Highlights from 1978 NBA Finals

In the absence of an NBA season, DBSF, like many NBA enthusiasts, has been forced to watch replays of highlights and legendary match-ups from the past on NBA TV. At first it was kind of like watching re-runs of Friends--something you do with a moderate to high level of self-regret/ -loathing while suffering the aftershocks of a Jim Beam hangover that precludes one from moving to the end of the couch to grab the remote and change the channel to whatever New York-based art/ cooking/ fashion talent reality-TV competition Bravo is airing. But, then after getting a little acclimated to NBA TV's programming, and recognizing that the current labor dispute might have legs, being able to watch an entire late 80's conference final in the course of two hours becomes addictive. As a Wizards fan then it's natural that DBSF share game one of the 1978 NBA Finals.

Before the game starts we see that two car salesmen named Dick Motta and Lenny Wilkens worked the morning shift so they had the evening off to coach a professional basketball game. They look like the kind of grown, adult men that know how to get pot in multiple cities. Next, Miller Lite, a main sponsor, claims to be "Everything you wanted in a beer. And less." Really, Miller Lite is more 'everything you want in a beer that you didn't pay for and, thus, don't have the grounds to gripe about why somebody brought Miller Lite and not something else'.

While Brent Mussberger is giving his pre-game analysis there is a gentleman standing over Mussberger's left shoulder, who looks like he is going to assassinate someone in the audience or just sharted on a date and is going through that internal struggle with: Do I stay and just blame the smell on someone farting behind us or do I run to a stall, go to triage, and see if the night can be saved? Rick Barry and Steve Jones appear to have come up from taking bumps just before the camera pans to them. They can't wait for this basketball thing to be done so they can go race their Ferrari's down residential streets while their pet boa constrictors hang around their necks. Other thoughts:

-- Starting line-up is 20% white. We reached our quota, game on.
-- Wes Unseld strikes DBSF as the no-nonsense type of dude. Also, very hipy.
-- In the absence of a three-point line the mid-range jumper exists.
-- Jack Sikma actually has negative verticality on his jump shot. Not only could you not slide a piece of paper between the ground and his shoes when Sikma shoots, but he also drops a little so the release point is from lower than his normal standing position.
-- Whoever colored the green and yellow Seattle Supersonic's home court blue--the main color of their opponent--obviously has some peculiar thoughts on home court advantage. That, or he/ she is big into reverse psychology.
-- The graphics department at CBS sports has made great progress since the 1978 Finals. The on screen scoreboard looks like a second cousin of simply having the camera guy write the score on some transparency paper and putting it in front of the camera every few minutes. (They do however, get a little flashy with all those stars under "NBA on CBS" before the commercial break.)
-- There's a belief in the utility of the backboard that 33 years later is anathema.
-- Love that Tom Henderson plays with the necklace on. Do you, Tom.