NBA Playoffs (Thus Far Commentary #2)
May 16Well of course things go on, so I wanted to write my thoughts at this junction about the NBA Playoffs 2007.
I was hoping that the Golden State Warriors would get farther than the second round. However I became ambivalent as Baron Davis’ personality (as well as Stephen Jackson’s) came out. That elbow to Derek Fisher’s face? Unnecessary to the extreme. To say that I gained a lot and lost a lot of respect for the Warriors would be fair to say. I enjoyed their playing because they were passionate and energetic. I started to disapprove of them because many of them turned out to be a bunch of no-class, cocky-without-rights-to, complaining-to-no-end players. And that is not a team that I want to cheer for. So they’re out, and good riddance.
A lot of people disliked Derek Fisher when he was on the Lakers. I never felt as strongly about him. In fact, I kind of liked him. He had spirit and he played hard. Plus we share the same first name. He’s by no means the best at his position, but he’s definitely shown in the Jazz vs Warriors series that he’s got lots left in that tank. To see him also having to deal with everything going on with his daughter makes him an especially easy-to-cheer-for player. Bravo on being an impact player in the series.
There sure has been a lot of testiness in these playoffs. Is it just me or does it seem like there is more this year than in recent history? Pretty much every series has had some episode of a flareup. LeBron is stepping up, the Pistons are never exactly clean, the aforementioned Warriors and Jazz got it on, and of course the Suns and the Spurs have no love lost for their fellow Texans. It all makes for exciting and emotional games, but I kind of wonder why this year is so.
I’m cheering for the Chicago Bulls to beat the Pistons. I’m not a huge Bulls fan, but I have enjoyed watching them play this year. Unfortunately they seem like they go very cold at times, and that led to the Pistons taking a (seemingly) insurmountable 3-0 series lead on them. They’ve fought back to 3-2, and everyone has been singing their praise. I’d like to see them down the vaunted Pistons myself.
I barely even hear or see much from the Cleveland Cavaliers side of the bracket. The Wizards series went down very quietly. It’s no surprise, but the West seems to definitely be the better conference.
Robert Horry’s forearm to Nash’s face was pretty poor. I always kind of liked Horry because I enjoyed his late-game heroics. I’m not really sure what the beef between the Suns and the Spurs is, but I know this: they don’t like each other. I’m not a fan of many of them myself. Many of them (Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Raja Bell to name a few) are aggressive bordering on extremely dirty. And that’s no good. But I like watching the series because both of these teams are pretty good. They have different styles but they both have multiple superstars who combine to do amazing things sometimes.
Conclusion
The NBA Playoffs 2007 are definitely interesting. I like seeing people get emotional, but there’s no need to be a jerk about things. Keep it coming. I’m going to enjoy watching more.