By Frank Hughes
Special to ESPN.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Quite often, you hear the complaint that the NBA forces voters to make their decisions about the regular-season awards before the postseason begins. The problem with it is that when a player so thoroughly dominates another player during the playoffs, it is clear that second player didn't deserve an award he might have won.
For example, had we based our MVP balloting on the postseason as well as the regular season, Shaquille O'Neal certainly would have won Most Valuable Player over Tim Duncan.
The same holds true for coaches.
There is no way in the Kingdom of Hoops that New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott would have finished so close behind Rick Carlisle in the Coach of the Year ballots had the voters gotten the opportunity to see Scott coach this championship series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shoot, Scott, who said that he thought he deserved to win the award instead of Carlisle, wouldn't have even been on the ballot had we witnessed his Finals stubbornness beforehand.
Scott seems like a good guy. He has been gracious with the media this entire series. He has entertained us with provoking thoughts -- like providing the quote about getting Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal back together to make another Shaq -- and he has neither ducked nor skirted issues.
In fact, in the face of rolled-under defeat, he is not even approaching this Game 4 with the staunch coaching mantra of "It's not over til it's over. Our backs are against the wall and we'll come out fighting." He appreciates how thoroughly the Nets are being dominated, and his answers objectively convey the realization that it's only a matter of time before his team is another in a long line of teams that had to be on one side so a dynasty could be created on the other.
But great Scott, did he have to make it so easy for the Lakers? I mean, I think you can pretty much pin the first two losses of this series on Scott's decision not to double-team O'Neal. And after that, well, moss doesn't collect on a rolling stone.
Look, I'm not simple enough to suggest that had the Nets immediately double- or even triple-teamed O'Neal, the ultimate outcome of the series would be different. But Scott never gave the possibility a chance. Adopting the obstinate approach of his mentor, Pat Riley, Scott chose to single-cover O'Neal and concentrate on stopping the other Lakers from hurting the Nets.
But there are so many flaws in that theory. You know that McDonald's commercial where Kobe Bryant gets chosen by the pee wee league to come play in the championship? The reason they don't show the part where Kobe actually plays in the game is he would run right over the kids, and everybody would feel sorry for them as they go home with bloody noses while Kobe takes his sunglasses and his Fat Albert replica jersey and eats a few fries alone in the corner.
Instead, NBC decided to air that part of the commercial as its NBA Finals package. Shaq is treating all the Nets like little kids who are bouncing off him, and now we are supposed to feel sorry for the bloodied Nets.
You should have seen how demoralized poor Todd MacCulloch looked at practice after Game 1. And when he was asked about Scott's decision to leave MacCulloch out there, alone, in the hinterlands, guarding the most talented big man on the planet, MacCulloch said: "We have to trust the coaches' decisions. They have brought us this far."
Translation: "I don't know what the hell he's thinking. Come give me some *&^&^(*&)^&*(%^%$^ help. NOW."
Couldn't Scott have seen in the series against the Lakers that you have a better chance with Shaq tossing it out of the post and Devean George taking a 21-footer than Shaq taking a 3-footer?
So in Game 2, Scott's strategy seemed to be to fake double-teaming Shaq, where Jason Kidd would come over, take a half-hearted swipe at the ball and Shaq would barrel past him, too.
Then in Game 3, Scott finally got the idea and doubled Shaq. And when he did it, Derek Fisher hit two straight 3s -- I think they may have been the first ones he has hit since San Antonio -- and then the Nets started thinking, "Well, this isn't going to work, either."
But that's Scott's fault. You can't let the Lakers feel good about themselves, relax, play loose and then dare them to beat you. Dare George and Fisher to beat you when the pressure is on, from the beginning of the game until the end, just like Sacramento did.
Scott always talks about how his players need to follow his example, because he has been to the Finals before as a player with the Lakers. He says he knows what it takes.
But playing and coaching are two different things, and Scott is learning his lessons as well. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If the Nets return to the championship series, Scott will be that much better prepared. But right now, Phil Jackson is coaching concentric circles around Scott, making all the right decisions and pushing all the right buttons.
It does not seem that difficult, because all the Lakers have to do is throw the ball into Shaq and let him go to work. But often they forget, and Jackson needs to remind them.
Right now, he's keeping them on course. Maybe we should re-consider Jackson for Coach of the Year.
Special to ESPN.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Quite often, you hear the complaint that the NBA forces voters to make their decisions about the regular-season awards before the postseason begins. The problem with it is that when a player so thoroughly dominates another player during the playoffs, it is clear that second player didn't deserve an award he might have won.
For example, had we based our MVP balloting on the postseason as well as the regular season, Shaquille O'Neal certainly would have won Most Valuable Player over Tim Duncan.
The same holds true for coaches.
There is no way in the Kingdom of Hoops that New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott would have finished so close behind Rick Carlisle in the Coach of the Year ballots had the voters gotten the opportunity to see Scott coach this championship series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Shoot, Scott, who said that he thought he deserved to win the award instead of Carlisle, wouldn't have even been on the ballot had we witnessed his Finals stubbornness beforehand.
Scott seems like a good guy. He has been gracious with the media this entire series. He has entertained us with provoking thoughts -- like providing the quote about getting Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal back together to make another Shaq -- and he has neither ducked nor skirted issues.
In fact, in the face of rolled-under defeat, he is not even approaching this Game 4 with the staunch coaching mantra of "It's not over til it's over. Our backs are against the wall and we'll come out fighting." He appreciates how thoroughly the Nets are being dominated, and his answers objectively convey the realization that it's only a matter of time before his team is another in a long line of teams that had to be on one side so a dynasty could be created on the other.
But great Scott, did he have to make it so easy for the Lakers? I mean, I think you can pretty much pin the first two losses of this series on Scott's decision not to double-team O'Neal. And after that, well, moss doesn't collect on a rolling stone.
Look, I'm not simple enough to suggest that had the Nets immediately double- or even triple-teamed O'Neal, the ultimate outcome of the series would be different. But Scott never gave the possibility a chance. Adopting the obstinate approach of his mentor, Pat Riley, Scott chose to single-cover O'Neal and concentrate on stopping the other Lakers from hurting the Nets.
But there are so many flaws in that theory. You know that McDonald's commercial where Kobe Bryant gets chosen by the pee wee league to come play in the championship? The reason they don't show the part where Kobe actually plays in the game is he would run right over the kids, and everybody would feel sorry for them as they go home with bloody noses while Kobe takes his sunglasses and his Fat Albert replica jersey and eats a few fries alone in the corner.
Instead, NBC decided to air that part of the commercial as its NBA Finals package. Shaq is treating all the Nets like little kids who are bouncing off him, and now we are supposed to feel sorry for the bloodied Nets.
You should have seen how demoralized poor Todd MacCulloch looked at practice after Game 1. And when he was asked about Scott's decision to leave MacCulloch out there, alone, in the hinterlands, guarding the most talented big man on the planet, MacCulloch said: "We have to trust the coaches' decisions. They have brought us this far."
Translation: "I don't know what the hell he's thinking. Come give me some *&^&^(*&)^&*(%^%$^ help. NOW."
Couldn't Scott have seen in the series against the Lakers that you have a better chance with Shaq tossing it out of the post and Devean George taking a 21-footer than Shaq taking a 3-footer?
So in Game 2, Scott's strategy seemed to be to fake double-teaming Shaq, where Jason Kidd would come over, take a half-hearted swipe at the ball and Shaq would barrel past him, too.
Then in Game 3, Scott finally got the idea and doubled Shaq. And when he did it, Derek Fisher hit two straight 3s -- I think they may have been the first ones he has hit since San Antonio -- and then the Nets started thinking, "Well, this isn't going to work, either."
But that's Scott's fault. You can't let the Lakers feel good about themselves, relax, play loose and then dare them to beat you. Dare George and Fisher to beat you when the pressure is on, from the beginning of the game until the end, just like Sacramento did.
Scott always talks about how his players need to follow his example, because he has been to the Finals before as a player with the Lakers. He says he knows what it takes.
But playing and coaching are two different things, and Scott is learning his lessons as well. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If the Nets return to the championship series, Scott will be that much better prepared. But right now, Phil Jackson is coaching concentric circles around Scott, making all the right decisions and pushing all the right buttons.
It does not seem that difficult, because all the Lakers have to do is throw the ball into Shaq and let him go to work. But often they forget, and Jackson needs to remind them.
Right now, he's keeping them on course. Maybe we should re-consider Jackson for Coach of the Year.
