When I heard Zydrunas Ilgauskas was most likely heading back to the Cavs after he just got traded to the Wiz like 2 seconds ago, it just didn’t sound right. I mean, the NBA doesn’t allow this sort of frisbee maneuver, does it? Well, actually it does unless you are stupid enough (see: Stackhouse, Jerry) to tell the media all about the secret plot. Two years ago, Stackhouse was set to be traded to the Nets before he bragged that he’d just go back to Dallas shortly after the trade. Stack’s only mistake was telling the media about it because plenty of other guys have returned to their original team via buyout shortly after being traded. Does the NBA turns a blind eye or do they ask Joey Crawford to turn both blind eyes? Either way, collusion is a-okay in the NBA.
The question is why does the NBA allow this? Clearly, it’s collusion, but the NBA only seems to care if you go so far as to blatantly talk about it. Even admitting it after the fact doesn’t seem to bother the league as Doc Rivers gave this tongue-in-cheek remark about the Z deal: “I have a problem with that. I loved it three years ago when we did it with Gary Payton if you remember, but now I think it sucks. I think it’s a terrible deal.” Terrible for Boston maybe, but great for the ratings when the Cavs see the Lakers in the Finals. But, that would have nothing to do with why you allow this, right Mr. Stern?
For a league that has seemingly constant credibility problems with the refereeing, it might not be a bad idea to actually come up with a clear rule on these situations (you know, so we don’t get the wrong idea that you’d prefer stacking the good teams while the bad teams free up cap space). Here’s a suggestion: once you get traded, you don’t get to go back to the team you were traded from that season!
But, alas, this is the NBA, so with a wink and a nod, look for Big Z to head back to Cleveland next month.
Twelve days ago we took a look at some of the best teams in the West and the Lakers emerged as HoopsAvenue’s favorite as well as the fans’ favorite according to our poll. This week we’ll take a look at the Beasts of the East.
The poll results for Eastern Conference champion closed out like this: Other 48%, Celtics 25%, Cavs 15%, Magic 8%, and Pistons 5%. Hmm, looks like we’ve got either a bunch of pranksters or homers in this one as its hard to believe almost 50% of the fans would pick a team other than the Celts, Cavs, Magic, or Pistons next season! Maybe we’re just underestimating the Knicks, though, who knows?
Anyways, what about the supposed top 4 teams. Well, here’s how I’d seed them:
Boston Celtics – The Celts are a bit older, don’t have as much motivation, and lost a key player in James Posey, but they’ve still got the Big Three and will obviously be a force to be reckoned with. They’ve got to be considered the favorites to get back to the Finals, but if I could take the entire field vs. the Celtics, I would.
Orlando Magic – Orlando had the 3rd best record in the East last season and Dwight Howard is still getting better (scary!). Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis also give them a lot of versatility. This team is primed to be in the hunt and don’t be surprised to see them make 1 more move during the season to make that championship push.
Detroit Pistons – The Pistons are probably getting tired of falling short, but I expect that to continue next season. The same cast of characters is back which is still a good thing, but it might be time to shake things up a bit. I wouldn’t count out a team with Chauncey Billups, though. Detroit’s plan should be to aim for homecourt in the playoffs and then maybe things will break their way.
Cleveland Cavaliers – Now, this is an interesting team. The big question is whether or not Mo Williams is the sidekick Lebron needs. Larry Hughes was supposed to be that guy a few years ago and obviously that never panned out. Another thing working in the Cavs favor is the desperation of their management to keep Lebron James happy with his free agency coming up in 2010. Big Z doesn’t have too many years left so a big move this season might be necessary to keep Lebron happy, and it might help them win the East.
It would certainly be a surprise to see another team win the East, but there are some longshots. The 76ers, after acquiring Elton Brand, are on the radar, but you still don’t get the feeling they are Finals ready. Then, you’ve also got the Wizards who have one of the best Big 3s in the league, but once again injuries are threatening their chances. Even Toronto with a frontline of Chris Bosh and hopefully (for them) a healthy Jermaine O’Neal could be a contender.
You may have seen the poll that we’ve been running lately asking who will win the Western Conference. Well, the results are in and they are a bit surprising. The Lakers managed to take home 44% of the vote, followed by the Rockets at 18%, Other at 15%, the Hornets and Spurs at 11%. I presume Other refers to teams like the Jazz, Mavs, Suns, and, of course, homers. Now, it’s not surprising that the Lakers win this poll given they are the defending Western Conference champions, but it is surprising by how much they won. They got more than twice as many votes as the 2nd-place Rockets. So, are they that good with Bynum or are the fans just a bit overly optimistic? Here’s how I rank the top four teams in the West:
1. Lakers – I do give the nod to L.A., but just barely. With a healthy Bynum and the duo of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, there’s no reason for the Lakers to not be competing for the trophy again this season. It won’t be so easy, though, because even though the Lakers should be better, their competition will also be better, and that brings us to #2.
2. Hornets – The Hornets got better this summer by bringing in James Posey from the world champion Celtics. Posey gives New Orleans that defensive stopper they’ll need to get far in the post-season. Chris Paul is still going to give other teams fits and now that the Hornets have some playoff experience, they’ve got a good shot to survive the West.
3. Rockets – The Rockets enter the season with a great upside, but also a great downside after their acquisition of Ron Artest. Artest, a gritty defender and third scorer, looks to be exactly what Houston needs, but he could bring chemistry problems as well. Not to mention, T-Mac and Yao will need to be healthy come playoff time.
4. Spurs – The Spurs are aging and, like the Rockets, they have some questions of their own. They’ll need Manu Ginobili to recover from his ankle injury and come back at full strength. The regular season is not San Antonio’s forte, but they do know how to win in May and June so don’t count them out.
Who do you think will win the West?
Also, check out the new poll which asks who will win the East!
This week HoopsAvenue has been called upon to host the 60th edition of the Carnival of the NBA maintained by Bulls Blogger! If this is your first carnival, don’t be confused, just remember the links tell the story.
Let me introduce you to The Brotherhood of the Traveling Blogs…
While in DC, we hear from another leader, the worldwide leader thinks we should investigate the continent across the Pond, but is it a good idea? We decide to head overseas to check it out.
Our first stop is Italy where Andrea Bargnani is all the rage. We’re told why he struggled last season. Hmm, could he be ready for a breakout season? He could be the X factor.
Wait, we’ve just received an urgent message…”The world might be ending.”
Eeek. We hear that we need to go to Switzerland to investigate. Luckily, we’ve learned how to scale mountains so the Alps are no problem.
We arrive in Geneva where we learn the Large Hadron Collider has been tested and worked fine. That’s a relief. It did suck up the Timberwolves though.
Looking for some positive news, we head back to the States and arrive in Miami where we catch up with Michael Beasley. He’s in a particularly good mood and tells us he’s on his own now. He’s obviously in a very jubilant Starbury-esque mood and tells us he knows how to travel through time.
If bloggers reading want to get involved with theCarnivaloftheNBA, join the group at Ballhype. You can also get information on upcoming (and past) editions ofthecarnival at blogcarnival.com.
Today, Tom Brady went down with a serious knee injury and it looks like he is done for the season. Brady is undoubtedly one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks and has been practically injury-free throughout his career. In fact, he’s so injury free that his name appears on the team injury report every single week as a joke because everybody knows he will be out there. So, if Brady can get hurt, anybody can get hurt. Think about that. Any NBA player could go down in the 1st quarter of the 1st game this season…just like Brady. Brady is obviously one player no team could afford to lose, but who are the NBA’s most indispensable players?
Remember when David Robinson was injured (allegedly) in the ’96 – ’97 season to propel the Spurs to the bottom of the standings and top of the draft board? We’re looking for guys that would have that kind of effect on a season. In order, the top 5:
5. Joe Johnson – It’s hard to convince some people that anybody on a 37-win team could possibly be considered indispensable, but after JJ’s playoff performance against the Celtics last season, it’s hard not to be convinced. The Hawks could win 45+ this season, but if JJ goes down you’ll hear more about the Hawks in Letterman’s punch lines than you will in SportsCenter highlights.
4. Steve Nash – Nash was never the best player. He won back-to-back MVP awards for the sole reason that he is indispensable. It’s not hard to figure out why Amare Stoudemire is so well known for his power dunking.
3. Dwight Howard – Just looking at Orlando’s roster you’ve got to wonder how they managed to win 52 games last season. Howard, like Shaq in his prime, is a classic example of a guy who makes his teammates that much better just by drawing so much defensive attention.
2. Lebron James – Lebron does it all and the Cavs would certainly have fallen flat on their face in the past without the King, but things might finally be a little different this season. With Mo Williams in town, a little bit of the burden is lifted off Lebron. Just a little. He’s still indispensable.
1. Chris Paul – Paul showed how indispensable he was last season surprising the basketball world by taking the Hornets to 56 wins and a #2 seed in the West. David West is nice. So is Tyson Chandler. But, this team is lottery material without Paul.
Who do you think has that Tom Brady-esque quality of indispensability?
Yes, this is happening. I swear I’m not making this up. ESPN just flashed the news and it is official. Shawn Kemp is going to play in Italy. I don’t even know where to begin. Here, we’ve got an overweight 40-year old “former” crackhead and he’s going to be playing professional basketball. Is Italy that desperate for talent? Well, they are probably just marketing the league with this crazy move. Will Kemp even be able to get up and down the floor? Maybe we’ll have the first halfcourt player in Italian basketball history.
What are your thoughts on the Reign Man’s return to pro basketball?
Pretty soon Barack Obama will be announcing his running mate and, from what we hear, he hasn’t made up his mind yet so HoopsAvenue wanted to toss a few NBA names in Obama’s direction. Ball Don’t Lie ran down Obama’s ‘NBA Dream Team’ cabinet 2 months ago and suggested Tim Duncan as Vice President, but we’ve got some other names to throw in the hat:
Dikembe Mutombo – Mutombo brings a boatload of experience to Obama, which would be a big boost for the senator. Additionally, Mutombo is known to be strong on defense which would appeal to a lot of voters, but his connection with President Bush could be a detriment to the campaign.
Bruce Bowen – Bowen’s reputation for strong defense makes him a natural choice to be Obama’s VP, but he’s also a very polarizing figure, unpopular in LA, Phoenix, and many other cities around the country, which could cost Obama votes.
Antawn Jamison – Jamison is experienced, professional, and well-liked. He looks like a perfect choice to be VP, but Obama’s message of change might not resonate if he chooses a Washington-insider like Jamison.
Dwight Howard – He’s from the southeast, a region where Obama struggles, and is now very popular in the swing-state of Florida, but does Dwight Howard have the experience to be VP? Howard would be a risky pick so maybe he should wait until 2012.
Players Not to Consider
Gilbert Arenas – His recent blog post where he said, “There’s another reason I don’t vote – I don’t want jury duty. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t get jury duty. I know that campaign Diddy had a couple years ago, “Vote or Die,” yeah if the alternative is jury duty, I’m going to die. I’m not going to get in one of these cases where they blow the jury members’ houses up to get out of the trial, I’m cool. I’ve seen too many movies,” kinda makes it difficult for him to enter into politics. Plus, he’s busy building a really cool pool.
Rasheed Wallace – Wallace would definitely resonate with Obama’s message of change, but he’s a bit too outspoken. When his Pistons won the 2004 NBA championship and had to meet President Bush the next year, he said, “”I’m not going to say (expletive) to him. I didn’t vote for him. This is just something we have to do.”
After beating China handily 101-70 in their opening game at the Beijing Olympics, its time once again to assess Team USA’s chances at getting the gold. A 31 point victory against an improved Chinese team is no doubt impressive, but Team USA also showed that it is not immune to the same problems that dogged them in the 2004 games.
Once again, dismal three point defense kept Team USA’s opponent in the game in the first half and USA failed to hit outside jump shots. China shot 10-27 from downtown, which is not overly impressive, but they shot a much higher percentage in the first half before they were worn down by Team USA. Deeper and more skilled teams will have a good chance at knocking down 40%+ of their threes against Team USA. USA did not shoot well either or, more accurately, they didn’t really try to shoot all that much, opting to dunk instead. The game showed two distinct styles…Team USA had alley-oop after alley-oop in transition while China was knocking down threes.
Despite these issues, Team USA is still much improved from 2004 and is still the favorite to win gold. This team is not selfish like the 2004 version was, has a better roster, and understands international play a bit better. One big difference from 2004 is this team understands that you cannot count on getting “in the act” fouls called so they did not try to draw fouls around the basket. Instead of creative up-and-under layups, Team USA just went up for aggressive power dunks near the basket and it paid off. They didn’t dribble into trouble as much either. One of the biggest nuances of international play compared to NBA play is that you have about 1 less dribble per move before you get into turnover trouble and Team USA is doing a much better job at not dribbling too much.
So, my prediction? I wouldn’t be surprised if the USA loses a game, but I’m going to predict they do go undefeated and win the gold again.
When I first heard the rumors that the Greek team Olympiakos was going to make a run at Lebron in 2010, I didn’t take it seriously at all. I figured they had no chance at luring James away who makes enough money to feed even Latrell Sprewell’s family here in the USA, but now I’m having second thoughts. ESPN is reporting Lebron would seriously consider leaving if he were offered $50 million per year! He couldn’t even make $20 million a year here (poor soul) given the NBA salary cap so maybe Lebron is thinking about it? I have to admit it’s hard to turn down $50 million…and the opportunity to make history.
According to “sources close to Lebron,” he’d view it as an opportunity to popularize himself overseas and become rich enough to build a statue of himself so large that it can be seen from anywhere on the planet, or even from space. Lebron also would like to see David Stern down on his knees begging him to come back while Jay-Z raps his new hit “The League is Mine.” Ok, I’m getting carried away…
But, seriously, can the Greek team pay that much and would Lebron accept? I don’t know if we have the answer right now (any Euro basketball experts out there?). The fact that this is even a possibility should be a bit troubling to the NBA. We’ve already seen numerous players leave for foreign leagues this year so its clear the NBA is no longer the only business in town. The NBA sees these players as replaceable, and they are right now, but you can only lose so many players before your product begins to decline. A lot of people would claim the league is already watered down and it’s not going to get any better if you’re losing players to other leagues on a regular basis.
The only problem for the NBA here is there ain’t much they can do about it. You either let the free market rule and scrap the salary cap, letting Lebron make $50 million here. But, that’d turn the NBA into MLB and the Knicks would actually be good, meeting the Lakers in the Finals every year. Or, you work with the foreign leagues and add some of their teams to the NBA, creating a logistical nightmare. Neither of those options are any good so the NBA needs to find a middle ground and at least do something. Either that or they can sit on their hands like they did with the referee crisis and risk going the way of the ABA.
I remember in 1997 when my hometown’s franchise (now the Wizards) was in the process of choosing a new nickname to replace the old moniker Bullets. Oh, how odd those name choices sounded: Dragons, Express, Stallions, Sea Dogs, and Wizards. Those were the five name choices according to Wikipedia, but I remember Monuments being a sixth option, which I had wanted the team to choose. Eventually, of course, the name Wizards was chosen…I thought it sounded stupid, and now 11 years later it’s hard to imagine the team with any other nickname. The Oklahoma City franchise is going through a similar process this off-season and their name choices sound equally awkward. Here are the choices:
Barons – This one doesn’t sound so bad at first, but if you do a little digging it’s rather amusing. The first definition for baron is, “a member of the lowest grade of nobility.” I guess the franchise formerly known as the Sonics wants to set low expectations? Of course when you hear baron, you might think along the lines of a business tycoon rather than a member of nobility. In fact, capitalist is a synonym of baron, which is a pretty good description of the franchise’s ownership (as Seattle fans will no doubt agree). Maybe since the franchise ain’t that good and is run by a seemingly greedy owner, Barons is an apt choice.
Bison – Alright, this one is just plural for buffalo. Are you ready to imagine a logo similar to the Buffalo Bills or Colorado Buffaloes? It doesn’t seem to really fit in a sport that favors a deft combination of agility and athleticism over brute force. I think I could live with this name, though.
Energy – Are you kidding me? Is this an electric company or a basketball franchise? In a day and age when we are talking about conserving energy, choosing this nickname would make the OKC franchise the butt of NBA jokes for years. Then again, maybe if the team were to turn down private jets for buses that run on clean, natural gas, they could start a revolution.
Marshalls – Now, this one is weird. According to the patents filed, the NBA is spelling this one with two Ls when the normal spelling only has one. The spelling difference is minimal, but the difference in meaning is enormous! The NBA is choosing a cheap family clothing store over a military officer of the highest rank! Or, could they be naming the team after a particular person named Marshall? Hmm, Marshall Faulk? No. Marshall Mathers? In David Stern’s nightmares maybe.
Thunder – Enough with the weather nicknames! We’ve got the Lightning and Hurricanes in hockey and we’ve got a soccer team named the Earthquakes. These weather nicknames belong in second-rate professional leagues and wrestling. Plus, let’s save the OKC fans the annoyance of hearing synthesized thunder at all their home games.
Wind – Arghhhhh! What did I just say? Aren’t you listening, NBA? I guess the idea here is “swift as the wind.” I could do without the newspaper headlines, though, “The Wind is Howling!” when they’re on a winning streak and “Blown Over by the Wind” when they beat an opponent. It might not be good for PR when the real wind comes to OKC in the form of a tornado, either.
So, here we are once again, with a bunch of nicknames that look laughable, but whatever the choice is, we’ll get used to it.
The poll on your left has been updated to ask you what nickname you’d choose. Looking forward to your votes!
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