| 20 April 2009
I can be such a sucker and had immediately with these type of cheesy commercials so I guess that I'm the prototypical target audience by NBA ad campaigns. And this one was no different. Take a look.
Couple of quick observations on this commercial before I give you some quick reactions to the eight games of the weekend.
- Kobe's Chess stare seems infinitely less intimidating than Brandon Roy's stare. When it first cuts from Kobe's look (who is mailing in this commercial like he mails in elimination games) to Brandon Roy's look, I instantly felt a wave of "Oh shit, that's an intimidating face."
- Sometimes I wonder if they set up this entire commercial idea around the part when the announcer mentions "Piercing Glare" as we see Paul Pierce.
- Kevin Garnett looks semi-sane and less psychotic than I would have expected. I think it sums up the current Celtics' playoff hopes right now.
- Dwyane Wade is just a bad actor. I didn't buy his focus on a chess game at all. And maybe it affected me as they cut from him to Deron Williams because I instantly bought the concept of Deron's beard. I wasn't sold on it before but from that angle, it worked. He still can't grow sideburns though.
- Dwyane Wade's "This is my house" gestures flat out make me giddy. In fact, I'm adopting them for every time my team wins a game night at the Talkhoops.net Head Quarters or I win a game of NBA 2K9 (which is pretty much every time).
- I love Chris Anderson theatrics after he makes a play. I would by a DVD of just a montage of those.
- Reggie Evans is a terrifying and imposing figure and I'd appreciate it if they didn't flash him across the screen so suddenly like Brad Pitt flashes male genitalia in Fight Club.
- When LeBron James takes the chess pieces and throws them up like the chalk routine that he blatantly stole from KG, a big part of me wants his cornea to get Amare'd by a bishop.
- I love Chris Paul's unnecessary dribble moves in games. He will often go front-to-back through his legs for no reason around the free throw line. And even though it rarely fakes out a defender or even needs to fake out a defender, I absolutely buy into it like I buy into Brandon Roy's intimidation face.
- It's probably foreshadowing and fitting that the last two people shown in this commercial are Kobe and LeBron.
As for Game 1 reactions...
- The Bulls shouldn't get too cocky and the Celtics shouldn't get down on themselves too much at all after the Game 1 surprise. The Bulls played a nearly flawless game in terms of energy and execution (when VDN actually had something for them to execute) and it still took a Ray Allen 1-12 night and a Paul Pierce missed free throw to win the game. I won't be sold on the Bulls winning this series until they notch a fourth win.
- The Pistons are effectively done and it couldn't look worse for them. But I still want to see the Bad Boys try Jason Maxiell defending LeBron James for short spurts. In a halfcourt sense, he's strong enough to absorb LBJ's contact without being overpowered and as long as they're not in the open court and Detroit can throw help defenders, I think Maxiell's size and athleticism can provide some resistance.
- Is Jason Terry a better pure scorer than a healthy Iverson this season? I think you can definitely make the case that he is.
- If the Blazers lose Game 2, this series is not over. But if they lose Game 2 like they lost Game 1 then you can surgically implant that fork in their backs.
- Deron Williams is one of the most fun point guards in the NBA to watch, especially when he has the determination that he showed against the Lakers. Unfortunately, his teammates don't share that. And it's going to kill his spirit in this series. It looks like the best thing Utah can do this off-season is blow up the team and start over with a core of Deron, Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap, and see what Kosta Koufos is capable of.
- I still stand by my statement that you're not winning a playoff series with Andre Iguodala as your best player. It took improbable performances by Donyell Marshall and Theo Ratliff to win a game on essentially a buzzer-beater. Sure, he's a tough match-up for Hedo Turkoglu, but you'll probably see Mickael Pietrus in that situation next time. Would I feel this way if Iggy made half of what he makes now? Probably not...
- Josh Smith played the Pterodactyl in Jurassic Park 3. Don't look it up just trust me on this and know that he did his own stunts. This video is proof that he can do those stunts himself.
- Just trust me on this, Denver. Don't egg on Chris Paul and try to get under his skin. This guy is ready to finish the job in Colorado that Kobe started.
I can't wait for this week's action!
Support the Habit
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
