More Game 2s

The Bulls racked the Heat last night, and it's official: I love the freakin' Bulls. Luol Deng and Adres Nocioni are both in my top 10 list of players the Cavs need before they can take the next step, and Hinrich is the prototype of what a point guard should be. Ben Gordon doesn't always take the smartest shots, but he can hit from anywhere, and more & more I find myself impressed with his driving ability. The front court combo of Wallace, Brown and Thomas can clearly tangle with any front court in the league. Duhon is as competent a backup point as there is in the league, and could probably start on most teams. And as if that all weren't enough, Thabo Sefolosha is rapidly becoming one of my favorite rookies. Not to mention they're the best defensive team in the playoffs outside of San Antonio. Watching the game last night, all I could think was how old the Bulls make the Heat look. Anybody still clinging to the illusion that the Heat can repeat needs to wake up. Maybe if Wade were 100%... maybe. But he's clearly not all the way back yet. This one's as good as over.
I like the Suns almost as much as I like the Bulls. And now I have another reason to love them; they make Kobe look like a WNBA player. Last night they beat the Lakers to the tune of 30 points, and for the majority of the 2nd and 3rd quarters made the Lakers look like a high school team. A shitty high school team.
The most annoying thing is how much the announcers were slobbering all over him even while he played like crap, his team played like crap, and he didn't even have the decency to go to the sideline and commit harikiri. Kobe misses an ugly turn around jumper in triple coverage? "He's just so hard to cover." Kobe makes an ugly and ill advised pass to a guy who hasn't hit a shot all night (Walton) when he could have easily gone to the bucket? "Kobe sees the court so well." Kobe's team is down 30+ points and he doesn't even look like he cares? "Kobe is such a good leader!" When are we gonna stop calling this guy the greatest? He's got the talent, to be sure, but at this point it should be clear that his ability to win games is, at best, on par with guys like McGrady, Carter and Pierce. They kept talking about the Suns being wary of Kobe miracles, but I can't remember the last "Kobe miracle" I saw. Other than when he turned those stadium nachos into loaves of bread and my 32 oz. Pepsi into wine...