(One time Nets play-by-play guy the great Bill Raftery)
Here are some quick thoughts on the games and a preview of the week ahead.
Last night was far and away the most exciting night of 1st round action. You had 2 good finishes and 1 great finish. Plus, probably the three best home crowds I have seen in a long time for NBA games (Props to OKC, Utah and Milwaukee)
- Kobe Bryant may still be the best player on the Lakers, but Pau Gasol maybe the most important.
- I wish Serge Ibaka had boxed out Gasol and the Thunder could have pushed the Lakers to 7.
- Watch out Lebron, you’ve got company in Kevin Durant.
- There have been some good moments in the series, but Atlanta-Milwaukee has been a rather boring 7 game series, which is pretty much par for the course for the Hawks, who played a 1st round 7 game snoozer vs. the Celtics two years ago.
- The Nuggets absolutely imploded and can we strip the title of Mr. Big Shot from Chauncey Billups. He was absolutely owned by Deron Williams that entire series.
( Jack Sikma: Fear the Perm!! Go Bucks)
I don’t really have much else from last night that I haven’t said or hinted at before. With only 1 game left in Round 1. It’s time to point the sails of this ship towards round 2 and for round 2 I’m going to borrow some column ideas (gimmicks) from a very popular internet sportswriter, Bill Simmons. For those unfamiliar (very few) with Simmons he writes over at ESPN and is sometimes credited with starting this whole crazy of internet sports writing. Although, some people feel (me at times) his work has declined over the years, he still is widely popular both as a writer and podcaster. Among the gimmicks I will be borrowing (ripping off) are the running diary of a game, a breakdown of the 2nd round using an 80’s movie and possibly some player rankings in the playoffs. So, this upcoming week will be Sports Guy week at Benoit Benjamin. Now onto some things I have been reading and listening to lately…
Link Dump
(The multi-talented Sarah Silverman)
- Great article on the band The National, who have a new album coming out in May
- Nice list on why Chicago is a great beer city
- What its like to eat dinner with Bill Murray
- Adam Carolla's interesting podcast with Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) of Parks & Recreation
- Great breakdown of the Blackhawks-Canucks series by my friend Phat Joe
Till Next time...
Soundtrack for today's post was provided by (bit of a throwback) Bloc Party & Band of Horses (video for Great Salt Lake)
FYI, I "found" the new The National disc, very good.
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