NBA Playoffs: Day 1
By Coup
Gimmick infringement, but ladies and gentlemen here we go. A slight delay thanks to some good sleep and drunk white girls waking me up in the middle of the night. But I’m here and I’m ready.
It is running diary time people..if I could do it for the first four hectic days of the NCAA Tournament, I can sure do it for the Playoffs. Besides, at least I won’t have to deal with CBS and their retarded game decisions.
New Jersey/Toronto
10:13 AM: Certainly didn’t think of Chris Bosh getting in early foul trouble and the problems that would cause. He’s been sitting the last 12 minutes and now they are down by 8. He can’t be getting in foul trouble, if he does they are done.
10:15 AM: Calderon drains a mid range jumper on J Kidd who was playing way off him to avoid dribble penetration. If Jose is draining that, he’ll be unguardable this series. He will be more of a handful to J Kidd than TJ. It will almost be like when Tony Parker was slicing GP up in that Spurs/Lakers series.
10:17 AM: Wait…Doris Burke is announcing an NBA Playoff game? Is this more WNBA cross promotino?
10:19 AM: Underrated facts that just got exposed in this exchange;
- The Nets have no one who can guard Bosh.
- Jason Kidd has lost his stroke.
- Richard Jefferson has lost his bounce. Last year that would have been a dunk in Bosh’s face…instead he misses a layup.
10:20 AM: Kidd is clanking wide open shots like it is nobody’s business and getting scored on. Juan Dixon hits a three, to cut the lead to three, and the crowd goes wild. Gotta love playoff crowds.
10:21 AM: Bosh has the nuts to try and take a charge on VC with 3:00 left in the 2nd… and it paid off. Bosh also has 2 fouls. As the late, great Richard Pryor would say ‘Now that motherfucker’s crazy’.
10:23 AM: Juan Dixon is gunning. Golllllllleeee he just took two shots in a row. He is reminding me of Portland Juan….damn. It’s obvious NJ is trying to neutralize TJ by goading him into shooting mid-ranges. If he falls for it they are deep trouble.
10:25 AM: Legends Tour…Bill Russell and Darryl Dawkins? Now I love Chocolate Thunder, but Bill Russell is one of the GOAT’s. Darryl never even averaged 10 boards a game. That gap is amazing. What’s next, Magic and Mark Bryant?
10:27 AM: It’s official; Juan Dixon is the wild card. New Jersey just got six very quick points to push the lead back up to nine like that. The lesson to Sam Mitchell; You can’t take Chris Bosh out.
10:28 AM: Side note…I still haven’t decided how I feel about the whole ‘everyone in the arena has the same color T-shirt’. I think it’s more I’m mad that the Blazers never did it. I’m a big fan of the Heat’s White-Out..this dark, deep, purple red…not so much.
10:31 AM: TJ clanks another mid-range jumper, they get saved by a loose ball foul…but Anthony Parker misses both free throws. 51-41 NJ at the half.
(CANDACE IS BETTER clap clap clapclapclap)
Quick halftime thoughts; Toronto is ok, they’ve just got to chip at this lead. You’re only down by 10 and your point guards (TJ/Jose) have 19 points and TJ has shot 10 shots. Richard Jefferson is on fire and JKidd already has 11 assists. VC..7 and 7.
10:41 AM: I still don’t know how I feel about the ‘We All In’ commercial.
10:43 AM: “How far we go is riding on my shoulders…IF WE DONT GET OUT THE FIRST ROUND ITS ON ME.” That sound is gulping in Salt Lake City.
10:51 AM: Lovely text from Coup “WHO the FUCK is Doris Burke and why is she on my tv?’ I knew it was coming….by the way, we at the Project are not sexist. At all.
10:52 AM: They are daring J Kidd to shoot open threes…and he is clanking. Bosh with a jumper, cuts the lead to 6.
10:53 AM: That’s like the third time I’ve seen a Raptor player run by Mikki Moore on a pump-fake. LET HIM SHOOT. I don’t care if he won the field goal percentage title, it is MIKKI MOORE taking SHOTS in the PLAYOFFS.
10:54 AM: Bosh draws the third foul on VC. The crowd loves it.
10:55 AM: 4th foul on VC…did I mention THE CANADIANS LOVE IT. Vince is disappearing. TJ gets fouled by JKidd and gets the layup. Doris Burke correctly points out that JKidd gave him the cushion. 51-50..did I mention this is fun to watch?
10:56 AM: Jason Collins has officially gone into “I’m going to hack and be overly physical” mode with Bosh. We’ll see how he responds.
10:58 AM: Toronto doesn’t give it to Bosh, Nesterovic clanks a mid-range jumper. You know what that means…I’ll give you a hint it starts with easy bucket and ends with for the Nets.
10:59 AM: Richard Jefferson is on fire. 23 points off 14 shots. I’ll be waiting for the 1/12 Game 5 performance myself. Major game of runs going on right now, NJ is back up 59-52..JKidd is starting to struggle handling TJ off of the ball screens. That is going to be an area of concern.
11:01 AM: The physical play of Nachbar and Collins is frustrating Bosh a little bit. He has got to use his speed advantage and not start settling for one-jab jumpers. The thing about NJ, they are exposing Toronto’s lack of transition D. I swear, everytime Toronto misses the Nets get an easy layup. By the way, RJ is the only Net in double figures. TJ and Bosh need someone to step up, they aren’t getting any help. They could be one player (and one year) away from doing some major damage.
(They’re still winning the series though)
11:04 AM: Fred Hickman annoys me by saying the Bulls haven’t lost a Game 1 at home since 1992. Yeah..they had MICHAEL FREAKIN JORDAN. Completely different team. Jackass.
11:05 AM: Doris again points out that NJ is making no adjustments, JKidd keeps going under the screen and TJ keeps knocking down jumpers. He is essentially getting demolished. Ever since they started getting physical with Bosh he has been a non-factor. Good strategy by Frank. And yes Mikki Moore is annoying as hell, I know you were thinking it.
And there is no way I can hold this pace all day. It is humanly impossible…enjoy it while you can people. Gotta slow it down a little bit for my own sanity.
11:10 AM: Jason Kidd finally makes a three. It’s not good when the Nets have increased their lead minus VC right?
11:16 AM: Who would have thought that Mikki Moore and Jason Collins would have one less point than VC and JKidd (14-13) and NJ would be up 12. It went from 4 to 12. Interesting storylines as we head to the fourth quarter…can Bosh overcome the physicality? Will VC’s return spark a Toronto run? Can the Raptors get the crowd back into it?
Marcus Williams is going to be big…if he can give JKidd rest and play well, the Nets should be ok. Toronto has a tall mountain to climb and not a lot of time to do it. Their body language doesn’t look like they are ready and the crowd is on life support. PLAYOFF BASKETBALL BABY .
11:32 AM: Calderon with a big three to cut it 8…Jefferson can’t answer…big dunk by Humphries. 81-75, the crowd is back into it, all thanks to VC. He is killing them right now.
11:34 AM: Lawrence Frank is trying to pull a Phil Jackson and not call timeout..it is not working. Bosh is coming on, 10-1 run…but we’ve seen Toronto comeback over and over in this game. Can they finally get over the hump?
11:38 AM: I didn’t think Jefferson would disappear in the second half…Already??
11:40 AM: Big three from Calderon…great pass by Bosh, J Kidd is struggling on D. When Toronto is making threes watch out. VC misses. Calderon gets another layup, 83-82 NJ. What are the Nets doing? Get the ball out of VC’s hands right now. They look terrible, they are using Portland’s ‘give Z-Bo the ball and watch’ offense.
11:42 AM: Vince misses again. Calderson kicks it to a wide open Derrick Martin..on the bench.
11:44 AM: Chris Bosh is going to the line with a chance to tie the game. They have outscored NJ 17-6 in the first 9 minutes of this quarter.
The Big Three; Vince is killing them, RJ disappears and JKidd is not making shots. That means trouble..and its only Game 1.
Toronto just cannot get over the hump, New Jersey is doing just enough to get the win. They need a big play right here. Down 90-83 with 1:43 left…Bosh missing that free throw was bigger than anything.
11:52 AM: Vince gets the easy layup and puts them up 7. Why doesn’t Vince just go to the rack like that instead of shooting terrible jumpers?
Toronto’s inexperience hurt them in the end. New Jersey played a terrible 4th quarter but knew exactly what to do to pull it out.