Yesterday, I took the day off and saw 2 NBA games. I'm cross-posting a TR from a basketball forum I post in. Back on the grind today, and Day 8 and 9 stats are included at the bottom
Yesterday I had a pretty unique experience. I went to two NBA games. Getting the obvious brag out of the way, I'd like to point out a few of the differences between the games from both a basketball and entertainment perspective.
Game #1: IND @ NYK, 12:00 Noon, MSG
Ticket price: $135 per
Seats: Upper upper nosebleeds, slightly off-center
Quality of in-stadium entertainment: 2 / 10
Fan involvement and buzz: 3 / 10
Quality of game : 2 / 10
Game description: I asked my friend AJ what game he'd pick to see live between IND @ NYK and CLE @ PHL. He insta-responded with the MSG game, saying "it's not even close, man." He couldn't have been more wrong.
The matinee was a complete dud from both a basketball and entertainment perspective. Despite a packed house, the energy level in the building was decidedly underwhelming. The game itself was an absolute atrocity.
Carmelo was the only guy on either team who didn't look like he was distracted by skipping out on family brunch. Indiana's entire offense, according to basketball expert Harlaboas Voulagris "consisted of dumping the ball into the post and standing around and watching." Roy Hibbert was a useless cog on the offensive end, and the number of airballs by both teams in the first half made me think I was watching a junior high "B" league.
At one point late in the 1st half, both teams were shooting 27% from the field, and below 20% from 3-point range. Even the usually automatic Steve Novak was missing wide open jumpers.
The pace of play picked up slightly early in the 3rd quarter, as Paul George started making some shots for Indiana. But New York put on a spurt that made the outcome no longer in question, and the interest level of the building waned to an all-time low. Easily the biggest bright spot in the game -- factoring in expectations, fan reaction, and performance -- was Rasheed Wallace.
'Sheed was greeted with raucous applause every time he entered the game, and he looked sharp as well, scoring 9 points on 3-7 shooting, and adding 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play. Seems like 'Sheed is one of those guys that opposing teams love to hate, but secretly wish he was on their team. He's always been one of my favourite players for his energy level, confidence, and entertainment value.
As the game was winding down, and the fans politely applauded the victory, I turned to my friends, pretty disappointed with the way the game had gone, and trying to construct a game-plan for the rest of the day. Roundtable lurker Colin suggested we drive down to Philly and catch the other game. I didn't need to be convinced.
I had our friend Ryan go on StubHub on his phone to look for tickets. "$75 each for 3 is the best I can do," he said. "Not bad." I responded.. "those are the cheapest?" "Nah, those are the best seats. The cheapest ones are $5 per." Considering we'd just paid $135 per for practically the worst seats at MSG, $75 per was a steal, so we obviously got the best ones available.
The drive from New York to Philly shouldn't take long, but we were starting in Queens where Ryan's car was parked, and had to drive all the way through Manhattan before we could get on the highway. Naturally we got out a deck of cards and started playing some $5 games. Note for the future: probably don't try to include the driver in a card game when you're blazing through the busiest city in North America.
Game #2L CLE @ PHL
Ticket price: $75 per
Seats: Incredible
Quality of in-stadium entertainment: 9 / 10
Fan involvement and buzz: 9 / 10
Quality of game : 9 / 10
Cheerleaders: 10/10
Tip-off was at 6:09 PM and we pulled up to the venue at 6:27, having been held back by an absurd New Jersey state low policy of "full service" gas fill-ups, that come with a mandatory window washing. We'd been sitting at the gas station for fifteen minutes, easily. Once we got to the venue, we quickly scrambled over to Section 124, and the usher told us to wait until there was a stoppage in play, and then head down to Row 4.
Row 4, it turns out, was actually 4 rows up from the court. I've been to many NBA games, but these were the best seats I've ever had. We were just to the left of half court, behind the far right part of the Cavs bench. We arrived with 3 minutes left in the first quarter, and the 76ers up by 2. Immediately, it was obvious that the fans were way more into this game.
The coolest thing about sitting so close to the court is being able to see and hear the little things that go on throughout the course of the game. Seeing how a player reacted to criticism from an assistant coach, the frustration on the face of Spencer Hawes every time he missed a shot he shouldn't have been taking, the intensity of the point guard matchup between Jrue Holliday and Kyrie Irving, the trash talking by Kyrie on the defensive end.
The game itself was extremely hard fought and closely contested. It was pretty much the perfect basketball game to watch, because it was a defensive battle that was still exciting. While the Knicks-Pacers game finished with a nearly identical score, that was because of an utter inability to execute on the offensive end. In this game, both teams looked sharp offensively, but even better defensively.
Anderson Varejao would be my choice for player of the game; he finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and played with an all-around intensity that every coach is looking for from their players. Unlike young guys like Dion Waiters and Nick Young, who showed sparks of brilliance, but often looked lost or missed a step, Varejao didn't take a single play off or let his focus waver.
At one point, Colin asked "who's that old, fat guy?" Well it turns out Jason Richardson still has some game. Despite putting on a lot of pounds and looking years beyond his age, he was still hustling his ass off, and firing up mid-range jumpers like it's 2002. He even had one decent contested dunk.
The player I was most looking forward to seeing in either game was Kyrie Irving, and he didn't disappoint. While it wasn't Kyrie's sharpest game ever (he finished with 5 turnovers and didn't shoot the ball well), his handle was perhaps the sickest I've seen live. He had several plays that just mesmerized the crowd, where he'd be seemingly trapped in a corner, and get through 2 people using a series of nifty crossovers, fake crossovers, and spin moves. The play of the game belonged to Kyrie; he deked out the entire Sixers squad, floated into the lane, got by a masked Tyler Zeller, and put up a beautiful reverse layup.
In contrast to the Knicks game, where the entertainment during timeouts and between quarters seemed almost non-existent, we were treated to an array of entertainment in Philadelphia. The cheerleaders came out at least 6 times, wearing at least 4 different outfits, and they were looking good. There was also a spectacular trampoline dunking segment by a bunch of kids who looked no older than 15, some breakdancing, and at least 100 t-shirts sent flying into the stands by one of those t-shirt guns. Then there was the 450 pound black guy 10 rows behind the basket -- who looked like he was probably a superfan who went to every game -- taking his t-shirt off and showing off his flab for the cameras
Listening to the radio broadcast after the game, we heard Doug Collins reference Nick Young as "Swaggy." There may not be a more appropriate nickname for the 7th year player who genuinely looks and plays like he thinks he's the best player in the league. Watching him shoot freethrows was altogether hilarious. He shoots his second free-throw like he's shooting a fade-away, leaning back, putting his hands in the air, and beginning to strut backwards towards his own hoop as the ball is in the air. He was even trying to fake out his teammates in the halftime shootaround.
The game was closely contested, pretty much the entire way. Not once in the game was a team up by more than 8 points. The Cavs fans behind us and Sixers fans in front of us both seemed confused by our apparently wavering allegiances. We were just cheering for good basketball, but they were each trying to drag us into their camps. Overall, I was leaning slightly towards a Cavs victory, since I had money on them. But the spread was 6.5, so a Sixers win by 6 or less would've worked as well.
With 3 minutes left, the Sixers were up by 4, and I had a good sweat on my hands. Somehow Spencer Hawes made a 3 (is that really in his range?), with about 2:30 to go, and I knew it wasn't looking good. This would be the point in the game that the Cavs would have to get desperate and foul a lot to try to win. In the end, the Sixers hung onto a 7 point lead exactly, and I'd lost the bet by half a free throw.
A couple lessons to take away from this adventure:
1) Don't trust AJ with any basketball advice ever
2) Go to Sixers games over Knicks games if you have the choice
3) Don't fill up your tank in Jersey
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Day 8
Daily Profit: ($900)
Total Profit: (5,905)
Hours Played: 8
Total Hours Played: 78
Self-Grade: B+
Day 9
Daily Profit: ($75)
Total Profit: ($5,980)
Hours Played: 4
Total Hours Played: 82
Self Grade: B
