NBA Blog

Last night I had the displeasure of watching the Blazers-Pacers game live. 

The Blazers starting five looked like this:  Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Viktor Khryapa, Zach Randolph, and Joel Pryzbilla.  This left me saying, “Well no $*(%!” after the first quarter when they were losing 28-12.  Scot Pollard had nine rebounds in the first quarter, and Peja and Steven Jackson both had 10 points.  The Pacers should have run them out of the gym had Steve Javie not been reffing the game.  Jackson had a career high for points, and Pollard, Foster, Granger, and Foster came within inches of fouling out.  Blake was getting run by Anthony Johnson.  The same Anthony Johnson who looks like a slow version of Mark Jackson in his final season with the Jazz/Rockets.  He’s that slow.  Freddie Jones was faster than anybody the Blazers threw on the court, and would have turned the game into a slam-dunk contest if the Pacers had any type of a fast-break game. 

The Blazers could have had Chris Paul this season instead of the bootleg version of him in Sebastian Telfair.  Telfair may be hurt, but he was still not impressive in the least.  For the first time ever at an NBA game, I left early.  That’s how bad it was.

This brings me to my next point:  Every season, there are certain teams that I absolutely love to watch.  This year my short list includes the following:

10.  Miami : Shaq and Wade.  ‘Nuff said.

9.  Phoenix :  Nash is really good.  He deserves to start in the All-Star game.  I just let my Spurs’ bias to interfere.  I apologize.

8.  Cleveland Cavaliers:  LeBron is that impressive.  Plus, now that he’s healthy, I love Anderson Varejao’s Side Show Bob impersonation.  Drew Gooden’s spastic game and baldhead-beard combo is also delightfully entertaining.  If anyone should wear a number in the 90’s, its Drew.  Thanks buddy.

7.  Los Angeles Lakers:  Kobe ’s amazing run at 70 every night despite the lack of talent in his starting five (Kwame Brown and Smush Parker especially) is impressive.  It’s worth watching every night just to see what he’ll do.  I just wish they would trade Lamar Odom to a team that could use him.  Maybe the Nuggets and Lakers can swing a deal to send Lamar to the Nuggets where he could be of some use.  I’m sure the Lakers could use another hack in their starting five, read Kenyon Martin.  (Interestingly, in the East, Martin was a stud who only got dominated when he played in the finals against real big men, but now, he’s like the twelfth best power forward in the Conference behind Duncan, Garnett, Dirk, Brand, Gasol, Troy Murphy and Ike Diogu, Zach Randolph, Lamar Odom, and Kurt Thomas.  Even Kenny Thomas is outperforming him at this point.  Is there a difference between Martin and Stromile Swift at this point?)

6.  Toronto :  I’ve been a Mike James fan for a while.  I think he’s been highly underrated for too long.  He’s earning some serious money right now.  Also, Chris Bosh is awesome.  (On that note, Orlando would be on this list because of Dwight Howard, but I can’t stand to watch Francis.  He’s too Marbury-esque at this point.)

5.  Los Angeles Clippers:  They’re winning with veterans.  That’s never happened before, and may never happen again.  It’s like watching Haley’s Comet.  You don’t care too much, but you have to watch it, because you only get one chance in a lifetime to see it.

4.  New Orleans/Oklahoma City:  Despite losing Chris Andersen’s dunks, I still love to watch them.  They’re like an entertaining version of the Nets.  Mason plays hard and loves to dunk instead of settling for long jumpers (we’ll call him the anti-Vince) and Chris Paul IS the second coming of Isiah Thomas (the superstar guard, not the shoddy businessman).

3.  Detroit :  Solid defense combined with Flip Saunders’ offense has them playing better than anybody in the league.  Flip was the perfect replacement for Larry Brown. 

2.  Milwaukee :  Let’s check the list:

            Exciting point guards: Ford, Williams (Check)

            Great shooter/scorer in the clutch:  Redd (Check)

            Solid big-men:  Magloire/Bogut (Check)

            Token-savvy veteran: Joe Smith, Toni Kukoc (Check)

Token-white guy:  Kukoc, Welsch (Check)

            Excellent young core: Ford, Williams, and Bogut (Check)

            Solid defender/shut-down artist: Simmons (Check)

            Post defense: Gadzuric, Magloire, Bogut (Check)

            Speed and fastbreak skills: See point guards (Check)

What’s not to love?

1.  San Antonio Spurs: If you didn’t know that they would be at the top of my list, where the heck have you been all this time?

Unfortunately, I cannot stand to watch the Nuggets, which is why I left ‘Melo off my All-Star list despite the fact that he’s lighting up the league lately.  His ability to score is amazing, and he’s an official superstar right now.  Bosh, ‘Melo, Wade, and LeBron were in the same NBA Draft class.  All I can say is WOW.  This class could go down as one of the best ever when all is said and done.