Almost! But not quite. I'll remain an Adidas guy for now; but I absolutely love the "Chalk" commercial with Lebron James. It's just a nice, feel-good clip; and they did a great job taking advantage of Lebron's famous ritual of tossing chalk in the air before each game.
Every time I see it, I get just a little swell of emotion. I like commercials that are inspiring, featuring athletes that are even more inspiring. Great job, Nike.
Needless to say, I'm very excited about the NBA season finally starting. There are so many interesting stories to watch for this year, along with more exciting players to see than I can remember. But without further ado ... here is my first installment of NBA Notes for this year:
- Being a web programmer, I have to mention this first ... the new NBA website is sensational! The design matches their brand much better than before, and the layout does a great job of not getting in the way of the content (scores, stats, news, and all the info that NBA enthusiasts come to get!) The only problem I've seen is that the scores are not as up-to-date as other sources are; perhaps this can be fixed later by replacing their Flash components with Silverlight apps (he,he). Anyway, nice job, NBA (or whoever actually built the site.)
- I'm very pleased about my Lakers. As most of America knows, having Bynum back is huge. And now that Kobe has a league MVP under his belt, he seems more focused than ever to work towards another ring (and become a Finals MVP!) I'm very happy.
- How 'bout the Hawks, eh?!! So far I'm impressed with how they're able to win games in the 4th quarter and/or on the road - two things they didn't do well last year. And out of all the games they've played so far, I've been the most pleased with how they played in their first loss against the Celtics. Without their star player J-smooth, they were only a "desperate, fade-away, luck shot by Pierce" away from winning against the champs in the Garden. Yes, folks, the Hawks are for real this year.
- It was weird hearing that coach PJ of the OKC Thunder was fired last night, after I just finished watching them on ESPN last night. That being said, he looked more like a college coach (like when he was coaching Setan Hall) than a NBA coach. But I was still sorry to hear the bad news, he's one of the good guys in basketball; perhaps one of the TV networks will pick him up, he's a great analyst.
- I have a co-worker that thinks the Spurs will not make the playoffs this year. He honestly thinks that their are 8 teams better than them in the West. My opinion is that he's crazy ... or he is? If the playoffs started today, the Spurs would be the 8th seed, with Dallas and Golden State close behind. Everytime he mentions it, I keep telling him it's a 82 game season and that's early; but I have to admit he's making a compelling argument. In the end, my money's on Coach Pop and Mr. Fundamental that they'll find a way.
- If you're into basketball AND into the internet, you'll like what SLAM Magazine is doing. In addition to their website, they have a Twitter page and a MySpace page. I'm not much into MySpace yet, but I do know that every night their Twitter page is very active; I even got a reply from them on one of my tweets!
I love how our squad is playing in the Olympics. They are a powerfully, focused team that is clickin' on all cyclinders right now. And I think this play against Greece (who they lost to previously) pretty much echoes that came for (and will get) gold!
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/share.html?videoid=0814_HD_BKM_AU_L1659
http://simplesilverlight.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/silverlight-and-the-nba/
To be honest, I'm glad it's finally over; but congratulations to the Celtics. Well deserved. Done. I could stop my post right here and really not be able to contribute much more in regards to how I feel about the NBA Finals. However, that would be irresponsible of me as a blog owner, so let me give you a few more thoughts.
First of all ... a 39 point blowout? You've got to be kidding me. The Hawks showed up better in their Game 7 against the Celtics than this. It is often said that athletics is 90% mental; it was obvious that the Lakers were not into this game mentally after halftime. However, though I respect the Celtics staying aggressive thorughout the entire game - I had to ask myself when would it have been a good time for the Celtics to stop turning the knife that was already in the Lakers' hearts. I don't know, because this is what the Lakers should have done in Game 4 instead of coasting in the 3rd quarter.
Let me get this out of the way: "just wait until next year!"
A friend of mine asked if I was bummed about the Lakers losing; and to be honest, my answer is no. Seeing that the Celtics were the better team, I can't be mad at the Lakers for the effort they gave (with the exception of Game 6). If I felt they actually had a shot, maybe I'd be bummed then; but my prediction of Lakers in 5 was just dead wrong. I'm content that the Celtics earned their title (from the upper mgmt to the players.)
I'm happy for the Boston Three Party - really happy for the role players like Rondo, Powe, Perkins, and the old vet ... PJ Brown. I'm mostly happy for Doc Rivers - no one gave him a chance against the HofF Phil Jackson. They all proved that they were the real champions. On to the draft.
In my opinion, it's mostly Kevin Garnett's fault that the series isn't over already. I love the fact that he doesn't take plays or games off, or that he tries to play safe. You have to keep a killer instinct in order to survive the NBA playoffs (just ask the Dallas Mavericks.) However, that's no excuse not to continue playing smart basketball. Those fouls in the first half of Game 5 were not All Star like of KG. It gave the Lakers the confidence they needed in order to pull out that win. That being said, KG will not make that mistake tonight.
But let's not take away credit from my Lakers for the win. It would have been so embarrassing if they lost the Finals on their home court in 5 games. But they didn't let it happen. It would have been easy for them to just lay down and quit. I give Kobe credit for two things: 1) making sure his team was motivated to play; and 2) continuing to share the ball with his teammates and resisting the temptation to take every shot. After what I saw in Game 2, I am surprised by his display of maturity - and it's very refreshing. Gotta give it up to him.
They usually say that Game 5 is the most pivotal game of an NBA Finals (with 2-3-2 format); but this series is different. I think tonight's game decides the series. If the Celtics don't take care of business tonight, that will give the Lakers an incredible amount of momentum to go on to win Game 7 - and make history - and cement Kobe & Phil Jackson's legacy.
I am very much looking forward to this game!
If this were any game other than a NBA Finals game, my television would have been turned to another station (or off) for sure. I was so pleased with how the Lakers were playing as a team in the first half. Every yellow jersey was touching the ball, Odom was confident to the hole, Kobe was sharing the ball beautifully, and they were in a stone, cold groove. They even started that way in the third quarter; and that's when I almost turned off my T.V. - but I left it on and surfed on my laptop instead.
And then it happened. The Celtics defense put the clamps on L.A.'s end of the floor and the Lakers had no answer in terms of defense on the other end. Kobe couldn't even draw a foul on his last shot; he tried to with the leg kick after the release - it didn't nothing but air! What an amazing comeback!
My pick for the defining moment - Ray Allen making Sasha Vujacic look like a stature when he just blow by him on the isolation, with no help from his teammates. There wasn't much they could do. After Allen called off the screen to go one-on-one, the Celtics spread the floor so no one was in the paint. And since the Lakers had to respect the 3 point shooting, Allen just had his way with Vujacic. It was especially sweet because Vujacic was pestering Allen the entire game like a gnat; trust me, Ray Allen was on a mission on that play to let him know who the future Hall of Famer was and who wasn't! In case you missed it, here's how Sasha felt about it!
A friend of mine (a Utah Jazz fan and a Laker hater!) e-mailed me this morning with the words "1 more game to go". This was my reply: "This is the point where Laker fans have to choose to either be optimistic or realistic. Asking Kobe to win 3 straight games (2 in Boston) by himself is too tall of an order. So I gotta keep it real ... it's over."
Paul Pierce was excellent. KG was solid. Ray Allen did his thing. And Leon Powe was incredible. Aside from the lazy 4th quarter, the Celtics look sharp as a tack. I didn't think they'd look this good in Game 2. And I thought the Lakers would take over the series by now; and they did ... just about 2 minutes too late. So far, I still think the Celtics need to work on putting away the game in the 4th quarter throughout a series. They should have known better that Kobe wasn't going to lay down and die easy.
Speaking of Kobe, he's back to his natural state. It took a while - after getting his MVP award, and easily handling the Western Conference; but he's finally here. The spoiled jerk that thinks he's above the game of basketball, and that the referees have to bow down to him. He's back with his cheap shots to the head and pretending like he's so innocent once he gets caught. He's back to yelling at his teammates. The same Kobe that ran Shaq out of town.
We all should have known better than to believe all that "he's learned his lesson" and "he's changed" stuff. The real you always comes to light in adversity. We will now see what he's really learned being down 2-0 in the NBA Finals. The only problem is that it might be too late. Kobe might be the MVP of the league, but I think the MVP of the Finals (Paul Pierce that is) will have something to say about that.
Gotta give up to the Celtics for winning last night. The "Boston Three Party" all played great; and as great as KG's performance was (did you see that great put-back he had at the end?), Paul Pierce gets my early MVP vote for coming back out after the knee sprang and nailing 2 big three-pointers - which gave his team the extra boost to take control of the game. And with Boston looking like they could win a game in L.A., I believe that my "Lakers in 5" prediction is in jeopardy.
On another note, I was getting really tired of the commercials with the split screen of a player from each team. I have to admit that they're kinda grown on me as we've gotten closer to the finals. I thought having Magic and Bird in the commercial was a very nice tough. Now I'm interested to see what they're going to do with the split screen after a winner is declared.
Seeing that I'm a big basketball fan, you can imagine that the NBA Finals is one of my favorite times of the year. And since I'm a longtime Lakers fan, this week should especially sweet since they'll be playing for that world championship this week. But not so fast, I'm actually quite conflicted ... here's why.
First off, when I was a boy I absolutely hated the Boston Celtics. Probably nothing else I hated more than them. I hated Larry Bird, "The Chief" Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Celtic "Cornbread" Maxwell ... I hated all of them! Every time they beat the Lakers, it made me physically sick.
Secondly, I don't get to play PS2 games or Xbox games a lot; but when I do, I love playing NBA Live. And over the years, I've always gravitated towards the team with Kevin Garnett on it. I'm a huge fan, I love his game, his spirit, and his effort night in and night out. I want him to win at least 3 rings, because I feel he will have earned them. (some of you probably see where I'm going with this already!)
Now being a Laker fan, I have to cheer for Kobe. He definitely had my vote for MVP (if I had a vote!) However, to be honest, I'm a bigger Shaq fan. My heart still burns that he's no longer in a Laker uniform - and I was very happy for him when he won another ring with the Heat.
And last but not least, now it's 2008, and the Lakers and Celtics are in the finals. On one side, you've got Kobe who I don't have the "highest" admiration for, but enough to cheer them to victory. And on the other side, you've got KG, one of my all time favorites yet to get a ring (one who I'd love to see get a ring.)
See why this is going to be hard? So far, there's only been two NBA Finals that I was happy to see the Lakers lose: 1) When the Dr. J, Mo Cheeks, Moses Malone, and the Sixers won; and 2) When the greatest players in NBA history won his first ring, from North Carolina ... Michael Jordan (BTW - I'm a Tarheel fan, too!) I was not happy when they lose to the Pistons; in fact, I was extremely angry that they lost that ... and it was Kobe's fault!! That's right, I said it.
Will I be happy if the Lakers win? Of course, I will; I'm a Lakers fan! If they don't and KG gets a ring, this will be the third time that I'll be OK with them losing - and to the Celtics of all teams (I've obviously grown up since my youth, no more hate.)
That being said, the Celtics have lost too many games on the road in this year's playoffs and can't possibly have the momentum to deal with the Lakers in 3 straight road games after the lose one at home. So I've got Lakers winning in five games; but I hope to God I'm wrong and that it goes all seven games to become one of the greatest NBA Finals of all time equal to the ones I saw when Magic and Bird were in their prime. I'll keep you posted.