Sports: NBA Wrap-Up

2010-11 NBA Wrap-Up

What a season... the NBA season just concluded may have been one of the best I've seen in quite some time. We had the Lakers going for another three-peat, trade drama during the season (mostly Carmelo, whose trade to the Knicks made them even more intriguing), and of course the whole Miami Heat storyline(s). Of course, it didn't turn out quite the way I expected, but that's sports for you. Now I'll talk about a few specific parts of the league.

Dallas Mavericks win the title

Wow. Just wow. If you had told me that Dallas would win the championship this year before the season began - heck, before the playoffs began - I would have told you you were crazy. But I have to give them a tip of my hat: what they did in the playoffs was perhaps one of the most impressive team performances I've ever seen. Seriously. Yes, the Mavs have Dirk Nowitzki, but until this year, he has been widely criticized for not coming up big in the important moments in the playoffs. He completely flipped that perception, and permanently. Beyond Dirk, they had no legitimate second star. Jason Kidd? Jason Terry? Shawn Marion? Tyson Chandler? All good, yes, and all stepped up their games in the playoffs, but perhaps only Chandler is currently at All-Star-level in his career right now. The Mavs' offense was spectacular in spite of this, riding Dirk's unbelievable streak and some of the best ball movement and spot-up shooting I've ever seen. True basketball. Their defense didn't really blow you away, but they got the stops when needed, and the zone threw teams off long enough to get the advantage. Portland Trailblazers. Los Angeles Lakers. Oklahoma City Thunder. Miami Heat. All fell. Bravo, Dallas Mavericks, you truly deserve a standing ovation.

One last thing: I've never been a fan of the Mavs, and I'm still not. But I can't help but feel pretty happy for Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, future hall-of-famers who have toiled away and now finally get their crowning accomplishment. I even feel kind of happy for Mark Cuban, who may have a big mouth, but he actually cares about his team and his players, and cares about winning, rather than just making a profit from them. Congratulations all.

Miami Heat: so close, yet so far

Before the season began, in the back of my mind I feared a dominant season for this team. I knew they would take some time to get adjusted, but felt it would only be a matter of time. Well, both of these tendencies came true. They finished the season at second in the East with an impressive 58 wins. In the playoffs, they put away Philly in 5 games (although it was a pretty close series despite that); more impressively, they put away both Boston AND Chicago in 5 games each (again, against Chicago, they got some unusually good 3-point shooting from Wade and LeBron). Those things made me fret.

However, it was not all good for Miami, obviously. They endured several curious losing streaks, including a poor 7-7 record in November, and streaks in mid-January and late February/early March. Of course, the kicker was the NBA Finals, where the Mavs served up some sweet revenge for their 2006 Finals loss. The Heat were up by 15 with less than 6 minutes to go in game 2, after having won game 1. They were then outscored 22-5 and lost. But the Heat had another great opportunity in game 4, after winning game 3 in Dallas. Dirk had the flu, and the Mavs' offense sputtered. But the Mavs again ended the game with a 21-9 run to win the game (by 3). After that, it was basically all Dallas in the last two games. Despite analysts' projection of an easy first title for the Heat, the Mavs decisively stomped that idea.

While at times the Big Three seemed unstoppable, there were many also that they seemed quite vulnerable. Chris Bosh, or as Skip Bayless brilliantly nicknamed him, "Bosh Spice," had a fairly disappointing year. I think he was just revealed for what he really is: a guy capable of putting up 20+ ppg as the star of the show, but someone who is not willing to consistently give superstar effort in rebounding or defense. He does not deserve to be discussed as the same class of player as LeBron or Wade. Wade, meanwhile, had a few moments of struggle during the regular season (especially against Boston), but turned it on in the playoffs. He is certainly the champion (literally and figuratively) on the team, but his game is a little like Bosh's in that he needs to have the ball a lot to be at his best.

Finally, of course, is LeBron. He averaged an outstanding 26.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 7 apg despite playing with both Wade and Bosh, and shot 51% from the field. Clearly, his performance was a major reason for their regular season success. However, in the Finals, LeBron had flashbacks to the Boston series last year, and disappeared in the 4th quarter of almost every game. If he had been able to dominate Chicago's defense, he should have been able to do it against Dallas as well. ESPN has been going over and over the reasons why that happened. Maybe it's because Miami doesn't know who to go to, Wade or LeBron. Maybe he just doesn't have the killer instinct of a Jordan or Kobe (though he seemed to have it against Chicago). All I know is, I'm glad he didn't win the championship this year. My two favorite LeBron moments this year: his calling the Cavs' 55 point loss "karma," then losing to the Clippers the next day while also spraining his ankle; and his posting up 5-foot, 8-inch J.J. Barea in the Finals, swatting him away and getting called for the offensive foul.

Next season?

I am going to be optimistic and assume that there will BE a season next year, although that's not guaranteed with the CBA expiring in July. The league as a whole seems to be in a transition to the next generation of stars, while the old generation struggles to hang on. Of course, it's only guesswork right now which teams will continue to fall, and which will continue to rise, but I'll give it a try.

2011-12 East Top 5:

1) Miami Heat. I have to put them here, since they got to the Finals this year and I don't want to risk underrating them. LeBron, Wade, and Bosh are under contract for years to come, and I imagine they will continue to get more comfortable playing with each other (although the Sports Guy thinks they might trade Bosh). Chalmers, a key player (and one of their few young role players) for them this year, is a free agent, however, and they will likely lose him. The Heat hope that Mike Miller gets better next year, and Haslem can stay healthy; everyone will still be gunning for the Heat next year, but they will have a better idea of how to beat them.

2) Chicago Bulls. More than anything, the Bulls offense was exposed in the playoffs this year. Their defense is fantastic, and will serve as a rock solid foundation for years to come. However, Boozer must play better than he did this year in order to help out Rose. They don't have any key free agents this summer, but they might benefit from getting an good scoring shooting guard. With their defense, Chicago should be near the top of the East in the regular season again, but a better offensive system, improvement from Boozer, and perhaps another scorer will be needed to get them to the Finals.

3) Boston Celtics. The Celtics face a difficult situation heading into the coming year. While they seemed to handle the Heat well in the regular season, they got blown away easily in the playoffs. It is pretty obvious that the Perkins-Green trade backfired on them. The top concern is: how much more can Garnett (35 yrs old), Pierce (turning 34), and Allen (turning 36) give them? Can Rondo continue to develop, especially his shooting touch, to take pressure off them? Can they find someone to replace Perkins? These are serious questions, but at least for the coming year, I give them good odds to be the East's third best.

4) Philadelphia 76ers. What?!?! you're probably thinking. However, the 76ers play great team basketball, and I liked the way they played the Heat in the playoffs this year. Unfortunately, I haven't seen them play much, but they have a solid young line-up: Elton Brand, Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holliday and Thaddeus Young. I can't seem them as a true championship contender without a superstar, but Doug Collins has them playing confident, cooperative team ball, and that's impressive given their youth.

5) Orlando Magic. Yes, Atlanta embarrassed them in the playoffs this year. However, I highly doubt Dwight Howard will quit on his team or sabotage them like Carmelo did this year. It's true that he doesn't have quite enough talent around him, but remember, they made a major trade in the middle of the year that will take some time to gel. I imagine they will let Jason Richardson go, who is good but a little redundant. Arenas could develop into a Jason Terry-type bench scorer (albeit an outrageously overpaid one). They just need to sign a decent back up for Dwight, and I think they'll be fine. The year after? We'll see.

Other teams to watch: New York (if they can make a few moves), Indiana (another good young core), Cleveland (if they draft Kyrie Irving... nah, just kidding)

2011-12 West Top 5:

1) Dallas Mavericks. I have to put the champs as #1 here. The downside is that they have several important free agents (Chandler, Barea, Butler). But since they just won the title, it should be easier to convince them to stay. Plus, the return of Butler from injury would make them that much stronger. I think it would be foolish to forget about this team among all the young, rising contenders; the Mavs now have the experience and the team chemistry to continue competing at the top tier.

2) Oklahoma City Thunder. Since I am dealing with rosters as they are right now, I have to give the Thunder a *slight* edge over my Lakers. I have to admit, though, that I was rather shocked to see their offense struggle to get points when they really needed them against Dallas, what with both Durant and Westbrook on their team; and their defense, even with Perkins, was suspiciously porous. Even still, I think that this roster has the highest potential in the NBA (yes, including the Miami Heat), and they have the key players signed for several more years at least. Westbrook needs to really set his role on the team, Perkins needs to work with Ibaka on their team defense, and the offense needs a little work, but I think they are in great shape.

3) L.A. Lakers. I look at the Lakers' future with both apprehension and hope. The Dallas loss, while humiliating, decisively signaled the need for change in this roster: they are too slow, have glaring weaknesses at guard, and quite simply, are getting a little tired of each other. Unfortunately, their options aren't spectacular, but I still think the best move would be to ship Bynum for a good point guard and a backup center. That would give them a Bryant-new PG-Artest-Odom-Gasol starting lineup: still one of the best in the NBA. Backing them up would be Blake/Fisher/Brown (2 of the 3), Walton, Barnes, and the backup center. Tweak for the remaining Kobe years, Lakers, then start to rebuild.

4) Memphis Grizzlies. Am I a prisoner of the moment? Perhaps. It's possible that this team will not do nearly as well next year. However, I think that they play with high energy and great defense, and that is a style likely to keep them coming. The Grizzlies have a lot of young players with great potential; in all likelihood, some of them will pan out and others will not. If Conley and Gasol are two that do, they will be in great shape. The team doesn't even need to resign Battier if it doesn't want to, with great similar teammates like Sam Young and Tony Allen. At any rate, this might be the most intriguing team to watch next year.

5) Denver Nuggets. After trading Carmelo Anthony, Denver was filled with a bunch of talented role players - but they suddenly caught fire. It will be tougher for them this year, now that teams have had a chance to study them, but they also have plenty of options for trades, depending on what their needs turn out to be. I would LOVE to see a trade of Bynum and Brown for Felton and Chris Andersen (if the Lakers could manage to get Afflalo, too, even better). Like the 76ers, it's hard to see this team really beating the league's elite in a playoff series as is, but they should have a good regular season at least.

Other teams to watch: San Antonio (sadly, this will probably be just to see how much farther they fall), Portland (can't blame them now for losing to Dallas), New Orleans (will Chris Paul demand a trade?)

Well, that's all. I hope you enjoyed the season (and this blog!).