Empty the Bench

- 20 Second Timeout - “Stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive, ah ha ha ha, stayin’ alliiiiiiiiiiiiiive.”
- Seattle PI - Joe Pace’s 30-year spiral took him from a basketball title to a homeless shelter.
- Clips Nation - The Clippers would do well to clear cap space for the 2010 free-agent derby.
- Bullets Forever - Is Georgetown’s 7-2, lumbering center a legit big man or just a big bust?
- Bright Side of the Sun - Pistons assistant coach Terry Porter could wind up in Phoenix.
- Detroit Free Press - Rip Hamilton is already a more prolific postseason scorer than Zeke.
- SLAM - The future of the NBA: The 2008 Slam High School All-Americans.
- TrueHoop - Does Chris Paul’s suspect defense render him merely a “very good” player?
- Hornets 24/7 - Autopsy of a blown opportunity for the Hornets in San Antonio.
- Dime - How sick would it be if San Antonio was introduced to The Undertaker’s theme?
- The On Deck Circle - How each Knick will work in Mike D’Antoni’s run-and-gun offense.
- Can’t Stop the Bleeding - This makes me embarassed for Channing Frye, on many levels.
- DC Sports Bog - The craziest game of hoops you never heard of is coming to DC in June.
- HOOPSWORLD - Dikembe Mutombo pulls a Brett Favre and decides not to retire.
- Red’s Army - Boston will be playing Sunday and they’re hoping it’s against Detroit.
- NBA.com - Bruce Bowen would never put his foot under a shooter or kick their legs…
- Page 3 - And Robert Horry? He wouldn’t lower himself to dirty plays either, right?
- Odenized - A sequence of flops and questionable calls turned the tide last night:

We interrupt your normal NBA playoff programming for the following announcement: Toronto Raptors PG Jose Calderon has had it up here with coming off the bench. As a soon-to-be restricted free agent, he also wants a significant raise in salary. And as a little icing on his homemade cake of discontent, it sounds like he’s been daydreaming about choking T.J. Ford.

“I would like to start and that’s the most important thing,” Calderon is quoted as saying in yesterday’s edition of the Spanish daily sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, a sentiment he first shared with visitors to his website. “I’ve been two years with [Ford] but I don’t know if I could be another year because things would have to change.”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but midway through the season Calderon voluntarily surrendered his starting position to Ford, who’d grown a little bitchy about his role as a reserve. At the time I thought that maybe this spoke volumes about the Spaniard’s competitiveness—or more specifically the lack of it—but maybe there was something else behind it. Was Ford becoming too much of a cancerous malcontent? Was Calderon simply taking one for the team in the name of padding Ford’s ego? I pose these as questions because I really don’t know (and am not trying to pull a Peter Vecsey by stating conjecture as fact), but there was clearly something going on there behind the scenes.

Jose Calderon Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Here’s what I do know, however: as a starter, the 26-year-old Calderon averaged 13 points, 9.1 assists, 53% FG, 1.2 steals, and 1.2 triples. All of those numbers dropped off a cliff once he stepped aside for Ford. Comparatively, Ford put up 14 points, 7.4 assists, 51% FG, and 1.2 steals/per. In other words, there’s not too much of a dropoff between the two. Ford is quicker and plays the passing lanes better on defense, while Calderon is steadier, a deadlier perimeter threat, and less injury-prone.

In an ideal world, the Raptors figure out how to make this combo work; Ford is still on the books for a guaranteed $16.5 million over the next two seasons, with a player option for another $8.5 in 2010. He’s not going anywhere. If the Raptors decide the two can’t coexist, Calderon is clearly the more tradeable asset. But if/when they go that route, they’re stuck with a point guard in Ford who’s always one bad fall away from missing a lot of time. Good luck figuring this one out, Bryan Colangelo.

Related: Jose Calderon, T.J. Ford, Toronto Raptors

San Antonio won last night. Veteran team defense defending champion Spurs Manu Ginobili flop. Tim Duncan double team rebounding defense tough. Bruce Bowen cheap efficient hard-nosed. They’ve done this before. Veteran squad Gregg Popovich well-coached Spurs of San Antonio. Team basketball. Meticulous refs ugly physical slow methodical. Boring team gets it done cheap effective home-court advantage: Eva Longoria!

Veteran presence bench. Robert Horry Ime Udoka Brent Barry Oberto role players. Know their jobs. More experience in situations defense champions. Veteran defense defending champion Spurs Manu Ginobili flop. They have been here before. Tim Duncan double team rebounding defense tough. Bruce Bowen cheap efficient hard-nosed. Team basketball. They’ve done this before. Veteran squad Gregg Popovich well-coached Spurs of San Antonio. Meticulous refs ugly physical slow methodical. Boring team gets it done cheap effective home-court advantage: Playoff experience.

Again, veteran presence bench. Robert Horry Ime Udoka Brent Barry Oberto role players. Know their jobs. More experience in situations defense champions. Team basketball.

Defense wins championships after the jump…

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It was a balmy, Mediterranean day in northern Italy during the summer of 1986. The city of Triest was hosting an exhibition game of pallacanestro between Stefanel Trieste and Juve Caserta and a 23-year-old American by the name of Michael Jordan was in the house. Michael proceeded to do what the greatest cestisto in history does in an exhibition game against inferior competition: put on a show. The montage ends with the the shattered backboard literally raining down on frightened Italian heads. And to top it all off, the high-flying antics are set to the tune of We Just (Our Revolution) by Italian disco artists Moses. Enjoy.

- Don Chavez - I’m pretty sure the girl in the first two pics is at least half Reggie Miller’s age.
- The Wages of Wins - Is the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team better than the First?
- MySportsRumors - Team USA will be without the defensive services of Shane Battier.
- Larry Brown Sports - Dan Majerle will not assume head-coaching duties in Phoenix, but…
- FanHouse - After losing Game 5, Magic PG Jameer Nelson says he never guaranteed a win.
- Celtics Blog - Celtics fans have adopted a seven-step program for coping with road losses.
- Tirico Suave - Stephon Marbury is “running in the mountains” this offseason.
- Inside the NBA - Perhaps it’s time for somebody, like the Bulls, to give Phil Johnson a shot.
- Sac Bee - Rick Carlisle, new Mavs head coach, would love to coach Ron-Ron again.
- Upside and Motor - It’s easy to lose a game in 10 seconds: just ask the Cavs and Jazz.
- CBS Sports - Greg Popovich is very concerned about people with lung problems.
- SLAM Online - The Nuggets sound like they’re getting desperate to trade ‘Melo.
- Real GM - The clock is tick, tick, ticking on the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. Thank God.

As long as the Los Angeles Lakers survive through the 2008 NBA playoffs, Empty the Bench’s West Coast correspondent Christopher Thell will be submitting a local fan’s take on his beloved Lakers’ postseason trials, tribulations and successes. In this edition: an ugly day and game, but all’s well that ends well.

“The absurdity or monstrosity of ordinary life will be familiar phenomena to any thinking person who has survived beyond the age of 30.”

Wednesday was a long day.

I had to arrive early to work for an exceedingly pedantic and tedious five hour meeting on, to loosely paraphrase, how to stuff 5 lbs. of shit into 4 lbs. sacks.

Then, over lunch, for reasons I’ll save for a different medium, I was forced to break-up with the woman I was seeing.

After those good times, I had a three-hour dentist appointment.

Of course, arduous as my day was, you have to keep things in perspective.

If I didn’t have a job, I’d really be screwed – you have to keep the wolf from the door.

And you have to have your teeth.

Women? They come and go – particularly LA women. On to the next one.

But a Lakers’ loss at home in Game 5 to Utah?

Now that would have been hard to recover from.

It was difficult to watch – in fact, my dental appointment went smoother, but The Purple and Gold found a way to secure a 111-104 victory over the Jazz.

And that’s what serious title contenders do: win the ugly ones you absolutely have to have.

But the script wasn’t what you would have expected. If someone told me before the game that the reigning MVP would only take 10 shots, none in the 4th quarter, I would have said that’s surely a Lakers’ defeat.

How Los Angeles managed to ramble on while The Dude took ‘er easy…

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Detroit Pistons rookie guard Rodney Stuckey had a moment Tuesday night in the Pistons’ closeout victory over the Orlando Magic. Actually, he had a few moments.

Drafted 15th overall in last June’s NBA draft out of Eastern Washington, the 6-5 Stuckey suddenly became one of the most important players on Detroit’s roster after All-Star PG Chauncey Billups suffered a strained hamstring early on in Game 3. Billups, of course, ended up sitting out the rest of that game, as well as Games 4 and 5, leaving the Pistons with just an unproven rookie and a 37-year-old veteran in Lindsey Hunter to hold down the fort in Billups’ stead.

Extra advantage Orlando Magic, or so it would seem.

Fortunately for Detroit they have a small forward in Tayshaun Prince who’s fully capable of bringing the ball up the court, calling out the set, and getting it in motion. For their part, the Magic are terribly thin at PG with erratic Jameer Nelson starting and foul-prone Keyon Dooling backing him up. (It’s on GM Otis Smith to address that situation in the offseason.) If this was any other team still alive in the postseason, they likely would have better exploited Billups’ absence than the Magic did.

Rodney Stuckey Photo Credit: Icon SMI

And then the answer to the two unknown questions was revealed: yes, Hunter still has enough left in the tank to nag on defense and frustrate on offense with unlikely triples. And, yes, Rodney Stuckey was up to the challenge of stepping into the starting lineup midway through a closely contested playoff series.

Stuckey let the game come to him and rarely forced anything, committing no turnovers in just over 33 minutes. He got his teammates involved and didn’t worry as much about his own shot… until his team needed him to. He drove hard to the hole without a care in the world, drew fouls, and made big free throws down the stretch.

Sounds a lot like somebody else on the Pistons.

More on Rodney Stuckey’s big game for the Detrot Pistons after the break…

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- With Malice… - The Magic have nothing to be ashamed of—Detroit was simply too smooth.
- Yahoo! Sports - Notorious Pistons critic Dan Wetzel says six straight ECFs is “notable.”
- The World of Isaac - Add another clip to the Tayshaun Prince blocks highlight reel.
- Ball in Europe - Andrei Kirilenko, Memo Okur and Pau Gasol looking hot.
- Same Page Sports - A comprehensive directory of all the athlete blogs on the internets.
- Fan IQ - Last night was just another chapter in Popovich vs. Crawford.
- Hoops Addict - The Jazz have their work cut out for them in LA tonight.
- Draft Express - Rounding up all the hot gossip from the NBA Agents Union seminar.
- Sportaphile - Snoop Dogg & Kurupt record the Lakers Theme for the 2008 playoffs.
- Upside and Motor - Things aren’t going as planned for KG in Boston.
- Real Clear Sports - So, Latrell Sprewell may not be able to feed his family after all.
- Talking Points - The NBA No-Defense Team, starring Nash, Carmelo and Big Al.

The New Orleans Hornets left their comfortable nest after Game 2 looking unstoppable only to run into the Spurs we’ve come to know and hate over the years in San Antonio. Instead of taking a commanding 3-1 lead on the road they returned home tied 2-2 with their more experienced counterparts in a series that suddenly looked more like a slugfest than a coming out party. David West responded by spending extra time reviewing film on the Spurs over the last two days. He was embarrassed by his performance in Game 4. His entire team had played poorly, but the 27-year-old Xavier product had been especially bad in going just 4-15 from the field in the 100-80 loss.

He wasn’t going to let that happen again.

That approach to a potentially devastating and momentum-stealing playoff loss is emblematic of what has defined these young Hornets all season: energetic and explosive, yet wise and disciplined beyond their years.

It sure looked like the Spurs would take advantage of their newfound momentum in the first half. They were attacking the rim and putting the New Orleans frontline in early foul trouble. They were knocking down outside jumpers. They were playing more physical basketball than the Hornets and setting a tone for the game that better suited their personnel. San Antonio went into halftime with a 47-44 lead.

But David West simply refused to let this game slip away. He scored 14 points on 7-9 shooting in the first quarter while the rest of the team went just 1-9. He continued to lead New Orleans in weathering the storm in the second, finishing the first half with 22 of his team’s 44 points. On defense he bodied up on Tim Duncan when Tyson Chandler got two quick fouls and helped play the interior D that caused Tim to start 0-6 from the field. And unlike previous 2008 playoff games, David West was all business, all night.

West managed to have a huge second half on both ends despite tweaking his back and hobbling up and down the court for much of the fourth. On offense he showed a variety of back-to-the-basket moves, his usual steady jumper and strong drives to the hoop that allowed him to get to the line and shoot 6-7 FTs. It was a career night for West overall as he finished with a stellar line of 38 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals on an incredible 16-25 FGs. His teammates in the frontcourt Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler combined for just 13 points, but West was everything New Orleans needed whenever they needed it.

“How the West was won?” after the jump…

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I’ve been a huge fan of Sam Cassell since he helped the Houston Rockets win two titles in the mid-90s as a youngster with a number of clutch shots in the playoffs. He’s continued to make a name for himself as a talented scorer with a reputation for making big baskets since. He’s also a steadying, veteran presence on offense.

That is to say: I understand why Doc Rivers has been quick to insert him when the going has gotten tough in these playoffs — I just don’t agree with the decision. There’s a time and a place for Cassell, and it doesn’t make sense to have the newcomer playing such big minutes early in games where his shot isn’t falling. And it hasn’t been falling since he donned a Celtics jersey (Sam shot 38.5% FGs in the regular season for Boston and is shooting 34.7% FGs in the playoffs).

It’s no secret that Sam I Am has never been a great defender, and at this point in his career he’s downright poor. His body is wearing down and he’s not in great shape. But that’s OK, all he’s supposed to do is take care of the ball and hit big shots to take pressure off of the Big Three in key situations. But in the two Boston losses Cassell has yet to hit a field goal, going 0-for-11 with 4 total assists.

Rajon Rondo Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Rajon Rondo is a young kid capable of logging heavy minutes and he’s the guy that got Boston here. His defensive presence and complimentary offensive skill set was a key component of the team that won 66 games in the regular season. When he’s playing well he should stay in the game, but he’s getting yanked. Such was the case last night. Rondo hit an early outside jumper from the baseline and was playing with confidence again. He was being aggressive and taking the ball to the hole in the first quarter, and he was one of the few Celtics generating offense — and then he went to the bench for an extended stretch.

Why Rajon Rondo needs to play more in Game 5 after the jump…

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- Awful Announcing - The mystery woman LeBron was yelling at? That would be his mom.
- National Post - David Stern: “Won’t someone please think of the children?!”
- Need4Sheed - The “In Arnie (Kander) We Trust” movement has begun around the USA.
- Fan I.Q. - Seven reasons why very few teams are winning on the road right now.
- Yahoo! Sports - It’s not just the players—Flip Saunders also deserves some credit.
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Latrell Spreewell’s $667k house is going up for auction.
- Pistons Blog - No three words better describe “sore loser” than “Stan Van Gundy.”
- Third Quarter Collapse - Apparently some Magic fans totally agree with Van Gundy.
- Hoops Addict - Talented, young duos don’t always meet with success in the NBA.
- Hornets 24-7 - A big round-up of everything Hornets as they try to get back on track.
- Hardwood Paroxysm - There are eight simple rules to live by during the playoffs.
- Can’t Stop the Bleeding - Not everybody is psyched about D’Antoni’s move to NYC.
- D.C. Sports Bog - The Wizards are done, but DeShawn Stevenson lives on (in the news).
- Waiting For Next Year - Celtic fans must hate seeing Varejao own KG for an entire half.

In case you missed LeBron James’ exclamation point on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 88-77 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 4 (we’re all tied up at 2-2), here it is in all of its non-respectful of human life glory. TNT’s Kevin Harlan with the call.

Tags: LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers