-- I feel terrible for Greg Oden right now. After fracturing his left patella (kneecap for laypeople), Portland's former #1 overall draft pick is out for the season...again. He missed all of his first year due to microfracture surgery, missed a number of games last year with a foot problem, and now this. He's a good kid and was improving quite a bit in his 2nd year of playing. It's just a shame that his progress has now been postponed until next year. If ever. (shaking my head)
-- You can't mention Oden without mentioning the electrifying young man who was drafted immediately after him...Kevin Durant. Durant has taken his game to another level this year, consistently dropping 30 points without breaking a sweat. Averaging 28.1 ppg as of this post, the Oklahoma City forward his leading his team to newfound heights. The Zombies have an 11-9 record after 20 games (obviously), which is a 9-game improvement over last year's record at this point (2-18). Coach Scott Brooks has to be commended for commanding one of the youngest team's in the league and pushing all of the right buttons. OKC regularly gets contributions from a number of guys, and is definitely a team to watch as we go deeper into the season.
-- Vinny Del Negro, you might want to polish up that resume' a little bit. I know, I know, he took his Chicago team to the playoffs last year and pushed the Boston Celtics to the brink of elimination. But this year has been entirely different. The Bulls haven't been able to replace the scoring of the departed Ben Gordon despite the return of Luol Deng, and after losing to Atlanta tonight in embarrassing fashion, they've lost 9 of 10. There is still hope for them since they play in the East, but those playoff hopes are fading fast, and in order to change the momentum of the team, the front office may have a tough decision on its hands.
-- How about those Bobcats? After I hated on them for setting basketball back 50 years with their offense, they traded for Stephen Jackson, found a reliable rotation, and have rattled off several wins as of late. Yes, they allowed New Jersey to get their first win of the season against them, but with a 9-11 record, Charlotte is sitting at 7th in the East. The schedule toughens up in the coming weeks, but if the Bobcats can show the poise and defensive effort that they've shown in wins over Denver, Cleveland, and Toronto this season, I wouldn't put anything past them. Are they going to win 45 games? Of course not, but getting to 40 would be a huge step and would probably put them in the playoffs. Who would've seen that coming a couple weeks ago? (Skip put your hand down.)
-- Ever since benching the selfish Nate Robinson, the Knicks have been a mini-run. Sure, it's only 4 wins in 5 games, but considering where they were a few weeks ago, that's considerable progress. Coach Mike D'Antoni is getting productive minutes from Larry Hughes' corpse, David Lee is earning himself a big contract, and Chris Duhon has been steady enough at point guard to keep the Knicks efficient offensively. They're not going to make the playoffs, but I do respect the fact that they're playing hard despite a tumultuous start to the season and wanted to give them some love.
-- I don't discuss MVP candidates this early, but Carmelo Anthony has been outstanding all season long. Through 22 games, he's only missed scoring 20 points once. That's ridiculous. Not to mention he's incredibly fun to watch. Keep it up, 'Melo.
-- You know the injury situation is bad for Portland when coach Nate McMillan, after inserting himself into a practice drill to replace an injured player, ruptured his Achilles tendon. That's not a joke, it really happened. In addition to the aforementioned Oden situation, the Trail Blazers are also missing Nicolas Batum, Rudy Fernandez, and Travis Outlaw. Geez.
-- Brandon Jennings has gotten all the headlines (and rightfully so), but don't be surprised if Sacramento's Tyreke Evans wins the Rookie of the Year award. His stats are very similar to Jennings', and his consistency is greater. Jennings has cooled off since his hot start, which was to be expected, but Evans is still dropping 22/5/5s on a regular basis. If he has those stats at the end of the season, he'll win this year's award. No, I didn't discuss the actual award, I just talked about the performance of a couple players; that's all.
-- Yes, I'm disappointed with the Spurs' start to the season, but I'm far from discouraged. There are a ton of new parts on the team, and I knew it'd take some time for them all to work together. The issue that's frustrated me is the continual blown leads. San Antonio has gotten into a habit of having good first halves or good quarters, but then not holding onto leads by the end of the game. After beating the Kings tonight, they are 10-9...which seems appropriate. Not really mediocre, but certainly not exemplary. I'm confident they'll pick it up by March, but I wish they'd surprise me with some terrific performances before then.
~~ Lank
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