Re: Official NBA Season Thread
I've had enough time to watch every team play once or twice by now. There's a lot of things I like about the NBA this year, and a few things that I don't like.
Good things:
1. Rashard Lewis getting a max contract and balling like crazy in Orlando. Who says you have to get fat and lazy after a new deal, and who says it takes time for a new team to gel? This team has terrific chemistry right from the start.
2. Memphis, Sacramento, and Indiana with new coaches that are making them run up and down the court. These teams aren't very good, but at least they're playing hard and they're a lot more fun to watch than they were last year.
3. LA Lakers finally getting some good role players in Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, Jordan Farmar, and Ronny Turiaf. And, I guess, Kobe for not mailing it in, despite his trade demand.
4. Deron Williams picking up right where he left off last year, and Chris Paul getting even better. David West deserves a mention here too, because this guy is balling.
5. In general, the revival of the center position with Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, and a bunch of solid or good young centers in Milicic, Bynum, Chris Kaman, Emeka Okafor, Andris Biedrins, and even Andrew Bogut who I think is playing a lot better this year (though I haven't seen much of the Bucks yet). We've come a long way from 2002 when a number of people thought Michael Olowokandi was the second best center in the NBA, or 2004 when Jamaal Magloire made an All-Star team.
6. Two #2 pick "busts" finally becoming useful players in the NBA. Darko Milicic will clearly never be worth that pick but he's an above average starting center putting up 10 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks and solid defense. And Marvin Williams who is still 21, is playing really, really well although for some reason no one is talking about him. He still has a chance to be the best player in his draft class.
7. The Boston Celtics. I don't like this team, but I have to give to credit to Danny Ainge (whom I never thought was that bad). He hung in there and kept trying to accumulate good young players by making small trades, and when the time was right, he put together better offers for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett than any other team. I wish more bad teams would do things this way, rather than trading all their good players and praying for a savior in the lottery.
Bad things:
1. The Sonics probably moving to Oklahoma City. I understand why it's happening but there aren't 30 better NBA cities. I hate seeing teams leave their fans in the dust like this.
2. Jermaine O'Neal and Pau Gasol. The rest of their teams look much improved, but man these guys are doing nothing now that they're not playing in systems that regularly dump them the basketball on the blocks so they can go 1 on 5. O'Neal is whining about "not having fun" and I'll bet Gasol isn't far behind. Makes you wonder whether they care more about stats than wins. At least O'Neal is playing good defense, I'll give him that.
3. Minnesota playing like a bunch of goons. They know they don't have much talent so their solution seems to be to keep the score low by grinding games out and committing too many hard fouls. Someone is going to get injured against them this year. Some of the other bad teams in the NBA are at least trying to put an entertaining product on the floor.
4. Cleveland's truly awful supporting cast. LeBron James should be the MVP just for getting this team to the playoffs, though in the real world Kevin Garnett will probably win. Anderson Varejao and his agent deserve special mention for overplaying their hand. If this stunt actually gets him more money in the long run, I'll eat my socks.
5. Washington falling apart in a year when its best players are playing for contracts and gunning for individual stats. 2002-03 LA Clippers, anyone? That team was projected to do damage in the playoffs and went 27-55, and the Wizards are headed in that direction unless something changes.
6. Chicago. Nuff said.
7. Miami worst record in the East. OK, I lied, this one actually makes me really happy, but I'm trying to be unbiased here. The thing is, Shaq is actually playing better than I expected; if he ever gets hurt, this team is really screwed. A shout out to all the other SE posters who like me, picked this team to be in the lottery this year.
Overall, I'm enjoying this season a lot and I think the league has already gotten a lot better since that mediocre Miami team won a championship two years ago. That was one of my low points as a sports fan.
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