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The 2008 NBA Draft

July 1st 2008 03:49

I’d like to post about the previously finished NBA Draft. A lot of trades were completed/proposed making this years draft exciting and noteworthy. In this first post I will be going through the top five picks and thereafter with updates and all you need to know up to the minute stats and transactions.

Let’s get this post draft analysis going with the first overall pick for the Chicago Bulls DERRICK ROSE. Rose out of Memphis has a solid NBA body and can take the punishment as a player in the paint. He will mold himself into whatever type of player his team needs him to be as evident by the video below. He is one of the most ready-type players to enter the league. A truly solid addition to any team, kind of makes me think of the miss of Jay Williams. In which whom the Bulls took as the savior type PG years ago before he had his motorcycle accident stifling his promising career. With this pick Chicago puts themselves back into contention for a playoff spot in the East.

This video shows how Rose can affect the game as he will become a solid NBA-PG.

# 2

Undoubtedly the Miami Heat selected MICHAEL BEASLEY out of Kansas State. This PF needs no introduction to basketball fans as his huge wingspan makes up for any negativity about his height at the four spot. One of the perfect teams for Beasley to go to, I think his character issues would only become apparent if he were to have to battle with a solid proven veteran for his starting spot. He will be going in battling Udonis Haslem who has seen his stock drop as he needs to create more of his own offence. The heat I am sure are not finished in tweaking their team for the 08/09 season. Marion though will alleviate any concerns of the rookie being overmatched down-low as he is almost like an extra PF out there sometimes with his rebounding efforts and hustle in trying to make the right plays.

# 3

Minnesota at the third spot went with OJ MAYO, who I have seen and been hearing about for a good number of years. Mayo will be a solid two as at 6’4” 200lbs he is limited in selected positions, but this guy is just a born scorer and if he ends up in Grizz-town, look for him to team up with Rudy Gay as Mike Miller was moved with Memphis making the choice to let him go after he admittedly carried the Grizzlies last season at times. In return Minnesota looks to get #5 Kevin Love. I am in love with this deal as the T-Wolves send Antoine Walker also to MEM. Minnesota gets the scoring they desperately need and character guys, to build around. I know what fans may be thinking and no this isn’t the second coming of Wally World, Mike Miller is a gamer playing all three spots from 1-3 for the Grizz and did whatever was asked, as he became a versatile and proven scorer, unlike streaky Szczerbiak.

# 4

Russell Westbrook a surprise at number four as the top three had virtually been decided weeks beforehand. Westbrook though an unexpected pick is an explosive guard that will do well in this league especially when Seattle gets all the parts and can continuously run up and down with Durant and Green. The Sonics clearly want a guard that can break down the D and get up and down the court at breakneck speeds. They have found that guy with Westbrook. People want to compare him to NBA champion Rajon Rondo and maybe Monta Ellis, he is long and skinny and extremely athletic, time will tell if he can make the right passes for a long career with Durant by his side.

# 5

Care of NBADraft.net

Memphis picks Kevin Love at the number five spot and in turn will be sending him to Minnesota in the deal outlined in the third pick paragraph. Love is solid, not an athlete like the Grizz love at the four spot, but the T-Wolves just need ballers in which Kevin is for sure. Down-low he will be helped by Al Jefferson for sure on defense. Also he will have a great passer in Mike Miller to get the ball to him in good spots. I like Kevin Love on a solid team a rebuilding team he may flourish or sink as he’ll need to create his own offence and may struggle with the speed of the NBA at first.

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NBA Finals Preview

June 6th 2008 00:42

The greatest two weeks of the year has arrived as the NBA Finals are just about to begin. I guess I've made it obvious that basketball is my favourite sport; to me, nothing comes close to the excitement provided by the National Basketball Association. The past few Finals have not been the greatest in my opinion. Having the Spurs win last year and the Heat win the year before were probably two of my biggest nightmares. But an LA-Boston match-up? That's probably my dream come true. I would have rather seen Detroit beat Boston, but the rivalry between Boston and LA is unrivaled. It's probably the best match-up the NBA could ask for...

In this Finals, we have the top MVP candidate from each conference going head-to-head. Bryant wins his first MVP award and in the same season, makes his first Finals appearance of the post-Shaq era. Kevin Garnett helps turn around a dismal Boston franchise, and in one season, brings them from the bottom of the league to make his first NBA Finals appearance. Without the historic rivalry between these two franchises, there is already a pretty good storyline to back this series. But when you take into consideration that fact that these two teams have met in the Finals 10 times, it just magnifies the significance of this series by that much. The Celtics and Lakers are the top two most storied franchises in NBA history. Boston has taken 8 of the 10 series between the two teams and have more championships, but the Lakers are the more successful franchise in terms of wins.

The Lakers come into this series losing only three games throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs. They swept Denver, beat Utah in six and defeated the Spurs in five. That's a pretty impressive line; beating three 50-win teams and only losing three games in the process is a feat in itself. The Celtics on the other hand struggled with the Hawks and took all seven games to decide that series. LeBron and the Cavs also took the Celts to seven, but the Celtics bounced back in Detroit to take that series in six games. Personally, I think the Celtics had a bit of an easier road to the finals, but somehow, they managed to lose 8 games in the process. That's quite a bit when you consider the fact that they only lost 16 games during the regular season. I think the Celtics have lost a step in the playoffs; maybe their starters are getting tired?

The Celtics were no doubt the best team in the league during the regular season, but after watching the Lakers towards the end of the season and throughout the playoffs, many (including myself) are now saying that the Lakers are the better team. Kobe will have his way with anyone the Celtics throw at him. I'd assume that Allen will take the primary duty of guarding Bryant, and I also expect to see Posey getting some extended minutes to help out in that respect. You can affect how he plays, but you can't stop Kobe Bryant. I can also see Gasol having his way with Perkins on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Pau's challenge will not be guarding Perkins, it will be providing the help defense on Garnett and Pierce. KG should be able to handle Odom on the defensive end, as he is one of few PFs who can guard the post as well as the rest of the floor. His speed and reach will allow him to keep up with Odom, something that many other big men have trouble doing. Odom will still get his rebounds as he has been doing these past few weeks, but I expect his scoring to be very limited in this series unless he decides to polish off his long-range shot and bring it out of the closet.

Paul Pierce will mop the floor with Radmonovic on both ends of the court. I don't expect to see much of Radmon during the series though. Look for Vujacic to take his place and either switch to the SG spot with Kobe or try to hold off Pierce on his own. Rondo and Fisher will be an interesting match-up. Fisher has had to go up against Williams and Tony Parker in these playoffs, so I think he is ready to take on Rondo... it's a bit of an easier challenge, but at the same time, Rondo is still a young, quick PG and Fisher will have to be at the top of his game to keep up.

I'm going to give the Lakers the advantage when it comes to the bench. Vujacic, Walton, Turiaf and Farmar should be able to hold their own while on the court. I don't see Sam Cassell doing much during this series. I'll give Leon Powe and Posey a bit of credit though; if they are used in the right capacity, I think they can do some damage on the floor. With that said, I think the Lakers have the upperhand going in this series. When you have Kobe Bryant leading a young squad that has shown no signs of slowing down, it's hard to bet against them. I think the Lakers are going to win it in six. I think they can take game one in Boston; we'll see how it goes from there.

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Posted By: Travis - Category: The Playoffs, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant

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Playoff Officiating

May 29th 2008 20:54

After watching game 4 of the LA-San Antonio series, I thought it was time for me to address the issue of officiating in the playoffs, or just officiating in general. I'll start off by saying that Brent Barry was indeed fouled on that last second play by the Spurs. I'm a huge Lakers fan and even I felt a bit cheated after that play. I'm all for my team winning, but I don't want to hear any nonsense about how we only won because a foul was (or in this case, was not) called. With that said, the foul on Barry was not a shooting foul, so he would not have iced the game with his three free throws. Don't remember if LA was over the foul limit though, so it might have been two shots.

Another interesting referee-related issue regarding the Lakers-Spurs game 4. One of the refs in this game was veteran official, Joe Crawford. For those of you who don't remember, Crawford was suspended last season by the NBA after he and Tim Duncan got into a little argument. Nothing physical, but Crawford must have done something completely uncalled for for him to get suspended. The league is always quick to side with the refs so I found that one rather comical. But anyways, the issue being discussed prior to the game was whether or not Crawford should have been allowed to officiate the Spurs series. Even if there is no resentment or hate towards Duncan, there can always be that small hint of subjectiveness if a call is close. I don't know who botched that last call in game 4, but it would make my day if I found out it was Crawford.

There were also a few controversial calls in game five of the Detroit-Boston series. I believe a flagrant 1 was called against the Celtics in what I believe was a good playoff foul. We all know that the intent of the foul was to prevent the basket and there was no act of recklessness involved in the foul. It was a clean foul... there was nothing malicious about it. This is the playoffs and with the series tied at 2 apiece, you've got to expect that players are going to play hard to win the game. Later in the game, a similar foul was made and no flagrant was called. Inconsistent? Probably; but that was the right call to make in my opinion.

Overall, officiating in the playoffs have not been all that great. I'm not going to bother going into details. Instead, I'll offer some suggestions. When officials have really bad games, they should be punished. A suspension or something would suffice. Just to let them know that game-changing mistakes will not be tolerated. Currently, these guys fear nothing; they need something to keep them on their toes. Officials are supposed to be invisible; they should not impact the outcome of a game. They're supposed to make the calls and enforce the rules to the best of their abilities. Sometimes the refs let their egos get in the way and refuse to admit their mistakes when consulting with fellow officials to determine the call. With that said, these guys are pros and are doing their job better than any of us could do it. I criticize and offer up and opinion, but the bottom line is, they are human and humans make mistakes. We have the benefit of replay and slow motion when watching the game on tv. Refs don't have that when they're making the call on the court. But hopefully, the officiating improves in time for the Finals; we don't want to see a repeat of the '06 series featuring Miami and Dallas.

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Posted By: Travis - Category: The Playoffs, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs

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