The Second Round: Are We There Yet?

Hey guys, who's excited about Game 5 of the New Orleans/Denver series? Who thought Game 4 of the Cavaliers/Pistons series was going to give them something for the ages? And honestly, who wouldn't prefer the Game 5s coming up in the Bulls/Celtics and Hawks/Heat series weren't winner take all?

For the life of me, I can't think of a good reason for the first round to be seven games instead of five games like the old days (2002). The first round has two purposes: 1) To quickly weed out the pretenders. Why do I need to watch the Pistons, Jazz, or Hornets lose four times?? I don't. 2) To allow for highly dramatic series consisting of complacent favorites and frisky underdogs.

Think about it: Tomorrow, on a TUESDAY no less (perhaps the worst day of the week), we, the fans, would be treated to TWO series deciding game fives with the Eastern Conference favorites on the ropes and Houston and Dallas could just move on. These favorites who blew two games to lesser teams now have the luxury of knowing they'll live to play another day even if they lose game 5, while still knowing that they are the better team. Shouldn't these favorites have to face the extreme pressure of an elimination game if they are careless enough to lose two games out of four to a .500 team? Sure, I picked San Antonio AND Portland to win their series, but would a comeback to win in seven even be worth it to me? Not really, and would a comeback and a LOSS in seven?? That would be an extreme waste of my time. We complain about teams in the Eastern Conference having horrible records and asking why they are even in the playoffs, and yet we make the 66-win Cavs beat the losing record Pistons four times in a row by double digits instead of three.

Is it a huge deal? I guess not, but it sure doesn't seem right. Even the origins of the rule are a little confusing. From what I remember when it was changed six years ago, it was built to protect the Lakers from being eliminated in the first round because they were facing a formidable team in the Timberwolves and the NBA didn't want them ousted early. Talk about a bad reason. The seven game first round rule make the first round longer and less interesting. Anyone want to help me out as to why it exists?


Something for the Ladies:

After all that objectifying of men done by one Grace Burtch, I've got some to dish out on the ladies of the playoffs.

Nancy Lieberman: After Derrick Rose's playoff debut where he had 36 points in a victory on the road against the defending champs, he didn't really say much. He's a young guy who is, by all accounts, quiet anyway. But when she interviewed him after the game, Nancy treated him like he was five years old. After he didn't seem that excited about being told he tied Kareem for most points scored by a rookie in his playoff debut, she actually said to him something like, "You know, being mentioned with those names is really something...(awkward pause)..." Really? Thanks, Nancy. Get off the kid's back, just because he doesn't want to talk to you doesn't mean he doesn't know who Kareem is. Sheesh.

Doris Burke: Ooooooh, Doris.

In game 4, Kobe Bryant hits a pull up jumper against an undermanned Utah team in a blowout. Doris notes that it reminds her of Michael Jordan hitting a game winning jumper in this very same building in the finals. Already, that is an unforgivable comment. Comparing Kobe to Jordan is a cardinal sin, but comparing a first round playoff game to the game winning shot in the finals? That comment is unbelievable as it is. But Doris wasn't finished.

She went on to ask, "Who did he hit that shot over? Was it Ehlo?" EHLO??? Come on, Doris. I mean COME ON. I know this sounds terrible, but if you're going to be a female analyst in the NBA playoffs, you had better know twice as much as every man that could have done the job instead of like, asking if Jordan hit the final shot in the 1998 NBA Finals over Craig Ehlo.

(For the record, it was over Bryon Russell, someone who actually played for the Jazz)

Girl in the Pink Dress in the Taco Bell Commercial: Consider me a fan.

If I have to watch the same commercial two-thousand times over the next few months, can't I find something I enjoy about it? It's not like I'm going to actually buy that salad...oh well. All I know is that I bet you never thought you would get so excited by the phrase, "Look under the beans."