Welcome to the new-look Best Off Ground, look-wise and writing-wise. Of course, there's the new look (but when isn't there a new look, right?) On top of that, if all goes to plan, BOG will become a more lighthearted, thought-provoking read from now on... stay tuned!
Had I not been too lazy/preoccupied and actually bothered to write a preview piece going into the NBL grand final series, the sentence I would've finished with would've read: "My heart says Dragons, but my head says we'll have to wait until game five to find out."
Sure, it wasn't exactly groundbreaking stuff. But at least it was closer to the mark than Grantley Bernard's prediction of 3-1 to the Tigers in the Herald Sun.
As it turned out, the series did go to game five. The South Dragons conquered the Melbourne Tigers with a 3-2 series win.
It was as if the whole thing had been scripted beforehand. Only you can't help but think that some of what happened couldn't be scripted.
Surely, no one would've scripted the MVP would be Donta Smith, of all people.
Surely, no one would've scripted the standout in game five would be Tremell Darden, of all people.
To script such things, one must first forego the notion that imports on Brian Goorjian-coached teams merely fill in the gaps not occupied by local talent. (It's not a steadfast notion, but generally speaking it works.)
You'd be mad to script such things looking at both players' form early on in their Australian stints.
Donta Smith arrived mid-season (his first game was on Boxing Day) and took his time to work into the system.
Tremmell Darden had his fair share of struggles early on. It wasn't until about half way through the season that complaints about his using up of an import slot died down.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the performances of these two imports in the grand final series came before they'd even arrived in Australia.
Smith only arrived to replace the injured Cortez Groves. As Joe Ingles said after game five, if Groves was still fit, Smith wouldn't have been called on.
Darden only got his spot after – anyone for irony? – Ebi Ere doggedly ditched the Dragons for – here it is... – the Melbourne Tigers. He almost certainly wouldn't have been here if Ere hadn't gone walkabout.
So, when you sit back and think about it, these two guys were actually second-choice options for Goorjian and the Dragons.
Had a rather exceptional set of circumstances not occurred, neither of them would have found themselves on the Dragons roster.
We would have never got to compare the pair's dunking abilities.
We would have never seen Smith's series-long effort.
We would have never seen Darden's 21-point third quarter in game five.
And maybe – just maybe – we would have never seen a Dragons championship.
But thankfully, things didn't go that way. Instead we got a grand final that will be remembered for years to come.
Whilst the league now faces an uncertain future, the Dragons-Tigers rivalry, on the back of that series, is guaranteed to continue.
Photo courtesy of Joseph on Flickr. (More photos of the game at his website, here.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment