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Wednesday: The season finalé of Lost wasn’t the best two hours of TV, but it was close. Been battling a cold, but I’ll be alright.
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Finish
At 8:50 to play in game 5 of Orlando vs. Boston, Mickael Pietrus cut behind the Celtics defense, leapt in the air, and dunked the ball. This shot put Boston down 77-63 with 8:48 to play. Over the next 4 minutes and 52 seconds, Glen Davis and Stephon Marbuy scored all 16 Boston points (they averaged 10.8 per game combined during the regular season), as compared to 8 from Orlando, and only four from Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu (who averaged 37.4 PPG during the regular season).
And even though Orlando was still up with 3:56 to play, the game was over as Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins, all of whom were not on the floor since 8:48, came into the game, and Orlando mustered three points for the remainder of the game, all on free throws intentionally given.
It may have been one of the most stunning and masterfully-coached sequences I’ve ever witnessed. Boston knows how to finish, Orlando doesn’t (hint: give the ball to Dwight Howard).
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Monday: you can actually tell that summer is nearly here. The students are restless.
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Saturday-Sunday: made two excellent breakfasts, watched the Best Picture nominees and the NBA playoffs, and enjoyed the rainy weekend.
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Make sure you stick with it until the bitter end… the part with Mike Tyson (actually Mike Tyson).
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Continuation
I am watching Dallas/Denver, game 3, and Josh Howard just got a technical foul for hitting a ball into the stands after the play was over. I suppose that it goes down as a “delay of game” type penalty, and it isn’t the first time that I’ve seen a player penalized for it. The theory, I think, of throwing a shot like that back— after the play is over— is an assertion of toughness: any time you come in here, we’re planning on turning you away. The Celtics won a championship last year with that sort of mentality, and I think it is a winning one.
I have a huge problem with penalizing a player for it. The way I see it, the offensive player continuing after the whistle has blown is the one delaying the game, though I have definitely never seen a player penalized for it. In fact, right after he got a penalty for it, Chauncy Billups shot the technical free throw, ran up to get the ball, grabbed it out of the net, and put it back in the basket. Delay of Game, Technical Foul? Not a chance.
We like to call that a double standard.
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Thursday: Herky-jerky day. That’s about it, really. It is probably obvious by now, but I love the NBA playoffs.
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Friday: Switching dorms next year, so I went on a tour; Harrison is gorgeous. Watched a bit of Ergo Proxy, too. Wonderful Friday, all told.
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Royals Watch: Update #5
8-2 over the last 10 games. 18-12 overall. #3 in ESPN’s RPI. 4th-best start in franchise history.
Here are the Top 5 in Run Differential to date:
- (+51) LA Dodgers (I suppose that will change over the next 49 games, or so…)
- (+43) Toronto Blue Jays
- (+31) St. Louis Cardinals
- (+30) Boston Red Sox
- (+29) Kansas City Royals
Coincidentally, the best five records in baseball belong to the five teams listed above.
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