May 7, 2007

The NBA Playoffs are Officially Cool

We have been hinting at it. We have been inching towards it. We are now officially stating the obvious: while we stand by our belief that the NBA regular season is boring, too long, and completely lacking in a thing called "defense," the playoffs are really sweet. The fact is, if you like basketball at any level then you can't help but enjoy watching the best players in the world when they're acting like every game actually matters.

For starters, having attended the University of Texas, we can't help but giggle a little when both Dallas and Houston entered the postseason with high expectations and both flamed out in the first round. Don't get us wrong, we feel for our friends who are from those two cities; we just have a funny way of showing it. The Mavs lost in spectacular fashion--arguably the most disappointing disappointment in the history of the playoffs. And the Rockets, well...they couldn't overcome the presence of Tracy McGrady. And now Jeff Van Gundy can't take it anymore.

Elsewhere in the Association, the Spurs continued to work their magic on the Suns in Game One. Every year, you look up in May and there's San Antonio. As a side note, the fact that this series is happening in the second round is a travesty. Grand Sultan David Stern needs to revisit the seeding system.

The Bulls-Pistons series is reminiscent of some of the great playoff matcups of our youth, with Isaiah's Pistons and Michael's Bulls duking it out frequently. This series lacks that level of star power, but both squads are fun to watch, and the Ben Wallace link between them makes for an intriguing back-story. Detroit leads 1-0, and if they go up 2-0 it may be insurmountable for Chicago.

The Cleveland-New jersey series has LeBron James. Which, for casual fans like us, is enough.

Finally, way out west, the Warriors will try to continue their unlikely playoff run against the Jazz in Game One tonight. These guys are easily the best story in the '07 playoffs thus far. Experience tells us that it's hard to keep a full head of steam after pulling off a huge upset. But then again, we saw the Fiesta Bowl. Which is to say, anything's possible.

So the NBA Playoffs are entertaining. But we still won't budge on NASCAR.

4 comments:

JBRATER said...

amazing grace... how sweet the sound.

Benji said...

Come on, guys. Stop living in the dark ages and get with the now. NASCAR races produce an incredibly high level of entertainment, as well as displaying a remarkable level of athletic prowess and precision driving. I just don't think that you've given the sport enough of a chance to notice the finer aspects of it...

Hahahahaha.

Thanks for finally coming around, guys.

JMA said...

My BoN KD pledge was that I would watch 10 NASCAR races if Durant stayed. He did not, NASCAR remains on my "don't watch" list

Abram said...

I will add one caveat, Benji: the basketball in the playoffs is good enough entertainment for anyone who likes basketball. I still have to mute the TV to avoid hearing the piped-in music as point guards bring the ball up the floor. Ugh.