Mr. Russell was around the other day to present Alonzo Mourning with his NBA 2000 Defensive Player of the Year award. Speaking to Alonzo, Russell had this to say: 

"I want two things for you. 

"A championship," Russell began, before a long pause, "and joy. 

"Because one without the other, it doesn't work." 

Easy for Russell to say. He won  11 championships in 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics, and unlike Mourning, Russell got to play with a hall of famer-stacked roster.

Mourning delivered the most amusing quote of the day, with: "I've got to thank my teammates for letting their men blow by them," Mourning joked before he held up the trophy and posed for pictures with Russell.

Alonzo earned it.

By the way, notice that InsideHoops successfully predicted every single award so far. Yeah - sorry - once in a while we have to point out that we rock. Rodney Rogers, Alonzo Mourning, a tie between Brand and Francis, and of course, Shaq for MVP. Our only slight mistake was that we claimed that Doc Rivers deserved Coach of the Year but Phil Jackson would win it. Well, Doc won it. Close enough. The only award that remains is Most Improved Player, and honestly, this is really a toss-up. We named Jerry Stackhouse for the award, but if Jalen Rose or Dirk Nowitzki (or even Kobe Bryant) won it we wouldn't be surprised, and you wouldn't hear any arguement.

While Matt Geiger's cheap shots against the Pacers were really lame, the 76ers are definitely showing some guts. Down 3-0, Philly has now won 2 in a row. Reggie is back for game 6, and he'll be pissed. Can't wait to see it.

InsideHoops is giving out free web-based email accounts starting any day now. While everyone in the universe has a web-based email account already, 99% of you probably didn't get the name you want. If you're using hotmail, aol, yahoo, mailcity, email.com, or any giant email service, chances are that instead of getting yourname@, you had to settle for yourname2000b_@ at or some crappy address. The second we start this service (and by the way, our email is powered by a giant company that specializes in this stuff, so trust it), get the name you always wanted, and then contact all your friends and family and explain that you've got a new email address they should begin using immediately.

Ok, lets go back inside NBA hoops:

Low scoring games are often not fun to watch, because lots of shots are being missed and the games are often played at a slow pace. Slow, tough games can be really ugly. But if they're slow and tough because the teams are playing at an insanely high level of defense, we say GOOD. We LOVE those type of games. Fast break basketball rules, and everyone loves seeing NBA athletes pour it on and fly up and down the court, but if you like watching defensive clinics and seeing guys put their heart and soul into stopping the other team from scoring, the Knicks vs. Heat series is for you.

The Suns barely scored today (in their playoff-elimination loss to the Lakers), but they had a lot of open shots. They just missed. That's no good.

The Knicks and Heat barely score anyday against each other, but there aren't any open shots. It's due to guys playing a superior level of defense, and that's something special.

Charlie Ward had the game of his life the other day. Producing 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, Madison Square Garden FINALLY had a reason to go crazy for Ward. Why was he able to step up? InsideHoops credits his 11 week old son, who was at his first Knicks game ever that night. He must have inspired Ward to step everything up. There's no other explanation.

Is it wrong to change the lock on the front door so your roommate can't get into the apartment after being away on vacaction?

Uh, anyway:

As Latrell Sprewell said, this (game 5) is the pivotal game.

Poor Bryon Russell. Everyone remembers Michael Jordan's last shot flying over him to win the championship. Now, after playing a terrific game (until the end), he was the victim of a key Scottie Pippen three pointer, then short-arms two free throws in the closing seconds (yes, he missed them both - although the Jazz claim someone was shaking the basket support), then tries to launch a desperation three pointer at the buzzer, seemingly gets fouled, yet there's no call and the Jazz (and Jeff Hornacek's career) are finished.

Utah has now lost 14 straight playoff games in a row in Portland.

Fourth quarter sums in the Utah-Portland series:
Blazers 122, Jazz 94.

____________

Say what you've got to say on the InsideHoops NBA MESSAGE BOARD