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NFL Mock Draft 2009 Draft of 2009 Lacks Star Power NFL Draft 2009: Getting Started Super Bowl Well Worth Tuning In For
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Prospects On Center Stage NBA Preview 2008/09: Final Call
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The Quarterly Report By Ron Jumper We’ve hit the quarter mark of the young NBA season. Teams are starting to play at the level they are supposed to play at, and whether they had a hot or cold start is no longer a factor. I kept telling myself to hold off until everyone has played 20 games, simply because I didn’t want the teams I picked to nose dive after I wrote about how well they were playing. This season has the makings of an intriguing year, with the elite teams seeming to be back on track and all the fuss about what is going to happen with Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson.  The NBA has had one of the more interesting starts that I can remember. The Mavs, Suns, Bulls, and Nuggets all started off very slow while the 76ers, Hawks, and Hornets had great starts to their respective seasons. Now, as I expected, the teams seem to be back in their expected places. The Mavericks seem to be back to playing championship basketball. I still stand firm behind them as my championship pick over the Miami Heat in the finals. Dirk is playing phenomenal basketball, which we all expected, but the rest of the guys are playing well. Josh Howard is becoming that guy that we’re all going to start talking about how underrated he is and that he deserves more publicity, etc. Even Erik Dampier is routinely playing double-double basketball. As for the Miami Heat, your first thought is to say at 8-11 that they aren’t playing championship basketball. However, when Shaq gets healthy and the playoffs begin this will an entirely different story. The elite teams out in the East are Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, and Chicago. Pick any of them you like and honestly say you see them beating out Miami in a playoff series. Detroit doesn’t have the defense that it has had in the past. Cleveland doesn’t have a complimentary scorer to go with Lebron, which makes them an easy team to knock out in a playoff series because one man can’t score by himself. Orlando doesn’t have the experience or the talent level to make it deep in the playoffs, though I’m officially a member of the Dwight Howard fan club. Chicago, who I’ve talked about before, are built for the regular season but not the postseason. The Bulls started slow because of all the new pieces but expect them to have a very good record at the end of the year. Here is the part I want everyone to remember, they don’t have an inside scorer and will struggle to win a playoff series because they can’t play at a high level consistently. (Be expecting an “I Told You So…” after the playoffs get under way) That isn’t all that has been going on in the NBA though, there has been plenty of trade talk and rumors going about. For what seemed like forever, all anybody wanted to talk about is what Minnesota should do with Kevin Garnett. Everyone had their different opinions on the debate. Then the curve ball came, Allen Iverson asked to be traded and talk started swirling that AI would be most likely going to join KG with the Timberwolves. Now, everyone says how great it would be if those two ended up on the same team. Aww, the fickleness of the fans and media… I have a problem, I can’t decide how good Michael Redd is. He averages an impressive 29.8 points per contest, which is good for 3rd in the league. My thought was “maybe all he does is score and it hurts the team overall” so I looked up his on/off rating. When Redd is on the court the Bucks are a –1.6 points, which isn’t all that good. However, when he is off the court the Bucks are –21.7 points…ouch! For some reason, though, I just can’t figure out what category of players he belongs in. I argued back in the summer that he should have been on the Olympics team, but now I am stuck in between saying he is better than some of the guys on the team and saying he is a clear cut All-Star choice. Where does he belong? Is he the next generation of Ray Allen? Is he just a good scorer on the right team at the right time? So I started thinking about what his trade value would be. If you were a GM, would you trade for guys like Tracy McGrady, Joe Johnson, Jason Richardson, or Rashard Lewis in exchange for parting ways with Michael Redd? If it was me I wouldn’t know what to do. I honestly have no idea… Something else that just has to be mentioned, J.R. Smith has made a huge impact for the Denver Nuggets. Smith wasn’t expected to be that much of a difference by most people, except yours truly. I mentioned him in a discussion on the Courtside Times before the season began as a possible candidate for Most Improved Player. He fits in very well with George Karl’s system, but the biggest reason he has improved so much is how much better his shooting stroke looks. He has knocked down over 50 threes through 17 games at a 38% clip. Not bad for a guy who shot 28% in his rookie season. Well, there is the NBA at its current state. Expect to hear more once the deals are made to get Allen Iverson in his new home. It should get pretty interesting for everyone involved.  December 8, 2006 |
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Be Careful What You Wish For
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| NCAA Basketball | |
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Jumpology: My Bracket Jumpology: Scouting The Heavyweights Jumpology: Reviewing The Bracket
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