IPL Postmortem, and Some Thoughts On The NBA

The Chennai SuperKings dissected the Mumbai Indians clinically to win IPL3 in a fairly convincing manner. To me, the key stand-out aspect was the criticality of leadership in the shorter version of the game --- Dhoni was on-target with his game management, strategic moves, and micro-level field placements/bowling changes etc. Sachin, on the other hand, never looked in-charge, despite the mediocre start by the CSK batting line-up. Energy, assertion, and a clear resolve to dominate are key tenets to game leadership, and Dhoni does that with elan.

The Phoenix Suns were in a spot of bother against the Blazers, who won Game 4 of their playoff series to tie it at 2-2. Having stated that, I felt the Suns were in as favorable a position to win, as a 2-2 score might imply. They had to win their two remaining home games, and in order to that, all they needed to do is to get back to running in transition, throw-in some fast breaks, and feed-off of the home crowd at USAirways Arena. And that is precisely what they did in Game 5, running by the Blazers for a 19-point a$$-kicking. My gut feel is that the series goes 7, with the Suns winning Game 7 in a laugher. 

I do not want to waste too much space opining on Lalit Modi, other than to say that he is the epitome of what ails our basic infrastructure --- an inherent fabric of dishonesty. The guy just worked wonders by nurturing an establishment from 0 to $4.3 Billion in 3 years. In doing so, being sincere and ethical would have guaranteed him a fairly cushy lifestyle and a handsome bag of cash. But No, our Dear Commish had to plan on exponentially upgrade his share of the meat like a starving hyena, and ended up becoming and being the most corrupt piece of crap since AIG, Worldcom, Enron and Harshad Mehta! See there, I ended up writing a paragraph after resolving not to waste an ounce of ink...just shouldn't have started.

Back to the NBA playoffs, despite winning their respective Game 5s at home, Dallas and Denver are still in dire straits. Unluckily for them, they are pitted against teams that have no business to be seeded as low as they are. The Spurs and the Jazz are battle-tested teams with prime talent, not to mention significant X-factors like Playoff legacy (Spurs) and proven system/coaching value (Jazz/Spurs). If I were asked to go out on a limb in guessing which of the two 2-3 teams might be able to win its last three, I'd say Denver. Why, I have no idea; its just that I do not think Duncan, Manu, Pop & Co are going to lose 2 more in a row in the Playoffs.

5. The NFL Draft rated a 5.5 TV Rating, while the four NBA playoffs managed a meagre 1.8-3.2. Sad state of affairs for the NBA, when almost twice as many people would rather watch a meandering show about college football players they do not even know about being drafted by teams they probably do not care much about, than Kobe, LeBron, Wade and Nash in action!! All credit to the NFL for being the supreme sport in the country