The Historic First Post (Rants on the NBA and the Bulls-Celts)

Well, this is my first foray into writing a sports blog (or voicing my opinions on anything sports-related past actually arguing with my buddies), so bear with me as I shake the rust off my…um…keyboard. I originally had planned to go over some basic impression from the 2009 NFL Draft, but it seems year after year I sit down and try and watch the draft in its excruciating entirety, and as much as I love the NFL, I just can’t do it. So I’m going to shift my focus to something that’s been much more successful at captivating my interest: the NBA playoffs.
There are so many fascinating storylines in play this year. From LeBron’s emerging dominance on most likely his first MVP, to the Lakers seemingly inexorable march to a second straight Finals berth (and as the odds-on favorite to take home the championship), to Dwyane Wade basically singlehandedly winning a playoff series…and oh my god, did the Celtics and Bulls just have ANOTHER spectacular finish? This series has the potential to immediately go down as one of the all-time greats.

That being said, a few comments on the C’s-Bulls series:

1. The talent level of the two teams have now revealed themselves, and although I’m not entirely ruling it out, I don’t think the Bulls can win this series. They have absolutely choked in the clutch as far as defense and decision making goes. The Bulls should have lost Game 1. They choked at the end, fouling Paul Pierce with 2 seconds left in the game, with no timeouts, up by one point. Pierce’s game winning free throw hit all parts of the rim before bouncing out, truly a fluke--sending the game to OT, where the Bulls showed a lot of resiliency and pulled through. Game 2 the Bulls had a great chance to win, but allowed Ray Allen (one of the greatest 3-pt shooters of all time) to hit a three to beat them. Game 3 was simply a blowout, where the Celtics showed up and the Bulls flat out…didn’t. Finally, Game 4 was a double OT thriller, but I feel not enough has been made of Tyrus Thomas potentially costing the Bulls a victory in regulation by not getting the ball to Derrick Rose after rebounding a Celtics miss with no one around him. With such a small amount of time on the clock, Thomas selfishly held on to the ball instead of getting it to the Bulls best free throw shooter--Derrick Rose. At a spot where the Bulls essentially only needed to make both free throws to lock up the game (given they were up by two), Thomas forced the Celtics to foul him. He promptly missed 1 of 2. And what do you think the Celtics game plan was at that point? Down three, with about ten seconds to go? Do you think maybe they would try to set a screen for Ray Allen to shoot a three, like they did in game 2? How do you possibly not defend that play??

So, of course, the Celtics go to Allen, who somehow gets an open shot for three. Not to take anything away from Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who set a beautiful screen that blocked out two Bulls defenders, but I just don’t understand how you could allow a deadly 3-pt shooter like Ray Allen to send the game into overtime like that when everyone in the building knows that’s the gameplan. Then the Bulls proceeded to miss big free throws down the stretch, only being saved by a huge clutch shot from Ben Gordon to send the game into a second overtime. Basically, I just have no faith in the Bulls ability to sustain their late game heroics, especially given Rondo’s emergence as a monstrous triple-double threat, and Ben Gordon (the only other real scorer the Bulls have outside of Derrick Rose) still having to deal with an injured hamstring.

2. How do you, as an NBA COACH, mismanage the game so poorly that you have no timeouts left at the end of not one, but two consecutive games??? Why is Vinny Del Negro coaching this team?? I shudder to think of how good the Bulls could be with a great coach like Gregg Popovich at the helm.

3. Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo will have a great competitive rivalry for many years to come. What we’re seeing in this year’s first round matchup is only the beginning.

I haven’t even began to touch on the rest of the playoff matchups… I figure I’ve rambled enough for one post. Next post, I’ll go over the Blazers-Rockets matchup and how incredibly disappointed I am that we’re going to have to wait until next year to really see the Blazers' potential.

Edit: gonna have to wait on that one. Got a little carried away with the Bulls-Celts. It happens.