The NBA Finals – it’s fan…something….

Well, after four games, the NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New Joumana Nets is tied at two games a piece.

So why is it such poor drama?

There are no Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Knicks or any of the other “big market” teams in the Finals this year, and I think that’s a good thing. (Of course, if you’re going to tell me that Texas and New Jersey aren’t “big markets”, I’m sure David Stern has a WNBA team he’d love to sell to you…) I suppose I’m in the minority, but I think that sports dynasties are boring. Give me new blood, new personalities every time, thank you very much…

The series has two hungry teams, two of the best players in the game today in Tim Duncan and Mr. Joumana Kidd, and two battle-hardened veteran centers in David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo. There are young talents on each side in Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Tony Parker and Emanuel Ginobili.

There’s even plenty of distraction/fluff pieces courtside with the aforementioned Joumana Kidd and Bruce Willis in a “Gilligan” lid…sitting together…for some reason…

Yet, this year’s Finals have been difficult to stomach – simply because of the astonishingly poor basketball being played in it. These are supposed to be the best two teams in the NBA? Yikes…

I’m not suggesting that I want to see NBA teams play like Princeton, but there’s got to be a happy medium, doesn’t there? Watching teams stand around for 18 seconds, then dish the ball to the superstar, and watch him go one-on-one with someone until he clanks a questionable shot of the rim with 1 second left on the clock simply does not make for compelling viewing. What happened to moving without the ball, to passing to the open man for the shot? Kicking it out? Boxing out for a board? Bounce passes? Spotting up from 15? Making a %$*&ing shot?

At one point in the third quarter last night, four of the Spurs’ top players were a combined three-for-thirty-four from the floor? 3 for 34? That’s 9% - I could go 3 for 34 – and I’d do it for league minimum! Keep in mind, too - the Spurs are the better offensive club in this series…

The scores have gone down every game in this series – each time with the winning score lower than the losing score in the previous scrum. Now I know why NBATV rarely shows anything but 80’s highlight shows. No wonder the upcoming NBA Draft is getting more press than the Finals – it’s a lot more interesting. How many Finals have you seen where the biggest story is where one of the major players will play next season, instead of the championship he’s playing for right now?!

There are at least two, and maybe three games left to impress this viewer, and remind me why I love the NBA.