What an awesome day of basketball!
* I caught only some of the Celts/Knicks game and missed the end of the 4th. But it was great. I have a bad habit of always sleeping in on Rajan and then he puts together one of the great box scores in league history. He's such a bizarre person. He's one of the great team basketball players in years and truly wants to set his teammates up, but he looks like the most miserable person. The NBA commercial that for some reason uses Primus kind of works well.
* I can't believe that we've entered into "the Watch Kobe at his peak while you still can" phase. It seems just like yesterday when he was a high school senior one year my junior and rumored to be coming to La Salle University. It's also weird to admit that I kind of like the guy now, after spending so much of my adult life hating him. But he had some crazy post moves to get open jump shots today -- just a testament to how smart he is and how much effort he puts into getting ring number five. It's also great to see him chump the Heat, especially after D-Wade's cheap shot on him at the All-Star game.
The Heat are way better than the Lakers. It's not even close. But I'll be more surprised to see LeBron win a ring than I would be to see the Heat lose to the Knicks or whoever in Round 1.
* I went to my first Sixers game tonight. It was SO much fun. I've hated going to their games the past few years because of how dreadful it was -- a boring team in front of 8,000 people with non-stop awful jock jams and light shows. But the new owners are REALLY making an effort. The pre-game video entrance was maybe the best I've ever seen -- it was artistic and subtle as opposed to the typical fare and tied in the history of the team with its current roster beautifully while also capturing the same with the city. They turned down the noise a lot -- they only had defense and Let's Go Sixers chants pumped in during game time. Technotronix and that fare is acceptable to me during timeouts. I'm going to go to a LOT more games now that I have a lot more free time.
The game itself was great. The Sixers are soooo frustrating. They are a tremendously well-coached team. They move the ball fantastically well and have incredible depth and versatility. Andre Iguadola is so much better in person than on TV. He really did a great job when he was guarding Derrick Rose -- he forced Rose to go towards his left and kept him on that side of the court, as opposed to letting Rose start from the top of the key. But they won't ever beat a great team with the roster they currently have. They don't have a guy who can dominate on any isolation plays, which you need constantly in the playoffs since it's so much harder to get a shot off.
The Bulls are tremendous. They, too, are very well-coached. No one on that team is ever out of position. Their coaching staff was great running their sets differently so Rose could be in his comfort zone and start the offense where he wanted. When they managed to make those adjustments, he showed why he's the MVP -- he can get to the rim whenever he wants, he almost always makes the right pass and he now also has a consistent outside shot. And he's somehow sleepy while putting together a 35-point game.
* Watched the last half of the Nuggets/Spurs. I am really going to miss the Duncan/Parker/Manu era. Parker is having a secretly awesome year. Manu made his return from injury and was rusty but did all the Manu things which I've loved -- weird passes from insane angles, great ball hawking on defense, a willingness to take a tough shot. The Spurs are a pleasure to watch and have been since I can remember.
The Nuggets could be this year's Memphis. They're hanging in their despite their injuries. Ty Lawson is very, very, very good. I also love Kenneth Faried. He has such a great motor and he's ALWAYS smiling. He's so happy to have the ability to play basketball for his career and it shows. He's going to be a pretty good off-the-bench big man for about the next 10 years. I hope he never loses his personality.
