Tough Call

I've got myself in the horns of a dilemma, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to resolve it.

Who do I want to lose more - the Spurs or the Lakers?

With tonight's crucial Game 5 looming, there's a chance Pop's Gang of Less-Than-Merry Men will be headed for the sunset in a few hours, and they will take with them a cadre of people Sonics fans, well, any NBA fans despise.

Tony Parker. (Ick).
Manu Ginobili. (Yeech).
Brent Barry. (Well, if you've read the site, you'd understand).
Robert "Big Foul" Horry.
Gregg Popovich.
The whole "personality-free" culture.

As you can see, there are a myriad of reasons to root for the Lakers tonight. Except, well, it's the Lakers, right? How in the world can you make yourself root for Kobe Bryant? Even in a perfect situation, if Bryant played for, say, the Bucks, he'd be difficult to cheer for. You know, what with the rape trial, the kicking Shaq out the door nonsense, demands for trades, etc., etc.

But add in the whole celebrity bandwagon crapola with games in LA come playoff time and the way the league practically Gilloolies Laker opponents when the Finals draw closer, it's even tougher still to cheer for Kobe.

On the other hand, the Lakers have Turiaf, and he's a fun guy to cheer for. Phil Jackson ... he might be annoying, but you have to respect the success, his occasional self-deprecating ways, and the fact he actually enjoys the limelight, unlike Pop who just does not seem interested one bit in promoting the league.

But outweighing that is the fact that if the Lakers make the finals there's a distinct possibility of a Celtic-Laker championship, and seeing David Stern be rewarded with a ratings bonanza after the way he's given Seattle such a shafting would not be very karmaic, now would it?

So there you have it: My dilemma. Do I root for the Spurs and hope the Pistons prevail, setting up a horrifically boring Finals series that draws a 2.3 rating? Or do I root for Kobe and the Big Ticket, and simultaneously line Clay Bennett and David Stern's pockets?

Tough call, tough call.

Sund

Lots of folks are chiming in about Atlanta's decision to tab Rick Sund as their general manager.

But look at this from another perspective: Sund's greatest crime in the eyes of Sonic fans was selecting Robert Swift, Johan Petro, and Mo Sene with successive first-round draft choices.

Well, inasmuch as the Hawks are without draft choices this year (that's right, they're absent from the first and second rounds), isn't this a perfect situation for Sund?

To convolute an oft-repeated cliche, if Rick Sund makes a bad draft choice and there is no draft, does that draft choice make a sound?

Flop Off

My favorite headline of the off-season was supposed to be "City Wins Lawsuit Against Sonics" or, possibly, "Photos Emerge of Bennett and Stern," but until those come rolling off the presses, I'll settle for this one, courtesy of espn.com:

"Fines will be imposed for clear cases of flopping"

Of all the problems with the NBA on the court - the complaining to the officials, the special treatment for superstars, the dubious officiating whenever the Lakers are playing, the 'swing the ball around the perimeter for a 3-pointer' offense - to this viewer, flopping is the worst.

Flopping is not basketball. Nobody flops in pick-up basketball, because it is the antithesis of competition. Competing means pushing back, not falling down. Competing means focusing your efforts on defeating your man, not playing to an official.

And yet the NBA has allowed this spectacle to rob the game of its excitement. 15 years ago, a man drove into the lane, threw down a dunk and the crowd cheered. Now, a man drives into the lane, Manu Ginobili slides over, allows himself to be grazed on the elbow, and falls down as if he had been shot from someone on a grassy knoll.

It's a disgusting practice, and it has had the same affect on the game as the European introduction of smallpox to Native Americans. Sure, flopping existing before the Euros came over, but it reached new heights under the teachings of Professor Vlade Divac and his bizarrely bearded disciples.

Kudos to the NBA for making an effort to put an end to this. If they do nothing else right this off-season, I'll applaud them for this.