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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 9-8, fourth place Pacific
Division
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14
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This Month:
19
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Pau Gasol
 Lakers fans hoped that last season's debacle where Pau Gasol posted career lows across the board was simply a fluke as he had been injured for much of last season along with him being worn down from playing in the Olympics. Many had thought that a restful off season would rejuvenate the aging big man and thus return to form leading the Lakers in a time when both the team and fans most needed him to up his game. Unfortunately, instead of having the "Pau Gasol of old" who ranked among the league top big men, the team and its fans got an "Old Pau Gasol"-one who looks as if his best years are far behind him with nowhere to go in his career but down. Coming into the season Gasol looked like a shadow of his former self averaging a career low of 14.9 points per game, shooting just .430 from the field, and only having scored 20 or more points in just five of his first 15 games of the season. If his game continues to decline or does not return to the form that everyone expects him to be in, expect Gasol's name to be mentioned in numerous trade rumors as his contract expires at the end of the season and it is less than likely that the Laker front office will sign him back on. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Mike D'Antoni
 Despite being given a lot of flack over the last few years for his poor showing both as coach of +New York Knicks and the Lakers, give Mike D'Antoni credit for taking the team that he has and making the best of a rather bad situation. Here is a guy who is without two of his star players, a roster which consists of the who's who of who cares, an All Star big man who has been playing well below expectations, and still managed to keep his team competitive in a rather tough Western Conference. Despite all the odds being stacked against their favor, the Lakers have remain still somewhat competitive with a rather respectable record to say the least at 9-8--a far cry to what many had anticipated. As it stands, now, Mike D'Antoni has the Lakers on the right track--in a position where they are maintaining a solid enough presence until +Kobe Bryant arrives so they can make a run for the playoffs. It is already a forgone conclusion that the Lakers are in no ways near to being in the running for a championship run this year or anytime soon, but at least they still manage to tread water in the rather stormy shark infested seas of the western Conference. IF LA manages to make the playoffs for the seventh straight year then Mike D'Antoni certainly deserves Coach of the Year Honors as he would have accomplished what many have thought to be impossible--managing to take an aging, battered down team that is low on talent to the post season. |
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It may not be a sight that their fans have been used to seeing nor does it meet their nonstop high and somewhat unrealistic expectations, but the Los Angeles Lakers have thus far performed the most admirably than it has ever had in the past ten years as they came in as a team with no star and no chance to reach the post season, but still manage to keep within arm's reach of the top teams in the West. Despite starting the regular season without their franchise player, Kobe Bryant who continues to undergo rehab for his torn Achilles, losing their starting point guard +Steve Nash for what seems to be for the rest of the season, and their best player in the midst of a shooting slump, the Lakers still managed to pull out the first month of the season with a winning record surprising many. They started the season with with surprising upset victories against their home rival +Los Angeles Clippers (10/29), a team expected to not only dominate their Pacific Division, but finish among the top teams of the West, the +Golden State Warriors (11/22), another team expected to be a powerhouse in the league and the +Houston Rockets (11/7), a team that has been projected to reach the Finals. They even managed to give last season's Western Conference Finalist +San Antonio Spurs a run for its money grinding the game out holding the Spurs to just 91 points before falling by six points (11/1) and had they held on to win the game, the Lakers would have been 10-7 instead of 9-8. Sure there have been a few off-putting moments such as losing big to Golden State (10/30), +Dallas Mavericks (11/5), and +Minnesota Timberwolves (11/10), but overall the Los Angeles Lakers have managed to play solid competitive ball which their fans should admire instead of abscond as they have been doing.
Coming into the regular season, absolutely nothing was going right for the Lakers as they had starting their off season losing the bidding war to keep +Dwight Howard, a player that the franchise had sacrificed so much to bring to LA only to see him bid farewell and head for the Houston Rockets. To make matters worse, due to the team's salary cap situation being well over the luxury tax threshold hold, the Lakers were forced to literally scrape the bottom of the barrel in order to fill out their roster settling with a pathetic crop of free agents consisting of the saddest group of misfits that both the team and its fans have ever seen. They picked up Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry, two former lottery picks who had been waived from their teams after failing to meet up to expectation to their high draft selection status making them even less desirable for any team, even the worst ones, to consider giving a chance. Johnson had already been cast away the previous season, by the team whom originally selected him third overall in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves, before being sent away yet again by the +Phoenix Suns, after failing miserably to redeem what had been thus far a failure of a career. Xavier Henry was expected to shine in the NBA after coming off an exceptional freshman college campaign at the University of Kansas starring for the team and getting selected twelfth overall in 2010 Draft; however, after three rather nondescript seasons with the then New Orleans Hornets, he was then jettisoned with the rest of the garbage as the team went to change itself into the Pelicans. As if it was not bad enough to settle for those two losers, then Lakers went on to assemble the biggest group of misfits and riffraff that has ever been together on an NBA team--two of which had been labeled as not only knuckleheads but also as team pariahs, one that the team has originally cast away, and a big who at one time had a bright future in the league only to have it snuffed out as fast as he ascended. Both Nick Young and Shawne Williams had rap sheets as long as the distances between the teams in which they had both bounced around with Williams spending much of the early years of his career either suspended by his team or in police custody while good old Nick for much of career would be fodder of every harsh insult and the butt of every cruel joke by every sports caster and journalist. Young was especially maligned as he was essentially singled out as one of the causes of the downfall of the +Washington Wizards from playoff contender to laughing stock and that label had stuck with him which led to him being run out of town by not only the District of Columbia, but both the City of Angles and the City of Brother Love in the span of two seasons. +Jordan Farmar was a member of the Laker championship teams in 2009 and 2010, but was essentially was given up on by the team ever becoming a major impact player as he was sent away in a trade to the then New Jersey Nets, only to be traded once again to and waived by the +Atlanta Hawks. As for +Chris Kaman , his case can be considered the most tragic as he actually had the potential to be one of the league's elite big men until injuries took hold railroading a once promising career only to be sent away to the arm pit of the NBA in a trade that brought +Chris Paul to the Clippers and him to suffer brief but humiliating stints in New Orleans and Dallas. Combine those players with the already sad group of returning players which consisted of broken down and useless spare parts, one can see how any hoop fan in Los Angeles would easily cross the floor trading his Lakers purple and gold shirt for Clipper red, white and blue. For the first time ever in Los Angeles sports history, the Clippers who had forever been hidden under the immense shadow of the hated nemesis whom the shared the same arena with, would now be the one on top receiving all the accolades while their once mighty rival lay bare defeated and disgraced. Any self respecting season ticket holder would go and crawl in the nearest hole and not come out until the Finals end in June as they watch their time honored franchise which is filled of history of glories past degenerate to the point it has; however, unlike the rather dark projections placed on this team, the Lakers have actually defied the odds and have played at least at par with some of the average teams in the league. They actually have a winning record and to the chagrin of many of the team's detractors and doubters, have done with little or nothing in terms of having any real big names or any exorbitant amount of talent as a basketball team known for its star power has now been taken over by a merry band of misfits who time had either forgotten or ignored. And that is what makes this team more special than any other Laker team in recent memory for it is a team that has been held together by the fact that all of them are considered as outsiders or undesirables and have banded together to prove the entire world wrong. Granted, they are nowhere near to contending for a title and may just possibly not make the playoffs, but there is something to be said about moral victories and looking deeper into a team rather than just taking it at face value. Remember that this is a team who started the regular season with not just one, but two of its key players sidelined with injuries while the third, despite his best efforts, has yet to find his shooting stroke and has thus been unable to lead the team. Lakers fans along with the sports media need to remind themselves of this fact whenever they plan to say or write their harsh critiques on the team, but that will sadly never happen as all that matters in the City of Angels is winning--and not just passing through the season with an above .500 record. When people talk Lakers, it is all about championship glory and as long as the denizens who pride themselves in donning purple and gold, it will be a very long season of heartbreak and disappointment instead of one filled with optimisim and hope. |
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Showing posts with label November. Show all posts
Showing posts with label November. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 19. Los Angeles Lakers
Friday, January 10, 2014
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 20. Memphis Grizzlies
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 8-7, fourth place Southwest
Division
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17
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This Month:
20
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Tayshaun Prince
 Most folks in Memphis are probably thinking the same thing that I have had floating in my head since the start of the regular season: the Grizzlies gave up +Rudy Gay for this guy? Sure, Gay had his flaws being paid a superstar's salary while not producing at a superstar level in the eyes of fans and the media, but as we watch the season progress, it can certainly be seen that the Grizzlies, not Gay, would get the short end of the stick on this deal. After providing a solid perimeter presence helping Memphis to its first ever appearance in the Western Conference, Prince has come into the season ice cold only averaging six points per game while shooting a rather abysmal .125 from beyond the three point line--an asset that was supposed to be his greatest strength and the reason why the Grizzlies brought him there in the first place. At the same time, it has become painfully apparent that Prince can no longer provide the perimeter scoring presence that his predecessor had once provided as father time has caught up with him which can be seen by his declining numbers and abilities. Now the Grizzlies are stuck with a player who has two years and 15$ million left on his his deal with no chance of ever being traded because of his over valued contract and diminishing return which cannot be said about guy, who although on his third team in two years, still manages to put up big numbers and provide the production on both ends of the floor that Memphis misses so much. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Mike Conley
 The 2013/2014 season has certainly been a coming out party for the Grizzlies' sixth year starting point guard as he has simply exploded posting a career best in scoring while leading the team in both points and assists per game. Not only has Mike Conley posted a career milestone 18.6 points per game, but has done so at a rather efficient rate shooting nearly .500 percent from the field. Conley's emergence could not come at a better time as the Grizzlies severely lacked a solid perimeter scoring presence to balance their low post attack after trading away the team's top perimeter scorer Rudy Gay last season for next to nothing. Unfortunately his boost in scoring production has taken away much of his ability to set his teammates up and facilitate the offense; however, since there is very little if nothing to speak of in terms of perimeter scoring. Nonetheless, if he continues posting the big scoring numbers he has thus far, Conley might have a chance to earn his first NBA All Star selection as he certainly deserves recognition for his phenomenal play and even be a contender for the league's Most Improved Player Award upon season's end. |
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After an impressive three year run which saw them post fifty plus seasons, three playoff appearances which include two firsts in franchise history winning its first playoff series in 2012 along with reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time as well, it seems as if the Memphis Grizzlies have started to crash back to earth after such a meteoric rise. Once praised for being one of the hot, young up and coming teams in the league, it looks as if after spending three short years in the upper echelons of the league Memphis has sadly reached its peak and look to be tipped off their pedestal and sent tumbling down to the bottom. This once proud and powerful franchise has found itself from being among the top dogs in their Conference to becoming a spectator on the outside looking in as team's that were once their inferiors have now surpassed them thus leaving this once shining star hurdling into the cold void of space. Despite finishing the first month of the regular season rathjer respectably at a game over the .500, the Grizzlies are no where near to being the force it once was as they have been upstaged by two teams for whom they had comfortably remained on top over the last couple seasons' in the +Dallas Mavericks and the +Houston Rockets with the Mavericks bouncing back from their less than spectacular season to surprise their doubters and naysayers while Houston has emerged as a front runner to win the West with a combo that consists of the league top big man and shooting guard. With a Western Conference which has all but been decided, it looks as if sadly this one time up and coming team who fans loved for their ability to grind down the opponents on the defensive end and looked to have a bright future ahead of it will be heading to the lottery at season's end and on the long hard road to rebuilding.
For those who have followed the team closely, it was already a forgone conclusion that the Grizzlies had hit the end of the road upon the end of last season as the team had essentially hit its peak last season and there was nowhere else for it to go but down. The writing was already on the wall when the Grizzlies came into the regular season with essentially the same team that was led by an aging Zach Randolph and had not done anything really Earth shattering during the off season to ensure that Z-Bo would have the support he needed to lead the team to the post season once again. Their biggest off season move was signing a washed up has-been in Mike Miller, who had been waived from his previous team, the two time NBA Champion +Miami HEAT, expecting him to provide the scoring punch that the team so desperately needed after shipping of last season's leading scorer Rudy Gay for pennies to the dollar. The Grizzlies also acquired a young, athletic and talented big man +Kosta Koufos via trade with the +Denver Nuggets and although he does provide additional depth and strength to an already stacked front court consisting of All Star big men in Randolph and Marc Gasol. Unfortunately, such a move did not help the Grizzlies as they would soon find themselves with an extremely crowded front court thus limiting the impact of Koufos while still remaining without a legitimate scoring presence on the perimeter; nonetheless, that was not even the worst off season move as Memphis would simply discard a player that could have possibly been the answer to solve all its offensive woes. Last season, +Tony Wroten, whom the Grizzlies picked in the 25th in the 2012 NBA Draft, was expected to be one of the top sleepers in the draft with his size, skills, athleticism and high basketball I.Q; unfortunately, however, he had a less than stellar rookie campaign for Memphis playing in just 35 games while averaging less than three points per game and shooting a woeful .384 from the field. His performance left little to be desired and gave both the fans and front office of Memphis Grizzlies such a bad taste in their mouth that the team chose to simply cast him aside trading him to the +Philadelphia 76ers for nothing more than a protected second round pick in next year's draft. That callous move proved to be costly as Wroten would emerge as one of the top comeback stories of the early season coming off the bench to explode onto the court with averages of nearly 14 points per game in just under 26 minutes of playing time giving Philly a potential diamond in the rough leaving Memphis with egg on its face for pulling off such a short sighted deal. Had the Grizzlies been patient with Wroten, who had only turned 20 this season, and kept him instead of casually just throwing him away, they could have had an exciting young player who will certainly be in the running for the Most Valuable Player Award at season's end; however, now both the team and its fans are stuck wondering "what if" as they both struggle to hold on and remain relevant in an already hotly contested Western Conference in which they have little or no chance of breaking through. This move can be considered as just as thoughtless as when they discarded another player who would have maintained a healthy inside/outside balance on the offensive end while providing the team with one of the best on the ball perimeter defenders in the league. While in Memphis, despite leading the team in scoring all of his seasons playing for the Grizzlies and statistically being one of the most potent small forwards in the league on both ends of the court, Rudy Gay was never given the respect and admiration he deserved by either the fans, the press, or the media. He was often unjustly criticized and judged for his inability to get selected to the NBA All Star team--something that he had absolutely no control over-- despite being signed to a max contract extension of six year at approximately 120$ million. Nonetheless he still lived up to his end of his contract posting All Star like numbers of around 20 points, 6 boards, three assists, two steals and nearly a blocked shot per game in the six years he played as a member of the Grizzlies, which many sports reporters and analysts have often overlooked or disregarded when they go about disparaging Gay's contributions as a player. What is most unfortunate is in their ongoing onslaughts of harsh insults and baseless judgments that many of his critics failed to realize how important he was to that team as he provided Memphis with a perimeter presence that kept opposing teams honest defensively keeping their eyes on Gay while trying to handle Randolph and Gasol in the paint. With Gay no longer in the picture, opposing teams have no reason to really guard the perimeter as there is virtually no threat whatsoever thus leading them to focus their defensive pressure on Randolph and Gasol leading to both players to get the brunt of the punishment and little space to work in the paint. Hypothetically, had Rudy Gay remained in Memphis, not only the Grizzlies still probably would have beaten the +Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of last year's NBA Playoffs and still managed to upset the +Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the Western Conference Final, but they would have had enough to probably maintain their standing as one of the league's top teams for at least another year or two; however, that is no longer the case as last season's epic run would become a distant memory with the Grizzlies looking to crash and burn once the season comes to a close. One can consider such a demise of a team as tragic and bittersweet because it all could have been prevented had the Grizzlies stood firm with the roster it had instead of shortsightedly unloading valuable assets and replacing them with cheaper lower quality spare parts in return. Now the team struggles to stay afloat in the bloodthirsty shark infested waters of the Western Conference and it is only a matter of time until this lame and weakened NBA franchise sinks to the bottom and drown under its own weight or get torn apart and devoured before they even get a chance to even reach under the water. Although there may be some fans in Memphis who have hope that things can turn around as it is just a month into the regular season, but with the way the West has been shaping up and looking at their numbers, the chances of a comeback are slim at best. Here is a team that so far has allowed their opponents to outscore it despite leading the league in points allowed per game while at the same time allow them to shoot just a well as its players do and force as many turnovers as they commit themselves. Had they been situated in the far more diluted and geographically appropriate Eastern Conference, the Grizzlies would be among the top four teams in the east; however, both fate and that unwise action of its front office has left this team from being one of the league's elite to becoming one of the sad tragic stories of the 2014 NBA season. |
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Wednesday, January 8, 2014
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 21. New Orleans Pelicans
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 7-8, fifth place Southwest
Division
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20
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This Month:
21
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Tyreke Evans
 Despite three rocky seasons following his epic rookie campaign, the New Orleans Pelicans still chose to invest in a player who has thus far been a sad disappointment in his career. The Pelis chose to ignore all the red flags acquiring Tyreke Evans in a sign and trade deal at the price of 44$ million and so far the team's gamble has far from paid off. Coming into the season Tyreke has been absolutely awful posting a career low of 11.7 points per game while shooting a rather abysmal .125 from beyond the arc and has thus far looked completely out of sync with his new team. Although it is just the beginning of the season and there is still plenty of basketball to be played, if one were to look at his career thus far, it certainly does not look good as his number have been consistently been going down since his rookie year. Hopefully the troubled guard will find his way in the Big Easy or else those in the Pelicans' front office will not only find themselves with egg on their faces, but a four year dead weight contact in which they a stuck with yet again. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Anthony Davis
 After a solid yet unspectacular rookie campaign, it seemed as if the first overall pick of the 2012 Draft would be anything more than a solid player with no real star potential; however, that all changing at the start of the season when Anthony Davis come onto the court and lit not only the Big Easy but the entire league as well. From last season, Davis went from averaging just 13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game to an astonishing 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks this season thus finally living up to the expectations that many had envisioned for him. Many thought it may take Anthony Davis a couple more years to adjust to a point where he would be one of the league's true elite big men, but at just 20 years old, this young prodigy has already reached that point despite him just growing into his 6 foot 11 inch frame only two years ago. What's even more shocking is that Davis has yet to reach the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fully utilizing his skills and talents as he has a far deeper arsenal of offensive moves which include being able to dribble like a point guard and launch it from outside. Unfortunately, one he gets all of that together, he will most likely be out of New Orleans and onto another team as he may just follow the same trend as what +Chris Paul and many others who left small market teams going nowhere in order to win an +NBA champioship ring. |
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They say that "the more things change, the more they stay the same," and that describes the New Orleans Pelicans to a tee as they completely changed their name, logo, and look only to return to the same result--at the bottom of their division with a mediocre record. The Pelicans came in with not only a new look, but also new faces in which they paid a rather high premium to jump start the team's fortunes and bring them on their way to not only bring the team into the playoffs, but also set them up to become one of the Western Conference's elite teams. The team's front office dolled out up to 99$ million for the next five years on two players who were supposed to lift this long ignored struggling downtrodden franchise into finally the NBA spotlight--a point guard who was an All Star last season in +Jrue Holiday and an athletic wing man who was capable of seamlessly playing all three perimeter positions in +Tyreke Evans. Paired with a talented and developing young core that consisted of Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, +Austin Rivers, and Ryan Anderson, the New Look Pelicans were of to glide into a new era of NBA basketball in the Big Easy, making everyone forget the once near defunct Hornets that the both the team, its fans, and the league were glad to see disappear. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts at changing the look with a new logo and new players, as the old saying goes, "you can put lipstick on a pig, but that pig is still a pig," and that has certainly been the case for New Orleans as they have come into the season looking the same way as they did a season ago when they were called the Hornets.
Thus far the new look Pelicans have failed miserably in separating itself from its former identity as they have continued to play the same uninspiring ball that has yet to endear itself to the team's local fan base and populace. Offensively, they can be considered a middle of the pack team ranking between the range of eleventh and nineteenth in the league in scoring and field goal percentage which can be considered respectable by most standards. Sad to say, however, is that New Orleans allow their opponents to perform just as well, if not better on the offensive end allowing them to shoot close to .480 from the field compared to their .450 and despite allowing them to shoot such a high percentage, the Pels also allow their opponents to rebound at about the same rate. That means that the Pelicans' opponents not only shoot at a better clip with relatively same amount of shot attempts, but also are able to get as many rebounds even though they miss fewer shots and have less opportunities to go after the boards. One can definitely deduce from looking at those numbers that the Pelicans, despite their new outward appearances, are in anyways near to playoff ready, especially in the extremely strong and competitive Western Conference. To their credit, the Pelicans do manage to force their opponents to turnover the ball than they do at a rather high margin; however upon further analysis this can also be put under scrutiny as it associates to the aforementioned field goal percentage disparity. Although they rank among the top team in the league in committing and forcing opponents turnovers, since New Orleans only connect on less than .450 from the field, their ability to score on turnovers is not nearly as good as their opponents, who are allowed to hit at a far higher proficiency. Hypothetically, a team is capable of potentially scoring at best four points per turnover if one considers the outside chance of a player getting fouled at the three point line while connecting thus earning a chance for a four point play at the free throw line. Using the same premise with New Orleans, factoring in their opponents turnovers per game along with their field goal accuracy as a team, the Peli's have a chance to score 30.1 out of a potential 67.6 points whereas on the other hand although they turn over the ball less, their opponents probably get more bank for their buck than they do. Out of the 13.8 turnovers that the New Orleans Pelicans commit, their opponents get an estimated average of 26.2 of the potential 55 points thus giving the Pelicans just a +3.9 margin over those who face them in points off of turnovers despite having a superior advantage when it come to protecting the ball. So therefore, in spite of their efforts to pressure the ball on defense while forcing teams to give up the ball, as long as the Cans allow competing teams to shoot the lights out against them while at the same time do not convert those turnovers into points, then their supposed efforts on the defensive end can all be considered null and void. Having such idiosyncrasies do not bode well for a team trying to break through the glass ceiling of the caste system otherwise known as the Western Conference where even perfect execution on both ends of the court is not a guarantee of a playoff berth let alone a shot at the title. Right now, the Pelicans are stuck behind the terrible Texas threesome in the +San Antonio Spurs, +Houston Rockets and +Dallas Mavericks and as it stands now, it does not look like that will change anytime soon in the near future. The Spurs and Mavericks have essentially owned the division for more than a decade and with Houston on the rise with their dynamic duo of +Dwight Howard and +James Harden leading it, there is little space left for a struggling young team as the Pelicans to even make a dent in their division, let alone the Conference. All eight playoff spots in the West are essentially spoken for not only for this season, but unless there is some miraculous event such as an devastating earthquake that swallows the states of California, Oregon, and Arizona whole, the Pelican will be on the outside looking in for quite some time. With such a bleak future ahead, it is almost a near certainty that their prized prodigy Anthony Davis will see the futility playing in the Big Easy and start looking elsewhere thus force the Pelicans to say goodbye yet again to another superstar player. So even with the new name along with the flashy bells and whistles, New Orleans remains no better off than they were when the were sporting those awful yellow, teal and purple uniforms the previous season. The Pelicans spent big money to bring in players to reverse their fortunes, but so far they have not panned out with their three highest priced acquisitions failing miserably to live up to the worth of their contracts let alone any real expectations. Eric Gordon, who the Pelicans locked down for the next three years at nearly 45$ million has failed to even suit up let alone have yet to pay any dividends as he has spent most of his tenure in the Big Easy on the bench in street clothes and will probably never live up to all of his hype when New Orleans originally signed. Jrue Holiday has certainly not played up to the same All Star level as he did in Philly and he is on the hook for four more years at the price of around 40$ million while Tyreke Evans, who the Pels signed for the next four years at 44$ million, has been a complete bust to say the least. Just those two factor point to the sad reality that the Pelicans are not going anywhere for a very long time and no name change or new look is going to change anything as it is simply just a pig and will always be a pig no matter how much lipstick they put on it. |
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Sunday, January 5, 2014
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 22. Philadelphia 76ers
+Philadelphia 76ers
Overall Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 6-11, third place Atlantic Division |
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This Month:
22
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: ???
 Even on the best teams in the league, there is always that one player who can be used as cannon fodder for critics to trash on; however, this is probably the first time ever where there is virtually no one to bash on this team. With four of the teams best players performing way above expectations and one of them looking like a shoe in for rookie of the year, there is very little fault to be found. Both Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes have been posting their best numbers in their career with Turner finally showing fans why Philly picked him second overall in the 2010 NBA Draft and Hawes disproving those who had already giving up on him being anything more than a mediocre big man. Even the discarded +Tony Wroten, who came off a rather disappointing rookie campaign, have come of to have a breakout season as well far surpassing his numbers last season to become a front runner for both the Most Improved and Sixth Man of the Year awards. In spite of the team's 6-11 record, the Sixers have player rather surprisingly cohesive and consistent basketball not giving anything up on each other or against their opponents thus making the entire roster untouchable of reproach--well, at least for now. |
SDH’s First of the Month: Brett Brown
 Arriving as the Sixers new head coach, Brett Brown was given virtually nothing in term of his roster, any chance of competing, and any expectations whatsoever; however, despite what little he was given, he manage to turn a team that was expected to fall flat on its face to one of the most talked about stories in sports. Upon stepping out on the court on opening tip off, Brown's team shattered any allusion that it would simply lay down and let their opponents have their way with them. Instead, the Sixers came out fighting and players who had been once considered as hopeless causes now look as if they have been injected with a new breath of life while at the same time giving its fans something to cheer for in this supposedly difficult transition period. All the credit for this has to be given to coach Brown who despite being surrounded around every turn by naysayers and doubters not only in the press and the media, but even within the organization itself. With this in mind, perhaps the Sixers should try and rein their spark plug of a coach a bit considering that their plans to play bad enough to get a shot at receiving the number one pick in next years draft might be in jeopardy if Brown continues to boost the confidence of his players. |
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The opening of the regular season for the Philadelphia 76ers came with the anticipation one would have for a root canal or some other painful medical procedure as the team along with its fans, press and media had prepared themselves for the worst case scenario. There were no delusions or fabrications on what was going to happen as everyone involved had all accepted their fates that this would possibly be one of the worst seasons in Philadelphia 76ers history. The Sixers would not even garner any mention or any venom from even the most hateful sports critics because many probably considered it wrong or even cruel to step on a team that would probably experience more much pain and humiliation than it can possibly take. The first game against the +Miami HEAT was met by Sixers fans with a sense of peace that the loved ones of a person who is one his death bed--they simply wanted their team's end to be a quick one with limited suffering or further anguish. Then all of sudden, it happened and instead of the meaningless slaughter that they expected to witness in their team's first game of the season, they would be treated to one of the most enlightening and spectacular showings that could have ever been witnessed in 2013/2014 NBA regular season. It was as if all of a sudden Sixers fans were suddenly transported to an alternate universe where the fabric of space and time had been altered when they saw their team actually competing toe to toe against the NBA champions matching them shot for shot. Not only did they witness a performance that was worthy as being one of the greatest games in its recent memory, but they also saw the emergence of a player than many had not even bothered to pay attention to in the team's rookie, Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams would put on a show in his rookie debut that had never captured the imagination of Sixers fans since that of superstars such as Allen Iverson and the good doctor himself, Julius Irving as he posted a near QUADRUPLE DOUBLE--something that was thought of to be a myth or legend. From that point on, the basketball viewing populaces' view of the Sixers immediately changed as Philly would win four of its first eight games and even took hold of first place of the Atlantic division for a short period of time. And even when Philly started to slide approaching the end of November, they manage to do so in style as the Sixers put up phenomenal scoring numbers hitting the hundred point mark in half of the team's games, and only went below the 90 point mark just twice in that month--not bad for a team that no one expected to put up such high number, let alone be anywhere close to relevant this season. Nonetheless, in spite of Philly's losing eight of their last ten games to finish the month, they still managed to keep within striking distance of the Atlantic Division crown and still close enough to stay in playoff contention as well. That was primarily due the rather disappointing start of the Eastern Conference, which was supposed to have greatly improved during the off season thanks to big trades and a few Western Conference defections; however, all of that failed to materialize as come November's end, only three teams would sport winning records--namely the +Miami HEAT, +Indiana Pacers and most surprisingly, the +Atlanta Hawks. Two of the teams who were expected to control the Atlantic Division--the +New York Knicks and +Brooklyn Nets--fell well below expectations have even worse records than Philly while at the same time, three teams who were expected to take the league by storm have yet to come out of the gates. Both the +Cleveland Cavaliers and the +Detroit Pistons made huge waves during the off season with their big name free agent signings and Cleveland winning the first overall pick in the draft for the second time in three years. Unfortunately, neither team have benefited from their off season acquisitions as the both rest in the same boat as the Sixers and as for the Cavs number one pick . . . let's say that he has yet to live up to the stature of being the first overall selection of the NBA Draft. So far the Sixers are nestled in the middle of the pack in the East as the entire conference seems to be in flux at the moment thus giving Philly adequate camouflage to not be noticed as it treads through what looks to be a very long season; yet one would not think think so with the way that they have been playing. Philly certainly does not look like a team that plans to tank the season in order to secure the number one pick on the draft; instead, the Sixers actually look like a team who plans to compete through the season and let the chips fall where they may. With the emergence of Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner coupled with an already solid performer in +Thaddeus Young and a rookie of the year candidate in Carter-Williams, Philly has the makings of a solid young foundation in which to build a winning franchise from. Tony Wroten, a former first round pick who had fell out of favor with his previous team, looks to be a potential candidate for the Most Improved Player of the year award coming of the bench to give the Sixers a solid 13 to 15 points per game. With such a solid foundation of young talent to build upon, instead of looking to tear down the whole team in hope of rebuilding through the draft, the 76ers look as if they are just a player or two away from actually becoming a true playoff contender. Regardless, despite its impressive start to the season, there still remains the consensus that the Philadelphia 76ers will still finish in the lottery because even the high scoring and exciting play cannot hide the fact that there is still plenty of week to be needed unit the team is even remotely playoff ready. For starters, although their offense is ranked among the best in the league in terms of scoring, their ball management is terribly poor as they ranked second to last in the league in the number of turnovers per game. Fortunately, their problems of protecting the ball on offense is offset rather well by the the team's ability to force their opponents to turn over the ball at almost the same rate ranking among the top ten in that category; however, their ability to pressure the ball on defense has not stopped the 76ers from allowing a league high 109 points per game which shows a greater weakness in terms of protecting the rim. Nonetheless, Philly still attempts to offset their defensive flaws by trying to out shoot their opponents and it has been rather entertaining to watch them attempt to do so as they rank among the top ten teams in the league in points per game while losing by a six point average margin. Unfortunately, unless they can improve on their defense and protecting the ball, the 76ers, although being one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2014 regular season will simply remain a fast and flashy team that is headed nowhere. |
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
SDH Presents the NBA's Worst to First for November: 23. Orlando Magic
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Overall
Win/Loss Record (as of November 30th): 6-10, fifth place Southeast
Division
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26
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This Month:
23
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Team
Statistics and League Rank
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Individual
Statistical Leaders
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SDH’s Worst of the Month: Jameer Nelson
 It is not so much for his game that Jameer Nelson has been placed as November's worst, but for the mere fact that he simply does not belong on this young up and coming team in Orlando. Nelson is essentially a dinosaur from a bygone era and should have never been re-signed by the Magic after the team sent +Dwight Howard away to the +Los Angeles Lakers. For much of his time in Orlando, Jameer was much less of a facilitator and more of a spot up shooter who got the ball off screens and from kick out from the paint. Now he is expected to perform in a role that he has not done in his entire career which has resulted in him in not being as efficient on the offensive end as he once was. Plus, his presence takes away minutes from the Magic's up and comers such as third year point man E'Twaun Moore and Victor Oladipo thus making him more a hindrance than a help in Orlando's youth movement. | SDH’s First of the Month: Nikola Vucevic Last season Vucevic was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2013 NBA season as he burst out the gates with a splendid sophomore effort averaging a double-double in points and rebounds. This season, he has raised the bar going from being a decent NBA caliber center to a potential All Star posting phenomenal numbers yet again averaging a new career high in points in 15.0 per game while hitting his shot with a splendid .557 accuracy. By the end of November, he scored in double figures in all but two games with eight of them being 15 points or more while at the same time posting eight double-double games as well. Certainly, Vucevic has proven to be more of a blessing for an Orlando team that had lost a superstar big man a season prior and may possibly be in line to be the next great center to play in South Florida following the path of such greats who have passed through there such as Shaquille O'Neal and Dwight Howard; however, unlike them, he was not selected first overall in the NBA Draft nor was he expected to have a major impact as his predecessors. If he maintains his stellar production, Vucevic will certainly be in the running for the Most Improved Player Award or even an All Star team selection; nonetheless, his stock has definitely increased and will certainly be one of Orlando's top priorities to secure once he becomes eligible for a contract extension after this season. |
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Last season when many had expected the Orlando Magic to simply slip away into oblivion after trading away their star of the past seven years Dwight Howard, Orlando did the opposite as it showed to still have plenty of fight left in them. And despite finishing with the league's worst record, the Magic proved to be one of the teams to watch out for as the finished the regular season with by compiling a treasure trove of young talent that would rival any in the league. In what many would consider rather dark period, the Magic made the best of a bad situation by discovering quite a few diamonds in the rough with limitless upside in young athletic talents such as Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Andrew Nicholson, Maurice Harkless, and Tobias Harris, to name a few. Armed with the second pick of last summer's NBA draft who happened to be Victor Oladipo, this young and surprising talented Orlando Magic team planned to certainly turn some head this upcoming season and they have certainly surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations. So far, despite their 6-10 start, the Orlando Magic have played with such a poise, coherence and consistency that is rarely seen in most young rebuilding teams and while many still expect this team to return to the lottery once again at season's end, those doubters will certainly be in for quite a shock as this Magic team looks to defy all expectations.
It is sad to say that many have so far overlooked the Magic due to its 6-10 start, but upon closer analysis, one will see that this team is far more better than their record would appear as they have thus far statistically outperformed their opponents in the first 16 games of the season in spite of their losing record. The Magic rank among the top ten teams in field goal percentage, and have thus far kept their opponents to shooting under .450 percent from the field while at the same time forcing them to turn over the ball at a rather high rate. Upon looking at the numbers, one can see that this is a truly focused and disciplined team despite the majority of its roster being under the age of 25 and unlike most team who are in the same situation, the Magic have not allowed themselves to allow their inexperience be an impediment to them. In fact, one can go as far to say that the Magic are in fact a far more polished team that most of their opponents in their own conference, especially from such veteran teams who should be performing way better than they have been in the +New York Knicks and +Brooklyn Nets. And despite their losing record, in an Eastern Conference that has been relatively sad thus far, the Magic, with their rather impressive team numbers can might just become a dark horse in the conference and might just surprise many a spectator with a unexpected playoff appearance which will certainly dumbfound many a commentator who had Orlando at the bottom of their regular season projections. The only true weakness that has been holding back the Magic is their high propensity of turning over the ball on offense as can be seen by them being near the bottom of the league in protecting the ball which can be blamed on their lack of a true point guard. At it stands now, the team's most senior member at the point guard position has spent most of his career as a catch and shoot player while the other two are either too green to be trusted full time at the point or simply past his prime and can no longer make a major impact. Other than acquiring an elite caliber point guard, there are really no other major gaps in terms of roster depth for the magic as they already have two All Star caliber players to build on in swing man Arron Afflalo, who currently leads the team in scoring, and Nikola Vucevic, who has truly blossomed in his third season as a go to player in the paint. Both of them are surrounded by a bevy of athletically gifted and talented players who are both quite versatile having the size, shooting range, and skill to play numerous positions which can prove to be an even greater asset than acquiring the number one draft pick in next season's draft. With the treasure trove of talent the team possesses, they can easily pull of a trade to acquire one or even two marquee name players the same way that Danny Ainge did with the +Boston Celtics gathering enough desirable assets to pull off a trade to get +Kevin Garnett and +Ray Allen to play alongside +Paul Pierce. And we all know what happened as a resulted--namely four Atlantic Division titles, two NBA Finals appearances, and the Celtics' first NBA tile since 1986--which will certainly gives fans in Orlando plenty of hope for the future whether or not their team's front office decides to make a move or not. It was originally believed that Orlando would face a long hard road to rebuilding right after the massive Dwight Howard trade, but in fact it was the complete opposite as the Magic actually came out far better off than the other teams involved in that trade. The +Los Angeles Lakers, the team who acquired Howard struggled to make the playoffs last season with him in the lineup and not only did they lose Dwight in the off season, but they also seem to be heading downhill very fast and may probably be heading to lottery upon season's end. The +Philadelphia 76ers got equally gipped in the deal as their major acquisition, +Andrew Bynum, who now plays for the +Cleveland Cavaliers, was lost to them for all of last season and probably will never return to his All Star form due to his chronically arthritic knees. Finally, the +Denver Nuggets would come out of the whole deal on top of the other three as the presence of +Andre Iguodala helped the team win a franchise record 57 games last season; however, that satisfaction would be short lived as Iggy would bolt in the off season signing with the +Golden State Warriors leaving the Nuggets empty handed and headed for a downfall of their own. Now, the Magic have come up smelling like roses as they not only acquired a bevy of young talent in the deal, but also possess three first round picks from the Lakers, Sixers and Nuggets which all may end up as high lottery picks with the way all three teams have been playing. As it stands now, Orlando is not only on the fast track to return to playoff contention, but if the Magic uses their assets wisely to pull off a big trade and get a marquee player either by the trade deadline or in the off season, can potentially become a force in not only the Eastern Conference, but the entire league. Already the Magic are still in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race despite currently resting at the bottom of their division barely behind the +Atlanta Hawks, +Charlotte Bobcats, and +Washington Wizards by just a few games to a point where a well placed run can jockey Orlando to second place. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen until the Magic manage to figure out a way of holding onto the ball and not allowing their opponents to score an estimated 31.2 points per game off their turnovers. Nonetheless, the Magic are still on the right track on the road to return to respectability as they have shown through their solid execution and consistent play on both ends of the floor. It will be interesting to see what will happen in the coming months as Orlando has an overflowing war chest of young talent which most NBA team can only dream of having and just one mid season move can change the the team's destination from returning to the lottery to making a potential post season run. As the months go by and as teams become more desperate to shake up their rosters in an effort to make the playoffs, watch the Magic to be mentioned in numerous trade rumors and scenario as they will certainly be a team to watch out for as the regular season rolls on. |
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