Since it is now 2011 and there hasn't been a new post all year (and well into last year) I figured I'd step up and finally get one posted. I'm not a huge Carmelo fan, so I'll leave it up to someone else to deal with that whole situation. What I do want to talk about is the All Star Game. I'm still not sure of how I feel with the format of the game and the choosing of players (take the example of Yao Ming leading for the West Center position even though he isn't playing), but it's hard to alter it. Sometimes I think it works ok, but then there are times when players make it in only because of their name, and now how they are doing that year. I'm interested in how the NHL All Star Game will turn out with the use of captains choosing their teams. But since nothing has been changed and I don't really know how to change it, I thought I would go about picking my own All Star Teams.
This was actually a harder process than I thought it would be, and for different reasons. I thought it would be hard because I would have to exclude a lot of deserving players, but other than one case (see below), I found it to be the opposite. I had to look pretty hard to fill out my East roster, and I'm still not 100% happy with it. But since I have to have 12 players, I manned up and picked them. I realize that my decisions are not compeltely based on the best methods, as I am unable to spend too much time living and breathing the NBA, but I tried to be as fair as I could. I made my picks on a combination of how the player was performing this year, and how their teams were doing. Some picks were having great years for terrible teams, while other players were doing alright but were making significant contributions to a winning team. Some of the picks were automatic, while others will, I'm sure, be strongly denounced by the Pads' readers. But I guess that is what I'm trying to do: make a forum for a debate on who should and should not be included on the All Star Teams. So here we go.
West
G - Kobe Bryant
G - Russell Westbrook
F - Dirk Nowitzki
F - Kevin Durant
C - Pau Gasol (this is in replace of Yao Ming, as all the other Centers in the West suck)
Bench (in no order)
1) Tim Duncan
2) Carmelo Anthony
3) Kevin Love
4) Zach Randolph
5) Blake Griffin
6) Steve Nash
7) Deron Williams
The main trouble I had with this team was the exclusion of Chris Paul. I was going to put him in instead of Nash, but Nash is having another great statistical year, and without him the Suns would probably be the worst team in the West. Yes the Hornets are doing better than the Suns in the standings, but I think I would still rather have Nash than Paul as my point guard.
I kind of copied my thinking from another NBA.com article that Duncan could be there in the place of any other Center. That way there would be room for the 3 guys on the crappy teams who are having really good years (Love, Randolph and Griffin). I guess you could argue that Paul could take Griffin's place, but wouldn't the game be so much more fun if Griffin was throwing down 3 monsterous dunks per minute of playing time he got? I would say so.
Finally, I realize that my starting 5 will never happen, as no matter how good a year Dirk is having, he'll never be voted as a starter, and Westbrook will probably be lucky to even make the team, but I feel these are the 5 most deserving guys out there. Again, Gasol is kind of a F/C like Duncan, but I feel that works.
East
G - Derrick Rose
G - Rajon Rondo
F - LeBron James
F - Amar'e Stoudemire
C - Dwight Howard
Bench (in no order)
1) Dwayne Wade
2) Paul Pierce
3) Andrew Bogut
4) Carlos Boozer
5) Kevin Garnett
6) Chris Bosh
7) Ray Allen
For the East team, I actually found choosing the starters a lot simpler than the West, but filling out the bench players really gave me a hard time. There were a few guys who I just really weren't sure of how they were doing this year (like Joe Johnson, Danny Granger and Devin Harris) and so I kind of went with who was doing pretty good on a really good team (other than the Bogut pick, which was the complete opposite!). I again think that the starters won't look like this because of popularity, but I felt that my starters were the ones who really deserved it. All 5 of those guys could compete for the MVP this year, and so how can you keep them off the list?
I know that Garnett and Allen are kind of old bones, but when I watch them playing with the Celtics, I can tell how much they really mean to that team. This is kind of a most valuable player approach to the All Star reserves, but why shouldn't two future hall of famers make the team? Bosh was also a difficult pick, as I knew that he was really struggling to fit in on the Heat team early on in the season. I looked up his numbers, however, and although his stats are a little down from his career stats, he is still having a good year.
So there you have it. These are my All Star Teams. I think they would put on a pretty good show and make for a really good game. If I had to pick the winner, I would probably say the East would win because of their experience and their stronger starting 5, but the West would at least have a few highlight dunks from Griffin!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, December 20, 2010
Heat @ Jazz: Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I had the opportunity to attend my yearly NBA (usually Utah Jazz) game last week with my wife, along with both of our families. We drove halfway to Salt Lake City Tuesday night, then drove the rest of the way on game day. Once in SLC, after getting food, the first stop was Fanzz; the "official store" of the Utah Jazz, to purchase jerseys, balls, t-shirts. Just about everyone bought something. Even the Father-in-law puchased a Paul Milsap home jersey (I guess I have the power to convert people to Jazz fandom).
My family has a friendly relationship with Thurl Bailey, ex-Jazz player and current Jazz commentator for the local television and radio stations. We spoke with him before our trip to the game and he mentioned that he may be able to allow a few of us to sit on the Jazz' bench during pre-game warmups. When it came time, we went to the arena at 5:00, one half hour before the doors opened to the public, to meet Thurl. He informed us that he was only able to get permission for one person to sit on the bench. My brother, Brock, and I debated back and forth who would be the lucky fan. Neither of us wanted to make anyone else feel bad, nor have to face the pressure of not getting enough autographs or being assertive enough to talk to all of the players. My brother finally asked, "Can I go?" Sure. It ended up being as simple as that.
When Thurl took us down to the floor in the Energy Solutions Arena, most of us stopped at row 5 and took "our" seats while Brock continued down. There he sat, next to rookie Gordon Hayward, while Deron Williams, "Big Al" Jefferson, and rookie Jeremy Williams shot around on the court. Thurl introduced Brock and Gordon. "Yeah, I know who he is," Brock said to Thurl. "Well, you never know how...you DO live in Canada." They went on to have a good conversation.
"Does it seem real yet, playing in the NBA?""Somtimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't."
"Do you love it?"
"Yeah, I get paid to play basketball! What more could I ask for?""Were you happy about coming to Utah?"
"I would've loved to play for the Pacers if I could have chosen, but Utah is a great organization!"
I had never watched a full pre-game warmup before; probably because it's mostly not available to the public. I learned a few things: players don't all warm-up on the court on the same time. At most, we saw 3 players shooting around at the same time. It was like they would take turns coming in and out of the locker room and out onto the court. Of course, none of the "Miami Thrice" showed up before the game. Their tunnel was crowded by 100's of fans when the doors opened to the public at 5:30. None of them got their LBJ or D-Wade autographs. We did see Erick Dampier and Juwan Howard up close. No one really cared.
After Hayward's autographs on t-shirts and a team ball and Evans' autograph on the ball, D-Will stopped by to sign the ball and Brock's jersey before exiting through to tunnel to dress for the game. Coach Jerry Sloan, all-time longest tenured coach in any major sports league signed the ball. Their dialogue:"Hey Sloan, can you sign my ball?"
"Of course! Thanks so much for supporting the team and coming to our games."
"Umm, thanks for playing/coaching the games??"
When Raja Bell exited the tunnel to shootaround, Brock asked him to sign the ball. "Not right now, buddy." After his 15 or 20 minute shooaround, he stopped by and signed the ball. Brock told him, "It's good to have you back on the Jazz." He replied, "It's good to be back." When Big Al, left the court to go to the locker room, Brocks asked, "Hey Al, I've got a few things for you to sign if that's ok." He obviously didn't hear or understand him, as you can see by the look on his face in the picture.
The game itself was excellent. As we know, the Jazz lost. It was close all game until the last 3-4 minutes. Williams and Jefferson kept running the same play and Williams kept passing it into a well-defended Jefferson and turned it over 2 or 3 times. Then to make it even worse, James and Wade drained back-to-back 3's. The end was disappointing but it didn't makes things any less enjoyable. My signed Big Al jersey and the new autographed family Jazz ball will always be fun items to show off.
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| The gang...with the television cast. |
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Finals and Favorite Teams Predictions
16 days since the last post... I think that's a record. I still check out the pads virtually everyday and I figured it's about time I post something.
So far this season has been interesting. The most notable surprise has to be the mediocre performance by the Heat. Are they even better than last years team featuring Jermaine O'neal's corpse, Michael Beasley smoking too much weed and D-Wade? And how about those Raptors? I just have to mention that so far so good on my preseason prediction. They definitely are not the worst team in the league. In fact, they may wind up in the hunt for the 8th playoff spot... that race in the east might be between 8 teams, but still. Plus, if Andrea Bargnani continues on his tear of 28 pts/gm over the last 5 games.. I will officially admitt I was wrong about the guy. Last night against the Sixers and Sunday against the Celtics Bargnani quite honestly looked like a young Dirk Nowitzky and I wouldn't be surprised if Bargs made the allstar team this year.
I figure that we have seen enough basketball to make educated predictions on who will make the finals as well as predict where our favorite teams will end up. If we wait any longer to make these predictions then they won't be as exciting because usually by January predictions are easy to make (except for the West playoff positions).
Here's how I see it. The Finals: Lakers vs. Bulls Lakers in 5
Why?: I almost put the Jazz vs bulls because one, it would be hilarious seeing the jazz vs jazz 2.0 in the finals and two, I realized recently that if the Lakers lose Gasol to injury, they don't have a chance.. they are deep everywhere but in their bigs and Bynum is already out. I think the Jazz are the second best team in the West (mainly because I can never support, cheer for or predict good things for the spurs).
Also, The bulls are my favorite in the East because the combination of Rose, Boozer and Noah seems seems awesome to me and good enough for second best in the east. Second to the Celtics, but the Celtics seem to be having a bad stretch of injury problems and due to their age, I'm betting on a key player or two being out for the playoffs.
And for my favorite team prediction?.. The Raptors will be 38-44, 9th in the East. Not to shabby considering everyone wrote them off to start the season. But the raptors beat the Celtics for the first time in 12 meetings on sunday and they have a couple of really good trade assests. Reggie evans is an expiring contract and a league leader in rebounds and Peja Stojakovic is also an expiring contract worth 15 million who is a great player for a contender or a team looking to free up cap space for next year. Together that's 20 million in expiring deals plus they are two players of value who teams have to take a look at.
Well, that's it for my predictions... for all of you Pads followers, I wanna know what your predictions are. Who's gonna be in the finals and why? And how is your favorite team going to do this year?
I'm Miller Regent... The end.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Things I've Learned So Far
So since no one else seems to be posting anything new, I'll do a T-wah and write a second column in a row. I've been thinking about the early season and a few of the things that I've learned so far in the few games that have happened. I tend not to get too worked up about the early part of the season, but since all of these games do eventually count (unlike the preseason), we should try to take stock of what's going on every once in a while. So here are the 5 things that I've learned so far from the 2010-2011 NBA season.
1) The Lakers are the team to beat (again)
Everyone thought that the Heat were such a stacked team, but somehow forgot to look at the two-time defending champs. They have one of the best players ever (Kobe, who also happens to be one of the biggest douche bags ever, but that's another story!), the best power forward in the game (Gasol), a plethora of talented big guys, and a great bench. The additions of Matt Barnes and Steve Blake seem to be working out, and even with Kobe's numbers taking a bit of a dip (22.9 ppg, which is pretty low for him), the rest of the team is picking up the slack. After the first couple of weeks, it seems like the Lakers are going to be headed for their 4th straight Finals appearance.
2) The Celtics aren't too old yet
I figured this out after watching their beat down of the Heat on the opening night of the season. Paul Pierce is incredible (something that's taken me a long time to figure out. I can see him easily going to the Hall of Fame after his career, which is not somthing I would have thought a couple of years ago), their Big 3 are still putting up good stats, and Rondo has become arguably the league's best point guard. Add on top of that a very good supporting role (with Big Baby, the O'Neals, Robinson and Daniels) and so far it looks like we could be heading towards another Lakers-Celtics Finals, which seems great, even though I'm not a huge fan of either team.
3) The Raptors and the Timberwolves are terrible!
Sorry Grey and Miller, but your Raptors are going to have a rough year. They have no real closer, and really seem to be struggling to find some kind of identity. Most of their starters would be bench guys on other teams, which doesn't say too much for their bench guys! Yes, there is some hope for the future with DeRozen, Weems and possibly Davis, but they are far from ready to carry a team. The problem is that they have no recogonizable player, which even other terrible teams like the Nets, the Warriors and even the Timberwolves have. I'm pretty sure that unless you're a huge Raptors or NBA fan, you would have no idea who was actually on the Raptors. As for the Wolves, they've got their own problems. They have guys that are recogonizable, and even one, Love, that's pretty good, but they also don't seem to have an identity, other than sucky. I'm afraid that these are the two teams that will be fighting for last place in the league this year (which will hopefully bring them some good draft picks and turn their situations around).
4) Other than the top teams (Lakers, Celtics, Heat and Magic) and the bottom teams (Raptors, Wizards and Timberwolves), the rest of the league is pretty wide open right now.
I don't take too much stock in standings this early in the season (see the next point), as things change dramatically after 30-40 games have been played. Only then can you see real trends of who is going to be contending and fighting for the playoffs. Other than the top few teams, the rest of the top 8 who will be going to the playoffs is wide open for now, which I guess is the great thing about the early season. Pretty much every team has a chance to do well (sorry Raptors and Wolves!).
5) Don't count on the early success of the Hawks and the Hornets
I'm not sold on either of these teams yet. I'm pretty sure that the Hawks will make the playoffs, but are they among the elite of the East? I'm not so sure! And the Hornets? Yes Chris Paul is great, but the rest of their lineup is pretty thin (when David West is your second best player, I don't think you'll be competing for a championship). I find that ever year there are a few teams that start off really well, but begin to fade as the season wears on (last year it was the Kings and the Grizzlies who were in this position). I guess we'll just have to wait a few months to really see where they're at.
1) The Lakers are the team to beat (again)
Everyone thought that the Heat were such a stacked team, but somehow forgot to look at the two-time defending champs. They have one of the best players ever (Kobe, who also happens to be one of the biggest douche bags ever, but that's another story!), the best power forward in the game (Gasol), a plethora of talented big guys, and a great bench. The additions of Matt Barnes and Steve Blake seem to be working out, and even with Kobe's numbers taking a bit of a dip (22.9 ppg, which is pretty low for him), the rest of the team is picking up the slack. After the first couple of weeks, it seems like the Lakers are going to be headed for their 4th straight Finals appearance.
2) The Celtics aren't too old yet
I figured this out after watching their beat down of the Heat on the opening night of the season. Paul Pierce is incredible (something that's taken me a long time to figure out. I can see him easily going to the Hall of Fame after his career, which is not somthing I would have thought a couple of years ago), their Big 3 are still putting up good stats, and Rondo has become arguably the league's best point guard. Add on top of that a very good supporting role (with Big Baby, the O'Neals, Robinson and Daniels) and so far it looks like we could be heading towards another Lakers-Celtics Finals, which seems great, even though I'm not a huge fan of either team.
3) The Raptors and the Timberwolves are terrible!
Sorry Grey and Miller, but your Raptors are going to have a rough year. They have no real closer, and really seem to be struggling to find some kind of identity. Most of their starters would be bench guys on other teams, which doesn't say too much for their bench guys! Yes, there is some hope for the future with DeRozen, Weems and possibly Davis, but they are far from ready to carry a team. The problem is that they have no recogonizable player, which even other terrible teams like the Nets, the Warriors and even the Timberwolves have. I'm pretty sure that unless you're a huge Raptors or NBA fan, you would have no idea who was actually on the Raptors. As for the Wolves, they've got their own problems. They have guys that are recogonizable, and even one, Love, that's pretty good, but they also don't seem to have an identity, other than sucky. I'm afraid that these are the two teams that will be fighting for last place in the league this year (which will hopefully bring them some good draft picks and turn their situations around).
4) Other than the top teams (Lakers, Celtics, Heat and Magic) and the bottom teams (Raptors, Wizards and Timberwolves), the rest of the league is pretty wide open right now.
I don't take too much stock in standings this early in the season (see the next point), as things change dramatically after 30-40 games have been played. Only then can you see real trends of who is going to be contending and fighting for the playoffs. Other than the top few teams, the rest of the top 8 who will be going to the playoffs is wide open for now, which I guess is the great thing about the early season. Pretty much every team has a chance to do well (sorry Raptors and Wolves!).
5) Don't count on the early success of the Hawks and the Hornets
I'm not sold on either of these teams yet. I'm pretty sure that the Hawks will make the playoffs, but are they among the elite of the East? I'm not so sure! And the Hornets? Yes Chris Paul is great, but the rest of their lineup is pretty thin (when David West is your second best player, I don't think you'll be competing for a championship). I find that ever year there are a few teams that start off really well, but begin to fade as the season wears on (last year it was the Kings and the Grizzlies who were in this position). I guess we'll just have to wait a few months to really see where they're at.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Fitness and Business
I just figured that I would begin November with some thoughts that I've had over the past few days about different aspects of the NBA that I didn't really think about that much before.
So this past week I was bored and decided that I would go lane swimming for the first time in over 3 years. I spent about 40 minutes in the pool and swam 70 lengths (just over 1.5 km for those of you keeping track). I felt good, but was pretty tired, owing to the fact that I now suck at swimming! However, as all of us who don't exercise all that often know, when you go from no exercise to any kind of exercise, you generally pay with a whole lot of soreness. The next morning I had trouble getting out of bed, as my arms, legs, shoulders, and even lower back hurt like the dickens (which hurt quite bad). I've been a couple of more times, and each time I generally feel like spending the rest of the day sprawled out in my bed recovering.
During this I thought of all the work NBA players put into staying in shape and realized how incredible it really is, especially for the guys playing big minutes every game. On top of the 25-40 minutes they play in the most competitive and physical basketball games each night, they also spend the days working out, running drills, lifting weights and taking countless numbers of shots. I have no idea how some of those guys are even standing at the end of it all. Now add on top of that those guys who are having troubles with injuries and yet continue to play. I hate Kobe Bryant, but I think I've found some more respect for him after playing through the entire 2009-10 season with multiple injuries. Then their's Yao Ming, who has had serious injuries that could affect the rest of his life, and yet continues to come back and fight through it.
I guess I've never really given that much thought to how amazing many of the NBA players are, and especially the top players. I always just thought they got up and played basketball games, but I'm beginning to realize just how much more there is to it. Ray Allen is an amazing shooter, and yet he continues to work on his shot. From what I've heard he comes in hours before every game to just shoot. I guess what I'm just trying to say is that I have a lot more respect for the physical side of the game.
That leads me into the other aspect of this article. As I'm nearing the end of my schooling, I'm starting to feel more and more stress in regards to finding a full time career type job. It's kinda scarry going out into the work world without any direct job to just flow into. It's making me realize that the NBA, along with being the place for super in-shape athletes, is also a huge business. I used to always think that when a coach got fired (which happens a lot) that he would just automatically move on to another team who would be welcoming him with open arms. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. It's also not the case for the players who aren't the superstars, and who have to work for new contracts every few years. The case of guys like Darius Miles is kind of a scarry one. He was one of the leading players on a somewhat hyped young Clippers team, and is now a perennial roster cut in the preseason. What happened? Now, that may be a bad example, as I'm sure Miles is a dink or something like that, but there really isn't that great job security in the NBA, unless your name is LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.
I know that guys like Bill Simmons has a huge problem with players playing for their contracts, but I'm starting to not be so critical of them. I am also starting to understand why a guy who had played a role on championship teams whole accept a contract with a team like the Clippers or the Nets. For a lot of guys, it's really about the money. Winning a championship would probably be nice, but when it comes down to it, how many guys can turn down contracts worth millions of dollars, just to try to win a giant gold ring that they'll probably never wear? Now before you start arguing with me, just think about your own job, and how much you work at it. Are you always trying to be the best, or do you sometimes accept positions because they'd be easy and pay well? If I had the option to take a job doing something I loved for lots of money but with no chance of glory, I'd probably take it! I'm not sure if my examples make sense (I went swimming earlier and the craving to shut my brain off is kicking in!), but you'll just have to deal with it, as they make sense to me.
What is the point of all this? I'm not sure. I guess it's just a place where I can express some of the ideas that I've been thinking about, and since not much has happened in the early season, you'll just have to deal with my sometimes random thought process.
So this past week I was bored and decided that I would go lane swimming for the first time in over 3 years. I spent about 40 minutes in the pool and swam 70 lengths (just over 1.5 km for those of you keeping track). I felt good, but was pretty tired, owing to the fact that I now suck at swimming! However, as all of us who don't exercise all that often know, when you go from no exercise to any kind of exercise, you generally pay with a whole lot of soreness. The next morning I had trouble getting out of bed, as my arms, legs, shoulders, and even lower back hurt like the dickens (which hurt quite bad). I've been a couple of more times, and each time I generally feel like spending the rest of the day sprawled out in my bed recovering.
During this I thought of all the work NBA players put into staying in shape and realized how incredible it really is, especially for the guys playing big minutes every game. On top of the 25-40 minutes they play in the most competitive and physical basketball games each night, they also spend the days working out, running drills, lifting weights and taking countless numbers of shots. I have no idea how some of those guys are even standing at the end of it all. Now add on top of that those guys who are having troubles with injuries and yet continue to play. I hate Kobe Bryant, but I think I've found some more respect for him after playing through the entire 2009-10 season with multiple injuries. Then their's Yao Ming, who has had serious injuries that could affect the rest of his life, and yet continues to come back and fight through it.
I guess I've never really given that much thought to how amazing many of the NBA players are, and especially the top players. I always just thought they got up and played basketball games, but I'm beginning to realize just how much more there is to it. Ray Allen is an amazing shooter, and yet he continues to work on his shot. From what I've heard he comes in hours before every game to just shoot. I guess what I'm just trying to say is that I have a lot more respect for the physical side of the game.
That leads me into the other aspect of this article. As I'm nearing the end of my schooling, I'm starting to feel more and more stress in regards to finding a full time career type job. It's kinda scarry going out into the work world without any direct job to just flow into. It's making me realize that the NBA, along with being the place for super in-shape athletes, is also a huge business. I used to always think that when a coach got fired (which happens a lot) that he would just automatically move on to another team who would be welcoming him with open arms. I'm pretty sure that's not the case. It's also not the case for the players who aren't the superstars, and who have to work for new contracts every few years. The case of guys like Darius Miles is kind of a scarry one. He was one of the leading players on a somewhat hyped young Clippers team, and is now a perennial roster cut in the preseason. What happened? Now, that may be a bad example, as I'm sure Miles is a dink or something like that, but there really isn't that great job security in the NBA, unless your name is LeBron James or Kobe Bryant.
I know that guys like Bill Simmons has a huge problem with players playing for their contracts, but I'm starting to not be so critical of them. I am also starting to understand why a guy who had played a role on championship teams whole accept a contract with a team like the Clippers or the Nets. For a lot of guys, it's really about the money. Winning a championship would probably be nice, but when it comes down to it, how many guys can turn down contracts worth millions of dollars, just to try to win a giant gold ring that they'll probably never wear? Now before you start arguing with me, just think about your own job, and how much you work at it. Are you always trying to be the best, or do you sometimes accept positions because they'd be easy and pay well? If I had the option to take a job doing something I loved for lots of money but with no chance of glory, I'd probably take it! I'm not sure if my examples make sense (I went swimming earlier and the craving to shut my brain off is kicking in!), but you'll just have to deal with it, as they make sense to me.
What is the point of all this? I'm not sure. I guess it's just a place where I can express some of the ideas that I've been thinking about, and since not much has happened in the early season, you'll just have to deal with my sometimes random thought process.
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