Midweek Update -- Some Basketball Happened

Sports fans exhibit a certain resilience, innately. Unless you came into the NBA as a Spurs fan within the last fifteen months or so, you’ve experienced your fair share of disappointments. Even in the losses, we carve out our personal wins: “It was crazy that the Royals even made it this far,” “The Lakers are rebuilding,” “Think what the Lions would be like if all of their players were on the field,” and so forth. 

We find ourselves reading blogs like these not because we follow winning teams. We hardly need the mildly-employed man telling us how good such-and-such could be when we’re fully immersed in the glow of excellence. We follow these things for potential. We want to be reassured we were in the right places, fully prepared when the right players break out. We want to say we expected it. We want to be the Dutchman, contentedly unloading coffee beans and tobacco leaves from his ship after months of the neighborhood telling him his boats were never coming back. 

Well we have coffee now, chumps.

For a long-time Bulls fan, the “what-ifs” all came up Millhouse yesterday. Post-Lakers-despair Pau looked like the good ole Pau we know, righteously collecting his points at the line. Taj can produce in the post. Derrick Rose didn’t re-injure anything. And even at a thirty-point lead, Thibs was there, shouting at the rafters like his audition for the Tempest was this weekend. It was the Bulls we love, with offense. Just like figuring out your favorite pajama pants have pockets now.

And as we’re ostensibly a Magic-related operation around here, what can we say? Tobias looked good in the way I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU, JERKS, but that didn’t mean a lot. Harris baiting Davis into an and-one was a thing of dad game beauty (13:00 for the LeaguePass folk). How did it somehow escape me how paper-good the Pellies became leading up to this season? How was I surprised when that somehow played out exactly how it was supposed to on the court? 

For those of you on Team Unibrow, bask. It’s your time. For us on Team Middle-Florida, there’s not a lot to be proud of. Mighty Morphin’ Elfrid Payton looks very much the rookie, despite some glimpses of promise. He can still move. He can’t actually shoot around Anthony Davis. Ben Gordon still sucks. Aaron Gordon looked great, excepting the most whifftastic corner three attempt in recent memory.

Overall remain in your seats, Magic people, glory is still beyond the horizon. Aside from a scrawled missive delivered by mythical sea eagle (“Orlando is fine. I am doing alright. Send money. -Elf”), we’ve received no word. The ships are still at sea. 

-David