NBA: 3 Weeks In

Here's a quick look at the NBA season just 3 weeks underway.

Boston (10-2) and the L.A. Lakers (8-1) looked poised to meet again in the NBA Finals. Kobe's being Kobe, a healthy Andrew Bynum gives the Lakers much needed muscle, and Trevor Ariza has looked solid.

The Celtics back in the Finals? Don't tell that to Lebron James. Bron-Bron has the Cavs (9-2) looking better than ever and is solidifying is spot as the best on the planet. So far this year, Lebron is averaging just under 30 a game to along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists per. Freakin sick!

The biggest news? The Iverson/Billups trade. Joe Dumars and the Pistons look to be rebuilding, but don't look now, Detroit is sitting pretty at 7-3 and handed the Lakers their only loss of the season at the Staples Center.

Is it me or does Allen Iverson truly represent the perfect Piston?

As for Denver? Chauncey Billups looks comfortable to be back home as the Nuggets are 5-1 since the trade. And George Karl could not be happier.

"There are less bad plays, more solid plays," Karl said. "I think the wasteful, cheap possessions that we used to have 10 to 15 a game, they don't exist very much anymore."

Two teams looking to build off their momentum last year in the playoffs-Atlanta and Philadelphia. Looking for the missing piece of the puzzle, the 76ers acquired Elton Brand but have started of slow, sitting at 5-5.

As for the Hawks, Atlanta came storming out of the gate at 6-0 and were a last second Paul Pierce game winning shot away from beating the Celtics at the Garden. Something Atlanta failed to do last year in the Playoffs. That loss must of had some effect on the Hawks as they have now dropped 4 straight to drop to 6-4.

The injury bug is killing the Washington Wizards. Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels have both spent significant time on the bench. Arenas has yet to suit up this year as Washington (1-7) could be in for a long season.

Delightful surprises?

Both Miami and the New York Knicks at 6-5. The Knicks! That's right, the Knicks! They won 23 games all of last year! See what happens when you exile Isiah and Stephon.

The Heat aren't really a surprise, considering how Dwyane Wade played in the Olympics. The trio of Wade, Michael Beasley and Shawn Marion are a fun team to watch, they should only get better as the season progresses. If only they had a decent bench.

Give Derrick Rose the NBA Rookie of the Year trophy already. The Bulls' offense is totally set up for Rose to run and he's the perfect fit. D-Rose is averaging 19.5 ppg, 4.8 boards and 5.9 assists. Pretty amazing considering the kid just graduated from his teen years.






Moving across to the Western Conference.

We've already covered the Lakers and Nuggets.

So what about the LA Clippers and their big move bringing Baron Davis back home? Elton Brand leaving LaLa land wasn't part of the plan and the Clippers are downright dismal, 1-9.

The Phoenix Suns (8-4) have really been flexing their muscles of late and Shaq Daddy is showing he still means business.

Utah should win the Northwest Division and would be a serious contender for the Western Conference Crown if they could should figure out how to play outside of Salt Lake City.

Portland finally gets Greg Oden on the court and will definitely make some noise and probably make the playoffs. But their still too young to be a contender.

As for Oklahoma City and Kevin Durant? After landing a professional franchise, Okie City has little to get excited about this year, 1-10.

An unsung rookie to watch out West is Golden State's Anthony Morrow. Morrow, undrafted out of Georgia Tech, is finally getting some minutes and has led the Warriors to consecutive victories over the Clippers and Trailblazers, scoring 37 and 25 respectively.

The Southwest Division has to be the toughest in all of basketball.

After acquiring Ron Artest, Houston looks to be serious contenders in the Western Conference. At 7-4 and on top of the division, the Rockets took a blow Monday night when Artest, McGrady and Yao all went down with injuries. The extent of the injuries doesn't seem severe, but the health of T-Mac and Yao has always been a huge concern.


New Orleans (5-4) has gotten off to a somewhat slow start, but Chris Paul has still been on fire. Paul, one of the best overall players in the NBA, can lay claim to breaking a record previously held by Oscar Robertson. In his first 7 games of the year, Paul finished with at least 20 points and 10 assists, breaking Robertson's previous record of 6 to begin a season.

Age, Josh Howard's off season habits and Mark Cuban's scandal with the SEC may all be playing a part in Dallas's (4-7) slow start. In need of a good joke, look toward the Mavs.

Poor San Antonio. I don't really mean that. First Manu Ginobili's brittle body, and now Tony Parker has free time to spend with his hot ass wife. The Spurs started 2-5, but don't look now, Timmy's managed to lead them to 3 straight victories and they've crept back to .500.

As for Memphis? Well, I'm not even gonna talk about the Grizz. Except Rudy Gay looking nice and O.J. Mayo averaging just over 20 a game, including back to back 30 plus games.

Same Old Tune

Sweep!

I know it's only 2-0, but come on, the Rockets will be swept by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Not much of a prediction considering the Jazz are nearly unbeatable at home, losing only 4 games this year. One of the four losses happened to be by the Houston Rockets way back on Nov 1. Tracy McGrady had 47 points.

With all that being said, and T-Mac looking at his 7th career first round exit, you cannot! this year's defeat on McGrady.

First off, the Rockets have been playing most of the second half of the season without All Star Center Yao Ming. Rafer Alston has also missed the first two games of the series.

With Yao out, T-Mac did a brilliant overachieving job willing his team into the Playoffs as a 4 seed in what maybe one of the best season a conference has had all time. And lest we forget the 22 game winning streak the Rockets had this year.

Look at this Rockets' team, they're really not that good. How they made the playoffs in the Western Conference is amazing. If you haven't paid close attention to Houston, who else is on their roster? The only other person you could think of is maybe Dikembe Mutumbo. Dikembe Mutumbo! He's like 62! Mutumbo was brought in as a role player and averaged almost 16 minutes, 3 points and 5.1 rebounds a game. A lot of help.
Shane Battier has played great. He's always been known for his defense, but he really provided an offensive spark on a team needing it so much.

The rest of the roster, Bobby Jackson, rookie Luis Scola (had it not been for Kevin Durant, he'd be the rookie of the year), Luther Head, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry, rookie Aaron Brooks (should develop into a decent NBA player).

You talk about overachieving!

Yeah, so in the fourth quarter of the first two games, T-Mac is 0-7 with one point. Like I said, McGrady is pretty much the only scoring threat on the entire team. He's had to shoulder the load while Jerry Sloan has constantly double and tripled teamed McGrady. T-Mac still lead his team in points, rebounds and assists last night and was an assist away from the a triple double. The Rockets have no other options.

A key moment in last night's game came with the Rockets down 3 with about 45 seconds left to play. Bobby Jackson hit a wide open 3 (the assist my T-Mac would have given him his triple double) to seemingly tie the game. However a late whistle on Luis Scola nullified the dramatic play. Are you kidding me! This is the NBA Playoffs, you let the players decide the game, especially at a crucial moment in a crucial game. Scola tapped Andre Kirilenko and AK-47 did a brilliant acting job.

Watch the play (at about the 1:10 mark) and notice the referee watching T-Mac's feet to see if he were behind the line and then blows the whistle after seeing Kirilenko's reaction.

Anyways, come playoff time, you win games with free throw shooting and a solid bench.
The Rockets lost Game 1 93-82 and shot 62% from the line.
In last nights 90-84 loss, Houston shot 62%.
If there's anything we've learned from the college game, um Memphis, free throw shooting is the biggest key in the big games.
If the Rockets shoot 75-80%, they probably win both games.

Not to take away anything from Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz, they are a real nice team. I could see this team go to the Finals and even win the whole lot.
The Jazz lost at home by 6 points to the Celtics by 6. And about a month ago Utah smoked the Celtics in Boston 110-92.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer are already being compared to Stockton and Malone. They have great role players in AK-47, Kyle Korver, Mehmet Okur and Matt Harpring. Williams is one of the best point guards in the game. The West is loaded with PG's; Chris Paul (My MVP), Tony Parker, Steve Nash and even Jason Kidd.

If Utah can sneak a game on the road, and they easily can, you're not gonna beat them at home. Maybe Jerry Sloan finally wins his first NBA Championship as a coach.

Outta Rocket Fuel

It was a lot of fun, but the Houston Rockets finally played as expected and their improbable run came to a harsh halt. They had no inside game, they showed no aggression and the adrenaline and emotional drive finally ended.

The Boston Celtics were far too much. The Celtics had this game circled for the last two weeks. I hate to admit, but Boston may be the best team in the NBA. It's still tough to say just how they'll fare against a top team in a seven game series. Detroit and Orlando look good in the East. And a Lebron James led Cavs team can pull off anything.

Now for the Rockets, they face a tough road trip. I'm willing to bet right now they won't even make the playoffs.

If they do, probably as a 7 or 8 seed. They showed their true colors tonight, Tracy McGrady was, well, Tracy McGrady. They had no real offensive scoring threat. They were on the wrong end of every horrible call all night. And if Dikembe Mutumbo is the key guy down low, well then you might as well suit up Hakeem Olajuwon.

Catch 22

Rocketmania has hit the deuce deuce mark. Even more impressive, the Rockets knocked off Kobe Bryant and the first place Lake Show. I know, Pau Gasol didn't play, but when you get win streak this high, you start running out of excuses.

Tracy McGrady had zero first half points yesterday and finished with 11. Rafer Alston cashed in a career high 31. Luther Head's playing great and Luis Scola's come from nowhere to be a pivotal piece to the team.

Shane Battier has finally played up to his potential and did a great job D-ing up Kobe yesterday.

The Rockets have won 22 games in 47 days. They climbed from tenth in the Western Conference all the way to the top. They've only beaten 8 teams with records over .500, but let's not forget, they've won like 8 in a row without Yao Ming.

Like I said before, this team is so much fun to watch right now. The ball always seems to bounce their way lately. The Rockets have swagger and attitude and aren't being pushed around. Mutumbo's back to waving the finger again. Alston was talking smack yesterday. And Bobby Jackson has been playing out of his socks!


This has definitely been the year for win streaks. First we saw the Colorado Rockies' improbable run, only to stab themselves in the back by winning the NLCS to quickly and then having a week off.
We all remember what happened to the Patriots.
The Memphis Tigers basketball team had an impressive streak and flirted with perfection.
Tiger Woods. Need I say more?
I guess what makes the Rockets and Rockies more exciting is the fact that no one would ever imagined these teams pulling off such a feat. I mean with Tiger and the Patriots, it was expected.

With all that being said, the Rockets will lose tomorrow night at home to the Boston Celtics. Good thing they didn't have to play them on St. Patty's Day.

After that, it's a three game road trip to New Orleans, Golden St. and Phoenix.


Rockets win streak quiz

NBA Line of the Week for 3/3 to 3/9

Tracy McGrady receives this week's honor. I'm not a huge Rockets fan, but living in Houston, you can help but watch the Rockets winning every night. Out at the local pubs, the entire bar stands up and cheers for their home team's continued winning ways.
Maybe the Rockets have been beating mediocre teams, but hey, they play in the Western Conference, they've won 7 in a row without Yao Ming, and like Rick Adelman said, "Hey, we all play the same schedule." It's a lot of fun seeing a team's momentum carry night after night, total reminiscent of the Colorado Rockies.
It's also nice to see Tracy McGrady gain a little respect. After the Hawks, the Rockets have upcoming games against the Lakers and Celtics. I'm sure once the Rockets lose to a good team, they'll go flat just like the Rockies. This win streak doesn't even guarantee a playoff spot for Houston, so let's not talk about T-Mac getting out of the first round yet.
Here's T-Mac's averages for the week while the Rockets went 3-0:
32 points, 8 dimes, and 5 rebounds.

Bron-Bron watch:

King James continues to carry the Cavs basically by himself. Last Wednesday (3/5) on the world's biggest stage, Madison Square Garden, James put up 50, 10 dimes and 8 boards as he single handily helped the Cavs avoid the embarrassment of getting beat by the Bricks. Cleveland was 2-1 and the "blockbuster trade" hasn't made them any better. It was pretty much an even swap.


Also, Chris Paul continues his candidacy for MVP. This guy is willingly the (nobody watches) New Orleans Hornets to the top of the Western Conference.
Paul averaged 28 points and 13 assists to lead the Hornets to a 3-1 mark for the week.