Hooray! I had to change my basic cable to digital, but I now have NBATV for only $5/month more. I wish I had been able to get it soon enough to see SL Pistons. But there's still Rocky Pt. Summer League on there so tomorrow night I'll get to see Dee Brown play for Utah (I'M A HUGE ILLINOIS FAN) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu play with Mavs. And then tonight on Hardwood Classics, I get to see Iverson in a Game 7 2001 ECF Finals Game with Toronto(?!). (Really, Toronto?)

NBA League Pass goes on sale in November and I am definitely getting it. Oh I can hardly wait for the season to start when I can watch all Pistons games and tons of other ones too!!! I'll be watching basketball from 4pm-midnight every night I hope!!!

Thanks jackattaq, dba, KP, LanierFan, The Low, Mercury and LaDre for all the input about this. I'm hooked up! Now, when are they going to program some Bad Boys for me?

Oh My God La Dre! I am SO in love with my NBA TV.

That game rocked. To see some of those guys in their prime. To see Shaq that young, Gary Payton that crafty, John Stockton for the first time, and Reggie with explosive vertical jump, and then Grant Hill, woo hoo, major finesse and a Piston too then! Charles Barkley, WOW. Charles was just combustible energy out there. That standing ovation and chanting for Charles by the crowd even though he was leaving the Suns!

I don't know how they'd match up with USA LeBron Wade, but they sure got a ton of fast break points and points in the paint. The thing that strikes me is how much more of the game was played in the paint. The 1996 team had only practiced ten days before that game! Truly I think they would beat USA Version 2006.

Right after the game there was a show with the old Celtics coach. It was an old show, a little half hour clinic on basketball techniques and strategy demonstrated by get this: Larry Bird, Ralph Sampson, Dr. J., Pete Maravich and other famous players. I got to see these great players teaching the fundamentals, and the lecture of the coach (was that Red Auerbach?) was incredible too. Finally I really understand the and point of a pick and roll. And that coach explained how the post player is supposed to play and why and it made total sense. (How Sheed doesn't play! Never take more than one step one direction or the other, stay in your spot so you can get offensive rebounds.) Anyway, it was great. Pete Maravich did these incredible dribbling exercises that made me want to go down to the court at my local park tomorrow!

Anyway, ESPN used to be my default channel and now I just default to NBATV all the time. Seen some fantastic Larry Bird games, Isiah games, Magic games, it's all so great!

kmw,

I watched the Raptors against the Knicks the other day on NBATV and was struck by how much of the game was played within the paint. I was trying to ascertain how much better Vince Carter has become, but couldn't help but notice how most of the play was well inside the 3 point line.

Scoring in traffic is an artform.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

You probably now have an idea why I'm always complaining about jump shooting teams/offenses. I grew up watching in the 80's with Lakers/Celtics/Pistons so I have a hard time adjusting to the way things are going now.

However, I'm really glad that you are getting a chance to see some of these things for the first time and that you able to pick up on some fo the things some of the "old timers" yap about.

Enjoy

Thanks Low. Guess who I saw for the first time yesterday?
CLYDE DREXLER!!! OH MY GOD. UNREAL.

Magic, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Sir Charles and Larry Bird were the starters for this game. Drexler stole the show coming off the bench and seemed to be the crowd favorite. Every time something really stupendous happened, there was Drexler. Never even heard of him before today.

NBA Hardwood Classics: 1992 Tournament of America: USA vs. Cuba, 6-28-1992

Drexler blew me away in 1990 when the Pistons played the Blazers in the Finals.

Clyde "The Glide" should be a HOFer in my opinion.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

I have two life size Drexler posters. He was my favorite player as he was the anti-jordan in the 80's. As far as 2 guards went at that time in the NBA, it was #1 MJ and #2 Clyde Drexler. He spent most of his career in Portland, so there wasn't much media fan fare to follow him around.

But being a solid Pistons fan, I was in heaven during the 1990 NBA Finals. You have no idea how many days I spent in high school trying to explain to people who Clyde actually was. When I was a "baller" there was only one thing I wanted to be when I grew up.....Clyde Drexler.

That guy is my favorite baller of all-time and nothing made me happier than the 1995 NBA Finals outcome.

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Does anyone know whether NBA League Pass is on sale yet?

It normally goes on sale just prior to the preseason games. Don't expect all of them to be televised though. They normally show the last batch of the games and they are done "unofficially".

He was inducted two years ago, Roscoe. He's also in the "super Hall of Fame" club of the 1996 NBA 50th anniversary "50 greatest players of all time."