PLAYOFFS !?!

I rarely write anything about sports...in fact I never do...nor do I ever really think about sports, especially when it comes to the million-dollar baby league known as the NBA. But, I found 8-seed Golden State's 4-2 series upset over the 1-seed Mavericks, a first in NBA history, compelling enough to root for the Warriors and watch about three quarters and half of overtime during last night's game, even though it means not seeing any Mark Cuban highlights for the next 9 months.

Maybe I like Golden State because they don't have any big names and therefore no expectations nor outrageous egos, or maybe I just like rooting for the underdog. I saw Baron Davis do the Five Good Minutes segment on PTI last week and he convinced me that they're the team to root for. Also, every time I hear Stephen Jackson's name uttered by the announcers I giggle because that Ball State sportscaster somehow managed to say "Stephen Jackson's Stephen" during his historically awful segment.

Watching them play last night was actually entertaining. They have the energy of a Final Four college team and their ability to pass the ball (entertainingly) has clearly made a difference in the playoffs. I'm not too knowledgeable about basketball strategies, but on offence their penetration near the board was lacking, and they were often spread way to far across the court with random picks thrown here and there, which probably resulted in the poor penetration. I think the wild passing may have confused the Jazz but not enough obviously.

The real letdown came when Mickael Pietrus missed two free throws with like 20 seconds left that would've won the game for the Warriors. After that the Jazz took over and won in OT convincingly. Oh well.

And for my own entertainment, here's Jim Mora yelling about the "PLAYOFFS!?!"