Future of Yao Ming

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/20928/24-is-a-bad-number-for-yao-and-rockets

The above link is a blog written by J.A. Adande for ESPN.  He does a great job in analyzing the way the Rockets have been handling the Yao Ming situation and how it’s affecting the team.  One thing that I would like to add on to this is you have to wonder if the Rockets will attempt to trade Yao during the season.  The Rockets are not built to play with Yao anymore and are more of a perimeter team like Adande said.  I think the future of Yao in the league is starting to become in jeopardy because of his health and him limited amount that he can play.  It remains to be seen if Yao can become fully healthy in the future and be able to play 40 minutes a night.  I don’t think it’s a matter of no team wanting him I think it’s more of a matter of whether he wants to keep on playing.  He is one of the best low-post players in the league and has an incredible touch down-low.

It is difficult for the players to adjust their style of play when he is in and then switch to another when he goes out of the game.  Yao is in his final year of his contract and his expiring contract may be a big target for GM’s towards the trading deadline.  I can’t see him be resigned by the Rockets which is why I expect the Rockets to move him by the end of the season.

NBA Season Tip-Off Tonight

The NBA season tip-off is finally upon us in what is probably the most anticipated seasons ever.  The games tonight are the Heat at the Celtics at 6:30, Rockets at Lakers at 9:30, and the Suns at Trail Blazers at 9.  The Celtics and Lakers games are both on TNT while the Suns game is on local TV.  Here are some things to watch for.

Heats VS. Celtics:  Finally our first real look at the big 3 VS. The old Big 3.  Wade didn’t get to mesh much during the preseason with a sore hamstring so watch to see how the chemistry plays out.  Also, watch what kind of production the Heat get out of their bench.  The loss of Mike Miller will really hurt their bench scoring.  For the Celtics, it should be interesting to see how Shaq works out for them.  He should be in the starting lineup while Celtics are still without Kendrick Perkins.  The Celtics match up fairly well defensively with Heat and the game should be a grind it out type of game.  I like the Celtics to win this game with being at home and the lack of chemistry on the Heat side. 

Rockets VS. Lakers:  The Lakers are on their quest for a 3 peat and will have to go through a revamped Rockets team.  The Heat made a few trades towards the end of the year and came away with a great player that not many people have heard of in Kevin Martin.  Aaron Brooks is really establishing himself as a terrific scoring PG.  Also, Yao Ming will be playing for the first time after missing the entire year last year with a bad foot.  His numbers will be limited throughout the season.  As for the Lakers, they are without Bynum after knee surgery so Lamar Odom will in which hurts their bench a little.  Look to see how newly acquired Steve Blake and Matt Barnes play alongside Kobe.  I like the Lakers to win easily tonight.

Trail Blazers VS. Suns:  The Blazers are still without Oden however they are deep in the big department with Camby, Aldridge, Przybilla, and Oberto.  Look for Brandon Roy to continue to have a great career while rising stars Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum continue to develop.  As for the Suns, they begin their post-Amare Stoudemire season.  They acquired Hedo Turkoglu who should help ease the burden in the scoring after losing Amare.  They still have Nash and Jason Richardson but otherwise they will struggle.  I don’t see the Suns doing much this year in terms of contention.  I like the Blazers in this game.

Mike Miller Sidelined Until January

Mike Miller of the Miami Heat had surgery on his thumb yesterday to repair a torn ligament and fracture on his thumb after getting it caught it on a player’s jersey during practice earlier in the week.  Unfortunately for Miller and the Heat, Miller will be out until January.  Miller was expected to a be key player off the bench for the Heat who had to piece together a bench after the huge contracts of Wade, LeBron, and Bosh took up much of their salary cap.  Miller is a tremendous outside shooter who can certainly stretch the defense to open up driving lanes and allow Bosh to post up. 

With the announcement of Miller sidelined, there have been reports that veteran forward Jerry Stackhouse has worked out for the Heat.  Stackhouse, who last played last year with the Bucks, is an unsigned free agent at the moment.  Stackhouse would a suitable veteran presence on the Heat and could certainly provide the Heat with some added leadership as well as a tough minded defensive player.  At the moment the Heat don’t have much depth at small forward with just James Jones and De’Sean Butler who is currently injured.

This is just another setback for the Heat who have been out with Dwayne Wade since the beginning of the preseason with a sore hamstring.  It is expected that Wade will be ready by the beginning of the season but it surely isn’t the start of the season that the Heat wanted to have.  As many people know, hamstring injuries can reoccur at any moment and because of the way Wade plays by going hard to the basket and taking many hits it is very possible that the injury could occur again.  Many teams may also have a little bit more motivation to go after the Big Three when they attempt to attack the basket.

It's Hater Day According to LeBron

The Miami Heat had probably the craziest off-season in NBA history and with the start of the preseason it seems to only get crazier and weirder.  As far as the preseason, the Heat have looked pretty good except for that fact that Dwayne Wade has been hit with a sore hamstring.  Wade has not played since the 1^st preseason game and it doesn’t look like he will be back until the start of the regular season but even that is not for sure.  LeBron also tweaked his hamstring early on in the preseason but has since recovered.

Another interesting story that has developed is LeBron has been retweeting people that tweet him negative messages.  LeBron called today “Hater Day” and had this to say about it on his Twitter, “Today is Hater Day. Everyone please let them get their 2 mins of fame and light! I Love You Haters. Continue to make me proud of u guys! LOL”  I think LeBron has really started to begin to enjoy being the most hated in the NBA and I think the Heat in general are encouraging the us against the world scenario.  With this kind of stuff happening, you have to wonder where the LeBron’s head is at.  First the comments about people being racist as a reason for the hatred and now the retweeting.  It doesn’t seem to affect LeBron during the preseason as he has played really well but it should be interesting to see watch his demeanor throughout this season.  It doesn’t help that ESPN is covering this heavily and will cover it even more once the season starts in addition to all the extra news that LeBron is creating for himself.

Is it possible that LeBron is losing his mind and he is saying these things because the things people have said about him have really hurt him and have really taken a toll on him?  LeBron was once one of the most beloved athletes in the world and that opinion has now taken a 180 turn on him which has got to be hard on anyone.  The anticipation for this upcoming season keeps growing every day.

Another Chapter in the Gilbert Arenas Book

Will Gilbert Arenas ever learn?  Another chapter has been added to the book of Gilbert Arenas as new news has come out surrounding him faking an injury.  On Tuesday night, Arenas told coach Flip Saunders that he had a sore knee that kept him out of the game and allowed fellow teammate Nick Young to start.  However, Arenas was fined an undisclosed amount of money after he admitted to faking the injury to allow Young to start after Young voice displeasure over the lack of minutes he was receiving.

Arenas was quoted as saying “I told [Young] I'd sacrifice playing tonight so he can get some time in because I know he's kind of frustrated he's not getting a chance to crack the [small forward] position, especially since we're going three guards."  I understand what Arenas was trying to do and it’s commendable for what he did for his teammate, but Arenas isn’t exactly high on the Wizards list right now after what happened last year with the gun incident which caused Arenas to get suspended for the rest of the year.

Arenas has been known over the past few years for being an outspoken player and someone who likes to have fun all the time.  Arenas took this incident as a complete joke and I believe that he didn’t mean for it come out the way that it did but Arenas had to of known that his coach wouldn’t of liked it.  Saunders said it’s a matter of trust and that the only way he can really know whether or not a player is really hurt is by trusting his players and their word.

The Wizards stuck their neck on the line for Arenas ever since the gun incident even after Arenas was hardly serious about that incident.  The Wizards could have easily attempted to void his contract which would have cost Arenas millions of dollars.  You may see Arenas moved by the end of the year if he continues these antics.  With having John Wall on the team, I think the Wizards may want Wall to take over the team and I don’t think Wall can do that until Arenas is gone.

NBA League Pass Review

For this blog post I would like to review the NBA League Pass that allows you to watch virtually every NBA game that is going on that night. I have used League Pass before and I would like to share some of the insight on the product and whether or not it is worth buying or not.

Advantages
•The first and most obvious advantage is that you are able to watch every NBA game that is being every night.
•They also allow you to watch your favorite games online as well should you decide to pick the Broadband and TV package or you can pick just the broadband package.
•They also have mobile feature that will allow you to watch your games on your phone should you have the compatible phone.
•It’s available on a wide range of cable providers including Dish Network, In-Demand (which is offered by Comcast and many other cable companies) and DIRECTV.
•Some games are offered in HD.
•You see almost 40 games a week.
•Access to NBA TV channel that features basketball highlights and analysis 24/7

Disadvantages
•If you live in the market of your favorite team than most of those games will be blacked out and you will have to watch them on your local channel. This can be a problem if your TV package does not include this channel.
•A lot of the marquee games are already on national TV such as ESPN, ABC, and TNT
•Not all games are in HD.
•You don’t always get your favorite team’s announcers. Depending on the game you may hear NBA TV announcers or the home team’s announcers.
•You do have to have a cable box or satellite receiver from your provider to access League Pass.

Cost
The cost can be an advantage or a disadvantage. Be prepared to spend between $135-180 depending on your provider for the TV and Broadband package. The broadband package by itself is only $109.95 for an early bird special which will probably go up as the season gets closer. The Mobile package price has yet to be announced.

Recommendation
The League Pass is a great product if you’re a fan of a team that is not located near you and does get much national coverage like the Sacramento Kings. If you’re just an NBA fanatic like me and are willing to watch just about any kind of basketball then this is the package for you. I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking to watch a ton of NBA games. For more information visit the official league pass website.

http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/tv/index.html

American Players Playing Overseas

Over the past few years there have been a growing number of NBA players leaving the NBA to play overseas.  Players like Stephon Marbury, Josh Childress, Earl Boykins, Carlos Arroyo and a few others.  While some have come back to the NBA others, like Marbury, have stayed put and are having an enjoyable career.  The majority of the players that leave for overseas are either getting more money than they otherwise would in the NBA or they are not getting the attention from NBA teams in terms of free agency that they would like.

However, Ron Artest of the L.A. Lakers was recently quoted as saying, "They need to let more Americans play in the European leagues," Artest said. "There are only like two [Americans] to a team while Europeans can come to America [and play in the NBA] like the whole San Antonio Spurs team -- a whole American team can be full of Europeans. Europe has to be a little more fair to the American players.”  I think Artest brings up a great point and it’s something that should be looked into more.  The NBA is considered the best league in the world and produces the best talent in the world and some of the best talent just isn’t good enough for the NBA so they want to look at other places to continue their career.

There are a few reasons as to why this rule is in place where only 2 Americans are allowed on Euro League rosters.  In Europe, teams want to develop their players so they can play in FIBA or the Olympics.  National pride is much more prevalent than in the NBA and they feel that if this rule wasn’t in place than the more developed American players will probably take over the league.  Like I said pride is a big thing in Europe and European fans want to come to games and watch their fellow countryman play the game rather than a bunch of Americans.  Another reason is to protect the smaller clubs from the wealthy clubs who could potentially lure all the great Americans over to play for their team and create a competitive imbalance.

Ultimately, overseas leagues want to protect the heritage of international basketball and want to keep it international.  I understand where Artest is coming from because Americans have to try and get in to the best league in the world instead of overseas players who have a much easier chance of playing professional basketball. 

I don’t think the NBA should impose any rules about how many foreign born players you have on the league because to me, and I think a lot of other NBA fans as well, it doesn’t really matter where the player is from as long as he helps your team win the game.  It’s simply two different cultures with two different views on basketball.

Regular Season Award Winners Predictions

Regular Season Award Winners Predictions

MVP

Kevin Durant- I think this is the year for Durant to win the title.  I think the momentum from the FIBA Championship will carry over through the regular season and he and the Thunder will do extrmeley well this year.  I think LeBron wont get as much love this year from the panel due to his offseason antics and the amount of talented teammates that he has.  Kobe will probably be the runner-up for the award but I think Durant will ultimately take home the award.

Defensive Player of the Year

Dwight Howard- There’s a chance that he might win this award for the next few years.  A beast on boards and great shot blocker, Howard will continue to be a force in the paint.  Your runner up this year could very well be Ron Artest if he has a solid year for the Lakers.  He really seems to have his mind right and is one of the most physically defenders in the league.

Most Improved Player

Serge Ibaka- Many people don’t know who this man is but if you watched the Thunder play the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs then you know who he is.  During the playoffs he average 6 rebounds a game, 2 blocks, and 7 points.  If he can get a decent amount of minutes he will be a great candidate for this award.

6^th Man of the Year

Lamar Odom- This guy seems to do it all for the Lakers and I think this year he will finally get the recognition that he deserves.  One thing that may limit is if Bynum gets hurt and Odom starts more games than the limit for him to win 6^th man.  Odom seems to have the ability to get a triple-double nearly every night if he wants to.

Coach of the Year

Lionel Hollins-  Coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies are posed to have a good season this year with the solid group of the players that they have.  They have a great combination of scorers, passers, and rebounders.  OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay continue to grow as players along with Marc Gasol.  Look for them to surprise some teams and get into the playoffs.  Runner-up: Scott Skiles

Rookie of the Year

John Wall-  You can say it’s easy to pick the #1 overall pick for rookie of the year but I think Wall will also have the greatest chance to play well in his rookie season.  He is going to be the starting point guard for a young Wizards team so look for Wall to do a lot of distributing to guys like Gilbert Arenas, Josh Howard, and Nick Young.  I like Wall to average 16 points per game with 7 assists.  I thought about Evan Turner but I don’t think he is going to start for the 76ers who are very guard heavy so his develop might not be as fast as Walls.