Why It's Impossible to Like the NBA

I've tried, NBA. I tried to watch some playoff games over the last few weeks. The NBA playoffs are supposed to be exciting, but it has just been painful to try to watch any game for more than five minutes. It's hard to understand why. Everyone loves college basketball, especially the tournament. Although there's only 16 teams in the NBA playoffs, it's still their tournament, and with more talented players, should the NBA playoffs be just as exciting as March Madness? Why is the NBA so hard to like?

Like many kids my age, my favorite athlete growing up was Michael Jordan. The Bulls Dynasty was incredibly fun to watch. In addition to Jordan, you had Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc, BJ Armstrong, Steve Kerr, and yes, the immortal Luc Longley. The Bulls also had great competition. Magic Johnson towards the end of his career, Charles Barkley, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Shawn Kemp; the list of great and entertaining 90's basketball players can go on forever. I'm not a huge basketball historian, but I would have to believe the 90's were the golden age for the NBA.

Then, MJ retired (from the Bulls, the second time, I don't count the Wizards years) and the whole league went downhill. The Bulls dynasty fell apart. It was impossible to be a Bulls fan with Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler as their future. The NBA lost a good portion of their fanbase, as a lot of people simply couldn't root for these Bulls anymore. I tried to be a Sixers fan, but could never really get into them like I did with the Bulls. Since then, I've been migrating favorite teams; whoever has Shane Battier is my new favorite.

Another big problem with post-MJ NBA, high schoolers. Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady took the league by storm after high school, and opened the floodgates for a flood of high schoolers who thought they were ready for the NBA. 90% of them weren't, and the league became very watered down talent wise. It's simply not fun to watch "pro" players who probably wouldn't even be starting for college teams. Yes, you can point to LeBron James and Dwight Howard, but they are the exception. People think the NBA's ruling to disallow players from entering the draft straight from high school is unfair, but it's good for the league.

Another problem? A lack of likable superstars. Kobe Bryant is almost impossible to like. He's smug, arrogant, and let's not forget that little rape suspicion that everyone else seems to have forgotten about. LeBron James is a bit more likable, but he still doesn't connect with the fans in the way MJ did. Listen, by almost all accounts, MJ isn't exactly the nicest guy in the world. He was an absolute jerk on the court for the most part. But he still connected with the fans. When he got off the court and away from the sportswriters, he seemed like an ok, marketable guy. LeBron doesn't have that facet to him, and I'm not sure any NBA player will ever have that off-the-court persona that MJ had. He was truly one of a kind.

The biggest problem with watching the NBA? Except for the last five minutes of almost every game, there's absolutely no sense of urgency on the court. I'm not saying every NBA player doesn't try. There's no doubt a lot of these guys don't try and just want a paycheck, but you get that in every pro sport. Guys like Dwayne Wade do try, almost every minute of every night. But still, there's never any urgency in these games. Watch a big time college game, and every bucket made is a big deal. In the NBA, a guy pulls up to make a three pointer without passing the ball, and yawn. It's not necessarily the players' fault; it's just the way the NBA game is. But it does mean that even Game 7 of the Finals can seem like a regular season game up until the last few minutes.

I'll admit, the last few minutes of any close game can be exciting. I'll randomly turn on a Mavericks-Hornets game in the middle of the season that can be close in the last few minutes, and I'll watch because it's always compelling. I'm not sure how the NBA can find a way to take those last few minutes and extend it for the rest of the game. I'm also not sure how the NBA can recapture the magic they had with the superstars of the 90's. But until the NBA can find a way to be fun again, they'll never have the mainstream audience that they once had.

Final Mock Draft

Tomorrow is one of the better days of the year: the NFL draft. It's only one round tomorrow, and I much prefer the way it used to be, but the draft is the draft. Here are my final projections:

1. St. Louis (1-15) – Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
2. Detroit (2-14) – Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
3. Tampa Bay (3-13) – Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma
4. Washington (4-12) – Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma
5. Kansas City (4-12) – Russell Okung, OT, Oklahoma St.
6. Seattle (5-11) – Bryan Bulaga, OT, Iowa
7. Cleveland (5-11) – Eric Berry, S, Tennessee
8. Oakland (5-11) – Bruce Campbell, OT, Maryland
9. Buffalo (6-10) – Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
10. Jacksonville (7-9) – Joe Haden, CB, Florida
11. Denver - from Chicago (7-9) – Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama
12. Miami (7-9) – Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee
13. San Francisco (8-8) – Earl Thomas, S, Texas
14. Seattle - from Denver (8-8) – CJ Spiller, RB, Clemson
15. New York Giants (8-8) – Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri
16. Tennessee (8-8) – Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech
17. San Francisco - from Carolina (8-8) – Anthony Davis, OT, Rutgers
18. Pittsburgh (9-7) – Maurkice Pouncey, OL, Florida
19. Atlanta (9-7) – Brandon Graham, DE, Michigan
20. Houston (9-7) – Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise St.
21. Cincinnati* (10-6) – Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma St.
22. New England* (10-6) – Jason Pierre Paul, OLB, USF
23. Green Bay* (11-5) – Charles Brown, OT, USC
24. Philadelphia* (11-5)- Kareem Jackson, CB, Alabama
25. Baltimore* (9-7) – Jared Odrick, DT, Penn St.
26. Arizona* (10-6) – Sergio Kindle, OLB, Texas
27. Dallas* (11-5) – Mike Iupati, OG, Idaho
28. San Diego* (13-3) – Terrance Cody, DT, Alabama
29. New York Jets* (9-7) – Tyson Alualu, DE, Cal
30. Minnesota* (12-4) – Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers
31. Indianapolis* (14-2) – Roger Saffold, OT, Indiana
32. New Orleans* (13-3) – Daryl Washington, OLB, TCU
    
    
    Round 2

1. St. Louis (1-15) – Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
2. Detroit (2-14) – Ryan Matthews, RB, Fresno St.
3. Tampa Bay (3-13) – Demaryius Thomas, WR, Georgia Tech
4. Kansas City (4-12) – Jerry Hughes, OLB, TCU
5. Philadelphia - from Washington (4-12) – Nate Allen, S, USF
6. Cleveland (5-11) – Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
7. Oakland (5-11) – Linval Joseph, DT, ECU
8. San Diego - from Seattle (5-11) – Jahvid Best, RB, Cal
9. Buffalo (6-10) – Cam Thomas, DT, UNC
10. Tampa Bay - from Chicago (7-9) – Patrick Robinson, CB, Florida St.
11. Denver - from Miami (7-9) – Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame
12. New England - from Jacksonville (7-9) – Lamarr Houston, DE, Texas
13. Denver (8-8) – Brian Price, DE, UCLA
14. New York Giants (8-8) – Geno Atkins, DT, Georgia
15. New England - from Tennessee (8-8) – Arrelious Benn, WR, Illinois
16. Carolina (8-8) – Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU
17. San Francisco (8-8)- Vladimir DuCasse, OG, UMass
18. Kansas City - from Atlanta (9-7) – Torrell Troup, DT, UCF
19. Houston (9-7) – Taylor Mays, S, USC
20. Pittsburgh (9-7) – Damian Williams, WR, USC
21. New England* (10-6) – Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
22. Cincinnati* (10-6) – Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona
23. Philadelphia* (11-5) – Everson Griffen, DE, USC
24. Green Bay* (11-5) – Chris Cook, CB, Virginia
25. Baltimore* (9-7) – Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida
26. Arizona* (10-6) – Brandon Ghee, CB, Wake Forest
27. Dallas* (11-5) – Morgan Burnett, S, Georgia Tech
28. Seattle - from San Diego* (13-3) – Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida
29. New York Jets* (9-7) – Koa Misi, OLB, Utah
30. Minnesota* (12-4) – Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
31. Indianapolis* (14-2) – D’Anthony Smith, DT, La Tech
32. New Orleans* (13-3) – Corey Wootten, DE, Northwestern

Round 3

1. St. Louis (1-15) – Jermaine Cunningham, DE, Florida
2. Detroit (2-14) – Perrish Cox, CB, Oklahoma St.
3. Tampa Bay (3-13) – Daniel Te’o Neshaim, DE, Washington
4. Kansas City (4-12) – Reshad Jones, S, Georgia
5. Oakland (5-11) – Tony Pike, QB, Cincinnati
6. Philadelphia - from Seattle (5-11) – Jamar Cheney, LB, Miss St.
7. Cleveland (5-11) – Mardy Gilyard, WR, Cincinnati
8. Buffalo (6-10) – Jared Veldheer, OT, Hillsdale
9. Miami (7-9) – Ricky Sapp, OLB, Clemson
10. Jacksonville (7-9) – Sean Lee, LB, Penn State
11. Chicago (7-9) – Jon Asamoah, OG, Illinois
12. New York Giants (8-8) – Austen Lane, DE, Murray St.
13. Tennessee (8-8) – Akwasi Owusu-Anwah, CB, IUP
14. Carolina (8-8) – Mike Neal, DT, Purdue
15. San Francisco (8-8) – Dominique Franks, CB, Oklahoma
16. Denver (8-8) – JD Walton, C, Baylor
17. Houston (9-7) – Ben Tate, RB, Auburn
18. Pittsburgh (9-7) – Amari Spievey, CB, Iowa
19. Atlanta (9-7) – Rennie Curran, LB, Georgia
20. Cincinnati* (10-6) – Major Wright, S, Florida
21. Cleveland - from Oakland via New England* (10-6) – Jason Worlids, LB, Virginia Tech
22. Green Bay* (11-5) – Alex Carrington, DE, Arkansas St.
23. Philadelphia* (11-5)- John Jerry, OG, Ole Miss
24. Arizona - from Baltimore* (9-7) – Selvish Capers, OT, West Virginia
25. Arizona* (10-6) – Donald Butler, LB, Washington
26. Dallas* (11-5) – Pat Angerer, LB, Iowa
27. San Diego* (13-3) – Jerome Murphy, CB, USF
28. Cleveland - from New York Jets* (9-7) – Kyle Calloway, RT, Iowa
29. Minnesota* (12-4) – Mike Johnson, OG, Alabama
30. Indianapolis* (14-2) – Brandon Lang, DE, Troy
31. New Orleans* (13-3) – A.J Edds, LB, Iowa
32. Cincinnati (comp) – Perry Riley, LB, LSU
33. Tennessee (comp) – Eric Norwood, LB, South Carolina
34. Atlanta (comp) – Riley Cooper, WR, Florida

Mock Draft #2

1. St. Louis- Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma

2. Detroit- Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska

3. Tampa Bay- Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma

4. Washington- Russel Okung, OT, Oklahoma St.

5. Kansas City- Trent Williams, OT, Oklahoma

6. Seattle- Bryan Bulaga, OT, Iowa

7. Cleveland- Eric Berry, S, Tennessee

8. Oakland- Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame

9. Buffalo- Anthony Davis, OT, Rutgers

10. Jacksonville- Joe Haden, CB, Florida

11. Denver- Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama

12. Miami- Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma St.

13. San Francisco- Earl Thomas, S, Texas

14. Seattle- C.J Spiller, RB, Clemson

15. New York Giants- Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee

16. Tennessee- Derrick Morgan, DE, Georgia Tech

17. San Francisco- Brandon Graham, LB, Michigan

18. Pittsburgh- Maurkice Pouncey, C/G, Florida

19. Atlanta- Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri

20. Houston- Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State

21. Cincinatti- Taylor Mays, S, USC

22. New England- Jason Pierre-Paul, LB, USF

23. Green Bay- Jared Odrick, DE, Penn St.

24. Philadelphia- Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers

25. Baltimore- Brian Price, DE, UCLA

26. Arizona- Sergio Kindle, LB, Texas

27. Dallas- Mike Iupati, OG, Idaho

28. San Diego- Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama

29. New York Jets- Everson Griffen, DE/LB, USC

30. Minnesota- Kareem Jackson, CB, Alabama

31. Indianapolis- Tyson Alualu, DT, Cal

32. New Orleans- Jerry Hughes, DE, TCU

Round 2

1. St. Louis- Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma

2. Detroit- Charles Brown, OT, USC

3. Tampa Bay- Demaryius Thomas, WR, Georgia Tech

4. Kansas City- Cam Thomas, DT, UNC

5. Philadelphia - Morgan Burnett, S, Georgia Tech

6. Cleveland- Daryl Washington, LB, TCU

7. Oakland- Bruce Campbell, OT, USC

8. San Diego- Ryan Mathews, RB, Fresno St.

9. Buffalo- Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

10. Tampa Bay- Patrick Robinson, CB, Florida St.

11. Miami- Koa Misi, LB, Utah

12. New England- Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame

13. Denver- Lamarr Houston, DE, Texas

14. New York Giants- Sean Lee, LB, Penn St.

15. New England- Jahvid Best, RB, Cal

16. Carolina- Arrelious Benn, WR, Illinois

17. San Francisco- Vladimir Ducasse, OT, UMass

18. Kansas City- Damian Williams, WR, USC

19. Houston- Nate Allen, S, USC

20. Pittsburgh- Perrish Cox, CB, Oklahoma St.

21. New England- Rob Gronkowski, TE, Arizona

22. Cincinnati- Aaron Hernandez, TE, Florida

23. Philadelphia- Jamar Chaney, LB, Miss St.

24. Green Bay- Roger Saffold, OT, Indiana

25. Baltimore- Chris Cook, CB, Virginia

26. Arizona-Linval Joseph, DT, East Carolina

27. Dallas- Major Wright, S, Florida

28. Seattle- Carlos Dunlap, DE, Florida

29. New York Jets- Corey Wooten, DE, Northwestern

30. Minnesota- Colt McCoy, QB, Texas

31. Indianapolis- Jared Veldheer, OT, Hillsdale

32. New Orleans- Navorrow Bowman, LB, Penn St.

The Craziest Three Days in (Kevo) Sports History

Saturday-

I put on my Duke jersey, but not as confidently as usual. They were playing West Virginia in the Final Four tonight, the same West Virginia team that yours truly picked to beat Duke in the National Semi-Final before the tournament began. I just didn't like the match-up for the Blue Devils. The Mountaineers were more athletic, they were tough, they could hurt you in a lot of ways.

In the 15 or so years that I've been filling out a bracket, I've only picked Duke to lose twice: in 2007 when they were a 6 seed and ended up losing in the first round to VCU, and this year. It just didn't seem like their year. They were never ranked 1 all season, and they just weren't the dominant team like the Duke teams of the early 2000's, which won the national title in 2001.

So yes, hoping I was wrong, I picked against my team. How did they respond? They were dominant. I haven't seen a Duke team play that well since the early 2000's. Everything went right. West Virginia had no chance once the second half started. I was dead wrong, and I couldn't have been happier about it. Clearly, if they could steamroll West Virginia, they wouldn't have a problem Monday night with little Butler in the National Championship game.

Sunday-

I thought the sports highlight of my Easter Sunday would be watching the end of the Shell Houston Open golf tournament in which Anthony Kim beat Vaughn Taylor in a playoff. I was wrong, again. When my roommate Matt yelled to me that Donovan McNabb had been traded to the Redskins, I thought it was a joke. I dashed to espn.com, but didn't see the headline. So I guess it was just a rumor after all. I reloaded the page, just to make sure. There it was: Eagles trade McNabb to Redskins. Unbelievable.

It seemed inevitable that McNabb would be traded this offseason. I've always been a McNabb supporter. I know everyone is saying that now that he is gone, but I actually have stuck by #5 throughout his career, while a good 70% of Eagles fans wanted him gone. However, it just felt like it was time for him to move on. He had one year left on his contract, he's 34 years old whereas the rest of the team is getting younger, and it just seemed like the Eagles had been playing the same season over and over again for the last decade. Close, but nothing to show for it. So yes, I was fully expecting a trade this offseason.

But the Redskins? A team the Eagles will play twice a season? A team the Eagles will directly be competing against for a playoff spot? I just don't understand it. Yes, I know Donovan said he didn't want to be traded to the Raiders or Bills or whatever other bad teams he was rumored to go to. It's nice for the team to send Donovan to a team he wanted to go to. But guess what? The NFL is not a nice business. Teams don't win Super Bowls by being nice. They win Super Bowls by making smart football decisions. Trading your starting QB to a direct rival is not a smart football decision. Donovan, I truly appreciate everything you have done for this team. But players get traded all the time, and for the most part, they don't have any control over it. If you had to go to Buffalo or Oakland, I'm sorry, but that's just the way this business works.

Again, I'm sad to see Donovan go. He's the best QB this franchise has ever had, and he deserved to win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. But it's time to move on and start the Kevin Kolb era.

Monday afternoon-

Opening Day. Two of the best words in sports. The Phillies opened up their season against the Nationals, sending their new ace, Roy Halladay, to the mound. This opening day felt a bit different than any other opening day, however. I can not remember a Philadelphia team with higher expectations going into the season. Yes, this includes the Eagles teams that went to several consecutive NFC title games. This includes the Phillies of last season. As far as I have seen, the Phillies have been the team predicted most to win the World Series this year. That never happened with the Eagles and the Super Bowl. Most people didn't predict the Phillies to repeat as Champions last year, much less make the World Series again. But expectations this year are sky high. The Phillies didn't win the World Series last year, but it still felt like a successful season. If the Phillies don't win the World Series this year, it will be a failure. One game down, and they look great. There are a few more games to go.

Monday night-

Everyone hates Duke, except me. Or at least it feels that way sometimes. It certainly felt that way as Duke was going up against Butler, the nation's new sweethearts. Butler, the aw-shucks team from Indiana with a cute little coach up against Duke, the giants with a coach who, let's face it, isn't exactly endearing.

As well as Butler had played in the tournament, I felt very confident that Duke would win their 4th national title. They played their best game of the year against West Virginia, and Butler's the kind of team that typically doesn't give Duke a lot of trouble. No problem.

The game started out 6-1 Duke. This was going to get ugly, and fast. Nolan Smith barely missed a 3 which would have made it 9-1. From there on, it was a slugfest. Duke would make a 3, go up by 4, looking to pull away a bit, but Butler just wouldn't let them. It went back and forth. Butler's defense was just suffocating. Duke could not get off any easy shots. The biggest lead for Duke in the game was 6, and that lasted about a minute. Even though the game was incredibly close throughout, the crowd made it seem that Butler was winning and had the momentum. I was just a little nervous.

Duke went up 5 with 3 minutes to go. I was staring to feel a little better at this point. But then Butler got a 2, and Duke missed. Butler got another 2, and it was a 1 point game with 50 seconds left. Duke calls a timeout and draws up a play. This had to work. They needed a bucket here, or they wouldn't get another shot. They end up running a great play, and Kyle Singler has an open shot. If falls way short, and Brian Zoubek ends up kicking it out of bounds. 20 seconds left, and Duke won't get the ball back. If Butler makes a shot, the game's over. I almost didn't want to watch.

Butler has trouble getting the ball in, but they finally get it in to Gordon Hayward, their best player. He drives right, but Singler is right in his face. He gets off a fade away from the baseline. It looks good. It looks really good. But it clangs off the iron, and Zoubek get the rebound. Two foul shots for Zoubek, not exactly the best of free throw shooters. No problem with the first though. He misses the second on purpose (still don't get this), and Butler gets the rebound. Still, they won't get a good shot, no chance right? Hayward throws up a prayer from half court. It looks good. It looks really good. It just clangs off the rim. Game over, but it took me a few seconds to realize that Duke had won and were the National Champions.

Most "great" tournament games are great because of what happens in the final minutes. This game certainly had great final minutes. But it was just a great game from start to finish. Always close, always played with 100% effort. It's the way every college game should be. It's easily the best Duke game I've ever seen, and up there with the best title game in any sport I've ever seen. It was the perfect ending to the craziest stretch of days I've personally ever experienced in sports.