Winning Time

I wanted to like "Winning Time" a lot more than I did.

It felt somewhat disjointed, especially the first half, which jumped around a lot while filling in background info (in fairness, a lot of that disjointedness came from the oddly spaced commercial breaks). But once they got rolling with the actual playoff series in 1994 and '95, it really picked up well.

Also, I wasn't a big fan of the way they just tacked on the 1999 series after the credits, like one final twist of the knife to Pacers fans. Either treat '99 as part of the saga or don't.

 

I think they shoved it to the credits so the people of Indianapolis weren't reinspired to hire hit men to look for Dick Bavetta.

 

I never saw what the big deal was in that rivalry. Neither team won a world championship during that decade.

 

I have a lot more to say about this documentary later, which I enjoyed watching. That '94 series happened when I was 11 and so my biggest Fanboi days were as a kid watching, and loving, the Pacers.

I'll also admit I got a little pissed when they showed the LJ play in '99 and then DID NOT even mention 2000 where Miller went into MSG and scored 25 or so in Game 6 to get the Pacers to the NBA Finals for the only time. Either keep the focus from '93-'95 like I thought it was going to do or tell the full story about how Post Jordan Part Two, the teams met up in the Eastern Conference Finals two more times.

 

NEW YORK!!!!! THE GARDEN!!!!! SPIKE LEE!!!!!

 

Rashad was on sabbatical from being MJ's valet

 

I agree. The 1990's New York Knicks set basketball back 20 years. And yet we are STILL hearing about them.

It was fun to watch how many times Reggie Miller would establish a new pivot foot on his jumpers back in the day. He'd be great on Dancing with the Stars - so much movement of the feet without ever taking a dribble. The refs never seemed to care.

 

I'm just glad that a national audience now knows just what a horrible color commentator "Slick!" Leonard is.

"Boom BABY!!!!" is NOT basketball analysis.

 

YES.

What a dumb catchphrase.

 

I also thought it was ridiculous how over-hyped and over-analyzed the 1994 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Knicks and the Bulls was. Anyone who just dropped in from another planet might have thought it was finals, that they really were the two best teams in the NBA.
That's why I loved it when the Rockets won the title that year.
I guess I don't care as much about personalities as much as I care about who's the best.

 

Same category as Slick. Just acting like a blowhard, and calling it analysis.

Bob Knight did a bit of that last night too, just without the volume.