Wow. I was incredibly psyched for the NBA Playoffs... well at least the Western Conference portion of the playoffs. But the NBA went and did NBA things.
To be fair part of the problem has been injuries. Those can't really be controlled... or can they. I knew the Eastern Conference games were going to be hot garbage but I was hoping the Rockets vs Lakers, Nuggets vs Timber Wolves, and Spurs vs Trailblazers would all be entertaining series. I was wrong.
The Rockets traded away all of their depth in order to get 37 year old Kevin Durant and sure enough, he has missed several of their playoff games. That has reduced the Rockets to a thin team without enough scoring. They can't even beat a Lakers squad missing 40% of their starters. The Spurs and Trailblazers is incredibly disappointing. This is no one's fault except physics and gravity. Proving the age old adage that "the bigger they are the harder they fall", Victor Wembanyama has missed half of that series after he tripped and hit is face on the court. It was brutal. He looked like a boxer that had been crushed by an upper cut. Check that. He looked like an athletic freak of nature who had been crushed by an uppercut... although how would anyone reach his chin? So I haven't bothered watching that series.
But the most disappointing of all has been the Nuggets vs the Timber Wolves. Although I still love basketball, it seems every year I have to look past the fact that it seems to be a real as a WWF wrestling match between the Road Warriors and the British Bulldogs. Series like these give me every reason to believe every conspiracy theory out there. Sadly, I have watched four of these five games. I have no idea why I tuned back in last night but I was up working and had nothing better to leave on in the background. Games two and three of the series were two of the biggest pieces of bullshit I have ever seen.
It was blatantly obvious that the referees wanted to make this a series so the various TV networks (is ESPN, ABC, Peacock, Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll or Dropoutv... there are so many of them it is impossible to know) got a long series feature Nikola Jokic and Anthony Edwards. But to make this happen, the referees had to completely stop calling fouls. Normally games a re controlled by blowing the whistle. Those two games were controlled by hiding the whistle. The last time I saw refereeing this bad was the 2011 playoff series between the Bulls and the Heat. The Bulls never had a chance against the referees that series.
Not pictured: The strong breeze that blew on LeFlop 2 seconds before this.
If you want proof that something wasn't right, there are only two players you need to watch. Go back and watch Julius Randle and Rudy Golbert. Spoiler alert, here is what you will see. Julius Randle constantly pushed Nikola Jokic with two hand either in the back or chest. It happened on literally every play for a few stretches in the game. Jokic went 1 for 14 at one point because he was literally pushed every time he shot. Sadly the referees were playing "where's Waldo" with their whistles and couldn't seem to signal a foul. On offense, Randall committed about 35 offensive fouls. He constantly cleared out with his arm or just flat out ran over defenders. It was so shockingly obvious that I thought the sound on my TV was broken and I just couldn't hear the obvious whistles. But no. they did not exist.
When it comes to Gobert you only have to look at him on the "offensive" end. He has absolutely no post moves or any offensive game at all, so you will need to keep an eye near the three point line. But he's not shooting. Oh no. He is setting "screens". The ones where he moves into a defender or sticks his ass out at the last second to hit him are bad but I can see not calling those. But just watch how many times he physically grabs defenders and pulls them away from a shooter. It is absurd. I'm pretty sure he gave a guy the Heimlich maneuver at one point and there was nary a whistle to be heard. It became simply unwatchable.
I have no idea what the NBA is thinking with this strategy. Jokic is the most offensively gifted player I have seen in 50 years. He should be featured for his play making ability. Its incredible. But when he is constantly being fouled it takes all the skill and beauty out of his game. Oh wait I do know what the NBA was thinking. They were hoping to get to feature another one of their stars in Anthony Edwards. But that may have back fired as Edwards hurt his knee and will be out for several weeks. I honestly would not be surprised if the NBA shifts back to wanting to feature Jokic and 5 Wolves players foul out next game.
The only reason I'd tune in for Game six is if Mean Gene Okerlund is there to call the action in the squared circle. I really hope someone gets hit with a chair. That is always fun!