Online Casino News Feature: NBA Playoffs
05-01-2006
Defense still wins championships. This old sports adage is very accurate. The Steelers defense led the way for a run to the Super Bowl and a victory over the Seahawks. Defense keyed the Patriots run to three Super Bowl titles in four seasons, and the Spurs have won three NBA titles (including last spring) with defense the backbone of their run. Back in 2002, the No. 1 defense of Tampa Bay smacked the No. 1 offense of the Raiders in the Super Bowl. Two years ago in the NBA Finals, who won the title - the high-flying Laker offense, or the blue-collar, physical Detroit defense?
Michael Jordan may have been best known for his offense, but it was his and the team's defense from 1996-98 that netted the Chicago Bulls three straight titles. The same was true for the Lakers during their recent run, and the champion Spurs in 1999, 2003 and 2005. Let's look at those Bulls teams under Michael Jordan. When Jordan won his last championship in 1998, the Bulls were a strong defensive team and notice that Chicago went 13-6-1 in games "under" the total during the 1998 playoffs. In 2003, the Spurs went 15-8-1 "under" the total on their way to winning the title. Last season, the Pistons went 14-8-1 "under" the total.
Former Pistons' coach Larry Brown was instrumental in teaching and motivating the Pistons defensively the last few years, winning the title in 2004. They were not always pretty offensively, losing 82-64 and 94-79 in Games 3 and 4 against the Nets one season, and they even lost 83-68 to the Pacers in a playoff game - at home! They scored 78 points in Game 1 against the Nets - but won by 22 points, 78-56! Detroit went on to win the 2004 NBA title, stunning the Lakers as a 7-to-1 series dog. Winning ugly is secondary to winning, of course.
Don't forget that back in the 2001 playoffs, Brown was the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that played tough defense and made it to the NBA Finals. Philadelphia went 14-9 under the total in the 2001 playoffs. In 2004, there were 37 unders and 27 overs in the NBA playoffs and last season the split was even at 41 overs and 41 unders.
One thing that happens is that strong defensive teams play as hard as they can defensively during the regular season a lot of the time, but not all of the time. Sometimes game are blowouts and teams will coast on defense or have fun trying to score in the fourth quarter, rather than work hard playing defense (which isn't noticed as much by the fans as is a flashy offensive play). This is human nature, as it's an 82-game regular season, so it's very difficult and tiring to play all out on defense for six months.
Once the playoffs roll around, however, it's a different story, as there are fewer one-sided games and opportunities to coast. Since the postseason is so short and every game means something, it's more likely teams will go all out on defense throughout the entire playoffs. In fact, defense has a tendency to get better as the playoffs go along because the games mean more the closer you approach the Finals. The last three seasons, the under is 28-22 combined in the Eastern/Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.
Oddsmakers are aware of this and often adjust the totals to reflect this. Notice that when the Pistons and Pacers met in the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago, the total for Game 1 opened 163, but by Games 5 and 6 it had dropped to 159. Five of those six games sailed "under" the total, by the way. You may recall a defensive clash a few years ago when Pat Riley's Miami Heat took on the Jeff Van Gundy's New York Knicks in a battle of two coaches that preach great 'D'. The totals were very low for each game (an average of 170), yet in the seven-game series the unders still prevailed by a 5-1-1 mark.
These NBA playoffs are going to be interesting for several reasons. We might find outstanding defensive coaches squaring off against each other, like Mike Fratello (Grizzlies), Avery Johnson (Mavericks) and Gregg Popovich (Spurs). Except plenty of rough, physical play if that happens. In addition, there will be interesting contrast of styles in the West with run-and-gun fast break teams (Suns, Kings, Nuggets) squaring off against monster-defensive teams like the Grizzlies and Spurs. Remember last season when the Spurs and Suns met in the Western Finals: The Spurs won in 5 games. Chalk up another triumph of great defense over great offense!
05-01-2006
Defense still wins championships. This old sports adage is very accurate. The Steelers defense led the way for a run to the Super Bowl and a victory over the Seahawks. Defense keyed the Patriots run to three Super Bowl titles in four seasons, and the Spurs have won three NBA titles (including last spring) with defense the backbone of their run. Back in 2002, the No. 1 defense of Tampa Bay smacked the No. 1 offense of the Raiders in the Super Bowl. Two years ago in the NBA Finals, who won the title - the high-flying Laker offense, or the blue-collar, physical Detroit defense?
Michael Jordan may have been best known for his offense, but it was his and the team's defense from 1996-98 that netted the Chicago Bulls three straight titles. The same was true for the Lakers during their recent run, and the champion Spurs in 1999, 2003 and 2005. Let's look at those Bulls teams under Michael Jordan. When Jordan won his last championship in 1998, the Bulls were a strong defensive team and notice that Chicago went 13-6-1 in games "under" the total during the 1998 playoffs. In 2003, the Spurs went 15-8-1 "under" the total on their way to winning the title. Last season, the Pistons went 14-8-1 "under" the total.
Former Pistons' coach Larry Brown was instrumental in teaching and motivating the Pistons defensively the last few years, winning the title in 2004. They were not always pretty offensively, losing 82-64 and 94-79 in Games 3 and 4 against the Nets one season, and they even lost 83-68 to the Pacers in a playoff game - at home! They scored 78 points in Game 1 against the Nets - but won by 22 points, 78-56! Detroit went on to win the 2004 NBA title, stunning the Lakers as a 7-to-1 series dog. Winning ugly is secondary to winning, of course.
Don't forget that back in the 2001 playoffs, Brown was the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that played tough defense and made it to the NBA Finals. Philadelphia went 14-9 under the total in the 2001 playoffs. In 2004, there were 37 unders and 27 overs in the NBA playoffs and last season the split was even at 41 overs and 41 unders.
One thing that happens is that strong defensive teams play as hard as they can defensively during the regular season a lot of the time, but not all of the time. Sometimes game are blowouts and teams will coast on defense or have fun trying to score in the fourth quarter, rather than work hard playing defense (which isn't noticed as much by the fans as is a flashy offensive play). This is human nature, as it's an 82-game regular season, so it's very difficult and tiring to play all out on defense for six months.
Once the playoffs roll around, however, it's a different story, as there are fewer one-sided games and opportunities to coast. Since the postseason is so short and every game means something, it's more likely teams will go all out on defense throughout the entire playoffs. In fact, defense has a tendency to get better as the playoffs go along because the games mean more the closer you approach the Finals. The last three seasons, the under is 28-22 combined in the Eastern/Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.
Oddsmakers are aware of this and often adjust the totals to reflect this. Notice that when the Pistons and Pacers met in the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago, the total for Game 1 opened 163, but by Games 5 and 6 it had dropped to 159. Five of those six games sailed "under" the total, by the way. You may recall a defensive clash a few years ago when Pat Riley's Miami Heat took on the Jeff Van Gundy's New York Knicks in a battle of two coaches that preach great 'D'. The totals were very low for each game (an average of 170), yet in the seven-game series the unders still prevailed by a 5-1-1 mark.
These NBA playoffs are going to be interesting for several reasons. We might find outstanding defensive coaches squaring off against each other, like Mike Fratello (Grizzlies), Avery Johnson (Mavericks) and Gregg Popovich (Spurs). Except plenty of rough, physical play if that happens. In addition, there will be interesting contrast of styles in the West with run-and-gun fast break teams (Suns, Kings, Nuggets) squaring off against monster-defensive teams like the Grizzlies and Spurs. Remember last season when the Spurs and Suns met in the Western Finals: The Spurs won in 5 games. Chalk up another triumph of great defense over great offense!