Five basketball perspectives heading into 2009

December 31, 2:53 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

Previous Next

2 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Washington Wizards Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Antawn Jamison (left) has 18 double-doubles on the
year (AP Photo/David J. Phillip).

2008 was a year for basketball, and in the last month of the year, a few things popped up for me that really caught my local and global attention.  I wanted to highlight five stories in the world of basketball that stood out the most as we get set to usher in the new year.  Have a good one.


Presidential Elect, Barack Obama
The first basketball figure that comes to mind when we leave 2008 is the story of Senator Barack Obama, soon to be President of the United States, who has been countlessly annotated as being a basketball aficionado, to the point where basketball is simply tagged as a part of his life.

But upon a confession on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (Episode #133: The Love of the Game), before all of the hoopla of suddenly becoming our future president, you can clearly see Obama's love for the game of basketball, and it's one I, and I am sure all of us Examiners in the NBA circuit, share.

The Wizards own Gilbert Arenas, sidelined since the season began due to a leg injury that just won't go away, commemorated the moment when Obama became that future figure by the end of November 4th, and as we ushered in history, more and more players began to share stories and speak about what the historic moment in time meant for the individuals who have lived through change, and our country as a whole.

The Lakers/Celtics Rivalry Reborn
The Eastern and Western Conferences of the NBA are once again controlled (not quite dominated) by the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers respectively, a rivalry that had been dormant for more or less than twenty years.  Why is this rivalry important to basketball?  Keep in mind 31 of the 62 NBA Finals Championships belong to either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics throughout the history of the NBA.  Let that sink in.  One half of all Championships in the history of the NBA owned by two teams.

With the currently 25-5 Los Angeles Lakers, we have also been given a lot of exciting games to watch lately.  There was the heartbreak 106-104 win over the Washington Wizards that came down to a missed three pointer by Caron Butler at the end of the game, and a very similar 116-114 win over the New York Knicks.

But in the grand scheme of things this season, you have to look at the Lakers' 92-83 Christmas Day win over the Boston Celtics.  And as a Lakers fan myself, with the Wizards in priority if the two should have a match-up, I had to smile. 

I might not get to see a Lakers/Wizards match-up this season, but my competitive side always likes to see Boston lose a streak.  Hopefully, the Wizards can follow suit come January 2nd, as they face the Celtics for the first time this season.

Let's Go Hoyas
Recently I opened up a forum on Etan Thomas, and a reader suggested the Wizards should look to draft UConn's Hasheem Thabeet next season (he's sort of like a new-age Dikembe Mutombo, is what people are thinking).  The 7'3" prospect certainly is a defensive master, but funny enough, his offensive game didn't shine against Georgetown in a stunning 74-63 upset two days ago.  Thabeet did have 7 rebounds and 7 blocks, though.  Yeesh.

But then I started to watch this kid, freshman Greg Monroe.  Maybe it's too soon, but a 6'11" versatile center who can pop threes, assist the ball, run the fast break, and block shots?

I sheepishly suggested Tyler Hansbrough in my Best of Wizards 2008 post, and I still think he is a talented big, but that's the problem with college prospects, you just don't know how they're going to fit in when it comes to the NBA game.

I mean look at Greg Oden.  Here's a guy (John Madden time) that gets injured for a whole year and comes back to all of these expectations, and gets injured again.  And not to be crude, but now the Portland Trail Blazers have what seems to be a Grant Hill on their hands.  But as the Wizards push on, and their own team injuries weigh them down, I'm confident they will have a lot of choices in this coming draft (which doesn't mean I'm not still pushing for the playoffs).

Invasion of the Spainards
Prior to Pau Gasol, the consciousness of Spanish influence in the NBA was perhaps not as heightened as it is now, and if he stayed in Memphis, odds are the focus would only be on Rudy Fernandez right now.

Is Fernandez a slam-dunk champion?  Questionable.  I really don't understand why the best dunkers in the league do not enter the competition--maybe because LeBron James would win hands down (and he could probably dunk the ball with his hands down too).

But back to task, from Pau Gasol, to his brother Marc, to Rudy Fernandez, to Juan Carlos Navarro's stint last year, to the upcoming supposed sensation, Ricky Rubio, who played at the age of 17 against the United States and picked up a technical foul as a contribution to their Gold Medal loss (you can read more about that at my old amateur blog, but keep in mind I never edit that site), Spain has become a major factor in the world of basketball.

Maybe China and even India have entered our subconscious as places NBA Commissioner David Stern wants to cultivate for basketball, but with the next Olympics set for London in 2012, Spain will have a tremendous homecourt advantage.

Basketball on Film
What would you do if you were to make a film about doubt, with two principal characters in a priest and a nun, and you had two Academy Award winners to play those parts?  You would insert a basketball scene as symbolism for maintaining faith!  That's what the widely acclaimed film Doubt did.

When the Holiday Season began, I started to think about how often basketball really is used as a measure to life, the whole Phil Jackson, life is basketball, basketball is life thing.  I mean, you have classics like Father of the Bride, a story of a father who sells sneakers, plays basketball with his daughter, and oh yeah, there is a whole wedding thing going on, too.  And then you have the more obvious, like the insane Air Bud, a tale about a dog who can play basketball, or the grittier He Got Game, featuring Ray Allen, and some guy named Denzel Washington.  And you thought I would forget My Giant?

But why would so many films not focused on basketball feature the sport, and why would the world itself embrace basketball? 

It's easy; it's a game you can play by yourself, with a team, in full court, half court, or over the back of a closed door on a mini-net with a mini-ball.  It's a game in which the boundaries seem limitless, the action is intense, and the rhythm of the ball hitting the floor hypnotic. 

Guess you could say I love this game, and I can't wait to see what 2009 will bring.

Have a great New Year!



Wizards Upcoming Schedule: