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February 22, 2009
NBA MIDSEASON REPORT
Andy's Ten Mildly Coherent, Quickly Written Thoughts About The NBA
(Otherwise known as Andy's least-read post ever; I love not being held accountable about anything).
1. I have been predicting since last year that the Phoenix Suns will be good. I figured the Shaq trade will only help them. I am going to stand by that, particularly after the trade deadline passed and Shaq and Amare are still there. They have a decent bench and a lot of streaky athletes (Jason Richardson, Matt Barnes, Leandro Barbosa) and if they can squeeze into the playoffs at the 2 spot, I predict an upset. They are exactly the kind of experienced, cagy veterans who can overcome inexperienced playoff teams - like the Nuggets, for instance. Don't be surprised if (I'll qualify that "if" with "they stay healthy") the Suns eek their way into the Western Conference finals, and Shaq becomes his old unstoppable playoff self.
2. I don't like Lebron James. I say this in the midst of him having a legendary season and proving that he is the most unique and dominant talent to enter sports since Tiger Woods. I hate that there is all this speculation about him going to New York, and that he hasn't quelled it by doing the one thing he knows he should do: let the Cavs lock him up down the road. I also hate that he is a Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees fan, because that's what 13 year olds do, and then he goes on to make this commercial where he's playing for the Browns. Say what you want about Jordan, whose character always came into question, but he was loyal to a fault. The Cavs have built around Lebron, and he owes it to them to stay there. People act like he's such a high character guy - why? Because he says nice things about Kobe Bryant? (The Sports Guy has a good article about Kobe; I agree, but I am "Kobe-Hater" and gleefully admit it)
3. Next season, Derrick Rose will be in a pretty intense "Who is the best point guard in the league" argument with Chris Paul. Everyone will have an opinion about this (Paul is a better scorer but Rose would probably get 15 assists a game if Tyus Thomas didn't drop the ball underneath the basket). Deron Williams will be fighting it out for third - sorry De-ron. Rose will lead a terrible Bulls team to the playoffs, and will become the most sought-after player in the league. He will be on the 2012 Olympic team and, after the Bulls fire Vinnie Del Negro and John Paxson, will make some smart pickups of guys who want to play with him (Chris Bosh?), making them a permanent contender. He will start every All Star game. He won't get injured much. Then, because of his deferential and endearingly shy nature, he will become the most beloved active athlete in Chicago and win a championship. There will probably be some photo-op with him and Barack Obama involving a pick-up game, and Derrick Rose's jerseys will outsell Lebron James'. This is both my dream scenario and a probable reality.
4. People need to give Greg Oden a break. Patrick Ewing got off to a slow start too. Oden will probably always fight injuries, as does Yao Ming and as does Shaq, but he will more than likely be the best center in the NBA in about two years. His upside is tremendous. Say what you want about Kevin Durant, but he will not win a championship all by himself, even if he averages 40 points a game one season. Kevin Durant = George Gervin. There, I said it.
5. Next season, the Orlando Magic will win the NBA Championship. No one will be able to stop Dwight Howard in the playoffs, and he'll become the equivalent of 99-03 Shaq, except more fun to watch. The classic equivalent of Howard is a guy who is about 4 inches shorter than he was - Moses Malone. But Malone was just as unstoppable.
6. Boy that All Star Weekend was terrible. Almost made me tear up because all I could think about was how exciting it was when I was 12. Why have they reduced the field for the three point contest? And why are we still doing a slam dunk contest? How many tomahawk jams do we have to see from some guy who came straight out of high school even though he clearly should have gone to college (I'm not talking about Howard), before they end this debacle? Who makes these horrible decisions? And the game itself, while rarely competitive, was just stupid. End the fan voting - it's so corrupt, and it seems foolish that Allen Iverson can ruin a consistent franchise and still start the All Star Game.
7. Mike Conley is a bum. Greg Oden's best friend is a bum, and the Memphis Grizzlies got duped by him. They just traded Kyle Lowry, a consistent point guard who is much, much better than Conley, and now they will have Greg Oden's best friend flubbing it up. Of course, he will probably go to Portland so that he can be Greg Oden's best friend, but Memphis will get nothing in return because Conley will whine until he gets there. This is too bad because with OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, Marc Gasol, and Darrell Arthur, the Grizz actually have a promising future. I hope they screw up this draft as much as they did that one. They could have had Jeff Green, who is doing good things for the Thunder.
8. I tend to agree with everyone who is picking the Spurs to win the West, which means I will not be distracted by the NBA Finals. I predict the Spurs and the Cavs, and the Spurs will win in unspectacular but brutal fashion. This will probably involve another systematic, planned taking out of a likeable, energetic star. Good Lord, I am tired of the San Antonio Spurs.
9. Any time I hear that high school players should go straight to the NBA, I point to Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair. Both have bad work ethics and are toiling away on bad teams. But they are making big money and have professional senses of entitlement. I've said it once and I'll say it again: just don't DRAFT them! Make them go to Europe - I don't care. If the league could come together on this, the product they're displaying will be improved. This has always the "Andy plan:" get all the GMs and owners in a room and have them all sign off on it - we don't draft kids under 20. There have been three players in the history of the game who were ready to come to the NBA (and one of them isn't Dwight Howard, who would have done well to play in college one year): Lebron, Moses Malone, and Garnett. However, the problem is that the league is managed by David Stern, a failure as a human being who is commonly touted as a great commissioner. He's not. He's a weenie and his lax stance on officiating caused the most infamous brawl in the history of the NBA. He's great at throwing out fines after the fact, terrible at preventing things - his management has been absurdly awful. This is Stern's fault, but he rarely takes the blame for that and for almost ruining one of the most popular international products.
10. This has been somewhat negative I guess, but despite my pessimism I'm really excited about the NBA playoffs. And despite overexpanding itself to death and diluting the talent pool, the league is full of exciting, likable players who consistently perform.
| By Andytown | 8:30 AM
Comments
Ok, I'm not as up on the NBA as I used to be, so the following won't have as many concrete examples and I'd like:
I completely agree with you about the Suns, although I don't think it's because of Shaq. Granted, he's still a massive presence in the middle and can dominate lesser centers, but he's just not the same. I don't foresee a return to "unstoppability" for the Big Jabawokee. That being said, the amount of athletes on the Suns is phenomenal, plus Nash still has a good deal left in the Canadian tank. Oh, and Amare is a beast. And you make a great point about the role players/ streaky guys.
I also disagree with your thoughts on All-Star Weekend; if anything, it's returning to its previous greatness (hence my reference to the Big Jabawokee). This includes the Slam Dunk Contest; you can't expect everyone to be Vince Carter, MJ and Spud Webb. People like Dwight Howard and Nate Robinson are revitalizing one of the best All Star events in any sport (not that there are many).
I like LeBron, but you're absolutely right about his nonsense with NY. That's pretty dick.
The Spurs bore the shit out of me. At least the 90's Bulls were exciting.
And I want to be Dwight Howard.
Posted by: Barry at February 24, 2009 11:35 AM
a bomb
how bout a post??
Posted by: meerkat at April 10, 2009 2:07 PM