NBA: 10 Things To Look Forward To

Finally basketball fans, the NBA season has started! On the first day, the Lakers looked dominant, Celtics won at home, Lebron lost again, and Derrick Rose is starting at point for the Bulls. Here is my list of things to look forward to this 2008-09 season:

1. The Lakers have two 7-footers in their starting lineup, Lamar leading the second squad, the deepest bench in the league, and Kobe Bryant. If they can stay healthy, I predict a 64-win season and the title.

2. Beantown just hung another banner in their historic stadium. Are the Celtics still hungry? And how will they deal with the loss of their best perimeter defender (how are they going to slow down Kobe?)?

3. Baron Davis is back in his hometown and playing for another historically bad team. Will he and Camby miraculously lead the Clippers to the playoffs?

4. The 76ers solidified their lineup with the addition of a healthy Elton Brand. Will the 76ers live up to their hype and challenge Boston for the Eastern crown?

5. There's was a reason to be excited in Portland, but he has the durability (and face) of a 55 year old man. After being manhandled in the opener versus the Lakers and losing Oden to injury, can Portland live up to the hype?

6. The Chicago Bulls looked like a huge mess during the offseason but everything came together in their first game with Derrick Rose at the helm. Can this rookie finally lead the Bulls to their full potential?

7. New York Knicks are still recovering from Isiah Thomas's past decisions. With Marbury remaining relatively quiet and Mike D'antoni as the coach, I believe we'll be pleasantly surprised this season.

8. Seattle, the most depressing city in America, no longer has an NBA franchise of their own. How will Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder fare in the Western division. (I'm not going to be optimistic here, 16 wins.)

9. Let's face it, LeBron James does not like the Cleveland Cavaliers or the city of Cleveland. He likes Jay-Z, he likes New York and it is a contract year. How is this season going to play out in Ohio?

10. Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley, and Kevin Love are expected to make huge contributions to their respective teams. Can these NBA neophytes really make a huge difference and who will make the biggest impact and win the ROY trophy? (I still say OJ Mayo)

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NBA Draft Lottery Breakdown

1 Chicago Derrick Rose 6'4 195 G Memphis
Easy pick for Chicago. Derrick Rose will follow in the path of Deron Williams and Chris Paul and prove how an athletic 1-guard can lead a team to success. Added benefit: Chicago can begin unloading their crowded (and overpaid) backcourt (Hinrich @ 11million, Hughes @ 12mil) and trade for legitimate front court players, veteran leadership, or cleared cap space.

2 Miami Michael Beasley 6'9 235 F Kansas St.
Miami would have loved Rose here, but instead they got the NCAA's top scorer last season (dammit all). Hopefully Mr. Beasley can mature quickly and prove how impressive his offensive arsenal is in the NBA; it would definitely make it easier on Wade. Oh, one more thing Miami, I heard NY and Chicago both have too many guards, all of whom are better than Jason Williams and Marcus Banks.

3 Minnesota O.J. Mayo 6'5 215 G USC
I have to be honest, I am not a big fan of OJ Mayo, nor do I believe in his potential. But he's athletic, has a lot of offensive moves, and people can't stop talking about him. In the future he's going to be one of those Larry Hughes type of players, always decent but never reaching perceived potential.

4 Seattle Russell Westbrook 6'3 180 G UCLA

Young gun from UCLA displayed tons of potential in the Final Four game, displaying poise, athleticisim, speed, defense, and offensive capabilities. He might have been picked pretty high but Westbrook brings defense, strength and intensity, skills Seattle definitely needs.

5 Memphis Kevin Love 6'10 250 C UCLA
People can't stop raving about the big man's full court chest passes but other than that, I havn't heard much else. He's a power player going into the NBA (uh-oh) and he actually lost weight (uh-oh), but he has a decent midrange shot, will play scrappy, and his height and overall girth should make him a rebounding force.

6 New York Danilo Gallinari 6'9 209 F
From what I hear, this kid is good. Great shooter and plays at a high level on the Italian team, but on a team as screwed up as New York with Marbury, Randolph and Curry, I believe his talents will go under the radar.

7 LA Clippers Eric Gordon 6'4 215 G Indiana
Love this pick for the Clippers. With Livingston returning from injury (once again), Elton Brand, Al Thornton, and Chris Kaman manning the front line, the best shooter in the draft should definitely help create interior space and provide security for when Corey Maggette finally leaves the Clippers.

8 Milwaukee Joe Alexander 6'8 225 F West Virginia
Joe Alexander was amazing in the NCAA tournament and continued to wow scouts in pre-draft workouts. This guy is explosive, aggressive, and oh yeah, he has a silky shot. Too bad he won't see too much playing time with the arrival of Richard Jefferson.

9 Charlotte D.J. Augustin 5'11 175 G Texas
I truly enjoy watching small guards such as Augustin but the height and length of the NBA is too much for them. Unless Augustin can prove to become an outstanding shooter, I don't expect much from this 1-guard.

10 New Jersey Brook Lopez 7'0 240 F Stanford
Always great to find a 7 footer who's not 100 pounds. Brook Lopez is decently sized, posesses a strong offensive game, and will help out on the defense end. Poor man's Tim Duncan.

11 Indiana Jerryd Bayless 6'3 193 G Arizona
This was only about the lottery picks, but this man should be top 10. Bayless is absolutely explosive and displays great elevation on his jumpers and drives. Great scorer, great intensity, a bit of a steal at the 11 spot.

Rookie of the Year goes to...
OJ Mayo. Contrary to my doubts about him, he's in the best position to display his talents. With no one to challenge him for a starting position at the 2-guard, he should eclipse the other rookies with the playing time he receives; not fair but that' s how it's going to go. Beasley a close second.

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Letter to the Miami Heat fans

Dear Miami Heat fan,

All season long your pathetic team played horribly, 82 games and you won 15 games (good job Miami)? Either way, you endured a miserable NBA season, you need hope, you need change, you need someone to turn it around. No worries, the more losses you have, the better chance you will have to get the number one pick in the NBA draft. Congratulations on sucking.

By this time, you have one thing on your mind, "which college star is going to turn my team around?" For the first time since your season ended, you have hope- you might actually have a guy with talent on your team!

Draft lottery day finally comes around. You had the worst record in the NBA. You could not be happier. David Stern announces that the first overall pick in the NBA draft is going to a team that had over twice as many wins as you did. Silence. It is quite okay though, you get the second pick. And considering that the main two studs are Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, you can't be blamed for making a poor draft choice.

Nonetheless, your team definitely needs help. You guys have one superstar, Dwyane Wade, but besides him you have absolutely no one. Yes, Shawn Marion is a fantasy basketball beast, but that doesn't mean he's good at basketball. Michael Beasley would definitely help, but trust me, you want Derrick Rose. You guys are desperate for a solid floor general, I know this because your point guards are Jason Williams and Marcus Banks, as a matter of fact, you guys even signed Smush Parker for a little while.


Shaquille O'Neal is getting fat in another city, Smush Parker isn't on your team, you're going to get either Beasley or Rose, and your players might stop being injured. As you can see, a lot of reasons to be hopeful. You're going to win 33 games next year!

Good luck!
-D

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From Goliath to David

In the past two decades, a change can be seen in the NBA landscape. The old blueprint for teams consisted of building around a big man and allowing him to anchor both offense and defense. Names like Mikan, Russell, Chamberlain, and Kareem come to mind when one pictures the champions of old. Even the 90s were filled with the likes of Shaq, Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Malone, and (though he wasn't as big, he played just as big) Barkley. To this day, the only player successfully built upon that wasn't primarily in the post was MJ.

Since the Mid-90s to the early 2000s however, the game started getting smaller, faster, and more guard oriented. The big names that began to appear were slashers with the names of Kobe, AI, and Lebron, as well as a little guy named Steve. More perimeter oriented than the superstars of old, a new brand of basketball emerged in the NBA. The post fundamentals became a thing of the past, proven by the fact that no matter how much he won, Tim Duncan has been branded as slow, methodical, and even boring.


Even with this faster pace, the big man is still regarded with the utmost importance; but to look at the big man of today is to understand that the definition has almost completely changed. The skill sets that made Wilt, Kareem, and Olajuwon who they were are completely different from what is seen in the play of Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, and Rasheed Wallace. Though the defensive assignments are still similar to a point, that power and authority that came with the post of a true BIG MAN is gone.The low post bangers are now labeled "old school", as the NBA has even changed the rules in favor of the more fleet-footed ballers.

Why the change from what had been so effective for so long? Where have all the giants gone?

Well, the culprit in charge of the revolution is no other than Michael Jordan himself. Ever since His Airness sported those Nike's and did his thing, everyone has tried to emulate him. Look at KG and Amare with their crossover-into-fadeaway moves; had they followed the road paved by what now seems to be mythical NBA bigmen, they would be backing in for furious dunks or short hooks.

Of all the kids coming out in the 2008 NBA draft, how many top 15 prospects can you define as "true" bigmen? In regards to their styles of play, only Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, and possibly DeAndre Jordan come anywhere close. Even they, at best, are hybrids. The rest, regardless of size, play like guards; from Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph to Donte Greene and Kosta Koufos, none are true bigs. Yea, they can rebound and maybe block a couple of shots, but their style? Nowhere near.

So no matter who turns out to be the top pick of the 2008 draft (no matter what team picks, it has to be Derrick Rose), the dying breed known as NBA Big Men are not to be resurrected.

R.I.P.

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