NBA Regular Season 10-31-09

Wizards vs Nets (Slo's pick: Wizards)

The Wizards are clearly a much improved team from last year and will pick up their second win of the season tonight in the Verizon Center. Even if Caron Butler doesn't play they will still probably beat teams like the Nets.

Cavaliers vs Bobcats (Slo's pick: Cavs)

Both teams are playing back to back nights but this one is very easy to call. The Cavs are going to beat the Bobcats and improve to 2-2. It doesn't help the Bobcats that they are coming off a double overtime battle with the New York Knicks.

Knicks vs 76ers (Slo's pick: 76ers)

After a demoralizing double OT loss in Charlotte last night the Knicks will return home to lose to the potential packed 76ers. Andre Iguodala will have a big night en route to a blow out win.

Rockets vs Blazers (Slo's pick: Blazers)

I'm taking the Blazers because in a close game I believe they have more scoring options than the Rockets. The Blazers have been a disappointment to me so far this season and I'm still expecting them to be a surprise contender in the west.

Bucks vs Pistons (Slo's pick: Pistons)

A tough home loss to the Thunder last night will fuel the Pistons to win tonight in Milwaukee. Even without Richard Hamilton I still see the Pistons winning tonight. If they can stop Michael Redd then they won't have any problems. I would let Jennings hurt me to his heart's content because he won't beat a team single handedly.

Spurs vs Kings (Slo's pick: Spurs)

I hope last night's close game with the Hornets in New Orleans was a big moral victory for the Kings because tonight I don't see them coming within 15 points of the Spurs.

Clippers vs Mavericks (Slo's pick: Mavs)

The Mavs are playing back to back road games but they didn't have to travel because they are both against LA teams. After an impressive and somewhat shocking blow out win against the Lakers last night I expect the Mavs to keep the ball rolling tonight against the Clippers.

Slo's record on the season: 19-11

Slo's record last night: 8-4 (I forgot to pick one game)

How Come Rose is Not the Focus of the Bulls' Offense?

The Bulls looked like two different teams in their first two games of the season. In the home opener they came out unselfishly and took down a title contender in impressive fashion. The next night they went into Boston and each player tried to be the hero...except the guy who should be the hero. In 23 minutes Derrick Rose only took 8 shots and 3 free throws. That's flat out unacceptable, he's their best player and scorer and should be taking anywhere from 10-15 shots a game. If he did then he would probably be scoring around 25 PPG.

None of this is his fault.

The Bulls still run the same offense which they ran for Gordon except now they run it for Salmons. I hated it then because it cut Rose out of the play too much but Gordon was good enough to justify it, Salmons isn't.

Rose can score on anyone in this league in an isolation and that's what Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro should run. How come everyone in the United States knows that Rose is borderline unstoppable when isolated other than his coach?

I understand that Rose has a bad right ankle and that it's greatly hindering his quickness, but he worked on his jumper all summer for a reason. In tonight's blow out loss to the Celtics, Rose should have been taking as many good jumpers as he could get up. As Salmons missed shot after shot they kept running the same predictable play. Salmons comes off a double screen at the top of the key and spots up for a three. They ran it so much in the playoffs last year that the Celtics just kept jumping the play because they knew that it was run to the same spot every time. Coach Del Negro should have recognized that and let Rose create for himself and others. Maybe things would have changed if Rose played more minutes, he's playing limited minutes because the Bulls' entire future depends upon his health and they're being annoyingly careful with his right ankle.

On Sunday the Bulls make the trip down to Miami where Rose will face off against fellow Chicago native Dwyane Wade. Hopefully Rose will be playing his regular 38 minutes. The biggest thing is that for the Bulls to be successful long term he has to be part of the offense more. After he passes it to Salmons he goes in the corner and doesn't see the ball again that possession. As the team's best scorer that just can't happen.

I'm not saying that Vinny is a bad coach by any means, he's actually a very good coach and I agree with almost everything he does, except this.

The entire offensive game plan needs to be changed very soon. Some nights Salmons and Hinrich are going to shoot well and it will look effective. But most nights its going to have to be Rose that carries the scoring load, especially now with Ben Gordon in Detroit. In games where Rose takes 10 shots or more he averaged 18.8 PPG last year including the playoffs.

With a year's experience under his belt and a better jumpshot that number will rise to the 23-25 range. I cannot think of one legitimate reason not to change the offense to better fit Rose other than the fact that the season already started and it will be harder to do on the fly.

If the Bulls want to be any kind of legitimate threat in the east they're going to have to adapt their offense to Rose's strengths which are attacking the basket and opening things up on the perimeter, as well as going one on one with someone and scoring on either a dunk, floater, or jumper.

If coach Del Negro refuses to do this then it's going to be a very disappointing year in Chicago. The Bulls will still make the playoffs but they will probably lose 5-10 games that they could and should have won. Those 5-10 games is the difference between the 4th seed and the 8th.

It's odd that games this early in the season have such major playoff implications. There's a chance that the Bulls and Heat will end up tied at the end of the season for the fourth seed. In that event whoever won the head to head games during the season gets the playoff spot. Therefore the Bulls' next game is big. Let's see which Bulls team shows up.

NBA Regular Season 10-30-09

Celtics vs Bulls (Slo's pick: Bulls)

After a very impressive win last night against San Antonio the Bulls are heading into the same arena which welcomed them to the offseason on May 2nd. The Celtics are a much better team but I'm not very confident in picking them tonight. I think and hope that the Bulls will go in with a chip on their shoulder and give the Celtics a game. I'm probably going to regret this but I'm going to bet with my heart and take the Bulls. Call it wishful thinking.

76ers vs Bucks (Slo's pick: 76ers)

The Sixers are a much better team than the Bucks and will prove it tonight in their home opener. The pressure is on the Sixers right now because if you look around the east, there is a very good chance that Philadelphia won't be hosting any playoff games this season.

Bobcats vs Knicks (Slo's pick: Bobcats)

Both of these teams are terrible and that makes this game hard to pick. I'm going to go with the Bobcats because they're home and because Gerald Wallace has the potential to have a big game against his far inferior adversary Jared Jeffries.

Hawks vs Wizards (Slo's pick: Hawks)

Despite the Wizards' impressive showing in Dallas I'm not yet convinced that they're a legitimate contender in the east. The Hawks are battle tested and are as dangerous as anyone at home. This is a tricky one to call because I don't know which Wizards team is going to show up because it's so early in the season.

Hornets vs Kings (Slo's pick: Hornets)

The Hornets are returning home for the first time since their humiliating 58 point defeat in last year's playoffs. I think they're going to mercilessly destroy the Kings. This one won't be close.

Pistons vs Thunder (Slo's pick: Pistons)

The Pistons are a much better team than the Thunder as far as record goes but I'm not entirely convinced that they're a much better team. Don't forget that the west is much deeper than the east in terms of good teams. Having to play the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, and Mavericks four times a year is bound to take its toll on a team's record. I'm going against my gut in this pick, but I think the Pistons will come out firing and come away with a win.

Pacers vs Heat (Slo's pick: Heat)

The Heat are much more talented than the Pacers and should win this game easily. Danny Granger is about the only thing in the Pacers' arsenal who's capable of doing any significant damage on a given night.

T'Wolves vs Cavaliers (Slo's pick: Cavaliers)

The Cavs are the second best team in the east and are bound to win sometime soon. They are 20 points better than the T'Wolves and walk away with a win without breaking a sweat.

Nets vs Magic (Slo's pick: Magic)

Vince Carter is making his first trip back to New Jersey tonight and will show the Nets' front office exactly what they got rid of. The Magic will win this game in a blowout.

Suns vs Warriors (Slo's pick: Suns)

The Suns are not the team they've been in the last 5 years but they are still better than the Warriors. What makes the Warriors dangerous is that Monta Ellis could go off any night. I'm taking the Suns and just hoping that they can keep Ellis contained.

Lakers vs Mavericks (Slo's pick: Lakers)

This is the first test that the defending champions will face this season and I'm predicting that they're going to pass with flying colors. The Mavs are a hungry team in search of their first win but it won't come tonight.

Slo's record on the season: 11-7

Slo's record last night: 0-2

NBA Regular Season 10-29-09

Spurs @ Bulls (Slo's pick: Spurs)

The Spurs have much more depth than the Bulls and therefore will win tonight in Chicago. It doesn't help the Bulls that Derrick Rose is playing on a tweaked right ankle, don't be surprised to see him playing limited minutes. This game is hard for me to pick because my natural bias makes me want to pick the Bulls but the Spurs are without question the better team as of right now.

Nuggets @ Blazers (Slo's pick: Blazers)

Both of these teams won their first games convincingly. Both sides match up pretty evenly, I'm going to go with the Blazers because the Nuggets are playing back to back nights and because the game is in Portland.

Slo's record on the season: 11-5

Slo's record last night: 8-4

Rose to Start Home Opener vs Spurs

A right ankle injury has held reigning rookie of the year Derrick Rose out of action since October 2nd. Recently there have been reports saying that Rose's injury was more serious than the Bulls were letting on and that he could be out for an extended period of time.

Through the past few weeks the Bulls training staff has been very careful with their franchise player. They have been holding him off the court much more than Rose feels is necessary.

"They're worried about me coming back too soon," said the frustrated Rose. "They tell me to take my time. They're not listening to me. If it was up to me, I'd tape it up and be on the court. They said they want it to be healed totally before the season starts."

It doesn't help his ankle that in his first two games this season Rose will be matching up with Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo on back to back nights.

Last season Rose struggled against San Antonio only scoring 11 PPG, while shooting a rough 34% from the field.

NBA Regular Season 10-28-09

Bobcats @ Celtics (Slo's pick: Celtics)

After a big win (which I called) in Cleveland last night the Celtics are going to treat their home crowd with a win in their home opener.

Pacers @ Hawks (Slo's pick: Hawks)

The Hawks are going to start their season off right with a win as they are the far superior team in this match up.

76ers @ Magic (Slo's pick: Magic)

After losing in the finals last year one would think that the Magic would have earned some respect in the east. However, despite trading for Vince Carter, the conversation about the east's supremacy focuses upon the Celtics and Cavaliers. The Magic are assumed by many to be the third best team in the east. Expect them to come out of the gate trying to prove that last year was no fluke and that they are the best team in the conference.

Cavaliers @ Raptors (Slo's pick: Cavs)

A disappointing loss last night to the Celtics has left a sour test in their mouth, the Cavs are going to come out tonight and get their first win of the season.

Knicks @ Heat (Slo's pick: Heat)

Michael Beasely has had a long and hard summer, he's going to start this season with a big first week. Also, the Heat are the obvious choice because they are a much more talented team. The Knicks will go nowhere this season.

Nets @ Timberwolves (Slo's pick: T'Wolves)

The Timberwolves will be without sophomore PF Kevin Love for the next few weeks and that will hurt them offensively because Love led the league last year in offensive rebounding percentage. He was the first rookie to do so since Hakeem Olajuwon. After trading Vince Carter, the Nets aren't anywhere near as good as they were last year. Still, they are better than the T'Wolves, my pick to go with Minnesota in this game is purely based on a hunch.

Hornets @ Spurs (Slo's pick: Spurs)

This is a very hard game to pick. One side of me thinks that Chris Paul is going to pull out a win tonight and try to keep the Hornets in a good light. I trust that we all remember the Hornets getting killed by 58 at home in the playoffs last year. The other side of me knows that the Spurs are the better team and they are revealing their new scorer in Richard Jefferson. Because they're home I am going with the Spurs but don't be at all surprised to see the Hornets come away with a win tonight.

Kings @ Thunder (Slo's pick: Thunder)

Kevin Durant is going to have a field day and lead his Thunder to a 1-0 record. The Kings are the worst team in the league and they are going to have a very long season.

Pistons @ Grizzlies (Slo's pick: Grizzlies)

The Pistons just don't have the defense necessary to contain the Grizzlies' many offensive weapons. Unless Ben Gordon goes off for 50, the Grizzlies are going to sleep well tonight.

Jazz @ Nuggets (Slo's pick: Jazz)

I'm going against my logic with this pick because my gut is screaming to me that the Jazz are going to win a tight game. Whoever makes more plays down the stretch will win, this one could go either way much like the Hornets-Spurs game.

Rockets @ Warriors (Slo's pick: Warriors)

The Warriors are not anywhere near one of the best teams in the west but I think they're going to come away with a win tonight against the Rockets. Stephen Curry is making his NBA debut tonight, it will be interesting to see if his style of play will translate well into the NBA game.

Suns @ Clippers (Slo's pick: Suns)

The Suns are going to go into the Staples Center tonight and run all over the Clippers. They will walk away with an easy win.

Slo's record on the season: 3-1

Slo's record last night: 3-1

NBA Regular Season Tips Off Tonight

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting the NBA season finally here.

The games tonight are:

Celtics @ Cavs (Slo's pick: Celtics)

I've changed my mind on this game about 500 times throughout the day but finally, I think the Celts are going to be out to make a statement in the first few weeks that they're still the best team in the league. That's going to start tonight in Cleveland.

Wizards @ Mavericks (Slo's pick: Mavs)

The Mavericks are a much better team and therefore I think they'll win. However the Wizards are healthy for the first time in two years and with Mike Miller they could make a run at the playoffs in the east. Still, the Mavs are going home with a win tonight.

Rockets @ Blazers (Slo's pick: Blazers)

Without Yao the Rockets don't stand a chance in the west. The Blazers are an up and coming contender with Roy and Aldridge as their anchor, look for them to start their season with a win in the Rose Garden.

Clippers @ Lakers (home game for both teams-same home arena) (Slo's pick: Lakers)

The Lakers are going to come out and absolutely dismantle their city rivals tonight and they're probably going to look good doing it. The Clippers will be without Blake Griffin for the time being because of a left knee injury. The Clippers would have to play a perfect game to make this close and that's just not going to happen on opening night.

Heat to Retire Tim Hardaway's 10 to Begin New Season

The Miami Heat retired Alonzo Mourning's number 33 in the midst of last season as the first Miami Heat player to be retired. Now they will add 90's hero Tim Hardaway to the rafters. While with the Heat, Hardaway averaged 17 PPG, and 7.9 APG. Hardaway is best remembered for his devastating crossover which was given the nickname the ,"UTEP two-step".

It's about time the Heat starting adding their own players to the rafters. For years the Miami Heat have had Michael Jordan's number 23 hanging there by itself. To me, retiring a number of another team's best player is moronic. What kind of self respecting organization would pay tribute to a player who bounced them from the playoffs with regularity.

Blazers, Aldridge Agree on 65 Million Dollar Contract

After a long summer of negotiations LaMarcus Aldridge has finally agreed to a 5 year, 65 million dollar contract. After teammate Brandon Roy received an 80 million dollar deal, Aldridge demanded the same. After coming to the obvious conclusion that that was never going to happen he agreed to a deal which could net him 70 million dollars including incentives. This agreement will not go into effect until the end of this season.

Now having their two premier players locked down in long term deals the Blazers are in a good position heading into next summer. Teams like Miami and Cleveland have no such comfort as their big names are threatening to test the market which is like a summer long heart attack to a team's front office.

Kevin Love to Miss Six Weeks with Fractured Shooting Hand

On Tuesday Kevin Love will undergo hand surgery in New York to repair a fracture in his shooting hand. Love hurt the hand in a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls last friday.

The loss of Kevin Love doesn't mean much to the T-Wolves' success since they were not in the playoff conversation anyway. My guess is that Kurt Rambis will move Ryan Gomes to PF and start Corey Brewer at SF. Situations like this are sometimes good because it gives non impact players a window to prove themselves under the bright lights.

Last season Love led the NBA in offensive rebounding percentage, he was the first rookie to do so since Hakeem Olajuwon.

Tony Allen Questionable to Start New Season

Tony Allen is currently rehabbing from arthroscopic right ankle surgery and posterior tibial tendon repair which he endured during the offseason. After missing practice for the last few days with soreness it appears that he might not be ready to go for the season opener on October 27th, in Cleveland.

Allen's absence will not make a big impact because of the recently acquired Marquis Daniels, who in my opinion would have won Allen's backup job anyway. The only situations where Allen will be seeing the floor are defensive situations or in the case of severe foul trouble. Of course, that's assuming that the Celtics can stay healthy which is not a given.

Do or Die for Tyrus Thomas in Windy City

Bulls PF Tyrus Thomas has had a decent career thus far. But not good enough to justify trading him for Lamarcus Aldridge on draft night.

Going into a contract year I'm making the controversial prediction that Thomas will have a breakout season. The Bulls' success rides heavily on how well Thomas plays. In Ty's own words, "This is a huge year for me, I need to shut some of you damn critics up. No, seriously, I've had the best summer of my life as far as getting better on the court, strength-wise physically, mentally. I've put myself in mental shape to go through a long season and deal with adversity. It's going to be a good year for me."

I hope Ty can back up his words because if he can't he's going to be waving goodbye to the Windy City. This season could possibly decide how the rest of Thomas' career goes financially. If he has a good year then he'll get huge money (based on his potential), and most likely stay put in Chicago. If he has a bad year, he's going to get either a lot of money from a bottom feeder team or very little money from a good team. It doesn't help him that next summer is full of marquis free agents, and it especially doesn't help that almost all of them are better than him. I hope Tyrus likes Greece because he might be staying there for awhile. Oddly enough, the Greek Eurobasket team, the Olympiakos, have more money to offer Tyrus than most NBA teams.

With his athleticism there is no reason why Tyrus can't put up huge numbers. The one and only reason why he doesn't is because of his work ethic. Some weeks Thomas puts up numbers that make you wonder why he's not in the all star conversation. And then there are weeks where you forget that he's still in the NBA.

I hope Tyrus means what he said, because if he doesn't, it's very possible that Europe is in the future for the once high hoped PF.

Commissioner Stern Aims for Worldwide Basketball Association

Since 1988 the NBA has added 7 teams to the league, they are: Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets (now New Orleans), Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, the Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis), and most recently the Charlotte Bobcats. Now Commissioner David Stern aims to put teams all over the world, his objective is to start in Europe and then move into Asia.

It is already a complaint of many longtime NBA fans that there are far too many teams and that the talent is too spread out and watered down. If you talk to someone over 30 years old they'll tell you that the NBA was much more talented before all these new teams were added. It allows players to play when they wouldn't have been able to make it twenty years ago. Why Stern wants to do this is strictly financial, the NBA is losing money and fast. Making the league global would definitely aid the finiancial crisis if not abolish it altogether.

The problem to me is, how are they supposed to complete a season? How are the Los Angeles Lakers supposed to play a game in LA one night, England the next night, and then Chicago the night after that? Just think about how many teams there would be, by my calculations there would probably be about 50 teams. Currently there are 30 teams in the NBA. One would figure that Stern would aim to add 10 in Europe and China respectively. So either teams would play over 100 games in the regular season, or some teams wouldn't play each other. Could you imagine a season with no Celtics VS. Lakers?

In his own words Stern said, "There's some good possibility over the course of many years, that if there's appropriate arena development in Europe, there could be actual NBA franchises in Europe," he said. "That's the way we see the development of basketball in the world....The model in Asia, probably in Latin America, possibly in Africa will lead us -- if there's adequate arena development -- to having NBA-affiliated leagues, with partners in local basketball federations."

Clearly Stern is serious about this and that's very bad news for the rest of us. The entire idea has so many flaws in it that I'll be shocked if it goes anywhere. The NBA is compiled of the best players in the world, Stern couldn't possibly claim that there are too many American players since the NBA is twenty percent foreign. There is no way the NBA is going to get the players association to go along with this. They have been complaining for years that they don't get to see their families enough. With this plan they might as well not have a family, they would see their wives and kids so infrequently that the adultery rate in the NBA would skyrocket.

This idea is bad in every way, no educated basketball fan will think this is a good idea.

The Ben Gordon Syndrome

After turning down a 4 year, 60 million dollar offer Hawks SG Joe Johnson plans to test the open market in summer 2010. This was a very poor decision considering the economy and all of the free agent competition that he will face.

Next summer has been hyped to be the most important free agent season in recent history. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, David Lee, Ray Allen, and now Joe Johnson will all be on the market. The problem is, the NBA is expected to lower the salary cap once again to somewhere around 53.4 million. Taking into consideration that Wade, LeBron, and Bosh will all get astronomically expensive contracts there will not be much money left out there for everyone else. Ray Allen will probably get a small one year deal, and Boozer will most likely get something like a 4 year, 50 million dollar deal packed with incentives.

So what does this mean for Johnson? It means that he made a mistake. The same exact mistake that Ben Gordon made, no matter how well Johnson plays this year he's still not going to see more than the 60 million which he has already turned down. This is strictly because the money is just not there, he will be forced to accept a deal that he is probably too good for. If any team gives him more than 55 million I'll be stunned. This is called the Ben Gordon syndrome. Like Gordon, Johnson thinks he's better than he is and thinks he should be payed like a superstar.

There are plenty of teams that could use a Joe Johnson. The only problem is that they are all already flirting with the luxury tax which is an absolute killer. Under the luxury tax, for every dollar a team is over, they must pay a dollar to the league. This doesn't sound like much but when you're talking about the 10-15 million dollar range the train of thought of an owner changes drastically.

NBA Institutes New Replay Policy

The NBA is making replays more frequent in games. The old rule was that replays could be used to review last second shots, flagrant fouls, and fights- to decide who to eject. In addition, now refs will be reviewing shot clock violations, and in the last two minutes of a fourth quarter or an overtime they will be reviewing out of bounds calls.

This was a great idea from the NBA because often times a bad call decides a game. With the new replay guidelines that will not be nearly as prevalent. My only concern is that the replays will slow down the flow of the game. The seemingly endless timeouts are already annoying but now the last two minutes could take half an hour.

The new replay system should be put through trial in the preseason to decide whether or not to bring it to the big show. The NBA should have a deadline to decide whether to keep it or not. January 18th is the day that most teams are hitting the halfway point in the season. That seems to be a perfect time to decide whether it's a good idea or not. My prediction is that the new system is here to stay. When the NBA changed to that horrendous basketball at the beginning of the 07-08 season, it took pretty much the entire league complaining to get rid of it. The NBA only admits they're wrong when they absolutely have to. According to them there was no big referee scandal despite a conviction of one of their refs. The new system is here to stay.