Mr. Westbrook has OKC looking good. Via: LA Times
While I was away, I had dozens of NBA games to watch. Oddly enough, I found myself watching a ton of west coast games and boy, was I surprised. There’s just a couple things that caught my eye and I would like to share them with the readers. Here’s what I saw, I’m not going to breakdown on all teams, just the teams that I feel like I have to point out.
-What’s Going On In Portland?
I was wrong on this team 100%. Currently sitting at 12-14, I don’t know what to make of the Blazers. Brandon Roy doesn’t look like the player of old due to the knee problems. The shining light? Wes Matthews has made me place my foot in my mouth. I admit, I called the Matthews signing “crazy”, ” overpaid” and overall “terrible”. Every time Matthews gets the call, he plays well. Along with his surprising defensive ability, Matthews can stroke it from deep ( 37%) and plays passing lanes really well. With rumors of a potential “Anthony Randolph-Joel Pryzbilla” swap, along with the stories of Portland looking to move some veteran players ( Marcus Camby, Andre Miller), the further Portland falls back, the more interesting they become this trade season.
Dallas, San Antonio: Contenders?
I projected both teams to be solid playoff teams but their current records have shocked me. Dallas ( coming off winning 12 of 13) seems to have the pieces to make a decent playoff run. Dirk Nowitzki has played like a MVP candidate ( 25 and 7), Jason Terry and Shawn Marion are causing havoc off the bench but the biggest addition? Tyson Chandler. When Dallas added Tyson Chandler, I instantly thought that was a upgrade at a needed position. I do wonder if Dallas can add another potential wing ( DeShawn Stevenson has been hot of late), I could see championship dreams in Dallas.
For San Antonio, the sum of the parts. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are playing some high level basketball. Tim Duncan is basically playing with old man skill ( 13ppg, 9rpg and 2bpg) and still getting away with big games. Tiago Splitter hasn’t come into age yet, but I believe he will be all coached up by the 2nd half. The newest component to the team has to be Richard Jefferson fitting into this offense. Jefferson is taking a career high set of shots and seems to have fit into his old role in New Jersey ( simple wing, slashing into the basket and still hit the 3 when open).
Also, the Spurs currently have a nice bench. George Hill, James Anderson, Gary Neal and Matt Bonner all average at least 6.5 points per game for the Spurs bench.
Don’t Sleep On The Leap
During the FIBA games, basketball fans fell in love with Kevin Durant and his amazing display on the court. However, we didn’t count the other players on that team who seem to take their game to another level playing alongside Durant
Rudy Gay, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook
Remember when Gay was supposed to slack off due to that max contract he received this summer? Yea, now Gay has taken a nice leap into becoming a top flight wing in the NBA. Even though he’s not passing as well as many people thought he would, Gay has stepped up into his pseudo-defensive stopper, late game shooter, ” I want the ball” guy. Sadly, Memphis has not sustained success due to a slumping O.J. Mayo.
Kevin Love? Love barely played yet he’s probably gained the most out of the experience. Love came back to Minnesota with a chip on his shoulders. Currently, Love is on pace to become the first player to average 20 points and 15 rebounds for a season since Moses Malone. Love currently has 96 more rebounds then the 2nd best rebounder in the NBA, Blake Griffin. In the entire NBA season, Love has had 5 games in which he had single digit rebounds. Simply put: The man is on a tear.
Russell Westbrook: Clearly playing out of his mind. When Kevin Durant missed games, Russell Westbrook went loco. Westbrook played well enough to bring the ” Who gets the last shot when both are healthy?” question into the mind of many NBA pundits. Westbrook has taken his game to the next level offensive and defensively. 23 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists with 2 steals.
La-La Land
What more can I say? Kobe is slowly giving up some of the scoring duties to Gasol, Shannon Brown has moved into the “best bench player” status, Andrew Bynum is coming back and should be ready by February, Artest is defending well and Odom has taken his game to another level to start the season. Even when the Lakers get tired, Steve Blake and Matt Barnes come into games and totally swing momentum. I don’t know who’s going to beat the Lakers, but they will get tough games everytime they matchup.