NP: Foo Fighters, One by One (CD)

For whatever reason, I think the NBA has turned some sort of corner.

I can probably count the number of pro basketball games I've watched this year on one, maybe two hands. But reading about the end of game 5 of the Lakers-Spurs series, I felt sorry that I missed it. Then, while trying to decide what I might do before going to see The Changes on Friday night, I came across the Nets and the Pistons early in the second half. With Pistons coach Larry Brown having coached more playoff games than new Nets coach Lawrence Frank has coached during the regular season, this has been, at the very least, an intriguing matchup.

I was treated to what had to be one of the best, if not the best, basketball game I've ever witnessed. Drama after drama after drama, with both teams completely letting it all hang out through three overtimes, with the Nets ultimately prevailing as Richard Jefferson managed to make it through all three OTs without picking up his sixth foul, while token big dorky white guy Brian Scalabrine came through in the clutch after everyone else who played his position had fouled out of the contest.

I'm nominally a Nets fan these days, not because I'm from Jersey, but because they play good team basketball. This seems like an anomaly in the Jordan era and points thereafter, but I'm starting to wonder if, with the emergence of solid teams like Sacramento, Miami, Detroit, Indiana and, of course, San Antonio, if there's a new model for success in the NBA.

Even thought the Spurs have Tim Duncan and the Nets have Jason Kidd, none of these teams seem to rely heavily on the superstar-plus-supporting-cast. Everybody has a role, and it seems a more involved role than Michael Jordan's kickouts, which were pretty much just glorified afterthoughts.

A friend pointed out that coaching may play a role as well, and he may be on to something. With the salary cap continuing to drive a spike between the marquee players and the chaff, there's a new art to finding the right complements on the floor to your big guns, reminiscent of how the superstar teams in the 2002 World Cup flamed out at the expense of squads that didn't rely so heavily on a couple of players.

I'm not sure if I can go so far to say that the ego-driven days of the league are over, but one telling sign was in the third overtime on Friday. Detroit standout (and the only starter for Larry Brown's team who hadn't fouled out by then) Tayshaun Prince hit Jason Kidd in the face during a scuffle on an inbounds pass, drawing blood as the Pistons ended up with a steal and break downcourt. Instead of joining the break and giving his team a numerical advantage, Prince stayed with Kidd to make sure he was okay.

The big picture of the playoffs could be, on some level, some sort of referendum on this emerging style of play and style of team in the NBA. The Lakers, now on to the Western Conference Finals, are the standard bearers of the old model. You might make a case for Minnesota being in the same boat, but I'm not sure. Almost every other squad seems to play a fundamentally different style of game, and whether or not the results -- and perhaps more importantly, the ratings -- come out in their favor could help set the course for where this league goes in the immediate future.