This sums up this year's BORING FINALS: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/simmons/030613.html There's an old boxing saying that "styles make fights." Throw Gatti and Ward in the ring together, and it's pure magic. Throw De la Hoya and Trinidad together, and you'll be asleep by Round Six. It's all about the matchup. That's why the Frazier-Ali rivalry stood the test of time, not because of the personalities as much as two simple facts: Ali was a better boxer, but Frazier's sprawling left hook was the one punch he couldn't stop. Styles make fights. Well, the same goes for a basketball series. You can't blame the Spurs and Nets for ruining basketball and causing fans everywhere to pull a collective Oedipus. That's what happens when two superior defensive teams play one another for the title. Once they figure each other out, scores start dropping, field-goal percentages start dropping, and eyelids start dropping. Throw in the lack of personalities, and this is ABC's biggest prime-time disaster since they combined the words "Push" and "Nevada." Just remember, if Chris Webber's knee hadn't gone out, this would have been an entirely different playoffs. The Kings would have easily dispatched Dallas and the Spurs, giving us a fairly compelling Finals. C-Webb, J-Kidd and Vlade going for their first rings. Bibby and Jackson taking turns battling Kidd. Mrs. Christie and Mrs. Kidd battling for camera time. The Maloofs rooting for games to hurry along so they could get back to their casino and hit on hot chicks. Rick Adelman burning the candle at both ends, figuring out ways to keep the Nets in the series. And best of all, the right kind of matchup: A superior offensive team against a superior defensive team. Now that's a series I want to watch. That doesn't mean we're giving the Spurs and Nets a free pass for what they've inflicted on the American public. For one thing, the Pantheon Committee just spent the past week reviewing Jason Kidd's application, and here's what they came back with: Dear Jason, Thank you for your interest in joining Larry, Magic, MJ, Hakeem and the other legends in the NBA Pantheon. Sadly, we are unable to process your application at this time. Not since Karl Malone played the '97 and '98 Finals with both hands wrapped around his own neck has there been a more disappointing meltdown by a player on a big stage. Either you're crapping the bed, or the Eastern Conference is much worse than anyone originally believed. Regardless, we wish you the best of luck. Sincerely, The Committee I mean ... is Kidd injured? His ankle has to be bothering him, right? There has to be a reason why Tony Parker can drive by him at any time, that he made more bad decisions on the break in this series than in the previous 96 games combined, that he can't score at the end of games anymore. Then again, how can we explain Game 2, when Kidd was all over the court and wouldn't allow the Nets to lose? Where was that guy in Games 1, 3 and 4? As Maximus would say, isn't this whole thing a little vexing? Tim Duncan acquitted himself a little better, but not by much. His Game 1 performance was sublime. His rebound of Parker's missed free throw in Game 3 -- 75 seconds left, Spurs up by three and fading -- was probably the play of the series. But what about the stinkjob he submitted in Game 2? It wasn't just him struggling at the line. With 70 seconds remaining and the Spurs down by 3, they came out of a timeout and ran a set play for ... David Robinson. Really? You're going to your washed-up center on the biggest play of the game? What's more disturbing, the fact Popovich thought that was his best option, or the fact Duncan didn't pull a Pippen in the huddle and demand the ball? More importantly, Duncan has a 7-foot-2 dinosaur covering him at crunch-time -- why isn't he moving away from the basket, facing up from 15 feet and daring Dikembe Mutombo to come out and defend him? How could the Nets possibly stop this? Isn't this supposed to be the smartest guy in the league? Anyway, unless something drastically changes over these next three games, this will be the first NBA Finals since 1981 when nobody stepped to the forefront and said, "I am the best player on this court, nobody can stop me, and every time you think about this series, you will remember me first." In fact, here's the list. And yes, all of these people are in the Pantheon. 2002: Shaq (maybe his last great moment unless he gets the Eye of the Tiger back) 2001: Shaq. 2000: Shaq (honorable mention to Kobe for Game 4). 1999: Duncan (although this season never happened). 1998: MJ. 1997: MJ. 1996: MJ (honorable mention to Shawn Kemp, who was unstoppable in this series). 1995: Hakeem (destroyed Shaq, Ewing and Robinson in a 12-month span). 1994: Hakeem. 1993: MJ (honorable mention to Barkley, who gave MJ everything he could handle). 1992: MJ. 1991: MJ. 1990: Isiah (two years later, he doesn't make the Dream Team ... unbelievable). 1989: Isiah. Then there are the halftime acts ... Thus far, we've been stuck with Jewel, Lisa Marie Presley and KC & the Sunshine Band; apparently the Pips were busy. And then there's ABC ... (NOTE: THE FOLLOWING WAS CUT OUT BY MY EDITORS, BECAUSE OF A LONG-STANDING POLICY THAT PAGE 2 WRITERS AREN'T ALLOWED TO CRITICIZE ANYONE ELSE FROM THE ESPN FAMILY, AS WELL AS ANY ANNOUNCERS FROM OTHER TV NETWORKS. I THINK THIS RULE IS UNFAIR, AND IT MAKES ME HATE MY JOB SOMETIMES. BUT I ALSO LIKE GETTING PAID EVERY WEEK, SO YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO BEAR WITH ME.) (HOLD ON, I'M STILL BEING EDITED.) (WAIT, I'M STILL VENTING ABOUT ABC. ... THEY'RE CHOPPING THIS OUT, TOO. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY I'M STILL TYPING. HONESTLY, IT FEELS GOOD TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST.) (HOLD ON, ALMOST DONE. THIS PARAGRAPH DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE IN HELL OF MAKING IT, I WAS REALLY ANGRY. THERE WAS EVEN SOME SWEARING. AND SOME VEILED THREATS.) (AND ... WE'RE DONE.) Man, that felt good. Anyway, we're heading into Game 5 tonight with the title up in the air, Kidd trying to salvage a disastrous series, and Duncan needing two memorable games to validate his temporary Pantheon membership. The Spurs are probably going to win. They should win. As always, it's going to come down to the team with the best player. But here's the thing ... The best player isn't here. We never officially decided who was better -- Kobe or Shaq -- but the combination made it nearly impossible for the Lakers not to be the best team every year. They could only get toppled if a series of circumstances submarined them: - Like their collective hunger waning after three consecutive titles. (CHECK) - Like Shaq waiting too late to get surgery on his big toe. (CHECK) - Like the Lakers front office falling asleep for the past five years. (CHECK) - Like Robert Horry, Brian Shaw and Rick Fox all getting old at once. (CHECK) And those things added up, and Duncan was feeling it, and the Lakers were a little complacent ... and BOOM! The Lakers blew the series. Maybe if Big-Shot Rob's 3-pointer had fallen at the end of Game 5, things would be different. And if they were going to slip up for one season, then the Kings should have been here in their place. Only Webber's knee didn't cooperate. So we're stuck with the Spurs and the Nets: The Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players. There's a reason that a journeyman named Stephen Jackson took the biggest shot of Game 2, that an offensive rebound was the biggest play of Game 3, that the Nets were able to win Game 4 because they chewed up the final minute of the game with two missed shots. These aren't the best two teams in the league. They just happen to be in the Finals ... and they happen to be the worst possible matchup for one another. Hey, it happens. We might have three more games to salvage this baby, but I wouldn't get your hopes up.
ABC has done a horrific job of promoting the NBA finals and the NBA in general. One game a week simply isn't enough to promote the NBA. Yes, this year’s match up between the Spurs and the Nets is not the greatest of all time but neither was last years match up between Lakers and Nets. As I see it the Nets got pounded by the Lakers and the series was even more predictable. As for the announcers, why the heck did Tom Tolbert get the green light to be the commentator/analyst for the most important series in the season? I can't stand his whinny voice but worst of all this guy's commentary is far from original. I would much rather have Steve "Snapper" Jones or even a Shawn Elliot even though he was a former Spurs player to replace Tolbert. Also, bring back Marv Albert, this guy is simply the best bball commentator around. Sorry Brad Nessler but you should stick with football. There u have it: 1) Poor Promotion from ABC 2) Crappy Commentating (see Tolbert) 3) New Jersey vs anyone is going to give you crappy ratings Solution: 1) ABC gives the rights to NBC to broadcast/promote games 2) get ride of Tolbert replace with (Shawn Elliot), Walton (one in a million), Marv Albert 3) Kidd should not resign with New Jersey so we don't have to see them in the finals ever again
Yeah ABC and ESPN have both really sucked this year with the NBA. I miss NBC and Bob Costas calling games. He was the freaking man. The NBA seems weird on ABC. Hell I even miss the damn music by John Tesh!!!
Hmmm...halftime entertainment. Beyonce? Wallflowers (they were cool during the AFC championship game last year)? Even Mariah in a nice skintight Kidd dress would do. Damn.
Someone should tell these teams that 55-48 should be a HALFTIME score, not "Hey, maybe 647 turnovers a game could help ratings" late 3rd quarter score. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Every basket scored is hyped as an amazing event taht gets the bench to their feet.
I just wanted to say nWo34Life that was one of the best BBS reads in a long time. Couple of minor discussion points: I agree Sac probably would have won the West. But they would have slaughtered the Nets the way the Lakers did last year as Sac has good enough defense to clamp down on the Nets and Sacs inside-outside game with CW or Vlade passing to Bibby, Peja and co on the wings would have been too much for the Nets to fully contain. It is one thing to hang with TD who has been all by himself lately--it is another to hang with the potent balanced Sac team or Oneal/Kobe. You will have to score and play good half court offense to compete with those teams--the Nets could not reduce the game to a competitive slugfest against them. I will say if Dirk did not get injured and if Dallas got by SA (no sure thing even with Dirk though it surely goes 7--Dallas with Dirk is still a much easier out than a full Sac team)--that Dal-NJ would have been entertaining because you really have a poor playoff caliber offense versus a poor playoff caliber defense. I really like your notes about Barkley and Kemp--spot on. I will add a few more --as much as we hate to admit it while Malone was fading faster than a new father in the delivery room Stockton was awesume in 98. That one game he stole late (game 3 or 4 maybe) versus the Bulls was such a clutch virtuoso performance. Also Danny Ainge, another guy us Rocket (and most other) fans hate, for some losing Blazers teams deserves kudos for his clutch play. Finally, one of those Pistons years Dumars was the key not Thomas. I am not sure how high of level Isiah was playing by 92 anyway.
Uh, Bill Simmons, the sports guy, wrote the above (as cited by nWo), not nWo himself. Good read nevertheless, but when is Bill Simmons not a good read? The Kimmel show has been up and down, and imo, has taken away too much time from his articles, but that's the price of being in showbiz.
Thank you, Desert Scar. It sucks that baseball is starting to be more interesting now than the NBA Finals. The 2 teams in the Finals are very good teams. But they just don't reflect a pizazz or a interest in watching them. Especially w/ the score being so freaking low.....how is that going to help viewership? The East has this dragged out offense that just makes the overall game boring! Didn't the NBA set rules a couple of years back where the game would go faster and teams can be able to score points? Man, I miss the 80s and 90s where it was all run-and-gun-fast-break-non-stop action. Or maybe it sucks cuz my Rockets aren't there. Oh, well...move on to the Astros!
Yeah, I miss Bob Costas. He was sometimes a bit melodramatic, but he's a pro's pro. I'm probably the only one here who likes Bill Walton (he's not afraid to criticize players), but he's not the problem. ABC's packages are loose, the games are boring and the spark is missing. TNT usually does a very professional job, and ABC could probably learn a lot from their simple approach.
Pretty much. And of course the Rockets' titles were dismissed by many in the national media due to Jordan's sabbatical.
Well, look who it is. It's obvious MrSpur will say that. But from a viewpoint of a Rockets fan, it's boring.
I guarantee if they went back and compared the two Finals, everyone would easily admit that the 1994 series was much easier on the eyes. I don't recall any 77-75 games with teams shooting 28%.
