At the age of 18 the furthest West I had ever been was New York City. Since then I've made a few trips to the left coast, but it should be noted that I am, without question, East Coast-centric. As a rabid NBA fan, it's been very difficult for me to adjust to the sudden, inexplicable trainwreck that occurs once the East and West meet in the NBA Finals.
Prior to game 1 of the NBA Finals, many of my friends and I joked about just how poorly Detroit would fare when they clashed with the seemingly bulletproof Lakers. Shutout in 4? Who was the last team to get swept in the finals? A close friend actually considered betting $10,000 on the Lakers win-in-five- it was a SURE THING "like Smarty Jones," he assured me the day of the Belmont Stakes. Even after Detroit's Game 1 victory we were reminded that Larry Brown had taken a game 1 victory a few years back, only to lose the next 4 straight.
Tonight is game 5, and I'm beside myself. Detroit is up 3-1?! They were seconds away from taking BOTH games in LA?! They beat the lakers by 20 in game 3?! Rasheed has had a few great games, minus any major flip-outs. Rip, Billups and Ben Wallace have consistently played well, also. As happy as I am to see Detroit step up and play great basketball, I am much happier about something else: WE ARE WATCHING GREAT BASKETBALL IN JUNE. When was the last time that the NBA Finals were this much fun to watch?
Does this mark the end of the West Coast streak? As long as the basketball is this good, who cares?!
great basketball in june...that's what I was excited about. I watched all 5 of the finals games, yet almost none of the other series. This isn't the end of the West's dominance, but at least we know the East can compete.
Posted by: Hashim | 2004.06.16 at 05:04 PM