It’s Sunday afternoon and the world is poised for one of the better days in recent NBA Playoffs memory.
Rockets/Lakers.
Celtics/Magicians.
All the garbage that’s been written so far is now meaningless. All the banter is worthless. Are the Lakers too soft? Are they too arrogant? Are they too lazy? Are the Rockets better without Tracy? Are they even good without Yao? Are Shane and Ron the worst match up for Kobe?
Your opinions on these questions no longer matter. In about an hour, fiction becomes fact.
Unfortunately, it’s really hard to see a rag-tag squad of over-achieving Rockets led by Ron Artest waltzing into Staples Center and beating a team with so much basketball talent. Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Trevor and (I guess) Bynum should really have no problems beating Ron, Von, Aaron, Shane and Scola. Generally, the NBA is the most just of all the sports leagues in that the best team almost always wins in a seven-game series. Injuries and momentum-fueled runs (e.g., the Warriors over the Mavs) do alter this on occassion, but the “better team” wins way more in the NBA than the NFL or MLB. Throw in the fact that the Lakers have the best two players in the series in Mamba and the Spaniard, and you have to expect LA to pull this one out at home — especially after Kobe refocused himself yesterday by spending his whole Saturday evening watching four straight airings of Kobe Doin’ Work.
Celtics/Magic is much more interesting (yet, paradoxically, the game that interests me less) in the sense that we really have no idea which team is better. With Paul, Ray and Rajon, the Cs have the pedigree of Playoff success while Orlando has exactly zero proven, ready-for-primetime players. Then again, Truth looks run down until the final five minutes of every game and the Boston frontcourt is shakier than Vin Baker in the morning. Will Dwight go 20/20 again? Will Rashard be aggressive? Will the Turkism Michael Jordan stick his patented dagger threes? Will Rafer slap or kiss anyone’s head?
In reality, none of us know what’s about to happen. And this is exactly what we’ve been hoping for while watching the NBA all year.
A Game 7 is the best thing in sports.
And, today, we get two.
Enjoy.
Known Associates:
Aaron Brooks,
Ariza,
Battier,
Bynum,
Celtics,
Jesus Shuttlesworth,
Lakers,
Lamar Odom,
Luis Scola,
Magic,
Mam,
Mamba,
Pau,
Rajon,
Rockets,
The Truth,
Tru Warier,
Von Wafer
As a St. John’s graduate, this is one of the most conflicted days of my life. One the one hand, my co-Johnnie Ron Artest is for god knows what reason repping our Big East rival Georgetown in his latest single. But on the other hand, Tru Warier is singing with Auto-Tune — and hearing that come to fruition is a life-altering moment in time.
Final verdict: I’m gonna let it slide this time but if I ever hear anything about the UConn Huskies, you’re dead to me.
Here’s the track “Georgetown Girl” — complete with Rick Adelman and Jonathan Bender references — for your listening pleasure. Hopefully he recorded it in his car.
In other Ron Ron news, he also went on Houston radio station 1560: The Game after Tuesday night’s loss to the Jazz to speak on the game and what he thinks about the current state of the Rockets. (via @TasMelas)
For the loss, he put much of the blame on himself for missing “a bunch of easy layups” and mentioned that it wasn’t the probably wasn’t the best night to judge the team since everyone was missing shots. Even John Barry missed three wide-open treys, he noted.
“That never happens…At any point in time if we knock down some shots, we bust that game wide open. So coming out of that game, everyone feels confident.”
He also speaks on Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks’ ability to push the ball and how that factor has at times helped the total team philosophy but, at other teams, led to a breakdown in offensive discipline.
“We just try to take what’s given. On this team, the good thing about the Rockets is that we don’t care who shoots the ball. If you got an advantage, go take it. But the young fellas gotta learn when to back it up, when to slow it up. We gotta get used to that. Yesterday, Utah played Playoff basketball and we played — I think we defended the ball like a Playoff team — but I think on the offensive end, we played mid-season basketball…We didn’t pick and choose our spots well and I think that will change in the future.”
And while some of that responsibility falls to Houston’s young guards, he ultimately thinks the team’s Playoff chances hinge on the veterans, namely him and Yao.
“We gotta put it together. Shane played well yesterday. But me and Yao have to become consistent every game…We have to be a consistent duo.”
Regardless of what Ron says, most people aren’t giving the Rockets much chance in the West. Popular opinion — and mine — is that it would be suprising to see anyone but LA, Utah or San Antonio making the Finals.
But even if the Rockets can’t make it past the first or second round, at least Dikembe has a new song about sexing Georgetown coeds to rock on plane trips. And that’s really the most important thing.
Known Associates:
Aaron Brooks,
Dikembe,
Jazz,
Jonathan Bender,
Kyle Lowry,
Rick Adelman,
Rockets,
Tru Warier,
Yao
