Despite the most thrilling Super Bowl seen in years, the NBA has won the battle of the back pages over the NFL this week thanks to a pair of extraordinary trades. Comprehending the one-sided Pau Gasol deal was one thing, but over the past couple of days we’ve been enthralled by the logic behind, and ramifications of, the even more stunning Shaq for Shawn Marion trade.

These deals are canvassed in this Week in Review feature, as we take a look at 2 players and 2 teams who had a standout past 7 days;

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teams of the week

Houston Rockets

In their own way, the Rockets are a perfect illustration of why there’s so much panic behavior in the NBA at the moment. They have a won 5 straight games, and 9 of their last 10, and yet they’re still not seeded in the playoffs.

At 29-20, Houston are level with the Golden State Warriors, who are in 8th place. Houston 9th. And Portland a half-game behind in 10th. That’s how tight the Western Conference playoff race is.

That’s why there’s so much desperation in the air. Even established league powerhouses now need to upgrade merely to qualify for the postseason.

And for teams like the Rockets who had a slow start to the season, it means that even going undefeated on weeks like this doesn’t have any impact in the standings. The pressure is higher, the demands are greater, and in this environment, the more likely you are to make a mis-judgement.

Houston are currently in the midst of their best basketball of the season. Rick Adelman was cleverly able to use their stretch without Tracy McGrady back in December to toughen his teams’ commitment to defense, and ensured that formerly un-sung members of their roster could emerge as important contributors when required.

As we can see from this precis below, in each of their 4 victories this week, someone or something stepped up to make a difference;

at Indiana – Yao 17 and 12.  McGrady 19 and 9. Someone called Carl Landry 22 points in 20 minutes off the bench.

at  Milwaukee – Yao 12 and 12. McGrady 33 and 11. Shot 51% from the field and restricted the Bucks to just 39%.

at Minnesota – Yao 16 and 5. McGrady 26 and 7. Had 11 steals and committed only 13 turnovers.

vs Cleveland – Yao 22 and 12. McGrady 17 and 9. Bonzi Wells had a double-double off the bench.

In addition to the consistent leadership and efforts of their 2 best players, Houston are winning ballgames as a team.

Over their past 10 games, Houston have the best field-goal defense in the league.  And are allowing just 90.9 points per game, bettered only by San Antonio. They have been defending, helping, boxing out, bashing teams on the boards, and all without fouling or turning the ball over.

They’re in form and on a roll, yet there’s still some issues Adelman and his staff need to address – productivity from the point guard spot, FT shooting, and winning more games at home. Currently, the Rockets have a better road record then they do in Houston.

This week, as we approach the All-Star break, they play each of their 3 games at home. the best way to guarantee a playoff spot is to win them all. And keep winning.

Memphis Grizzlies

Memphis have played only 2 games in the past 8 days, which meant NBA fans missed out on the masochistic pleasure of witnessing 3 of the most flea-bitten lottery busts in recent memory play on the same team at the same time; Darko Milicic, Stromile Swift and Kwame Brown. They shared the same roster for 3 whole days, but didn’t share the same court - it wasn’t meant to be.

Of course, any team can cope with one stiff – as long as they don’t actually play meaningful minutes. Look at Jordan’s Bulls with Will Perdue, or Bird’s Celtics with Greg Kite, or Shaq’s Lakers with Mark Madsen; it can actually work quite well. But for a below-average team to endure the presence of 2 stiffs on its roster is basic mismanagement, let alone 3. Of course, for a few days, that’s exactly what happened with the Memphis Grizzlies.

At the beginning of the week, GM Chris Wallace finally agreed to a deal in exchange for his best player – 26 year old Pau Gasol, a 7-foot PF/C with such accomplished scoring, rebounding and passing skills that rivals have been attempting to prize him away for years. Just in the past 12 months, Memphis have taken literally dozens of calls for Gasol, but - such as in the high-profile Bulls’ offers of packages anchored by PJ Brown’s expiring contact - subsequent reports leaked to the media always suggested the Grizzlies’ asking price was unrealistically high.

Not anymore.

Ultimately, the end was swift. And when the dust cleared the league was stunned to see that the Grizzlies has accepted one of the most lop-sided deals since Utah traded Dominique Wilkins to Atlanta for John Drew, Freeman Williams and cash.  Despite their months of negotiating, holding out, and playing hard-ball, Memphis gifted Gasol to the LA Lakers for a bundle of players and picks that read as if they’ve been chosen by one-eyed Lakers fans. Kwame Brown, seriously? A couple of future first rounders destined to be in the late 20’s? Another backcourt prospect? That’s it?

And all for a man who is in the prime of his career, is a perfect fit for the triangle, and has the right balance of humility and assertiveness to successfully function on a team dominated by Kobe Bryant.  Just extraordinary.

So much so, this deal moves out of the realm of a clever, well researched heist – it borders on negligent or anti-competitive behavior.  Judging by this mid-week piece from Chad Ford, many other teams suspect this trade was so one-sided it was patently unfair, and are questioning Wallace’s motivation, or competence.

Memphis have lost 4 games in a row, 6 of their last 7, and 12 of their last 15. They have won just 3 games in the past month, and those were against possibly the only 3 teams in a worse state than they are – the reeling Bulls, the infantile Sonics and the wounded Clippers.

Despite young and respected coach, a keen and athletic roster and the luxury of low expectations after a re-building season last year, the 13-35 Grizzlies are ranked among the league’s worst teams in just about every category – points allowed, defensive field goal percentage, turnovers, steals.  The problems are so bad, that Wallace’s subsequent trade of Swift to New Jersey for Jason Collins – a kid with one-tenth the skills but 10-times the desire – will almost certainly help them.

This Grizzlies team has trouble scoring (84 points on 42% shooting against Dallas on Jan 28th) and trouble defending (conceding 132 points on 53% shooting against Cleveland on Jan 15th). But no matter how many lottery picks they have or how much upside their kids possess, Memphis will never get better if they trade away proven NBA performers for mediocre returns.

players of the week

Josh Smith

Trick question – in which year was Josh Smith a lottery pick?

The multi-talented Hawks forward was drafted was 2004. But the answer, of course, is that he never was a lottery pick. He was taken 17th by the Hawks, one selection ahead of JR Smith, and after the likes of Kirk Snyder, Kris Humphries and Luke Jackson. In the 2004 Draft, Josh Childress was actually the Hawks’ lottery pick, 6th overall.

Now in their fourth season together in Atlanta, Childress (who earns $14m this season) comes off the bench whilst Smith ($8.7 m) starts and puts up some of the most well-rounded numbers in the game. Just check out his stat-lines for this week, as the Hawks went 3-0;

Sat 2nd Feb – vs NJN. 23 points on 9-14 FG, 8 reb, 5 ast, 0 stl, 3 blk
Mon 4th Feb – vs Phi. 19 points on 7-13 FG, 6 reb, 9 ast, 4 stl, 9 blk
Wed 6th Feb – vs LAL. 17 points on 7-11 FG, 9 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl, 5 blk

Averages – 19.7 points, .605 FG%, 7.7 reb, 7.7 ast, 2 stl, 5.7 blk

That’s phenomenal.

Despite the increased attention he’s getting from opposition coaches and players, Josh Smith’s game continues to develop.  He’s more than just a fantasy stud with big numbers on a bad team – Josh Smith is in the process of ensuring Hawks become a good team. He’s a restricted free agent this summer, and Atlanta will remunerate him accordingly.

This may be the last time he is overlooked in favor of Joe Johnson for the All-Star Game.

Steve Kerr

One simplistic line in his wikipedia entry can’t begin to capture the magnitude of pressure faced by Steve Kerr in the wake of the incredulous Shaq for Marion deal.

In Phoenix, the Suns’ brains trust of Kerr and Mike D’Antoni have been stunned by the league-wide criticism in the wake of the trade – emanating from average fans more than the usual suspects in the press. But the reason people are so alarmed is that Phoenix are such a popular franchise – basketball fans love Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Amare, Leandro and yes, Marion. They love what D’Antoni has done with the team; they are fun to watch, play the right way, and got hosed in the playoffs last year against the Spurs.Â

That’s why there’s so much dismay that Phoenix gave away their most versatile player and best defender for an ancient, injured, washed up, superstar.

Hasn’t Kerr been watching Shaq play this season? He’s history. His returns on court have been embarrassing. It’s been rumored he’s on the verge of retirement. So why in the world would Kerr give up Marion for, essentially, nothing?

Remember, almost 2 years ago, how Shaq’s skills had already decline so much that he was a non-factor in the 2006 NBA Finals where he was out-played by Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop? And he’s worse now. How can usually perceptive, intelligent basketball people not see this?

It’s astonishing.

Even if (and it’s a big if) Kerr did want to ship out Marion – whether to improve team chemistry or ensure he gets something in return if Marion opts out of his contract this summer – then why not go for a young big that can actually help his team instead? – like Tyson Chandler or Andrew Bogut or Al Horford???

It’s baffling.

In Miami, Pat Riley was delighted to be rid of him. Shaq’s contract, presence on the sideline and rapidly declining game were damaging, demeaning, the franchise. If Shaq had anything left, he’d have been playing in those famous past 14 games for his Miami Heat team (one that, don’t forget, had 44 wins last season) and helping them qualify again for the playoffs. For a team like Phoenix to come and wash away all Miami’s present and future problems in one go, it’s nonsensical.

And the argument that the Suns need a big body like Shaq to compete now that Gasol is with the Lakers just doesn’t wash. You mean they could compete with Dallas and San Antone and Houston just fine before, but suddenly they can’t? And isn’t a mobile 4/5 combo of Marion and Amare a better matchup for Bynum and Gasol than Shaq and Amare anyway?

Phoenix become slower, less explosive offensively and weaker defensively… all voluntarily. For no upside in terms of cap space, future picks or anything.

Who is Steve Kerr anyway? He won a few championships, sure, but then again, so did Jack Haley, and he wouldn’t have made this trade, would he?