The final two months of last year's NBA season went as poorly as humanly possible. There were only a pair of overtime games, the Suns were jipped out of the series, and the Spurs sweeped what was the lowest-rated Finals of all time. A month later, Tim Donaghy was charged with betting on games he officiated, while Kobe Bryant begged to escape from LA.

It was as bad a summer as the league had ever experienced. And yet look where it is now. The Celtics and Lakers are the favorites to meet in the Finals, Shaq is in the same division as Kobe, and the Western Conference race was as great as its ever been. Sure the Sonics are on their way out, but so is Isiah Thomas (barring divine intervention).

The NBA couldn't ask for a better season to follow last year's debacle. As long as the Pistons and Spurs don't meet in the Finals, ABC should have no problem gaining a respectable rating. Or at least, one would hope.

The lone obstacle in what used to be a double-digit rated Finals is ABC, who is covering less games than ever. (Assuming they don't land a Game 7) They are airing just four games out of the entire two-week first round. They are airing just three semi-final games and only one conference final game. Remember when NBC would air all but a few of the conference final games and how their ratings were really good? Well, ABC does the direct opposite and their ratings are really really bad. But then again, why should they care? June reruns of Ugly Betty and weekend paid programming are clearly more important than a Pistons-Celtics finals.