1. How does the 3rd best player on a team become the back-to-back league MVP?...
2. The Suns did not invent the WC run-and-gun style of hoops, the Kings did...
Lets go back to 2002, for a moment, because before that epic 2002 WCF 7 game, to-the-limit series, there were some other rounds played, and of course, what i am thinking of is the semi-finals of the WC...now, i cant think who the Lakers beat to get to the WCF (i looked it up, and it was the Spurs, which only further validates my point that the Kings v. Lakers match-up was the defining series of the decade), but i will always remember who the Kings played in the semi's of the WC playoff bracket: the Mavs...
Now, i love Dirk, true baller, good representative, he has given his honest props to Webber, so i am cool with him, no questions asked...what some of you might remember is the complete stroking of the Mavs offense and supposed unique style-of-play at the time, as if Webber had never made Jason Williams' career the preceding years or something, but as with everything under Stern, there is the truth and then there is the league mandated story...so, it was the Mavs that were everyone at ESPN's favorite to take out the Lakers that year...as good as the series with the Lakers with was, and how it will always be remembered as one of the most significant playoff series in the history of the league, for me, i will always be more fond of that Kings/Mavs series in the semi's, even more than the Lakers series...
Two moments will always stick in my head, and someday when someone like Adam Silver is not running the "entertainment" division of the NBA, and we are able to buy DVDs of previous playoff series, you will be able to watch the two plays, and concur with me how dominant Bibby and Webber were together...first, picture this:
Bibby makes a steal around half-court, dribbles toward the lane, and then fades toward the left, and looks for a play, but the whole time, he knew exactly what he was going to do with the ball, because out of the left corner of the screen comes a blur, straight-down the middle, as Bibby throws the ball from the left-hash, near the sideline, Webb grabs the ball, above the rim, after having taking off from somewhere inside the free-throw line to 2-hand tomahawk an alley-oop in traffic against the Mavs, as they look around trying to figure out how that play was even possible, as it happened so quickly...
second, look for this, when you someday are able to get the DVDs: Webb, himself makes a steal at midcourt, takes a couple of dribbles toward Nash, as the only Mav back on defense to try and stop a break...Webb has Bibby trailing on the right-wing, and he dishes over to his PG, who is streaking toward the right-side of the lane, which prompts Nash to shuffle toward where Bibby now has the ball...after a short couple of steps and dribbles, Webb is filling the lane, and Bibby kicks it back to him for perhaps the biggest dunk I have ever seen in my life, on top of the head of one to-be 2-time MVP, Steve Nash, as he looks on helplessly...from that moment on, it was abundantly clear that the Kings were simply going to run the Mavs straight-off the court, and lead to their dismantling in the face of all available evidence, that they really were not competitive with the Kings...
of course, you have not heard this story before, as it is more likely that the 2003 playoff series will be talked about by league fluffers, particularly Webber's Game 2, beginning of the 3rd quarter collapse at the baseline from a blown-out knee...to me:
2002 > 2003...
Steve Nash belongs in the NBA, he is a good PG, he is not an NBA MVP, under any stretch of the imagination...like i said back in the Sacramento Bee Kings forum days:
Bibby over Nash, every last day b-ball is played...
so, tonight the Pistons face an older, and somewhat still effective Nash-led Suns, who have for some reason gone from the most reckless, and entertaining teams since the Kings, prior to the Hawks coming on the scene, and turned in to one of the most boring, and ineffective offenses in the WC, and it happened like over-night...like another blogger said last nite, that i read: who would have thought that it was the Pistons were the more entertaining and effective offenses in this match-up...good luck, Terry Porter...
ah, that was enjoyable, i have long wanted to rekindle that 2002 WC semi-final match-up that is honestly exhibit A in my argument of the Kings dominance of this decade's hoops...as my friend says, they never won anything, but they were the best team, bar none...better than Kobe and Shaq, better than Duncan, better than the 2004 Pistons, the Kings of 2002 were the only team this decade competitive in historical terms with the Bad Boys, Jordan, Magic, and Bird, and the fact that they didnt even make it to the NBA Finals should be all the proof we need that something has run aground in the way the NBA is managed...
peace out...
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