The New York Knicks are better than expected, 16-11, 6 games behind Boston. 8-2 last 10 games. They had won 7 games in a row before losing to the Boston Celtics at the hands of a late Paul Pierce jumper. Also, they have one of the best records on the road this season at 10-4. We knew they’d be good, but 6 games behind Boston good? Second in their division good? New York is so hot that is has gotten critics talking about how the Miami Heat would have been better off taking Stoudemire instead of Chris Bosh. The way the Knicks have started, this is a good argument. But, as badly as Bosh has fit into the Miami Heat, over his career, Bosh is statistically a better rebounder and defender—although defense is a major weakness of both players—than Stoudemire. Still, if Stoudemire can do this with Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari, imagine what Stoudemire could have done with LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.
The San Antonio Spurs are off to their 22-3, best start in many years and the best start in the league. They are 13-2 home, 9-1 on the road. Many critics considered this to be the Spurs last stand. With Tim Duncan averaging career lows in points, the Spurs are being led by Manu Ginobili. This has not been the formula for success with this team, so I’m a little concerned about how this will play out over the course of the season. Usually, this team is lead by Duncan and sometimes also Tony Parker. By relying too much on Ginobili, this team may suffer some decline, if or when Ginobili gets injured.
The Utah Jazz are better without Carlos Boozer somehow. The tandem of Paul Milsap and Al Jefferson is dynamic and effective despite being under-sized. Despite having an up-and-down season last year, the Jazz is again among the conference leaders. Currently, they are 5th in the west and 18-9, one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After the Miami Heat had a shakier start than many of us expected, Miami already has a better record than Orlando and Atlanta. That is also impressive considering all the new additions to the team and that Dwayne Wade was injured during the preseason, which prevented the team from jelling completely. Statistically, they are already one of the best defensive teams in the league. Also, the Heat’s 20-8 record has helped them climb to 2nd in the east behind the Boston Celtics.
The Charlotte Bobcats are losing way too many games. This franchise, that was on the up-swing the last few seasons, has fallen off. Although a playoff team last season, the Bobcats have started off 9-17. This is virtually the same team with some minor adjustments. What is going on? Is it too early to start talking about a Kwame Brown curse? He was on a Washington Wizards team with Michael Jordan and they couldn’t even get into the playoffs. Brown played for the Lakers when Bryant and the others fell out of the playoffs. The one season Brown did make the playoffs with the Lakers was the infamous 2006 season, a season where the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers could have met in the 2nd round of the playoffs. After taking a 3-1 lead in the series, the Lakers collapsed, losing 4-3 to the Phoenix Suns and then MVP Steve Nash. Later, of course, Brown played in Memphis and Detroit; we saw how those turned out. Although all of these failures are not necessarily Brown’s fault, he is the common denominator.
The Los Angeles Clippers’ season started off with some optimism around the beginning of Blake Griffin’s playing career in the NBA. And he is fantastic! As many of the veterans like Shaq and Kobe have already said, the kid’s for real. Despite having the brilliant play of Griffin, the team was struck down early on with news that Baron Davis had come into camp out of shape. Look at him now. Davis is the team’s highest paid player and he’s coming off the bench behind a rookie point guard. Chris Kaman has had injury problems. This team is terrible and going nowhere as their 6-21 record shows, but Griffin is entertaining to watch.
The Phoenix Suns are having trouble adjusting to without to life without Amar’e Stoudemire. The offense with Steve Nash, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson works okay despite their lack of post presence. But they have no interior game and no ability to defend the paint. This team is doing pretty well, but I’d look for them to get bounced early in the playoffs, if they make it there at all. Right now, the 12-13 Suns have fallen out of contention, sitting in 9th place in the west behind the Portland Trailblazers. (*Written prior to Turkoglu and Richardson trade to Orlando, will reserve further judgement till after Carter, Pietrus, and Gortat have had a chance to acclimate to the team)
The Houston Rockets are finding life with a part-time Yao Ming very challenging. In fact, even with Louis Scola leading the team in rebounding and providing a scoring presence in the middle, the Ming-less Rockets are on the verge of free-falling, now 11-15. News of Ming’s recent injury, which may be season ending, has only dampened their spirits in Houston.
The 7-19 Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling. After beating the Boston Celtics early in the season, the Cavaliers have lost control. They started off looking they might have a chance to make the playoffs, but each game it becomes clearer that this is not a playoff team. The season really started to turn sour when they got blown out by LeBron James and the Miami Heat in LeBron’s return to Cleveland. Now, they have lost 10 games in a row, making them winless in December.
R.S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition living in Los Angeles. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. De France has played, coached, and officiated competitive high school basketball in California for many years. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.
