With the conclusion of the All-Star break and with only about a quarter of the NBA season remaining, there are some very important questions remaining for a few of the NBA’s most prominent teams.
ENJOY!
Toronto Raptors- Was worth Rudy Gay worth trading for?
While I have not been a big fan of some of the moves made by the Raps over the last couple of seasons, this was a move I liked. A lot of people were up in arms that Toronto traded away Ed Davis and Raptors staple Jose Calderon, but what these people don’t realize is that the NBA is a star league and in order to compete both on and off the floor (i.e. marketing), you need a big time player who can light it up on the court. Is Rudy Gay one of the top 5 Superstars the NBA has to offer? Maybe not, but given Toronto’s situation he was the best player the Raptors could have realistically acquired for the long haul. And while some concerns persist since the Raptors have been slumping of late and Rudy Gay is shooting 39 percent from the floor, next season the Raptors have a solid chance of not only making the playoffs, but cracking the top 6 in the East as well. If this Raptors squad can continue to mesh well, and they can get anything out of Bargnani (either on the floor or in a trade) they might even be able to attract another quality player to Toronto and then who knows. In short, Rudy Gay was worth trading for.
New York Knicks-Will they continue to fade or will they be able to turn it around?
When the season began there was no hotter team in the NBA than the Knicks. Maybe they didn’t have the best assembly of on-court talent, but they were racking up the wins and their praises were amplified to deafening levels by the New York media. Fast-forward to now and the Knicks appear to flat-lining and the initial weeks of playing above their heads seem to be over. Among the latest in travesties for Knicks fans aside from their mediocre play is their recent implosion against Miami despite being up by double digits at the half, and Mike Woodson’s reprehensible decision not to take his franchise player out of a game after (badly) hurting his knee and begging his coach to come off the floor. The latter event was especially atrocious because if anything happened to the Knicks main 100 million dollar man (sorry Amare), the season was over.
Fortunately for the Knicks, Carmelo’s injury doesn’t seem to be serious, but the handling of the injury as a whole speaks volumes about the Knicks situation as a whole. The Knicks are poorly managed and are one injury away from kissing their season good bye. Add to this that the Knicks as currently constructed do not seem to be made from the mettle needed to win championships (i.e. they are poor closers down the stretch, they rely too heavily on one person for their offensive output, their two highest paid players cannot co-exist on the court together, their point guard is 167 years old etc.) and there are big problems for Knicks’ fans in the longrun. So if you ask me if the Knicks will continue to fade down the stretch, my answer is a definitive yes.
Boston Celtics- Are they the Biggest Threat to the Miami Heat in the East?
When Rajon Rondo was found to have a torn ACL almost every sports media personality was pounding their fists and saying it was time to blow up the Celtics. I however did not feel this way and immediately tweeted that the Celtics were actually better off without Rajon Rondo. How could I make such a statement when Rondo was averaging 11 assists a game (tops in the NBA) and on any given night could take over a game and give you some crazy triple double that looked more like Kate Upton’s measurements than a player’s boxscore? The answer was simple: KG. The way KG plays is that he might be content to sit back and watch other people do their thing for a while, but when it really matters and/or if his team is in distress he performs like the KG reminiscent of his MVP days in Minnesota. No matter how old he is. Not only that but his infectious do-or-die persona spreads to his entire team and everyone plays better when the chips are down. This has happened every season since the Celtics were written off after winning their first championship in the big three era, with the only exception being two seasons ago when KG himself was lost due to a knee injury and the team was left in total disarray. And so far since Rondo went down with his injury, this season has been no exception. The Celts have not only played their best ball of the season since Rondo went down, but their March 6 comeback win against Indiana (who many have slotted as the number 2 seed in the East) should dispel any notion that the Celtics are done. Can this team beat Miami in a 7 game series? Maybe not, but given the fact that they took Miami to 7 last year and are playing some of the most inspiring basketball in Celtics history, I think they are still Miami’s biggest challenge to repeat.
Los Angeles Lakers-Can this Team Make the Playoffs?
Of all the issues debated and questions which have flown around the NBA this season, the Lakers prowess and their ability to make the playoff have remained right at the top. And justifiably so, as four months into the NBA season the Lakers remain the league’s biggest question mark. When this squad was first assembled in the Dwight Howard Coup many projected the Lakers to win it all or, at the very least contend with Miami for the NBA crown in the Finals. However, as the season began the Lakers’ prospects have taken a steep downward trajectory that has seen the once mighty Lakers franchise reduced to a laughing stock. Notable among the reasons for this implosion are both Dwight Howard’s schizophrenic persona and the Lakers unbelievable decision to pass on coaching guru Phil Jackson and his 11 titles for offense only Mike D’Antoni and his no titles.
However, despite the best efforts of Lakers brass to undo the legacy of Dr. Jerry Buss in a single season, Kobe Bryant has been playing like a man on fire and seems to have strapped the entire franchise to his back. To say that Bryant is anything short of astonishing for a player in his 17 year in the league would be a total understatement and could only be uttered by someone who knows nothing of basketball. In this era of basketball however, the results for a team who rely too heavily on one player speak for themselves. Example after example shows us that all too often this type of team is destined to see its season end in heartbreak. If Bryant can get some more help from Dwight Howard like he has of late maybe the Lakers can sneak into the playoffs. Unfortunately, even if they do chances are they will face either San Antonio or Oklahoma City, so unless Steve Nash rises from the ashes and plays like he did in Pheonix the Lakers seem poised again for an early exit from the playoffs.
