An Arms Race…In the NL Central?

Yes, that’s right, not the AL East, but the NL Central is trade central for the big name, big money players this year. The times, they are a changing. Milwaukee grabs CC Sabathia, a day later the Cubs grab injury-riddled Rich Harden. Who wins out?

Well, both teams. Each squad improved with the trade. Sabathia and Harden are both ace-quality starters - when healthy at least. Put Sabathia, who has pitched lights out after a slow start, next to Ben Sheets to form arguably the best 1-2 in the NL. With apologies to Webb and Harden in Arizona, Zambrano-Harden is right there as a top starter combo. THe good news for Milwaukee and Chicago, the NL West is pathetic, and the NL East has only been one notch above pathetic. In other words, the wild-card is wide open for the taking.

Chicago arguably has the better team. The defending champs added Giovani Soto in the off-season, and successfully converted Kerry Wood to closer, before the Harden acquisition. The Brewers are probably not as strong in the bullpen, and not as deep in the lineup, top to bottom. However, the way Sheets and Sabathia have pitched over the past two months, they are liable to ring off a combined 15-20 consecutive wins between them. Seven or eight a piece, without losing a decision, not at all out of the realm. I still give the Cubs the edge in the division because they have the better team 1 through 25, and the better manager.

St. Louis is a great story that Milwaukee will end in the second half. No way the Cards can keep this up with that collection of players. They are not expected to make any moves. the Brewers should sail by them in the Central, and battle the Cubs head to head down the stretch with the loser earning the Wild Card.

Even if Sabathia leaves after the season, the trade makes perfect sense. They last made the playoffs in 1982, they have a healthy Ben Sheets pitching up to potential, are right in the race following a season where they came up just short. Milwaukee is at one of those go for it now or forever hold your peace positions, and they are going for it. The fans love it, and show it by packing in Miller Park. After last year’s collapse, with Sabathia on board, they must make the playoffs this year. Ned Yost’s job hangs in the balance.

If Harden stays healthy, the move works for both Chicago and Oakland. For once, I’d like to see Oakland hold on to one big name player. Try to be good with more than just arbitration players and retread veterans. Try, just once. If he’s on, Harden is as good as it gets. For everyone that believes in fate (all you Cubs fans), the powers that be owe the Cubs in the rising star pitching department. The injury gods haunted Mark Prior and Kerry Wood for years, perhaps they will now look over Rich Harden’s health to make-up for all the lost promise of Wood and Prior.

For Cub fans, it’s all about fate at this point, 100 years after the last title. At this point, go for Harden, it can’t get any worse than 100 years.

Branded Losers

Maybe it wasn’t Donald Sterling’s fault this time around. For once the thrifty owner of the Clippers actually opened the purse up, stole a big name free agent from a division rival, and put the money on the table to keep his own star. But Sterling had pushed fate for too many years. When he finally put his money out there, the check didn’t clear.

Handshake agreements aside, believe nobody when it comes to sports business, especially agents, owners and players. Brand opted out of his contract with a gentleman’s agreement in place to re-sign at a negotiated rate to allow LA the flexibility to sign another All-Star, then pulled a Carlos Boozer, fleeing the scene. While Boozer got publicly criticized, don’t expect the same treatment for Brand. First, all indications are his agent, the once mighty David Falk, orcestrated the whole move. Second, Sterling deserves it for all the times he has short-changed players. No owner has shorter arms and longer pockets than Sterling.

If healthy, and he appears to be based on his short stint last season, Brand is a borderline top ten player in the league. With David at the point, up and comer Al Thornton on the wing, underrated Chris Kaman sharing the post with Brand, and first round pick Eric Gordon, the Clips had a chance to compete in the heavyweight Western Conference. Maybe not for a championship, but certainly for a playoff berth, possibly more. Without Brand, forget it.

Left at the altar, LA has money to spend. Expect them to throw it in all directions to fill Brands big shoes - Emeka Okafor, Josh Smith (the restricted free agent big prize) - but none are as good as the Duke product. Last week, rumor circulated that the Clippers even proposed a trade for Zach Randolph. The same enigma the Knicks want to give away. Somehow the Knicks did not find a way to make that deal work. Let’s see Randolph or Brand - touch choice.

Signing Baron Davis will prove fruitless if LA does not snatch a big man to replace Brand. Despite one rejection, Sterling owes it to his fans to keep trying. After so many years of dragging Clipper fans through the mud, then having the Lakers rub their faces in it, he has to do everything he can to win.

As for Brand, he got his money, and will do for Philadelphia what he could have of done for LA, transform a borderline playoff team, into a middle of the playoff pack contender. Surrounded with emerging young players, a veteran point guard, and true center in Dalembert, Philadelphia can move up a rung in the Eastern Conference pecking order, right below the top four.

New King of Tennis

Never count out the champion until they are completely dead. The Spurs remained the favorites until beaten, the Yankees are always lurking until the last out of the playoffs, Tiger is a threat until the 72nd hold on Sunday. Roger Federer took that concept to a new level on Sunday, refusing to die, before finally succumbing to Rafael Nadal after 4-hours 48-minutes of playing, 6-hours 16-minutes since the players took the court, and five legendary sets.

The longest mens singles final on record went right to the brink of darkness. Nadal winning the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 by holding serve and breaking Federer once in each set. It appeared the 22-year-old Spaniard was on the brink of accomplishing the unthinkable, sweeping Federer on grass. Nadal had more spring to his step, was a step quicker, and had Federer on his heels.

Federer was walking the plank in the  third set before a rain delay broke Nadal’s momentum. After exchanging breaks the set went to a tiebreak, where Federer is virtually unbeatable at Wimbledon, and he continue his dominance in tiebreaks taking the set.

The fourth set stayed on serve, leading to another tiebreak. This time Federer served with his 40-match streak on the line, down to his last breathe. But each time the champion went to the stake, he responded like a true champion with an ace or forehand winner. Not to be outdone, Nadal continued his spectacular play, pushing Federer. Each time the trophy was within reach though, Nadal seemed to clinch the racket a little tighter, and allow nerves to get the better of him. Federer prevailed 10-8 in the tiebreak setting up a fantastic final set.

It quickly became evident neither player would lose this match, someone was going to win it. Nadal and Federer continue to top each other with amazing shots, captivating the audience, both at home and in-person. This was tennis at its best, two warriors exchanging blows. I didn’t have the opportunity to watch the Borg-McEnroe-Connors matches live, and was too young to appreciate the Becker-Lendl-Edberg battles, but I have no doubt this was as good if not better than any of those matches.

After Federer dropped the first set, I envisioned he would have a tough time winning because he simply could not break Nadal. Admittedly, after he won the second tiebreak, I did not know how Nadal would react, and put the momentum clearly behind Federer. A lesser man would crack. Not Nadal. He responded with his best tennis. Again, the top two players in the world held onto their respective serves for dear life all the way to 7-7. Wimbledon championships cannot be decided on tiebreaks - Advantage Nadal.

Federer simply could not break Nadal, converting only one break point in 13 chances. Credit Nadal, he remained aggressive and hit big time shots when he needed. Federer had him on the run during one rally late in the fifth set, Nadal running left, almost off the court, managed to hit a fore-hand passing shot right down the line for a winner. Absolutely amazing that he could even get to the ball, never mind muster the strength to hit a winner past Federer down the line, the only chance he had to win the point.

Not to be outdone, Federer continued to respond with his own array of clutch shots. WHen the pressure mounted, the champ responded with an ace, 25 in all. Federer also pulled off a beautiful cross-court backhand winner late in the fifth set, one of the best tennis shots you’ll ever see.

In the fifteenth game of the fifth set, Nadal broke through against Federer, then held serve, with the sun quickly setting on the All-England club, to win the set 9-7. Exhausted and exhilerated he laid out on the grass before approaching the net, his face filled with emotion, tears of happiness, to pay his respects to Federer.

Five straight titles, 40- straight wins, 65 straight on grass, all gone in what will go down as potentially the greatest match the hollowed grounds of WImbledon has ever seen. It’s hard to put in historic perspective the next day, but it will rank among the best championship matches played in tennis history.

The two men stood side by side, with dusk setting in, posing with their respective trophy’s. A formal changing of the guard. It appeared inevitable after Nadal’s dominance in France and close call at last year’s Wimbledon. Now the five-time WImbledon champion, 12-time Grand Slam winner, is no longer the best in the world. That distinction belongs to Nadal. With three straight Grand Slam losses, the question begins with how much more Federer has to give? Before answering, remember he lost in the Finals twice, and semi’s once - hint, he’s not done.

But the day and night belonged to Nadal. Remember the moment, it may very well be the most captivating tennis you see in your liftime.

NBA Got It Wrong By Admitting Mistake

A day after the Lakers held off the Spurs to win Game Four and take control of the Western Conference Finals, the NBA league office admitted a Derek Fischer should have been whistled for a foul on the last play of the game, a desperation shot by San Antonio’s Brent Barry.

Fishcer clearly made contact with Barry after leaving his feet early. Barry’s mistake was to not initiate further contact by jumping into him on the shot, probably costing him the call during the game. A foul, prior to the shot, puts Barry, an 82% career foul shooter, on the line with two shots to tie the game. Instead, Spurs lose, putting them on the brink of elimination.

What possessed the NBA to make this statement? They had no reason to make any statement. Everyone debated the call yesterday, as fans and media do each day about numerous calls. Ironically, the consensus was that the refs made the right call not blowing the whistle. Even Barry himself agreed that he did not expect a foul call. The NBA created a problem where none existed.

By questioning a judgment call, league officials undermine the authority of the refs. The equivalent is if baseball started to question an umpires calls on balls and strikes. Correcting a black and white call - fair or foul in baseball, if a shot beat the buzzer or not in basketball - is fair, since a review of the play can definitively prove it. Foul calls are judgment. We can watch the replay over and over, and though there is obvious contact, a ref may say that’s not worthy of a foul with under 5 seconds left in a playoff game. Like it or not, game situation plays into calls. The NBA should admit that, not that the ref was wrong.

The NBA opened a Pandora’s box that did not exist after the game. San Antonio made no protests, now they have a right to complain. That probably cost the Spurs their season, and the NBA publicly said as much. It also fuels the Joey Crawford hates the Spurs theory, not to mention the NBA wants the Lakers and Celtics in the Finals conspiracy theory. Why even bring the issue up? Sometimes its better saying less.

Celts Avoid Disaster, Hang On To Win

This column should start by welcoming Ray Allen to the playoffs - thanks for deciding to play on Wednesday, Ray. But the real story is Boston’s play down the stretch. Holding a 17 point second half lead at home in the playoffs, as much as 12 points in the fourth quarter, the Pistons had no right to even have a chance in the final minute. The Celtics fell apart down the stretch - again. Go to the Atlanta series, the Cleveland series, now against Detroit, each time closely contested game Boston plays in they struggle to finish out the game.In Game 7 against Cleveland they got a few big plays, just enough to stave off Lebron. Last night, they needed to rely on the big cushion they built early, and foul shots down the stretch. The problem: nobody wants to take the big shot late in the game.

Garnett led the way with 33 points, but each time he touched the ball in the fourth the Big Ticket looked pass first. The last few possessions, Detroit was able to lay off him on the perimeter since he didn’t even look to shoot.  Allen did most of his damage early, canning five three’s, none late in the game. Kendrick Perkins provided the big role player performance that teams need to win playoff games. His only contribution in the fourth - a technical foul. Trumping Rasheed Wallace to see who can make the biggest mental mistake as late in the game as possible.

Eventually the lack of mental toughness, that missing killer instinct that the champions have, will catch up with Boston. Surprisingly, it hasn’t yet. But this series is not over. Detroit rides a wave of confidence into Game 6, back at The Palace.

Chauncey Billups was back to his old tricks, 26 points and 6 assists, in a big game. Backup Rodney Stuckey continued to play solid off the bench, stepping up with a big three pointer late - clearly he’s not afraid to take a big shot. Detroit - the king of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - needs to bring the defensive intensity they showed in the fourth quarter, for the entire game. Boston finished over 50% shooting for the game, and dominated the rebounding battle. A vaunted defensive unit, Detroit cannot win giving up 100+ points, they need to play with urgency and intensity for four quarters.

Billups, Hamilton, even Wallace, played solid most of the game on offense. Yet, the sparkplug I keep mentioning, the Pistons equivalent to Ginobili, Tayshaun Prince, still has his head in the sand. Another non-descript performance. He needs to make his presence felt, defensively, offensively, on the glass, in some way. He’s multi-talented, its time to show some of those talents.

Anyone that says they can predict what will happen Friday is crazy. We’ve seen Boston fail to crack 70 on the road, and we saw them steal Game 3 in Detroit. We’ve seen Detroit look unbeatable and unworthy of being a playoff team from a game to game basis in this postseason. With Billups appearing healthy - though Rip Hamilton appeared to injure his elbow late in the game - the Pistons get the edge at home, especially since Boston still looks shaky on the road. If the game is close, or any game here on in is close, Boston has to prove they can hit a big shot and close out a game. Until then, the Celts are walking a dangerous line.

No Manu, No Win

Forget the non-foul call on Brent Barry in the final seconds - seriously, when was the last time you saw that call made in that situation - the Spurs role players and spark plug lost this game. That they stayed as close as two points midway into the fourth quarter amazed me way more than the fact they lost. Yes, Manu Ginobili did actually play in this game before the end of the fourth quarter. If you missed him, you weren’t alone. Whether hampered by injury, or having a bad night, the Argentine was a non-factor, scoring two points the first 3 1/2 quarters of the game, finishing with only seven points.

The usual suspects, Parker and Duncan, played solid games. Barry had the playoff game of his life, almost single-handedly accounting for the team’s 3-pt production. As for the rest of the team - in a word, pathetic. How many games do you win when two starters, Michael FInley and Fabricio Oberto in this case, fail to score. Robert Horry officially traded in the Big Shot Bob moniker for No Shot Robby. Poppovich was forced to stick with his top three and the hot Barry almost the entire second half to erase the Lakers lead. By the fourth quarter, the Spurs looked winded and old.

Unlike the Spurs role players, LA received solid contributions across the board. Lamar Odom scored 8 of his 16 in the fourth, and grabbed nine rebounds in the game. Down the stretch, it appeared that Odom could score at will, or at least get to the basket whenever he wanted, no matter who was guarding him. That’s the type of scary talent he has. It’s the inconsistency, like his Game 3 performance that prevents him from becoming a star. Derek Fischer recovered from a poor outing to play a solid game, combining with backup
point guard Jordan Farmer for only two turnovers in 47 combined minutes. Not flashy, just solid, fundamental playoff basketball.

Almost unnoticed, Pau Gasol played decent defense on Duncan for the first time all series. The Big Fundamental shot 10-26 from the field, bothered by Gasol’s length and extra aggression. He still dumped in 29 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, but was not much of a factor late in the game, and had to work much harder for those points than the first three games. On offense, Gasol only took seven shots to score his ten points. The unselfish big man finally dug his hells in, grinding inside with Duncan, fighting for position and forcing Duncan to commit fouls. Then adeptly, when his shot was not there, he setup his teammates. Not many 7-footers notch 6 assists.

All this without mentioning Kobe. You assume those 28 points from Bryant almost every night. Everyone is investigating the zero foul shots - first postseason game since 2004 without a free throw. It’s no surprise, he didn’t attack the hole often, mostly settling for jumpers. His big stat was ten rebounds. LA killed San Antonio on the glass, especially the offensive boards. Poppovich said as much in his timeout huddle that aired on TNT. Allowing second chance opportunities build leads and kill comebacks. Each time the Spurs made a defensive stop and the Lakers grabbed an offensive board, more time off the clock, more energy spent on defense, less momentum. A vicious cycle. Detroit suffered the same fate in Game 3 against Boston and never came back. San Antonio tied the game five times, but never took the lead.

Up against the wall, the defending champs need to pull a rabbit out of their hat to win this series. Thursday night is shaping into the next step for this Lakers team. The Spurs are never dead until they lose four times, but the casket is in the ground.

Celtics Become Road Warriors

Venues change, series change, but the recipe to win does not. It’s very basic, the team who’s role players and bench make the biggest contribution, that has a decided three point advantage or rebounding edge, and can hit big shots to stop a run wins the game. Home, away, higher seed, lower seed, MVP, Coach of the Year, no matter what. Boston did all of the above Saturday night in a dominant 94-80 win in Detroit, that elusive first playoff road win.

Boston’s second unit won this game in the first quarter. The Celts started with 11 straight points out of the gate, and led 15-4 at the 5:34 mark of the first. A minute prior to that Kevin Garnett exited with two early fouls, followed to the bench by Ray Allen a minute later, also with two quick ones. Led by Rodney Stuckey, Detroit reeled off 13 consecutive points in a four minute span. Already up against the wall after losing at home in Game Two, facing the pressure of not having won a road game all postseason, with two of its three stars on the bench in foul trouble, having handed away an 11 point lead, Boston easily could have wilted right here. Likewise, Detroit had a chance to stomp them.

Instead, the Boston reserves - James Posey, Sam Cassell, and Glen Davis - led a 10-0 run to close the quarter. Boston led 25-17 and never looked back. Detroit made runs the rest of the game, but right there the game had a chance to either way. Boston not only responded, its role players, who failed to show up in Game Two , responded.

Detroit’s offense played abysmal. Out of sync consistently, the Pistons had chances to cut into Boston’s lead, which bloated to 18 at halftime and stayed in double digits most of the second half, but could not string together good offensive possessions at any point in the game. Billups and Prince killed the Pistons in different ways. Billups, perhaps still hampered by the hamstring injury that forced him to miss a game in Orlando last series, sat for long stretches of the game as Stuckey stepped up and played a great game in his stead. However, when Billups played he hurt the team. Saunders inserted Billups with 5:30 left for a last desperation run. After the Pistons trimmed the lead to 9 and made a defensive stop, Billups immediately turned the ball over. He then missed a 3-pointer and another jumper on two of the next three possessions. That turnover and missed three killed Detroit’s chances. Either possession would have Boston under pressure, something they have not responded to well on the road late in games. Blame Saunders for looking to Billups late in the game after sitting most of the way, blame Billups for not hitting the big shot, and perhaps not looking for teammates that had better nights than he.

Prince flat out stunk. No injuries, no excuses. Detroit’s equivalent to Manu Ginobili, Prince is a spark plug that can create matchup nightmares for opponents, and cause disruptions on defense. He only caused nightmares for his own team. 2-11 shooting and four rebounds. While role player performance separates teams, its assumed that the stars will play well. Neither Billups nor Prince stepped up.

Credit Boston for hitting a few big shots, and more importantly grabbing six offensive boards in the fourth quarter. Each time Detroit made them sweat, someone stepped up with a big shot - even Ray Allen found the net late in the game. The offensive rebounds though, broke Detroit’s back. When you are trying to come back from a double-digit deficit against a quality team, nothing is more deflating than making a defensive stop and not grabbing the rebound. Getting two consecutive stops is extremely difficult. More importantly, Boston ran more precious seconds off the clock each time.

And how can Piston fans boo throughout this game. The crowd marred a potentially historic night with the city hosting the Stanley Cup Finals, NBA playoffs, and a baseball game simultaneously. Detroit’s performance warranted the boo birds after the game, or late in the fourth, but booing the team in the first half and third quarter, the game still within reach, is unacceptable. A day ago they controlled the series thanks to a big road win. Talk about fickle.

Monday night Detroit is back up against the wall, a familiar position. They trailed Philadelphia 2-1 in the first round before three straight wins. If Billups is hurt he needs to sit, if not he needs to come to play like a star. It wouldn’t hurt if Rasheed Wallace stepped up and called for the ball in a big spot either. He plays good, but not up to his potential. Wallace is capable of taking over a game offensively, what better time than now.

Let’s Go to the Video Tape Baseball

Three missed calls on would be home runs within four days forced baseball to act on the age-old instant replay question this week. Reports say MLB will trial instant replay during the Arizona Fall League, then continue in the World Baseball Classic and spring training next March, before deciding to implement during the season. Talk about sticking your toes in the water before jumping.

Instant replay is long overdue in baseball, the last major American sport not using technology to correct calls. The commissioner and many purists still oppose instant replay stating a myriad of reasons, most of which boil down to tradition. America’s pastime is as old-fashioned as sports get, yet a line exists where tradition can impede progress and hurt the sport. It should not take three bad calls in one week to realize that.

Contrary to popular belief, using instant replay for select calls will not noticeably lengthen games. In fact, it may shorten games. Umpires routinely have to huddle up on questionable calls, followed by a visit from the dugout by each manager, an explanation, and potential argument. Managers have the right to argue, what could these umpires discuss on the field? It’s not a judgment call, where they interpret and analyze what they see, balls are either fair or foul, home runs or not - it should be black and white. They either saw it or they didn’t, no need for a group presentation to figure it out.

With replay, managers have nothing to argue, no reason to get ejected, the video will never lie. In a worst case scenario, if baseball decides to have umpires on the field review the play from a camera well, it will take the same time it does for their meaningless on field meetings. Best case, a replay official from MLB offices will have the decision in under two minutes.

Tradition should not stand in the way of integrity. Changing the height of the pitcher’s mound affects play on the field more than using instant replay to get a call right. Replay will have no affect on the balls and strikes, which varies for each umpire, and the bang-bang safe or out calls on the bases. Those calls are subject to human error, they help make baseball what it is. Everyone has a different interpretation of the strike zone, it makes for great debate.

To be fair to umpires, home run calls and fair-foul calls are difficult to make from over 200 feet away at times. Throw in the various nooks and crannies of the new ballparks, sometimes it’s just impossible to get a good view. These are non-judgment calls, the goal is to get the call right, reward the right team. If today’s technology can do that, and do it quickly and accurately, what are we waiting for.

If baseball ever considers using replay on the judgment calls that umpires make then we have problems. That infringes on tradition, that changes the dynamic of the game.

EPL TV Rev Sharing Idea Could Work

Last week English Premier League (EPL) TV revenue figures showed how the league distributed the record $1.6B it brought in this season. The way I understand the system, each team receives a flat fee as part of the negotiated television contract. Then teams receive additional funds based on incentives, such as national television appearances and related success factors. Sports leagues don’t want to take lessons from the EPL to promote competitive balance or salary structure, given the top four teams annually dominate the league and buy the best players. However, if applied in a different manner the revenue sharing idea has merit.

Recently the NBA announced it would increase the amount of money in the revenue sharing pool next season. The league uses a complicated formula produced by McKinsey consulting to distribute money to teams that qualify. In other words, a team cannot simply cut costs, not try, then pocket the money. As revenue sharing becomes a more prominent part of almost every sport, these checks and balances are crucial.

Applying the NBA model to TV revenue is interesting. League’s could start by setting aside a percent of the annual broadcast revenue to be equally divided among teams. The remaining money would then be allocated based on an incentive program, in one of two ways.

The league could use an outside consultant, such as McKinsey, to create a complex formula that rates teams on a number of various metrics that take into account financial need, business model implementation, marketing success, and competitiveness, to name a few. The premise is to determine how much a team is doing with what it has to work with, and how well it’s executed. Based on this formula, teams are ranked, and receive a percentage of the remaining money.

A second way is to take the remaining league TV revenue, and split it into different categories. Put a certain percentage towards the financial need teams, another portion to marketing efforts, and so on. Then rank the teams based on each metric, and award a percent of the revenue for that metric to each team accordingly.

The goal is to reward teams that do well and punish teams that don’t. Obviously, it needs to go beyond a simple win-loss analysis. If both the Twins and Yankees earn playoff berths with 90 wins, the Twins should rank higher in earning the shared revenue because they will likely have done more with what they have to earn those wins than the Yankees. Likewise, if a team rolls out a new marketing campaign and sees a 10% increase at the gate as a result, they should be rewarded for the grassroots efforts. While a team in the NBA like Memphis that gave away its only superstar should not simply receive extra revenue because it divulged its greatest asset in a cost saving move.

Clearly, more analysis and research is required to develop the right system, but performance based incentives for shared revenue is one way to reward teams that need additional revenue and work hard for it, while avoiding hand outs.

Spurs Give One Away

San Antonio had a myriad of excuses heading into this game. A tough seven game series ended with a draining road win only two nights earlier, the lack of rest, the wear and tear on the aging team, then throw in the airplane debacle that cost them a good night’s sleep before a cross-country flight. With the rested top seed Lakers waiting at home, why even play game one.

Well, they played, and San Antonio jumped Kobe’s crew, a 20 point blowout into the third quarter. Then the walls crumbled. LA mounted the second biggest playoff comeback since 1998, overcoming the deficit to win by four. Actually, LA did not comeback so much as the Spurs retreated and Kobe, by himself, charged ahead.

13 points in the fourth quarter in a playoff game is terrible. Call it fatigue, call it good defense, the reason the Spurs scored 13 points was Phil Jackson adjusted to Duncan’s dominance, and nobody stepped up. Ginobili, who carried the team in the New Orleans series as Duncan faced a tough matchup, played awful, shooting 3-13 for only 10 points. He missed big shots down the stretch, and turned it over four times. The Sixth Man of the Year turned starter must play well for San Antonio to win. Once LA adapted to Duncan inside, the Spurs offense shutdown.

Contrary to Game Seven on Monday night, the bench produced a meager 11 points for San Antonio. No clutch shots from the Finleys, the Horrys, and the Udokas of the world. No 3-point barrage. No big secondary performance. Duncan will not go quietly this series, proving last night with a vintage 30 point, 18 rebound effort that nobody on the Lakers can guard him in single coverage. The rest of the team needs to step up now. If Ginobili shoots 3-13 and can’t get to the line, San Antonio has no chance, none what so ever. He is the spark plug for this team.

Not to be outdone by Lebron, Kobe showed that he is still the best playoff performer in the league. After a quiet 2-point first half, he decided to take over - yes, he actually said, he knew he could just flip the switch on at will, how great is that. Bryant scored with ease in the second half, the Lakers as a team played under control but at their pace. They never panicked and they operated like a well oiled machine on both ends of the floor.

If any team can overcome blowing this game, its the Spurs. The same way we said the Spurs could overcome the 0-2 hole against New Orleans. The loss hurts, hurts a lot, Poppovich said as much. With Ginobili struggling the Spurs offense disappeared, reverting exclusively to Duncan in the post. When the Lakers finally took that away with double teams the Spurs fizzled - and it showed. The Argentine, and backcourt compadre Tony Parker hold the key. Bryant will get his every game, Duncan will get his, Parker and Ginobili need to make the difference or the Spurs are in trouble.