NBA Playoff Thoughts - The West

People need to lay off this Tracy McGrady-never-got-past-the-first-round stuff. I know he's never advanced out of the first round, but I don't think that's really that big a deal. I don't buy the notion that some players are really good statistically, but the great ones "just make their teammates better". The guys who go deep in the playoffs? It's not because they make their teammates better - it's because they have better teammates.

There are really four ways a great player can "make his teammates better":

1) He scores a lot, commanding attention from the defense and away from teammates

2) He passes with imagination and precision, allowing his teammates to get better shots

3) He dominates the offense, allowing teammates to rest on certain possessions, improving both their offense and defense

4) He plays excellent defense, allowing his teammates to not worry about needing to double-team

How does McGrady fare? 1) obvious; 2) he's always been a very good passer, as evidenced by his 7.0 assists per game - if you play fantasy basketball, you know how impressive that is; 3) obvious; 4) probably the weakest part of his game, but in the playoffs, when not trying to rest his aching back, I'd say he's been a "good" defender, memorably shutting down Dirk Nowitski in Dallas for two games in the 2005 playoffs.

In the 2001 playoffs, McGrady averaged 34 points, 8.3 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.2 blocks with only 2 turnovers. There is no question at that point of "but did he make his teammates better?" He most certainly did. He did it by scoring 34 points and collecting 8.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals and 1.2 blocks. When you play well statistically, you make your teammates a hell of a lot better. It's just that when those teammates are Pat Garrity, Bo Outlaw, Andrew DeClercq, Darrell Armstrong, Michael Doleac, Jacque Vaughn and John Amaechi, you might still lose in the first round.

If the Rockets manage to beat Utah and advance, people will talk about McGrady breaking through, really stepping into his own as a leader. I prefer to say he was always a leader, now he just happens to lead Yao Ming and Shane Battier.

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The Warriors-Mavs series has been the best first round series I've seen in some time, highlighted by the absolutely electric Games 3 and 4 in Oakland. Game 4, of course, was attended by Jessica Alba, whose boyfriend was a high school teammate of Baron Davis. You know, I think I sort of like Jessica Alba. Anyways, I haven't had so much fun watching a non-Laker team in a long time, and I really hope the Warriors close out in Game 6.

The upcoming Phoenix-San Antonio series looks like it's effectively the Western Conference finals - they both looked very impressive in their opening round. Amare has improved immensely defensively, and Phoenix has improved to a slightly above average defensive team, as opposed to the bad defensive teams of years past. They continue to yield a lot of points, but that's only due to their fast pace - per possession, they are playing decent defense, as a team with Raja Bell and Shawn Marion should. I think Phoenix's ability to improve their defense without slowing their offensive flow (versus when they play Kurt Thomas, and the offense looks a lot worse) will carry the day. San Antonio looks sharp, but my gut says this is the year Phoenix breaks through and wins the West.