Running Through My Mind

A few random musings (I wrote this several days ago and just never got around to posting):

1) NBA firings are apparently at an all-time high for this point in the season. Six coaches have been given their walking papers and we're barely 1/4 into the season. The chopped list includes: Reggie Theus by the Sacramento Kings, Maurice Cheeks by the Philadelphia 76er's, Eddie Jordan by the Washington Wizards, Sam Mitchell by the Toronto Raptors, Randy Wittman by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and P.J. Carlesimo by the Oklahoma City Thunder. I agree with cutting off the head sometimes, but for most of these, I really think they coach was a scapegoat, covering up the real, massive problem: the team sucks. I won't elaborate on which coaches I think needed to go (to protect the innocent) but suffice it to say that this is a short term solution to a problem that goes way deeper than the head coach. Almost all of these teams are underachieving, and one literally just started a few months ago. Is it the economy? Lack of fans? Whatever the reason, firing the coach this early is akin to throwing in the towel for the year, and, frankly, it's just not very creative . . . especially the Kings who waited for five other heads to roll before he got the boot in the back. What followers.

2) Have I ever mentioned how much I love Stephon Marbury? He is the only guy in the league who would buy a front row ticket to a game in which he is being paid to play but the team doesn't want him. Seriously, the only one. Maybe Latrell Sprewell would have pulled such a move back in his day but other than that, I can't think of anyone. I caught his interview at the game, and he did one of my favorites: "me, myself . . ." I never understood what that means, I guess it's sort of like "um" for the urban set. He really keeps things interesting.

3) Allen Iverson was fined for "making inappropriate comments" to a fan during a Detroit Pistons visit to the Charlotte Bobcats, a game which the Pistons eventually won. I wonder if these guys budget for fines and suspensions . . .

4) So the Atlanta Hawks weren't a fluke and really do have something close to a legitimate response to the Boston Celtics. I will admit that the Celtics have really been impressive. I didn't like the idea of throwing a bunch of superstars together just to win a championship, but by golly, it worked. Two stars may not be enough, but three is solid, especially if one of them is a 7 foot shooter. But the Hawks almost beat them and looked good doing it. I'll have to continue to monitor this as the season develops . . .

5) I've been saying this for a long time, and now I'm finally going public with it. Twins?

Stuart from Mad TV:




Tyler from UNC:

AI to the D

Ok, ok. Several of you have asked so I think I can take a two minute break from the Barack Obama campaign to give my two cents on this Detroit Pistons-Denver Nuggets trade, so here goes:

If you've followed my work here, you know that I'm a firm believer in blowing things up and starting all over again. You may not know that that goes for whether the team is good but not quite good enough, or very awful. The Pistons fall into the former category. Consistently very good but not quite good enough. Personally, I don't care if you win all 82 games in the regular season and lose in 7 games in the NBA Finals - that's not my idea of a good team. If you're getting that close every year and can never seal the deal, you need to try something new. And if you start out on a high and then get progressively less good every year, that's even worse.

So I would have blown up the Pistons a few seasons ago, like 2005 a few seasons ago. They haven't really added or subtracted anyone of substance since they won in 2004, but yet expected that they'd somehow just up and figure it out. Well, I am glad they figured out early in this season that if they want to get to the top, they're going to have to take some drastic measures.

What did the Pistons lose? Not too much, in my opinion. In face, I may get jumped on for saying this, but I think Antonio McDyess is a bigger loss than "Mr. Big Shot" - whose shot has been M.I.A. longer than he's had that nickname. At least McDyess provided consistent inside scoring and solid defense, and he played hard every game - but he is getting up in age. Now, I know Billups had become Mr. Detroit, welcoming Obama instead of the mayor of Detroit, but I think it was time for him to go. Billups was inconsistent in terms of output and effort. The name Mr. Big Shot was only befitting if we're talking about shots he wasn't making, and on top of that, his shot selection became increasingly suspect. The irony of this trade is that the Pistons got rid of one gunner and picked up an even bigger gunner.

Which leads me to what the Pistons have gained. I mean, it's A.I. - I'd bet $100 that there are party promoters making up flyers for the official welcome to Motown party with his face splashed on them. Never mind, I don't want to take your money. This is huge for Detroit sports, especially when the stars on Detroit sports teams are few and far between these days. I'm far from a jersey person but I just might have to get his . . .

In terms of on-court gains, that remains to be seen. Iverson must have the ball in his hands to play well. Scratch that - to play at all. If he's not touching the ball at least 90% of the time his team has the ball, you're pretty much wasting him. He takes more shots than just about anyone in the game, but the thing is he almost always gets hot eventually, unlike some other people that I know. I actually enjoyed watching him and the 76ers in the NBA Finals back in 2002 when they lost in 5 games to the Los Angeles Lakers (featuring Kobe and Shaq). It was one of those LeBron James situations where he had pretty much no help but took his team much further than anyone thought was possible. But LeBron is a big man who takes over games. Iverson is barely 5'10" (I don't care what the NBA tells you) and just a scrappy player who leaves it all out there on the floor every night, and when he's on, he's dangerous. He may not like to practice, but he certainly likes to play. He has that heart that you just can't teach. And now that he's getting olderguy wants an NBA championship so badly he can taste it. He is one of the few who has been able to successfully get past a ton of off-court drama to get it together when necessary.

Fortunately, the Pistons are the most unselfish group of guys that you're going to encounter (sometimes to their detriment), and I think they can handle Iverson and his constant touching. As long as they can find themselves and their shots in the midst (i.e., after Iverson misses and the Pistons get the rebound) this could make the eastern conference very, very interesting this year. This is all neglecting the salary cap space that will be cleared because Iverson's contract will be up next year, allowing the Pistons to potentially pick up some other key players.

(Did I already mention that the Pistons instantly got more attractive?)

As for the gain to the Denver Nuggets . . . well, hopefully the thinner air and hometown factor will help Billups locate his shot again. McDyess . . . not really sure where he will fit in out there since they've already got a lot of big bodies who can score, but I think he was included as one of those unload situations to pad the deal (they also traded center Cheikh "Mr. Pad the Deal" Samb). The Nuggets with AI and Carmelo Anthony were supposed to be way better than they were (which wasn't terrible, but wasn't what they expected) and it looks like they weren't interested in giving that anymore time to work out.

This ESPN writer says the Nuggets got the better end of the deal because Billups will work better with Melo's style of play and now the Nuggets will have a true point guard rather than the shooting guard they had in Iverson. All I have to say to that is "OK." We'll see. I actually can't wait to see another exciting NBA season.

The bottom line is that this move is likely to either going to fail wildly (although it may still be a good move in the long run with the expired contracts issue) or result in a serious run at the championship - I don't think it can go any other way. But I love Joe Dumars for having the guts to shake it up.

This may call for NBA League Pass . . .

Durant Durant

Quick note on Kevin Durant's debut:

He may not have taken the best shots, and he was probably understandably nervous, but this kid is not afraid to take the shot, and confidence is everything in this league. He still scored 18 points in 31 points, 3-14 in the first half, 4-8 in the second, as the Seattle Supersonics dropped their opener against the Denver Nuggets, 120-103. ESPN's statisticians put in overtime again, finding that 18 points was the 4th most ever scored by a John R. Wooden Award winner (given to the top college player of the year, which he won) in an NBA debut. I'm sure J.J. Reddick has some NBA record, too, if you look hard enough.

The Nuggets look pretty good, Allen Iverson (25 points, 14 assists) and Carmelo Anthony (game high 32 points). I would love to see them make a run in the West, but they're one of the main no-defense teams out there. Still, here's hoping they work that out.

For the Sonics, Jeff Green only had 5 points in his NBA debut, but I think he'll pick it up. Hopefully the Sonics can figure out where they want to be so they can build on this young team.

But this Durant. He's going to be nice.