Apparently now we are all waiting for Phil Jackson to come down from Mt. Sinai (or maybe return from Magadha is the better analogy) and tell us what he is going to do. The best news of all is that this is going to happen by early next week, ending this painfully drawn out process (at least from the outside) one way or another.
While we wait I had hoped to talk NBA Finals, I was excited to have a chance to get home last night and watch the entire first game. Then something came up at the day job and I was going to miss the fist quarter or so, but I could live with that. Then, while driving home I get a call from my wife saying the in-laws have invited themselves over for dinner. And I get to cook. So could I stop by the store on the way home while I was at it?
Outside of plays here and there, I saw nothing. I can say this — the overnight 6.2 television rating the game got was exactly half what the 2000 Lakers vs. Portland Western Conference Finals got. I bet the ABC people are thrilled — NASCAR gets better numbers than that.
Instead, here are a couple of links to check out:
• Popcorn Machine has the game flow up. It shows Ben Wallace struggled to stop Duncan or anyone else while the big three for the Spurs all had good nights. Add to that the Spurs got a few quality minutes out of Big Dog off the bench. Some people will say that a bench is less important in the playoffs because the starters play more minutes, but big play off the bench was a key last night keeping those starters fresh while not losing production.
• Hoopsanalyst has some good playoff thoughts up, plus talks contract negotiations and Tim Duncan’s place in history.