Will this NBA Finals be too fundamental?
By DREW SHARP
Detroit Free Press
DETROIT - Fathers, warmed by grainy recollections of basketball as a five-man symphony, gather their sons in front of the high-definition television Thursday night - provided, of course, they can pry the PlayStation Portable from their carpal-tunnel clawed hands.
"Put away your NBA Extreme video game, my son, and come watch basketball the way it was meant to be played," the father says.
"What's that?" the son asks.
"It's called a pass. See how they keep moving the ball, stretching the defense? I remember back in the day when the Boston Celtics wou_`'
"What's that?" the son asks.
"That's Tim Duncan using the backboard as an offensive partner. That makes him dangerous from pretty much any angle on the floor. I remember my dad telling me when George Mikan wou_"
"Isn't the backboard there just to bounce the ball off it during the slam dunk contest?" the son asks.
"No, it has another use, son."
"And what's that?" the son asks.
"That's Rip Hamilton coming off the screen, running into the lane and pulling up for a mid-range jumper. Sweet, isn't it? Ah, I remember when Jerry West wou_"
"Why doesn't he just take it strong to the hole, split the defenders and_BOOYAH!!! -- slam it home?" the son asks. "That's how you roll."
"You're not understanding. This is the purest form of basketball. See that? See how they boxed out underneath the boards, denying the offensive rebound? See how they reversed the ball offensively, moving it faster than the defense can rotate, creating an open look?
"You're getting a real education on basketball tonight, son. ... The professional approach and the lack of showboating. ... The attention to minute detail. ... The snail's pace. ... The missed shots. ... The numerous 24-second shot clock violations. ... It's enough ... to make ... you ... ZZZZZZZZZZ."
It's time for the Old School to take its teeth out of the glass and step forward - or shut up. Old Schoolers have the NBA Finals they've long desired - the league's two most fundamentally sound teams as well as its last two champions, something that hasn't happened since 1987, the last time the Celtics and Lakers swapped league les.
The Pistons and San Antonio Spurs share the ball as well as the acclaim, the an hesis of the rampant egomania that the basketball moralists maintain have killed the sport over the last 20 years.
But can these two put the funk in fundamental?
If not, it could be a hard-played, smartly executed, grind-it-up, methodically slow torture_even to those who profess their loyalties to the virtues of substance.
"They have won two championships with Gregg (Popovich) and not very many talk about it," said Pistons coach Larry Brown, who added Popovich to his bench in San Antonio as an assistant more than 10 years ago. "And we're the defending champs and not very many people talk about that. As far as ups and downs, that's the way it is in basketball, pro basketball. It's a marathon. You know, we've overcome every obstacle with all the supposed distractions. We managed to show up, and I think we helped the game the way we play."
But can that translate to serious interest to places not Detroit or San Antonio?
Even a basketball junkie might envision going cold turkey should scoring become as scarce as a hockey puck this playoff spring.
The NBA becomes a convenient target because of its hip-hop influence. Patience has turned paper thin and if anybody dares challenge your manhood, you must respond forcefully. That at ude was an underlying motive behind the black eye of this season - the Palace brawl of Nov. 19.
And has much as many fans crave professionalism, they still demand personality.
And that's the one component this series lacks.
Where's the villain?
The coaches are best friends. How can anybody dislike Duncan? Spurs point guard Tony Parker, though, probably merits a fair amount of envy from the male species because of his relationship with that delicious Desperate Housewife, Eva Longoria.
Old Schoolers consider this Pistons-Spurs series as a celebration of team over temerity, but they could find themselves as easily disinterested as the fringe audience if the fundamentals overshadow the fun the next two weeks.
The NBA Finals weren't intended to become a classroom. It's still about entertainment, isn't it?
Isn't this fun? At any minute, Eva may start dating someone else and leave Tony wondering why, moping, and playing poorly! This is what the TV glam and glitter shows are all about! Then, they can re-play it all in Stars, or the London Globe!
Gee whiz! It's much more than basketball, it's sex and sizzle; love and despair; hopes and sorrows; well, you know... the stuff that life is made of!
theres a reason these two teams are in the finals so if it is too fundamental for some fans than maybe we should start an XNBA or start following slamball
i cant wait!
The Eva angle is beyond hackneyed, demonstrates the creative poverty and me-too-ness of these wannabe "journalists". May they all be suckered into holding interest-only, variable-rate mortgages when interest rates hit 12%.
Did anyone notice how low-scoring the Heat vs. Pistons series was??? Did peopel not watch becasue of that? Did they have low ratings?? NO!
1st off, eventho it is *possible* I doubt we'll have 55-48 kinda score games.
2nd I think it will be very entertaining becasue it's fundamental basketball.
I LOVE this kind of play, whatver team is playing, and I'm not so old School either........ I'm 5 months and 2 days older than Tony Parker.
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