10 Things

So every couple of weeks Josh and I will write about the ten things in the league that have come to our attention or the theme of what is going on so far. A little over two weeks of the season have been completed and it's still too early to evaluate anything completely but so far the league looks like this:

10) Fighting Cavs: How does a team play a season and try to compete after being humiliated on national television by their once franchise player and local hero and try to restore reputation after Dan Gilbert's childish acts? I'm pretty sure everyone expected the Cleveland Cavaliers to be the worst team in the NBA this season. Yahoo!'s NBA preview had this team finishing 12-70, and I had this team winning at best 20 games. They didn't do anything to make up for the loss of LeBron, and only added Ryan Hollins and Ramon Sessions to the team. However these guys have come out competing and play hard. They're .500 and only half a game behind the Heat in the standings, which really doesn't mean much right now. They're schedule has been pretty weak so far and they only have one quality win against the Celtics on the second night of the season, but it's nice to see a lot of the players on this team taking on bigger roles and see that this team won't back down from anyone. There are different guys stepping up each night and the early growth of J.J. Hickson (16.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, compared to 8.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg last year) and "Boobie" Gibson (14.9 ppg compared to 6.3 ppg last year) have been quite pleasant. They're best offensive weapon, Antawn Jamison, comes off the bench as well. Will this team continue to be competitive or will they fall like everyone expects? Only time will tell, but they're a pretty fun bunch to watch early on in the season and you can't help but cheer for them. If they keep playing the way they do, they can possibly fight for a playoff spot. Besides, who wouldn't want to see an 8-seeded Cavaliers team get a chance at upsetting a 1-seeded Heat team in May?  

9) South Beach Slump: The Miami Heat will be ok. I am still positive that this team will be in the NBA Finals and they will be a 60+ win team in the season. They're still doing ok at 5-4 and they're beating the teams they should beat by a lot. However, I did not expect this team to be playing at such a low level like they are right now. The chemistry that I thought they would already have is actually lacking a lot. The big three still have not played a game yet where they were all dominant. Chris Bosh looks lost and is not producing early on, and this team is LeBron and D-Wade (on some nights) and 3 other guys on the court watching. On occasion Eddie House and James Jones have had some good shooting nights, but this team has no flow on offense and are getting by the bad teams they play on talent alone. To me it doesn't matter if they beat the Sixers and Nets by 20 and yeah they blew out the Magic in their home-opener but it was the second game of the season. It matters to me how they fair against the good teams and this team cannot beat winning teams so far (1-4 against teams .500 or better). The loss to the Jazz two nights ago should not have happened. The Jazz were lucky, but still little things like putting a hand in front of someone when they shoot, boxing out on last second shots, and making free throws down the stretch are characteristics of championship teams and the Heat did not do that. I know it's still too early to be too critical of this team, but a little panic is necessary and they need to stop playing like they're already the best because they are nowhere close to the current repeat champions and they have a lot they need to work on. I think with time they'll start building more chemistry, up their tempo, and be more comfortable playing with each other. The former dreaded man in the pivot will start playing the way he should when the man who wears Armani suits that built this team takes over as coach. Heat fans should worry a little, just not too much.

8) No League for Old Big Men: This season has actually seen a resurgence in the veteran big men. Kevin Garnett is healthy and putting up 15 & 10, Tim Duncan lost weight to make it easier for his knees during the season and is also putting up 15 & 10, and the biggest big man comeback so far has been Elton Brand, 18 & 8. I honestly thought Elton Brand's career was over two seasons ago. Besides the return to form from some of the veteran bigs, there's also the one's that remain consistent: Dirk is putting up 24 & 9, Luis Scola, 23 & 11, and of course Gasol, one triple double, and 23 & 11. Although there is a young batch of big men ready to take over the league, these vets still hold it down in the paint.  
7) The Paperboy: In my preview of the West, I spoke about how I really like Paul Millsap and how I always felt he was enough to replace Carlos Boozer. Well the double-double machine is currently playing superstar-level basketball and his team is building the reputation as the "comeback kids" of the league. In his last two games against Miami and Orlando, he put up a combined 69 points and 14 rebounds. He is averaging 24 and 11 for the season and is making Al Jefferson look like the Robin to his Batman in the post. The man is a straight beast. He rebounds extremely well and has added a three pointer to his repertoire?? I just love the rugged, hard-nosed post players like this guy. I'm pretty sure his numbers will drop down a bit as the season progresses but for now, appreciate it, I know I do.

6) It Is What It Is: Simply put, the league is exactly where it should be in terms of teams and their records. The best teams in the league that should be winning are winning and the teams that should be losing are losing. There are only a couple surprises to me in the standings so far and they're two teams in the West, one I will talk about later and the other, the Houston Rockets, who are 1-6, should be much better. However things are slowly falling apart already with Yao being injured again and both their point guards are currently injured.

5) Wonderful Wall: The season is still young, yet the race for rookie of the year is already down to two players. The two are Blake Griffin and John Wall. Josh says Blake Griffin is his ROY, but for me the award goes to the Dougie King. Two nights ago he had his most efficient game which resulted in a triple double (19 pts,13 ast, & 10 rbd) and he was 4 steals shy of a quadruple double which he almost pulled off last week as well (29 pts, 13 ast, 9stl, & 8 TO's...). The most important stat line for Wall the other night was actually his 1 turnover. He has been very careless with the basketball averaging 5 turnovers a game. Other than that Wall has been amazing so far this season. He's a thief averaging 3 steals a game. He has the most assists for any player all-time in their first six games (61) and he's bringing life to a terrible Wizards team. He has everything you want in a first pick. His talent is off the charts and he has that swagger and confidence that cannot be taught. I've never really doubted this man's talent and if anybody saw this before he was a pro or at Kentucky why would they ever doubt his upside? Mr. Wall is a definite superstar in the making.

4) The Year of the Point Guard: Just mentioned above was one of the reasons why this is "The Year of the Point Guard." besides the soon to be rookie of the year there have been many other point guards handling their business this year. From guys like Mike Conley, D.J. Augustin, Darren Collison, and other up and coming point guards to the solid veterans like Steve Nash, Tony Parker, and Jason Kidd, almost every team has a legitimate starting point guard and the point guards are putting up numbers. I can list all the other great point guards in the league and how they're doing (i.e. Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, Devin Harris, etc.) but I'll narrow it down to the top 4. Derek Rose? he's just averaging 24 and 9 per game. My favorite point guard Rondo? Oh he just has a triple double this season where he dished out 24 assists, dunked over Chris Bosh, and he's averaging 15 assists per game, no big deal. And the two best point guards in the league D-Will and CP3, well...Williams is averaging 22 and 10, while CP3 (18 & 10) is finally healthy and his team is undefeated. It's clear that point guards not only run the offense but they run this league as well.

3) Winning Warriors:The Warriors are 6-3 and this is quite the pleasant surprise for me. In all honesty the Warriors are overachieving but their style of play and new attitude does not demonstrate a mediocre team. The chemistry that I thought would be lacking is actually pretty strong already. The players get along and seem to enjoy each others' company and it seems like David Lee is everyone's best friend. Dorell Wright is shooting the lights out from three (52%, 26 made already this season, only 61 made last season), Biedrins is returning to his old form slowly. David Lee has been what I expected, Steph has been playing with that sprained ankle and still effective, and the bench has been ok... it could be better. However the biggest change to this team is the new Monta Ellis. I am very glad he is making me look like a fool from what I said about him in the season preview. It seems like over the summer he learned the concept of being a team player and not an individual. He's finally playing to the fullest of his abilities and it's absolutely fun to watch. He leads the league in scoring but he's doing it efficiently, he finds the cutters, and he plays great on-ball defense now. The schedule so far has actually been pretty easy besides the Lakers and Jazz, but the difference between last year and this year is the mentality we have , improving defense (78 pts. allowed for the Jazz??), and Keith Smart's effectiveness with consistent rotations. We're undefeated at home, but not only that, we're 2-2 on this current 5-game road trip and in the past I wouldn't be shocked if we lost all 5. The Pistons loss made me think nothing has really changed, but the games against the Raptors and Knicks were solid wins. We had big leads in both games and almost blew it, but unlike the past we actually held composure and hung on to win. Giving up big leads and letting a team back in a game is unacceptable, but holding on is a huge step to improving. Tonight's loss to the Bulls is a game that is forgettable and it happens on the back end of a back-to-back. Hopefully these Warriors can keep up this hot start and continue to grow immensely like they have already, but it's only been 8 games into the season. I'm still not completely sold that this winning will maintain and I think when the schedule gets a little tougher it'll reveal the type of team we actually are. In the end I think we're closer to the playoffs than I originally thought we were, and a 7 or 8 seed in the West is very much possible.

2) The Nola: When I think about how deep the teams in the Southwest are this season, I surely thought the Hornets would be second to last or even last in the division and it would only be a matter of time till Chris Paul began seriously demanding a trade. But currently the New Orleans Hornets are undefeated? This team is not a joke either. A majority of their early season games were against legitimate teams (Bucks [2], Spurs, Nuggets, and Heat). To be honest, the Hornets early season success shouldn't be an extreme surprise. The only surprise is that they're undefeated, but winning is not a surprise. I look at this roster compared to the 56-win team they had three years ago (Morris Peterson and Peja Stojakovic were in the starting lineup...) and this team is much better. The most important thing for this team the past few years has been Chris Paul's health and he is finally completely healthy and looking to take back his spot as the top point guard in this league outright. The team uses four shooting guards (Marco Belinelli, Jerryd Bayless, Marcus Thornton, & Willie Green) and each one has made a strong contribution in at least a couple games.  Trevor Ariza has been a nice addition and David West has remained consistent the past 5 seasons. The surprise so far for this team has been Emeka Okafor and his incredible shooting percentage. He's shooting 72%!! from the field and he's averaging a double double. I still have not seen one of their games yet this year, but if they play the way they did three years ago, they'll be a treat. Before Rondo stole my heart, CP3 was my favorite point guard to watch in the league. I'm just hoping CP3 stays healthy and continues to run the show because competitive basketball in New Orleans is beautiful.

 1) SoCal Superiority: This has absolutely no reference to the Clippers because they are not a basketball team but a mockery of the game besides Blake Griffin. This is all about those two-time defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers and how great they look so far. The picture above says it all. The game is a joke for these guys because they are so much more superior than everyone else. Their first loss to the Nuggets doesn't mean much, at some point they have to lose a couple games. But the way they are playing, they can win 70 games easily and they don't look lack-luster with that careless attitude seen last year, but rather determined to prove to everyone they're still the team to beat. Kobe hasn't even been great this year but the rest of the team has been. All the new guys fit perfectly. Shannon Brown can shoot the three now, Pau Gasol is the best post player in the league period, no doubts about it anymore, and Lamar Odom has been fantastic as a starter averaging 16 and 11, and I forgot to mention, Andrew Bynum hasn't even played a game yet and currently they don't even need him. I don't really need to say anymore about this team because I've already given them enough praises, but 70-12 and better is possible with these guys. No weaknesses. No competition.