DeAnna
Just A Face in The Crowd
[size=+2]Dallas-Phoenix series deserves a place in the sun[/size]
[size=-1]02:12 AM CDT on Thursday, May 12, 2005[/size]
[size=-1][/size]
PHOENIX – One team put up the most wins in the league. Produced the MVP. Was coordinated by the coach of the year. And scored more points per game on average than any club in a decade.
Its opponent won almost as many games. Is led by a player who finished third in the MVP voting. And has been a perennial playoff team because of its propensity to put up points.
In fact, when NBA commissioner David Stern rolled into America West Arena a couple of nights ago to take in those two teams, the Suns and Mavericks, he praised their style of play as good for the league. He even joked that the only reason he stopped by was to see if the two could even play a slow-paced game.
They couldn't, of course. They just picked up where they left off after three regular-season games, with each team scoring in triple digits again. They continued the trend in Game 2 on Wednesday night when the Mavericks rebounded with a rousing 108-106 win.
It was won, quite appropriately, on Dirk Nowitzki's turnaround jumper with 6.8 seconds left over the considerably shorter Quentin Richardson. After all, following Game 1, Dirk called out Erick Dampier, who responded valiantly in Game 2 with 15 points, 12 rebounds and immeasurable heart.
When you talk about a teammate, you better step up yourself. Those final two points were Dirk's 22nd and 23rd points of the night to go with 12 rebounds.
What a game all that drama made for Wednesday.
As TNT analyst Doug Collins said late in the game of his network's good luck: "We [TNT] got the best first-round series in Dallas-Houston. We got the best second-round series in Dallas-Phoenix."
That wasn't surprising. This series looked like the most competitive of them all anyway.
The Miami-Washington series will probably wind up a sweep for the Heat. The same can be said of the San Antonio-Seattle series, especially with the injuries Seattle has suffered.
The Detroit-Indiana matchup, which Indiana surprisingly evened Wednesday at a win apiece, is intriguing. But it is also grind-it-out, Eastern Conference basketball at its best – or is that worst?
Unfortunately, what it all means is that the Suns-Mavericks series is not only the most-entertaining conference semifinal, but the most-entertaining series you may not be able to see – unless you have TiVo, a cupboard full of No-Doz or a 24-hour Starbucks in the neighborhood that offers espresso intravenously.
Game 1 tipped off at 9:54 p.m. Dallas time and ended about 10 minutes after midnight.
Game 2 Wednesday night started about 9:48 p.m. Dallas time and, because Game 1 went by unusually fast, ended even later than Game 1. The final horn sounded sometime after 12:30 a.m. Dallas time.
Game 3 on Friday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. Dallas time at the earliest.
And it was announced Wednesday that Game 4 in Dallas on Sunday night has been scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m., too, at the earliest.
Now in the playoffs' second round, the NBA doesn't allow one game to commence before the earlier one has concluded. Only if a game requires overtime will the league wave its broadcast rule.
Meanwhile, the Spurs' Game 4 with the Sonics on Sunday has been scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Dallas time. Forget that it's a series that, as mentioned earlier, is all but over. It will be played in Seattle, too.
What a ridiculous television schedule this is for the league and, especially, the Suns-Mavericks series. This is no way to showcase high-scoring basketball that is considered good for the league.
"I don't like it," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said earlier this week, "but it's out of my control."
It is understandable that Games 1 and 2 in Phoenix started as late as they did. Those were just normal NBA starts out here, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix fans deserved a chance to get off from work, too. After all, this is a workweek.
But I can't think of a reasonable explanation for keeping the weekend contest so late after so many fans may have been deprived, by the need to sleep, of seeing the ending of first few games in this series. On the East Coast, the first two games of this series are ending well after 1 in the morning.
The NBA is one heck of a fun league. It was the first to take being fan-friendly to new heights, what with all festivities it started years ago during its All-Star weekend that have been adopted by other leagues.
Not juggling this playoff schedule, however, in accordance with the competitiveness of the contests is not in the best interest of the game. This is the marquee match up in the semifinals and should be treated like it.
E-mail [email protected]
[size=-1]02:12 AM CDT on Thursday, May 12, 2005[/size]
[size=-1][/size]
PHOENIX – One team put up the most wins in the league. Produced the MVP. Was coordinated by the coach of the year. And scored more points per game on average than any club in a decade.
Its opponent won almost as many games. Is led by a player who finished third in the MVP voting. And has been a perennial playoff team because of its propensity to put up points.
In fact, when NBA commissioner David Stern rolled into America West Arena a couple of nights ago to take in those two teams, the Suns and Mavericks, he praised their style of play as good for the league. He even joked that the only reason he stopped by was to see if the two could even play a slow-paced game.
They couldn't, of course. They just picked up where they left off after three regular-season games, with each team scoring in triple digits again. They continued the trend in Game 2 on Wednesday night when the Mavericks rebounded with a rousing 108-106 win.
It was won, quite appropriately, on Dirk Nowitzki's turnaround jumper with 6.8 seconds left over the considerably shorter Quentin Richardson. After all, following Game 1, Dirk called out Erick Dampier, who responded valiantly in Game 2 with 15 points, 12 rebounds and immeasurable heart.
When you talk about a teammate, you better step up yourself. Those final two points were Dirk's 22nd and 23rd points of the night to go with 12 rebounds.
What a game all that drama made for Wednesday.
As TNT analyst Doug Collins said late in the game of his network's good luck: "We [TNT] got the best first-round series in Dallas-Houston. We got the best second-round series in Dallas-Phoenix."
That wasn't surprising. This series looked like the most competitive of them all anyway.
The Miami-Washington series will probably wind up a sweep for the Heat. The same can be said of the San Antonio-Seattle series, especially with the injuries Seattle has suffered.
The Detroit-Indiana matchup, which Indiana surprisingly evened Wednesday at a win apiece, is intriguing. But it is also grind-it-out, Eastern Conference basketball at its best – or is that worst?
Unfortunately, what it all means is that the Suns-Mavericks series is not only the most-entertaining conference semifinal, but the most-entertaining series you may not be able to see – unless you have TiVo, a cupboard full of No-Doz or a 24-hour Starbucks in the neighborhood that offers espresso intravenously.
Game 1 tipped off at 9:54 p.m. Dallas time and ended about 10 minutes after midnight.
Game 2 Wednesday night started about 9:48 p.m. Dallas time and, because Game 1 went by unusually fast, ended even later than Game 1. The final horn sounded sometime after 12:30 a.m. Dallas time.
Game 3 on Friday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m. Dallas time at the earliest.
And it was announced Wednesday that Game 4 in Dallas on Sunday night has been scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m., too, at the earliest.
Now in the playoffs' second round, the NBA doesn't allow one game to commence before the earlier one has concluded. Only if a game requires overtime will the league wave its broadcast rule.
Meanwhile, the Spurs' Game 4 with the Sonics on Sunday has been scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Dallas time. Forget that it's a series that, as mentioned earlier, is all but over. It will be played in Seattle, too.
What a ridiculous television schedule this is for the league and, especially, the Suns-Mavericks series. This is no way to showcase high-scoring basketball that is considered good for the league.
"I don't like it," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said earlier this week, "but it's out of my control."
It is understandable that Games 1 and 2 in Phoenix started as late as they did. Those were just normal NBA starts out here, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix fans deserved a chance to get off from work, too. After all, this is a workweek.
But I can't think of a reasonable explanation for keeping the weekend contest so late after so many fans may have been deprived, by the need to sleep, of seeing the ending of first few games in this series. On the East Coast, the first two games of this series are ending well after 1 in the morning.
The NBA is one heck of a fun league. It was the first to take being fan-friendly to new heights, what with all festivities it started years ago during its All-Star weekend that have been adopted by other leagues.
Not juggling this playoff schedule, however, in accordance with the competitiveness of the contests is not in the best interest of the game. This is the marquee match up in the semifinals and should be treated like it.
E-mail [email protected]
