Westphal had the ingenious idea to call a timeout Phoenix didn’t have in order to – as the rules stated at the time – give Boston one technical foul shot and the Suns the ball back at halfcourt; a rule that was deemed ridiculously stupid a year later by more intelligent men than I.
Jo Jo White hit his free throw, Gar Heard hit a crazy turnaround jumper, and the fans got five more minutes. Unfortunately for Phoenix, the third overtime was all Boston and they went on to win the title in six.
Now. To all the broadcasters, columnists, bloggers, and sign-languaging gorillas: Bulls-Celts is not Celts-Suns. These games have been incredible. This series has been incredible. Some of the most exciting basketball I’ve ever seen in my short life. But to even mention them in the same breath as The Greatest Game Ever Played is a bit much.
Rajon Rondo has been exceptional. Ben Gordon has been lights-out. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have been dependable. Derrick Rose has been unreal. Kendrick Perkins has been wildly underrated. Joakim Noah has been so bleeping annoying. But this isn’t 1976.
The talent pool has been diluted with more teams/more players. Champions aren’t stacked from one to 12 like they used to be. There are an overwhelming amount of talented superstars and superstars-in-the-making today. But the overall greatness has been thinned.
In order for a game with today’s players to even be considered in the pantheon of The Greatest Game Ever Played: They’d have to go six extra sessions instead of three; there would have to be two on-court riots instead of one; there would have to be a lot more arrests; a lot more turnaround buzzer-beaters; a lot more insane refereeing (of all these aspects, that one can be arranged). In order to be just as good, Game Six is going to have to be twice as good. But to be perfectly honest with you, there’s a very good chance it will be..
Article comments
1 - RJ
Best. First. Round. Playoff. Series. Ever.
Game One - OT upset win for the Bulls.
Game Two - Last second three-pointer saves the Celts.
Game Three - Celts retake home court with a blowout.
Game Four - Bulls tie series up with double OT win.
Game Five - Celtics take 3-2 series lead with OT win.
Game Six - Bulls send series to Game Seven with triple OT win at home.
Game Seven - ??? PROFIT!!!
2 - BandwagonbJumpersstink
There is no such thing as a shimmy. It amazes me that you people call yourself life long fans and still call it is a shimmy. It was and will always be the wiggle. It was NEVER called the shimmy.
Just because a team doesn't win a title doesn't mean they get labeled useless. That teams of the Celtics in the late 90's to early 2003's worked their butts off and wanted to win so badly. They deserve a hell of a lot more respect then what so called fans give them.
3 - Ethan
@BWJS: I never said anything about not enjoying those teams. It's just compared to the Celtics teams of yore, recent squads have paled in comparison. Doesn't mean I didn't have fun. Otherwise I would've given up on basketball years ago.
And it's the shimmy. I'll go to my grave on that one.