Points in the Paint 12.31.08: The New Years Edition

Posted by Rob Bonnette on 12.31.2008

Some hopes for 2009!

Hello everyone and welcome to the End of 2009 edition of Points in the Paint. No best of lists here; instead I'm just listing the things I'd like to see in 2009. Some of these are already in motion, some aren't, but I do think that if just a few things come to fruition in the new year we'll all be better off as basketball fans.

So here is my list of things I hope to see in 2009:

Lebron signing the extension: This would be a win-win for everyone. King James doesn't need the exposure that someone like Dwight Howard would benefit from by playing in New York or L.A., and he's already on a contender that only needs to knock off one team, the Celtics, to get back to the Finals. And oh yeah, the Cavs can pay him more than anyone else. There's no reason to leave. None. All these talking heads who are running off at the mouth about him joining the Knicks are full of you know what. They have no inside information ir anything, they're just running their mouths. I want him to sign the thing just so they can stop talking about. Please Lebron, sigh it and shut everyone up. I don't want a Lebron Watch in 2009-2010 to be clogging up half the time spent on analysis by media types.

No Spurs in the Finals: I have nothing but love and respect for Tim Duncan, Manu, TP, and the whole Spurs gang. But as someone who loves the league and wants it to do as well as possible, they must be kept away from the Finals at all costs. For all you wrestling fans out there, the Spurs need to put other guys over at this point, in the second round or conference finals. That's it. When the silver and black show up on TV, everyone seems to run away so it's best that they not be around for the biggest games of the season. I'm not saying that they don't play good, even exciting basketball (no way you can call Parker or Ginobli boring), but they're a buzzkiller. We'll get stories about them being buzzkillers, followed by a another Finals victory for them and record low ratings again. The thing is, the only team you can count on to beat them in seven out West are the Lakers, so if they meet early and the Spurs pull it out, then it's time to break out the sackcloth and ashes if you're a league or TV exec.

More Knicks salary dumps, and sensible decisions: Please Donnie Walsh, if you can, find takers for Jared Jeffries and Jerome James. And if you can pull off the miracle and pass off Eddy Curry on someone, go for it. And forget Lebron already; you want a perennial All-Star type who needs some more spotlight on him. I'm not a big Chris Bosh guy, but he looks like the best bet here. Dwyane Wade's got no reason to leave Miami unless they totally stink, and Amare Stoudemire won't be as good unless you get him a good point guard to get him the ball. I figure we'll be keeping Stephon Marbury until 2009; Walsh absolutely ruined his trade value. Why would you do everything you can to make someone appear mentally unstable if you hope to get someone else to take them off your hands?

Another ring for KG, or Kobe: We're at the point where we need to savor every moment we get from these guys, because they've both clocked in for over ten years (Kobe 12, KG 13) and the sand is starting to leave the hourglass on their brilliant careers. I'd prefer KG to get one more so that his place in history (as well as Paul Pierce's) can be further solidified, but if not then I'm good with Kobe getting a ring ‘of his own' (translation: without the specter of Shaq around). I was a Kobe hater for a long while, but I always appreciate true greatness and that's he gives us now. I'd like them to get their last run in so they can enjoy the rest of their careers winning games and entertaining us without having to worry about meeting other people's stupid expectations. And besides after this season, it's Lebron's world for the foreseeable future.

Equal press: I'll keep beating this drum until it happens. I want no more stories about ‘NBA thugs' until there is at least an arrest for something. And please, no more of the Peter Kings of the world, guys who cover other sports entirely, chipping in with their little remarks about how they can't bring themselves to watch basketball right now. Hey Peter: you cover the NFL, OK? Your views about anything going on in the NBA don't matter. They really don't. I'm just tired of people who don't watch basketball, and who haven't for several years, regurgitating opinions from five years ago despite all kinds of evidence to the contrary. If you want to talk about thugs and criminality and steroids, go write about the NFL because they definitely have more than their share of all three.

Sensible draft picks GMs, just pick guys who can play. It's that simple. Lay off the potential if it doesn't come attached to a great work ethic and some real game playing skill that already exist. Do that, and at the very least you won't have to spend four years hoping for the guy to pan out even when you already know he won't. You look at the six teams that have fired coaches already, and at least three are saddled with guys drafted on potential who look like they'll never live up it. I know that Blake Griffin already being labeled as a guy who isn't a ‘real game changer', but please refrain from using that as an excuse to pick some guy who will be an unstoppable force ‘if he ever learns how to play well on a consistent basis'. We don't need any more of those guys, we have more than enough already. I'd rather pick Griffin and have him be the next Udonis Haslem than to pick the next Andray Blatche.

More love for the big men (who actually have some skills) I'm really hoping that what looks to promise for several big men in the league is given a chance to fully bloom. Roy Hibbert has been getting more minutes lately and has scored in double figures a few times, Aaron Gray is getting more run this season and has done ok with it, and rookie Brook Lopez has been getting 28 minutes per game and is just short of averaging a double-double (9.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per night). You throw this in with Greg Oden and Spencer Hawes (who is playing power forward in Sacramento right now but will move over to center once Brad Miller is gone), and there looks to be some real potential at the offensive end for seven footers in the league. That's a good things in my book; we need as many people playing the center position with a real offensive game as possible; it makes everyone better on the floor. A league with nothing but Ben Wallace's and Tyson Chandler's at center is a league that would be ugly to watch.

A return by Gilbert Arenas Before he got hurt, Gilbert was one of the most exciting players to watch in the entire league. I'm really hoping that his knee gets right and he can return to form before the season's out; it would be a shame if he can't. Now he's not a championship player, but he's fun to watch and has been missed both by the Wizards and the rest of us. Get better Gil, and get back!

That's my list; what do you guys want to see in 2009? Until then, have a safe and Happy New Year's celebration everyone!