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There's two separate things that make a professional basketball team suitable for national television. First is simple, the team's record. Usually if you're good, then you get to play on TNT, ABC, or ESPN. The second is a watchability factor, whether it comes from star power, unique players, or an exciting style of play.
On that rather simple scale, the Sixers-Bulls matchup tonight is 1 for 4, and even then, the Bulls have lost seven out of their last ten games. These are two teams that play a downright ugly brand of basketball, as evidenced by last year's first round playoff series (Speaking of that, I really hope Derrick Rose gets back to 100 percent soon. The league is better when he's playing). Ironically, the only game not on national television tonight is Lob City invading Indiana. That's a really nice one. Can't we just switch and give Ralph Lawler the night off?
Oh yeah, the Sixers. Them. It will be somewhat interesting how they'll come out after DougGate 2013, especially against a Bulls team that plays really, really hard. Like, did you see Joakim Noah in the All Star Game? If not, you missed out. He was sweating like crazy. In the All Star Game! I loved it.
The Sixers are a team that's tough to analyze, so here's an interesting prop bet to get you all excited for this one: What number is higher, the amount of time Luol Deng spends on the bench or the amount of time Arnett Moultrie spends on the floor? You'd normally have to factor if it's going to be a blowout or not, but Tom Thibodeau has been know to play Deng heavy minutes even when the score is well out of reach.
The tip is at 8 on TNT, Blog a Bull is a great site that has had to deal with plenty of frustration over the last year as well. Check them out, they know what it's like to watch ugly basketball too, even if the team they follow wins quite a bit more than the one we do.
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