nba musings: the hype machine will bite you

Posted on | May 25, 2009 | Comments

Cavs @ Magic 89-99

I have mixed feelings about these games.

witnessme

On the one hand, I really did want someone to knock the Cavs on their ass. They were just way too pleased with themselves this year between the pre-game picture pose crap and the starters dancing on the bench to Rick Astley at the end of games like the good days were just never going to end. Oh they end all right. They end. I know that my team talked their own trash and did their own dancing in 2008, but it never came easy. Never. The Celtics had to fight their way past the Hawks and then Cavs before they got to the ECF. They didn’t just breeze through them in consecutive sweeps. There is just something obnoxious about the way the Cavs arrived at their own ECF and I think now that they’re here, they have few supporters left outside of Cleveland. I know, I know… What were they supposed to do? Lose? Not be happy? I don’t know. I think it’s all about the way you celebrate and the way you rub it in. They did a little too much of both. Over this past season, I’ve seen the tide turn against them — mainly LeBron actually — and now that it’s turned, it’s like a mean spirited tidal wave. People just can’t wait to see LeBron fail. People appreciate a talented athlete, but they don’t want one that’s built up to be a messiah before he’s even won any championships.

The Magic on the other hand, are playing the “nobody respects us” card to the hilt. Something about that makes me want to punch them in the neck too. Just shut the hell up. Win something and then people will respect you. It really is that easy. Shut up and win. Two things I really wish Dwight Howard would stop doing. 1) Grabbing the ball, putting his head down, and “bull”-ing his way to the basket. That should be a foul every time and it’s only called about half the time. Everybody bitches about LeBron getting away with fouls, well he’s not the only one. 2) Swinging his elbows around wildly when he’s grabbing rebounds. He does this all the time and it’s incredibly dangerous. Thankfully he’s mostly only injured his own teammates thus far, but soon enough he’s going to to hurt someone who matters… Like Perk or Leon.