Cell Phone 2nd Thoughts And Thoughts On Last Night's Playoff Games

It’s been 11 days since my Blackberry went kaput, thus forcing me back into the Stone Age with my not-so-smartphone. My original plan was to borrow an unused smartphone from someone I know until I was eligible for an upgrade (or until the next iPhone came out…whichever happened 1st). Now, I’m not so sure. I just got my Verizon bill for the month, which was about $40 cheaper than it regularly has been when paying for 2 separate data plans. $40 doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you add it up, that’s close to $500 a year…I really like $500. And the part of the phone plan that you can attribute that $500 is basically the toy aspect of it. $500 a year for a toy? And I have another thing (my iPod Touch) that can do all the “toy-ish” things and more that my Blackberry could do in the presence of Wi-Fi anyway. What about the other smartphone things that my regular ol’ cell phone can’t do? Well, I haven’t exactly felt the compulsive need to send an email from my phone in those 11 days. My job is a desk job for the most part, and (homebody that I am) I probably only spend on average 2-3 nonworking hours away from our apartment per weekday. If I found myself really not being able to wait to send out an email between the time I left work for the gym and the time I got home, I might have bigger problems to worry about. Yes, not having all of my contacts in the phone I’m using now has been a minor annoyance once or twice, but that would happen with any phone switch (smartphone or not). The only time I can honestly say that I’ve missed my Blackberry in the last week and a half is when I have to take a dump at work. I’m sure there will come a time where I will be somewhere, and it would be nice to have some kind of device to look up directions or some other information, but it seems like those situations are few and far between. Now, let’s move it along to a little NBA Playoff update from the 2 series that had games last night…

Yep...basically.

Heat-Pacers (tied 1-1)…With Chris Bosh, I would have taken Miami to win this series in 5 tough games (similarly to how Miami beat Chicago last year in 5 tough games). Without him, I think it goes at least 6 games. Indiana’s strengths (its frontcourt size and depth) are the Heat’s biggest weaknesses in the 1st place, and those soft spots are even further exasperated with Bosh sidelined. But while the Pacers are a very good team, I’m just not sure they are good enough to step on Miami’s throat in the situation either. In game 2, the Heat were basically playing 2-on-5 the entire time, as no one else other than the big 2 could even muster more than 5 measly points. Even before Bosh went down, it should have been obvious by now that their supporting cast is not exactly as good as Pat Riley envisioned. If Mario Chalmers was a little more consistent or they had the 2007 versions of Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and Udonis Haslem, it would be a different story…but they don’t, so it’s not. Miami could argue that James and Wade’s presence on the court still gets Miami’s role players makeable open looks, and if the Heat shot even a smidge better than 1 for 16 from 3-point land in game 2, they would be heading to Indiana up 2-0…but even that doesn’t seem likely. And I didn’t even mention the chances LeBron and Wade had at the end of last night’s game either!

With Bosh out, the Pacers have the potential to make life difficult for the Heat.

Spurs-Clippers (Spurs lead 1-0)…Well, that was kind of predictable. I actually think that LA matches up better with the Spurs than most people believe, but who could foresee San Antonio winning on their homecourt in game 1 after having a week to rest while the weary Clips just finished a grueling 7 game series with Memphis? The Clippers actually hung tight with the Spurs for a quarter in a half before San Antonio started going off from the 3-point line. The Spurs finished the game a ridiculous 13 for 25 from the arc. If LA is going to make this a long competitive series, they are going to have to amp-up their D, hope that the Spurs miss a little more often, and get Chris Paul going. CP3 made his 1st 2 shots of the game, then went 1 for 11 the rest of the way. That may all be predicated on getting stops though. The Spurs are like a well oiled machine on both ends of the court when they are able to set up and get organized. Even with a banged-up group, better defense would allow Paul, Griffin, and the other uptempo members of Lob City to get out and finish plays on the break though…just don’t count on the Spurs to lend any helping hands with poor execution.

CP3 and Lob City were grounded for most of game 1.