The 4 Biggest Early Season Surprises

Posted by HoopsAvenue on November 9, 2008 under Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, General NBA, San Antonio Spurs | Be the First to Comment

We haven’t even gotten through the first two weeks yet and some things have happened that have taken even the most attentive NBA fans by surprise. Of course not everything has been a surprise. The Celtics and Lakers are in first place as expected, Dwight Howard and Lebron James continue to dominate, and Inside the NBA is as entertaining as ever, but this list takes a look at 5 things we didn’t see coming.

4. The Spurs are 1-4.

The Spurs are known for their slow starts, but this is ridiculous.  Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are both putting up good numbers, but the Spurs can’t seem to guard anybody.  They’ve only held 2 of their opponents under 100, at 98 and 99 points.  That’s not the defense this team is known for.   Now with Parker joining Ginobili on the injured list, things are not looking good in the city of the Alamo.

3. Tony Parker dropped 55 on the Timberwolves.

The T-Wolves aren’t exactly the best competition in the world, but since when did Tony Parker become MJ dropping the double nickel?  For the last 3 years this guy has averaged just under 19 points per game, like clockwork.  18.9, 18.6, 18.8.  He even opened the season with 32 and his season low was 22 in his first four games.  Unfortunately, Parker is out the next 4 weeks with an ankle sprain.  It’ll be interesting to see what kind of pace he can keep up when he returns.

2. The Atlanta Hawks are undefeated.

Don’t look now, but the Hawks are undefeated at 5-0.  It was only last year this team finally moved past joke status to become and up-and-coming team, and now they are tops in the East?!?  Ok, so it is only 5 games and they aren’t going to be the #1 seed in all likelihood, but they are among select company with the Lakers being the only other undefeated team (as of tipoff Sunday night).  The Hawks have won at New Orleans and Orlando, too, so it’s not like they are beating up on chumps.  Don’t be surprised if this team is hosting an opening round playoff series.

1. Allen Iverson traded to Detroit for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheick Samb.

Ok, if you predicted this, you must be Nostradamus because there’s no way I could imagine Chauncey Billups not wearing a Pistons jersey in early November.  Iverson being traded?  Eh, stranger things have happened, but if you told me he was traded I would assume he had a hissy fit first and refused to play.  That was not the case.  This was simply a straight-up blockbuster trade the Pistons and Nuggets both felt would improve their team in one way or another, on the court and/or in the balance sheet.  It doesn’t surprise me the Pistons made a move as they needed to do try something new if they want to dethrone the Celts, but trading Billups was shocking.  He’s a clutch performer and has even earned the nickname “Big Shot”.  You usually don’t want to give up your team leader and go-to guy, but sometimes you have to to get a guy like Iverson.  Kudos to the Pistons and Nuggets for shocking us with a big deal that makes sense on both sides early in the season rather than making us wait until the trade deadline like most teams do.

Iverson Traded to Detroit?

Posted by HoopsAvenue on November 3, 2008 under Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons | Be the First to Comment

Via Yahoo, Allen Iverson has been traded to Detroit for Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess.  Wow!

It’s not often we see a blockbuster trade like this so early in the season.  This has the potential to be a good move for both teams.  As I said before the season started, Detroit might want to “shake things up a bit.”  Well, they’ve done more than shake things up by acquiring Iverson.  I don’t know if this trade will or will not work for Detroit, but it’s a gamble they had to make.  Without making a big move, they just weren’t going to be able to compete with Boston.  Now, they still might not be good enough, but if AI meshes well they could get over the hump.  It’s nice to see AI get one more legitimate shot at a ring, too.  On top of all that, if it doesn’t work for Detroit, AI’s contract is expiring and they’ll have a shot to change directions after the season.

As for Denver, I think it’s a good move as well.  The AI-Melo combination just never completely worked in Denver.  They could have given it another year to see what would happen, but bringing in a more balanced guard like Chauncey is only going to help Melo out.  It’s not like Chauncey can’t score either so now you’ve still got one of the league’s top guards, but he’s probably a better fit with Anthony.

What do you think of the trade?  Who got the better deal?

The Truth about Kneegate

Posted by HoopsAvenue on June 7, 2008 under NBA Playoffs | Be the First to Comment

So all anybody is talking about after Game 1 of The Finals is whether or not Paul Pierce aka The Truth really hurt his knee as badly as his theatrics would lead you to believe. Ok, let’s see, guy goes down, needs about half the team to carry him off the court, rolls to the tunnel in a wheelchair, and he’s back in about a minute of gametime (knocking down 2 big 3s shortly later no less)? Any Laker fan would tell you he was faking it, but I’m going to have to disagree. He was merely exaggerating. First of all, watching the replay, it’s clear his leg moved a bit awkwardly after Kendrick Perkins landed on him. There’s no way to fake that in the heat of the moment. So the next question is whether he was really hurt by the play. I think he was, but not to the extent he led us to believe. Pierce might be a relatively smart player, but he’s no evil genius ready to concoct a fake injury plot in the split second he had to react to that play. He is, however, very capable of exaggerating the extent of his pain as all players are (just watch any player be in excruciating pain on defense only to look perfectly healthy when his team gets the ball back).

The thing is you can’t blame Pierce for exaggerating the extent of his injury. I would argue he wasn’t even conscious that he was exaggerating. It’s just what NBA players do. It’s almost like an extension of flopping. You don’t even realize you are doing it, but you become so accustomed to it that when you get hurt, you lie down, have everyone feel bad for you, and then sometimes it isn’t really that bad and you return as the hero. Saying Paul Pierce was exaggerating would be like saying Allen Iverson carries the ball on his crossover or Manu Ginobili flops. Duh.