A joint article with LWOS’ Ben Kerr.
With the Celtics dismantling their starting five, Chauncey heading back to the Motor City, and World Peace heading home to the Garden, is it too soon to make predictions on what the playoffs could potentially look like?
Owners are broke, big names signed, and any trade made at this point is not going to shift the balance of power in the East. So the question posed is, “Who wins the East this season?”
In case you missed it, the Miami Heat have repeated as champions, but do the Heat have the talent to go for a “3-peat”? Miami, for the most part, have kept their championship-winning squad intact. Most recently, owner Micky Arison used the amnesty provision on G/F Mike Miller, relieving the organization of $17 million in luxury taxes, smart move considering Miller only makes an appearance every 10 games. Obviously Mike Miller isn’t going to deter Miami from seeking another championship, but can New York? Maybe Brooklyn? What about Indiana? Did you forget about Chicago?
Without a doubt the most improved team in the East this season will be the Chicago Bulls. With the Derrick Rose soap-opera finally over and the former MVP ready to grace the hardwood once again, the Bulls seem ready more than ever to dethrone the champs. Off-season moves have brought a solid G/F in Mike Dunleavy to play along side Luol Deng and Derrick Rose to produce numbers for an offense that at times seemed non-existent, just plain terrible.
What the Bulls really lack is an inside offensive presence, which is really nothing new. Although there is hope, but it relies on one man whose jumper lately is as cold as an Eskimos ex-wife. Are ya following me here?
Can Carlos Boozer return to form from his glory days in Utah where he averaged 18.6pts a game and roughly 20pts in the playoffs or will he continue to be an offensive mess?
Since his arrival, Boozer has not lived up to the expectations of Chicagoans, where he has been averaging 16.2pts a game and a measly 14pts in the playoffs. Boozer is down in every statistical category with the exception in free throws. Don’t want to put the blame entirely on the Booz but, let’s be real, Nazr Mohammed isn’t going to get it done and Joakim Noah, although the man is a hustler, is no offensive machine, Boozer has no choice but to step up and fast.
Whoever told you “Defense wins games” may be right, but it’s not enough to win a championship. Defense isn’t Chicago’s issue though, its putting the ball in the basket. Chicago came in as the 3rd best defensive team in the league in points allowed (92.9ppg). Now hear this. the Bulls were the worst offensive team (93.2), and 6th in shooting percentage (.437), beating Indiana, Washington, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Charlotte to round out the worst shooting teams in the NBA last season. Doesn’t look like a championship formula, and lets be clear, no one really knows if Derrick is gonna as quick as he once or explosive as he once was. I don’t care if he is wearing Addidas, if the man ain’t crazy quick, you’re gonna see these guys disappear faster than an NBA shot clock.
And then there was the good ol’ state of New York. A dismal place for basketball in late 2000’s, but let it be known, championship caliber basketball has returned to the city, at least it has in the Garden.
There has always been a question mark over the more recent players to come through MSG, leavings fans wondering “Is this really our year?” It appears the Knicks have finally found the right formula to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals this year. It’s been a busy off-season in New York, with the retiring of leadership players like Rasheed Wallace and Jason Kidd, (whom both found coaching jobs within the same conference) the Knicks have lost two vital locker room presences. Enter Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, a former NBA brawler, Defensive Player of the Year, and NBA World Champion. Not only does he bring championship experience, the guy is a proven leader known to rise in the clutch (Game 5 vs the Suns and Game 7 vs the Celtics in 2010) . The missing link to a championship caliber team has been found, just ask Laker great and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson.
Playing along side Carmelo Anthony, Iman Shumpert, Tyson Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire, JR Smith, and Kenyon Martin, one could only assume this line up may be reminiscent of the “bad boy” attitude of the Knicks 90’s squad. The New York Knicks averaged the 7th best defense with allowing 95.7 pts per game with a 4.3+point differential in offense (100) and refused to turn the ball over with a league best 11.6 turnovers per game last season.
So what’s the problem? The New York Knicks can’t remain healthy (even in the off-season) which leads to inconsistent play. Amar’e Stoudemire has yet to complete a full season in New York, playing a total of 154 games out of 264. JR Smith happened to fall out last minute during the playoffs due to a patella tendon injury (not a hangover) and decided to play through the pain and leave arthroscopic surgery on a torn lateral meniscus for the off-season leaving him sidelined for 12-16 weeks. The reigning Sixth Man of The Year will be ready just in time for the start of the regular season. New York also signed Andrea Bargani formerly of the Toronto Raptors. Bargani packs a 7foot frame and brings solid perimeter shooting and stellar ball handling skills similar to likes of Mavericks F/C Dirk Nowitzki. If these boys continue to remain injured, solve all problems by bring in World Peace, Metta World Peace. Knickerbockers might just be able to say with confidence “This is definitely our year!”
We’re not done with Empire State just yet.
Head uptown and then take a transfer on the Q train, you’ll arrive in Brooklyn shortly. A team built by a Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who dished out two max contracts belonging to sharp shooter Joe Johnson and flashy point guard Deron Williams, backed by one of the best big men in the game Brook Lopez; sounds like a recipe for success…WRONG!
Leadership issues have plagued this team. Lets state the facts, Johnson, who appears to never show any emotion, has decreased in PPG. ever since his second year in Atlanta, (from 25 to 16.3 last year with the Nets) and obviously couldn’t get it done in Atlanta along side All-Stars center Al Horford and forward Josh Smith. Johnson averaged just under 15pts a game last year in the playoffs, does he really deserve a max contract; he’s never seen what a Conference Finals looks like.
Deron Williams is just overpaid, it’s that simple. Look, the guy can ball during playoff time, but what about during the regular season? Williams is best known for running Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan out of town and bailing on the Jazz franchise and that’s about it.
It comes to no surprise that Williams also couldn’t get the job done either before the Nets crossed the Hudson and landed in Brooklyn. After a disappointing post season, Nets ousted their second coach of the season in PJ Carlesimo, who led the team to 35-19 record after the canning of Avery Johnson. Now on the hunt for a coach, the Nets decided to go with Jason Kidd. Really? Jason Kidd? When you had Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw, and potentially a George Karl, ya go with Kason Kidd? Even Phil Jackson expressed interest in coaching again.
But that’s okay, it’s alright to have a rookie coach come in and handle two egos the size of Kobe’s forehead, right? If that won’t work, they can just fire Kidd too and just let Lawrence Frank take over, been there, done that, no? Wait, can’t they just take 3 out of 5 Celtics starters put them in Nets jerseys and call it a day?
Well, that’s exactly what they did. This off-season Brooklyn traded forwards Gerald Wallace, Kris Joseph, and Kris Humphries, guards Keith Bogans and Marshon Brooks for F/C future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett and another future Hall of Famer in guard Paul Pierce, along with forward D.J. White, and that guy who Lebron James posterized after he started running his mouth, guard Jason Terry, not so bad right?
But wait, there’s more! Lets not forget not one, not two, but three future first round picks, does that even make sense? How can the Nets organization be so blatantly dumb to wheel in nursing home legends, who without a doubt deserve respect, but at the same time trade away your future to conference rivals the Boston Celtics?
Pierce and Paul didn’t wanna leave! Kevin’s loyalties were to guard Rajon Rondo and Paul wanted to finish as a Celtic. So now you have two disgruntled players and another two who are just as flaky as a Burger King croissant. Although Pierce, Terry, and Garnett can provide leadership on the floor, who is gonna run the locker room? Papa Kidd?
Jason Kidd was recently filmed and pictured answering is cell phone in the middle of a summer league game, not only that Kidd has been charged with a DUI, stemming from last year. This is the man you chose to lead your franchise to the promise land?
The Nets can’t rely on former Boston leaders to take over the Brooklyn, it’s just not going to happen. Leadership starts upstairs, not on the hardwood.
And last, but certainly not least that brings us to the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers gave the Heat all they could handle last year taking them to seven games in the Eastern Conference Final.
Roy Hibbert exposed a real weakness in the Miami Heat front court during the series, as they just had no answer for the power game he brought at both ends of the floor. With Hibbert absolutely dominating the Heat inside and averaging over 22 points and 10 rebounds per game over the seven game series, it made Miami desperate enough to go out and sign Greg Oden to try and deal with their weakness.
The Pacers meanwhile should be even better on the perimeter next season as Danny Granger is set to return to the Indiana lineup. He led the team in scoring in 2011-12 with 18.7 points per game, his first season below 20 ppg since 2007-08. However Granger was forced to miss all but 5 games in the 2012-13 season due to patellar tendinosis. In his place Paul George moved to small forward and and really stepped up, showing the ability to take over the game at times. Now with Granger back, George can move back to shooting guard, and with both in the lineup in 2012-13 the Pacers will have a number of options to find additional scoring off the wings.
Add to that the continued growth of David West and Paul George, and an improved bench with the additions of Luis Scola and CJ Watson, along with the likelyhood that Lance Stephenson will now become an important bench piece. With all that in mind, Indiana is once again Miami’s biggest threat in the conference.
The only question now is, are you really willing to bet against Lebron James and the Miami Heat?
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