All-Star-quality playoffs

And I don't mean that as a compliment. Am I just getting old and cranky, or are NBA players starting to treat the playoffs like the All-Star game? Lakers-Blazers game #2 looked exactly like the AS game: back-and-forth coast-to-coast drives and long jumpers designed to make the highlight reels rather than score efficiently; shamefully lax defense and rebounding; needless turnovers caused by teammates freelancing instead of running their plays; and a generally lackadaisical attitude about playing casually, playing badly, and losing.

After Game 1, Shaq bragged to NBC about reliably hitting 1 of every 2 free throws. In Game 2, the Lakers came within 3 seconds of chalking up a 6-point quarter. That's one basket every four minutes, from what is supposedly the best team in the league.

Is $10M a year not enough for these guys? Is $20M not enough? Is the NBA championship not enough of an incentive? Are they holding out for stock options in God? Or do they just not care about anything anymore?

 

Tell me you're writing your post on a Palm Pilot while driving and talking on your cell phone. That really gets my blood boiling.

Or maybe just show me a chart of Scottie Pippen's stats in last year's playoffs compared to this year's.