To all the NBA fans out there (especially Chicago), I
apologize for my three month absence from the blog. After the Miami Heat won
the NBA championship back in June, it was pretty much impossible for me to
write the utter sadness I felt about the results of the finals. Although Miami
is a more experienced team than OKC and played better as a whole, I was in
denial of them winning the championship… and still kind of am. But as they say,
the show must go on.
So aside from the Heat winning the title, what else happened
over the summer in NBA news? Probably the two most memorable events were that
Steve Nash, point guard of the Phoenix Suns for the last eight years (not to
mention two-time NBA MVP and eight-time NBA All Star), signed on with the Los
Angeles Lakers on July 11th and Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic’s
center for the last eight years since he was drafted to the NBA, signed on with
the Lakers as well on August 10th. It looks like Christmas came
early (and twice) for Kobe Bryant and the rest of the Lakers. For once, Miami
has some good news: The Lakers, once again, are probably the most hated team in
the NBA since they acquired Howard, the most hated player in the NBA because of
the drama surrounding his indecisiveness to stay or leave Orlando. Yes, it seems
that Lebron James has been dethroned of that title after holding it since July
2010 when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join Miami. Needless to say, it
looks like the Lakers have built a super team and will be an actual competitor
for the Heat, who is the favored team for 2013. Between Bryant, Nash and Howard
(not to mention Pau Gasol and Metta Word Peace i.e. Ron Artest), the Lakers should
be a shoo-in for next year’s finals. It would be shocking if they weren’t.
In Chicago news, the Bulls lost almost their entire Bench
Mob by trading Omer Asik, Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Watson, John Lucas and
Mike James. The Chicago point guards (Watson, Lucas and James), who
filled in for Derrick Rose during the playoffs when Rose was out due to an ACL
injury, are all gone. This was startling news to Bulls fans since Rose is
expected to be out for a significant time during this year’s regular season. Rose's torn ACL is expected to take 8-12
months to recover, and according to reports, it could be closer to 12 months meaning
Rose would not return until March 2013.
The Bulls did get some help in the point guard area by
signing Kirk Hinrich (a former member of the team from 2003-2010) and rookie
point guard Marquis Teague. Nate Robinson was picked up as a shooting guard as
well. However, the Bulls don’t look the same and no one knows if all the
players will be able to mesh together and win the central division to advance
to the finals. Here’s a glance at what the Bulls look like for 2012-2013:
Point guards: Kirk Hinrich and Marquis TeagueSmall forwards: Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler
Shooting guards: Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Marco Belinelli and Nate Robinson
Power forwards: Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson and Vladimir Radmanovic
Centers: Joakim Noah and Nazr Mohammed
In other news, former Boston Celtic Ray Allen rejected a
two-year, $12 million contract to return to Boston and instead accepted a
three-year deal with Miami for a little more than $3 million per season. Miami
was already scary between the big three (James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh),
but adding Allen to the mix is going to make the Heat even more threatening
than they already were. Jeremy Lin signed with the Houston Rockets after a
contract dispute forced him out of playing in New York. The contract is for
three years and is worth $25 million. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see
if Linsanity continues in Houston for the former Knick. Lots of excitement occurred in Los Angeles—and
this time I’m not talking about the Lakers. The LA Clippers have welcomed six
new players to their team including Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford and Grant Hill. Blake
Griffin, forward for the Clippers, is healthy and ready to start training camp
after undergoing arthroscopic surgery in July to repair a tear in his left
knee. Chris Paul, the Clippers’ point guard, also underwent surgery about two
weeks ago to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. The surgery was
successful and Paul should be ready for the start of training camp. Building
chemistry between the current Clippers’ players and the newbies (although many
of the newbies are NBA veterans) will be essential for the Clippers to have a shot
at a championship.
Between the trades and injuries, the NBA postseason has been
an interesting one. I’m sure more excitement is to come with the 2012-2013
regular season starting in two months. The season will begin on Tuesday, October
30th with the Heat hosting the Celtics.
What are your thoughts on the NBA postseason? Leave comments here!
What are your thoughts on the NBA postseason? Leave comments here!
Lakers vs Heat....next 2 yrs finals already set.
ReplyDeleteYes, unfortunately it looks that way..
DeleteAlright, I know that a lot of us are Lebron haters. I even had to unsubscribe from the NBA's youtube page and avoided just about anything NBA related because I just wanted to completely ignore the fact that the Heat won the championship, but I was lucky enough for one of my friends to explain the situation to me. Years ago the Chicago Bulls were one of the most hated teams in America. Why? MJ eliminated all possibilities of any other team winning a championship. Was MJ the most hated basketball player? No, and he still is probably one of the most beloved basketball players today, but also probably one of the most cockiest in existence. A lot of us are willing to admit that Lebron is the best NBA player in the league right now and probably one of the most hated (next to Dwight). What's the difference between now and then: the media. We just have way too much coverage, twitter isn't helping the solution, and we contribute to the chaos. The media has the power to spin anything. Lets be real, Michael Jordan isn't the most stand up guy. I don't want to bash MJ, but he did cheat on his wife and he really didn't respect that many players in the league, even the ones on his team members. If the media was the way it is now back then, we would view MJ completely differently. My point is that we can't look at players personalities, we have to look at their character. Why do you think people have respect for Denis Rodman, he was such a weird dude. But he worked hard and his fruits of his labor were seen on the court. And you can say the same thing about Lebron and MJ (as of now more so for MJ). So my message to basketball fans everywhere is ignore the hype. Look at if these players are producing results and give them respect that's due.
ReplyDeleteNow lets look at what really matters, The Chicago Bulls. We all know that Chicago is going through reconstruction, Derrick Rose and the team itself. The bench mob seems like its be completely dissembled and unfortunately we still have Carlos Boozer (I'm not saying he's a bad player, but def over paid and isn't producing enough to the cost we have him for. (I'd be understanding if you hate Boozer)). But its not like we had any huge names on our bench. I mean what other teams would even consider CJ Watson, John Lucas, or Mike James before seeing them play with the Bulls. People may think that Derrick Rose is our ultimate weapon, but the reality of it is that Coach Thibodeau is our real weapon. I personally try to avoid putting any stock with any type of team, but the Chicago Bulls have earned my loyalty. They've earned it with the hard work that Derrick Rose has already put in and with the way Coach Thibs has transformed the team. I know our team has been dismantled and reassembled, but I have faith in Thibs. He has the ability to make the players really want to achieve more. Even Boozer loss 15 pounds before the beginning of last season, John Lucas has out played Lebron, and Korver definitely increased his defensive skills and was able to get off more shots this last year. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. This is what the Bulls bring to the table, hard work. The Bulls' chances for winning the championship this season may have been eliminated, but I definitely have hope for the future of the Bulls.
As for this season, I know that the Lakers seem stacked, but Dwight Howard will not be playing in the beginning of the season. He's still a variable. The NBA was plagued with many serious injuries last year and the question that lingers over each of these players' head is can they play to the level that they did before? If Dwight can, the Lakers are probably guaranteed to make it to the finals. If Rose can, the Heat better watch out. I think the Bulls management can pull off a blockbuster trade in the future and along with Thibs magic I wouldn't count the Bulls out yet.
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” – I like that sentence. But yes, I see your point about the MJ/Lebron comparison. The media definitely can spin things whichever way they want. For me personally, as much as I loved MJ, he was a jerk on the court, no doubt about that. Several players complained of him taunting them and like you mentioned, the cheating thing—not very nice personality wise. As much as I dislike the Heat, I have also come to the conclusion (and actually admitted out loud) that Lebron is the best player in the NBA right now. My problem is more with the way he came to Miami and left Cleveland. You said we have to look at the players’ characters not their personality. The way Lebron handled the Cleveland situation definitely showed a part of his character I, and many other NBA fans, did not like. If Jordan ever did what Lebron did, he would have had some crazy backlash for the way he handled the situation. But Lebron definitely works hard and produces results.
DeleteAs for the Bulls, I agree, Coach Thibs is our real weapon. He works our players and pushes them to be better. That’s why our bench mob was the best and the chemistry they had with our starters was amazing. I don’t think the Bulls will have a chance at a championship for the next couple years, but in the future, they will be back to championship level. They didn’t want to spend that much money this summer with the trades (probably because they foolishly spent so much on Boozer), but down the line they will spend more money to get better players. Either way, this season is going to be an exciting one between watching the Lakers chemistry and more importantly, Rose’s return.