Mavericks Heat Summary

 

Best Player in the Series: Dirk Nowitzki. This series was as compelling as it was strange. And Dirk was the 2nd most compelling player to watch for 6 games. As noted previously in this blog, Dirk Nowitzki already wore this year's crown as The NBA's best scorer. But, compare his overall shooting stats in this series (0.912 PPS) versus his regular season and previous series, and it looks like he played worse. That's not the whole story. He was methodical and efficient running the Dallas sets against a pretty good defense that, by the end of the series, looked completely lost. Oh, he also created a career's worth of 4th quarter highlights in 2 weeks. Hopefully next week during the draft, when every talking head is trying to call a tall European prospect the next Nowitzki, we can all realize how completely ludicrous that is. Dirk's on the list with Oscar, Larry, Shaq... one of a kind talents that we'll probably only see once.

Worst Player in the Series: Lebron James. Lost in the hailstorm of criticism of the "Frozen One" (looking for cutting nicknames that haven't been used yet) is the uniqueness of his performance in this series. Here's a look at the shot attempts (shots and free throws) from the last few Finals. These are the regular season leading scorers on their respective teams, which lost in the NBA Finals.

 
In the last 11 years, the leading scorers on a team in the Finals have continued to do what got them to the Finals. As in, shoot. Mostly, shoot more. In fact, there's really only one instance of someone's shot attempts going down, until this year. This is the thing that I cannot understand about the NBA Finals. Lebron had 1-2 bad games in the Boston series last year, but even a younger Lebron didn't respond to the pressure cooker of the Finals like this in 2007. This is not a subtle change in offense dictated by scheme or defense. This is something greater. And, in my opinion, there's only one person in the organization who could have done it...

Jerome James Award Winner: Dwyane Wade. He showed up in crunch time, when Lebron didn't. To that I say, "bull." As in, "remember the Bulls series?" When everyone wondered what was wrong with Wade, and Lebron was laying waste to the league's best defense in crunch time? What changed? Really, no one on the outside of the organization can ever know for sure. Probably most inside the organization don't.

Subjectively, watching Lebron and Wade interact sure looks like a big brother-little brother dynamic in my eyes. As in, when big brother says/does something, little brother falls in line. Was Lebron explicitly told to give up the ball? Probably not. But it's hard to imagine everyone's best player on the planet (pre-Finals) willingly giving up the ball a series after playing lights out in crunch time. He didn't do it in 2007, after dismantling the Pistons. What's different 4 years later? My theory: when the big brother tells the little brother it's time to fall in line, little brother usually listens. And if confidence wanes because your friend gave up on the co-alpha dog thing you agreed to just when it mattered most, it's probably tough to get back. And it probably cost the Heat a title.

2011 NBA Finals Game 1

One game sample is going to produce some fluky stats. A couple of things that stood out:

• Dirk getting 0.90 PPS on 30 attempts (1.08 PPS in the OKC series). Didn't seem like great defense as much as Dirk not finishing looks at the rim that he normally makes, particularly in the 1st half. I doubt very much that continues as the series rolls forward.
• No Mavs player posted a positive plus/minus for the game.
• Bosh's offensive efficiency vanished against the Dallas frontline (0.63 PPS in Game 1 versus 1.10 PPS against Chicago). 
• If it seemed like Shawn Marion played a decent game against Lebron on defense, then you got fooled just like I did. Lebron had 24 points on 18 shots. Wow.
• In a game where both teams struggled to score (0.85 and 0.87 PPS overall), rebounding and extra possessions (read: turnovers) were key, especially in the 4th quarter.

Best part about a 7 game series: things can change from one game to the next. If you don't believe me, ask the Bulls if they thought they were about to lose 4 straight after blowing out Miami in Game 1 of the conference finals.

Heat Bulls Summary

Best Player in the Series: Chris Bosh. He's been listening to everyone's garbage all season. The world knew how good Lebron and Wade were, but Bosh had toiled in relative anonymity despite regular season success and some nice play for Team USA. Watching Toronto the last 3 years, and Miami this year, no one had to adjust their game more than Bosh on the Heat. He's really the 2011 remix of 2008 Pau Gasol: overburdened #1 guy turns into a great sidekick (other good bets to get the same result: Andre Iguodala, Danny Granger). Incidentally, he lapped the field and then some in this series. How good was he? His 1.10 points per shot in this series was better than Dirk's 1.08 PPS in the OKC series. That is not a misprint. I'm not trying to imply that the two feats are the same, because they're not, and Dirk was far more impressive scoring the ball. I'm simply saying that Dallas should remember to account for this guy... after they figure out how to slow down the two-time MVP. And the All-NBA 2nd Team, Finals MVP from '06. Man, I do not want to trade lives with Rick Carlisle for the next three weeks.

Worst Player in the Series: Joel Anthony. Just so you know, before Game 5, this was Dwyane Wade's spot. That's how bad Wade was in this series, despite the 4 point play and the comeback and all that. But, luckily for Wade, Joel had one more 29 minute stink bomb to throw onto the court. I actually like Joel Anthony; he's in the league because he does the dirty work things that most players claim they do, but rarely do consistently. But the fact that Coach Spo will trot out Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamal Magloire, or Juwan Howard as the starting center in the NBA Finals next week really speaks to how good the Big 3 are. Or, if that isn't convincing enough: Mike Bibby started at PG for the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. 3 months and a day earlier, he was playing against the Heat in his first game for the Wizards, the 23 win team that would pay him to go away less than one week later.

Jerome James Award: Derrick Rose. Derrick Rose is my favorite player in the NBA. Humble, hard-working, and never shies away from accountability. There's no doubt that he could have used some more help from his teammates against Miami, but there are other things to take from this series. For example, here's a look at Chicago's top 5 regular season scorers:

The thing that jumps out... Noah and Korver lost a lot of shots, and lost a lot of efficiency. People can say whatever they want about the Bulls' individual struggles, but the bottom line is this. The point guard's job is to get everybody in the right spot, at the right time, so they can do their job well. Both Noah and Korver aren't going to get their own shot in iso situations, and it's Derrick's job to get them their points. In the regular season, both these guys had struggled offensively against the Heat, and they were going to need Derrick's help to get theirs. And they just didn't get enough help. Regardless of who this team brings in at SG next season, Miami will be waiting in the playoffs. And as evenly matched as these teams were (11 point difference in 5 games, plus an overtime), those future matchups will likely tilt on guys like Haslem getting theirs, and guys like Korver not. And that responsibility will fall to the league's youngest MVP.

Mavericks Thunder Summary

Best Player in the Series: James Harden. The month of March was basically our first look at Harden freed from the constraints of Jeff Green getting shots. In that month, he averaged 13.6 ppg on 15 shots (0.90 PPS). That's not good, but not terrible. In this series? 14.4 ppg on 13.6 shots (1.06 PPS). That level of efficiency is as ridiculous as it is unsustainable over a full regular season. How unsustainable? Well, Dirk couldn't do it this year. I think his play-making abilities were not similarly overblown; he's been a natural and willing passer since his ASU days. But for Thunder fans expecting him to produce like this every night for 82 games as a scorer next year, please temper expectations. For his sake, and your own.

Worst Player in the Series: Russell Westbrook. I hate to pile on him, because he's taken too much criticism. But, there are a few things that should be pointed out. First, during the regular season, Westbrook was the 5th worst point per shot scorer among players taking 18 shots per game, at 0.82 points per shot on 24.6 shots per game; in this series, he shot it to the tune of 0.77 points per shot... on over 30 shots per game. Second, during the season, he averaged 8.2 assists versus 3.9 turnovers; in this series, 4.8 assists versus 4.8 turnovers. His teammates may say he was playing the same game he has all season, but it's just not true. He shot more (and with less efficiency), passed less, and turned the ball over more. This is by no means the player he will always be, but for 5 games, Russell and KD looked like what Bron and Wade were supposed to look like in the playoffs: two ball dominant scorers who tolerated sharing the ball instead of working effectively together.

Jerome James Award: Jose Juan Barea. Even for guys that come off the bench, there are two sides to an NBA court: offense and defense. And if you're completely useless on one end, a good opponent will likely offset everything you do on the other end. And that's what happened to everybody's favorite "oh, man, he's not bigger or more athletic than I am, I could play in the NBA" player (incidentally, he's stronger than you are, he's way more athletic, and you couldn't play in the NBA if they said you didn't have to dribble). Consider: in 4 of the 5 games he played in, OKC outscored the Mavs while he was on the floor (-2, -12, -7, -8). In the other game (Game 3), the two teams tied in his 14 minutes. This was not the Laker series for Mr. Barea. And against whichever stifling defense comes out of the back-alley brawl that is the Eastern Conference finals, I think he could fare even worse.

Thunder Grizzlies Summary

BEST PLAYER IN THE SERIES: MARC GASOL. If it hadn't happened in two consecutive series, the Jerome James Award may have been re-named. Because it's hard to imagine Pau's little brother living up to the hype of these 13 games going forward (don't worry, Marc, I'm calling it the Ben Gordon award before I do that). No one player can claim to benefit more from Memphis' run than Marc. Z-Bo got the headlines, Mike Conley and OJ (I'm not calling him "Juice") got the highlights, but watching the Grizzlies games, this guy made it all happen. From keeping double teams off Randolph by quietly torching single coverage, to providing shooting touch and passing from the mid-post, to gutting out unbelievable minutes for a player his size, the 2011 playoffs should be remembered in part for Marc downgrading the Pau trade from fleecing to fairly lopsided. (What's that, Celtics fans? Don't want to chime in about how Telfair is the only Celtic left on Minnesota's team from the Garnett trade? No interest in mentioning that Minnesota traded Al Jefferson, the centerpiece of the deal, for less than what the Bobcats got for Gerald Wallace? Hmmm, the silence is making me uncomfortable...)


WORST PLAYER IN THE SERIES: KENDRICK PERKINS. Honestly, what is there to say? Only Tony Allen and Sam Young were worse from a raw plus/minus standpoint in the whole series, and they were hindered by being on the team that lost 4 games in the series. He epitomizes everything some people started to dislike about the end of the Pistons and Celtics' recent runs: way more bark than bite, way more perception than production. There's no better way to make your rep as an interior defender when you can't guard either of the starting bigs for the other team.

REVERSE JEROME JAMES AWARD: RUDY GAY. Really feel for this guy. First, he gets what any basketball player would dream of by signing a max NBA contract. Then, he gets to read about how he wasn't worth the money, because he couldn't lead his team. After stepping his game up in ways pretty much all of us couldn't imagine, and helping to lead Memphis to a potential playoff berth, his shoulder injury forces him to the sidelines for the best run his franchise has ever had. Players tried to play lip service to his absence hurting the team, but given how far above their ceiling the Grizz performed, would any of us blame them for doubting that fact? Well, I do.

There's an argument that OJ's bench scoring wouldn't be possible if he was sharing shots and minutes with Gay, Randolph, and Gasol. Here's another argument: in this series, the Grizzlies struggled to space the floor effectively for Randolph and Gasol, due to a lack of proficient outside shooters. In this series, the Grizzlies struggled to generate crunch time offense, especially when Randolph was off. Guess who solves those problems? How about a 6-8 gazelle who can get his own shot, shoot 40% from 3 (this season), play some real on-ball and help defense when called upon, and hit a shot with the clock running down (note: all highlights from this season):

Rudy Gay Game Winner Against the Heat
Rudy Gay Ties Game Against Suns
Rudy Gay Game Winner Against the Raptors

Mavericks Lakers Summary

 

Best Player in the Series: Pau Gasol. This is not an easy one to explain, but this is the same analysis that gave me Chris Paul and Manu Ginobli in previous series, so I'm not backing down from trying. 

(Deep breath). 

In this series, the Mavs used Dirk as a scorer/playmaker/decoy, and drove-and-kicked the Lakers to death from distance. How bad was it? During the season, the Mavs shot 21.6 threes a game, making 7.9 (36.5%). In 4 games, the Mavs shot 26.5 threes a game, making 12.3 (46.2%). Pau was matched up with Dirk, who took less than 3 three pointers a game. So somebody else was responsible for the other 24 a game that went up, and mostly went in. Yes, Dirk scored at will on Pau, but we already knew Dirk was the NBA's best scorer this season. And yes, we know that Pau was a far less efficient scorer in this series than in his regular season. But if you forget conventional box score stuff, and compare the two starting 7 footers for LA, you tell me who's getting their fair share of the blame for this series:

Gasol: 143 minutes, -22 in total plus/minus

Bynum: 134 minutes, -59 in total plus/minus

Now, is this a convincing argument, based on the games I watched? Not entirely, no. But most of us watch basketball games and see a few things while missing most things. Some people even see most things, and miss a few. But there's a lot that happens on the floor that we don't see, don't remember, or can't explain. This series probably had a lot of things we didn't see, and if the Lakers are upgrading their talent this summer, I'd rather swap centers with Orlando than power forwards with just about anyone at this point.

Worst Player in the Series: Shawn Marion. In three out of the four games, he played 30+ minutes, and Dallas was outscored while he was on the floor. Game 2 was his only positive plus/minus game (+3 versus the team's +12). Given that he hardly ever drew the Kobe assignment, not sure how to explain this performance. Just plain bad.

Jerome James Award Winner: Jason Kidd. Over the course of the series, there was a lot of talk about the veteran savvy and know how he brought to the team in this series, with the added bonus of checking Kobe Bryant to some degree of success (note: there's nothing savvy about grabbing someone's jersey when they're running around, it's just irritating). Well, Kobe scored 0.949 points per shot on 24 shots, better than his regular season 0.935 on 27 shots. And, as far as plus minus, the Mavericks were better with him off the floor in all 4 games (+6 points in Game 1, +2 points in Game 2, +2 points in Game 3, +23 points in Game 4). If anything, he should have been the weak link to exploit for the Laker defense: not sure why people weren't going under the screen and daring him to shoot off the dribble, where even the Mavs will say his percentages go way down.

Grizzlies Spurs Summary

 

Best Player in the Series: Manu Ginobli. Probably the best player for the Spurs for the last several years, Ginobli fought through his Game 1-sidelining elbow injury and showed up on both ends of the floor. Consistently one of the best clutch players in the NBA, it looks like he just didn't have enough help in this series. Looking at the #2 and #3 players on the list, the Spurs brought knives to a gunfight when it came to frontcourt players. But in the arena of plus/minus, he definitely won his matchup against...

Worst Player in the Series / Jerome James Award: Tony Allen. The only double award winner of the 1st round. As the world got a front row seat for all his histrionics throughout the series in highlight packages, and heard about his prowess as a perimeter defender, let's look at how he actually did on defense in this series:

Ginobli in the regular season: 17.4 ppg on 17.9 shots (0.975 PPS)

Ginobli against Memphis: 20.6 ppg on 22.2 shots (0.927 PPS)

Ginobli was a less efficient scorer in the series. Why? His free throw percentage went from 87% to 78%. Pretty sure Tony Allen wasn't contesting those. But I'm sure he'll say he's the reason anyway, because why let facts get in the way of being right? And if you care, all Tony Allen's shooting percentages were down versus his season numbers, yet he still saw his way clear to jacking up more shots. Lockdown defense, or look-at-me antics with no substance? Think it's more of the latter. Anyone believe that Kevin Durant's shooting efficiency is going down in the next series because Tony's guarding him? Didn't think so. Keep showing us the front of your jersey with pride, Tony... because the name on the front is who won the series, not the name on the back.

Hawks Magic Summary

Best Player in the Series: Jameer Nelson. You know what, this series was the least interesting by far of the 1st round, and there really was nothing worth recapping. Want a summary? Here's one. Orlando's second straight year of turning over part of the core didn't help this team get back to the Finals. Again. Jameer now goes in the file of great Orlando Magic predictions: Tracy McGrady, how does it feel to be in the 2nd round? Good? Well, turns out you blew your 3-1 lead, and you never made it. Jameer, telling Derrick Rose you'll see him in the 2nd round? Sleeping dogs are best left alone, especially if they're a little mad already.

Worst Player in the Series: Brandon Bass. Two years ago, the Orlando Magic were fun to watch because they were so unconventional. How many pick and rolls can you possibly run with five guys? With two capable playmakers (Alston and Turkoglu), and three viable screeners (Turkoglu, Lewis, Howard) with different skill sets, they were tough to stop, and compelling to watch. Blowing up that team meant becoming conventional, and ruining the spacing their offense used to have. Turk out, VC in? More conventional, less spacing. Lewis out, Bass in? More conventional, less spacing (Why did Otis Smith roll the dice with huge trade after huge trade instead of paying Turk after '09 and seeing if that core could win it all. Does he get paid a percentage of salaries involved in trades or something?).

Jerome James Award: Jamal Crawford. Jamal Crawford is probably the best clutch player on the floor for the Hawks (I wonder less about Joe Johnson getting to the rim now, and more about him even getting enough space for a free throw line jumper in crunch time). But there's a problem. In the playoffs, we just assume that every game comes down to three possessions in the last minute, and it seems like if you're money then, nothing else matters, you get to do the postgame interview. I don't agree. Pushing a tie game into an 8 point game early in the 4th quarter and playing keep away for 5 minutes is just as valuable is breaking a tie in the last two minutes. If Jamal doesn't tighten it up against Chicago in the first three and half quarters, the Hawks may learn that lesson. Real quick.

Mavericks Blazers Summary

Best Player in the Series: Gerald Wallace. As a Bobcats fan, Crash leaving was bittersweet. Miscast as a #1 guy, I'm happy that he was going to a team where he could thrive as a true #2. I was a little sad that he was so willing to play undersized PF for the Blazers, considering the 'Cats seemed to try and accomodate his request not to play him there this year. But, excellent work in this series. All the best of Gerald on display, crashing the boards, infectious hustle, and even a little shooting now and then. I don't have to say this to Blazer fans, they're the best, but treat Gerald well - he's the kind of player you want to root for.

Worst Player in the Series: LaMarcus Aldridge. As much as I like looking at plus/minus, this is one of those results that makes me think I should be putting plus/minus in a brown paper bag and igniting it on an old man's doorstep. He deserved an All-Star berth, he carried this team all season, and I just don't want to believe this, plain and simple. He played a ton of minutes in the series, but only once (Game 4) was the scoreboard better with him on the floor(+4 on versus +2 off). Whatever, I still like him.

Jerome James Award: Rodrigue Beaubois. Ok, there wasn't really anyone that I thought fit the bill in this series. This is more of an ax I'd like to grind a little. Beaubois is a great prospect as a player, lightning fast with the ball, and virtually unguardable when his jumper is falling. But how many guys spent their first few years in the league toiling unremarkably only to become a franchise cornerstone after that? Other than Jermaine O'Neal, I'm drawing a blank. Point is, this team is built to win now. The window is probably this year and next, depending on how long Dirk can keep it up, and when Tyson Chandler's injury absences increase (my guess, ten games into his next contract). Rodrigue, while everyone in Dallas raves about him, didn't really break a sweat in this series. So what is he there for? The one thing I think this team is missing is a lockdown perimeter defender for elite wings. Caron might have been that guy, but when he went down, why wasn't this team flipping that contract and/or Beaubois for the missing link? Wouldn't a guy like Andre Iguodala, an ultra-athletic finisher, elite perimeter defender, underrated passer, be the missing piece on a team like this? I think we'll know if that's what they're missing against the Lakers (paging Deshawn Stevenson, paging Deshawn Stevenson).

Lakers Hornets Summary

Best Player in the Series: Chris Paul. There's no player in the league whose reputation improved as much as CP3 in the 1st round, which is saying a lot for a guy who finished 2nd in MVP voting 3 years ago. The series was like a recruiting tape for every team with cap room and an All-Star in the summer of 2012: getting to the rim, masterful command of every pick and roll scenario, impressive decision making in clutch time, and making teammates better. At the end of the regular season, Rose stood head and shoulders above every point guard in the league. 2 weeks later, a fairly straightforward argument is a lot murkier... for other people, not for me: CP3 is the best pure point guard (edges Nash out on defense), but he's the 1A to the league's shiny new 1, the great Poohdini.


Worst Player in the Series: Ron Artest. I thought that Ron's stifling defense on Belinelli and his timely, if not momentarily cringe-inducing, shooting would put him at or near the top of the chart. But, just like Ron wearing nothing but underwear on Jimmy Kimmel, what seemed like a decent idea at the time turned out to be off. Way, way off.

Jerome James Award: Derek Fisher. The last three years, we spent a whole regular season talking about how Derek Fisher might be the weak link for the Lakers' title run, and then he makes some hopelessly improbable play during the playoffs (coast-to-coast against Boston in the Finals, Game 4 against the Magic in the Finals) that makes us forget. Well, you know what I haven't forgotten? All the playoff point guards who scored big contracts off destroying this guy in playoff matchups over the years. Deron Williams, Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Mike Bibby, Aaron Brooks... You know what we're guaranteed to say about whoever the Lakers play in the next round? "Yeah, the Lakers have the size, and Kobe, but I think (player whoever on team whoever) definitely has the edge at point guard." Consummate winner? Ideal leader? You must be talking about locker room speeches, because on the court, not so much against the Hornets.

Thunder Nuggets Summary

Best Player in the Series: Ty Lawson. For some reason, people seem to group Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton together because they're both UNC point guards from the last 6 years. Turns out they're definitely not the same. Ty's ability to get to the rim has absolutely translated from college to the NBA, and he clearly helped his team despite facing athletic defenders like Russell Westbrook. Even more impressive, in my opinion, is the stark difference in performance to Felton despite playing a similar amount of minutes. Denver, I think you know who your point guard is now.

Worst Player in the Series: Serge Ibaka. This really hurts me personally, because "Sure I-Blocka" is one of my favorite players in the league. Plays on both ends of the floor, appears to have a good work ethic, good feel for the game (especially on defense), and still has some more production to get out of his substantial potential. No, if anything, I'll say that my man "Sure" was dragged down by...

Jerome James Award: Kendrick Perkins. To his credit, he no longer exudes that "hey, I'm oblivious to the fact that I'm the 5th Beatle on the Celtics, we must be winning because I'm awesome!" vibe. On the flip side, there's a chance that Danny Ainge made a shrewd move in not tying up long term money in Perk. Post-trade, the Celtics' defensive efficiency was virtually unchanged in the regular season (as to why offensive efficiency has gone down for Boston, I'd guess it's because Perk set more illegal screens than any big in the league). People love to talk about how he's changed the dynamic of the Thunder, given them a swagger, a defensive identity, an edge. Apparently, his best contribution for OKC is scowling from the bench, because the ol' plus/minus says he didn't help on the court all that much.

Heat-76ers Summary

Best Player in the Series: Elton Brand. Certainly a surprising result here, given the series winner. But consider his game by game numbers: +2 (40 min) in Game 1, +1 (41 min) in Game 3, +10 (36 min) in Game 4, +3 (38 min) in Game 5. Honestly, a much smarter person than me will have to explain this, because according to popular wisdom, Elton Brand hasn't been a useful NBA player in 3 years. (Note: "popular" does not necessarily mean correct)

Worst Player in the Series: Mike Bibby. A defensive liability for several years, the floor spacing he was supposed to provide didn't really offset his utter uselessness against Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams. The eyeball test didn't lie; Big Z and Bibby were terrible in this series.

Jerome James Award: Thaddeus Young. Probably would have been easy to call out Lebron's seemingly irrelevant contributions based on plus/minus, particularly since the 76ers were consciously leaving Iggy on an island against him all series. But I'm focusing on Thad the Underwhelmer. Watching these games, it felt like everytime he got a rebound, or scored at all, the announcers fought over the right to gush all over him. Does his young talent seem to ooze potential, since he put up 11 and 6 in the series? Well, I actually preferred the 12 and 5 he averaged in a playoff series 2 years ago, while shooting a better percentage. I don't see the upside anymore... after 3 years in the league, you are what you are. Unless there's a leap to make in team chemistry or leadership (see: Zach Randolph, Chauncey Billups), this is who Thaddeus Young will probably be for the rest of his career: a tweener who runs the floor and rebounds well against 2nd units.

Bulls Pacers Summary

As each playoff series ends, I use plus-minus stats to look at who really affected the outcome of that particular series. Not that you really care, but to me, plus minus is the one measure that can capture all a player's contributions to the final score. "You won't see Perk's impact in the box score." Well, hopefully, it affects the scoreboard. Because, if what you do playing basketball doesn't affect the score in the playoffs, who cares what you're doing? Anyways, a brief summary of the system used:

1) Take the plus minus of a player for the entire series, and compare it to the team's plus minus (If you don't know what plus minus is, watch hockey sometime... it's pretty cool, and aside from Olympic hockey, the playoffs are as good as it gets).

2) Take into account the minutes played. Why? Because if two guys have a +/- of +5, one played 10 minutes, one played 40, they're not the same. Running 6 minute miles in a 5K and a half marathon are not the same thing.

Now that that's out of the way, let's take a look at the best and worst players of Bulls-Pacers.

Best Player in the Series: Luol Deng. Saying he averaged 19, 6, and 4 doesn't really do him justice. Took the assignment of guarding the other team's best scorer, and despite playing more minutes than anyone, was +62 in his time on the court. It's really not even close.

Worst Player in the Series: Danny Granger. The best player on a losing team plays a lot of minutes, and usually has a bad plus minus overall. But why was his team 21 points better with him on the bench in 5 games? Well, if Luol Deng basically matched him point for point, and Derrick Rose was on the other team, Danny probably didn't have a chance.

The Jerome James Award: Tyler Hansbrough. For all the bluster about the Game 1 performance, for all the grit and hustle and will and intangibles and want-to and (insert ridiculous hyperbole here) he displayed, his play had no bearing on team success. -36 with him on the floor, and the team was -37. I know people say that Josh McRoberts losing minutes to Hansbrough was part of the Pacers' playoff run, but Psycho T was not a positive contributor in this series. If someone tells you otherwise, just try to stand back, because they're just blowing hot air at you, and that usually doesn't feel good.

P.S. If you don't know why Jerome James is the name of this award, do five things:

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/383/seasontype/3/jerome-james
1) Look at Jerome James' 2005 regular season stats.
2) Look at Jerome James' 2005 first round playoff series stats.
3) Look at Jerome James' summer 2005 signing with the Knicks.
4) Look at Jerome James' career after the 2005 playoffs.
5) Wonder why you weren't tall enough to turn 5 basketball games into $29 million.