Requiem for a Uniform

I always thought that the Seattle Supersonics had classy uniforms. Green an yellow is an underappreciated color combo in the sports world. Sure, you've got your Green Bay Packers and your Oakland A's, but now that the former Supersonics are now sporting the baby blue Thunder Uniforms (which I'm actually quite fond of, even though they look very "D-League") who's gonna be reppin' the lemon-lime on the basketball court now?

Why does this bother me so? Well, let's break it down.

Green and yellow are the natural colors of the underdog. Green is pretty much blue's jealous brother. Green is Poseidon and Blue is Zeus. Green is the rising action while blue is the climax. Green is an idea, blue is a patent. Like so many of the world's favorite protagonists, green is always looking for an identity.

Yellow has always been out to prove itself too, perhaps more openly and assertively than green. It wants to be the color of danger, but thanks to street lights and yield signs, yellow finds it difficult to escape being the color of caution, just the opposite of what it yearns for.

When you put the two colors together, the story writes itself. It doesn't matter how well the team does, as long as it isn't the absolute best...or the absolute worst. Green and yellow might not be ready for that at this given point in time. At one point they may have been, during, say, the Detlef Schrempf days, but as we're all bound to learn, the world changes while the colors stay the same.

I guess you can say this is my requiem for the Seattle Supersonics uniforms'. Godspeed to the green and yellow, and welcome aboard baby blue; hopefully you'll make a fine addition to the NBA.

Tis the Season

It's that time of year again. I can almost hear the squeak of sneakers on hardwood and smell that weird french-fry scent you get on your hands after dribbling the ball up and down the courth a few times. That's right, basketball season is almost upon us, and with an off-season filled with free agent pick-ups (as well as backstabbings), coaching changes, and the anticipation that this upcoming class of rookies will be as strong as they look, this season promises to be an exciting one.

To kick things off, I'll skip hackneyed regular season predictions and go right for the post-season. Here is how i see the 2009 playoffs looking.

East:

1. Celtics
2. 76ers
3. Cavaliers
4. Magic
5. Pistons
6. Raptors
7. Bobcats
8. Bucks


West:

1. Hornets
2. Lakers
3. Jazz
4. Rockets
5. Suns
6. Spurs
7. Nuggets
8. Trail Blazers

The west is epecially hard to pick, because it's hard to fathom that any of the eight teams in the West to reach the playoffs last year wouldn't make it again this year, but I couldn't resist giving Greg Oden the benefit of the doubt and letting up-and-coming Portland snag that last playiff spot instead of the Clippers or Mavs, two teams who could also be dangerous.
Though sporadic at times, Baron Davis gives the Clippers muliple dimensions on offense, which will be a relief after the selfish, score-first attitude they put up with when Sam Cassel was running the point. With Davis, I think they could play a lot of good teams close, and if Mike Dunleavy can successfully utilize the offense-defense subbing strategy with Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby at crunch time, they may be able to pull out of a fair share of these close games with wins, which hasn't been the case the last couple of years.
I don't know what to say about the Mavs. Even with Jason Kidd, they aren't as dangerous at the point gaurd position without flop-expert Devin Harris. He gave them slashing speed, so that their offense didn't always have to depend on Dirk picking up fowls as he drives into the lane in a painfully awkward and ungraceful manner. I suppose from that analysis comes my prediction: Dirk sprains an ankle after tromping into the lane and stepping onto Eric Dampier's left foot, at which point Josh Howard throws his jersey into the crowd and joins Mark Cuban in the rolling doobies out of 100 dollar bills. Oh yeah, and Dallas misses the playoffs.

Well that concludes my preseason spiel. If I'm not back before the season begins, then I'll see you at the tip-off.