I have no idea what it is about this week, but both Ann and I are swamped, which has disrupted my normal schedule (also the time decompression time in the evenings has been devoted to watch NBA playoffs). In any case, I’ll try to get a few posts out soon, including part two of Riveria Maya. We’re heading up to Philly this weekend to visit my cousin and see Sam – one among a large list of “things we should have done the past four years while we were here in DC but never did so now we have to cram everything into the last month.” Oh the irony.
I don’t follow any NBA teams… I guess I used to follow the Warriors when I was growing up when it was Mullin, Hardaway, and company. I’m much more of a college basketball fan. The NBA regular season is too long and each individual game doesn’t mean a whole lot. However the NBA playoffs, are usually very entertaining. In place of rooting for teams, I usually root for former Duke player’s teams. The Utah Jazz (with Carlos Boozer) have been incredibly fun to watch and pull for (even though it unfortunately means its against the Warriors at the moment, since they traded Dunleavy). The Warriors-Mavericks series was great, though I was gone without TV for many of the games. Chicago (with Loul Deng and Chris Duhon) are unfortunately going to get killed by the Pistons, and Huston (with Shane Battier) was beaten by Utah.
Utah’s starting five (Boozer, AK47, Okur, Williams & Fisher) are incredibly talented and entertaining to watch – and its really nice to see Carlos doing so well. The Warriors are “exciting.” I use that parenthetically because they are also “incredibly and frustratingly” undisciplined – which is what makes them so entertaining to begin with. Games 1 and 2 have been incredible – but it sucks that they start at 9:30pm and 10:30pm out here. The Warriors just have no inside presence (see Utah crushing them on the boards) and rely too heavily on the three point shot to be consistent. They will get a huge lift when the series heads to the Colosseum with the frenetic crowd, but Jerry Sloan’s teams are so disciplined than that of any other team remaining in the playoffs, they would probably be the least affected. I think the Jazz will steel one in Oakland, and it will return to Salt Lake 3-1.
Ultimately, I think San Antonio will prevail against Phoenix, but it will probably take the full 6 or 7 games. Pistons win easily in 5 and the Cavaliers in 5 over the Nets, with the Pistons ultimately coming out of the East.