8.14.2009

Basketball is a Very Simple Sport

You gotta love how the Mountain Man can break down an 82-game schedule plus another 20 or so playoff games to conclude that the title next June will be decided by one factor--whomever shall control the paint. He's probably right, assuming all other things being equal, including the the players' health.

If Bill Walton is my favorite basketball player to ever lace up a pair of sneakers, then Bill Laimbeer is easily one of my least favorite. Still, you have to appreciate this Waltonesque quote from the female impersonator who was laid flat by Robert Parish left-right combo:

Basketball is a very simple sport, Laimbeer said. You bring what you got. We bring what we got. Throw the ball up, and let's play. Our team. Your team. At the end of the day, only one team walks off the court with a W. Injuries, tiredness, bad calls -- that's all [expletive].

Yup. What a great book that would be. One hundred pages of pungent aphorisms bottom-lining competition in professional sports. The Big Fundamental, Tim Duncan, would earn himself a place on a few of the pages in that book, in particular his quote that "basketball can be reduced to imposing your will on the other team."

This is why the act of prognostication is more entertainment than anything else. You just don't know. No way anyone but the 1983 Sixers win the title in 1984. No way the 1986 Celtics fail to repeat. No way the Lakers drag their arses up from the mat in 1986 to not only compete for the championship in 1987, but proceed to win back-to-backs.

You just don't know until you get it on.

2 comments:

FLCeltsFan said...

Defense wins championships and controlling the paint is part of that. But, I think the deciding factor in who wins the championship ultimately comes down to which team can stay healthy.

Lex said...

Probably so.