If you read the first one, you know the drill:
9) Death in Cleveland: December 2, 2010 is the day on the NBA schedule that I looked more forward to than any other day on the schedule. I don't care about Christmas day with the Lakers and Heat. What I cannot wait to see is tonight's game between the Cavaliers and Heat and the "homecoming" of LeBron James. I personally fear for this man's life and I'm glad that Quick and Loans is increasing their security to protect him. It may seem crazy to think a fan would do anything, but there are some crazy people who would try. I just dare Bron to do the chalk toss tonight, I double dare him to try it and see what may happen. Other than the aspect of seeing a man's life possibly threatened, the game should actually be great to watch, hopefully. I'm thinking it will be a playoff atmosphere in the arena and the Cavs are gonna play like it's game 7 of the NBA Finals. I also believe there are some huge consequences for the Heat if they lose this game. I can almost guarantee a temper tantrum from Bron in the locker room if they lose, and a pink slip for Erik Spoelstra would be almost inevitable because of Queen James's demands. All I know is I'll be in front of my TV watching the pre-game to see if anything crazy happens and like TO said, "Get your popcorn ready."
8) Sophomore Slump: Last year's rookie of the year, Tyreke Evans is playing almost similar to last year, but his ppg are down by 3 (17). Steph Curry is having a better season than last, averaging 21 and 6 this year. Brandon Jennings's numbers are also up at 18 ppg and everything else is the same, but his field goal percentage is still crap (39%). Jonny Flynn? He's been hurt all year and Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday, and Darren Collison are getting more pt this season so their stats are up and should be. The two stand out improvements for sophomores this year are Taj Gibson and DeMar DeRozan. In Carlos Boozer's absence Taj has been solid averaging 11 and 7, not bad, and DeRozan's bumped his ppg up by 4 from last season. Overall the class of 2009 is pretty weak and has only two studs in my opinion. One is considered a rookie this season and I'll talk about him in a bit, and the other is Tyreke (I'm a bit disappointed, I thought he'd blow up). Basically the sophomores are putting up better numbers than last year, but they're just not relevant enough for recognition. Maybe it's because they all play for bad teams...
6) Keeping Up with the Pace(ers): It's really difficult to breakdown the Pacers. They're 9-7 and one of the hotter teams in the league right now. They just beat the Heat and the Lakers, and they've won four of their last six games. However this team doesn't really do anything great besides play good defense, have crazy games where they score 54 points in a quarter, and they have a bunch of guys that can play on the roster but no one that really stands out besides Danny Granger. But that is how this team has worked so far. Not every game has been Danny Granger this season. Roy Hibbert is having an excellent season. As expected, Darren Collison is showing why he is one of the up and coming point guards in this league, and guys like Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, Brandon Rush, and even Psycho-T have contributed. They're a pretty good team. But how good are they really? I'm not even too sure, we'll just have to wait for this month to play out and see, but I do have a nice lyric for this team, boom:
"I'm Danny Granger, I'm just working with a different pacer." - Wale
4) The Curious Case Of Gregory Oden: The promising career of Greg Oden is almost all but over. It really is a shame to see such a good guy with so much upside play only one season (82 total games in two seasons) in four years. maybe he was never going to be a franchise center, but when he was on the court, he was productive averaging 9 points and 7 boards a game in only 22 minutes. Who knows? If healthy he could have actually been a franchise center. I mean in his only collegiate season, he dominated playing with only a left hand, averaging 16 and 10 and 3 blocks, and he led his team to the national championship game. With all that being said, there were a lot of warning signs about his health and even questions about his age (he looks 40). He was however the clear consensus number 1 pick in 2007 and I guess Greg's health is similar to his current team's luck. The Blazers just can't seem to get it right. They've cleaned the Jail Blazers era with the Brandon Roy era and now it's becoming the injury era. Josh and I always wonder what if the Blazers were 2nd in 07 and drafted Durant. We'd have a new age Jordan and Pippen with Durant and Roy. Unfortunately for Blazers' fans, Durant is a Thunder, Roy has a bum knee, and GO's Blazer days are most likely done. I just hope he can recover the way Big Z did and have a long career. He's young and he deserves to be healthy.
3) Be Easy Love: Although the Minnesota Timberwolves are 4-14, I absolutely love their front court. First, key word "love," Kevin Love, and I love Kevin Love. Kurt Rambis finally woke up this year and decided to play him more. He averages 19 ppg and 15 rpg, yes 15 rebounds and he is the best outlet passer in the league. Not to mention he had a 31-31 game! <3 Next is "Be Easy" or Michael Beasley. Beasley has been getting a lot of crap the last few years for being lazy, suicidal, and a bust. However, this season, he's putting it all together. Maybe it's because he's the primary scorer now, maybe it's because he moved to small forward, or maybe it's the crazy dreads. All I know is Beasley is having a great season and finally living up to his potential. Lastly, "Free Darko." Darko Milicic is not a bust. As of late he has been pretty good posting double figures scoring and blocking a lot of shots (23 pts, 16 rbd, & 6 blk against the Lakers). I actually always thought Darko could play (ask Josh) as long as he was given fair minutes and now he's getting it. Good for him. Besides these three guys though, the T-Wolves are pretty bad, but they're another team with huge upside. Wesley Johnson is a rookie and Jonny Flynn will be back. Give them a year or two and they can be scary.
2) Sidekick Sensation: I don't even know if I should call Russell Westbrook a sidekick anymore because this guy is slowly but surely becoming a superstar in his own right. Is he still Kevin Durant's "Scottie Pippen?" Sure he is, but Scottie is one of the top 50 players to play in the league ever, and Russell has asserted himself as one of the top 10 players in the league this season. Doubt it? The numbers don't lie (25 ppg, 6 rpg, & 9 apg). Those are LeBron MVP numbers. Westbrook has improved his game so much since being drafted. It's crazy to see his assist numbers this high because he was always a combo guard that never ran a team until he was in the league (Darren Collison was the pg during his days at UCLA). His mid-range jumper is on-point and that athleticism? Off the charts. Westbrook has carried the Thunder this year especially in Durant's absence and he's now capable of taking over at the end of games (all 13 of his team's points in the 3rd OT last night). If you ask me who is the NBA's MVP this season, I say without a doubt, Russell Westbrook.
1) The Alamo: The San Antonio Spurs are still the most boring team in the NBA and they are the team with the best record in the NBA right now (15-3) and I am really not surprised. In the season preview I said the biggest factor for this team is health, and they are healthy for the first time in awhile. Manu Ginobili is having his best season at the tender age of 33, Tony Parker recently divorced Eva Longoria and he looks emotionless every time he plays now, but he's playing angry and well, and "The Big Fundamental" is doing ok. Timmy's numbers are way down this year, but his knees do not seem to bother him, and he posted a triple-double the other night for only the 3rd time in his career. The biggest factors for this team so far are their road play (1 loss) and the play of the role players. RJ looks more comfortable a year into Pop's system, DeJuan Blair, Matt Bonner, & Antonio McDyess have done what they're asked to do, and Gary Neal is another one of those typical Spur "finds." I think this is the top team to challenge the Lakers in the West, but like I've said a million times, they have to stay healthy, and that is always a question when their core is 30+.
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