Truthfully, I never thought that I'd be this disappointed about a Western Conference playoff game. I wanted to watch this Hornets team play for as long as possible. I'm not sure why I have adopted them as my second team this post-season. I had to pick a West team to root for, and somehow they took over that role right from the start. Maybe it's because I wanted to root against the Mavs (I really think I'm going to hate them forever for that trade) and Spurs so badly. But, I think it has a lot more to do with the exciting style of basketball that New Orleans plays. Their style is so unpredictable and fun to watch, and yet you can see that Chris Paul is totally in control of the offense throughout the entire game. Unfortunately, their shooting was cold last night, and you need to have everything working if you want to beat the defending champs in an elimination game. I want to highlight the great effort from Jannero Pargo, who scored 16 in the fourth quarter to bring the Hornets within striking distance. In the end, it was not enough. But, I really enjoyed watching this New Orleans run. I am excited to see what pieces they add this offseason and I can't wait to watch them next year. Once I have a little more disposable income, I might even nab one of these yellow jerseys, because I think they are awesome.
I'll be blunt, the Spurs advancing is bad for the NBA. The Hornets wow-factor, combined with the fact that they are new on the playoff scene and they are from New Orleans, would have made for a much more exciting Western Conference finals matchup. The Spurs are like the Patriots. Yes, you respect how incredibly consistent they have been for so long. But, unless they're you're favorite team, you always want to see them lose. It's like this with any of the great dynasties.
Luckily, I don't think we will have to watch San Antonio in the finals again this year. I really like the way the Lakers match up with the Spurs. Pau Gasol will pay his biggest dividends in this series, as he has historically played Tim Duncan very well. Furthermore, as Sir Charles Barkley pointed out last night on TNT, Gasol and Lamar Odom will ensure that Tony Parker will not be able to attack the basket in this series like he did against New Orleans. There's nobody on that San Antonio team, not even Bruce Bowen, that can stop Kobe Bryant, and I believe that Bryant can stifle Manu on the defensive end. I think that these will be high scoring games, and that favors Los Angeles.
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On this day last year, I wore a horseshow around my neck to work. Later on that evening, I stood in a tub with a jug of wine, and Bedell and I spent an hour performing witchcraft rituals that we had found to bring good luck. We chanted while facing all directions, we poured and drank the sacrament of Franzia, we crushed garlic cloves, and we rubbed the wine on pictures of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. There were pictures of Greg Oden and Kevin Durant on either side of the living room. Then we sat and watched in horror as the Celtics wound up with the fifth pick in the draft.
I immediately phoned for a large pizza (Greek style, extra cheese), drove to pick it up, and ate the entire thing in the car on the ten minute drive home. At that time, I never even considered the possibility that the Celtics wouldn't be figuring prominently in today's lottery. And, I certainly never could have imagined in my wildest dreams that the lottery would be taking place before game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, which would be taking place in Boston. So, I recommend taking the time to watch the lottery tonight (7:30). Word is that Jay-Z will be representing the Nets, so that should be exciting, and it will give us a preliminary idea of how the draft will play out. Plus, you'll have the chance to make comments like "Jesus, nothing ever works out for us! We can't catch a break!" and then start laughing. It's ok, you've earned it.
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As far as the actual game tonight, I am very interested to see how each team responds to the circumstances of their past week. Many of the analysts that I have heard today (national analysts) are predicting that the Pistons will take the game tonight, because they are rested and the Celtics will have an emotional hangover from the game on Sunday. Certainly, I can see the reasoning for this prediction, particularly after the sloppy game 1 that the Cs played against the Cavs following an emotional game 7 evisceration of the Hawks. However, I don't believe that rest is always good for a team that's on a hot streak. The Pistons were playing great against Orlando, particularly in the final two games. In particular, they were getting more out of their bench guys than they had gotten all year. From a momentum standpoint, I think the best thing would have been for them to keep playing. There is no doubt that the rest was valuable for Chauncey Billups. But, as far as momentum is concerned, I think the Pistons' rest could work against them tonight. It will be interesting to see.
I am making my final public plea before this series begins to see Tony Allen. These games are going to be close, and we're going to need someone other than Rondo defending whoever is playing the point for Detroit. Billups, Stuckey, and Hunter all provide tough matchups for Rondo. Tony Allen has been a defensive stopper for this Celtics team all season long, and Doc is going to need to get him involved. He can't sit him on the bench for three and a half quarters, and then throw him out there for the last six minutes. He needs to use him in the regular rotation for the entire series. It will also be interesting to see how Doc handles the point guard rotation. Eddie House was implemented far too late in the last series, and gave the Cs a great lift in games 6 and 7. I hate to think of Cassell being played over House on the offensive end in this series. However, as Casten wrote in his comment yesterday, Cassell might be the Celtics' best option defensively. He is a bigger point guard, and Chauncey won't be able to bully him down on the block like he does to Rondo. Sam plays that same game, and he will be more effective at defending it. Remember, all of these Pistons' point guards are slower than Daniel Gibson, who made Cassell look foolish in the last series.
As I said, there are emotional wildcards for both teams as we head into this game. How will the Pistons play after taking a week off? How will the Celtics respond after being taken the distance by LeBron and the Cavs? Regardless of how tonight turns out, I expect this series to be fucking awesome. Just like all of the regular season meetings between these teams, all three of which had a playoff vibe to them, I expect the series to be an all-out slugfest. All the games will be close, and tensions are going to run at an all-time high. I can't wait. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't figure out Craig Sager. Is he the man? Does he wear absurd looking suits because he's such a bad-ass? Is he a loser? Do the players like him? When they make fun of him, do they do it because they really don't like him or do they do it because they like him and they think he's funny? I have no idea.
Here's the best one. KG making fun of Sager after waxing the Knicks:
Baron Davis can't help laughing at Sager's outfit at halftime:
Nash wipes Amare's face with Sager's hankerchief:
Finally, hilarious Nash and Amare commercial:
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I have to work all day tommorow, but Foil in the Oven will return on Wednesday to recap the action from Game 1 and thoughts for Game 2.
It never gets old.
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