The Killer Crossover 01.30.08: 10 Through 41
Posted by Todd Spehr on 01.30.2008
The NBA season is just past it's halfway point. 411's Todd Spehr explains ten things that the first 41 games told us.
10) THE HEAT'S '06 TITLE WAS "OPPORTUNITY MAXIMIZED"
This theory has gained momentum in the last two months. Think about it: Has there ever been a team that has made the most of the tiniest crack of daylight than Miami in '06? There couldn't be. Look at ‘em now. They have a young stud (Wade) who hasn't been healthy in near-twelve months trying to salvage a train-wreck of a season. An ageing and declining star (O'Neal) is on the books for $40 million over the next two years, all while dealing with injuries (this is Shaq, remember?) and an ego that perhaps isn't ready to let go just yet. They have a point guard (Jason Williams) who is battling chronic knee problems and their best interior defender (Zo) tore his knee up and is done. Not to mention it's getting a little too hot in the kitchen for Pat Riley's liking, which has to mean he's jumping ship sometime soon right? They have had a 15-game losing streak, are dead last in the East, give up oodles of points to bad teams (126 at home to Chicago a few weeks back) and this is eighteen months after winning a title with essentially the same team minus Antoine Walker and James Posey. As Michael Ray Richardson once said, "The ship be sinkin."
9) SOME TEAMS HAVE SPLIT PERSONALITIES
Golden State, everyone's favorite world-beaters, started 0-6 and now sits nine games above .500 and is currently sixth in the West. Orlando started 16-4, which tied their best start ever, and won 11 of their first 13 road games. Now? They are 28-18, which means they're 12-14 since and while their record is still very good, just know, a very good start didn't guarantee much last year. Portland started 5-12 then ripped off 13 straight. What the heck just happened? Cleveland, last year's East champs, was 14-17 on New Year's Day, but has gone 10-2 in '08. The two losses? One in Atlanta (what?) and the other on a Shawn Marion fling last weekend.
8) WASHINGTON'S "OTHER STARS" ARE REALLY SUPERSTARS
It's funny, because the Wiz played Boston opening night and looked horrible. Not long after Arenas was put on the shelf and everyone figured Washington would do the same. Wrong. Caron Butler is a stud and is fast becoming one of the best small-forwards in the game. He's the classic case of grabbing the opportunity to be The Man and making the most of it. Antawn Jamison is Mr. 20/10 and Mr. Consistency all rolled into one. Those two have carried the Wizards this year, and just remember they are sixth in the East without a guy who put up nearly 30 a game last year. Other than maybe the '06 Suns, has a team in recent history ridden the bump of losing their top scorer better than the Wiz?
7) JASON KIDD NEEDS/WANTS OUT OF NEW JERSEY
It's always a shame when a great player is stuck in a crappy situation with nothing but a messy divorce being the only way out. That's probably what's going to happen here. Too bad, because Kidd's one of the two most important players in franchise history (Dr J being the other). Interestingly enough, Kidd noted recently how when he used to get triple-dips the Nets always would win, but they don't this year. Well, that's probably a fair indication of where they are, because the guy churns them out like nobody's business. And it's too bad that Vince Carter is untradeable and that Richard Jefferson is having a career year, because Nenad Krstic doesn't look like coming back to full strength anytime soon and the Nets are going nowhere extremely fast. Get Kidd out. May I suggest Denver?
6) THERE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD PLAYERS UNDER THE RADAR
There is a bunch of guys who, while they do get some attention, probably don't get as much as they should. Just to throw some names out there (in no particular order): Danny Granger, Samuel Dalembert, Hedo Turkoglu, Joes Calderon, Josh Smith, Rudy Gay, Al Jefferson, David West and Chris Kaman.
5) CHRIS PAUL IS A VERY GOOD PLAYER; THE HORNETS ARE A VERY GOOD TEAM
Easily one of the top-three stories of the year is the emergence of both Paul and his Hornets; it's easily the top feel-good non-Blazers related hoops story anyway. I mean, we all thought Paul was good, but this good? No way. Even his gaudy stats don't do him justice, and that's saying something. What about his team? Just two-and-a-half years removed from Hurricane Katrina, the Hornets were without a stable home. Now they have the West's top record through 40-odd games, have one of the best starting fives in the league, and are right in the mix to win a conference that is wildly competitive one-through-nine.
4) THE BLAZERS ARE NO FLASH IN THE PAN
No sir-ree-bob, this group of young guys have jelled ever so quickly and are right in the hunt for playoff positioning in the West. And who'd have thought, after all, their top pick Greg Oden was done before the season started, not to forget the Blazers have just one guy over the age of 28. Think about that. And just look at their roster: Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are young stars, but who else grabs you? Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster have been terrific, Steve Blake has continued his solid play since coming over from Denver, and it seems this team genuinely likes playing with one another. Huh? This is the NBA still, right? Anyway, the Blazers have shocked everyone and it's great to see.
3) THE NOVELTY HAS WORN OFF
Everybody says that the Suns don't look as happy as other years. The local media lights ‘em up after every loss like they're dogs; every win is met with restrained and moderate compliment. Every fan wants 120 points every game. Everyone now notices Little Stevey and Amare's defensive, shall we say, shortcomings and criticizes them for it. And we all want to know if they're ever going to win it all playing the way they play. This much we know: They're the blueprint for Golden State, Orlando, Denver and every other team that says "Screw it… we're just gonna try to score more points than they do." By the way, that's probably two-thirds of the league. No longer the fuzzy wuzzy, cute and cuddly, media darlings that they were initially in the Nash Era, Phoenix is now the elder of the new breed: The modern up-tempo team. The fans have the "Just win already" attitude (especially after last year's playoffs) and the novelty of these Suns – these of breakneck offense fame – is dwindling. However, they are ready for another crack at a title run.
2) THE WEST IS STILL LOADED
OK, when Shaq left LA in the summer of '04 and headed to Miami, the thinking was that the balance of power would shift to the East. And if you weren't convinced after that, then when KG landed in Beantown last summer you were sure it would then. Uh-huh. Well, as I utter these words there are eight teams out West with 26 or more wins – through 41 – while there's just three in the East. There are perhaps three, maybe four, West teams not in the top eight who'd be sitting pretty in the other conference. And you could probably divide the West's top teams into three categories: The Big 3 (SA, DAL and PHX), The Second-Tier (UTH, DEN, HOU and GS) and The Up-and-Comers (NO, LAL and POR). There are some very good teams there.
1) THE MVP RACE IS W I D E OPEN
There isn't a clear-cut leader in this year's MVP race, not unlike 2006 when about six guys put their hand up. And this year, it just depends on who you like. Do you like LeBron for his both-ends-of-the-floor attitude and his statistical dominance? Do you like Kobe for the fact that he's playing with his teammates, taking a statistical hit, and his young team is overachieving? Do you take KG because he's rejuvenated a franchise and plays every game at insane intensity levels? Do you take AI because you are only now just realizing how high of a level he's actually playing this year? Do you take Chris Paul because he's catapulted himself to near the top of his position and his team to near the top of the West? Do you take Dwight Howard for his sheer dominance at such a young age? Do you take Nash because this is the year his team might actually get over the top? Do you take Tim Duncan on what he will probably do in June? Do you take Dirk because he's the reigning MVP? Who do you take?
You can read Todd Spehr's NBA column every Wednesday at 411mania.com. For more NBA talk, check out his blog
