"GOD I LOVE THE NBA--IT'S SO GREAT."
"GOD THE NBA IS SO FREAKING BAD--I'M EMBARRASSED I LIKE IT SO MUCH."
These are normal everyday thoughts that go through my head, as I watch the first month of the NBA take shape. It pretty much changes every hour. It's a love/hate relationship. I have been watching a lot of Laker games. That's the love. Then I just look at every team in the eastern conference not named Celtics and Heat and Magic. That's the hate. Hornets are a love. T-Wolves are a hate. And so on.
THE LEBRON JAMES LOCKER ROOM WALK
There is really nothing better for me than watching LeBron walk into the locker room after a loss. It's just so fun to watch. I love when the TNT or the ESPN cameras move to him and he just puts his head down and does that fast putzy walk that he thinks shows confidence but everyone who knows knows it's an insecure walk. It's a get me into the locker room before anyone asks me how big of a fraud and loser I am walk. And it's becoming a tradition unlike any other. It's a May tradition. It's a June tradition. It's a almost every big game in the first 82 tradition. I love it. Looking forward to the Christmas Day LeBron James walk after another "tough" loss.
JAZZ CHANGE SEASON TEMPO
Had the privilege of watching the Utah Jazz go from absolute bums in the first 2 weeks back to a contending, great team in the matter of 2 days. And hats off to Paul Millsap. What a monster! He I think single-handedly got them back on track going into the winter months. The 48 and 14 clinic, 19-28 from the field, 3-3 from 3, and the amazing offensive rebound and stick back against the Heat was awesome. Anybody who can create not only a LeBron James walk off, but also a Dwayne Wade walk off is a beast in my book. They followed that up with a another sweet road win in Orlando on national TV. A game where Al Jeff, a guy who I think was on the fence, not really buying into the culture of hard work in Utah, DESTROYED D12 in front of an ESPN audience. He finally broke out, and Derron Williams has been strong to quite strong as well. Gordon Hayward--not quite there yet.
THUNDER
The OKC Thunder are done in my opinion. They are out of elite team and title contention. Kevin Durant is dead tired. And guys are gunning for him and teams are scheming for him. I don't care about his numbers. I know he's still playing great. I just think they need to scale back his minutes. Maybe even put him in street clothes sometimes. He's been going non-stop all spring, summer, fall and now winter. The problem with that is that the rest of their team is so horrible that they can't afford to not have him in. I touched on the Russel Westbrook dynamic a little bit after I saw him at the Clippers game. He's got a little more of an agenda folks. He's still getting assist numbers, but their different kind of assists if that makes sense. Jeff Greene is hurt, again. And James Harden. Wow. I forgot about Jimbo Slice at the Clipper game but here's a take: he's awful. If I was Sam Presti I would try to move him yesterday. But the team as a whole, a team that I thought was gonna be great and fun, is in that good team sophomore slump and its gonna take a couple more good players to get them out of it.
PAU
Pau Gasol has been the best player in the league through the first 3 weeks of the season. Had an off night last night in Denver, but that not withstanding. He's just a pure pure professional basketball player. And everything he's doing right now has been great. His game and feel have reached another level. The Lakers before last night were playing such beautiful hoops. I have been watching a lot of Lakers since being in LA. I am practically a fan. But going forward, staying healthy and getting rest will be important for Pau. Hopefully Bynum will get back in January and give Gasol a break in the second half. His most important trait is that he's a matchup nightmare for the Heat. I know CP3 is back, but it's Pau Gasol in the number 1 hole right now.
JO NOAH
I think I am going to brag about him in every writing that I do. It's my number one chess piece. My reigning favorite player in the league has been great. What a fantastic player. He keeps getting better and plays great in the big ones. Might be better than D12.
ROOKIES
John Wall and Blake Griffin have separated themselves from the field. I don't think that's a surprise. Those guys are great. Those guys belong in my little top 40 rankings if we're being honest. Eric Bledsoe is great and needs to play. He's lightning, he's tough and a pretty good passer. He's been great so far when he's gotten starts, albeit on a crappy team. Cousins and Favors are going to be great although I haven't seen much of either, only highlights. 2 guys that have been great that I watched in Portsmouth are Landry Field and Ishmael Smith. Wow, great stuff. Fields is a blender who can really play well in Dantoni's free flow. He's in great shape and is active everywhere. Ish Smith is another surprise. He's gotten some burn with the Aaron Brooks injury. Hopefully he takes advantage.
Until next week...
Willing to work harder,
JC
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