It's a bit bittersweet coming to the end of this season. This season was full of storylines and surprises - for the good and the bad. For some, this is the last time they will see their team until the fall. For others, myself included, we know that there is a distinct possibility that we could only see our team play four more games. Though we hope for much more than that - even if the pundits tell us it is hopeless.
There has been a lot of unrest in basketball this past year. From the court to the hobby, it has been a decade that has now been capped off by doubt and unrest - and change. In many cases, the NBA has a broken business model. Teams are struggling and many arenas are nearly empty. There is always talk of a future lock-out if things aren't changed. And this is on top of one of the greatest officiating scandals that rocked the integrity of the game only a short while ago. Many fans have walked away - and it shows.
But we could focus on the negatives all day. Cynicism never got anybody anywhere. There are a ton of positives we could focus on too. This year gave us another stellar rookie class. In the midst of all that is troubling the league, the talent pool is not one of them. Tyreke, B. Jennings and Curry will be stars for years to come. And the draft class coming this next year isn't looking to be a bust either.
And for every team in the East that has attendance issues, there are teams on the West side that are hitting sell-out marks on a nightly basis. Expansion teams are proving to be an asset to the league, and not a deterrent. The Thunder and the Grizzlies, two franchises in relatively new markets are poised to change the race for the playoffs in the West for years to come.
And the mark of a great season is that there is still a reason to watch games on the last day of the year. In the East, the battle for the 8 spot is still up for grabs. And in the West, there still isn't a clear picture of how the matchups will shake out. It makes for great entertainment.
So no matter how it all looks tomorrow, I'm hoping for a great playoff season to cap off a memorable regular season. And, if the Blazers could shock the world, well that wouldn't be a bad thing either.
2 comments:
All I know is that I just can't believe the Blazers won 50 games.
I know, right. Just goes to show you that all those people who get paid millions to talk about sports, don't know the half of it.
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