Thursday, November 02, 2006
Draft #160
NBA Opening night observations
-The Bucks started their season off with a big win last night against their division foe, the Detroit Pistons. While the Bucks played well and deserved to win (outscoring your opponent 70-28 in the "points scored in the paint" category always helps), the Pistons just didn't seem the same to me. Part of what has made the Pistons a force in the East over the last few seasons is their cohesiveness as a unit. They played as if they were the best starting five in the league, it was a unity that was second to none. And last night they appeared to be mentally preoccupied with the fact that Big Ben is actually gone. Sure they played some preseason games without him, but I think it collectively sunk in last night that a huge link to their chain is missing. I'm not saying the Pistons are going to suck the rest of the season, but I think the Bucks were fortunate to catch the Pistons on a night where a little voice in their heads kept saying, "Something ain't right here."
But enough about the Pistons, here are some things I was pleased to see in regards to the Bucks. 1) The starting five played "starters" minutes. Everyone one in the first unit played close to 35 minutes with exception to Andrew Bogut (monitored minutes due to ankle injury I presume). 2) Jamaal Magloire wasn't one of those starting five. The offense just flows so much better without the Big Stiff clogging things up. 3) Mo Williams willingness to push the ball and play with a "pass first" mentality. 4) Ruben Patterson's toughness. It's exactly what the Bucks needed to give them a bit of a mean streak. I wasn't sure before, but now I'm convinced that Bobby Simmons is better suited coming off the bench. 5) Michael Redd shooting 8 free throws. When he attacks the basket it only makes him that much more dangerous. 6) The new uniforms. 7) Bogut and Villanueva controlling the boards. The Bucks were really aggressive on the offensive glass, hustling to get loose balls. 8) Ball movement on offense. It's a basic principle to having offensive success yet some teams forget to do it regularly, usually because of a few selfish players. That wasn't the case last night, and it appears the Bucks have layed out a pretty nice blueprint on how to win games this season, so lets hope they actually stick to the plan.
As for the rest of the leauge:
-Al Harrington is apparently a huge fan of Mr. T
-The Celtics went with a small lineup against the Hornets and all of a sudden Paul Pierce is looking a lot like Shawn Marion. 19 rebounds?
-Rudy Gay can play.
-Ronny Turiaf can too (between him and Morrison I'm beginning to think that Gonzaga houses their players somewhere deep in the woods, they're both crazy).
-I will probably never be able to pronounce the name, Sarunas Jasikevicius. Sounds like "cabbage" when people say his last name.
-It's nice to see Maceo Baston is back in the league. Now we just need to find the Tractor Traylor and Luis Bullock and all of Ann Arbor will be beaming with joy. Maurice Taylor's two technical fouls and ejection from last night's game against the Timberwolves is just another example of why....."we don't give a damn about the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan...." (Damn you Filzen for getting that song stuck in my head)
-And finally. I have a new reason to hate that new microfiber piece of crap the NBA passes off as a basketball. As some of you may be aware, I'm quite particular when it comes to the net for any given basketball hoop. If basketball hoops didn't have nets, I would have absolutely no interest in this sport, what so ever. The net is everything and it can't be too long in length and it can't be to short either. The net also can't be too stiff, it needs to "rip" or swish up and through the top of the cylinder when the ball passes through without touching the rim. Some nets are too crusty and they almost catch the ball for a moment as it passes through the rim, I hate that.
Well after watching games around the league last night I can honestly say that I've seen enough of this ball already. Either every team in the league replaced their nets simultaneously with shitty crusty ones, OR....this crappy new ball is causing too much friction as it passes through the hoop because of it's sticky/foamy texture, thus fucking up the net action. And I'm blaming it on the latter.
I'm sure this isn't even an issue for most people, but to me, this new ball is the equivalent to getting rid of wood bats in baseball and replacing them with a microfiber bat that allegedly performs the same as wood. In this hellish scenario Bud Selig would say things like, "The new microfiber bats last longer and break less frequently." "We'll save thousands of dollars with this new product." "All the bats in the majors are now the same, no more variations." But what's baseball without that crack of the bat? What if everytime a player hit a ball it made a foamy thud sound? It would be like someone is purposely pissing all over your favorite pair of shoes while you are wearing them just because they can.
This is outrageous!! The new ball sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me whenever it is dribbled or shot. Nothing sounds the same anymore, my whole world is collapsing around me. The leather ball had a particular sound when it bounced off of the floor or the rim and it was a nice, soft, almost soothing sound. But now, whenever a shot hits the rim it sounds like someone is banging a wrench up against a frying pan, it's nauseating to me, the whole basket rattles now for some reason. I always thought NBA baskets were so sturdy, and now they seem to perform like some piece of shit Fleet & Farm apparatus that your dad bought on sale for $34.99.
I should probably stop writing now, I'm getting ornery......(focking ball).
# posted by hucklebuck @ 6:53 AM 
Comments:
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Oh, we don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan.
We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O.
We're from O-HI-O, O!!!H!!!
We're from O-HI-O, I!!!OOOOOOOOOOOO
We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan.
We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O
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We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O.
We're from O-HI-O, O!!!H!!!
We're from O-HI-O, I!!!OOOOOOOOOOOO
We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan, the whole state of Michigan.
We don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, cause we're from O-HI-O
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