Let me preface this by saying: IT IS INSANELY COLD OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW. I woke up, got dressed and was all ready to walk to class this morning. Then I took one step outside and it was like I was stabbed repeatedly in the chest with an icicle ice pick. Not pleasant. I took the bus instead and had to wait for about ten minutes for it to arrive. That was at 8:35. It is now 10:10 and I am still not warm. -2 and with the wind chill, a teeth-chattering -23 degrees. No, that is not a typo. It is simply a cruel joke that the world decided to play on the Northeast.
The NBA season is halfway done and many of the stories we expected to play out (Cleveland's utter humiliating summer continuing into the season, Minnesota and Sacramento as the bottom dwellers of the West, and the Celtics and the Heat battling for Eastern supremacy) unfolded exactly as anticipated.
But this season has had a couple of wild twists to it so far and these are just a few of the most notable, in my humble opinion:
The San Antonio Spurs - 37-7? The same Spurs that were swept by the Suns in the Western Conference Semis last year and clearly looked to be in their demise? Give credit to Gregg Popovich and a healthy squad for their success this year. Popovich has managed Duncan's minutes effectively, while incorporating in the young players like George Hill, DeJuan Blair, and Gary Neal to make sure the Spurs stay fresh throughout the year. A completely healthy Ginobli and the resurrection of Richard Jefferson's corpse hasn't hurt the Spurs either. The Spurs are the number one threat to the Lakers out West right now and easily the surprise of the season.
Blake Griffin: Enough said.
No, but seriously, people had a pretty good idea that Blake Griffin was a special player. I don't think anyone expected him to come out, post 27 straight double doubles, be second in the league in that category, provide fans with more jaw-dropping moments since Dr. J and take a Clipper team and make them NOT the laughingstock of the league. Not bad for a guy just two months from turning 22. He makes the Clippers, the Clippers, watchable. That just by itself is worthy of an MVP candidacy in my book.
Derek Rose for MVP: Why not? Averaging 25, 8, and 5. Posts and astounding 31.8 percent usage rate and still manages a true shooting percentage of almost 54 percent. And he is doing this while missing Boozer for the majority of the season and Noah who remains out after thumb surgery. Did I mention that he has done all this and led the Bulls to the third best record in the East, just a game back from the Heat? Sounds like a pretty strong case to me.
Evan Turner's Struggles: Maybe the media doesn't talk about this one as much because he plays for an abysmal 76ers team, but Turner hasn't even been serviceable so far this year. This lack of production is coming from a guy that most analysts touted as the most NBA ready player in the 2010 draft. Some even called for the Wizards to draft him ahead of John Wall. And instead, he is losing minutes to Jodie Meeks. I'll give you all a second to remember that he was a second round draft pick in the '09 draft out of Kentucky. Maybe it is Doug Collins' system, or maybe Turner was a little over-hyped, but he has failed to live up the his number two pick status thus far.
Carmelo Anthony: Still a Nugget. I think this has to be the biggest surprise of the year so far. I wrote a post earlier last week about Anthony so I will try to keep this short but if we see Anthony in a Nuggets jersey after the February trading deadline, I will be shocked. Clearly Melo did not want to go to New Jersey, but instead still has his heart set on New York. But the Nuggets front office has held firm in trade talks with the Knicks, claiming that they will not receive enough in return to warrant a trade to New York. But, if they aren't careful, they're going to end up with a Chris Bosh situation on their hands and they will walk away with nothing in the end. This is a situation to keep a close eye on as the trade deadline looms closer.
There, a couple of the stories that I believe are worthy of blogging about from the first half of the season. I still like (or dislike, depending on how you want to look at it) the Lakers coming out of the West and if both the Heat and the Celtics make it to the Eastern Conference Finals healthy, I think we'll have a hell of a battle in that series. I'm making it a toss-up right now for that side. What a cop out, I know.
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