Welcome to week three of the NBA, where the possibility of a finals match-up between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors has entered the equation. While NBA commissioner Adam Silver may or may not, in fact, be a genius, it’s hard to imagine how he could spin that to the networks who oh so recently handed his league huge amounts of cash. Maybe he could interest them in a Lakers-Celtics bizarro finals?
Lakers continue to stumble
On Tuesday the Los Angeles Lakers won their first road game of the year, a 114-109 victory over the enigmatic Atlanta Hawks. That well-fought victory improved the Lakers’ record to 2-9, good for last place in the Western Conference and putting them on pace for their worst start in team history.
So, things are not looking much better this week for LA’s other team, to use a phrase Steve Ballmer certainly loves to hear. Not even the best efforts of their best player, a suddenly very mortal looking Kobe Bryant, can prevent this from appearing to be a very lost season, one that could force fans to look longingly at the lottery by the all-star break.
In fact Bryant’s “best” efforts – he went 15-for-34 in the Lakers’ loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday – might be hurting his team. Bryant is shooting the ball in a “quantity over quality” manner, which now means he’s more likely to set individual records good (Bryant’s aiming to surpass some guy named Michael Jordan on the all-time points list) and bad (Bryant has broken the NBA record for all-time missed field goals) than lead to victories.
It’s not a coincidence that the Lakers’ second victory of the season was more of a group effort, with offseason cast-offs Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin scoring 20 and 15 respectively, along with Bryant’s 28 points (on a much more acceptable 18 field goal attempts). Despite his protestations that he’s shooting so often because it gives his woeful team the only chance it has – he’s on the record as saying: “If you think I want to shoot this many times and be as aggressive at 36 years old, you’re freaking crazy” – it may finally be time for Bryant to start deferring, at least a little bit, to his teammates. Even if those teammates happen to be Boozer and Lin.
Raptors and Grizzlies continue to impress
Sometimes when you guys are right, you’re right. As commenters pointed out, this column did a disservice last week by (semi-sarcastically) dismissing the Grizzlies while ignoring Toronto completely. Since then, these two unheralded teams have kept on doing what they’ve been doing: winning games with a minimum of fanfare. That latter clause will eventually change if they keep up the pace.
The Raptors have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 8-2. The 9-1 Grizzlies met up with the 9-1 Houston Rockets on Monday night, with the best record in the Western Conference at stake. When the dust cleared, Memphis were 10-1, the best in the NBA, while Houston had to settle for a mere 9-2.
The question is: which early start means more for which team? Well, the Raptors’ hot early start at the very least confirms that last year’s post-Rudy Gay trade success was no fluke. More than that, this early run suggests that this team has the potential to be even better. Losing in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs is only worth so much, heck the Charlotte Bobcats managed to pull that trick off, but now that Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and company are showing some flashes of dominance, this looks like a team that has the potential to take the Anonymous Powerhouse mantle from the broken, fallen Indiana Pacers.
As impressive as the Raptors’ run has been, regular season wins just mean more in the Western Conference where there are at least 10 postseason worthy teams and only eight slots to fill. While it’s impossible to clinch one of those seeds in November, it’s very possible to lose one. The Grizzlies, to put it mildly, have not done so. To look at it from the sickly narcissistic viewpoint of the media, one would say that Memphis has taken the “potentially the best team on the outside-looking-in” preseason predictions and used them as fuel to prove us all wrong.
Oh right, there’s also that perhaps more logical conclusion that Memphis is a really good team and that we don’t really know what we’re talking about here at least half the time.
Clearly there’s a shot that Memphis could be “peaking too early,” but that’s really a ridiculous narrative. That’s like praising the Cleveland Cavaliers for getting some of their losses out of their way early in the season. When it comes to the standings, there are no “extra credit” wins. If anything, it behooves the Grizzlies to horde as many victories as possible now while the San Antonio Spurs struggle early and the Oklahoma City Thunder just try to stay alive without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
*Waits for inevitable “you’re ignoring the Washington Wizards/Portland Trail Blazers/Dallas Mavericks” comments*
The tanking continues in Philadelphia
One team that’s very much not surpassing preseason predictions? That would be the 0-10 Philadelphia 76ers. Yes, the impossible dream of the defeated season continues in Philadelphia. On Thursday, In what might be their signature game this season, unless they uncover a lower layer of basketball hell, the 76ers suffered their worst defeat in ages, a 123-70 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
It’s looking increasingly likely that Philadelphia has the potential to challenge the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats who managed the worst winning percentage in league history. It’s very do-able. Plus, the Lol-cats needed the “benefit” of a lockout-shortened season, and there would be no asterisk this time around.
To be serious, if only for a second, a 0-82 season, on the other hand, remains out of the question. Even if Philadelphia were trying to lose, it seems they would accidentally win a game sooner or later. Perhaps the other team would absent-mindedly tip in a defensive rebound at the buzzer? (When is the next time they face JaVale McGee, it feels like that’s in play when he’s on the court.)
And, believe it or not, this Philadelphia team is trying. Now, we’re not talking about ownership, of course. They’re aiming for failure and high draft picks as the Great Tanking Experiment marches on.
The players, however, are trying. As much as they must know that the plan is to lose as many games as possible, the players themselves want to win. Losing games just sucks, and losing them on a historically level probably doesn’t make it feel any better. Plus, many of the guys on this roster are playing for their pro careers. Being fringe NBA players at best, they want to at least get their numbers and show other teams that they deserve better than being stuck overseas, in the D-League or in Philadelphia (all situations which, at this point, probably feel rather analogous).
The 76ers will win a game at some point and it will probably be sooner rather than later. Those of us who are fans of bad basketball, or are in fact running basketball operations in Philadelphia, will just have to enjoy this spectacular run of misery while it lasts.
Derrick Rose needs to stop talking
It’s not news when Derrick Rose sits out a game for the Chicago Bulls. It’s not even necessarily a bad thing that Rose, with his two hurt ankles and an ever-growing injury history section on his Wikipedia page, should periodically sit out until he’s closer to 100%. In the long run, that’s a better option for a 8-3 Chicago team that will need him if they want to make it deep into the postseason. (Note: a variation of that sentence has appeared at least a half-dozen times in the history of this column.)
It is news whenever Derrick Rose addresses why he’s not playing, and it’s certainly not a good thing, at least when it comes to PR. No, it just never comes off good when a player starts citing his post-playing days as his motivating factor for sitting as Rose did after missing Saturday’s game against the Indiana Pacers with a sore hamstring:
I feel I’ve been managing myself pretty good. I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out. But I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long-term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball, having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to. I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. Just learning and being smart.
This writer has long been a supporter of Derrick Rose taking all the time he needs to make sure he’s healthy. He’s always felt that Rose gets an unfair treatment from fans who believe his large paycheck should determine when he plays rather than injuries, particularly not insignificant ones like ACL tears or sprained ankles. That’s why he’s offering the Chicago point guard his services to be his official “Stop Talking Now” Guy.
Here’s how it works, Derrick: for a nominal fee, this “Stop Talking Now” Guy will whisper “stop talking now” whenever you say anything at all about why you’re not in the lineup on any given day beyond “my body can’t do what I need it to do.” That’s all you need to say. It won’t stop or lessen the criticism, but it will prevent you from providing even more fodder for the “yelling at each other about sports like we have serious emotional issues” shows.
(NOTE: “Stop Talking Now” Guy is also available to help Celebrity Truthers, you when you’ve found yourself in a political discussion with family members at Thanksgiving and every actor with the last name Baldwin. His rates are negotiable, but due before the first of the month for rent-related reasons. Offer does not apply to GOP politicians talking about women’s health issues because “Stop Talking Now” Guy, like Derrick Rose, recognizes his physical limitations.)
Other things we’ve learned
- Lance Stephenson slaps himself and flops.
- The Denver Nuggets announcers are having the worst ducking season.
— Dane Carbaugh (@danecarbaugh) November 13, 2014This Blazers-Nuggets game in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/qq6RWmFcj9
- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has some thoughts on net neutrality and Adi Robertson of the Verge has some ideas of expanding it into a Ayn Rand-inspired novel. (But seriously, if Mark Cuban is really all about free enterprise that would be outside the domain of the government, you would think that he would think twice about operating a stadium built with public funds.)
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) November 13, 20145. Who is John Galt
- The must read article of the week, Sports Illustrated with a lengthy piece on the New Orleans Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson and life after a loved one commits suicide. Heartbreaking, vital stuff.
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