Cruising around JBB and other places, I have realized many people have been saying some negative things about this NBA season. In my opinion, this season has been one of the best years we have in a long time. Yes, there has been a fair amount of fights including that huge Palace of Aubrun Hills brawl, but let?s not forget the positives of the season like the excitement, and the surprises. First of all, I would like to talk about the excitement. Just look at it. How many great games have we seen this season especially on TNT. I remember a double header that first began with The Houston Rockets against the San Antonio Spurs. On that Thursday night, I witnessed the second most amazing, live performance, in my life (First being Allan Houston dropping 53). The AMAZING performance was by none other than Tracy McGrady. It is arguably one of the best Houston Rocket victories ever and if not, definitely a top 5 pick. The man scored 13 points in about 45 seconds, which included a 4 point play on one of the best perimeter defenders, Bruce Bowen. For all of those who saw this live, were certainly very fortunate. The second part of the double header was a game between the Boston Celtics and the Portland Trail Blazers. Although it was not as exciting as the Rockets/Spurs game, the game went down to the wire. Shareef Abdur-Rahim?s 3 pointer at the buzzer won the game for Portland. This was another exciting game of this less than half finished NBA season. <font size="2">The Houston Rockets celebration</font> Also the excitement continues with the 50 point games! So far, there has been six 50 point games. Jermaine O?Neal with 55, Damon Stoudemire with 54, Allen Iverson with 54 and 51, Dirk Nowitzki with 53, and Amare Stoudemire with 50. Did I mention that the season was not even half way over? Already we are being entertained by these top notch scoring performances. You can?t really ask for much more especially with the lack of superstars in the NBA since the days of the 90?s. <font size="2"> Jermaine O'Neal 55 Points January 4, 2005 Allen Iverson 54 Points December 18, 2004 Damon Stoudmire 54 Points January 14, 2005 Dirk Nowitzki 53 Points December 2, 2004 Allen Iverson 51 Points December 20, 2004 </font> Speaking of the 90?s and it?s dominance in the east, one might say it is not really enjoyable watching it anymore. To that, I say it is just as enjoyable. No there is no more Michael Jordan, or eastern teams that are really dominant (except maybe Miami) but, it just increases competition. Right now, with the exception of maybe Atlanta and Charlotte, every team has a legit shot at making the playoffs. The competition is very hungry. Currently you have Miami, Cleveland, New York, Washington, Detroit, Orlando, Indiana, and Boston that are currently in the playoff mix. However, you have teams such as Philadelphia, and Chicago tailgating them and struggling teams like Milwaukee, and Toronto who are not at all out of the playoff push. If the playoffs were to start now, there would be so much competition in the east. Maybe not with Boston and Miami, but the Knicks and Magic, are an excellent match up. The skyrocketing and overachieving Cleveland Cavaliers will be facing a very experienced Indiana, while the equally overachieving Wizards, will be facing the world champion Pistons. I see the very first round in the eastern conference being an exciting one. Just about every matchup has legit competition against one another. It is similar in the west as well. If the Western Conference Playoffs were to start today, it will look like this: Phoenix against Minnesota, San Antonio against Houston, Lakers and Sonics, and Sacramento against Dallas. Again, just about every matchup has even competion. On paper some teams have more of an advantage, but experience and hunger were not factors that were taken into the equation. Phoenix has the best record in the league so far, but not many people think they can go all the way. In fact, many people like myself, do not see the Suns advancing past the second round of the playoffs. To tell you the truth, inasmuch as Minnesota has been struggling, if they continued as the 8th seed I see them eliminating the Suns in the 1st round. Then we have the surprises this season like with a young man wearing the #23. No not Michael Jordan but, LeBron James. What an exciting young guy to watch. I am still convinced that someone made a mistake on his birth certificate. This man is only 20 years of age, and is considered by many an NBA superstar and others consider him the best player in the league, especially with the way Minnesota has started off. So far, James is 6th in the league in scoring, 6th in assists, 3rd in steals, 5th in field goals attempted, and shoots an amazing 49%. That?s pretty good especially considering he is not a big man. Most likely LeBron James will go down as an NBA great. Many of us did not always get to see Jordan as we would rather watch Power Rangers than basketball, but now we have the chance to see the whole career of a legend in the making. <font size="2">LeBron James: The future of the Cavaliers, the future of the NBA</font> What about Grant Hill?s comeback. Everyone thought that his career was almost over, and he should ?cop his money and bounce.? Grant Hill would here none of that, Right now, the Magic were supposed to be in a rebuilding process however, due to Hill?s superb comeback, the Magic are in the playoff mix. He is also the teams second leading scorer at 19.1ppg. We all know that the reason why Hill was so good, was because he was a complete player. He has not changed that a bit, he has about 4apg, and 4rpg, along with 50% shooting to go along with his great scoring punch. Hill brings veteran leadership, and let?s not forget courage to the Orlando Magic. <font size="2">Hill's Heroic Comeback</font> We also have big surprises in the season so far that we could not have ever imagined taking place. The Phoenix Suns are huge surprises in the season. No one expected them to be this good and have the best record in the league at 31-6. If they continue in this fashion, they will have a 70 win season. Will the Bulls record be safe? Another team that has been turning heads is the Chicago Bulls. Chicago has struggled in the beginning of the season. They started off only 0-9 and already people were saying ?Who should we draft?? Since their 0-9 start, they went on a huge run and in doing so, they managed to beat pretty legit teams such as Orlando, Cleveland, the Lakers, Minnesota and Detroit. Although some of the teams are struggling, the Bulls were considered such a low team, that any team for them is a challenge. During their run, they had a 62.5 win percentage, at 15-9. Right now, the Bulls are on a five game wining streak and are one of the NBA?s hottest teams as of late. Another surprise this season has been the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Detroit Pistons. Both were considered to be top seeds in their conferences, and some predicted a possible finals matchup. These two teams have struggled immensely and Minnesota is only one game above .500. They are also only the 8th seed in the western conference. They can still be a solid playoff team, but they have surprisingly struggled and have clearly not met the expectations that everyone had cut out for them. The Detroit Pistons have no excuse but themselves for their dismal start. They were a team expected to make a possible repeat finals appearance but, the way it looks now, they might not even make it to the eastern conference finals. They are still very capable of changing and are still a huge threat in the playoffs, but no one perceived them only being the 5th seed in the eastern conference so far. Let?s not forget about Utah, Portland, Memphis and especially Houston not meeting expectations as well. Portland and Utah missed the playoffs last year by only a small margin. With key acquisitions like Nick Van Exel for Portland, and Boozer and Okur for, Utah, it was looking as if those two teams will very well be in the playoffs. Houston traded for the two time scoring champion and still had two cornerstones in Jim Jackson and Yao Ming. The Rockets were looking like a team that can go into the playoffs as a top seed. Mmphis won 50 games last season and got some valuable playoff experience last season so things were looking bright for them also. All four of those teams have been struggling very much, and the way it looks now, only Houston will make it into the playoffs as only the 7th seed. These teams had very high hopes and expectations but surprised us by not coming close to meeting them. What a surprise this season. I don?t think there struggles are a bad thing. I like it because it diversifies the league, and does not make everything go according to plan. I also like it because it makes those Power Rankings look silly! Remember what they said about Seattle? Where is Seattle now? I rest my case. The NBA has also done a good job in taking care of the less fortunate and needy. The unfortunate tsunami circumstance has caused many players in the league to start donating money for every point that they score etc. Also during thanksgiving and Christmas, the NBA always stays faithful in doing good deeds. We also were blessed to hear Jerry Stackhouse sing the national anthem. I guess we can call it a good deed . <font size="2">Stackhouse brings down the house</font> I am aware of the fights, and that regrettable Pacers/Pistons incident, but we should not forget that the NBA is still a good organization, and without it there would probably not be a JBB around either. This has been a great NBA season so far, and in my opinion, has been one of the best in recent years. It still is less than half way through. If this is what took place in this little time, we are in store for a great second half of the season, plus the playoffs!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting mrj18:</div><div class="quote_post">This has been a great NBA season so far</div> And a great recap of it! But the thing is, only the bad things will stick in our memory and everyone forgets about the good ones.
I agree, great recap. But Coranor said it best, people only remember the bad things. Thats the case in just about everything, which is a shame. If someone were to ask about this season a few years down the road a common response might be 'Oh yeah, that was the season that brawl happened' or 'Kobe was selfish and tried to do it all.' I'll remember Grant Hill returning to Orlando this year playing without his ankle injury. Most true NBA fans will remember the good and let the bad moments slip away.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ice:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, great recap. But Coranor said it best, people only remember the bad things. Thats the case in just about everything, which is a shame. If someone were to ask about this season a few years down the road a common response might be 'Oh yeah, that was the season that brawl happened' or 'Kobe was selfish and tried to do it all.' I'll remember Grant Hill returning to Orlando this year playing without his ankle injury. Most true NBA fans will remember the good and let the bad moments slip away.</div> Definitely, if you (mrj18) could fit this in your recap, that would be great and make it perfect (thought it was perfect until Ice mentioned Hill, how can I forget Hill?)
MRJ18 this was an awesome read. I actually remembered all these events and this year has been just amazing. You should like Crossover3 said put this in the article thread.
this has been a great season not counting the new orleans. other than that most of the things have been good
But N.O. is on a 3 game wining streak beating the Kings, Knicks and Blazers. I guess that's exciting too lol.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Pure:</div><div class="quote_post">And the Suns are on a three game losing streak </div> Now a 4 game losing streak! Can it get more surprising.
Great read,Mrj18. I Like your opinions on the different teams and players...This is a different NBA season so far,but a good one anyways.
