Burning The Blindfold

(deep breath)

MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!! MAVS WIN!!!
-BJ

Game 1, Dallas Mavericks host Washington Wizards

Theme: Combichrist, "Shut Up and Swallow"
Game Info: Vomit.

Murphy's Law, Squared (or The Unwritten Law of Supreme Inconvience) -- to wit, if it can go wrong, it will make a specific point of going wrong, simply to ruin your day.

The day, it is ruined.

I can sum this game up in three words; total defensive collapse. The Wizards did whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to do it. Three point shooting? They did that. Midrange? That too. Points in the paint? Stop before I spew. Interior defense -- Coach was a little like Canute ordering the tide to stop. Dampier was ineffective, Gooden was worse, Kris Humphries had a crack at it, the Three Jacks lineup had a try . . . bupkis.

On the offensive end, other than Dirk -- not rain nor sleet nor snow, he's like the postal service that way -- nobody was worth smeg for points. JJ had a couple of thrilling moments, Marion was decent. That's it.

This was disheartening on several levels. Flashbacks to last year's slow start, a disturbing resemblence to some low moments, realization that by the third the team had fallen back on Mavs Plan A (grab Dirk's jersey and hope he sprouts wings), dismay that maybe the upgrades we made weren't nearly as performance-enhancing as we'd hoped (yes there's a dick joke in there and yes it's delibrate). What I took away from this is simple; defense was a specific point of emphasis for everything the Organization's done since losing the Nuggets series. And this game was about as poor a defensive display as I've ever seen out of them.

Lakers on Thursday, and quite frankly, I'm terrified.

Final: 102-91, Wizards
-BJ

To The Advancement Of Friends

Awlright, to the folks who read this blog (take off your coats, stay awhile, watch out for the leopard pit), I have some news to pass along.

JakeN's blog, NBA on the Brain, is going website. The new digs will be partitioned off -- reality based coverage on the main page and his Real Person Fic twists given their own pages named NBA Dramatique. I recommend both. Even if he is a Spurs fan.

Here's the new link: http://www.nbaonthebrain.com/
-BJ

'Tis The Eve Of The Regular Season

And thank God for that.

As usual, the immortals on my shoulders are each making their cases. The angel on my right says we've upgraded and then some, with the addition of Shawn Marion. Drew Gooden showed some good things in the preseason. The keystone pair -- Dirk and Kidd -- took the summer off, meaning they're fresh and rested. Roadrunner Beaubois looks like he could be a contender (and one of the nice things about having Kidd is he speeds up learning curves, particularly for points).

The devil on my right isn't nearly so eloquent. His arguement against the Mavs going anywhere or doing anything this year can be summed up in two words; Josh Howard.

He's our most versitile player, our best defensive guy, and when he's on he's an All-Star, full stop. For a variety of reasons, he hasn't been on nearly enough the past couple of years. Some of it is factors beyond his control -- nobody plans on losing kinfolk or rolling an ankle -- and some of it is self-inflicted.

The situation with J-Ho is simply this; he had arthroscopic repair surgery on his injured ankle about a week after the season ended. That was six months ago. Coach Carlisle is being extremely vague about his recovery timetable, and that's starting to scare me.

The devil doesn't have to say anything else. I know the rest of the list of Things That Can Go Wrong -- (insert player name) is past it, somebody gets hurt, things just don't gel.

Things will unfold the way they will unfold. Do I think this is a championship team? I can't answer that, it's too early. Being frank, in order for that to happen, we're going to need a significant chunk of luck.

But why be glum? It's basketball season! See you tomorrow. If all goes according to plan I'll be there with E. Honda face paint and a song in my heart. Mavericks!
-BJ

Off The Beaten Path A Bit

NBA.com is running a series of columns about offbeat places that're hosting preseason games. One of them being my own hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was up there this weekend, visiting family (couldn't stay long enough to catch the game, dammit).

Everybody's struggling, these days. In the Midwest, and in Michigan particularly, the economy's been in depression mode for almost as long as I've been alive. Grand Rapids is holding on a little better than the Detroit metro region because what's left of the furniture industry is still viable and the Van Andel Institute is getting some serious backing -- the news came down just a little while ago that MSU is basing a major research study there.

As a whole, though, it's getting so that the only people left in the region are those who can't or won't leave -- and the won't contingent is shrinking. A friend of mine is a Detroiter down to his fingernails, and even he's packed up for an extended leave of absence.

Sports are a luxury, except when they're not. Sport can make life, even for one day, worthwhile. For one day, it does not suck that you are a part of that time and place. And that matters. Here's hoping the Pistons' new owners recognize that, and are both clever and lucky.

Even with clever and lucky, I think, one by one, the major franchises are going to find a way to leave. Check back in 2020 and see who's left, in a city that was once beautiful and alive. The Paris of the Midwest.
-BJ