And thus, the NBA's been won

Brethren: I had such faith in the Celtics last night, that I didn't even watch the game. In its stead, I let my dear sisterin take me out for her XXth birthday. I'm a nice (poor) brother like that. So we had a trendy dinner in Manhattan's Meat Packing District, content to not watch the game and let Nacho alert us with texts like, "Halftime highlights put to Pirates theme. Awesome."

Indeed, that's all I needed to know. Danny Ainge, a brilliant pirate I can only assume, pilfered Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett from the nether regions of the NBA's dredges, brought wily veterans like James Posey and PJ Brown aboard, and had them train some fresh sea legs like Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Leon Powe to become swash-buckling basketball privateers.

And thus, the NBA's been won.

And so we end a pretty classic NBA Season. I am quite pleased with the state of league. And hey, the Bobcats have the 9th pick in, like, a week. Let's pick the unathletic white guy! That works out!

Parting thoughts, Nacho?

Nacho: This Celtics team sticks in my craw for some reason. I have a big issue with the idea of a league being based on parity when one franchise can mortgage their future to consolidate All-Stars and make a title run. Sure, it's not against the rules or anything, but it doesn't make me like it.

I kind of feel about the Spurs, a team I dislike greatly, the way Brethren feels like the Celts. I feel like they were a team who assembled a squad that was championship caliber, and they didn't have to steal aging All-Stars to do so. Alas, like Brethren, I'm fine with the state of the NBA, as this season was an incredibly enjoyable one to watch and play fantasy leagues.

I look forward to screwing the pooch on Draft Night and/or being elated as the Bobcats trade away their first-rounder for a quality superstar.

One last note: where was the posse/entourage member of Big Baby's whom he specifically pays to make sure he doesn't end up in childlike poses with championship trophies? Really dropped the ball there.
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Some Historical Perspective

Nacho: When I think back to the epic Lakers/Celtics series from the 80s, I distinctly remember my thoughts on the topic: adding cinnamon to apple sauce creates a nectar of the Gods.

Since both Brethren were still in shorts pants during Magic and Bird's tussles, we'll pass the mic to Cap'n Pappy.

Cap'n Pappy: So, Elvis is in the Army in Germany. The biggest sports event of the era (baseball's World Series) for the first time in forever did not feature the Yankees (White Sox of Nellie Fox, Rudy LaRusso, and Luis Aparicio) but did feature the newest twist in US sports: a professional team on the West Coast (Dodgers of Koufax, Drysdale and Maury Wills). The NFL championship had settled into a dynasty (the Colts beat the New York football Giants in a rematch of the greatest NFL game every played: the Sudden Death Colts victory of Unitas, Raymond Berry, and Alan "The Horse" Ameche). It's 28 degrees in February and yet it's the perfect weather for copying Bob Cousy's behind the back dribble/pass and Elgin Baylor's one hand free throws on the basketball hoop nailed to the garage.

The rest of his thoughts, after...


Cap'n Pappy cont'd The infancy of what would become the NBA's greatest rivalry was just hatching. The MINNEAPOLIS (Great) Lakers of NBA Rookie of the Year Elgin Baylor, Vern Mikkelsen, Rudy LaRusso (yes the baseball player), Hot Ro d Hundley, and Frank Selvy (Yes, that Frank Selvy: the only collegiate basketball player in history to score 100 pts in a game: for Furman against Newberry College) were up against the Boston Celtics of Cousy, Russell, Howell, Sharman, Gene Conley (yes the Red Sox pitcher),the Jones boys, and Satch Sanders (an old version of Cornbread Maxwell).

Why has David Stern wanted so much to have today's Celtics & Lakers back on the court? Well, KG vs Kobie was preceded not only by Chamberlain/Russell and Kareem/McHale. But by Jerry West against Bob Cousy; by Hondo Havlicek, Larry Siegfried, and Don Nelson (yes that Don Nelson) against Elgin Baylor, Gail Goodrich, and Walt Hazzard. Realize that the Celtics were in the NBA finals 11 of 13 years during that time. and the Lakers were their only serious rivals (except for when Wilt was with the 76'ers). This is without mentioning the 80's teams of Magic and Bird (oh and Michael Cooper, Worthy, Byron Scott, AC Green, and Rambo). Possibly the most impressive hit ever recorded on hardwood was a product of this rivalry: the clothesline takedown of Rambis by McHale as Rambis attempts a snowbird layup. In the 1962 finals against the Lakers, Russell pulled down FORTY!!!! rebounds in one game. (Only surpassed by Wilt's 41 rebounds in 1967) Oh yes, and the steal of the inbounds pass that we always hear Johnny Most's overdubbed yelling about Bird pulling off.

That is just a ghostly echo of Havlicek's feat, the game of Dr J and MJ is directly descendant from Elgin Baylor.

Some historical perspective from Capn Pappy.
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We Write A Sports Blog

Brethren: It's about time to get back on this horse.

I have several topics I want to cover, that I've let stew up inside of me and I'll blame travel to far off places like Minneapolis, Atlantic City, and the District of Columbia for the reason why I haven't written for a while.

Enough of that though: I've got thoughts. I've got a blog. Here we go:

NBA
1. The Finals are here: Game One is in progress; it's close; Boston players are trying to do their best impression of Willis Reed, hobbling out of the locker room in the second half.

I won't go into any full in-depth analysis because there's nothing I can write that hasn't been said. The Cap't'll be along shortly to give us youngins the historical perspective, but I grew up with Michael Jordan, not Magic and Bird. So Lakers/Celtics is that vaguely important piece of history that you know you should know more about, but unless it happened to you then it's just something you know about, not something you experienced. You know, like the The Great Depression.

Avoid lightning bolts and read more NBA thoughts with me, after:


Brethren (cont'd): 2. I tweet'd earlier today how I liked where Rick Bonnell's head is at. I normally do. The Charlotte.com commenters give him a lot shit, he takes it in stride, and does a good job as the only beat writer out there who follows the Bobcats. He also writes a mildly entertaining Sunday column about baseball -- entertaining in that it's probably the only non-AP written MLB story all week that goes into the Charlotte Observer sports section.

This morning, Bonnell threw out the argument that the Bobcats should go after 'Sheed. I love this idea. I love that Sheed calls our new coach, "Pounds," because his initials are LB. I think Sheed and G-Force will instantly become really close, that Okafor can be the Ben Wallace/McDyess character, and our backcourt can mature. I love that the Bobcats would only be taking a one-year risk because Sheed's only got one more year on his contract.

Add 'Sheed without giving up Okafor, G-Force, J-Rich, and RayRay and I think you have to make that trade. Rick, I like where your head's at. Bring Sheed back to the Kakkalak.

Ok, Game One's almost over. I gotta go pay attention to that. We'll back with Panthers stories, some baseball thoughts, and more NBA in the coming days, weeks, months.

Also, Fearless Leader: don't forget about your promise to us and the Panthers preview. Don't you forget.
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Sheed Being Sheed

Nacho:Highlight of the NBA Playoffs:

9:05 left in the 4th. Celtics 66, Pistons 70. Sheed gets his fifth foul. They cut to a replay, they cut to Sheed on the bench and in a moment of inspired live tv, the Junkyard Dog warns:

"I told you get that camera out my fuckin face."

This playoffs has been dern swell.

Brethren might write something, desde...

Brethren: I was away this past weekend. I'll address this post, in the next post. It'll be like time traveling.
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CP3 and NBA Playoffs: The Conundrum of A Former Hornets/Current Bobcats Fan

Brethren: Watching the New Orleans Hornets and Chris Paul absolutely own the Dallas Mavericks toys with my emotions. On one hand, the brand of basketball Chris Paul plays is amazing -- he's so strong for a guard his size, he has the ability to lull you to sleep then switch gears, he's confident, he's always aware of the court. Quite simply, he's everything you'd want out of your point guard.

On the other hand, I'm a Bobcats fan -- been with them through their inception, they have my full support. However, I feel like how someone in a second marriage must feel: there's no denying I had a first love, a first marriage, and a nasty divorce. The Hornets were my starter marriage of professional sports teams.

I loved them. I loved going to games at the Hive, listening to Steve Martin in the car or on my clock radio in my room, watching them on WJNZ. So many memories, many memories I have sufficiently suppressed, especially when I hang out and root for the Bobcats. I try to forget that I ever had such a passionate, deep relationship with the Hornets.

But, as the Big Cat says, "I'm gonna go see Dr. Finklestein and I'm gonna tell him we have a whole new bag of issues. We can forget about mom for a while" -- the sight of Chris Paul's near-perfect basketball in that vaguely familiar Hornets jersey and hearing the New Orleans Arena blasting "Shout!" as the Hornets built a 30-point third quarter lead, well, it made the emotions of that starter marriage all come flooding back.

Theraputic sessions, desde


Brethren: Chris Paul broke Muggsy's assists-for-a-playoff-game record toinght en route to a 32 points, 17 assists, 5 boards, 3 steals line. That's just an absurd line. And don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing Chris Paul to any Hornet player -- I don't think anyone I watched could have posted a line like that when I was a fan. Le Baron might have posted it -- but it wouldn't have been expected at all. With CP3, a line like that can be expected.

So it's not so much that Paul reminds me of a certain Hornet or a certain time when I was a Hornets fan. Because when I was around, the Charlotte Hornets won lots of games, built solid teams, and won a few playoffs series. But they were never a 2 seed with such a deadly line-up and a player who was seriously considered for the MVP award.

But that's also what gets me: I put in 14 years of Hornets fandom. And aside from that jackass Shinn, it was awesome. I loved it. And we did have good teams with great players to watch. But we never had a Chris Paul.

CP3 is taking the Hornets places. And I guess it's just sad to think how easily the Hornets could still be in Charlotte, and how I could be engulfed in all this.

At least the Bobcats bring in a steady paycheck. Oh wait, they're deadbeat too? I thought second marriages were supposed to be better...

Nacho: While I'm not going through the existential crisis Brethren is, that's probably because I'm more Jason Alexander (Britney's first husband, not Constanza) in that I'm the fan folks forget. I had some magical times at the Hive. I witnessed Alonzo's buzzer beater against the Celts. I remember SuperHugo. I even went to a monster truck rally at the Charlotte Colesium.

But I'd lost all interest a few years before they left. There's about four years there where I just kind of fell off the sports map. Strange how one, steroid-infused Super Bowl season can bring you right back into the fold. So now, I view the Hornets as someone who once dated the Hornets and is genuinely happy for their success, while mutter about how much a loser they're dating now.

Still, the best joke I've heard about the playoffs so far was, I think, from Basketbawlful: the Hornets have banned billionaires from their locker room. Good on 'em.
The Jump

Due Kudos - NBA Playoffs

Nacho: A quick note or two on the split-screen adverts for the NBA Playoffs:

1. Good on ya, NBA. Inventive, visually off-putting, and best of all, we get to see which NBA stars can't sit still to save their lives. The Kobe/Shaq split is the most telling. One can surmise that Shaq has acted in major motion pictures before and is as still as the doldrums of the Carribbean. Kobe's head bobs and bounces, as do most of the players'.

2. J. E. Skeets is doing some phenomenal mock-ups over at Yahoo. My favorite, of course, involves Walter Herrmann, although the Varajeo/Ginobli one is worth a gander.

I think my favorite part of these playoffs is going to be the announcing teams. Over the past season I've become enamored with the local broadcast duos for the Clippers and the Lakers. The Lakers is polished and professional, as one would expect, with the occassional exercising of poor judgement. The Clippers tandem of Ralph Lawler and Michael Smith is real gem. Lawler's been calling Clips game since the Carter administration and will randomly blurt out things that totally embarrass Mr. Smith. Lets just say basketball season has added a level of awesomeness since I moved to LA.

Additional playoff ramblings, after...

Nacho cont'd: Everyone's, correctly, discounting the Eastern Conference and expecting whomever wins the West to plow on into Championship lane. However, if you think logically about it, doesn't the disparity of the East bode well for the Finals chances? Isn't it more likely Boston or Detroit (or my pick, Cleveland) will roll through their series' with little resistance, and get some downtime to rest up while the West turns into a bloodbath?

The NBA playoffs are also where I truly hope Hubie and Jeff Van Gundy bring their A games. All season Hubie spouts nonsense and turns phrases that make me furrow my brow. Meanwhile, Van Gundy comes off as a pompous ass for three-and-a-half quarters of every game, but will point out the ONE THING that decides a game before the players even know it's gonna happen. I have a begrudging respect for Mr. Van Gundy and hope he never goes back to coaching.

Also: this commercial is the TITS!



Brethren, what say you?

Brethren: I say...these playoffs are gonna kick ass. Just like this sport's commercials kick ass. Some thoughts:

Spurs vs. Suns: already given us a ridicului double OT game. This series will most likely go to seven games, and even then, we'll feel cheated. I heard this is the first time two 55-win+ teams played each other in the first round -- which should tell you enough about the Western Conference this year.

Hornets vs. Mavericks: Chris Paul is absurd. And by Leitch's logic, Nacho and I should be Hornets fans still to this day -- so I'm happy to jump on that bandwagon. And I wore a Charlotte Hornets shirt to the gym today, and got asked if I was from Charlotte, which was cool.

Lakers vs. Nuggets: Nugs will give the Lakers fits. Listen to me. Or don't.

Celtics vs. anyone: despite the fact that I wanted to vomit at Simmons's article about the MVP race and how it was painstakingly obvious he was going to pick KG as the obvious winner, I think that team is really good. I don't like it when I don't like Simmons' writing because I don't want to be categorized as Simmons sports blogging hater -- but while KG is a nice story, the Celtics played in the Leastern Conference, and he has 2 other All-Stars playing with him! That said, I can easily see them winning the championship.

The Hawks: they're in the playoffs! hahahaha!

As you can see, I'm writing a lot, ignoring the fact that I could be linking to a lot more articles that are evidence that the NBA Playoffs are going to rock, and I'm just plain giddy. I do love this game. And its commercials.
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