We are approaching the midway point of the NBA season and just like everybody predicted before the opening tip back on October 28th, the Atlanta Hawks lead the Eastern Conference, Jason Kidd's new team (Milwaukee Bucks) has more wins than his old team (Brooklyn Nets) even without second overall pick Jabari Parker, the San Antonio Spurs are off to their worst start in the Tim Duncan era (since 1997-1998), the New York Knicks have three more losses than the Philadelphia 76ers despite Philly not having a single home victory at the Wells Fargo Center (it has been a rough sporting year for New Jersey/New York teams, but it is good to know that our NJ governor supports our local teams), Rasual Butler has provided a spark for the Wizards (the fact that Rasual Butler is still in the NBA is a surprise itself), and the Pistons front-court trio of Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond didn't work out (so we maybe could have predicted this last one).
The NBA season typically drags on from now until the All-Star game in the middle of February before we hit the final 25 games of the calendar in late February, March, and early April when football is over and attention turns to college and pro ball. However, we have already learned a lot about teams, coaches, and Vivek Ranadive in the opening half of the year (you have to love Vivek pulling the string on Mike Malone despite DeMarcus Cousins being out with viral meningitis). The NBA has already had its marquee trade of the season when Rajon Rondo went from the Boston Celtics to the Dallas Mavericks and admitted the widely known fact that "I haven't played defense in a couple of years" (poor Brad Stevens). Hopefully, I can provide as much candidness and maybe a little more effort than Rondo in my mid-season NBA quick thoughts.
The Oklahoma City Thunder As A 7 or 8 Seed?
Due to Kevin Durant missing all of November because of surgery on a bone in his right foot and then spraining the ankle again in December (I have no idea in the world why he came back so quickly) and Russell Westbrook breaking his right hand and missing 14 games at the same time, OKC is currently out of the playoff picture in the exceedingly difficult Western Conference. With Durant and Westbrook finally back on the floor for the Thunder, Serge Ibaka no longer needing to worry about carrying the load offensively and just blocking shots, and Steven Adams emerging as a force inside (the best thing to come out of New Zealand since the Lord of the Rings), Oklahoma City are the most dangerous team in the entire NBA. However, because of their slow start to the first half of the season with all of their injuries, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the Thunder could be one of the league's favorites to make the NBA Finals as a 7 or 8 seed out west. In the conference last year, 48 wins was not even good enough for the postseason (sorry, Phoenix) and it took 54 wins just to get the 5th seed (54 wins would have gotten the 2 seed in the Eastern Conference by the way).
With OKC currently sitting at 17-17 with a little more than half of the season still to be played, they would need a really hot finish just to get out of the bottom two or three seeds in the conference. For example, in 2013-2014 the San Antonio Spurs went 36-12 from early January until the end of the season, which was the best mark in the NBA over the final 48 games of the year. If the Thunder matched the Spurs mark in their final 48 games of this season, they would end up the NBA year with a record of 53-29, which would likely slot them in the area of the 5 or 6 seed. That estimation is assuming they finish the year with last year's best record in the NBA over that span, but it is much more likely, assuming no more injury breaks, that they end up around 49 or 50 wins and sneak into the playoffs with the 7 or 8 seed in the highly competitive West.
Russell Westbrook is the most athletic point guard we have ever seen in the NBA, which is saying something with the likes of Derrick Rose, Tim Hardaway, Kevin Johnson, and Oscar Robertson having played the position, and he is playing the best basketball of his life in his seventh year in the league. I have never seen a player with Westbrook's ability to dribble up the floor and stop on a dime for a jump-shot, which is impossible to contest because he pulls up so quickly despite running at full speed. The point guard gets to the foul line area and reacts to the defender's position to see if he should pull up or continue to go to the rim. If the defender does try to guess when Westbrook is going to stop for his jumper in the half-court or in transition, Russ will just blow by him and finish at the rim with his incredible quickness and athletic ability.
Westbrook needs a few more games to qualify for the various NBA statistical categories, but he would be leading the league in PER at 31.7 (the highest ever for a point guard in a season is Chris Paul's 29.7 in 2008-2009 with the Hornets) and in scoring at 27.3 points per game (Dave Bing in 1967-1968 with the Pistons and Nate Archibald with the Kings in 1972-1973 are the only point guards to ever win the NBA scoring title in a season). I have always disliked the inclination that Westbrook needs to change his intrepid, almost bordering on reckless, style of play because his unique athletic ability and attacking nature with the basketball makes him so special player. Just like how it is foolish to try and make Robert Griffin III or Johnny Manziel into a prototypical NFL quarterback, Westbrook has to be able to play with his fearlessness. Obviously, Durant is going to be Durant and be the best scorer in the NBA and one of the best we have ever seen along with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. But while Westbrook certainly shouldn't be out of control and forcing up 30 shots a game, he needs to be attacking the rim for the Thunder, like he has done so far this year, for them to be title favorites.
If I'm Golden State, Memphis, Portland, Dallas, or Houston, I am doing all I can to avoid the Thunder in the first round of the NBA playoffs because that is a scary team to have to play regardless of their regular season record. I have always thought that for as much as people love to obsess over seeding and home court advantage, match-ups are way more important than any other factor in a playoff run. For example, in the NFL this year, the Sunday Night game in week 17 between the Bengals and Steelers for the AFC North was much more important for the Cincinnati than for Pittsburgh. With the winner playing Baltimore and the loser playing Indianapolis, I though the Steelers would benefit from losing the game because they matched up better with the Colts and the Bengals would benefit from winning the game because they would fare better in a physical battle against the Ravens. The biggest deficiency of the Colts, protecting Andrew Luck, could not be exploited by the the Bengals because they struggle to rush the passer while the Ravens always play the Steelers really tough. And what happened? The Steelers won the game and the division, and Pittsburgh and Cincinnati both went out in the Wild Card Round to Baltimore and Indy respectively. In the NBA playoffs in 2013-2014, the Spurs were fortunate that Portland and Damian Lillard's heroics were able to knock off Houston in the first round because the Rockets size would have caused Pop's crew a lot more trouble than the Trail Blazers quickness and floor spacing. In fact, the Thunder would have been better off getting the three seed last season and not having to play Memphis because of the efficiency of the the Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol high-low action. I would not be surprised if teams do all they can to avoid the Thunder as the season comes to a close.
The Josh Smith-Greg Monroe-Andre Drummond Experiment Is Finally Over:
There were a lot of really painful things to watch in 2014 and that includes the ending of How I Met Your Mother, Stalker on CBS, I, Frankenstein, The Expendables 3, Godzilla, and Blended (the annual Adam Sandler film that makes us question how he is still making movies while Javier Bardem can't land a big role). Detroit alone has suffered enough in the new year, especially after the refs in the Cowboys-Lions game picked up the pass interference flag on Cowboys linebacker Anthony Hitchens on third and one, and then Lions punter Sam Martin turned into Drew Butler and hit a 10-yard punt that completely changed the game's field position and helped Dallas only have to go 59 yards, instead of the entire field, for the game winning touchdown. With that Detroit tangent being said, people in Detroit can take some consolidation in the fact that they will never have to watch the front-court trio of Josh Smith, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond ever again after Smith was waived by Stan Van Gundy on December 22nd. Although the Pistons would have liked to trade Smith to get something in return for the forward and the Kings did show some interest in the off-season (of course, Vivek wanted Josh Smith), no team wanted to take on his terrible contract, so Detroit was forced to release him. Since giving up Smith, the Pistons are a perfect 5-0 and are playing so much better on both ends of the floor without the forward.
Whenever Stan Van Gundy tried to play Smith, Monroe, and Drummond all together on the floor, it was a complete disaster for the team (I'm talking Chris Christie losing the entire state of Michigan with his love of the Cowboys bad). Teams in the NBA no longer have centers that can get a bucket with their back to the basket in the post (outside of maybe Al Jefferson for the Hornets). The NBA nowadays is all about floor spacing and ball movement, and not clogging up the middle of the lane to allow for driving angles and cuts to the basket. With the league universally moving towards small ball, the Pistons proclivity to play three big men seemed rather imprudent. Not only was Detroit's idea that they could overpower teams with their larger lineup a foolish one in the first place because they would not be able to keep up with perimeter players defensively, but Josh Smith and Greg Monroe are not exactly big men that are going to dominate teams on the glass, so their larger lineup didn't even give them a distinct advantage offensively.
When Josh Smith came to the Pistons in 2013, he suddenly thought that he was Ryan Anderson, pulling up for jump shots from all over the court, even though he is not a good shooter. Despite shooting a terrible 26.4 percent from three point range, Smith still attempted 265 jumpers from behind the arc in 2013-2014, more than Eric Gordon and Manu Ginobili (no player in the NBA that took at least 190 three pointers had a lower percentage from behind the arc than Smith). In Van Gundy's defense, he played the front-court trio together way less than former Detroit head coach Maurice Cheeks, who never realized that the three big men on the floor all at the same time cannot work in the modern NBA. Smith, Monroe, and Drummond were only on the court together for 174 minutes in 15 different games under Van Gundy, as opposed to 2013-2014 when they were on the floor for 1,361 minutes together in 76 different games (18 minutes as a three-man grouping per game). However, Greg Monroe, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, was unhappy coming off the bench and Drummond wasn't getting enough touches with Smith on the floor to develop his game (any team that has Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith on the floor together is a nightmare for anybody else looking to get up a shot), so the Pistons had to make a move to clear out Smith from the team for the present and the future of Detroit.
With Josh Smith off the Pistons and signing with the Houston Rockets to play with Dwight and Donatas Motiejunas up front, Detroit looks so much better on both ends of the floor and have a renewed energy about them now that Smith is not taking outside jumpers every other trip up the floor. Drummond's post up game is still developing, but he is really good in pick and rolls with Jennings and going to the glass for offensive rebounds off perimeter jump shots from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks (Drummond leads the league with an offensive rebound percentage of 16.6 and nearly 5 offensive rebounds per game, which comes a year after he grabbed the most offensive rebounds in a season since Jayson Williams with the Nets in 1997-1998). Drummond is already a top seven or eight NBA center (behind Dwight, Marc Gasol, Boogie, Noah, Big Al, and Al Horford) and is a player that has a ton of potential to improve because the Pistons don't even run that many plays for him and he can still dominate games with his rebounding and shot blocking ability. It was of the utmost importance that his growth as a 21-year old player would not be stunted by Josh Smith and his love for the three point shot. We shouldn't get too carried away here because the Pistons are still not very good, and settle for way too many Brandon Jennings fall away three point shots at the end of the shot clock. They should be picking in the lottery in 2015 for the 6th straight season without eclipsing the 30-win plateau (they will likely be fighting with New York, Philly, Utah, LA, and Minnesota for one of the top picks, so this team could be really improved next season if they get a player like Emmanuel Mudiay to play the point or Stanley Johnson, Justice Winslow, or Kevon Looney to play on the wing).
Mid-Season NBA MVP Candidates:
Coming into this season, as it has been for the past 6 or 7 years, LeBron James and Kevin Durant looked to be the favorites to take home the NBA MVP award. Although LeBron or Durant have won five of the past six most valuable player awards in the NBA (four for LeBron and one for Durant), as the season has unfolded, it has looked increasingly as if a relatively unexpected name in terms of the MVP discussion will walk away with this year's trophy. With the immense struggles of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early season (David Blatt hot seat watch has already begun), LeBron has not really found his rhythm for a team that does not have a true identity on either end of the floor. More so than any season before, LeBron seems to be playing below the rim, and is not finishing as well near the bucket after taking contact. In fact, LBJ is out for the next two weeks with left knee and lower back injuries, which is a concerning sign since James has never missed more than 7 games in a season in his career. The weight of having to carry teams for his entire career and all the minutes he has played with Cleveland and Miami could be factoring into the soreness he feels in his body as he enters his thirties. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant has played in just 11 games so far this season because of injuries to his foot and ankle. Since KD is just beginning to get back into a groove on the floor, especially on the offensive end with his jump shot, he will be out of the MVP discussion because of all the time he has missed early on in the season because of his ailments.
With LeBron and KD out of the MVP picture this season, the mid-season candidates for the honor seem to be Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Anthony Davis with some sleeper picks for the award being Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler, Marc Gasol, and Chris Paul. Anthony Davis is having one of the best statistical seasons we have seen from a big man in a very long time in the NBA, as The Brow could become just the 7th player in NBA history along with Bob McAdoo (1974), Kareem (1974-1977, 1980), Patrick Ewing (1990-1991), Hakeem (1989-1990, 1993-1995), David Robinson (1990-1991, 1994-1996), and Shaq (2000) to average 24 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a single-season. However, his team is currently outside of the playoff picture in the Western Conference and outside of OKC never returning to full health, New Orleans is not going to make the playoffs regardless of what he does on the floor. The only players to ever win the MVP on a losing or non-playoff team were Bob Pettit with the St. Louis Hawks in 1955-1956 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-1976 with the Los Angeles Lakers (Pettit won the inaugural NBA MVP in a radically different basketball time period when there were just 8 teams in the league and Kareem's 1975-1976 season was unprecedented, as he averaged 27.7 points, 16.9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4.1 blocks while still managing to shoot nearly 53 percent from the floor and Bob McAdoo, Dave Cowens, and Rick Berry had good but not great seasons for contending teams that year).
Lowry, Butler, Marc Gasol, and Paul could all play their way into the conversation in the second half of the season along with any other names not already mentioned here. Kyle Lowry, a player that has never even made an All-Star team (a complete injustice), has improved so much over his NBA career and is a legitimate MVP candidate. Lowry has been terrific all season long for the Raptors, who are currently 24-10 and tied for second in the Eastern Conference, especially since DeMar DeRozan went on for an extended period with a groin injury. Lowry, who Raptors ambassador Drake loves to call "the baby face assassin," is one of the many great point guards in the NBA right now, and can beat teams with the three ball or by using his wide body and tough lower base to get into the lane for easy buckets. Lowry could become only the 12th player in NBA history to average 20.5 points, 7.5 assists, and 5 rebounds in a single-season along with Bob Cousy (1955), Wilt Chamberlain (1967-1968), Lenny Wilkens (1969), Oscar Robertson (1961-1970), Walt Frazier (1970), Larry Bird (1987), Michael Jordan (1989), Magic Johnson (1981, 1987, 1989-1990), Gary Payton (2000), Chris Paul (2009), and LeBron James (2010).
All the talk this off-season in Chicago (aside from disgust over the play of Jay Cutler) was about the return of Derrick Rose and the acquisition of the Spanish duo of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, but Jimmy Butler's emergence into an NBA star has taken over the city. Kyle Lowry has certainly improved over his career, but Jimmy Butler has went from a late first round pick that averaged just 2.6 points per game in his rookie year to four years later being one of the best wings in the league. With his length and athleticism, Butler has shown over the past two seasons that he can be an elite defender on the perimeter, but he has dramatically improved his offensive game to the point where he is in the top 10 in the league in scoring.
Chris Paul is also in the NBA MVP discussion, as he has been almost every year since he came into the league with the Hornets back in 2005-2006, but Marc Gasol deserves some serious consideration as well for the 25-9 "grit and grind" Grizzlies. Marc, just like his brother in Chicago, is one of the best passing big men in the game, which makes the Grizzlies so hard to defend since Gasol can score with his back to the basket or feed Zach Randolph in some high-low action for Memphis. He has kept his assist total around 4 per game, but he has also become more aggressive than ever this season.
However, the leading candidates for the MVP award as we approach the mid-point of the NBA season have to be Stephen Curry of the 26-5 Golden State Warriors, James Harden of the 23-11 Houston Rockets, and Damian Lillard of the 26-8 Portland Trail Blazers. As you almost always have to do in the MVP discussion, you have to consider the best player on the best team in the league, and Stephen Curry more than deserves consideration for the honor with his play in the team's first 31 games of the year. Outside of Kevin Durant, Curry is the best scorer in the entire NBA because he can find so many ways to beat teams. Obviously, Curry is known for his ridiculous shooting ability, as he is knocking down 39.1 percent of his shots from behind the arc and is tied for third in the league in three point makes (behind only Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver). However, unlike so many other catch and shoot three point guys like J.J. Redick, Danny Green, or Trevor Ariza, Steph can create his own shot any time he wants because his handles with both hands are so underrated, particularly when he is going to the left and pulling up off the dribble with his ultra quick release.
However, the reason Steph is in the MVP discussion this year is because he has cut down his turnovers on the offensive end (he averaged nearly 4 last season and is down to about 3 this year), and is playing much better defense with his quick hands. James Harden may take exception to the claim that Durant and Curry are the best two scorers in the league because Harden has been asserting his will for the Rockets all season long. The left hander is so crafty around the rim, especially with his euro-step when he goes towards the basket on a big man. Even when he isn't hitting his outside jump shot, he gets to the line so often that he rarely has a game where he doesn't end up in the 20 point range (Harden has scored at least 20 points in 26 of 33 games so far this year). Harden leads the NBA in free throws made per game at more than 8 per game and is only behind Russell Westbrook in free throw attempts per game at more than 9 per contest. Harden could become only the 8th player in NBA history to average 27 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds in a single-season along with Richie Guerin (1962), Jerry West (1966), Oscar Robertson (1961-1968), John Havlicek (1971-1972), Larry Bird (1985, 1987-1988), Michael Jordan (1989-1990, 1992), and LeBron James (2005-2010, 2012, 2014). Finally, Damian Lillard, whose typical conference game in college was against Northern Colorado and Idaho St., is the third leading candidate for MVP. Lillard is lighting fast all over the court, and has already had multiple big game moments for Portland. He showed that he is as cold blooded as any player in the NBA with his 43 point triple overtime performance against the Spurs and his 40 point game versus the Thunder just a few days later in another overtime contest.
The Biggest NBA Surprises Of The First Half Are The Atlanta Hawks And Draymond Green:
If I had told you the Atlanta Hawks would be leading the Eastern Conference as we approach the midway point of the NBA season before the year began, you would have thought that the conference would have collapsed faster than the Transformers film series or Brandon Routh's career. However, a team who this off-season had their general manager report that Luol Deng had "a little African in him," are somehow at the top of the East with a record of 25-8 and are playing beautiful free-flowing basketball. The play of the Hawks is proving that teams are better without any owners in place (or a soon to be changing ownership group), which Dan Snyder should definitely take notice of in Washington. In fact, without a imperious owner, Atlanta, who have been to the postseason for 7 straight years and yet have not won back-to-back playoff series since they won their lone NBA title in 1957-1958 with Bob Pettit in St. Louis, are at the top of the conference for the first time since December of 1997.
The success of Atlanta has been dependent on ball movement and a balanced scoring attack, especially since unlike so many other teams in the league, the Hawks can get scoring from the perimeter and also inside in the paint from their big men. The Hawks are 2nd in the NBA in assists per possession, 3rd in assists per game, 5th in assist/turnover ratio, and lead the league in assists on made field goals. In the front-court, Paul Millsap, who Atlanta somehow got at a discounted price last off-season, and Al Horford, who has returned very nicely from his shoulder and pectoral injuries, are one of the best combinations up front in the league (Blake and DeAndre Jordan in LA, Randolph and Gasol in Memphis, and the Gasol and Noah in Chicago are right there with them as well). While Millsap and Hordford don't have the athletic ability or size to fly over teams like Blake and DeAndre do for the Clippers, they are both really skilled bigs and can use either hand to finish in the lane. Millsap and Horford are complimented by the driving ability of point guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder and the outstanding shooting on the outside of Kyle Korver. Teague is in the top 10 amongst point guards in scoring because of his quickness in getting to the rim while Korver is second in the NBA in three pointers and second in the league at a ridiculous 51.3 percent from behind the arc. He could also join Steve Kerr (1995-1996) as the only players in NBA history to play more than 30 games in a season and shoot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, and 90 percent from the free throw line.
In Golden State, almost all of the attention goes to the splash brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and deservedly so because they are the best shooting backcourt I have ever seen and are two of the best guards in the league (Quick aside: for all the great point guards in the NBA right now with Curry, Lillard, Conley, Rondo, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Dragic/Bledsoe, Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, John Wall, Kyrie, and D-Rose, the shooting guard position has really plummeted as guys like Kobe, D-Wade, Jason Terry, Manu, and Vince Carter reach the twilight of their legendary careers. Monta, who only recently has had a resurgence with the Mavericks, DeRozan, who is currently out with an injury, Jimmy Butler, Wesley Matthews, Bradley Beal, who missed the beginning of the season, Klay, and Harden are likely the best the game has to offer right now at the 2-guard spot).
However, the reason the Steve Kerr led Golden State Warriors are leading the Western Conference has as much to do with the play of Draymond Green as anything else, especially with David Lee missing so many games with his hamstring injury, and Andrew Bogut now being out with a knee problem. Every team needs a guy that is going to put his heart on the line every single possession of a game, and make every possible hustle play because it is the little things, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, that separate good from great teams. Draymond Green is that guy for the Warriors. Green is as tough as any player in the entire league, and despite playing a lot of power forward against bigger guys with his wide 6-7 frame, Green fights like crazy in the post. He is not afraid to put his body on the line and be physical down low or take charges when the contact comes into his body, something I watched him do over and over again for Tom Izzo and the Spartans in East Lansing. He can then stretch teams with his shooting ability at the 4-position, which gives the Warriors another shooting threat on the perimeter (as if they needed any more), and also frees up the lane for Curry and Thompson for their drives because Green's defender has to respect his shot from outside (Green already has almost as many threes as he hit all of last season). In his third year in the association, Green's scoring has jumped up from 6.2 points per game to 12.1 per contest and his rebounds per game have gone up from 5 to 8.3 per outing.
The Biggest NBA Disappointments Of The First Half Are The Los Angeles Clippers And Lance Stephenson:
As odd as it may seem for a team that is 23-11 to be the biggest disappointment in the league, the LA Clippers, a team I picked to play in the NBA Finals earlier this year, have not looked like a championship caliber team at all this season. Although this is not saying much for a franchise that didn't register a win in a playoff series in San Diego or Los Angeles from 1978 until 2006, coming into this year, the Clippers had as high expectations as they have ever had in the history of their organization (they did have some good players in that time span like World B. Free for two years in 1978-1979 and 1979-1980, a young Danny Manning before the knee injuries started to get really bad in the early 1990's, or Elton Brand in the early 2000's, but Donald Sterling essentially ruined everything, which should come as no surprise to anybody).
While it would seem as though the Clippers, a franchise desperate for success to step out of the Lakers shadow in LA, Doc Rivers, a coach looking to show people that he can win outside of Boston, and Chris Paul, a guy that is trying to prove that he can carry a team to a title, would be playing with a sense of hunger and intensity each night, they look as if they are bored with the regular season. And that comes as a real big surprise because there is no reason that the Clippers should just be going through the motions with so much on the line in the ridiculously difficult Western Conference. With Chris Paul's creativity, Blake Griffin's inside game and improved jump shot, and J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford's outside shooting ability, the Clippers can score almost at will offensively (although they do settle for too many jump shots sometimes). Nonetheless, their biggest problem has come on the other end of the floor so far this season, as they rank 20th in the NBA in opponent shooting percentage, 21st in opponent effective field goal percentage, 23rd in opponent percent of points from 3-pointers, and 25th in opponent three point rate. While DeAndre Jordan is a good enough shot blocker to clean up for some of the team's mistakes defensively, their perimeter defense against opposing point guards and wing players has cost them a lot of victories so far this season (Bradley Beal scoring 29 against them in a loss to the Wizards in December as an example). The Clippers particularly struggle to get out to shooters and contest their jump shots. The Clippers have had a really disappointing start to the year given their high expectations.
Lance Stephenson can take some solace knowing that his blowing in the ear meme is by far the most popular twitter meme out there on the web today. But Lance has not had too many positive meme worthy moments so far this season with the Charlotte Hornets because he has played quite poorly for the team through the first 35 games of the season. After signing a three-year, 27 million dollar deal with Charlotte rather than returning to the Indiana Pacers in the off-season, Lance has really struggled to fit in on either end of the floor under Hornets second year coach Steve Clifford. In fact, at times things have gotten so bad for Lance that Clifford has benched him down the stretch of games because he just doesn't feel comfortable with him on the court. Stephenson has yet to gel with his new teammates on a struggling Charlotte team that is really underperforming.
While Lance has always been a lighting rod amongst his teammates and a polarizing figure for his eccentric personality on and off the floor, his role as a versatile wing that could guard the opposing team's best scorer was very well defined in Indiana. However, Lance has yet to found a distinctive role in Charlotte and has been asked to do a lot of things outside of his comfort zone as a player. The problem that the Hornets have is that Lance is a guy that can create for others and make plays in transition and off pick and rolls, but he is not a volume scorer and he does not shoot the ball particularly well (Lance is shooting 27.1 percent on jumpers beyond 16 feet and a horrific 15.1 percent from three point land). Any time Charlotte has Lance and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist on the floor at the same time, which has happened for 172 minutes this season despite them only playing 9 games together, or Lance and Gerald Henderson, which has happened for 323 minutes in 22 games, it is a complete disaster since their defenders can pack the lane when Kemba is driving or double team Big Al in the post. Lance has also been given much less freedom to create on the offensive end with the ball in Kemba's hands so often, which further creates problems because Stephenson is not the best at getting open off the ball for his shot. The Hornets rank 27th in the NBA points from three pointers, 28th in offensive efficiency, and 28th in field goal percentage, and it doesn't look as if Lance is going to be the offensive solver, even if his memes continue to break the internet.
Some Final Quick Facts:
It would take a minor miracle - I'm talking anybody beating out Richard Linklater for Best Director crazy - if any of the league's most historic three franchises, the Lakers (11-23), Celtics (11-20), or Knicks (5-31), made the postseason this year. There were some Laker fans coming into this season who actually thought they could compete in the West and although Swaggy P has provided us with some really great swaggy moments, LA has one of the worst rosters in the NBA (Byron Scott is also a terrible coach that doesn't see the distinct advantage from maximizing the three ball, which is like a director not valuing the acting of Ethan Hawke). The Celtics are in complete rebuilding mode, just like they were in last year, and will need another high draft pick, like Myles Turner, Trey Lyles, Kevon Looney, or Montrezl Harrell to help their front court). Meanwhile, for as much talk over the Knicks not properly running the triangle offense, it doesn't even look like they are running any semblance of an NBA offense or defense in New York under first year head coach Derek Fisher. The Knicks, who have just one win in their last 23 games since November 24th, have already suffered 9 defeats this season by 15 points or more, and look more helpless than Florida St. in the Rose Bowl. This would be only the second time in the near 70 years of existence of the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks that not one of the three franchises would be in the NBA postseason.
The eighth seed in the Eastern Conference has been at or below .500 going into the postseason every year except for once since the 2005-2006 NBA season (the Philadelphia 76ers were 35-31 in the lockout shortened campaign just three years ago in 2011-2012). In 2006, the Milwaukee Bucks were 40-42 and lost to the Pistons in the first round in 5 games. In 2007, the Magic likewise ended 40-42 and were swept by Detroit. The Hawks were way under .500 at 37-45 in 2008, but took Boston to 7 games in a tight series. The following year, the Pistons went 39-43, but lost to the Cavs in 4 games while in 2010, Chicago was .500 at 41-41 lost to Cleveland in 5. In 2011, the Pacers had a 37-45 record as the 8 seed, but were easily dispatched by the Bulls in 5 games. In 2013, the Bucks went 38-44 and were swept by the Heat and last year the Hawks were 6 games under .500 at 38-44 and fell to the Pacers in a tough 7 games series. With the Eastern Conference much weaker than the Western Conference, just like it has been for the better part of a decade or two, it looks as if whoever ends up getting the 8th seed, whether it be the Bucks, Nets, Heat, Pacers, or Magic, will continue the trend with a below .500 record. The last time a team from the Western Conference made the playoffs with a losing record was all the way back in 1996-1997 when the 36-46 Los Angeles Clippers made the postseason and then were promptly swept in 3 games by John Stockton, Karl Malone, and the eventual NBA Finalists Utah Jazz.
Right now in the NBA, John Wall (10.3), Ty Lawson (10.2), and Rajon Rondo (10.0) are the only players in the league averaging more than 10 assists per game in the league. More than ever, point guards like Steph Curry, Lillard, Lowry, Kemba Walker, or Brandon Knight, rather than wing or post players, are becoming team's primary scoring options on the floor (the Cavs might argue that is killing them right now on the offensive end of the floor). Teams are looking to set everything up on the offensive end through their point guard and spread the floor to create space for their their slashing guard. Only once in the last decade has not one player in the league averaged at least 11 assists per game in a season, which John Stockton did 9 times in his career and Magic did 8 times with the Lakers. Also, Steph Curry this season has the fewest assists for a player in the top 5 of the category since Sam Cassell was in the top five at 7.3 dimes per game back in 2003-2004.
With recent basketball analytics emphasizing dunks and layups inside the paint and three balls from behind the arc rather than long two-point jumpers, three point shooting is at historic rates in the NBA once again this season. Deep ball shooting has been increasing in the NBA each of the last four years, which has a lot to do with the new movement, led by the San Antonio Spurs, of space and pace to allow court spacing for driving lanes and kick outs for open shots from the perimeter. The 7.7 three pointers per game in the association are tied with last year for the most in a season and the 22.1 three point attempts per contest are far and away the most for a league average in a campaign. More than ever, teams are putting at least one catch and shoot guy on the floor to allow for court balance and spacing on the offensive end. Players like Kyle Korver (73 percent of his field goals are threes), Wesley Matthews (51 percent of his field goals are threes), J.J. Redick (50 percent of his field goals are threes), Danny Green (55 percent of his field goals are threes), Trevor Ariza (54 percent of his field goals are threes), and Mike Dunleavy (55 percent of his field goals are threes) are getting major minutes on the floor specifically because of their shooting ability.
Everybody knows that Anthony Davis is having a historic season for the Pelicans, but everybody may not know that he is putting up numbers that Hall of Fame big men like Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon would be jealous of. Since "The Brow" can score in so many ways and doesn't even need too many touches to do so, Davis is having one of the most efficient offensive seasons we have ever seen in the NBA. Only Wilt Chamberlain (1967-1968), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1980), Kevin McHale (1987), Charles Barkley (1988-1990), and Amar'e Stoudemire (2008) have averaged 24 points while shooting at least 56 percent on less than 17 field goal attempts in a season, which is a list Davis could potentially join with his current play. The Pelicans should get way more touches to Davis in the post because he can score in so many different ways, including with his evolving jump shot from the elbow area.
Because championships in basketball are more often then not determined by star-power, which has allowed the NBA to be thoroughly dominated by dynasties over the years, typically only a handful of teams can realistically win a title at the end of the season. In the 1950's, you knew that either the Lakers with George Mikan, the Syracuse Nationals with Dolph Schayes, or the St. Louis Hawks with Bob Pettit would be featuring in the Finals (of course, it was much easier to predict the top teams back then since there were only 8 teams in the whole league). In the 1960's, you could of course just pencil in Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics against Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals (the Celtics beat the Lakers 6 times in the finals in those 10 years) with an occasional appearance from Wilt and the Warriors. The 1970's are really the only decade in NBA history where it was truly unpredictable as to which team would walk away as the NBA Champion. The great Knicks teams from the 70's with Willis Reed, Frazier, DeBusschere, and Bradley had their success, but so did the Milwaukee Bucks with Oscar, Bob Dandridge, and Kareem, the Warriors with Rick Barry in 1975, the Blazers in 1977 with Bill Walton, and the Dennis Johnson led SuperSonics in the late 70's. The dynasties returned in the 1980's, as Magic, Kareem, Jamaal Wilkes and the Lakers or Bird, McHale, Parish, and the Celtics appeared in every single NBA Finals over the decade with LA winning titles in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988 and Boston coming away victorious in 1981, 1984, and 1986. While the Bad Boy Pistons with Isiah and Joe Dumars had their time in the 1990's and so did Clyde, Hakeem, and the Rockets, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the Bulls dominated the 90's with 6 titles over the 10 year span. Moreover, the 2000's saw Shaq, Kobe, and the Lakers win 4 titles (Kobe on his own for the last one in 2009) while David Robinson, Tim Duncan and the Spurs took home 3 Larry O'Brien Trophies over the decade (No Robinson for the 2007 title).
However, I cannot recall a season where it seems like so many teams could possibly be playing in the NBA Finals once June rolls along with their being no clear or heavy favorites. The league is so wide open that anywhere from 4 to 5 teams from the East and 6 to 7 teams from the West could win their conference and be in position for an NBA title. The Bulls are the best team in the East even with D-Rose not all the way back from his knee injuries because of their depth with Aaron Brooks, Kirk Heinrich, Jimmy Butler, Pau, Taj Gibson, Mitotic, and Noah, but they are far from invicible. Toronto with Lowry and DeRozan have enough fire power to win the East and so do Washington with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Atlanta has to at least be considered a contender with their phenomenal start, and Cleveland, even despite their early season struggles, are just way too talented with Kyrie, LeBron, and Love to not have a shot at the Finals. The West is as deep from top to bottom as we have ever seen in the league, but there is not one team that stands out in the conference either. Golden State's shooting ability with Steph and Klay Thompson puts them at the top of the west, but Portland with their duo of Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge are just as dangerous. Memphis is always a threat because teams have such trouble stopping their front-court pair of Randolph and Gasol while Dallas has the most efficient offense in the league with their powerhouse starting five of Rondo, Monta, Chandler Parsons, Dirk (their lowest paid starter despite being a top 5 or 6 power forward of all-time - take notes Kobe), and a rejuvenated Tyson Chandler. Houston has James Harden, a player that can single-handedly take over a series offensively with Dwight helping him out on the boards and as a rim protector to make a deep run. Finally, although San Antonio has struggled early in the year, once they get Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard back healthy, they should start playing some better basketball, and so will possible Western Conference favorite, the Oklahoma City Thunder with Durant and Westbrook. As of now, I would slot the Bulls as the favorite in the East, followed by Cleveland despite their early season struggles, with the Raptors, Wizards, and Hawks following in behind, and all with chances to win the conference. The West is a little more clustered and open, but I would put Golden State, Dallas, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City at the top followed by Portland, Memphis, and Houston.
The holidays are over and we approaching the second half of the NBA season, but anybody that is upset that they have to go back to school or to work can take some solace knowing that at least they do not play for the mess that is the New York Knicks.
