There Is No Place Like Home

Well here we are deep into the second round of the NBA playoffs and for the remaining teams there really is no place like home. The Utah Jazz, the LA Lakers, the San Antonio Spurs, the New Orleans Hornets, the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers are all perfect at home in the second round. As a matter fact the only team that advance this far that couldn’t take care of home court is the Orlando Magic, but that is not due to lack of effort. They came one point shy of winning game 4 at the Amway Arena.

What is it about playing in front of a friendly crowd that brings out the best in these elite athletes? When you think about it, it really shouldn’t make a difference where they play. They are professional and should always bring there “A” game regardless of the environment, but that is not the case. Let’s take my Utah Jazz for example; they are near perfect at home during the regular season, only dropping 4 games at the Energy Solutions Arena. Their road record on the other hand leaves much to be desire.

We all know that the fans do not decide the outcome of the game. Basketball is the players’ game to loose, but if that was the case why do teams like the Celtics and the Lakers loose to team that are far less superior to them, at least on paper, when they are playing away from the comfort of home. The Boston Celtics lead by their big three of Kevin Garnet, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, allowed the lowly seated Hawks to take 3 games in their first round match up. The Atlanta Hawks of all team people! This is a team that finished the regular season under .500, by Western Conference standards they weren’t even close to making the Playoffs, let alone threaten the top seated team in the Conference. The Lakers were supposed to run through the Jazz on their way to the Western Conference Finals and for the first 2 games it looked like they were on their way, what was different in game 3 and 4 outside the fact that they were playing in Utah. It’s the same players, the same coaches; the rims are the same size, so why would a hostile atmosphere affect these players? It boggles my mind when I think about it.

If this trend keeps up during this playoff run, we are in for a long and exciting couple of months; unfortunately I don’t see that happening. Something got to give eventually, like they say the cream always rises, one of the powerhouse team will break this streak and take a road game or I could be wrong the Celtics win every home game at the end and call themselves world champions. After all its’ not call home court advantage for nothing.

State of the NBA

I can look back with painful memories when Michael Jordan hit a last second jumper over Byron Russell of my beloved Utah Jazz. My junior year of high school, 1998, I was working the late shift at Hannaford supermarket. I left my register every chance I got to try and get a peak at the score. The deli department had a small TV in the back and it was just me and the front end manager. Towards the end of the game I completely forgot I was at work, it was just two guy cheering on the greatest point guard and power forward duo to every play the game. Well we all know what happened next in that game 6 at the Delta Center. Jordan and the Bulls won their 6 world championships and the Jazz were due for a makeover.

Now it’s 2008 and most the people I talk to say the NBA has not been the same since Michael Jordan retired for the 2nd time. Well to those people I say wake up. There has been no lack of star power since the greatest player of all time called quits for what should have been his last time, but we all know it wasn’t. He came back and tarnished his legacy just a bit. My point is since he retired we have had some really, really good basketball action. What more can basketball fans ask for? We had 2 dynasties in a span of a decade though I can’t stomach either team. I feel the Spurs are too boring to watch and the Lakers just seem too cocky, but they had every right to be. We had the underdog champions, when the Pistons upset the Lakers and the Heats upset the Mavericks. We’ve seen teams like the Kings, the Mavericks, the Suns, and the Nets build itself to become championship contender to only fall short. There has been no lack of drama since number 23 left the game.

Let’s face it Michael Jordan as good as he was, he was not the only reason the NBA was so exciting back in the late 80s into the late 90s. There were other stars, like his trusted sidekick and all around player Scottie Pippen. We had dominating centers with David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Hakeem Olajuwon. There were point guards like John Stockton, Magic Johnson, and Isiah Thomas. There were great players in every position, but the players we have in this era are just as good as or even better than those back then. We got Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming and they can give the centers of Jordan ear a run for their money. We saw the rise of floors generals like Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, and Chauncey Billups and that’s not even counting the young guns like Deron Williams and Chris Paul. There will never be another player like Jordan, but there are plenty of two guards that comes extremely close, heck Kobe Bryant will probably go down as the best shooting guard not named MJ.

Come on people; turn the TV on its playoff time. Enjoy some great B-Ball action; we might just see the beginning of a new dynasty or the continuation of one of the 2 Western powerhouses from the last decade. Heck even my Utah Jazz is getting back to respectability and who knows maybe we are just 2 or 3 season away from a championship that was denied us by Air Jordan.