Yes, my beloved NBA is back. If only I could watch the Pistons every night. If you like the NBA as much as I do (I know it's much trendier to be into college basketball, so you don't have to tell anybody) check out Bill Simmons' preview on ESPN.com, it's pretty funny.
As for predictions, I think the Lakers make it back to the Finals, but the Celtics are really going to miss James Posey. The Cavs new scoring point guard, Mo Williams, puts them over the edge. Lakers beat the Cavs 4-2 in the Finals.
I'll differ from Simmons a little bit on my playoff teams. The East: Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, Orlando, Miami, Washington. The West: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, Utah, Dallas, Portland.
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So here's my deal, Jon... I'll continue to dig the NBA playoffs. But I just can't hack the regular season.
While I am admittedly not as astute of a basketball observer as you (my mind's been on soccer lately for some reason), a regular season game looks like this to me:
"Isolation slow-down one-on-one offense with a shot taken with 3 seconds left on the shot clock. Periodically, there'll be a sweet dunk, or a nice steal and break-away, but for the most part, let's walk through the game, keep things close for the first three quarters so that we can turn up the energy in the 4th quarter and come away with a win. If we don't win... no biggie, there's 81 more games to be played."
That's why I LOVE college ball (I was into it before it was cool) because there's ALWAYS the sense of urgency, and that you live or die by every possession. I like NBA playoff b-ball too, but the regular season is just too much for me.
No doubt there is truth in what you're saying. The college game is great, and one of the reasons I have preferred the NBA is probably because Michigan is on their second consecutive bad decade and the Pistons have been very, very good in the last 6 years.
Allow me to defend my love of the NBA: hands down, the greatest athletes in the world. Every player is such an amazing talent. Look at Lamar Odom. He's 6-10, incredibly athletic, shoots from long range and can handle the ball. He's the third best player on his team. Did I mention he's 6-10?
Two names for you: Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. Name two other athletes half as much fun to watch.
Good defense- perhaps aiding my apathy is the fact that my team growing up in Wisconsin was... the CHICAGO Bulls. I remember trying to convince my friends to change a Milwaukee Bucks baseball hat to say "Milwaukee Sucks." A truer hat would never have been worn for the better part of 2 decades.
As for Athletes, after some serious debates on the topic with friends of mine on "what sport boasts the best athletes," I've come to the following conclusion: Hockey has the best athletes. Basketball is right up there, but think of the combination of speed, endurance, strength, eye-hand coordination, finesse, etc. that a Hockey player has- it seems to me to be an unparalleled level.
Not that I'm trying to start an argument here, but I think Hockey's right at the top.
Hockey players? I disagree, but there's really no way to decide this. Another example though: would you have ever considered Brent Barry to be a great athlete in comparison with other NBA players? No, he made it in the NBA because he can shoot. Brent Barry won the 1996 Dunk Contest by dunking from the free throw line. That ain't right.
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