the decision.

FIU wasn’t the only place where Thomas has had trouble, though. He left as an executive with the Toronto Raptors after only a few seasons without accomplishing all that much. Thomas later became the owner of the CBA, but the league quickly became bankrupt shortly after he left. After that, he became the coach of the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. While he had some success in Indiana, leading the Pacers to the NBA Playoffs in each season, he couldn’t get the team out of the first round. That, however, was better than what the Knicks accomplished under his tenure – never reaching the postseason in either of his two seasons there.

It was at FIU where Zeke was going to have a fresh start. A Hall of Fame player, there was no reason to think that he couldn’t at least bring the program into respectability. While it’s true that he didn’t have college coaching experience, his name alone meant that he should have been able to recruit reasonably well. But after three straight losing seasons, the administration decided they’d seen enough.

So that begs the question – what’s next for Isiah? Obviously, any number of non-sports business ventures could be available. But if Thomas wants to stay in basketball, his options might be a bit limited.

It’s hard to imagine Zeke will get another head coaching job right away. He’s had limited success in the NBA and virtually none on the collegiate level. Sure, there’s high school or prep school, I suppose. But jobs at the elite high school level are hard to come by and it’s hard to imagine him dropping down that far, anyway.

If Thomas wants to get back into coaching, he may need to accept an assistant job. His best bet may be to land with a team that has a coach almost ready to retire or move on to another job. If he does an admirable job in that role, he could be named as a successor and given another shot.

Another realistic opportunity for Thomas might be as a color commentator. Regardless of what you may think of the job he’s done as an executive or coach, there’s no doubt Thomas knows the game of basketball. Whether he can accurately explain the happenings of a game on TV may be another matter, but I think it’s a role that could work. He also has experience in that job as he previously served as an analyst in the NBA on NBC series with Bob Costas.

Lastly, he could go the front office route. His track record in that arena isn’t particularly impressive, but a job as an assistant or even a scout probably isn’t out of reach. I don’t see an organization handing over the keys to an entire franchise to him as a general manager just yet, but there are any other number of front office roles he could fill.

Where Thomas finally lands is anybody’s guess. But he’s still young enough that the odds of him coming back to basketball in some capacity are high.

The expected move by the Portland Trailblazers to waive Greg Oden hardly comes as a surprise. Still, it marked the end of a significant chapter in the franchise’s history.

The Trailblazers provided the perfect example of why teams should select players based more on talent and less on position. Portland’s major faux pas occurred when they believed it was more important to draft a center with potential than take an established scoring threat in Texas‘ Kevin Durant. Durant ended up going to Seattle (now Oklahoma City) and while the Thunder are competing for a potential conference crown behind the former scoring champion, Portland hasn’t been able to make up much ground in catching the West’s elite teams.

Greg Oden will forever be linked to Kevin Durant, after they were the #1 and #2 overall picks in the NBA Draft.

Where did it all go wrong for Oden? Injuries, obviously. In five years in Portland, Oden hasn’t been able to stay healthy, battling knee injuries throughout his career. Thus far, he’s played only the equivalent of one full NBA season.

Ouch. Literally.

The frustrating thing about Oden’s situation is that while he’s not a dominant player, he’s certainly a solid center when healthy. That’s rare, of course, but he boasts surprising career numbers of more than nine points and seven rebounds while shooting nearly 60% from the field. No one will mistake him for Shaquille O’Neal anytime soon, but in averaging nearly a double double, many teams could do worse with him as their center.

And lately, he seemed as if he were putting it all together. Going up against the juggernaut Miami Heat in his next to last game before his latest setback in December, he had 13 points, 20 rebounds, and four blocks. And in the preceding month of November, Oden was averaging nearly 13 points and eight rebounds, surpassing his career totals. No one knows if he could have kept up that pace, but by providing a glimpse of what he was capable of, he gave fans a reason to be optimistic.

There’s a bright side to this sad tale, though. Oden just turned 24 in January and isn’t even likely to reach his prime for another few seasons. His injury history isn’t promising, but if he can somehow put it all together, Oden could still have a long, productive NBA career. With what Durant has accomplished in a short time frame, barring a lopsided total in championship rings, Oden won’t be able to convince most fans that he was worth selecting first. But I believe that a healthy Oden could be a valuable piece on a good team.

A career without setbacks, however, is far from a guarantee. Oden’s issues have been with his knees – a troublesome area for a seven-footer that needs to be able to run up and down the court on a nightly basis. He could defy the odds and become pain-free after his latest round of operations, but with all of the trouble he’s had to date, that seems far-fetched.

So will another franchise make the plunge and roll the dice on Oden? Almost assuredly. He’s a young, legitimate center and when healthy, has proven he has some skill. The potential is simply too great for another team not to gamble at least a small amount. Oden isn’t expected to be ready to play again until well into next season, but at a relatively tidy (and recently re-negotiated) $1.5 million salary for the remainder of this year, he could be worth a waiver claim. And with little production in five seasons, he should be signable at a moderate cost for future years.

Oden hasn’t come close to living up to the enormous hype surrounding him coming out of Ohio State, but there’s plenty of time for him to right the ship and turn things around.