---

Throwin' Bows comes back at you strong this week, and I apologize for the delay. As a token of my apology, I'm giving you all free access to Throwin' Bows for the next two months, available here at insidehoops.com, and at my own website, www.themightymjd.com. Please accept this very special gift. I know, it's always been free, but it's not like I'm going to mail you all a check or something. It's the best I can do. Seriously, it's just been hard to find time to write about basketball when there's a game on every night, and we're going to have the entire off-season to break down what happens over the next couple of weeks, so I see no reason to rush things. Let's get at it.

Lakers/Wolves Rearview

If Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant switched hearts, the Wolves would've won the Western Conference finals.

On more than one occasion in the series, the game was right there for the Wolves to take. All they needed was someone with superior skill to step up and say, "I will be the man. I will take the big shots, and I will make them."

Kevin Garnett has the necessary skill. He did not step up in crunch time and win games for this team.

Yeah, his numbers were great, and yes, he did at times carry the Wolves. But it never happened late in the game, when his team was down a few points, and needed a hero. He just wasn't there.

In the final few minutes of any game in this series, I can't recall even thinking about Garnett, other than to wonder where he was. He didn't make a special effort to get the ball in his hands. When he did have the ball, he'd be guarded one-on-one by Slava Medvedenko, and he'd take two dribbles and give up the rock. What is that? Can you envision Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant ever doing that? He was quick to defer to Wally Szczerbiak or to Fred Hoiberg, and as much as I love World and the Mayor, neither of them are the guy that the Wolves should be looking to in the clutch. The Wolves looked to Garnett, and he responded by looking to someone else.

None of this is to question his effort or his desire to win. He plays as hard as anyone has a right to expect, and he wants very badly to win. Anyone can see that. But he just doesn't have that same give-me-the-ball, cut-your-heart-out mentality that you can see in someone like MJ or Kobe. It's just not there.

Game 4 was a perfect example. KG had 28 points, and Kobe had 31. A 3-point difference in the box score, but the difference in impact on the game was immeasurable. In the last five minutes of the game, Kobe took over and imposed his will on the game. That's what elite players do. KG's 28 points were very quiet in comparison.

And when the Staples Center crowd chanted "MVP" when Kobe went to the line, I wonder how much that hurt Kevin Garnett's pride. Garnett had the MVP trophy, and Kobe was getting the MVP chant. Of the two, who is more valuable? Who should MVP truly mean? If it means just putting up great numbers in the regular season and in the playoffs, that's fine. If that's what it means, Garnett earned that trophy. But if MVP goes beyond box scores, and it means taking over a game when a team needs it, then Kobe's earned the chant. I think Kobe can live with that.

Pistons/Pacers Rearview

I didn't feel like this subject deserved a whole lot of attention, but I've heard enough complaints about the Pistons/Pacers series being bad basketball. The popular mainstream complaint about the NBA is that no one plays defense. But defense was as prevalent in this series as throwback jerseys are in rap videos, and still, people complain. If you like basketball, you could've enjoyed this series.

It's very easy to look at box scores and say, "Oh, that was bad." But not all good basketball games are high scoring. Not all good football or baseball games are high scoring. Not all good paintings are full of bright and cheery colors. Not all good movies are full of pretty purple dinosaurs and happy endings. Sometimes, it's good to get grimy.

Does someone want to tell me that there wasn't a lot of offensive talent on the floor for these games? How many teams can boast of more offensive firepower than the Pacers? Jermaine O'Neal. Ron Artest. Reggie Miller. Al Harrington. Jonathan Bender. Austin Croshere. Fred Jones. That is a substantial offensive arsenal.

There are no more than five (and that's being generous) teams in the NBA that can say they can match Indiana's offensive weaponry. No one was calling them a bad offensive team in the regular season. I didn't hear any complaints when they were rolling towards the NBA's best regular season record. They get to the conference finals and what, their offense suddenly turns bad? I'm not buying it. The Pistons, on seven previous occasions in the playoffs, score 90 or more points, and then in the Conference Finals their offense suddenly turns bad? Please.

It was not bad basketball. It's called defense. To call it bad offense is to not be paying attention. What you saw in this series is what happens when two teams that are committed to a halfcourt game and tough defense get together. Yeah, there were a lot of missed shots in this series. There were also lots of hands in faces, lots of physical play, and two teams who know each others tendencies very well.

The players on these two teams can hit uncontested shots as well as any other team in the league. It's just that uncontested shots in this series were as rare as NAACP awards in Trent Lott's office. I wish someone kept a stat for shooting percentage on uncontested shots. I'd bet that the percentage in this series would match up well with that of any other playoff series. It's just that every shot in this series was contested like a menage-a-trois proposal at a convent. There's skill in defense, too.

Pluggin' in the Microwaves

The most underrated position in sports is the bench sparkplug for an NBA playoff team. In fact, let's just go ahead and name it the Microwave position, after Vinnie Johnson, who turned coming off of the bench into an art form. In the playoffs, a combination of nerves and tightened up defense lead to some stretches where the offense just dries up like a bottle of Jim Beam at Gary Busey's house. Let's look at the microwaves for each of the final four playoff teams.

Detroit. They don't have one, and it hurts them. Their starting line-up is much improved over last year's, and their bench is deeper, but somewhere in all their personnel moves, the movers lost their microwave. Last year, it was Jon Barry, and it's a role he was born to. He hit threes, made scrappy defensive plays, and in general, he made Kid Rock very happy. Bob Sura was supposed to have replaced him, but he never quite filled the role, and was shipped out in Rasheed deal. Corliss Williamson is a good scorer off the bench, but hasn't been consistent enough, and in general, his type of offense isn't really the kind that gets the crowd poppin'.

Indiana. If I were Rick Carlisle, I'd have had Al Harrington in the starting line-up, and made Reggie my microwave. Reggie kinda looks like he's spent about a half hour in a microwave, anyway. If that's his role next year (and it should be), I think he'll embrace it and excel with it. Fred Jones also has excellent microwave potential. Al Harrington was probably the closest thing they had to that role this year, and he certainly wasn't bad, but some guys are just better suited to start rather than come off the bench. I think Al Harrington is one of them. He's a superstar waiting to happen.

Minnesota. I don't think it would've made a difference in the series against the Lakers, but the loss of Troy Hudson hurt the Wolves. Last year against the Lakers, he was pure energy. They missed him, but Minnesota still got some very good Microwave-esque contributions from Fred Hoiberg and especially Wally Szczerbiak. Wally World was impressive in the playoffs. At times, he was the only Wolf willing to step up and say, "Yeah, I'll take the big shots, and I'll bury them." He got a little bit physical, too, and his refusal to back down from Gary Payton or any of the other Lakers helped spark the Wolves. Fred Hoiberg's scrappy play and shotmaking deserves some ups, too.

Lakers. For one game, it was Kareem Rush, but for the most part, it's been Derek Fisher. I wish Fisher wasn't a Laker, because I'd rather not hate him, but alas, he is, and I do. He's the master of getting the cheap flop call, which is always a momentum turner, and he's an excellent three-point shooter. He's gone from starting point guard last year to quintessential microwave this year. Of course, there was the .4 thing, which I'm still not over. And by the way, Laker fan, cute t-shirts and all, but it's .4, and not .04. There is a difference. I suppose it doesn't matter all that much since the laws of time and space don't allow for a turnaround jumpshot to be executed in either .4 or .04, so go ahead, wear the ugly things.

I'm down with Eddie F. Rush

There was a bit of a controversy this week when ref Eddie F. Rush went to the scorer's table and asked how many fouls Shaq had picked up in Game 6.

I, for one, am shocked. Am I to believe that superstars in the NBA get preferential treatment from the officials? Scandalous. But the allegations don't stop there. I've also heard that sometimes NBA players get away with, get this... traveling violations. SAY IT ISN'T SO.

Well, it is so, and why Eddie's inquisition at the scorer's table surprised anyone, I have no idea. Superstars in the NBA get this kind of benefit. It's a perk that superstars like Shaq enjoy. It's always been that way, and if Ed Rush wanted to make sure he didn't foul Shaq out on a little ticky-tack call, I've got no problem with that. In fact, I'm glad he did it.

It happens in all sports. Michael Jordan is allowed to push off on Bryon Russell. Jerry Rice can get away with some interference. Roger Clemens has a bigger strike zone. Smarty Jones is allowed to use a special brand of afro-sheen in his mane. In the final minute of an NHL playoff game, you could sodomize someone at center ice with a broken beer bottle and the ref would tell you to be more careful next time.

As much as I'd love to claim Laker favoritism, that just wasn't the case. Referees adjust to situations, and that's a good thing. As a fan, you want them to do that. Officials want, more than anyone else, for the game to be decided by the players on the court. If Shaq steamrolled someone on the way to the hoop, Rush would've called it. If he made a little body contact with someone on the perimeter, he probably wouldn't have, and it would've been the same thing for Kevin Garnett or any other superstar.

The mailbag is soon to make it's comeback, too. Please feel free... If you've got a question, comment, problem, tirade, hate mail, or love note, send it along here.

M.J. Darnell runs www.themightymjd.com.