Shaky Ankles

For all the wonder and magic this postseason has brought basketball fans all over the world these past few weeks, nothing impresses me more than J.J. Barea, the 5’2″ (Ron Artest guesstimate) Puerto Rican point guard currently backing up Jason Kidd in Dallas. He’s the Mavericks instant satisfaction; the lighter in their back pocket when nobody seems to have any fire. I wrote in detail on the virtuoso that is Barea a few weeks ago for Both Teams Played Hard so I won’t go too much into detail in the space here. But I will ask this: Can you think of a more unreal, totally non-believable story than this guy’s? (He went to Northeastern!) Each time he drives to the basket he’s putting himself in harms way, yet he keeps coming back for more, like some sort of half Oliver Twist, half Michael Myers monster. I realize most of his success is coming by way of the defense refusing to leave Dirk on the high pick and roll, but come on, seriously. If you’re Scott Brooks, how much more of this guy getting free layups can you stand to take? On second thought forget about him, Scott. This is making some great prime time television.

Twitter: @ShakyAnkles