"I love this game ! " used to be the NBA's slogan. Up until these current playoffs I recently only liked watching NBA games, but thanks to players' playoff intensity and physicality, I love watching the games now. I was a big fan of the physically intimidating Patrick Ewing -led New York Knicks back in the early to mid 1990's. Patrick Ewing, Xavier McDaniel, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason were a scary quartet who punished opposing players who attempted driving to the basket against them. Back in the day, those fouls were known just as "a hard foul." In these uber sensitive times, the same fouls are now categorized as a flagrant 1 or flagrant 2 foul.
Those Knicks were built to compete against the Detroit Pistons, the "Original Bad Boys" who had won 2 NBA Titles. Bill Laimbeer, John Salley, Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, and even at times the cherubic Isaiah Thomas were not afraid to gouge some one's eye out or jab another player in the ribs. Best thing about them too was they knew they were thugs and were proud of it too. They didn't shy away from the moniker either. Blue collar players in a blue collar town. I must admit I hated the Pistons though. I couldn't stand their thuggish nature. But I also admit I am a hypocrite. I loved seeing the Knicks copy the Pistons style of play. It seemed ok being a New York Knicks fan.
I miss those days and that style of play. Thank goodness though for the physical play this year. There's been some near fisticuffs amongst teams this year. I enjoyed watching Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics toss Chicago Bulls' Kirk Heinrich into the scorer's table in their first round series. I also somewhat enjoyed seeing L.A. Laker's guard Derek Fisher elbow Houston's Luiz Scola in the chest right before Scola was about to screen Fisher. I relished the confrontation between Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant after Bryant threw an elbow into Artest's throat after grabbing a rebound. I was hoping Artest would K.O. Kobe, a la Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton. I bet I am not in the minority hoping there will be some fights or at least some punches will be thrown in the near future. I also look forward to bench clearing brawl as well. So bring the pain and hope we see another scene like this...
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