Twenty games into the season and here we have it, Boston, Cleveland and LA all vying for the best record in the league. In my mind things couldn't have turned out any better. Kobe and LeBron are clearly the two best players in the league, so naturally having them on top shouldn't be any surprise to no one. As for Boston, well they are the defending champs and the leagues best defensive team, so winning shouldn't be too difficult for them, Garnett's too nuts to let them lose. However, as for the rest of the league, well shame on you, outside of a few key injuries (Utah, San Antonio) this season has seen way too many underachieving teams, a trend I hope changes soon or the league will be in some awful trouble.
For starters I remember clearly so many columnists and media folk blabbering away at how Philly would be such a force this season with the acquisition of Elton Brand. Well as you can see by their record, I knew they would be average at best. Elton isn't a game changing player, he's good but not a leader, at best he should only be your second option, never your franchise cornerstone. Plus the guy was coming off a serious injury that limited him most of last season, expecting him to bring glory was a bit far fetched in my mind. With this point, I'm always reminded of how numbers happy people are when it comes to this NBA game. Amare Stoudemire goes out and has a 20/20 game and people are quick to anoint him the games next best player, but if you look closely he's not the leader of that team, Nash is and Nash will always be while he's there. Amare's a great player no doubt but he'll never win you a championship, he's not smart enough and clever enough to inspire his teammates. Yet the crippling thing with this point is that Amare will be given Franchise player money, something he should never receive and that is where the NBA has gone wrong. So to tie in this point with Elton and so many other underachieving teams is that by giving him this money and key to the franchise, you unfairly hamper a team and its fans. He gets it in his head that he's this player he's not, while the fans also begin to believe as well and that's where the underachieving comes in, they've been given expectations. But you see if Philly had just signed Elton and made little fuss about it, the expectations would have stayed far away and the team may have flourished without this added weight and expectation. Did anyone expect much from Philly and Atlanta last season? No, and that's why they exceeded, they just played ball. However, this season they both are struggling and the people are wondering why. Well I'll tell you, they were never that good to begin with. Anywho, enough with that.
Here's a few other thoughts.
- LA is playing well, but I hesitate to put them atop of Boston right now, their defense has become somewhat suspect. Christmas day should be a good test, however, I predict it here they will lose that day, Boston is better now, but LA has a higher ceiling, I don't for see a rematch in June, Cleveland vs LA looks to be headed for a collision course.
- Devin Harris is getting way too many props of late, he's good and improved but until he's done something when it matters (ie the playoffs) then anointing him the East's best Point is getting somewhat silly don't you think.
-Donnie Walsh please buyout Steph soon! you gotta bite the bullet on this one now, having this over your head much longer will cripple your team.
- Is it me or has AI become poison to any locker room he enters of late. First Philly, then Denver and now Detroit. I think it's time to drop the scoring total a bit Allen and involve your teammates a little more, there's more to shooting 20 shots per and scoring 30 to the game. I know you're tough, but are you smart?
-Does anyone feel stupid now for giving Nash those two MVP's when he clearly did not deserve them? I say give them to Dantoni for his majestry of inflating players numbers with his 7 seconds or less offense. I say throw Kobe or LeBron on his team and we'll really see what numbers look like. Fucking bullshit!!! Nash got two before Kobe even got one!!! What the fuck? You tell me any GM who would have taken Nash over Kobe in any of those two seasons and I'll show you an idiot. Who's going to go down as one of the top 5 best ever and who's going to go down as a good player? I shouldn't have to answer this. You all realize that Nash has more MVP's than Shaq and the same as Duncan!!! Seriously?
- Oh and Dirk got one!!! I say throw the MVP away, it's tainted.
- Firing Sam Mitchell was retarded, his team sucked because his players suck, not because he did a crap job. When you have Jamario Moon in your starting lineup, you suck plain and simple. Sorry Sam.
- Franchise Players are : Kobe, LeBron, Duncan, KG, Wade, CP3 and to some degree Shaq
- Overrated Players who either think or want to be a Franchise Player are: Amare, Carmelo, CB4, Howard, Brand, Nash, Nowitzki, Pierce, Iverson, McGrady
- The NBA's most underrated players are: Ginobilli, Calderon, DFish, B Roy, D Lee, V Carter, L Alderidge.
later.
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