2012 RANDOM NBA THOUGHTS: Vol, 1

Felipe M

Pretty eventul night last night in the NBA, including the NBA's YouTube page hitting the 1 billion views mark.  The Following are random, quick thoughts about the NBA, based on the games from December 10, 2012.

Detroit Pistons @ Philadelphia 76ers: Any real NBA fan knew that the day would have to come when the Sixers would be forced to trade Andre Iguodala, but I myself was shocked to see him be traded this past offseason.  I expected it to be during this season, but the Sixers might have done themselves a favor by jumping the gun on that particular transaction.  

They sit comfortably at 12-9, but even better--seeing Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner benefit from the trade to solidify Philly's backcourt has been the real treat.  Holiday has seen his scoring and playmaking production go up this season while Turner went from being a near bust after his second season, to finally finding his groove and no longer having to scavenge for minutes--this year, he's getting all the minutes he can handle and finding new-found liberties to handle and being creative with the ball.  The results has seen Turner scoring more, rebounding more, getting more assists, and being more comfortable to shoot from beyond the arc (45.9% from 3-point range as opposed to never topping 32% in his first two seasons).  

Golden State Warriors @ Charlotte Bobcats: The Warriors are 14-7 so far this season. They are 5th in the league in Rebound Differential, 11th in scoring, and are tied for third in Turnover Differential.  Not bad for a team that has had a reputation for being a careless team with the ball, who are more interested in running up and down the court, and only focus is to put up as many shots and points in the shortest amount of time.  Clearly, head coach Mark Jackson is finally molding this team into his vision.  This is also a team that lost fan favorite and scoring machine, Monta Ellis. Many pundits thought that the move would put a lot of pressure on young and seemingly brittle Stephen Curry.  All Curry has done is average 20.1 PPG, 4 RPG, 6.5 APG, and shooting 43.3% from beyond the arc. And now that he doesn't have to share with Ellis, Curry has established himself as one of the more exciting players in the NBA as well.  

Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat: Hawks are now 0-2 against the Heat this season.  However, this does not take away from the fact that the Hawks are having a good season as cornerstone players like Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague are carrying this team despite having seen Joe Johnson get traded to Brooklyn this past offseason.  Smith, who demanded a trade back in the spring of this year, is now being rumored to be working with the Hawks on a new contract extension and in a recent nationally televised game on ESPN, there was a lot of on-air discussion about bringing in Dwight Howard to complement the trio of Teague, Horford, and J-Smoove.

San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets: All I have to say that the older Spurs still looked pretty fresh in last night's overtime game, while Jeremy Lin, Omer Asik, Carlos Delfino, and Chandler Parsons looked absolutely exhausted as the Spurs ran away with the OT victory last night.

Sacramento Kings @ Dallas Mavericks: What can I say, it's the Kings being the Kings posting 19 turnovers in this game.  Meanwhile for the Mavs, not only is it good to see O.J. Mayo rise up from reaching quasi-draft-bust levels, but he's been a prolific scorer (20.8 PPG), and seeing an increase in field goal, 3-point percentage, and APG.

Toronto Raptors @ Portland Trail Blazers: It's a shame that this game had to be over-shadowed by stupidity and nonsense that knucklehead player Amir Johnson pulled off in last night's game.  Like a spoiled kid who whines when he doesn't get his way, Johnson was trying to hold on to the ball after a J.J. Hickson free-throw for what seemed to be a long period of time.  When the official was trying to take away the ball so Hickson can attempt his second free-throw, Johnson inexplicably refused to give up the ball and was clearly angered when the ref tried to take the ball away.  He soon erupted when the official ejected him from the game, which resulted in Johnson hunting down the ref and throwing his mouth guard at the official.  The NBA is full of stupid players who do stupid things on and off the court, but getting into a potential physical quarrel with an NBA referee is just plain foolish.

For more NBA, read our review of the top 40 players coming into the 2012 season.

NBA 2012-13 Fantasy Preview: ON THE RISE

Felipe M

Finally, two weeks of the NBA are in the books, but it's never too late to "bookmark" some players who might become household names among casual NBA, basketball junkies, and fantasy basketball fans alike.  Here are the rising stars of the 2012-13 NBA season:

• Bismack Biyombo: Only his second season and he is still a raw product, but in a fantasy points league, blocks and rebounds coming from a center is adequate enough to get a virtual GM's attention.  Remember, Michael Jordan went out of his way to draft this player despite his inexperience so there's a good chance that Biyombo will get the opportunity to play more this season.
• Brandon Knight: I thought that Knight would be the better point guard than Kyrie Irving.  In his second season, he might end up being the best guard on his team at the very least. 
• JaVale McGee: A fresh start in Denver and playing under a coach with more prestige than Flip Saunders or whoever D.C. can sucker into coaching that sorry team can only do wonders for the very gifted, but incomprehensible and quizzical player.
• Omer Asik: From 3rd string big man with the Bulls to feature frontcourt player with the Rockets, Asik's stock can only go up.
• Dion Waiters: Don't like the fact that he was a bench player in college (remember Marvin Williams?), but should be a great running mate to Irving in Cleveland.
• Goran Dragic: Finally, after years of being the best backup point guard with the highest upside in the NBA, Dragic will no longer have to look behind his back to see who will steal his minutes.  It's finally his show to run in Phoenix and many fans can't help, but rejoice at this deserving player.
• Damian Lillard: The small-school product will continue to make a name for himself in the Pacific Northwest with the small-market, but crazy, basketball town of Portland.  He will be given every opportunity to prove himself in the NBA and show what he's made out of.
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: The rookie love continues with MKG.  His athleticism and stature should make him ideal as a perimeter defender.  That should equal more minutes and produce lots of padded stats for the former Kentucky Wildcat. 
• Carlos Boozer: After many Bulls' fans came with pitchforks and torches to rid themselves of the underachieving, but very expensive forward, Boozer enters this season as the Bulls' best offensive threat and main scorer.  That should at least quiet down the fans, media, coaches, front office, etc.
• Jeff Teague: His progress as an NBA point guard has been stalled with the presence of former teammate Joe Johnson, but this year, Teague will finally display his speed, quickness, handles, and athleticism and prove to the NBA world why he has been the best kept secret among NBA prospects. 
• Greivis Vasquez: He's the best ball-handler by default in New Orleans and last season, he proved that he can produce on the court as well as New Orleans deals with injuries to promising guards in Eric Gordon and Austin Rivers. 

And so it goes.  Can't wait to see if these predictions come to fruition or not, but I'm really excited to see how Dragic and Teague (and his brother Marquis) will develop.  And not a lot of rookies to get excited about, but the lottery picks are certainly must-watch (i.e. Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes, etc.).

To read Part I of this series on established players, click here.

Part II deals with declining players.

Part III looks at players who are at the crossroads of their careers.