What team is this
guy playing for?
Well, Game Two is underway and it looks like this series is headed for Blowout City. Spurs are up 30-19, Detroit has missed approximately 47 layups, the refs have been wildly inconsistent, and Antonio McDyess is still in the process of completing the ultimate point shaving scam. All in all, it looks very bleak for the Pistons and it looks like the NBA season has once again crested during the conference finals. NBA in June = BORING. Again.
9 comments:
Within seconds of posting the crack about McDyess he proceeds to throw two straight outlet passes directly to Robert Horry, let Duncan lay the ball in with no challenge, and clang a turnaround. I'm telling you, he's part of a gambling ring! This is like the Black Sox all over again. Get Bob Levy and the Outside the Lines crew on this, stat. What other explanation could there be? Who plays this poorly? (Obviously, the answer is Keyon Dooling, but the question was meant rhetorically.)
By the way, if you want proof that Larry Brown has checked out mentally is already thinking about how to ruin the Cavs' roster, then watch him in this game. No time outs to stop runs. No screaming at the refs to get some calls. No strategy to get his superior post players on the block. The guy is mailing it in. In fact, it is contest between Brown and Ben Wallace to see who can be more satisfied with their first title and coast the most. I feel bad for Rip - he seems like the only guy on the team that desperately wants another ring. He and Hunter.
As I'm typing this, McDyess just missed two shots from three inches away. Somewhere, a bookie that flunked out of MIT is nodding his head and laughing the laugh of a conquering nerd.
Finally, you have to love this: Udrich took three steps across the lane - just an awful travel - to which Al Michaels exclaimed, "Udrich, with his best Ginobili impersonation!" It's about time someone admitted that Manu travels on those loping drives into the lane. I know Michaels didn't mean it that way, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get.
Good news, bad news.
The good news is that McDyess started scoring, which simply means that the lead was getting to big.
The bad news is that the Pistons absolutely suck. Why is this bad? I could care less about Detroit, but I want an interesting Finals. I'd like to see some close games with an exciting finish or two. Is that too much to ask? It shouldn't be ten times better watching old reruns on ESPN Classic. Lakers-Nets, Spurs-Nets, and now Spurs-Pistons. All dogs. The only decent series of the past four years was Pistons-Lakers last year. Come on!
And yes, I'm insinuating that we'd all be better off if the hungry Heat were here instead of the we're-too-cool-for-school Pistons. ("I've got a news flash for you, Walter Cronkite. You aren't.") The Spurs would probably win that series, but games would be tight. They always are when Shaq is involved - he changes the game too dramatically for teams to run wild. Whatever. Suns are done, Heat are done ... so is all the entertaining basketball. This series was viewed as Doomsday for the NBA and ABC, and, well, it is.
Is Danny Crawford on the Spurs' payroll? When Detroit got it down to 8, he called three straight horrible fouls on the Pistons and stuck the whistle up his butt when Billups got killed on a drive. I'm telling you, the NBA is rigged. There was no way they were going to let the Pistons come back - not when their new international golden goose is getting all the press. I'm sure that the calls will go the other way once the series moves back to Detroit, but this is ridiculous.
Peace out.
Chris
Yawn.
(Not the blog ... the games)
Adam, I know you wanted to take a shot at me when talking about Manu and Udrih taking 4 steps through the lane.
But you know you can't call that when playing pickup ball. It's my only move!
Oh, yeah, and these Finals are pretty unexciting. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flipping back and forth between the game and "I Spy" on TNT. I feel like I should say something about how maybe we should be giving the Spurs more credit for being really good, but, whatever.
No shot intended. But hey, if the shoe fits ...
As for the Spurs being very good, I think there probably is a story there. But due to all of the things we've discussed - the whining, the fouling, etc. - people just don't really feel this team. It's not that they are boring or from a small market, but more the fact that seem sneaky. They are always hacking people on rebounds and reaching and flopping. I know that's why I don't like them. They all seem like nice guys off the court and I really respect their games, but they are infuriating to watch.
I emailed Insider contributor Branden Higa last night about this, but I think the real story - if we want to dig for one - is that the Sonics might have been a lot better than anyone realized. If you think about it, they made the Spurs work for that series. Ray Allen was hurt for the first game and the second was vintage Spurs on a roll, but the last four games were dead even, and it honestly good have gone either way. The Sonics looked great at home in the middle of that series, had the Spurs on the ropes in Game 5 on the road, and then let it slip away back in Seattle. It seemed destined for seven and it had one of those "a few bounces here or there ..." type of feels. Given the way the Spurs bullied the supposedly unstoppable Nuggets, ran the Suns out of the gym, and now are shredding the Pistons D, I have to say that Seattle stands out. I wonder if they will keep that team together and take another run with a healthy Lewis.
Alright, nobody will see this post, but I have to say it anyways. Hubie Brown is a freaking clinic. I don't think there is another color commentator in the game that has the knowledge that Hubie has.
Hubie sucks. "Now if you're the Pistons, you like that a lot. You like that your big man has the energy. But if your Manu Ginobili, you don't like that you banged your knee. You feel like you are on a roll and you want to keep it going." Give me a break. He's good for comedy, but I'd rather have Doug Collins and the rest of the TNT guys.
Hubie doesn't suck, he's just a bit odd. Plus, how can you prefer Mr. Math over him? Collins does nothing but add up scores and hypothetical scores. That and talk about how a layup can get a jump shooter going. Here's how I rank the analysts (in order of who I would prefer to do that game alongside Marv Albert as the play-by-play guy):
1. Bill Walton. I love the guy and enjoy the comedy that is always present. He's so over the top that it is bound to be entertaining. Plus, he makes a lot of references to John Wooden, calls people out in splendid fashion, and rips on his cohorts. Great stuff.
2. Steve Kerr. He's the best pure analyst out there. Always makes great points and has a good sense of humor. He seems like a prankster.
3. Bill Raftery. He doesn't do NBA games, but he's still #3. "Gets the puppies set and then gets to the tin on the dribble-drive. What a valentine!"
4. Tom Tolbert. Good handle on pop culture, uses a nice, loose vernacular, and isn't afraid to rip somebody. Pretty funny most nights.
5. Hubie. The role playing is a bit much, but he's pretty good. He was much better doing the Draft for TNT than he is on live action though.
6. Charles Barkley. He doesn't do actual games but I'm sure it would be sweet. Give me more EJ, Barkley, and Kenny and less of everyone else. TNT is SO much better than the Disney crew.
7. Snapper Jones. Walton's nemesis, provides solid commentary.
412. Doc Rivers. Thank goodness he's coaching again.
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