I managed to get good tickets to Saturday's game against the Nets.
Here are some of my impressions from my first NBA game. A lot of it might seem obvious, but the fact that I saw them first hand entitles me to reiterate them here
(If you're one of those choleric readers who gets pissed off at every other post, pl don't bother reading further)
The atmosphere in the arena was nothing like what I imagined. I was a regular at all basketball games in U Cincinnati and expected a toned down version of that. But this game reminded me of the time I went to watch a rendition of Beethoven's 9th symphony. OK. It was not that bad, but you get the picture. Everyone had their butts glued to the seats and would make some noise only when the PA guy asked them to.
Here are some of my impressions from my first NBA game. A lot of it might seem obvious, but the fact that I saw them first hand entitles me to reiterate them here
(If you're one of those choleric readers who gets pissed off at every other post, pl don't bother reading further)
The atmosphere in the arena was nothing like what I imagined. I was a regular at all basketball games in U Cincinnati and expected a toned down version of that. But this game reminded me of the time I went to watch a rendition of Beethoven's 9th symphony. OK. It was not that bad, but you get the picture. Everyone had their butts glued to the seats and would make some noise only when the PA guy asked them to.
- Boris Diaw passes up open jumpers, layups even in practice
- darrell armstrong has an ugly shooting stroke.
- Devin Harris was quite chatty with Nash throughout the game. He wasn't trash talking. During the free throws, they were having friendly conversations. Devin seems like a nice guy. Jefferson looked like a pretty amiable guy too.
- Sean Williams is an athletic freak. I noticed him jumping during practice and was shocked by his leaping ability. Evrytime he blocked a shot, it seemed like a volleyball spike. Insane athlete.
- I saw Nash practice his fadeaway jumpers before the game. What was amazing was that he shot from the same spot, but each time with a different arc and swished on all tries - First the flat shot, then one with a medium arc and then one with a really, really high arc.
- Shaq is not fat. He is really tall, really broad. but not fat. He looks to be in pretty good shape. His legs however don't seem too strong. For some reason, I felt that his legs were going to buckle under him.
- Diaw sucks. His numbers from the game (12/7/5) don't seem too bad, but he frustrated the hell out of me with his play.
- Vince Carter as always, played like he didn't care about the game. The few times he really tried, he was super-impressive. His speed, his ability to change directions and drive were awesome to watch.
- Bell is a very good flopper. This one time he literally flew on contact from Vince and got the call. Of course I was cheering when the call was made.
- Barbosa's speed : for the first time, I actually saw someone literally 'run circles' around an opponent to make a basket. He got the ball at the top of the key, dribbled around to and along the baseline, back to the elbow, and in 2 steps was under the basket with not a defender around him. Amazing speed !
- Diaw sucks (just to re-emphasize my pt).
- After Shaq's first dunk, I watched the shot clock to time how long the basket kept shaking - 10 seconds. When it stopped rattling, the Nets were at their offensive end, trying to make a shot.
- Amare seems to have got back his crazy hops. The elevation he gets in a fraction of a second is mind boggling.
- Sometime in the first half, Amare fouled Vince on a drive. It was kind of a hard foul. Vince was pissed and was in a mood to yell at Amare, when Shaq put a friendly arm around Vince's neck, put him in a chokehold and whispered something in his ear. Was funny to watch. Vince then backed off. Shaq and Vince seem like pretty good friends. Probably because both have Florida connections?
- Marcus Williams was fun to watch. He played very little but his moves were impressive.
