Summer in December: Flips and Flops

   
     Well, we are a quarter of the way through the NBA season, and there have been some eye opening wins for teams and players, as well as some crushing defeats.  The Flips are those who have surprised the NBA thus far, and the Flops are, obviously, the biggest disappointments.
   

 Flips:  

     The Portland Trail Blazers: After many people (including me) doubted the strategy of the Trail Blazers in raffling off most of their players except Aldridge, they have made a name for themselves as a mid class team with an 11-12 record.  Damian Lillard, my pick for ROY since day one, is playing out of his mind with the maturity of a senior player.  Blazers be blazin.
             
     The Orlando Magic: Another ringer! Most people slammed the Magic for their lack of depth, but damn! This team, with absolutely no star power, has managed to put up an 11-13 record with their sturdy defense and complete unselfishness.  And I don't think i could put it any better than BoB, these guys definitely have the magic in them.
             
     The Black Mamba: Eh, I'll admit it, he's playing pretty well right now.  I still say that his percentages and points per game all drop off soon.  Kobe cannot continue to carry teams with his run and gun play, even if he is wrecking it out on the court now.

     The New York Knicks: Nobody doubted the validity of the Knicks at the beginning of the season, but NOBODY thought they'd be at the top of the East right now.  I'm still convinced that the Heat are a better all around team, but the Knicks are for real with Melo playing like a different player.

     The Atlanta Hawks: The screech that the other teams in the East are hearing from above is most definitely the Hawks.  Thought to be a faltering team, Atlanta has turned out to be a dark horse team that has been anchored by two big men, Horford and Smith, who are playing at All Star level.  The addition of the dangerous Lou Williams and some defensive players has solidified them in the East.
             

     Flops:  

     Blake Griffin: Ol' Blake is having the worst year of his career so far, probably because teams have realized that his game is very one dimensional.  He can dunk.  Despite his superhuman athleticism, Blake Griffin has not expanded his game beyond that.  His post game is weak and on the defensive end it is almost laughable sometimes.

     The Washington Wizards: Nuff said.

     The Los Angeles Lakers: I said at the beginning of the season that the Lakers would have some problems.  And that happened.  The same thing happened with Miami last year when The Big Three started learning to work together.  But this seems to be a bit worse.  The Lakers refuse to play defense, and as much as people are saying it will be fine when Steve Nash comes back, he has never been an asset on defense.
   

   
 The Denver Nuggets: The Nuggets have been one of my must see teams for years now and they have always played some amazingly entertaining ball, but this year, they still haven't clicked.  Andre Iguodala has not figured out his place in this system yet, but that is not helped by the fact that Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson are having one of the worst seasons in their careers.