A little bit about what bugs me about the NBA, thoughts on the Bulls and Celtics, and what angers me about Vinny Del Negro.
1. Why is it that when an NBA team calls a timeout after a made basket, the ball gets inbounded at the ¾ court line at the end of games? I have never understood this. You take a timeout after your opponent hits a shot, but instead of having to inbound the ball from your baseline, you get to inbound at the opponent’s hoop near their 3-point line. I guess the NBA wants there to be more last second drama by allowing teams to avoid having to move the ball ¾ of the way up the court (something Vinny Del Negro apparently doesn’t know is allowed). But, it’s cheap and has no foundation whatsoever. Could you imagine the NFL allowing a team to have the ball at its own 40 yard line, instead of fielding a kick-off merely because it called a timeout? The NBA might as well let the team calling a timeout shoot free throws, it’s almost as irrational.
2. Why is it that NBA referees are as capable as Jessica Simpson during a SNL show? Namely, why do they suck? During the Bulls/Celtics game 1, I guaranteed that the referees would call a foul on the Bulls when the Celtics had the last second shot. And of course, the refs call a foul on Noah after he blocked Paul Pierce’s shot. NBA refereeing is so poor that even casual fans can predict bad calls. We know the following are 100% true: (1) Stars, especially Wade, Kobe and Lebron, will get calls even when they drive through the lane uncontrollably, simply looking for a foul; (2) the home playoff team will get 20% more attempts on the free throw line; (3) stars cannot foul out of a game; (4) if you are an average big man or rookie big man, you will get called for at least 5 fouls on the road; (5) During last second possessions, only star players will get calls. If you are a rookie or non-all-star, you better hit your shot because you will never get a call; and (6) 30% of calls made by referees are make-up calls.
3. Why is there such a thing as a make-up call? If a referee makes a bad call, he feels justified in “making-up” said call by, you guessed it, making another bad call. So the NBA allows for a system of refereeing where a ref is allowed to make two bad calls in a row. NBA, it’s fantastic!
4. Why are there only two players in the NBA? If you were from Albania and came to the US for a week, you would walk away thinking that the NBA consisted of two players, Lebron and Kobe. Basically, the NBA and its networks (ESPN And TNT) have made basketball into tennis.
5. Why does ESPN suck so much at televising basketball games? They have the individual talent (Wilbon comes to mind), but somehow come across as d-league basketball broadcasters. Bob Costas must listen to ESPN commentators and want to shoot himself.
6. So when do the Lakers/Cavs finals games start? The NBA is fantastic in that almost always the best teams get to the finals. It’s not like college basketball, the NFL, baseball, or even futbol, where luck can get a team to the championship game. In the NBA, the best team will win the 7 game series. Which is great, I like seeing the best teams compete. But, that also means that the NBA playoffs are predictable. We all know that the Lakers and Cavs will meet in the Finals, yet we have to go through a 76ers/Orlando series.
7. I do love the NBA commercials though. The music and the “where amazing happens” tagline is brilliant.
Playoffs Notes…
8. Why has Paul Pierce aged 35 years? Pierce only has one move left now, the ass move. Basically, he’s Charles Barkley (the old years) using his ass to post up a player, only to shoot a terrible fade away. Pierce went from being the best player last year (he outplayed Kobe in the finals) to an old, beaten poor man’s Charles Barkley. I guess this is what happens when you lose a guy like KG.
9. Why does Brad Miller look like a 90 year old Paul Pierce? Brad Miller makes Bill Cartwright look fast and athletic. I can’t tell you how much I was yelling at the screen on Saturday (Game 1) as I watched Miller plod along. For some reason, he also can’t shoot anymore. Even worse, it took Del Negro the entire 4th quarter of game 1 to realize Miller was having the worst game of his career to yank him out in favor of Tyrus.
10. How long can Derrick Rose be this good? Rose carried the Bulls on Saturday. It was almost impossible for him to keep playing that way for game 2. It didn’t help when (a) refs called silly fouls on Rose keeping him out of the game and (b) your coach can’t adjust to the other team’s handling of the Bulls’ pick and roll. Rose didn’t have a good game last night. Unfortunately, we need him to play great if we have any chance of winning. I just don’t think it’s possible for a point guard to carry a team that much, without another all-star caliber player helping to share the load (however, BG did that last night).
Notes to Vinny Del Negro..
11. Brad Miller is best used in limited doses. Like vicodin and alcohol, he’s best kept in moderation. So Del Negro, please, pretty please, with sugar on top, stop using Miller so much during games when Tyrus Thomas is at your disposal. Heck, I would even take Tim Thomas over Miller.
12. Further, you should use Tyrus Thomas more and not yank him just when he starts to get hot. If I recall correctly Thomas nailed to mid-range jumpers and also blocked his 6th shot of the game in the 3rd quarter. Del Negro then yanked him in favor of Miller (Who reminds me of an animal that has just been run over. What’s with all the flailing arms and legs?). I submit that Thomas is just as good a shooter now as Brad Miller (since Brad refuses to shoot open shots and likes to drive through the lane flailing his arms in hopes of getting a foul that won’t get called because he’s an idiot). Thomas is also 100 times more athletic. When Boston was out rebounding us in the 4th quarter, guess who you could have used to get some of those rebounds? Yes, the freakish athlete sitting next to you on the bench who has 6 blocks in about 20 minutes of playing time.
13. Save your f’in time-outs. Fool you once, shame on you, fool you twice, you’re a f’in idiot!. Del Negro please look at point 1 at the start of this entry, you will note that at the end of games having a timeout is crucial. During game 1, if we had a timeout we would have had 2 seconds to hit a game winner at Boston’s end after Pierce missed his second free throw shot. During game 2, we would have had 2 seconds to tie the game, if we had a timeout left. It’s not that hard, always keep a timeout in a back and forth game.
14. With that being said From Black, great job feeding the ball to Ben Gordon last night. You could see it in his eyes that he was on FIRE!
Lastly, notes to Kirk Hinrich…
15. Stop fouling.
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