The Least They Can Do Is Play Hard

We are in the NBA playoffs now, so basketball season is swiftly coming to an end. We will be stuck with baseball and the grunts and groans of football until the late Fall. I have always been taught that the best way to end something is on a positive note. I guess the parents of many of these NBA millionaires did not share that sentiment with their offspring. I have been appalled at the lack of minimal effort exerted by some of these playoff teams in the latter stages of playoff games. We have come to expect some of this during the grueling 82 game regular season, but during the playoffs, when it is win or go home ? It cheats the fans and sends a clear message that says "I don't give a crap, I just want to throw in the towel, go home for the summer and start spending my money." I don't know about you but but I am hard pressed when I have to shell out money to attend sporting events. On average I would say the normal fan attending an NBA playoff game is spending over $100 minimal, many are spending hundreds of dollars. You would think that the performers they are going to go see would be appreciative enough to put out maximum effort until the final horn sounded, but no, they have proven they are not.

Of course the worse of the worse were the Atlanta Hawks showing against the Orlando Magic. Not only were they swept in the series but they lost by a total of over 100 points, setting a new NBA record. They even had a 40 point loss!. I am sorry, I know their coach won 50 games this year during the regular season but if he cannot get more effort out of his team during crunch time, it might be time to replace him and the whole team. Apparently that is why Dino Gaudio lost his job at Wake Forest University. He was not winning in the post season. You would think the pro side would be even more brutal. It used to be. I was fired for only being third in the league when I was a head coach in the minor leagues. Yet, this Coach is expected to get a contract extension and I am willing to bet most of the team will return as well.

It is not just Atlanta though. I saw it in the last minutes of the Denver series with Utah as well. Their team just self imploded in the last few minutes of the final game of the series, and with each possession it seemed they began to care less and less. Then last night I witnessed game 5 of the Boston - Cleveland series. In the last 10 minutes of the game, Cleveland basically just gave up. In fact the starters left the game in the last 3 to 4 minutes. What happened to the great comebacks? What happened to believing in making one last run? In fact, what happened to just playing as hard as you can the entire time you are on the court if for no other reason than to thank the fans who broke the bank to watch you play? The one team that I will hold out as an example of what fans expect is the Utah Jazz. Yes, they got swept by LA and blown out in the final game but you still saw them fighting tooth and nail to the bitter end. It is time for the owners of these teams to step up and be a boss, if you are paying a guy millions of dollars to work for you, you should expect a full days work. For these who are so blessed, that day's work is just 48 minutes. I don't think it is a whole lot for fans to ask that the players play as hard as they can for that short period of time. That is less time than most Americans get for lunch.