Defense is M.I.A. in Miami

I’ve heard people say that a playoff series doesn’t really begin until a home team loses a game. That’s good, because right now the series between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls, which has only been played in South Florida thus far, appears to be over. With the series ‘flying’ from the American Airlines Arena to the United Center for Thursday’s Game 3, the Bulls definitely need to pick it up. That being said, I don’t know if I should be impressed or disappointed by Chicago’s play. When you think about it, the Heat have a Hall-of-Fame coach, the two best overall players in the series, about 100 times more playoff experience and home court advantage. And still, the Bulls reached the century mark in each of the first two games and have showed heart and determination throughout. But it still hasn’t been enough to get the W. The thing is, the horse that has broken the Bulls’ back in these first two games hasn’t been Shaq, Flash or Pat Riley. It’s been the defense. For two regular seasons in a row, Chicago led the NBA in defensive field goal percentage. But for the second postseason in a row, the Bulls are allowing a lot more points then they did from November through early April. If this series is going to go more then four games, the Bulls are going to have to play some serious energy and feed off the UC crowd.

Some observations on the rest of the NBA Playoffs, the NFL Draft, the Cubs and why I consider New Yorker’s to be ignorant:

-In my April 22 blog post, I chose two players who I thought would lead their squads to victory to be pictured. Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant. Well, it turns out that when you shoot a combined 19 for 54 (35%), it’s hard to get a win, especially in the playoffs. Each star will have to pick his game up if they want to keep playing (and if they want to help me look smart for picking them to win their series). I expect no less then 50 from Kobe tomorrow night, and if Vince shoots 1 for 8 again from three point range tonight, I insist that his mad hops be revoked and given to somebody that will use them.

-LeBron James is a good basketball player. But I still don’t think he is top five in the league. Not yet anyways. The triple double he turned in Game 1 versus Washington was impressive, but if every NBA player was available and I had the top pick, I’d still go with Kevin Garnett. After that it would be Kobe, Tim Duncan, Amare Stodumire (if he’s 100%), and Dewayne Wade all before King James.

-The NFL Draft is this weekend, and I ‘m excited. As a person who follows both NFL and NCAA football closely, the draft is a great day to reminisce about the careers these guys had the last four years and also imagine what they will be able to do on Sundays. I think the pick that will impact the draft more then any other will be the number three selection, held by the Tennessee Titans. They need a quarterback with Steve McNair getting up there in age and not really in good terms with the squad right now. There are three top-flight QB’s available for the taking, and they all entice the Titans in a different way. Matt Leinert played under current Titans offensive-coordinator Norm Chow at USC and knows the offense already. Vince Young plays similar to the way McNair did when he had two good legs, and that would make it a smoother transition for the Tennessee O-Line. And Jay Cutler played his college ball in Nashville at Vanderbilt, meaning local fans would be quite interested in seeing him as a Titan. I think, and for the Titans sake hope, that they pick Young, who will be the best of the three of them.

-As for the Bears, they need to either get a receiver/tight end or a linebacker in round one. The signing of Rickey Manning Jr. is a good one, especially for only having to give up a third round pick. But if he is found guilty of the assault charges filed against him for beating up a man in a Los Angles Denny’s, he should be forced to buy himself and Tank Johnson sessions with a psychologist.

-Last nights Cubs comeback was nice, despite the fact that it made me sick for the first seven and a half innings while the North Siders were getting one-hit by Jason Vargas. And though the Cubs won this one, last night was a bit too similar to what happened on October 14, 2003. If you don’t know what happened that night, consider yourself lucky.

-For all the idiots who have been booing new Cub Jacque Jones, just grow up. When I’m in the bleachers on Friday, trust me, the sound ‘ooo’ will only come out of my mouth when comparing Brewers first basemen Prince Fielder to a cow.

- The ‘Seinfeld’ episode with Keith Hernandez is a good one. Newman and Kramer’s magic, JFK style spit. Jerry concerned that Keith is coming onto him too strong. The episode makes up for the fact that Hernandez played for the Mets in my book. But what Keith Hernandez said recently has put him back on the bottom of the social ladder. As the color-commentator for the Mets, he was announcing the Mets/Padres game last Saturday in San Diego. When former Met Mike Piazza hit a home run, the TV cameras showed him giving high-fives to all his teammate’s in the dugout, and then slapping hands with some woman wearing the full Padre uniform. It turns out it was Kelly Calabrese, the Padres' full-time massage therapist. But this didn’t matter to Hernandez. He said, on the air, that, “I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout.” He followed that up a day later by saying that he was sorry if he offended anyone. He also said that baseball's rulebook allowed only the head trainer and assistant trainer in the dugout. This apology pretty much states he’s not really sorry, but if he made you upset, he feels kinda bad about that, but really, according to MLB rules, he was correct. Keith Hernandez, you have a lot of growing up to do.