I love the NBA Draft. It's that simple.
The Draft takes place tomorrow night at 7pm on ESPN. It marks the start of the new NBA year. The old season is over, time to start changing your roster around to get better for next season. Things that make this night so great? Several different reasons.
The first is the drafting of rookies themselves. Most of these guys you have seen play in college, and now you get to see where they go to start their professional careers. Also from a team standpoint, you get the anticipation of figuring out who is going to still be there when you get to pick, and what positions are you going to fill on your roster.
Another reason it is so fun is the trades and trade rumors. Every team is talking to every other team seeing if they can make a deal that benefits them both. In this year's draft, the talent in the draft is considered not that great. So look out for teams trying to trade their picks for a veteran that can help them right away. But also, it brings the question of who is going to trade up for that pick and how much are they willing to offer. In a really deep draft, you could trade your pick for a pretty good, established player. This year? Who knows.
And one other reason I really like the NBA draft, is that it is a lot quicker than the NFL draft. The NFL draft, the most popular of professional sports drafts, takes 3 days to do. In the first round each team gets 10 or 15 minutes I think. In the NBA, each team gets 5 min in the first round, and the whole thing is wrapped up in one night. It is quick and to the point. It is a new beginning for everybody. The 2011-2012 season starts tomorrow night. Get ready!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
NBA Finals Review
Well the NBA Finals, and season, is over. The Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champions for the first time. But all anybody seems to want to talk about are the losers, the Miami Heat. But let's take a closer look at the series.
The Mavs won in 6 games. They played well. They played smart. They were led by a man named Dirk Nowitzki who had a hunger like no other in this series. He has been labeled as coming up short in the playoffs for years. This was his redemption. Even though he was sick for game 4, he came out and willed his team to victory. Even though he could not get a shot to fall in the first half of game 6, he kept the mentality of "shooters keep shooting, eventually they will start to go in" and they did late in the game. The Mavs were filled with guys who just had not quite reached this mountain-top before. Jason Kidd has played 17 seasons, including reaching the finals twice, but just now got his first win. Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovic and played on numerous good teams in their careers that just didn't get there. Dirk and Jason Terry had reached the finals 5 years earlier before losing to the Heat. Their coach, Rick Carlisle, had coached the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers to be great teams before they ran into problems that prevented them from true greatness. So I am very happy for the Mavs, they deserve it.
The Heat on the other hand, lost the series when they were the favorites going in. They didn't play particularly bad most of the time, but they didn't have the same results in the 4th quarters mostly that the Mavs did. All anybody wants to talk about is LeBron James not living up to what he should be doing late in the game. True, he could have done a lot better and been more aggressive, but I think it just wasn't his time yet. You have to fall to truly experience the joy that comes with overcoming your past failures. There is no doubt in my mind that the Heat will be back in the Finals again over the next several years. They will have more chances and will be able to learn from their mistakes in this year's Finals.
One thing that must be fixed for the Heat is LeBron's aggressiveness in the 4th quarters. Actually, I don't think it needs much fixing, just a little tweaking. In the previous rounds of this years playoffs, he was unstoppable in the 4th quarters. He was shooting and making 3's at a rate we had never seen from him before. But in the Finals, his shot wasn't falling and so he stopped shooting, choosing to defer to others who were shooting better. Except most of his teammates didn't want to shoot it because this was the time LeBron was supposed to take over so they kept passing it back. It led to some awful sequences on offense. LeBron needs to drive to the basket whenever his jump shot isn't falling. He needs to post people up and work his way closer to the hoop. He has not done that most of his career, relying on his jump shot which is fairly unreliable at times.
The Mavs will be contenders again next year, but I don't think they will get back to this point. Their aging team mixed with the difficulty of winning two years in a row will be too much for them I think. The Heat, on the other hand, need to improve their bench. If I were them, I would look to trade Chris Bosh for some better role players. I know he is good, but he is being under-utilized as the third option on the team. The problem though, is that with James and Dwyane Wade controlling the Heat, there is no room to increase Bosh's usage. Yes, they have the best 3rd option in the league, but I think it would be better for him and the team if they could trade him for maybe a bigger center and a few other role players. Their bench currently is made up of older players who were once pretty good, but now are just barely still playing. Sure they had their moments, but you need to improve over Juwan Howard and Erik Dampier. If they couldn't find a use for Dampier, their biggest body, to play in the finals against a bigger front court that the Mavs had, then it's time to let him go. Fill the bench with young guys who have something to prove. They need to go after guys like Jason Kapono and Jeff Foster in free agency.
So anyways, now it time for the NBA Draft, which is one of my highlights of the year. So stay tuned for more exciting NBA off-season things.
The Mavs won in 6 games. They played well. They played smart. They were led by a man named Dirk Nowitzki who had a hunger like no other in this series. He has been labeled as coming up short in the playoffs for years. This was his redemption. Even though he was sick for game 4, he came out and willed his team to victory. Even though he could not get a shot to fall in the first half of game 6, he kept the mentality of "shooters keep shooting, eventually they will start to go in" and they did late in the game. The Mavs were filled with guys who just had not quite reached this mountain-top before. Jason Kidd has played 17 seasons, including reaching the finals twice, but just now got his first win. Shawn Marion and Peja Stojakovic and played on numerous good teams in their careers that just didn't get there. Dirk and Jason Terry had reached the finals 5 years earlier before losing to the Heat. Their coach, Rick Carlisle, had coached the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers to be great teams before they ran into problems that prevented them from true greatness. So I am very happy for the Mavs, they deserve it.
The Heat on the other hand, lost the series when they were the favorites going in. They didn't play particularly bad most of the time, but they didn't have the same results in the 4th quarters mostly that the Mavs did. All anybody wants to talk about is LeBron James not living up to what he should be doing late in the game. True, he could have done a lot better and been more aggressive, but I think it just wasn't his time yet. You have to fall to truly experience the joy that comes with overcoming your past failures. There is no doubt in my mind that the Heat will be back in the Finals again over the next several years. They will have more chances and will be able to learn from their mistakes in this year's Finals.
One thing that must be fixed for the Heat is LeBron's aggressiveness in the 4th quarters. Actually, I don't think it needs much fixing, just a little tweaking. In the previous rounds of this years playoffs, he was unstoppable in the 4th quarters. He was shooting and making 3's at a rate we had never seen from him before. But in the Finals, his shot wasn't falling and so he stopped shooting, choosing to defer to others who were shooting better. Except most of his teammates didn't want to shoot it because this was the time LeBron was supposed to take over so they kept passing it back. It led to some awful sequences on offense. LeBron needs to drive to the basket whenever his jump shot isn't falling. He needs to post people up and work his way closer to the hoop. He has not done that most of his career, relying on his jump shot which is fairly unreliable at times.
The Mavs will be contenders again next year, but I don't think they will get back to this point. Their aging team mixed with the difficulty of winning two years in a row will be too much for them I think. The Heat, on the other hand, need to improve their bench. If I were them, I would look to trade Chris Bosh for some better role players. I know he is good, but he is being under-utilized as the third option on the team. The problem though, is that with James and Dwyane Wade controlling the Heat, there is no room to increase Bosh's usage. Yes, they have the best 3rd option in the league, but I think it would be better for him and the team if they could trade him for maybe a bigger center and a few other role players. Their bench currently is made up of older players who were once pretty good, but now are just barely still playing. Sure they had their moments, but you need to improve over Juwan Howard and Erik Dampier. If they couldn't find a use for Dampier, their biggest body, to play in the finals against a bigger front court that the Mavs had, then it's time to let him go. Fill the bench with young guys who have something to prove. They need to go after guys like Jason Kapono and Jeff Foster in free agency.
So anyways, now it time for the NBA Draft, which is one of my highlights of the year. So stay tuned for more exciting NBA off-season things.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Shaq Retires
Last week, the great Shaquille O'Neal retired from professional basketball after a 19-year career. He will go down as one of the greatest players ever, and possibly the most entertaining NBA player ever. That's the special thing about Shaq, he was not defined by his play on the court, even as good as it was.
After being drafted number 1 overall in 1992 by the Orlando Magic, he became a dominating force. O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed and Michael Jordan. He ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 12th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks. But through all that, I don't think all of the accolades are what people will remember about him.
He was the ultimate entertainer. His size (7 ft 1 in, over 300 lbs, and size 23 shoes) and basketball talent allowed him to be the center of attention for most of his life. He always took those opportunities to express his opinions and to make people smile when he could. He was usually up for interviews, granting journalists and viewers entertainment through it all. He is a man of many nicknames (many of which he gave himself): Shaq, The Diesel, Shaq Fu, Superman, The Big Aristotle, The Big Cactus, The Big Shaqtus, The Big Shamrock, and The Big Conductor. He was a rapper and actor. He has also been involved in law enforcement for several years, having worked as a reserve officer in LA and Miami.
Although I am kind of sad to see him go as a player, I am excited to see what he will do next. With most retired athletes, we see less of them. I have a feeling, however, that retirement from basketball will only allow us all to be more entertained by Shaq from this point forward. So goodbye for now, but I can't wait to see what you have in store for us all in the future.
After being drafted number 1 overall in 1992 by the Orlando Magic, he became a dominating force. O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed and Michael Jordan. He ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 12th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks. But through all that, I don't think all of the accolades are what people will remember about him.
He was the ultimate entertainer. His size (7 ft 1 in, over 300 lbs, and size 23 shoes) and basketball talent allowed him to be the center of attention for most of his life. He always took those opportunities to express his opinions and to make people smile when he could. He was usually up for interviews, granting journalists and viewers entertainment through it all. He is a man of many nicknames (many of which he gave himself): Shaq, The Diesel, Shaq Fu, Superman, The Big Aristotle, The Big Cactus, The Big Shaqtus, The Big Shamrock, and The Big Conductor. He was a rapper and actor. He has also been involved in law enforcement for several years, having worked as a reserve officer in LA and Miami.
Although I am kind of sad to see him go as a player, I am excited to see what he will do next. With most retired athletes, we see less of them. I have a feeling, however, that retirement from basketball will only allow us all to be more entertained by Shaq from this point forward. So goodbye for now, but I can't wait to see what you have in store for us all in the future.
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