Let the Games Begin

With the NBA season roughly 3 weeks old, life can feel normal again. I feel like Lamar Odom in a candy shop when I think of the nights I look forward to watching Charles Barkley ramble his way through another "Inside the NBA", leaving the TNT crew to invest in an on-site breathalyzer. I'm happy that the pageantry of tip-off is over, and it no longer feels foreign to watch a sport where we'll more than maybe see a score. "The NBA, where about frigin time Happens" . The NBA off-season is too short for players, way too long for fans. While the season is still in its early stages, a few things things are on my mind:

Forget 72 wins, be the first to get the last 16


Lakers fans, forget about it. Celtics fans, no way. Cavs and Magic, not this year. Every year at least one team is doomed with expectations to at least challenge the Bulls 72 win record season, with this year being no different. The four mentioned above each have the talent to approach the 72, but do they even want to? Should they? There's no doubt that all of these teams have ambitions of playing in June, and because of that they'll all be jockeying for the leagues top record and the home court advantage they earn with it. It's teams like those four, along with the Spurs and the Nuggets who round out my list of legitimate championship contenders. While playing these games are important, make no mistake that for those 6 teams now, it's championship or bust. Also make no mistake, that if given the chance, all these teams would simulate the entire regular reason and jump straight to the playoffs. To expect these teams to lose only a handful of games is absurd because as good as they are, this is the NBA, there's a reason why I'm writing about it and not playing. These guys are good, and just about any given night, unless your playing the Knicks or the Warriors, the effort other teams will bring against them on a nightly basis will on some nights be enough to beat them. It's unrealistic to think the Cavs can improve on their 67 win season from last year, statistically atleast. The Cavs have already equaled the amount of losses at home from last season (2), the Celtics have already lost the same amount of games than they did in last years first 30 (3), and Lakers have already reached loss #3 when it took them 20 games last year. It's no secret that these teams maybe lack a sense of urgency for now, the regular season being a rough draft of what the final copy should look like come playoff time.
My point is, spoiled Laker fans such as myself, or obnoxious Celtics fans don't need to start firephiljackson.com or getridofdoc.net just yet. As a Laker fan I understand that my teams effort from game to game is going to change more than Tila Tequilla's sexual orientation, and thats how it is for all the leagues elite teams right now. Weaker teams are looking to catch them by surprise, especially with younger up-and-coming teams looking to pop the bully in the mouth once. Ask Lebron if they give out rings when you win 65+ games, hell be the first to tell you that winning 5 more games from last year and getting that 72 wins would be nice, but being the first team to get the last 16 wins would even be nicer, a true jewel in the Kings Crown.
Michael Jordan came back to the NBA in March of '95, helping guide the struggling Bulls to the playoffs and reach the second round before getting knocked out by Shaq and the Magic. What the Magic's Nick Anderson said after the series made him the kid in class that got everyone else in detention that everyone hated, saying MJ "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan". Thats scary, considering his Airness put up 31a game that series and pushed the eventual conference champions to 6 games. This prompted Jordan to train harder than before, and the 1995-96 Bulls served as his way of showing the league that it's ruler was back. They won 72 games and beat the Sonics in the Finals and the rest is history. Another Jordan title, another Jordan record. If his HOF speech didn't show you, MJ likes to remind people once in a while of his greatness, and the 72 win record much like his legacy are untouchable.


Beasts of the East, But where's the Rest of the West?


While the NBA's best team and defending champion is in the West, their awful lonely on top. While the Laker's are the West's best team, that title for the Eastern Conference is a little more disputed. Of the 4 best teams in the League, 3 of them are from the East: Cavs, Celts, Magic. Those three teams are most likely to get the top 3 seeds in their conference, but unlike the years past, the drop-off to the 4 seed and maybe even 5th is not as bad as before. The Hawks seem to have emerged as the 4th best team in the conference again but this time, they hope to be a bigger and deeper threat come playoff time. Instead of just coming close or in the same neighborhood as the East elite, this Hawks team comes prepared to win. In trading for Jamal Crawford the Hawks got what they desperately needed in a dependable bench producer and more importantly another guard who is capable of creating opportunities for himself or his teammates. They also signed veteran free-agent Joe Smith who has shown he still has some left in the tank and is also making his impression in a young locker room. Throw in newly drafted rookie Jeff Teague to the mix and the Hawks depth has almost doubled since last year, making them a fearce opponent no matter who they play. I also have to say that the fight for even the 4th seed will be a comepetive one in the East, as the Heat too are playing out of their minds. If D-Wade , JO and company keep up this level of play, the Eastern conference will be that much scarier, and the road to the Finals just that much harder.
As far as the West goes, many people thought going into this season that the Spurs depth and size make them the clear cut 2 seed and a title contender. I have yet to be sold on the Spurs, to me they just look old at times. Their depth is obviously much better than it was when they were abruptly ousted from last years playoffs in the first round, and while they seem to have more firepower, they seem to be struggling to find an identity offensively. And while Man Ginobli, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are healthy for the time being, its no telling when one of them, or newly aqcuired uber frail Richard Jefferson will miss time. The team I would argue that is solely behind the Lakers in the Western conference is the Nuggets, even before the start of this year. If it wasn't for a few of Kobe Bryant's heroics, the Nuggets might have found themselves in the Finals last year. For the people who think they'll go all Hornets and go backwards in their progress after reaching new playoff heights, think again. This team has an MVP candidate in Carmelo Anthony, the savviest of point guards and leaders in Chauncey Billups, a lethal weapon off the bench in J.R. Smith, and a new found sense of pride on defense. And what did they do in the off-season? Just get better, drafting a speed demon of a point guard Ty Lawson, replacing Dantay "iTrip" Jones with basically a younger version of himself in Arron Afflalo, and came out the gates playing harder than a dog in the former Michael Vick estate. Flat out they look hungry. Starving. So are the Nuggets a title contender? To me they are, not one team would want to play them in a 7 game series right now, trust me. So what does the Western conference landscape look like after the Lakers and Nuggets? Thats anyones guess. Will the Spurs put it together and emerge as a contender, or will the Suns prove that the Seven Seconds Or Less v2.0 is back and the real deal? Will the Mavericks build on their first round playoff success with the addition of Shawn Marion, or will this FINALY be the year that the Blazers tap into their young talent? The West after the 2nd seed seems to be a toss up compared to the Easts, who's top 4 or 5 seems to be set. While the East is top heavy with a MASSIVE drop-off in talent after the 5th seed, the West is still a little deeper with a number of good teams looking to fill seeds 3-8.

Reguardless, Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals this year. I've already seen it.


Good Lookin' Rook


So have you heard of this Brandon Jennings kid? Ask about him 2 months ago and the kid was too immature. He couldn't shoot. He can't be a leader. The lanky Bucks rookie point guard has proved all skeptics wrong thus far, reminding people why he has been an NBA prospect since 16, and people in Wisconsin that they indeed have an NBA team. Maybe it's all the hard work he put in this summer. Maybe its the Ballislife karma he earned. He's shown his maturity by starting, he's shooting 53.8% from downtown and he's leading his team to a 6-3 start. I can finally be slightly interested in the Bucks for the first time since Sam Cassel, and in a 2 game span against the Nuggets and Warriors, Jennings averaged an astronomical 43.5 points 7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, earning national attention while torching the W's in that second game for 29 points in the third quarter (youtube "how to not play defense at all"). When it comes to Blake Griffin I feel sorry for him for a few things: for being a Clipper, and for being hurt while watching Jennings wrap up the Rookie of the Year award that was supposed to be on Griffins mantle, and with averages of 25.5 points 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, who's to argue with his strong case. In the past it was his talking that got the pub, but now his game is finally doing the talking.

Runner up- Tyreke Evans



Good Lookin' Team that was bad Last Year



Whenever my friends and I play NBA 2k9 or now 2k10, we choose random teams and try to find a good match-up to play against one another. Every time I random the Oklahoma City Thunder I choose to play with them, prompting my friends to ask an "Are you sure it's fair?" , just to check my sanity and see if I really want to play with them. Ya they were that bad last year. Truth is I love them, I like playing with them for the same reasons that make them scary in real life, their young, athletic and explosive. This years Thunder team adds rookie guard and LA native James Harden to a back court of budding star Russel Westbrook, and budding SUPER star in Kevin Durant. Add an improving Jeff Green, veteran Nenad Krstic, gritty Nick Collison, and big Etan Thomas to play down low and pull down some rebounds, the Thunder are surprising a lot people with their changed attitude and versatility. Head coach Scotty Brooks has a lot to do with it, teaching one of the youngest teams in the league that winning comes with defending and defending they are, currently ranked 4th in the league's top scoring team defensively with a staggering 91 points allowed per game, down from 103.1 per game from last year. With this team defending and Kevin Durant continuing his acsent toward MVP status, the OKC Thunder need to keep it up if they have any hope to crash the playoff party in a stacked Western conference.

Runner up- Sacramento Kings