duncan228
05-27-2009, 09:02 PM
Knapp: Magic's Howard has legitimate point (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/27/SPLM17S27H.DTL)
Gwen Knapp
San Francisco Chronicle
Dwight Howard is right. Everyone foresaw Kobe and LeBron in the NBA Finals and expected Howard and Carmelo Anthony to wait their turn. We apologize profusely.
Let's also apologize in advance for the Finals, because if it comes down to Orlando and Denver, the whines will be deafening. Is that unfair? Yes. Is it silly? Of course.
The Magic's 3-1 lead over the Cavs is no a fluke. Orlando plays better and smarter than the Cavaliers. Howard borders on a revelation, gaining more and more of the type of star quality that makes people hanker for that showdown between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Howard's blocked shot on James near the end of Game 4 was the work of a champion-in-waiting, a stunning show of force and composure at a critical moment.
But if Howard goes to the Finals instead of James, the aura won't be the same. Neither will the ratings.
Still, here's something we wouldn't have imagined a month ago: A Magic-Nuggets championship series might not be a disaster for TV. The conference finals have been riveting, much like the seven-game conference semifinals for the Magic and Lakers, and the overtime-fest between the Celtics and Bulls in the first round.
The ratings have surged for the entire postseason. The numbers are too impressive for anyone to dismiss them as a James-Bryant ripple effect. (If we all really believed they were destined for the Finals, why did anyone watch the warm-up acts?)
The basketball has been compelling, all the more so because of the potential upsets in these conference finals. The NBA has taken its first big steps toward a comeback. But without the Dream Finals, it won't take a giant leap.
This remains a league of personalities, not textbook basketball. Howard has played the "no respect" card without shame, complaining on his blog about the Nike and VitaminWater commercials that treat James and Bryant as the pillars of the game and presume that the Magic have no chance.
The problem with that argument is that the Spurs generated tons of respect, not to mention four world titles in nine seasons. Their respectability nearly smothered the league in its sleep. Their 2003 and 2007 sweeps generated the two lowest ratings in history for the NBA Finals. People found Tim Duncan's sublime footwork as thrilling as an instructional video. Even when the Spurs added a little glamour, as point guard Tony Parker started squiring Eva Longoria, they still got respect and no buzz, except for the sound of snoring.
It's a pity, but an unassailable reality. So Howard should aim a lot higher than respect. In fact, he should be grateful that the Magic were presumed inferior to the Cavaliers. He got the chance to grab onto the most unstoppable cliche in sports, proving people wrong, and ride it hard.
Howard needed a proper rival, too. He could be playing just as well against any other team, and only NBA geeks would notice. That block Tuesday night was memorable because it came against James, which turned it into a statement more than a play. "You're going nowhere."
Right now, Howard is the foil, not the leading man. With enough scenery stealing, that could change. To reach the next level, perhaps even the same rung as James and Bryant, he might want to quash his whining and play up his sense of humor. He joked after the Game 1 win about the Magic holding James under 50.
The only purpose of his complaints might be to keep the refs honest, but there are better ways to accomplish that than complaining about commercials. Simple needling will do. The very idea of bad calls setting up the Dream Finals should frighten the NBA far more than the prospect of a championship round without the Chosen Ones.
The Nuggets already have cultivated the personality that Howard needs to build. The Thuggets nickname is obnoxious, but it gives Denver that magical "chance to prove people wrong." Stabilized by Chauncey Billups, part point guard, part Father Flanagan, they are fast becoming lovable antiheroes. Billups' return to Colorado, where he grew up and went to college, adds a sentimental touch.
It wouldn't quite match a Finals of Bryant trying his first ring without Shaquille O'Neal against James, the Ohio kid trying to bring an end to 45 years of pain in Cleveland. But we'll keep the whining to a minimum.
Gwen Knapp
San Francisco Chronicle
Dwight Howard is right. Everyone foresaw Kobe and LeBron in the NBA Finals and expected Howard and Carmelo Anthony to wait their turn. We apologize profusely.
Let's also apologize in advance for the Finals, because if it comes down to Orlando and Denver, the whines will be deafening. Is that unfair? Yes. Is it silly? Of course.
The Magic's 3-1 lead over the Cavs is no a fluke. Orlando plays better and smarter than the Cavaliers. Howard borders on a revelation, gaining more and more of the type of star quality that makes people hanker for that showdown between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Howard's blocked shot on James near the end of Game 4 was the work of a champion-in-waiting, a stunning show of force and composure at a critical moment.
But if Howard goes to the Finals instead of James, the aura won't be the same. Neither will the ratings.
Still, here's something we wouldn't have imagined a month ago: A Magic-Nuggets championship series might not be a disaster for TV. The conference finals have been riveting, much like the seven-game conference semifinals for the Magic and Lakers, and the overtime-fest between the Celtics and Bulls in the first round.
The ratings have surged for the entire postseason. The numbers are too impressive for anyone to dismiss them as a James-Bryant ripple effect. (If we all really believed they were destined for the Finals, why did anyone watch the warm-up acts?)
The basketball has been compelling, all the more so because of the potential upsets in these conference finals. The NBA has taken its first big steps toward a comeback. But without the Dream Finals, it won't take a giant leap.
This remains a league of personalities, not textbook basketball. Howard has played the "no respect" card without shame, complaining on his blog about the Nike and VitaminWater commercials that treat James and Bryant as the pillars of the game and presume that the Magic have no chance.
The problem with that argument is that the Spurs generated tons of respect, not to mention four world titles in nine seasons. Their respectability nearly smothered the league in its sleep. Their 2003 and 2007 sweeps generated the two lowest ratings in history for the NBA Finals. People found Tim Duncan's sublime footwork as thrilling as an instructional video. Even when the Spurs added a little glamour, as point guard Tony Parker started squiring Eva Longoria, they still got respect and no buzz, except for the sound of snoring.
It's a pity, but an unassailable reality. So Howard should aim a lot higher than respect. In fact, he should be grateful that the Magic were presumed inferior to the Cavaliers. He got the chance to grab onto the most unstoppable cliche in sports, proving people wrong, and ride it hard.
Howard needed a proper rival, too. He could be playing just as well against any other team, and only NBA geeks would notice. That block Tuesday night was memorable because it came against James, which turned it into a statement more than a play. "You're going nowhere."
Right now, Howard is the foil, not the leading man. With enough scenery stealing, that could change. To reach the next level, perhaps even the same rung as James and Bryant, he might want to quash his whining and play up his sense of humor. He joked after the Game 1 win about the Magic holding James under 50.
The only purpose of his complaints might be to keep the refs honest, but there are better ways to accomplish that than complaining about commercials. Simple needling will do. The very idea of bad calls setting up the Dream Finals should frighten the NBA far more than the prospect of a championship round without the Chosen Ones.
The Nuggets already have cultivated the personality that Howard needs to build. The Thuggets nickname is obnoxious, but it gives Denver that magical "chance to prove people wrong." Stabilized by Chauncey Billups, part point guard, part Father Flanagan, they are fast becoming lovable antiheroes. Billups' return to Colorado, where he grew up and went to college, adds a sentimental touch.
It wouldn't quite match a Finals of Bryant trying his first ring without Shaquille O'Neal against James, the Ohio kid trying to bring an end to 45 years of pain in Cleveland. But we'll keep the whining to a minimum.