I missed most of the NBA Playoff games over the weekend due to Jewish holiday obligations, but from what I did see and from some highlights, a few things stood out:
- What the hell is wrong with the Pistons? People can blame Flip Saunders all they want, but this clearly comes down to some sort of mentality resonating through players minds that I'm not sure anyone less than Phil Jackson could tame. They are alot like Seinfeld at the end of their run, ya know, how the show was so great for a long time but then towards the end thought they could create garbage and people would laugh. That's the Pistons right now; I've never seen a team so confident from not winning anything in 5 years. I can picture Jerry's smirk in some of the final episodes, thinking to himself, this stuff is great...but it really wasn't. The Pistons are not going to be that great until they regain that edge that team's strive for, you know that edge I'm referring to, the one that takes .2 seconds to surface if one ESPN analyst publicly denounces your team's chances. Until either the Pistons grow up a little or experts begin hopping off the bandwagon, they're in for some trouble.
That said, if they can survive these first two rounds and meet the Celtics in the Conference Semis, they will be prohibitive underdogs which may actually spark a little interest in them, and I could envision an upset.
- I thought the Wizards would be a tough out in these playoffs, but the way it's gone so far, it looks like they're just a speed bump for the Cavs on their way to meet the 60 foot brick wall that is the Celtics. The Wizards just look a little off, like they don't have an identity since Gilbert came back to the lineup, and when there is even a shred of confusion or miscommunication, Lebron will tear you apart. The only thing the Wizards have been consistent in doing is violently punishing Lebron.
- I commented on the ESPN NBA blog Truehoop a couple of months ago that the Rockets had no chance in the playoffs, after seeing the Celtics manhandle them to snap their 22 game win streak. My reasons were that the Celtics exploited the Rockets and showed teams how to beat them - that is, contain McGrady and make him dish. It was the worst Rockets regular season defeat of the year, for that reason alone. Now, the Jazz are doing just that, and Houston kept relying on off-balance hook shots from Luis Scola during a 4th quarter that featured exactly one point from T-Mac.
I think it has been overlooked that a team that won 22 straight games in the regular season is poised to get swept out of the first round....again. What a sad ending to a superb regular season.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment