Digging Deeper into the Playoffs

First appeared on June 7th, 2012
in The Lebanon Reporter

Old versus Young. Experience versus enthusiasm. Carson versus Arsenio. We’ve seen this act before so it should be nothing new. Well maybe new is a bad choice of words if you happen to be fans of the San Antonio Spurs or Boston Celtics. Either way Father Time remains the most overlooked, least analyzed, scrutinized or scouted player in the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

The Heat were for all intents and purposes the most logical choice for pre-season NBA Champions. And after a quick 2-0 start to the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami has been blindsided by a Boston team that has lathered their joints with enough WD 40 to remind all of us why they don’t hand trophies out before the season begins.

And while Oklahoma City continues to churn out posterizing dunks at an unprecedented rate, San Antonio remains Watty Piper’s original Little Engine that Could, busy plodding along on a journey towards The Finals. Both series are a lesson in life. There is something to be said for experience.

The Media would have us believe that OKC is a newborn infant ready to shed their diapers and claim a title while San Antonio is the toothless grizzled relic of yesteryear huddling behind their bedroom door as the Grim Reaper’s scythe is reaching in for them.

In a league built on young superstars and athletic role players the NBA finds itself at war with itself. And while this is a great recipe for producers of Keeping up with the Kardashians or Jersey Shore, it doesn’t compute in David Stern’s world. The NBA brands itself as fresh, young and exciting. The Spurs and Celtics are none of these.

And yet there they are again. Those darned fundamentals. The Spurs and their screens, the Celtics and their stifling team defense. The Big Fundamental and his unstoppable 17 foot bank shot and Rajon Rondo and his- well OK maybe we need to leave Rondo out of any discussion that involves fundamental basketball.

So you’re a 25 year veteran of accounting and some hotshot kid comes in fresh out of the Kelley School of Business. The stuffed shirt who signs your paychecks starts suggesting you might be able to learn a few things from Billy with the spiked hair. Whether it’s an out of town seminar he arranges for the two of you to attend together or something far less subtle, like an email that reads “Hey, you could learn a few things from Billy”, either way you feel slighted. So you find a new resolve. A rediscovered determination that carries you from the water cooler to the vending machine in record time.

This is another X factor currently propelling both the Spurs and Celtics. Her name is disrespect and she is both bold and beautiful. All season long every talking head in the NBA, every basketball magazine cover, every SportsCenter lead-in and every kid aged 10-19 (including Billy with the Spiked Hair) has done nothing but talk about Miami and Oklahoma City.

And suddenly there they are. Two former champions. Two groups feeling disrespected and boasting more playoff experience than half the other teams in the league combined. The NBA has long sold fans on rivalries. The Lakers and Celtics. The Bulls versus the Bad Boys. Tim Donaghy versus the Federal Government. Who knew the new rivalry would take such an old approach?

It may be true what they say “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, but in this case it’s rapidly becoming clear these old dogs don’t need any.

© 2012 Eric Walker Williams