I promise things will be back to normal around here in one more day, but I’ve got to do something different this morning because I did something different last night. Rather than tuning in for pieces of six or seven games on an 11-game Friday night, I took a little trip to Boston to watch Derrick Rose do his thing in person. Unlike the last time I gave this plan a go, I came away anything but disappointed.
It seems that every time I show up for a Celtics game (it’s always a Celtics game because they’re the team nearest to me) someone other than the guy I’m there to see steals the show. When I was young, maybe 12 or 13 years old, I attended my first one. It was against the Philadelphia 76ers, who were led by the one and only Allen Iverson, my favorite player at the time. Iverson got off to an incredible start, scoring 22 points in the first half, but he would never return to the court during the final 24 minutes. He broke his hand. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Iverson in person three or four more times (and to give him a high five on one occasion!), but my young self was pretty disappointed at the time. I didn’t watch a minute of the second half… I just stared at the tunnel hoping to see my hero walk out. I don’t even remember who won the game.
When I was about 15, maybe 16 years old, my dad scored some pretty great seats to see second-year sensation LeBron James. I’ll cut the man some slack because he was only about three years older than I was, but he let Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas out-score him, along with Paul Pierce. He didn’t have a bad game–20 points, 6 boards, and 8 assists in a Cavalier win–but it just wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped to see. I wasn’t very knowledgable about the game at that point and I wanted to witness a 30-or-40-point explosion. Instead, I saw Drew Gooden make 11 of 13 shots on his way to a game-high 27. No disrespect to Drew, but his most redeeming quality is his beard.
A few years later, maybe when I was something like 18, I thought I was headed to a game to see Shaq, Dwyane Wade, and Jason Williams, who would eventually go on to win the title that year. Instead I got to see 66 combined minutes of Wayne Simien, Earl Barron, and Michael Doleac. The moral of the story: don’t attend the last game of the season… not unless you care to watch Michael Olowokandi play 18 unincredible minutes. The Kandi Man finished with 4 points and 5 boards on 2-7 while Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson received DNPCDs along with the Heat superstars.
The letdown that follows tops all others, and goes beyond my presence at the game. I actually attended what I consider to be one of the biggest disappointments in recent NBA history; the one that led up to an even bigger disappointment in the form of the most notorious decision in the history of the sport.
On May 9th, 2010, I was in the building to watch LeBron James give the Cavaliers a commanding three to one lead over the againg Celtics… or so I thought. I loved LeBron at the time, and I was certain that this was the season he’d drag the Cavaliers over the top. He’d been dominant through the first three games of the series, averaging 32 PPG. His sore elbow? No big deal, he’ll play through it. Play through it he did… so unaggressively, unemotionally, and terribly that many, including myself, wondered what the hell was going on in his head. His 22 points on 7 of 18 came in a 10-point loss… the first of the three consecutive defeats that were LeBron’s final games as a Cavalier. I’d find out exactly what had been going on in his head on July 8th. I’m not mad at LeBron for exercising his right to work where he desires, but I’ll be disappointed about it for as long as I live. I thought for sure LeBron was about to carry those Cavaliers to their first of multiple titles, which would’ve been an absolutely epic achievement. To this day I believe he could’ve done it if he had a different mindset. Unfortunately, it’s been more of the same ever since. That game on May 9th was the beginning of a storm that still hasn’t ended.
Last December I once again headed off to the TD Garden to watch a great player do his thing. This time it was Derrick Rose, who would go on to win his first MVP award as he led the Bulls to the league’s best record. I guess it figures that I would be at a game where he goes 7-17 and loses by 22. KG had 20/17/6 and Rajon Rondo dished 19 assists, but neither of those two are favorites of mine, and they weren’t on my disaster of a fantasy team like Rose was, either.
Still, I guess I’m pretty lucky. I’ve seen some excellent performances from some damn good basketball players. I’ve watched Carmelo score 20-something in a half back in his Nuggets days, and I once saw a respectable Wizards version of Larry Hughes drop 33/6/6 on 13 of 20. I watched my kain man Stack Jack drain five triples in a playoff massacre that put the Pacers past the Cs, and I was blessed enough to see my favorite player of all-time, Stromile Swift, have a relatively great game of 17 points on 7-10 (Raef LaFrentz went for 32 in that one) for the Houston Rockets.
So yeah, I’ve been present for some awesome performances by some interesting players, but it does seem that I’ve experienced a lot of underwhelming showings by a few future all-time greats and one championship squad. This is why I didn’t get my hopes up as I rode into Boston yesterday evening. Although Derrick Rose finished with a routine 25 on sub-50% shooting, I wouldn’t have been disappointed even if I’d gone into the game dying for a Rose-colored spectacle.
Not five minutes into the game Derrick made a pass unlike any pass I’ve ever seen anywhere but on TV. From my vantage point, which was a close, unobstructed one, it appeared that he’d dribbled himself into a sea of Celtics defenders that would certainly swallow him up. Rather than a turnover, a foul, or any of the possible outcomes I expected, Rose threw a backhand pass to a wide-open Joakim Noah for an uncontested slam. You’ll see the play and think that it hardly looks as dramatic as what I’ve described…
…but let me assure you, that was a special play that looked totally different from my seat in the first row of section 19 than it does on Youtube. I turned to my friend and asked if he saw that play developing, and he quickly said no. The fans to my left shook their heads and put their faces in their hands, but not because they were upset about a Bulls score. It was more of a disbelief kind of thing… like a realization that Derrick Rose really is that good, and it simply doesn’t seem fair.
After the pass, Rose was a bit quiet as the Bulls pulled out to a big early-game lead. Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer were putting in great work, so Derrick wasn’t forced to enter the dominant mode that he activates when the going gets tough. The Celtics looked old and slow in their defensive rotations, leaving lanes to the basket availavle and jumpshooters unguarded. This didn’t make for a vintage D-Rose game, but it allowed him to find his way to the basket for a signature two-handed power slam…
It was freaky to see a man so small explode for a jam so large. Never had I seen anything quite like that happen right in front of my very eyes, and whether or not I will again is certainly in doubt. The athleticism that Rose possesses is extremely unique even in this day and age, and I feel blessed to have seen him put it to use just a matter of yards away from where I sat.
The game got close in the later stages of the third quarter as the Celtics finally figured out how to remove the lid from their basket. They’d never manage to get over the hump, and lost in decisive enough fashion that there was a Brian Scalabrine sighting, but they posed enough of a threat to inspire the reigning MVP to make the following play…
Wow. That’s all I could say. I said it five or six times, but it’s the only word I could come up with. Even the ultra-homerish Celtics supporters that surrounded me were forced to appreciate such an incredible take to the rack. These are people who seem to believe the other team only scores when the official puts the ball in the basket for them, so the fact that they were almost as impressed as they were devestated should tell you something about exactly how f@cking incredible that take looked from where I was sitting.
Luol Deng was arguably the Bulls best player in the 88-79 victory. He posted 21 points and 16 rebounds on 8-17, but no individual play of his even came close to leaving an impression on me like the three by Rose that I’ve just discussed. Derrick’s 25 points and 7 assists look rather average, but he was anything but that. In a single game this man showed me an example of each of the three primary components of his greatness. The pass to Noah displayed his unbelievable skill and prowess for making things happen with the ball in his hands. The dunk left me with an image of his unbelievable athleticism that I’d never be able to delete from my memory even if I wanted to. Finally, his game-ending layup (not game-winning, but game-ending; the Bulls may have won without it, but as soon as he made it the game was over) was a spectacular sample of his unique ability to put the ball in the basket when his team needs it the most. Elite skill, athleticism, and an uncanny ability to come up huge down the stretch; I got to see all of that from the one and only Derrick Rose. Throw in a sick reverse dunk by Brandon Bass and it almost makes up for all of those disappointments I listed.
