Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Disappointing Pistons

I don't have much to write about in this post. In fact, the only reason I'm even writing is because it has been a while since I last checked in at WCWIEL (catchy acronym, I know) and I have created a new page at GooglePages that I will be updating when I go across the Atlantic to England for the summer, starting July 7th. If you'd like to see what exactly I will be doing over there, here's the link to the site and I hope you like it.

While I'm writing, I might as well catch up with what's been going on in my life since my Stanley Cup preview ten days ago.
  • I'm not going to talk about the current state of the Stanley Cup Finals because the Red Wings have won every playoff series so far without any updates mid-series and it would be a mistake to buck that trend now. I'm superstitious, what else can I say?
  • The Detroit Pistons lost in the NBA Conference Finals for the third consecutive year, making them possibly the most disappointing team I've ever rooted for. Yup, I said it. They are even worse than the Lions or the 2008 Tigers. How could this be, you ask? They've made six straight conference finals and even won an NBA championship, so how could they possibly be that disappointing? Well, I'll tell you how. Each of the past six seasons, this core group of veterans and talented players finish either first or second in the Eastern Conference and head into the playoffs as one of the favorites to win the NBA title. Yet, every season since 2004 when they won the championship, they seem to play like they don't want another ring. Sure, they have won 10+ playoff games for five straight years, but since that magical run in 2004, they lack fight, intensity, and concentration in the games that matter most. Last night, the Boston Celtics *shudder* won in Detroit and closed out the series in 6 games. This game was a complete joke. After three quarters, Boston had basically sat down and said, "Alright, you can have this game. KG is in foul-trouble and you're up by 10. Let's go back to Beantown for another game seven." Instead of seizing the moment though, the Pistons turned the ball over constantly and missed plenty of open shots against the Celtics' bench players. Since the Pistons' weren't closing out the last 10 minutes of the game on their home floor like Boston expected, the Celtics decided to put their starters back in and just like that, the game was over. Now, I'm not going to say Detroit is a much better basketball team than Boston, but they are better. They have a better starting lineup overall, a better bench, a better coach, and much more experience. But they lack heart. You could argue that over the past six years, there hasn't been a team as talent-laden as the Pistons in the entire NBA. But there are many teams, including this year's Celtics, who are much hungrier for a title. And that is why I am thoroughly disappointed in the Detroit Pistons. I don't wish the Celtics any luck in the NBA Finals because they've already received wayyy too much of it from referees and those Boston Garden rims in their trip to the final round. In fact, I will not watch a single second of the NBA Finals purely out of spite; hockey's better, anyway.
  • I have another movie review for all you readers, since last night my Dad and I watched a sci-fi classic, 12 Monkeys, starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. Not only was this film incredibly interesting and fun to watch, but Brad Pitt gave possibly his best performance as an actor. I love pretty much any role Pitt plays in cinema, but this one was fantastic. Some argue that he overacted and that made the movie almost unwatchable, but I completely disagree. This movie is a must-see-movie and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. The ending is mind-bending as well, so I hope you all go out and see it...or, since it was released 13 years ago, have already seen it. Final verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Alright, I'm finished with this random entry. I hope you all have a good weekend and I shall be back soon with another post once the Stanley Cup Finals come to an end! Go Wings!

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