The Magic and Rockets couldn't win anything, but defined an era. | Useless Hoops Ep. 1

      


I tried writing about the '09 Magic and '18 Rockets, but I just couldn't. So, here's a video about what makes those two teams so special.



        In the dog days of summer, it’s fun to look back on the past on things that we remember fondly. Naturally, as a basketball nerd, I think about hoops. During the summer, I feel like we’re all closer to water for some reason and what do you think of when you think of water and splashing in basketball? Threes! The Warriors and the Splash Brothers! However, I wanna talk about two teams that both had great success and great failure. I want to talk about two teams who might be the greatest reflection of the future of hoops in modern history. I want to talk about the 2009 Orlando Magic and the 2018 Houston Rockets and how sometimes committing to your identity can blow up in your face.


https://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=RbIQ7HSSjbE


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chaos, Dominance, and Revenge -- 2023-24 NBA Playoffs First Round Preview

Image
            Is it an exaggeration to say that the play-in is the best thing to happen to basketball in the last decade? As far as rule changes go, the product that the play-in creates is amazing. Not only the on-court product but all of the drama off the court with the expanded opportunities for teams to make the playoffs. Speaking of playoffs, with the play-in officially having concluded, we finally have all of our playoff matchups in both conferences for the 2023-24 playoffs. It was a long year, but we finally made it to the big dance after a season that felt like we spent the entire time talking about it. Well, it’s finally here and as I do every year, I’m going to break down the matchups for the first round and pick some winners. Eastern Conference (1) Boston Celtics vs (8) Miami Heat Prediction: Celtics in 4 BOS X Factor: Jrue Holiday MIA X Factor: Jaime Jaquez Jr. Well, well, well. Here we go, again. While the rosters are drastically different ...
Read more

The Season of the Chip -- 2023-24 NBA Conference Finals Recap and Finals Preview

Image
            In basketball, we often associate a quiet whimper with a series ending in four or five games. These conference finals, while blowouts on paper, were made up of close games, interesting dynamics, and surprise breakouts. As a primer for my perspective on these playoffs, the deeper we’ve gotten into the postseason, the worse the takes have been surrounding individual players as well as teams. For the most part, I’m going to try and focus my recaps and analysis on what I saw rather than lazy and contrived takes but I’m leaving this as a warning that as I dive into the finals matchup, which is the most toxic NBA Finals in a while, I could fall victim to focusing on a narrative. I’ll do my best because the basketball itself is actually quite intriguing but there are certain ways of thinking about these playoffs that do need some critiquing. That being said, there have been two series of basketball since I last wrote here, and there is one more to...
Read more

Intensity, Pettiness, and the New York Media Cycle -- 2023-24 NBA Playoffs Round One Recap and Round Two Preview Part 1

Image
            What a first round. We knew that the matchups would be good, but damn, that was some of the best basketball in the last few years. Ironically, the drama has come from the series that were expected to be blowouts. Very few first-round series were not worth a deeper dive, but in preparation for the second round, I’ll recap the first-round series that are finished and preview the different second-round series that are set to kick off this weekend. Essentially, if you’re here for the Celtics round two stuff or anything Magic and Cavs related, that’ll be in part two.  ‘ First Round Recap (1) Boston Celtics vs (8) Miami Heat Winner: Boston in 5 My Prediction: Boston in 4 In the only part of this piece that’ll be solely about the Boston Celtics, this series, as expected was about Boston's dominance and a symbolic end to the Jimmy-era in Miami. Even though he didn’t play, this series was all about Jimmy Butler. From his social media post...
Read more