I take what I can
Just like I called it. Not bad to watch after the half (like the season itself supposedly is), though even that pristine endgame rang a little hollow. Resonant and bright, but hollow nonetheless. I also got thrown off by the tomb-like vibe in AAC, unless I missed the part where they explained that Spurs fans comprised at least three quarters of the crowd.
The good stuff: I could never explain what was so terrifically dull about Tony Parker or Jason Terry, both players whom I should have at least some small affinity for. Now, much in the same way that Vince Carer nullifies Jason Richardson, it won't be long before Parker especially is exposed as a pretender to the throne of dynamism.
While everyone else is stumbling over themselves to annoint three or four hard-nosed ensembles, I'll always remember these playoffs for the three freakishly talented PG's who now I'll now go out of my way to watch.
I can make Round 1 into the regular season, and now I'll turn your precious Round 2 into the Summer Leagues!!!!!
posted by Bethlehem Shoals @ 5/13/2006 11:03:00 PM
13 comments
13 Comments:
While J-Rich might never be more than a pretender to the sheer Hustle and Flow of Carter, don't sleep on him as a still-improving player on the boring results-based side of the game.
Man's developed a jump shot. If he can work on his free-throw shooting, he's a legit All-Star.
That, and with B-Diddy on the team, he gets off even more capital-B Bops. They may never have the poetry in motion that you get from V.C. or even Wade, this is not to say that the man is Jerry Stackhouse.
Has anyone ever done an empirical study of the free throw jinx? Right after Hubie gushed about how Dirk was a 90% free throw shooter, he missed two in a row. I feel like I've seen this happen a lot (though I suspect there is a strong memory selection bias-type thing going on).
An overall study of the general phenomenon of "jinxing" would also be instructive.
1. Der Witzkrieg = Der Clutchness: hobbling heroism + killer FT shooting + that one crazy pass to Stackhouse that was all like: "What was THAT?! What WAS that?!?" Dirk always looks like he just got done sacking Rome. I think his hair is self-mussing.
2. Talking about point guards, Devin Harris brought some sick moves today.
3. Contributing factors to Mav's win: HEADBAND MADNESS, Avery's micro-stache.
that whole sequence with duncan fouling and dirk's near-demise was pretty bizarre. . . it's a testament to something unmentionable that at the time it just seemed like one of those things that happens as a game winds down. i'm now beginning to think that it was a window into another playoff dimension, and that spurs/mavs did its darnedest to repress or assimilate its horrors toute suite!
Curious about who are the "three freakishly talented point guards" whom you're referring to. I interpret this to mean young up-and-comers who previously haven't received pub. Harris, Livingston, and ... ? I don't think it's Anthony Johnson! Hinrich?
Oh never mind, I just read your previous post so I see that you're referring to Leo B. But Barbosa is not playing point for PHX!
devin harris needs to spend the summer doing nothing but watching game film of tony parker. he's got all the same tools; if i were on that coaching staff i'd charge him to be fearless about bringing all those things to the table each game.
the recluse, silverbird, and andreo can vouch for the fact that i was positively dizzy in 2003 over the prospects of a (best abstract tagline ever) "brazilian gary payton with a seven foot wingspan." to ensure that no one accuses me of hopping up on something, i will immortalize him in my mind as that. plus the sum of him and diaw makes up for when nash exist the game, even though neither of them is an officlal pg.
I love Barbosa and his freakish wingspan, but how is he like Payton? Barbosa doesn't post up or play tight D, and he's not grouchy like Payton.
oh i remember when barbosa was an incoming prospect very well - that was the great "who is going to be the next point guard of the suns, barbosa or milos vujanic?" debate. he's always shown flashes of brilliance in the scoring department; it's a credit to d'antoni that he took him off the ball a bit and let him do that without having the responsibility of running the team.
but barbosa has been doing this all season (when healthy, at least) .. this is only a breakout performance for him insofar as he's getting more national exposure. d. harris, on the other hand, seems to be stepping it up a bit more than barbs.
this is the first time i've ever seen him put out there primarily as a slashing scorer, as opposed to dribbling around the key and looking for ghastly-ass three's. i hate watching him try and survey a defense, but the tandem of him and diaw--both of whom can make quick, strategic passes and handle it selectively--is pretty genius.
but then again, you all know that i didn't exactly make a point of watching the suns this past season.
well he's always been incredible about getting layups in transition. his transition game cannot be fucked with. but against the lakers he was clearly trying to find the basket in the half court ... and if he's doing that with any measure of success the suns will be hard to beat. they've got so many offensive players that if their 4th or 5th option is the one breaking the defense down ... then shit.
what's great about the suns is that they have their core - nash/marion/diaw/bell - that enforces their game plan, which gives them a gang of wild cards to bring off the bench. guys like barbosa, eddie house, and tim thomas can come in and go all out and freestyle for a while, do what they do best and see if they can get hot. it's a pretty low risk, high reward scenario.
i'm in cali for the sister's graduation with limited computer access, and probably won't be able to write the post i want to write. but for the time being:
dirk was 3-9 from the field and i have to read about the mavs out-toughing the spurs?
50 FTs?
be careful what you wish for.
Post a Comment
<< Home