In recounting his feeling entering the 1993 NBA Finals, Michael Jordan described the Phoenix Suns as portraying the little brother to Chicago's elder sibling. The Suns, he noted, might win one or two out of seven, but there was no stopping the Bulls in the end.
And who could blame him? The Bulls had just won back-to-back NBA titles, and they had overcome the great franchises in Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit and (ahem) Cleveland to do it. Charles Barkely and the Suns of Phoenix could do little else but play Beaver to Jordan's Wally.
It is now 14 years later, and we're looking at a very different NBA, and the current big brother of this middle-aged 2007 NBA Season is none other then the Phoenix Suns. In some cases, bigger brother may be too weak a description. After watching the Suns systematically dismantle my Cleveland Cavaliers on two separate occasions this year, I'm apt to call Phoenix my daddy.
And certainly not the new age paternal figure who builds his child's confidence by letting him win and using positive reinforcement. I'm talking about the dad that rejects every feeble layup from his grammar school, pre-teen, then goes in the house and drinks his dinner with a glazed over look of personal disappointment in his eye.
Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.
The build-up to Sunday's game in Cleveland was clear. After a 109-90 routing at the hands of the Suns and a 2-5 road trip that was capped off with a home loss to the post-Iverson 76ers, the Cavs faithful had a sour taste in it's mouth. A convenient toe injury kept Lebron on the bench and resting Friday night as the Cavalier supporting cast managed to put up 105 without Lebron - a feat that shocked me, regardless of the inept Phillie opponent. A fresh Lebron flanked by newly confident role players in front of the home crowd insured every advantage would be given to the Cavs. Throw in a little brother chip on the shoulder, and victory should have been assured.
But something else happened.
It was Sunday afternoon, and Dad was still hung over from the night before. I wasn't really sure what was wrong with him, but I knew that he wasn't going to be at the top of his game today.
The Cavs began with a defined resolve that was absent for most of their road trip. LeBron and Drew Gooden both came out with big dunks early. The lead went back and forth, but when the Cavaliers' second unit extended their lead against a vastly superior Suns bench crew, it seemed that victory was possible today.
Or maybe Dad was just waking up.
The game continued on it's see-saw course through the 3rd quarter. What I was enjoying the most was that my team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, was going shot for shot with the Phoenix Suns - the most prolific scoring team in the league. Lebron was being Lebron, and Drew Gooden was playing lights out. Had Larry Hughes been hitting his shots, this game might have been a blowout.
Then I realized something. Dad didn't really want to play at all. He was out there, in the backyard, but he didn't really have that twinkle in his eye. He was sort of slumped over like he had been the victim of a power-nag on the way home from church. Mom had told him to bring me outside and tire me out.
As the game went on into it's waning minutes, the Cavs clearly started to fatigue. There shots weren't falling, and they couldn't get good looks. The Phoenix depth was just too much for Cleveland, and the Suns started shining down threes as tired Cavs defenders couldn't keep on their man in the face of a switch. All of this courtesy of two-time MVP Steve Nash. Nash would drive off of a pick and immediately kick it back out to the open man; who was happy to oblige this opportunity by quieting the Q and increasing the lead by three points.
I guess if you want to keep the metaphor going, Nash can be Dad's head or something. Yeah, I think I'm good with that. (And yeah, I think D'Antoni was mom from before. Sorry Mike.)
So the Cavaliers fell to the Suns once again, and Phoenix completed a season sweep of Lebron and company.
Though I'm not big on moral victories, the supporting cast played an excellent game on Sunday. Drew Gooden had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Donyell Marshall added another 15 points. If the team can continue playing like this, and Larry Hughes can get into the swing of things, we can beat anyone in the league.
Anyone, of course, that isn't our daddy.
In site news, this is the first entry in the history of patrickjdobson.com. Feel free to soak this in as a meaningful event.
I'll give you a moment.
(...)
(...)
Pauses are tough to pull off in print.
This is how things are going to go:
- I am going to attempt to make an entry everyday (unlikely).
- I am going to be insightful (read: boring).
- I am going to be funny (read: conceited).
- I am going write about stuff you (don't) care about.
- I am going to (rudely) answer your emails. So make use of them!
- Feel free to send whatever you want to me. Creative works. Entries of your own. Whatever. If I like it, I'll print it.
So now I've run out of things to write.
Don't ever come back.
Tschüs!