I dislike the league trending towards player-control. I dislike KD and Lebron acting like elementary school bullies. I resent the absence of attention and the fact that we clearly don't get help from the refs. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Jazz. But if I take my homer hat off, a few things seem pretty undeniable to me:
1. Even I, a diehard, don't have a ton of faith that we'll go past the 2nd round. The recent losses to good teams at full strength have done nothing to bolster that confidence. They have to prove it in the post-season, pure and simple.
2. Crying about the calls and the lack of respect and the All-Star ********* will not help. Maybe it shines a spotlight on the refs briefly and makes them acutely aware of any bias, real or perceived, but that, if taken too far, can quickly backfire.
3. I think Rudy Gobert is a really good defensive presence, and I like him. I think his personality is misunderstood, and as far as foreign-born players go, I think he's much more likable than that punk Joel Embiid. Having said that, I think he actually does get a pass on a lot of fouls because the NBA likes the idea of the "Stifle Tower." I really do. I think he fouls quite a bit more than the calls would suggest. And second, he just sucks against people like Towns, Jocic, AD and Embiid. He just sucks. So does he make an enormous difference against run-of-the-mill players? Yeah. Does he provide excellent help defense? Hell yeah. Can he shut down superstar centers? Rarely. He's got a strange, niche skillset, and we're maximizing it. And that's great. But I wish people would stop pretending he's something he's not.
