No one really stops LeBron James anymore, but there are ways to slow him. He's like bad weather. You just prepare for it as best you can.
James ran through the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs doing pretty much whatever he wanted -- and when he wanted -- on his way to winning the Most Valuable Player Award and leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA.
Obviously for the Orlando Magic, the key to their chances in this Eastern Conference final is preventing James from just totally dominating the series. They can win, if they do that.
It doesn't seem that long ago that the Southeast was an afterthought. I'm aware that sounds stupid as this division attempts to rise to serious L-bound prominence, but it's true -- before Dwight Howard and before Dwyane Wade and before Josh Smith and before Jeff McInnis ... what was there?
It doesn't particularly matter now; the division is still only an erstwhile powerhouse; you would never see a prediction coming that any one of these teams can contend for the NBA title right now, and that's what matters in these sort of things.
Of course, Orlando is a different story of sorts. Maybe. At least we have to wonder: Does Hedo Turkoglu Still Have the Special Sauce?
With Sam Vincent mercifully gone from the coaching ranks already, all eyes in the Carolinas turned to Larry Brownto fill the vacancy with the Charlotte Bobcats. And he is probably still the number one candidate -- although I'm not sure how much Michael Jordan needing to request biographical information on him helps his case.
Paul Silas, though, would also like to be in the running. Badly. Actually, it would be the perfect landing spot for the former Charlotte Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers coach; he not only lives in Lake Norman (a few miles away) but also dropped the phrase "dream job" regarding the opening.
'They need someone who knows how to handle people, get the most out of them,' Silas told the [Charlotte] Observer. 'My teams have always been really good defensive teams. This team has that potential" in terms of personnel.
'They need to be in a system. I have a system offensively that has proven to work.'
Silas's self promotional style is a tad bit aggressive, but if you're running a campaign against LB, that's probably the angle you have to play. Also, I would tend to agree that Silas is not only a good candidate for the position, but was th better candidate a year ago when the Bobcats wasted a year on Vincent.
However, if Michael Jordan has his Tarheel-riddled heart set on Brown, and LB is reciprocating the love, you better believe this job is all but sewn up.
I've always had a lot of respect for Doug Collins, certainly as a broadcaster but especially as a head coach. For whatever reason, he rarely seems to get the credit he deserves for being able to quickly turn around a team's fortunes.
When he took over the Bulls in 1986-87, they improved by 10 games from the previous year; when he took over the Pistons in 1995-97, they improved by 18 games; and when he took over the Wizards in 2001-02, they improved by 18 games.
That's real improvement, but it tends to get overlooked by the fact that Collins' intensity often results in him players tuning him out within a few years. Basically, he can whip a team into shape but can't lead them to the promised land. But for a bottom-feeder team struggling to find an identity, that should be an acceptable trade-off.
So when will he hang up the microphone for a coach's whistle? He answered that question in a recent interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer:
He said he did not aspire to be a head coach but would consider being an assistant and serving as a mentor to a young coach.
"The only way I would coach is five or six years down the road," said Collins. "For instance, Mo asked me a few years ago to be with him as an assistant coach."
Here's my prediction: he takes a job with the Bobcats this summer. By all accounts Sam Vincent is over-matched as a rookie head coach, and it's clear that Collins and Michael Jordan have a connection (Collins coached him in Chicago and was hand-picked by MJ to coach him again in DC). Plus, this would allow Collins to ease back into the coaching mode and do what he does best: helping turn around a team that doesn't know how to win. Mark my words; you heard it hear first.
If ever you wanted to know what a team looks like when it has bailed on its coach -- watch the Bobcats. They may never admit it publicly -- to do so would be occupational suicide -- but they have quit on Sam Vincent. That was one disinterested group of players we saw Sunday. They weren't boxing out on the boards, nor were they closing out on shooters. That's a deadly combination which led to the Pistons draining 12 three-pointers and enjoying a 23-8 edge in second-chance points. That lack of hustle and energy is not indicative of past Charlotte teams, who used to play their tails off for Bernie Bickerstaff, no matter how bad they were.
McCosky suggests that Vincent's lack of experience (he was an NBA assistant for just one year before getting the job) is responsible, and pins the ultimate responsibility on Michael Jordan for putting Vincent in a position to fail. For what it's worth, Vincent has already received the dreaded vote of confidence from owner Bob Johnson, though that probably has more to do with the fact that Johnson will be on the hook for paying Vincent for two more years after this one than anything else. Either way, Emeka Okafor has a big, big decision to make this summer.
The undermanned Bobcats lost a heart-breaker to the Pistons last night in overtime. With all three of their point guards on the bench with injuries, the Bobcats incredibly played themselves to within one point of the Pistons with six seconds left in the extra period. That's when a controversial basket interference call on Emeka Okafor effectively ended the game in the Pistons' favor.
Afterwards, Charlotte coach Sam Vincent spent thirty minutes reviewing the tape, concluded it was a legal play, and then went to the protest card:
"To me, it was a completely legal play."
And just to make sure the point was made, Vincent advocated protesting ...
"I'm sure we'd like to contact the league. I'd like it to be like Miami. Play the last minute; that would be justified."
Well, not really. The protest that the league granted was because a key player -- Shaquille O'Neal -- was incorrectly disqualified from the game. That's not exactly the same thing as an official making a borderline call. Let's hope Vincent was joking here and not seriously thinking of filing a protest. Even if he did, he would undoubtedly be denied, as it appeared the refs actually made the correct call.
Watch the video, and tell me if you don't think the ball would have hit the rim if Okafor didn't grab it first. It's close, but it looks that way to me, which means Okafor interfered with the ball as it was in the proverbial cylinder, thus making it the correct call by the officials.
This is random and not exactly news, but I found it interesting: last night's game against the Bobcats and Bulls was coached by two former college teammates, as Charlotte's Sam Vincent and Chicago's Scott Skiles both played together at Michigan State. The two traded barbs before the game:
Vincent recalled what he thought when he first saw Skiles at Michigan State. "I thought he was a little [expletive] who couldn't play basketball," Vincent joked. ... Skiles said he didn't think Vincent would end up a coach when he was leading the Spartans in scoring. "I thought he was going to end up being an actor," Skiles said. "There is some acting in this business, though."
If only Skiles could face his former chum every night: the Bulls won in Charlotte on Wednesday, just like they did two games ago when the Bulls beat the Bobcats in Chicago. In fact, the Bulls have won three of their last four, with their only loss a competitive game (103-98) against the Mavs.
Does this mean the Bulls have turned the corner? Meh. Consider the competition: two wins against the Bobcats (losers of seven straight, by the way) and a win against the sub-.500 Hawks does not constitute turning things around. Now, if they manage to get a split in their next two in Detroit or at home against the Celtics? That would catch my attention.
No one really stops LeBron James anymore, but there are ways to slow him. He's like bad weather. You just prepare for it as best you can.
With 
I've always had a lot of respect for 
Have the Bobcats quit on 
The undermanned Bobcats lost a heart-breaker to the Pistons last night in overtime. With all three of their point guards on the bench with injuries, the Bobcats incredibly played themselves to within one point of the Pistons with six seconds left in the extra period. That's when a controversial basket interference call on 
This is random and not exactly news, but I found it interesting: last night's game against the Bobcats and Bulls was coached by two former college teammates, as Charlotte's 
