Hello to all here at Celtics Blog and to Celtics Nation in General. This is my first ever post here although I have been a a lurker for quite a few years. As an introduction I am a transplanted American who has lived in Singapore for over a decade. NBA coverage is hit or miss here although we finally got NBATV added to our cable last year. Celtics Blog has thus been an indispensable resource for me to follow my favorite Professional sports team and I would like to thank everyone involved with this blog, including what seems to be a very intelligent and contributing community. I regret I have not contributed myself until now. Sadly, given my feelings about the NBA right now my contributions may be short lived.
So what caused me to post after so long?? Hmmmm -- where to begin?
I guess the real reason was to vent over the awful officiating that has cursed the Celtics this series; but ,after taking some time to reflect, I thought I would try to write something more ambitious. I apologize in advance if this posts comes out as a rant or rambling.
So let's start with the last two games. By any standards, the officiating in both games was atrociously one-sided. Game i was just ridiculous -- not just on the Technicals but on the "no-calls" favoring Miami and bail out calls favoring their stars. Game 2 seemed slightly better officiated at first but I noticed when the Celtics got up by 15 some questionable calls started and of course we all saw what happened in Q4 and OT. The game for all intents and purposes was thrown at the end. I won't elaborate more as this has already been covered in other threads.
Even though the Celtics were (by the end) blown out in game 1 they were competing quite strongly until the calls became so obscenely one sided that they seemed to realize the effort being put forth was futile. Their resolve was broken trying to play 5 on 8 and the Heat then proceeded to finish them off in a big way. In game 2 I think it is pretty clear that the probability of a different outcome was strong with some semblance of balanced and competent officiating; particularly down the stretch. The reality is we do not know if the Celtics would have won either or both of these games if they had been officiated fairly --- their ineptitude at rebounding among other deficiencies played a big role in both losses and we have to acknowledge that Miami is a good strong team. The problem is that we as fans have been cheated from having the teams and their players decide the outcomes of both games. External influences had too much of an impact and thus the competitive aspects of the game itself were corrupted.
Now here is the problem --- most of us -- by that I mean serious and mature basketball fans --- do not want to be seen as whiny, excuse-making, sore losers ---- many forums are full of these kind of childish rants -- coming from fans of all teams. Frankly if we had dropped game 7 to the 76ers I would have tipped my hat and and wished them well despite my disappointment in losing. They earned my respect in that series. Watching THE LEAGUE hand wins to a team with super stars they want to promote is another matter entirely.
Is the NBA rigged? Well I won't comment further on the "lottery" that took place today. I actually Googled "NBA Fixed" and got over 1 MILLION results and found such suggestions dating back a number of years. At the very least the NBA has a huge image problem and a commissioner who uses threats and intimidation as his supposed tools for addressing the problem. Fans of all sports complain about officials, but I don't think any sport has such a widespread reputation for systematic corruption like the NBA does.
One interesting article I found was David Aldridge ridiculing people making such accusations as "conspiracy theorists", "wearing Tin foil hats" and other assorted slurs that are usually used to discredit those who question the status quo. I assume most here already know that Aldridge is nothing more than a corporate lackey (he was writing at NBA.com at the time). This is a big part of the problem --- no serious discussion of the topic is allowed because the Media covering the league either has a vested interest in Promoting the league's interests or fears reprisals (fines or loss of future employment opportunities) and thus self censors even as Stern censors the players and coaches.
It seems nobody with any broad media exposure has the courage to speak up. Instead it is left to bloggers and forum posters. The problem is that we are all divided against each other by our team loyalties. Heat Fans ridicule our complaints because the calls helped their team. We dismiss the complaints of Laker fans from three years ago about calls going in our favor --- because we watch through Green colored glasses. We ALL (fans of all teams) fail to realize that when the Game is corrupted like it has been, we ALL lose. My question to Heat Fans --- what is the point of celebrating a championship that a corrupt league has handed to you??? You also have been cheated of the opportunity of having your very talented team actually EARN their wins and PROVE they are deserving to be champions. Shortcuts are for losers.
The NBA like so many things is all about money. Starting with the Bird-Magic era, the path to money was paved by creating Celebrities ---- in fact it was a strategic direction taken by the league -- Great Players who were marketed to be "Greater than the Game" --- First Bird-Magic (Both of whom I love and who brought me in as a fan), then Jordan, the failed Grant Hill experiment, Shaq, then Kobe. This is David Stern's NBA:- "With Kobe in decline the league wants to coronate its new king --- competitive aspects be dammed just get those ratings and shoe sales up. It has nothing to do with local market size --- its all about demographics and the celebrity that attracts them. The Celtics are old and their players no longer have that appeal beyond their own fan base --- the players served their purpose and now must be pushed aside. We need the limelight to be focused on our money makers --- it is time for Lebron to take the torch from Kobe --- again competitive aspects of the game be dammed --- we will make sure the refs have those under control."
Heat players may be taunting and smirking now and their fans jumping up and down with joy despite the fact they have accomplished nothing on their own --- but how will it be in a year or two when Stern decides to crown Kevin Durant or Blake Griffin instead? I mean they predetermined the outcome of Blake Griffin winning the Dunk "Competition" last year (demonstrably provable) ---- The King is dead ---- long live the new king.
Now my question to you - presumably an NBA fan if you are reading this ----- is this a league worth following? If it is all an illusion and the games mean nothing because ultimately corporate agendas will decide the final outcomes when the playoffs arrive, why should we buy into it? Why should I care who the Celtics draft next month if it is the league who decides who will advance in the playoffs? Why should I care enough to follow a team through an 82 game season when I know that at some point the playoffs will be fixed?
For me personally, I cannot buy it any more. There is nothing wrong with making money, and manufacturing hype and celebrity, but when it compromises the game itself, it is time to move on. As we are fans we are also chumps and suckers; and I am still enough of a chump to see my beloved Celtics through the end of the series. If the Celtics do not make it through (and it seems they will not be allowed to) I will boycott the finals --- and frankly not miss it much. After that, I am not so sure. I love the game of basketball and played it myself (albeit largely ineptly and at low levels) and I appreciate the beauty of the game itself -- not just the athleticism required, but also the mathematics and geometry of the game, the emotional aspects of a team willing itself to make a run, the balancing of individual will and ability within a team context, the intangibles of when shots fall or do not fall, and the unique and sometimes hard to explain ebbs and flows of the game.
But the NBA has taken away much of that beauty and replaced it with an illusion based on celebrity. We can still see glimpses of it, but it is now too often corrupted by outside influences. My solution, as I feel now, will be to abandon the NBA -- but not the game itself. Basketball is scarce in Singapore but I might take up watching the Philippine leagues or something. The talent is lower and there is a lot less hype, but at least the games are a lot closer to pure than what the NBA has to offer. If I were still in the USA I might take up more of an interest in a local HS team or a Community College team instead.
As a parting thought --- I think the problems of the NBA are a microcosm of the problems plaguing the USA itself. As fans we are divided against each other even as the game is corrupted more each year. We have Celtics Fans, Heat Fans, Laker Fans just as the political landscape has Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Tea Partiers -- all at each others throats -- blaming each other and calling each other whiners or worse. Meanwhile, those in control -- whether it be Stern and the Billionaire Owners Club that retains him in the NBA, or the Golman-Sachs cronies who play off all sides (Republicans and Democrats alike) as they loot and pillage the country. They ALL depend on us to be chumps and suckers who will buy into whatever is put in front of us.
The USA now has "Occupy Wall Street" ----- and regardless of what you might think about this movement, at the very least, it is a form of protest in a society increasingly unwilling to protest anything. Can we have an Occupy NBA?
If you made it this far then thank you for reading.
Cheers --- and maybe for one of the last times --- Go Celtics!
Topic: Thoughts on the Playoffs and the Bigger Picture (Read 2356 times)