NBA Finals
Carly, don't read this.
Great. Just great. We have the best NBA season since the height of the Jordan era, and we're left with this shit. This is exactly what I was afraid of.
Last night's game was 39-38 at the half. Ben Wallace was the leading scorer with 12 points.
That's not a good thing.
I mean, congrats to the Spurs. They are a great team, they did a great job defending their title, and they really impressed me early on in the playoffs by adapting to such different styles of play. Also, the "choke job" that they pulled off after game 2 wasn't as bad as you would think--there was NO FUCKING WAY the NBA wasn't going to have Detroit win 2 of their home games. So really, they didn't "choke" until Game 6.
But still...we're left with this shit?
I'm sick to God dam death of thug basketball. I'm sick of overly physical play, I'm sick of "great defenses" which are really teams just beating the shit out of other teams. And it's the NBA's fault. They have the worst officials BY FAR of any pro sport, and they have it that way on purpose! Bill Simmons made a comment in his column the other day that the NBA penchant of fixing games by assigning certain officials to certain games is the biggest problem the NBA faces (bigger than the Lockout, which at the time was looming large). It's gotten to the point that he can predict which officials will be assigned to each playoff game, depending on what team needs to win. And he's not just bluffing, he's right! I've watched him do just that. It's insane. And it's ruining the game. Just call fouls! Don't let the Pistons get away with playing the way they play. No one wants to watch it! Come on, David! Your public is speaking!
Hopefully, it will change. Hopefully, the powers that be (David Stern, since he rules with an absolute iron fist of death) will sense that the mood of the public has changed, that we don't want any more "great defenses", and that we want teams like the Suns and Mavericks to have a chance to play basketball the way it was meant to be played. Football is a sport about brute strength, hurting an opponent, and being overly physical. Basketball is a sport about grace, athleticism, and skill. Let's stop getting the two confused.
One more thing: sorry Timmy, but there is no fucking way you were the MVP. Manu was the difference in that game last night; he was the one who provided the spark for the Spurs to finally pull away. And since he was without question the outstanding player in Games 1 and 2, how does that mean Timmy was the MVP? ABC agrees with me...notice they grabbed Manu after the game, not Duncan. Hey, you somewhat redeemed yourself for your Game 5 showing, so good for you. But MVP? Sorry. No way.
Well, what a disappointment. I should be writing about a fantastic finish to the best season since the prime of the Jordan Era, and instead it's the same old bullshit. But the good thing about this is that the winds of change are blowing. I think, like every team but the Spurs, that
there's always hope for next year.
Great. Just great. We have the best NBA season since the height of the Jordan era, and we're left with this shit. This is exactly what I was afraid of.
Last night's game was 39-38 at the half. Ben Wallace was the leading scorer with 12 points.
That's not a good thing.
I mean, congrats to the Spurs. They are a great team, they did a great job defending their title, and they really impressed me early on in the playoffs by adapting to such different styles of play. Also, the "choke job" that they pulled off after game 2 wasn't as bad as you would think--there was NO FUCKING WAY the NBA wasn't going to have Detroit win 2 of their home games. So really, they didn't "choke" until Game 6.
But still...we're left with this shit?
I'm sick to God dam death of thug basketball. I'm sick of overly physical play, I'm sick of "great defenses" which are really teams just beating the shit out of other teams. And it's the NBA's fault. They have the worst officials BY FAR of any pro sport, and they have it that way on purpose! Bill Simmons made a comment in his column the other day that the NBA penchant of fixing games by assigning certain officials to certain games is the biggest problem the NBA faces (bigger than the Lockout, which at the time was looming large). It's gotten to the point that he can predict which officials will be assigned to each playoff game, depending on what team needs to win. And he's not just bluffing, he's right! I've watched him do just that. It's insane. And it's ruining the game. Just call fouls! Don't let the Pistons get away with playing the way they play. No one wants to watch it! Come on, David! Your public is speaking!
Hopefully, it will change. Hopefully, the powers that be (David Stern, since he rules with an absolute iron fist of death) will sense that the mood of the public has changed, that we don't want any more "great defenses", and that we want teams like the Suns and Mavericks to have a chance to play basketball the way it was meant to be played. Football is a sport about brute strength, hurting an opponent, and being overly physical. Basketball is a sport about grace, athleticism, and skill. Let's stop getting the two confused.
One more thing: sorry Timmy, but there is no fucking way you were the MVP. Manu was the difference in that game last night; he was the one who provided the spark for the Spurs to finally pull away. And since he was without question the outstanding player in Games 1 and 2, how does that mean Timmy was the MVP? ABC agrees with me...notice they grabbed Manu after the game, not Duncan. Hey, you somewhat redeemed yourself for your Game 5 showing, so good for you. But MVP? Sorry. No way.
Well, what a disappointment. I should be writing about a fantastic finish to the best season since the prime of the Jordan Era, and instead it's the same old bullshit. But the good thing about this is that the winds of change are blowing. I think, like every team but the Spurs, that
there's always hope for next year.
posted by Michael Pondrom at 7:48 PM
1 Comments:
I used to work with a guy that had refereed big High school basketball games. He was a pretty interesting guy and really studied officiating. The guy still had friends that officiated Pac 10 football. He even had an autographed photo of one particular baseball umpire on his desk at work. Basically, this guy knew a lot about officiating and I consider a good source of info.
I was talking to him one day about the poor officiating in the NBA and he said something that I find very interesting. He said that all professional and college leagues except the NBA have non-fraternization clauses in their referee manuals. That got me to thinking. How many times have you seen a football player put his arm around a ref during a game and say something during a timeout or play stoppage? Baseball player? College player of any kind? But in the NBA its common for refs to be on a first name basis with players. Players and refs chat quite amiably all through games. If Bill Simmons knows how the refs call games, how well do you think the players know how they call games?
I don't know that there is blatant collusion going on, but that much familiarity can only cause problems. At the very least, it looks tremendously bad.
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