This season, I’m officially delving into the “casual NBA fan” territory. I covered why in my last post, but to sum it up, the hype around the lockout, recent free agent madness and likeable superstars have sucked me in. All season, I’ll be posting an update here or there to explain my ups and downs in NBA fandom, all the while rooting for my hometown squad, the Philadelphia 76ers.
The keyword here is “casual”; I’m an uneducated, fair weathered, fickle fan just looking for entertainment. I’m going to be that guy missing all the role players and drooling at the slams all season. Sorry. I hate me in other sports. Baseball? I geek out. Hockey? Geek out. Football? I play a lot of Madden, which is kind of like geeking out. Basketball? I’m trying to have fun watching TV.
My “teams to watch” predictions from the last post were not that good at all. Celtics? Slow, old, kind of boring to watch. I’m sure Celtic fans are digging the team this season, although they did get puinished by the Heat, but me? A front running NBA casual? Not so much. Same with the Knicks; I really over valued them in my mind. Carmelo is outstanding and the Knicks are almost worth watching just for him, but as a unit they’re just not enjoyable. I’ll watch games where those teams play high caliber squads, but will I watch Knicks – Bobcats? No. That’s the point of being a casual NBA fan: I want to be able to turn on ESPN, see a marquee (or sub-marquee) matchup and enjoy it.
On the other hand, I got the Heat right. That offense is incredible. They run a fast-break offense, I don’t know how else to explain it. If you’re a struggling AAU coach desperate for an offense strategy, grab the fastest, biggest kid on your team, inbound him the ball and let him run end to end and lay it up. That’s what the Heat do, except they have four of those guys and they dunk it down in spectacular fashion. I’m one of those “Lebron Haters” and even I love watching the Heatles go to work. It’s also great to watch the media hate machine try to go full steam when the Heat are playing so well.
I can’t believe I didn’t have the Thunder on that list, a major oversight on my part, because honestly they ARE the team to watch so far (interesting side note: I turned off that buzzer beater game to watch a DVR of the third episode of 24/7. I blame this partially on Corey and partially on the Mavericks being sleep inducingly boring). Could Durant be the NBA’s next big star? I’d love to see him win a championship this season, and they should be able to last considering how young they are. Sure, we’re five games in, but a Miami – Oklahoma City finals looks like it is extremely possible and would be a hell of a series to watch.
As for the hometown squad, the Sixers have looked pretty solid so far. Five games on the road to start the season is brutal, especially when most of those games are on the west coast. Spencer Hawes has been the media darling so far this season, and honestly I’m pretty amped for the Sixers to have a good big man if things work out. He’s no David Robinson, but as long as he fills his spot well I won’t complain. The guy I’ve been most impressed with so far is Evan Turner. I want this guy to be great, and maybe he’s not ever going the be a superstar, but he’s progressed so well especially now in a starting role. Could you imagine if he just went off for 40-15-6 one game? Man, that would be sweet. It’s early, but I expect big things from the Sixers, at least more than a 5 game out in the first round (let’s hit six this year guys!).
So yeah. There’s a short glance into my first two weeks of NBA fandom. Here’s to hoping the next twenty five are just as fun.
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