Why I Hate the NBA

I just looked up and saw Manu Ginobili being introduced in game 5 of the NBA Western Conference playoffs. I know somebody, if not everybody out there is saying "I hate the NBA!", and rightly so. It is boring and usually predictable. The rules favor the scorers they say. One case in point is the rule on "travelling" or "steps" or "walking". That rule has actually been changed in the NBA to allow a player to take two steps before take off for a shot. I think they probably take more than two steps most of the time, but the refs let it go, and the rule will change to allow it. How else can a person travel from the 3-point arc to the basket? Two steps! Really?

Ginoboli has a distinctive charge when he is driving for the hoop. It looks like rugby. He puts the ball under his left arm, takes his two steps with his right arm brushing away the defenders, and then moves the ball to shooting position in his left hand while in the air to complete the play. It is astounding to watch this weird combination of sports in what used to be a non-contact sport (as opposed to contact sports such as rugby, football and boxing). I just don't want to be in Ginobili's way, ever.

Metta World Peace provides a real reason why people should hate the NBA (and maybe the NHL). His name change did not change him. Why would that break the habit of a lifetime, to crunch his opponents and those who jeer him? His pugilistic style of play, and reactions to the crowd, if tolerated in the NBA, as is Ginobili's, will eventually create an NBA that is indistinguishable from the NHL.

Now I have to see a little more of the Thunder whipping the Spurs, before they finally throw the game to the Spurs in the final seconds. It is predictable.