EPISODE #57: You Couldn’t Be More Wrong if Your Ass Was on Your Head
Kevin Pelton and Bethlehem Shoals join Dan to talk about what they were wrong about before the playoffs. Mostly about the Magic and the Cavs. Then, they talk about how these playoffs might be viewed in the future, and how expectations can alter a narrative.
Finally, they talk about Kevin’s theory that the age limit is what caused Derrick Rose to fake his SATs. Dan floats some unusual suggestions on how to fix the problems caused by the age limit.
Songs:
“All Wrong” - Morphine
“Magic Pig Detective” - Melvins
“Shoot Your Shot” - James Brown
“Hot Freaks” - Guided by Voices
“Old School Rules” - Dangerdoom featuring Talib Kewli
May 29th, 2009 at 9:02 am
On a completely seperate note, I made this point (or a similar one) to Mr. Filowitz a few months back - That the NBA had become a pick-and-roll league with little else. Your thoughts with a similar revelation coming from one of your own, Page 2’s Bill Simmons?
Today’s games should be easier to call because they’re more predictable. Teams run the same play five or six straight times down the stretch. For Cleveland, it’s the high screen with Ilguaskas and James. For Boston, it’s the high post play with Pierce. For the Lakers, it’s the “Let’s run the triangle for 42 minutes, then we’ll just clear out for Kobe for the last six” offense. For Denver, it’s either a high screen for Chauncey or a clear-out for Carmelo. Only the Magic (God bless them) seem interested in playing a style that doesn’t revolve around the same guy hoisting 3s or barrelling toward the basket again and again.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:25 am
The NBA plays a lot of pick and roll. But it’s not the same exact pick and roll. It’s multiple variations of the pick and roll.
It doesn’t make it any less watchable for me. You?
May 29th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
It makes it predictable and leads me to wonder how teams seem to play like they don’t know what’s coming. And it’s also a likely result of players coming from various places, whether that’s straight from high school, only one year of college or Europe.
It seems unless you have a core of a team together for a couple of years, the coaches can’t teach these players an offense that doesn’t eventually become pick and roll. Was it like this in the 80s? Early to mid 90s with Riley’s Knicks and Rudy’s Rockets?
Maybe that’s in part because NBA coaches are at the whim of the players paid millions by the owners. In college, the coach is king and therefore can institute different offenses sets.
I’ll always watch the playoffs because I’m a sports fan, but it’s gonna take something really special for me to pay attention to the regular season.