NBAEastern Conference: It’s Wiiiiide Open

Demarre Carol of the Toronto Raptors is the biggest name to move inter-conference out East. In a recent interview he stated that “the Eastern Conference is wide open, and there is no clear cut champion.” For the past 5 seasons Lebron James has been in the Eastern Conference Finals. His last appearance was probably his hardest, as 3 of his most important teammates were absent. Im talking about Kyrie Irving, Anderson Varejao, and Kevin Love. It’s my belief that with these three pieces, the Cavaliers will be less efficient, until they build a strong chemistry. The finals is not a proving ground. This means that respect and tactics must already be there. Adjustments and learning happen before the finals, not during. The team with the most preparedness will win. That’s it.

 

I think there are going to be some huge surprises this year in the NBA. We are about at the 1/4 mark. And there have been a lot of surprises. Let’s go through 4 groups/ tiers of teams that are in the Eastern conference. They are split into 4 groups. The Beasts of the East, The Playoff Contenders, The Playoff Outliers, and The Bottom Feeders.

The Beasts of the East

These are the teams everyone was expecting to be good (but not great). The Cavs, the Bulls, and the Heat. All of these teams have a +.600 winning percentage. Their rosters have not changed a whole lot since last season. Right now they are healthy. These three teams can go head to head with any team in the league, and have a good chance of winning. Right now they are the favourites to win at least one play-off round, maybe even two.

The Playoff Contenders

These guys are tricky. They have solid rosters, but many changes over the offseason means they might be able to perform as a unit down the stretch. The teams in this tier include: Pacers, Hornets, Raptors and Hawks. I think the biggest surprise is the Charlotte team. They had some hey additions including Batum and Jeremy Lin. They have a deep roster and look like they are ready for the play-offs. All these teams had key losses, as well as key additions to their roster. It all depends on how coaching  makes adjustments down the stretch. For example, Indiana changed their offensive philosophy. After loosing Hibbert and West, they picked up Monta Ellis, and joined the small-ball side.

Play-Off Outliers

This group of 5 teams is very interesting. They have the potential and talent to make it to the playoffs, but experience and chemistry are their biggest issues at this point. These teams include: Magic, Celts, Wizards, Pistons, and Knicks. These teams are fairly young, and are on the good side of a rebuild. The only surprise here is the Wizards. They went from a deep play-off run last year, to struggles this year. They lost one of their leaders in Paul Pierce, and essentially replaced his minutes with Otto Porter. I can see these teams being very good in 2-3 seasons if they continue to develop young talent. The Knicks’ have good young core of Grant, Porzingas, and Galloway. I expect them to take the final play-off spot.

Bottom Feeders

These guys are almost definitely headed to the lottery in 2016. The Bucks and Nets are looking like teams who need a couple weeks off. They do not have clear leaders. They have talented rosters but they are not playing to their level. The Sixers are most likely getting Ben Simmons in July.

This brought me to my last point: average age. This is a list of the current NBA Eastern Conference and their average age.

 

The NBA and Global Basketball

FC Barcelona’s Jaka Lakovic, left, guards Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant during the first half of their NBA preseason basketball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

The idea of NBA teams playing teams from other leagues has always been intriguing. In fact NBA teams play against Euroleague teams during exhibition. I believe the next step for global basketball’s improvement is to offer a competition for teams worldwide to see who is truly the best. This would be comparable to The UEFA Champions in world football.

I know the NBA teams would most likely dominate. It would make most sense that the best NBA teams not be involved in such a tournament. I think the best options for such a tournament would be the lottery teams. When the top 16 teams are playing for the championship, the NBA can get the lower tiered teams to have their own competition. This allows more revenue from competitive games, international coverage, and global expansion of basketball.

I personally love the game of basketball. Soccer/ Football is the most popular sport in the world. The second on that list is arguable, from hockey to baseball to tennis to even combat sports. Basketball is definitely the fastest growing sports, which is illustrated through the high level of international players in the NBA. Here are the courtires outside of the USA that have the most NBA talent:

Canada: 12 Players

France: 10 Players

Australia: 8 Players

Brazil: 7 Players

Spain: 5 Players

Italy: 4 Players

http://www.nba.com/global/map/

As you can see, talent is coming from all over the globe. All continents are providing NBA level basketball players. I personally want to see better international games. We need Basketball games that compare to FIFA classics, such as Germany vs France or Italy vs France. Seeing the USA dominate is getting boring. But this article isn’t about international compeiton, but the development of club basketball.

http://92dreamteam.polldaddy.com/s/best-all-nba-rosters

The NBA..2015 & Beyond

The 2014-2015 NBA has come to an end. Filled with surprises all the way to the final whistle of Game 6 of the Finals. I have some insight of how this season has become pivotal to the ever-changing  NBA environment. It seems like “team” ball developed mostly in the West is overpowering superstar rosters. We all know what these superstar rosters are made of. 2-3 max deal all-NBA type players, surrounded by a cast of one dimensional talents. The obvious examples of recent Big-3 Teams are this year’s Cavs, and last year’s Heat. The alpha male has been Lebron on both rosters. With strong talent in Bosh-Wade and Kyrie-Love duo’s, there wasn’t much after that. Let’s look at the teams that beat them in the past two Finals.

San Antonio had a real system, where each player had a relevant role in defensive and offensive schemes. 1-10 were all ready for big moments. For example the players that averaged the sixth most minutes per game for the Spurs and Heat  during the 2014 Finals were Danny Green and Rashard Lewis. Their stat line?

	Mins	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	3s	FG %	FT%	Tos
Green	21.2	9.2	2.0	1.2	2.0	0.4	4.0	0.531	0.750	1.2
Lewis	22.9	8.6	1.6	0.4	0.0	0.4	2.0	0.500	0.500	0.2

Green was the more efficient and valuable player, and was fighting for minutes with players like Ginobli and Patty Mills. To me it seems like the players on the Heat last year, other than the Big 3, were fillers. They were just playing because there was no other option.

This idea was illustrated to a higher degree during the 2015 playoffs. This time there was no Big 3, due to injury, allowing GSW to focus 99% of their effort against The King, and the remaining 1% to “fillers.”

This year’s catchphrase for the NBA playoffs was “Hero-ball”. Ironic isn’t it? Hero-ball does not win championships, but it might win a couple games or even a series. This season proved that it takes a full team to go through a 82 game season, and win 16 playoff games. GSW might have ended Big 3 basketball brought back to life by the 08 Celtics. Only thing left to do now is wait.

Western Conference Preview

Long time since I last made a post. For this entry I will be looking at the “Best of the West,” aka the Western Conference. I do not want to get too much into the comparison of the two conferences, but there there are a few aspects that should be gone over.

Firstly, for the past 10-15 years the West has been the most dominant conference. For example, at the end of the regular season the 9th seeds (missed playoffs)  for the Western and Eastern conference were the Phoenix Suns and the New York Knicks. Let’s compare these two teams. Phoenix had a record of of 48 wins and 34 losses, compared to 37-45 for the Knicks. Phoenix played strong for the majority of the season, while New York showed glimpses of talent, and seemed to give up at some point in the season. Furthermore if Phoenix was siutated in the Eastern Conference, they could have possibly been a top three team.

But enough of the comparison, I will probably dedicate a full post to that in the future. On to the West.

The San Antonio Spurs are the defending NBA champs. They have not missed the playoffs in 17 years, since Tim Duncan was drafted. I believe they are one of the best “teams” in NBA history. Everyone knows their role, and no one is willing to put them self before another. It will take something really special to take these tested Spurs out of contention, so let’s look at some of the possiblities.

Even though I said San Antonio has the best “team” in all of basketball, sometimes one or two unique/versatile/dominant talents can overthrow and surprise the greats. I am going to list the four teams after the Spurs (in no particular order), who have the chance of dethroning the reigning champs.

Houston Rockets

They lost two key pieces. Chandler Parsons and Omer Asik. Though this might initally look like a step backward, we have to wait for the season to start in order to measure chemistry. The two previously mention ex-rockets deserved the ball, but playing with James Harden and Dwight Howard, touches came rarely. Perhaps Harden and Howard will shine when they do not have to worry about Parsons and Asik needing the ball. Patrick Beverly has a huge potential, and is a lock down defender, same with Terrance Jones. Have the best Center and Shooting Guard on one team should count for something in the NBA.

Golden State Warriors

This team is tricky. They have two dynamic scores, in Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. With the mix of solid role players and a coach with a high basketball IQ, the Warriors have a lot of potential. But with nothing to show for it the splash brothers can become forgotten really easily. A 1-2 punch at both guard positions is fairly rare. If Curry can lead his team by example, the Warriors will be a team no one can defend.

LA Clippers

The Clippers are one of the more exciting teams in the NBA. Many finishers, who can dunk, shoot, or both. The team’s success is going to be on one person’s shoulders, Blake Griffin. Chris Paul is the best true point guard in the game, but Blake has to be more consistent and reliable if he wants his team to succeed. Defence is their biggest issue, but Coach Doc Rivers is a defensive specialist. I think they’re one piece away from winning it all.

OKC Thunder

The youngest franchise in the NBA. The league MVP. The Thunder have been somewhat of a Cinderella story since leaving Seattle. Striking gold in recent drafts, they have the talent, but their head and their heart is no match for the Spurs. Russell Westbrook is too emotional, and Durant is too passive. They need to mature as team, rather than individually. This team is my pick to win it all in 2015. I think the Thunder understand this might be one of the last chances they have as a group together. I do not see management keeping this core together for the 2015-2016 season, unless they have championships rings on their fingers.

The next tier of teams are the ones who are simply playoff teams or playoff contenders. They either have too much to prove, or I am simply underestimating them. These teams include: Dallas, Memphis, Phoenix, Portland, and Denver. These teams have the potential to make noise, and shake up the standings, but do not expect a championship from an of thee teams.

And in the bottom tier are teams in the rebuilding stage. Most of them had good picks in the past draft. most of them will not make the playoffs, and definitely do not expect a championship for any of these teams in the next few years. These teams include; LA Lakers, Minnesota, Utah, Sacramento, and New Orleans.

Let me know your thoughts

Forecasting the Future

This post is dedicated to the current roster of the Toronto Raptors, and how I see this coming season unfolding.  I will discuss some of  the main players.

One of the two longest serving Raptors is Demar Derozan. He has probably accomplished the most out of any Raptor over the past 6 months. In February he was selected to represent Toronto in the NBA All-Star game. He was also selected to represent team USA in the FIBA World Cup. He is taking strides to becoming a Superstar, and next season will be a make or break for him to achieve such a status.  Next up is the second player to be serving as  Raptor, Amir Johnson. He is the most charismatic, and is always involved with the community. He is not expected to make much improvements next season, but is seen as a very important mentor for the younger generation of “big-men.”

Kyle Lowry is the most important acquisition for the Toronto Raptors in the past 2-3 seasons. He as emerged as emotional leader for the young and experienced team. In a point guard driven league, there are a few players who can get the better of Lowry. It is now a matter of waiting to see if signing him long-term was a good idea. The last two players I am going to mention are a pair of third year players.  Terrance Ross and Jonas Valanciunas are no longer the youngsters on the team. They have 2 years of experience, and need to play to suit. They have high expectations, Ross, after scoring 51 points in a game last season. And Jonas fared extremely well in his playoffs.

Raptorsnation, Justified or Over-Hyped?

Competitive sports has different meanings to different people. For me, sport is a exceptional way for people to learn life skills, and understand their own limitations. As far as I can remember, I have been a Raptors fan. The game, the players, and the crowd has always been intriguing to me. From the days of TMAC, Antonio Davis, Mo Pete, and let’ not forget the greatest ever player to wear the uniform, Air Canada Carter. 

The season the Raptors eclipsed for 48 wins, the most ever in Raptors History. They also achieved the Atlantic Division Championship. All the while they were supposedly tanking for a stocked 2014 draft class. THe purpose of this blog is to talk about the level of respect that comes with being a great team. Many teams have a good season, and even good playoff runs, but that does not mean respect. 

The history of the league shows that the teams who are good on a constant basis will be remembered. Some of these dynasties include the 60′ Celtics, the 80’s Lakers and the 90’s Bulls. These teams were not only made to win, but to dominate every competitor. 

This brings me to my last and final point, concerning the Toronto Raptors.They have  team who definitely over-achieved last year. But  last year is the past, and motivation to do better is on most of the players’ and staff’s mind. The general manager before Masai was Bryan Colangelo. And he came into a environment that was pretty bad. He tried to fix it, but after one step forward, he took two leaps back. The next chapter has already begun.

Female Superstars Coming out of Canada

I know this blog was supposed to be about basketball. However, I wanted to broaden the subjects that I covered, especially since the majority of basketball news is not generated during summer.

Keeping up summer trends, I wanted to touch on the Wimbledon Tournament happening in London, England. Through watching this tournament I got to see some facts about Canadian Athletes. Our two youngest, most promising, tennis stars made a large splash in England. Milos Raonic, a 23 year old, who grew up in Thornhill Ontario, surprised many by making it all the way to the semi-final. Though his story is huge for Canadian tennis, there is an even bigger story.

Eugenie Bouchard, a 20 year old Quebec native has shocked the world. She made the final, but lost valiantly to a tough opponent. But she knocked out several worthy tennis stars on her way to 2nd place.

This brings me to my point, that ties to the title of the post. It seems like female athletes in Canada fair much better against international competition, compared to  their male counterparts.

Seeing how there is global trend of soccer fans, let’s look at the history of Canada in FIFA. As of June 2014 the Men’s National team was ranked 110th. They have seen a large decline since 2007, when they were ranked 55th. The women on the other hand are ranked 7th in the world, on a steady improvement over the past 5 years.

Just to prove this is not a coincidence, I also checked out the FIBA rankings.The Canadian women are ranked 9th compared to the men, ranked  25th. Comment with thoughts.

Jennifer, Quinn. “Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard bowed but not broken.” The Toronto Star 5 July 2014, sec. Sports: n. pag. Print.7

http://www.fiba.com

http://www.fifa.com