Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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I'm expecting a small and grim bunch for this one. Unless you're a Celtics fan. Then you will likely be happy. The grim calculus of the NBA Finals tells us that no team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a championship. Fewer sports have grimmer calculuses than the NBA. I think I also really enjoy typing "grim calculus." It sounds a lot better than "grim trigonometry" or "grim linear algebra."
(For those not scoring at home, that was six uses of the word "grim" or a variant of it in one paragraph.)
The NHL has had one team come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup, as well as one other team in an earlier round. MLB has had one team come back from 3-0 in the ALCS (what city was that team from?) and a handful have come back from 3-1 down in the World Series (1925, 1958, 1968, 1985, 1986).
Today's question: In baseball, the cliche goes "Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher." What is the equivalent cliche for basketball?
Bonus trivia question (which I'm sure someone will look up): Which of the following cities has not been the permanent home of an NBA franchise?
Double bonus trivia question (and you can look this up too): Where was the first NBA (then called the BAA) game ever played? It was in 1946.
Triple bonus trivia question (and you'll likely look this up too): What was the name of the league the BAA merged with in 1949 to form the NBA?
1) Columbus
2) Toronto
3) NBL
My Thursday evening still includes plans for Game 7.
14 of the 28 have forced a game 6.
Home teams down 3-1 have won 7 of 13 games 5.
2 of the 28 teams have forced a game 7.
US Open playoff
College World Series
Euro 2008
Lots of laundry to do
Moline is now Atlanta.
Oshkosh and Anderson didn't last long.
Rochester is now Sacramento.
The New York Knicks beat the Toronto Huskies 68-66 on November 1, 1946 in Toronto in the first BAA game.
The National Basketball League merged with the NBA and was in smaller cities (such as Anderson and Fort Wayne and Oshkosh) and had better players. But the BAA had better cities, like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, so it prevailed.
The Warriors won Game 5.
I included that as one of the 28. I can't remember if I've heard this series is the 29th 3-1 lead, or that 29 teams previously held a 3-1 lead.
Chris Mihm lives!
14 of the 18 won the series in 6.
I wish I could make that more clear to them in this moment.
Unlike all the other participants in the Finals who apparently were products of parthenogenesis.
Go Lakers!
I think that's why Kobe was using the March Madness references the last few days ("we're in the elite 8 now", "just need 3 more wins", etc), so he can bring up Pierce's Kansas teams to get inside his head. :)
Is this a reasonable way to describe the state of knowledge re Kobe?
This is a sincere question. I'd thought the case in Colo ended in way that was formally exonerating and as a practical matter was very ambiguous. Is that wrong?
(link for quote: http://tinyurl.com/48sewu)
It is ambiguous. Kobe is like Bonds. People hate him because he comes off as arrogant and prickly. The rest of the stuff is people making their minds based solely on how they previously thought of Kobe.
Good to know the Atlantic has some high quality commenters.
Sounds like most of the commenters are refugees from a Lenny Bruce performance.
I certainly would never read them at a major media web site.
Even things like Katherine Heigl's comments about the quality of scripts on "Grey's Anatomy." (Perhaps I exaggerate there.)
That's self-evident.
So that's what all those people outside Home Depot are waiting around for?
I'd say even money at this point.
How else would they come up with the brilliant twists in 24?
You think Americans know drama?
I'd say if the Lakers come back to win the series, there's a 100.3% chance that Kobe will win series MVP.
There hasn't been a MVP from a losing team since The Logo in 1969.
A simple rule can be instituted from Rad-man: catch and shoot, or be shot.
I guess you have missed all those open threes where he just hits side of backboard or airballs
Vlad Rad = the Pierre or Andruw Jones of the Lakers
65 - I'd go with Garry Matthews, Jr.
67 - hmmm, not bad.
I was hoping it would be a movie about one of the signors of the Declaration of Independence, capitalizing on the John Adams craze.
Or at least about selling insurance.
You mean ToyCannon is not the only true Clipper fan in Los Angeles?
I've hated Sam Cassell for some time, long before his Clipper days, but long after his spaceship came to Earth.
Keep that in mind. I used up all my bullets today.
He leads all Laker players tonight in +/- at +20!
Eddie Murphy's law was to attend tonight's game.
I forgot it was only college.
It's always a personal failing of the team that doesn't get something done; they just never allow that the other team might be real good and playing hard.
That's how I will teach my kids to respect their competitors.
Leave it to the Fordham guy to restore order and remind them that the Lakers just had to win first, no matter how ugly.
Actual questions on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire:
$64K -- How many states border California?
$125K -- In the equation, e=mc2, what does c stand for?
I really need to be someone's "Phone a Friend."
Wow, that's a crushing revelation for me. Not quite Scully-negating, but ouch.
Socrates
Aristotle
Pythagors
Plato
That is my payback for getting to watch EVERYTHING tomorrow on my day off.
Never seen anyone go for a million.
Dutch
Eng
French
German
I would bail on that question.
Seriously, I would.
I would have guessed French. ("published" not "written".) He guessed French. Answer was Dutch.
I had to go check the library catalog.
The tricky part was "published" since it's possible that somebody else would have tried to sell it first.
Although I should have known since I've been to Anne Frank's house.
Anne Frank was born about six weeks after my dad and two months before my mom.
If UCLA won games stylishly, they'd have won in the Final Four the last three years!
Has Luc said anything yet?
Actually Fisher is pretty good at it too?
Fisher is the Vice President of charge-taking and/or flopping, having the baton passed down from the master Vlade Divac.
I think Luc goes, because he wants to so badly and he will probably figure he won't do any better next year.
Kind of weird UCLA has to go to Rocklin and Modesto to pluck out the top talents of California.
They keep praising Tiger for making it to the green in three, but I can do it in two!
It's pretty easy to tell which shots by the pros are good shots.
I don't think I'll be able to go, but I'll be watching from my desk at work.
Did Mark Jackson or Van Gundy ever win a championship because based on their preaching they must be experts at it? I do remember Mark Jackson as a Clipper point guard and while we did make it to the playoffs we were far away from a championship. I don't remember any Knick or Indiana championships.
I did enjoy Sam I Am finally making some key shots as he has been terrible this series. Only in basketball do they have this great deal for the players where they sign a contract, stink it up, get a buyout from the owner who gives them something like 80% of the original contract, become a free agent, sign with a contender, win a ring. Donald Sterling was dumbfounded when he heard that is what Sam's agent wanted and that he couldn't believe it was a common thing in the NBA.
Without question Pierce has been the best player in the series, by far. He has been getting to the hoop just about every play, against whomever has guarded him, including Kobe.
I must say I really, really like Van Gundy as an analyst. he has a pretty good sense of humor, and makes some cogent points throughout. I think he kind of forces the "arguments" with Jackson, but otherwise JVG is top notch.
And I was happy to see him receive his ring!
Still makes me think of how crazy would it have been to have Glen Rice followed by Mitch Richmond just a couple years prior to the Lakers getting them.
If the Lakers force a Game 7, my opinions are subject to change. Drastically.
Those are far more common in this era than they were in the past.
If Kobe is "the best player in the game" right now, how did he end up going over a quarter and a quarter's worth of game time without scoring? Michael Jordan does not go 15 minutes of game time without scoring a basket, even if he plays the Knicks defense at its peak.
As far as Kobe as a leader, he affirmed that he is truly that over this weekend. Still, I think I have to pause before making the Jordan comparisons. After all, two games in a row, a simple trap shuts Kobe Bryant down in the entire second half.
I also thought it was so unusual to see him pass up shots to set other people up so many times in the 4th quarter.
With all that said...
It is awfully silly to have everyone talk about the Lakers as the team with all the pressure.
KG16 is dead on. Um... weren't the Celtics the consensus pick for dominating the Eastern Conference? Don't you think they are expected to shut down everything in their path? Was it wise to allow another breath for the Lakers knowing they were coming off a shocking game 4?? I'm a little surprised how quickly the media forgets just how far the Lakers came in only 12 months. Going into 2008, I'd have been overjoyed to make it to the Conference Semifinals. This has been a GREAT year for Lakers basketball.
Now I am not one that will say Kobe is better than Jordan, but people have to remember to compare Kobe to Jordan when they were at the same age. Plus, Kobe started his career earlier.
But, I never see Kobe reaching Jordan's defensive level (game was more physical back then too)and sometimes you see Kobe give up.
The Boston media were going to go home anyway.
There are numerous Tony Jackson like complaints going on right now at LAX.
Kobe is asked to do a lot more in the triangle than Jordan ever was. Jordan got to be the focus of the triangle the entire time he played in it. Kobe has had two or three different roles in the triangle and often time has to switch between them in the game. As far as defense goes, Kobe is probably an underrated defender, and when challenged is probably one of the best three defenders in the league right now.
As far as the trap shutting him down, not really. He's making the good pass to his open teammate, who is letting it go right between his fingers or otherwise failing to finish. If the Lakers played with half the efficiency they did against the Spurs, we'd all be going to the parade on Tuesday.
For the record, Jordan barely cracks my top ten all time (NBA edition):
1. Kareem
2. Russell
3. Magic
4. West
5. Bird
6. Wilt
7. Oscar Robinson
8. Dr. J.
9. Jordan
10. Mikan
I'm holding out for the Clippers parade.
Or watching the Kings parade the Stanley Cup down Figueroa.
Despite living minutes from Angel Stadium, I did not go to either the Angels or Ducks parades. Nor have I gone to LA for a Lakers or Dodgers parade.
Parades, I think, are like golf, better on TV, where I can change the channel to something more interesting once it starts.
The only advantage of going to a putative Lakers parade is that ultimately I know that I would have access to a clean bathroom.
It is so appropriate that the uploader's handle is called theskunkwerx.
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