Craig Sager Saves the NBA Finals During Blackout

What would happen if Craig Sager was the man in charge of leading the country through a power outage at the NBA Finals? (thesportshernia.com)

The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event of the year in the United States. That statement is applicable even when the storylines are weak and the teams involved are not traditional powerhouses or year-end Cinderellas. Even if the NFL and American football are typically thought of as commodities elsewhere, it does draw an international audience and tends to draw more viewers than the Olympics when they come around every four years.

This past Sunday, we found out what happens when the single biggest televised event experiences a technical difficulty so big the game is forced to stop. In this instance, a partial blackout of the Superdome halted action between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers and necessitated CBS sideline reporter Steve Tasker assume lead broadcasting duties.

The former NFL player did a serviceable job, making Kyle and I to wonder what Craig Sager would do if faced with a similar situation in the NBA Finals (if TNT carried the championship round or ABC employed him, that is). Let's also assume this happens during Game 7, where momentum and pressure is at an all-time high and the power to the play-by-play and color analysts mics were affected.


Minute 1: As cameras pan around to darkened light banks and confused players, Sager mumbles several verbal fillers and throws to commercial by saying “This is the 2013 NBA Finals!” as if equipment failures are on par with 360, between-the-legs dunks. Lucky for him, you can still make him out through the darkness thanks to his bright white paisley suit.

Minute 3: Fade-in to Sager standing on the arena’s lit side. As he welcomes back the viewing audience, Sager rattles off what little is known about the outage, repeating the phrase, "No one seems to know the cause or extent of the damage" over and over as producers reallocate additional commercials to be played while the screen goes to black and a baby begins to shill Cheetos.

Minute 3.5: Smash-cut to Sager standing in a dark aisle as spectators mill around. He clicks the wheel on what appears to be a strand of Christmas lights as his suit begins to blink in several different areas then hurriedly looks at the camera and opens his mouth before the broadcast quickly cuts to an advertisement and someone loses their job for not queuing up the extra spots.

Minute 6: Sager's voice is heard as the cameras scan the arena and zoom in on people getting antsy in the crowd. Sager is reading tweets off his phone of people's suggested causes for the blackout. "@JasonThomas45 says Dwight Howard cut a wire for attention and @MacDaddy1964 says Craig Sager's ridiculous looking suit caused the outage. Mac Daddy, I assure you that's not the case."

Minute 10: After the studio analysts break down the effects of the delay with both teams, Sager grabs a member of the building technical crew for an on-camera interview. The technician said it was a blown fuse box and Sager immediately questions him, believing the technician is hiding vital information that Sager is intent on breaking.

Minute 12: Sager shrinks into himself, hoping to be invisible to human beings and fashion criticism while walking past Kevin Garnett.

Minute 14: Sager’s pink pocket square is obviously damp as it now looks to be purple. His nerves have gotten to him and he is sweating profusely.

Minute 18: The lights are back on and the players are again warming up. Sager goes into a story about how he understands the difficulty for players to bounce back from the delay like the time when the power went out during one of his hair appointments and it took forever to get his part right, then sends it down to the broadcast booth.
Kyle Davis contributed to this story


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Allen Iverson is Right to Deny the D-League

Allen Iverson's future never included the D-League. (bleacherreport.com)

Allen Iverson crossed over Michael Jordan and scored roughly 24,368 points over a 14-season spread in the NBA. A 13-time All-Star, Iverson is also a basketball pariah worldwide refusing to accept a smaller role during his last stateside contract and leaving Turkish club Besiktas to undergo calf surgery, never to return and play out the remainder of his two-year, multi-million-dollar contract. He is still holding out for another shot on an NBA court that will likely not ever appear. In spite of his hopes – and his checkered history – Iverson’s recent dismissal of the Texas Legends’ offer to join them in the D-League is no surprise.

Iverson, like most professional athletes, has a high opinion of himself. One almost must to perform on such a large stage. Though it may look like hubris (and rightly so), his move to turn down the Legends’ offer was the right one to make. The team – the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League affiliate co-owned by Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson – has made splashy signings since its inception in 2010, having rostered players such as Greg Ostertag, Dan Gadzuric and Chris Douglas-Roberts and recently employing Rashad McCants and Delonte West (who reneged on his deal). Several of these players have earned 10-day contracts based on their play with the Legends including 37-year-old point guard Mike James, who parlayed his second 10-day bid into a guaranteed contract with the Mavs.

James’ name doesn’t carry the stigma of the 37-year-old the Legends tried to scoop last week, though. Iverson is a former MVP and scoring champion. He also led the league in steals for two seasons, in 2002-03 and 2004-05. But he has always been a high-usage player and a volume shooter, getting his career average of 26.7 ppg by making 9.3 shots on 21.8 attempts per game. Moreover, Iverson is an underwhelming three-point shooter (his career-best 36 percent came in 2009-10 when he attempted only 25 triples) and unless the man who once berated the idea of practice has changed that, he is not a reliable spot-up option. Iverson has not played professional basketball in two years and, in a comeback, he would be forced to get open shots by relying on speed, a formerly consistent tool in his arsenal that is surely fleeting due to age, injuries and time away from the professional game.

By accepting and admitting his past mistakes while turning down the Legends last week, Iverson showed a maturity that was missing as recently as 2010. While some don’t believe Iverson’s presence would help theD-League or the NBA at large, there are sects of fans who believe Iversonshould still be playing in the Association. Signing with the Legends under the guise that it could accelerate his return to the NBA would be unfair to his diehard followers and to Iverson himself.


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Creighton/St. Mary's Headlines Final BracketBusters Event

Creighton travels to St. Mary's for the biggest BracketBusters game of the year. (smcgaels.com)

BracketBusters is in it's final season, and after the pairings were announced Tuesday, it isn't exactly going out with a bang.

While some of the best mid-major teams are in action Feb. 22 and 23, the matchups are lacking the excitement the namesake has brought in the past. The purpose of BracketBusters is to give mid-major teams a final chance to earn a quality win late in the season and get exposure on national television.

If you're looking to scout teams that can make a buzz in the NCAA Tournament, this is your event. Indiana State is making a run at Creighton, Wichita State (both part of BracketBusters) and a Missouri Valley title and can make noise if they get into the tournament, March Madness veterans Belmont and Davidson are looking for a return trip and Murray State and Long Beach State try to regain the momentum from outstanding seasons last year.

The clear winner for best matchup to watch is Creighton versus St. Mary's. Creighton will be able to walk into the NCAA Tournament with a 20-3 record and quality wins but St. Mary's (19-4) is still in need of a signature win to boost the resume. Unlike some of the other matchups in the BracketBusters event, the Gaels can vastly improve their chances in March with a win against Creighton and can gain the most out of the BracketBusters teams who were not given the best opponent to help their causes.

St. Mary's has a great home crowd that will be going crazy for this game, but not only will having so much at stake for one side help build the anticipation in the arena, it will also be a great matchup on the court. The Bluejays and Gaels are both uptempo teams who can score quickly, so this could be a game of runs.

Creighton's Doug McDermott (24 ppg, 7.3 rpg) is a front runner for national player of the year and fans should take any chance they get to watch this guy play. St. Mary's is lead by point guard Matthew Dellavedova (16.3 ppg, 6.5 apg) who can hit big shot after big shot and has been doing it his whole career. Playing in the Olympics for the Australian national team looked to have only enhanced his game, and if the game is close in the final two minutes, look for the ball to be in his hands.

St. Mary's is looking to reach the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time since 2008, and a win over a ranked Creighton team should boost the Gaels into one of the final 68 spots, as long as they don't shoot themselves in the foot in the remainder of WCC play.

To start preparing your viewing schedule now, here's a schedule from ESPN for the BracketBusters games on TV:

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Spurs Continue International Trend With Aron Baynes

Aron Baynes daydreams of his future with the Spurs. (NBA.com)

On Jan. 23, the San Antonio Spurs signed center Aron Baynes of Union Olimpija from the Slovenian Basketball League. Baynes averaged a near double-double during his time in Europe with just less than 14 points and 10 rebounds per game, and in a two-game assignment to the Spurs' D-League affiliate Austin Toros, he averaged 18 ppg and nine rpg while playing 27.5 minutes each night. He brings good size to the Spurs, standing at 6’10’’ and 260 pounds. He looks like an NBA center and has a traditional post game, rather than that of someone who will stretch the defense. While we don’t know much about Baynes to this point as an NBA center, the early returns suggest he could have a nice future in the league. Since being signed by the Spurs, Baynes is averaging more than four rebounds and three points per game in under 10 minutes per contest. It’s a small sample, but one corroborated by Baynes' 7.5 ppg, 3.3 rbg performance with the Australian national team in last summer's Olympics. His production in limited action is promising and another indication that the Spurs have yet again hit on an international signing.

Few franchises, if any, have been better than the Spurs at bringing in foreign talent. The list of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tiago Splitter, Nando De Colo and now Aron Baynes is an impressive grouping with production and stardom at the top and potential and promise on the bottom. Parker has been one of the best point guards in the league for the last decade. Ginobili has been incredibly effective both off the bench and as a starter. Both have averaged double-digit points every year since their rookie seasons; both have the ability to create for their teammates consistently while being able to can create their own shots; and both are great leaders for the Spurs franchise. Oh, and by the way, they both have championship rings.

When you look at the rest of the list, Splitter is certainly the most proven player so far. He can score and rebound well, while providing great height, coming in at 6’11’’. He also shoots incredibly well from the floor, hitting at 59 percent for his young career. While we don’t know much about either De Colo or Baynes to this point, both of them averaged double-digit points during their time in Europe and bring good size for their respective positions. While both have limited experience at the NBA level, the Spurs have had such a great track record of signing and developing talent from overseas that you can’t help but think they will become at least solid NBA players who will have long and healthy careers. It will be interesting to see how these players develop and who the next player the Spurs bring in from across the pond.


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D-League Decoded: Welcome to the Small Show

The Texas Legends pursuing Allen Iverson was one of the biggest D-League stories of the week. (usatoday.com)

Hello readers of Beats, Dimes and Drives. My name is Dakota Schmidt and I'm addicted to basketball. Sure, most of you are also addicted to the sport since you're reading this site, but I'm a little different. You see while most people like the Heat, Thunder or Clippers, I personally like watching the Bucks, Bobcats and the NBA D-League. If you don't know, the D-League is the NBA's minor league where players develop and teams feature creative names like the Mad Ants, Red Claws, Skyforce and — of course — the Bighorns. Yes, the D-League has been around for more than 10 years, but this is quite possibly the greatest season yet with better teams and a vastly improved pool of players. With that said, the D-League is still kind of a hidden commodity so I'm going to take you on a little tour of the best stories from the past week in the NBADL.

1. Rumors that the Texas Legends would be going after Allen Iverson
Around Monday morning, ESPN's Marc Stein reported that the Texas Legends were going after former NBA MVP point guard Allen Iverson, who hasn't played in the United States since his '09-'10 stint with the 76ers. The 37-year-old declined the invite from the Legends after stating on his Twitter account that he thinks that the D-League is a great opportunity for players, but he wanted to complete his "legacy" in the NBA.

I do understand that Iverson would want to go straight into the NBA because he was one of the most popular players in the first half of the 2000's. With that said, it's 2013 and teams aren't really looking forward to acquiring a player in his late 30's when they really don't know how he could still produce after not playing in the league for three seasons.

Iverson's refusal to join the Legends leaves the door wide open for former D-League MVP Justin Dentman, who was acquired last week from the Austin Toros. Dentman may be familiar to NBA fans because he had separate stints last season with the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs, but he has really made his mark in the D-League, where he helped lead the Toros to a title last season. Dentman is perhaps one of the top scoring guards in the league with a solid mid-range shot and a quick first step that helps him drive to the basket.

2. Toko Shengelia's Monster Night
The young Brooklyn Nets prospect straight out of the country Georgia has seen very limited minutes in his rookie year, which has allowed him to have two separate stints with the Springfield Armor. Springfield has one of the worst records in the D-League, but they were the center of the universe this past weekend simply because of the play of the 6'10" Shengelia. In Friday's game against the Maine Red Claws, Shengelia possibly had the best performance by any player in the D-League this season when he put up a 39 points and 18 rebounds.

While Maine did have a good crop of forwards (Chris Wright, Micah Downs and Fab Melo), Shengelia basically chewed them up and spit them out by being a fiend on the boards and working his mid-range shot to perfection. It's unclear how many times Shengelia will be assigned back to the Armor this season, but it is clear that it will most definitely be must-watch action if he is reassigned.

3. Royce White to the D-League?
The long-winded controversy between first-round pick Royce White and the Houston Rockets appears to be over as White is scheduled to debut with Houston's affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, on Feb. 11. The Rockets have been one of the best teams when it comes to using their D-League counterpart after sending players like Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and Patrick Beverly to the team so far this season. The main issue between White and the Rockets front office has been White's fear of anything involving flight, which is odd because the D-League flies commercial airlines rather than the private airlines of the NBA.

I've stated my personal opinions about White on my Twitter account, but I think his stint with Rio Grande Valley will prove how important his future as a basketball player really is. Royce's skills are undeniable and he should have a good career in the NBA, but there will always be questions about if he's going to be focused more on his battle with anxiety than with his play on the court.

4. Potential D-League PGs that could replace Rajon Rondo
This past Sunday it was reported that Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo would miss the rest of the season because of a torn ACL, which only hurts a team that's already fighting to stay in the playoffs. Boston does have a wide variety of combo guards like Avery Bradley, Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa, but none of those guys are really a pure PG.

The D-League has a wide variety of point guards that official D-League blogger Kevin Scheitrum wrote a piece about earlier this week. The first player that stands out at me has to be Delonte West because he's an NBA veteran who has also played multiple seasons under Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. While he's had a troubled career, West is still a talented player and is definitely worth at least a 10-day contract.

While the rest of the D-League PGs don't have the experience of West, there are still a wide variety of players Boston can choose from. For example, Courtney Fortson of the Los Angeles D-Fenders — the  No. 1 D-League prospect — is the type of high energy player the Celtics could use to energize their squad. Fortson is improving both as a scorer (19.1 PPG) and as a distributer (6.5 APG) while also pulling down 5.3 RPG, which is outstanding when you look at the fact that he's 5'11".

Some other notable PG's in the D-League include Donald Sloan, Andre Barrett, Sean Singletary and Ben Uzoh. Both Sloan and Singletary have experience playing in the NBA and are similar players because they're solid distrubters and are solid shooters. Barrett has been around both the NBA and the D-League since the early days of the league and he's probably the best passer in all of the NBADL. Like Rondo, Andre is never going to be the best shooter around, but he is notching 11.3 assists per game while playing with the Celtics-affiliated Maine Red Claws. That is key, as Barrett would be able to make the smooth transition between leagues because Boston and Maine run similar systems. Last but not least, former Nets guard Ben Uzoh has been one of the top prospects in the league all season long simply because he can do anything on the court from leading an offense to being one of the best rebounders in the league for a guy his size (6'3", 205 lbs.).

5. Rise of DaJuan Summers
Former Pistons/Hornets forward DaJuan Summers has been of the more pleasant surprises in the D-League so far with the Red Claws. Now of course people know about his talent since his college days with Georgetown, but he's really exploded as the third forward on that Red Claws team. The team was going into the season expecting things out of Micah Downs and Chris Wright, and they have definitely produced in their roles but Summers has been the standout player since being signed in early December. Recently DaJuan had a career night against the Springfield Armor where he put up 34 points and 10 rebounds but only to get out-shined by Toko Shengelia who had that outstanding game I previously talked about.

DaJuan might not be the best player you've ever seen play but he's really worth taking the time out of your schedule to take a look at him like a lot of the other talent in the D-League.

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Weekend Feast: Michigan Vs. Indiana And Poor Tom Crean

Tom Crean will lead his No. 3 Indiana squad against No. 1 Michigan Saturday night (bleacherreport.com)

Poor Tom Crean. He is about to be a victim of horrible timing.
 
Crean's No. 3 Indiana team will host No. 1 Michigan in prime time Saturday night. It also happens to be the night before his wife's brothers, JIM AND JOHN HARBAUGH, face off as opposing coaches in the biggest single sporting event of the year; the Super Bowl. (Given how big of a storyline this is being played as, I felt it would be rude not to refer to the HARBAUGH BROTHERS in all caps.)

I can only imagine how many questions at his pregame interview will be about the HARBOUGHS. Which HARBOUGH does he like best? Who does he think will win (the Super Bowl, that is)? Who does his wife think will win? Will his wife even be at the game or will she be in New Orleans? Even if his team beats the No. 1 team in the country, it won't be the biggest story in his household this weekend.

But we'll get to that game later. First, here's some other matchups to keep an eye on this weekend.

Free Falling

No. 25 Marquette vs. No. 12 Louisville
In the past two weeks, Louisville has gone from "how can they be stopped" to "what the $*%# is going on" and a three-point win over Pitt at home Monday hasn't done much to ease those worries.

Especially since the Cardinals now face a Marquette team that looks to be finding its identity after a slow start to the season (they feel your pain, Gonzaga. Butler got the Golden Eagles on a buzzer-beater, too). Granted, the past five games haven't been the most challenging of the season, but going 4-1 with only a two-point loss to Cincinnati shows the team is playing some of its best ball.

This Louisville team is known for defense, but the offense will have to be present Saturday as the Cardinals need this win to get back on course.

ACC Powers?

No. 14 Miami vs. No. 19 NC State
This game is a get-together for the We Beat Duke Club. No one except Boston College (go figure) has gotten close to beating Miami recently and if you had Miami starting 7-0 in the ACC, well, I hope you were in Vegas for that pick because you, sir or ma'am, have a gift. Jim Larranaga has to be in the conversation for national coach of the year for what he's done with this program, and it's not the first time he's made this magic (2006 George Mason). Balanced scoring with four players in double figures each game has made the Hurricanes very dangerous as we look ahead to March.

NC State was thought to possibly be in Miami's position, but instead have been on a roller coaster in conference play; defeat Duke, lose to Wake Forest, beat UNC, lose the next one to Virginia. Make up your mind, Wolfpack! What team are you going to be? This matchup with the Hurricanes is followed by a rematch with Duke, so this is the perfect stretch for NC State to find some consistency, whichever way — winning or losing — that means.


The Big Show

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 3 Indiana
The game of the week honor is a runaway favorite for Michigan vs. Indiana. College Gameday will be in one of the best college gyms in the country as the No. 1 team comes to town. And of course, we will hear the storyline that this is the first time Michigan has been No. 1 since the Fab Five in 1992, seeing as one of those five, Jalen Rose, is part of the Gameday crew.

The Big Ten is starting to break into a more natural hierarchy of teams, compared to the seven-teams-could-win-it-free-for-all the conference was at the beginning of January, and Michigan and Indiana have pushed their way to the top of the pyramid. Assembly Hall will be rockin' as these two very even teams square off in what will hopefully be a wire-to-wire battle. Both teams are 7-1 in the conference and sporting four-game winning streaks since suffering their only conference losses. Trey Burke and Cody Zeller are the headliners of big-talent and big-name squads ready for primetime. It just doesn't feel like there's any way this game is a letdown.

As great of a game as this could be, again, I can't help feeling for Tom Crean, who even with a win can't outdo the HARBAUGH BOWL in his own house. Secretly, he's got to be hoping for a tie in the Super Bowl, right?

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Friday Roundtable: Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose and Injuries

Will Rajon Rondo's knee injury hurt the Celtics more than Derrick Rose's hurt the Bulls?  (Elise Amendola/AP)

BDD's Friday Roundtable is a weekly discussion among three of our writers on a trending NBA or college basketball topic.

This week's question: Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, just as Chicago Bulls PG Derrick Rose begins taking full contact in practice after suffering a similar injury in April. Both are premier players at their position, but whose injury affects their team more?

Kyle Davis: 
Derrick Rose is clearly the better scorer and probably best of the two, but Rajon Rondo's injury will affect the Celtics more than Rose's injury will the Bulls because of two factors: age and style of play. The age factor is pretty obvious in the fact that Boston's best players, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, are in their mid-30s and past their prime (although credit them for still playing at an outstanding level for veterans their age). The less obvious but more important factor with the age is that Rondo's injury takes a huge chunk of the little time remaining for this group. Rose's supporting cast will probably have an average of four or five years left in the league or with the Bulls, which still gives him plenty of time to get healthy and make a run at a title with a group that has proven it can get close. No one can be certain Garnett and Pierce will still be around when Rondo returns, if the injury takes him out into next season. This was looking like a final run for this aging Celtics group and Rondo may return to a rebuilding process instead of an Eastern Conference contender.

Rondo also is more crucial to his offense and makes the players around him better than any other point guard (or player) in the league. The C's point guard can make highlights out of broken plays and get everyone on the court involved. Rondo is like an effective quarterback who may not have the strongest arm (or best shot) but makes creative plays and his performance on the court makes the players around him better. The Bulls had to adjust to replacing a great scorer in Rose, but there are five other guys on the court that can help with that. Rondo has more than three assists, two rebounds and one steal per game this season than Rose did last year. Those aren't as impressive as points per game, but they still are difficult stats to replace. No one else on the Celtics roster can pass and run the offense like Rondo, and that's why he will be sorely missed while recovering from this injury.
 
Alex Skov:

Derrick Rose’s ACL tear happened at one of the worst possible times for the Chicago Bulls — in the waning minutes of game one of a first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The game was already in hand for the Bulls and Rose was just getting over a nagging ankle injury when he landed awkwardly and crumpled to the floor. Although the Bulls won the series, they failed to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals where they were supposed to challenge the Miami Heat for a trip to the championship round. Chicago signed Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson in the offseason to make up for Rose’s extended absence and both have performed admirably as the Bulls have locked down on defense (the fourth best in the NBA), often looking like the best team in the Association and likely securing a top-four playoff seed.

The Boston Celtics are not going to be as fortunate as Rajon Rondo recovers from his torn ACL. Where the Bulls have Joakim Noah and Luol Deng, the Celtics have Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. There’s nothing inherently bad about this — quite the contrary, actually, as they’re both performing at a high level — but age was already a factor in Boston, and losing the franchise’s youngest star to injury brings even more speculation to how long this core should be kept intact. There were questions about whether or not Luol Deng should be traded before and after Rose’s injury, but he also led England’s Olympic team this summer and still hasn’t hit 30 years old, let alone Pierce’s 35 or Garnett’s 36.

Rose often looked like a one-man show before being confined to the sidelines; Rondo, for all his ball-handling mastery-bordering-on-sorcery, did not. Neither relied on a jump shot to get his points, but Rondo consciously looked for his teammates, which led him to 37 consecutive games with double-digit assists. He also racked up triple-doubles like it was nothing when playing on national television.

The Bulls had a youthful group to rely on even before Carlos Boozer decided to be a good basketball player again. The Celtics’ roster was already questionable outside of its three biggest names, and things will get even more indistinct with the undisputed leader out for the foreseeable future. Whether that means Garnett and Pierce become trade bait while Boston can still get value back for them or the Celtics have to make a panic move in an attempt to hold onto eighth place in the East, the Chicago Bulls will be in the playoffs after playing most — or all — of the season without their star. If this is the beginning of a downhill slide for the Celtics, one of the most historically successful franchises in NBA history may be headed underground.

Shawn Deegan:
As a Bulls fan, I’m itching to say the loss of Derrick Rose impacts the Bulls more than the loss of Rajon Rondo impacts the Celtics. I’d love to say Rose is more important to his team than Rondo. However, the unbiased sports writer in me won’t allow for a homer pick. The answer is unequivocally Rondo. The records are the big indicator for me. Even with Rondo, the Celtics are sitting below .500 this season. The Bulls haven’t had Rose from the beginning of the season and are first in the Central division in the Eastern Conference. The combination of Kirk Hinrich, Marco Belinelli and Nate Robinson has held down the fort in the backcourt for the Bulls. Richard Hamilton is healthy. While none of these options are spectacular, collectively, they make up a solid group that has done as good of a job as any Bulls fan could have hoped for without Rose. The Bulls have played good defense and have a well-rounded team that produces enough offense with great ball movement to win the Central division, even without a playmaker.

Now, when you look at the Celtics, the individual numbers of the backcourt surrounding Rondo are comparable to those of the Bulls. However, those numbers are largely due to Rondo’s ability as a playmaker and a passer. Without Rondo, the Celtics don’t have another creator that can break down a defender, draw the defense to him and make a perfect pass to a cutting teammate or to a spot-up shooter. The supporting cast of Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa and Courtney Lee is a good one, if there is someone who can create opportunities for them. Lee can’t break down the elite defenders off the dribble. Barbosa is past his prime and not the scorer he once was. Terry is the best of the bunch and while he can handle the point, he’s much better coming off screens, spotting up around the three-point arc, or taking a couple of dribbles to his right before pulling up from 15 feet. He doesn’t have the ability to take a game over like Rondo. This team doesn’t play good defense anyway, and when you remove its best defender, it’s only going to get worse. This team is built around Rondo and without him this team will fall even further than it already has.

The key to all of this is the system that each of these teams play in. Chicago has a much more team-oriented style of play that accentuates the strengths of its players. Hinrich doesn’t have to score; he just has to play defense and handle the ball. Robinson doesn’t have to start; he can come off the bench and spot up around the three point line. Belinelli and Hamilton are getting more opportunities to score without Rose, but neither one is expected to take over a game. While their points per game are good, neither Paul Pierce nor Kevin Garnett is as effective as they appear on paper without Rondo on the floor. The supporting backcourt of the Bulls is based on defense and accentuating its strengths. The Celtics’ backcourt is based around Rondo’s ability to create. Defensively, the Bulls are good enough to survive without Rose. The Celtics are not without Rondo. Overall, no matter how you look at it, the loss of Rondo affects the Celtics far more than the Bulls losing Rose.

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