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.

   

   
  
   

Keys For Success: Atlantic Division

With the NBA season about to begin tomorrow, the little girl inside me needs to talk some more basketball, and cute boys, oddly enough.  So, I'm going to break down each division, team by team, solely based on which player will be the most important to the success of the team this year.  I am going to start with the Atlantic Division, you know, alphabetical, I guess...in the Eastern Conference.

Boston Celtics
     Jeff Green: Green is a super solid player with size and is an all around talent.  He showed some sick play in the preseason, he looks to be coming out strong since his absence last season.With Ray Allen gone, Paul Pierce and Garnett getting...up there, and some new young bigs, he is going to have to play his best to keep the team anchored.

Brooklyn Nets
     MarShon Brooks: The Nets starting five are looking strong this year despite some lack of defense and a messy preseason. Their bench however, is made up of a motley crew of drop outs and could-have-beens (sorry guys).  Their go-to bench guy and sixth man, MarShon brooks, is a strong player though, and has shown he can step it up.  When the starters have to take a breather, he has to be able to step in and take over.

New York Knicks
     Amar'e Stoudemire: Last season was one of the weakest in Stoudemires' career, which is understandable considering the countless bad lucks that happened to this guy.  But, The Knicks has revamped and kicked it into overdrive with...senior citizens.  Although the bench can take care of themselves this year, the starters have to do it.  Melo and Stoudemire need to gel quickly, but most of the pressure will be on the latter.  The work he put in this summer looks exciting, and needs to pay off.

Philadelphia 76ers
     Andrew Bynum: Whew...it has to feel pretty bad to be traded away by a title contending team for a player who plays the same position and who you consider to be worse than you.  Although most people don't consider Bynum to be the best center in the league, when he plays Dwight Howard, his stats are by far in his favor.  If he can stay injury free and play with a chip on his shoulder, the 76ers will be far more successful.  Plus, he is rocking a new afro now, which is probably just because he thinks he badass, but I like to think its a throwback.

Toronto Raptors
     Andrea Bargnani: The Raptors, despite a cool name and a sick logo, have never really been a contending team.  They have had cool players, even cooler nicknames, and a weird on court optical illusion, but still not contenders.  This year looks to be about the same, but if they are going to compete, their European big man Bargnani, has to play like a big man.  He has put up some solid numbers before, especially since Chris Bosh departed, but they have no super solid big guys and he has to play his part, not the parts of others.  

Player Spotlight: My Shumps

Last year, one of my favorite under the radar draft picks, Iman Shumpert, showed everyone exactly what kind of game that he is capable of playing.  Hes fast, tough, big, and can score when he is given the ball.  He really picked up his game when the struggling Knicks needed him to.

This year, however, is the first time I am starting to worry about Shumperts spot on the Knicks.  As a combo guard, he will competing for time at point with Raymond Felton as well as Jason Kidd, and at the shooting guard spot, many minutes are going to J.R. Smith and Ronnie Brewer.  The Knicks have so many back court players that this second years role on the team might be starting to become watered down.  As an all around player, it would be disappointing to see Shumpert fall into a role guy spot just because of all the competition at the spots.

     I personally think that Iman Shumpert is more of an all around player than both Smith and Brewer, and I am saying this despite my crazy love for the ever streaky J.R..  Iman is a good defender, especially for being so young, and has sky high potential, but he is going to need minutes and some more experience to be a great player.  

     And as far as I am concerned, this should be the time for the Knicks to do it.  Lets face it, the Knicks aren't exactly a playoff team. They are still heavy offense, low on defense, and their bench will all be on the bench sharing hits of oxygen from a tank of air with a Gatorade logo on the side.  So why not throw Shumpert in now and develop him? J.R. Smith performs best coming off the bench and providing spark and fast points anyway, and I have always thought Brewer was overrated.  

     There are a lot of factors that could change and affect what happens on this team, but one thing will always stay the same: I'm rooting for you Shumpie.