On the Backburner: December Reflections

It's been awhile since I last made a contribution to this blog, so I felt like tonight was a good time to share my NBA thoughts; 13 games are on the slate tonight and Rick Kamla is hosting NBA TV. Nobody gets me more amped for NBA ball than Kamla. (He has me glued to this Nets-Cats nailbiter). This blog post will have no theme, wit, or structure. Essentially this is a lecture of random NBA thoughts from a die hard NBA fan, non-NBA junkies please close this webpage -------------- thank you.

Going Upstairs: Quick Schedule Update

First of all, great road trip for the Bulls. It's been written about several times already, but this team cannot get enough praise for what they did out West. They battled through injuries, tough opponents, and back-to-backs to come out with a winning  4-3 record on the Circus Trip. We saw tremendous resiliency night after night as they got used to falling behind early, but each time fought back. We saw Derrick Rose elevate his status as an elite player by averaging over 30 points a game on the trip. We saw how tough and how deep the Bulls are by coming within two John Lucas free throws from beating Denver without their best player. It's now time for a much deserved break.

Going Upstairs: I Love the Bulls

I'm not sure if you stayed up to watch the entire Bulls game tonight. If you did, you were rewarded with not only a great comeback, but an incredible display of will and guts.

On the second night of a back-to-back, the Bulls looked gassed from the beginning. Derrick Rose and company expended a lot of energy just to stay close against the Lakers the night before, and when they couldn't steal the win in L.A. you wondered if they had anything left in the tank for Phoenix. It turned out they didn't, and they fell behind 36-17 in the first quarter. But they spent the next three quarters scratching and clawing their way back, eventually sending the game to double overtime before prevailing, 123-115.

Jonesin' Around: Circ and the City

As this is my first post at Pro Basket-blog, I'd like to start by saying that I am thankful to Mr. Becker for opening his doors to a select few other writers, including myself. It is an honor and a privilege to contribute to this soon-to-be giant of basketball opinions.

In dealing with the lighter aspects of the sport, and having not yet graduated from the Bill Simmons' School of Writing, my posts will be more brief than that of my fellow bloggers.

I'd also like to state that the opinions I express are mine alone, and not reflective of the other writers.

Let's begin.

Going Upstairs: West Preview

I apologize for the delay in publishing my Western Conference preview. Unfortunately, the season is already two weeks old, but note that these are my thoughts are from before the season started (it's your choice whether or not to believe me).
 

Tier 1

LA Lakers - Let me just say that even if Kobe wins another title, and even if it's against Miami, that still doesn't put him in the conversation with Michael Jordan. Jordan did define much of his career after turning 32, winning titles at age 33, 34, and 35, so one would think Kobe still has time to catch Mike. But at age 32, Kobe has already played 1227 games (including playoffs) in his NBA career, whereas Jordan had only played 850 at that age. Kobe's clock is ticking, however it's time to start appreciating how great of a player he really is.

One of the beautiful faces of the NBA.

Going Upstairs: East Preview

For this year's NBA preview, I've broken down each conference into five tiers. Each tier contains teams that I consider to be at the same level heading into this season, and teams that can expect about the same degree of success. Teams within each tier are ranked on their likelihood of ascending to the next tier, or in the case of Tier 1, winning the championship. Note: This is not a projected order of finish, but rather a ranking of how good each team is.

Minimum 8-Peat: Bulls Season Preview

The 2010 offseason in the NBA was unlike that of any sport in history. It featured All-stars, Olympians and MVPs. There were three-point shooters, dunk enthusiasts and guys who love to take the final shot. Quite simply, the free agent class of 2010 has no rival and we as basketball fans may never see anything like it ever again. Experts and fans alike predicted the summer months would change the basketball landscape for years to come and, man, were they right.

Going Upstairs: NBA Season Preview

After the greatest off-season in the history of the league, we are now in for one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory. In fact, I have never been more excited for an NBA season, and with NBA League Pass I will be enjoying an unhealthy dose of basketball over the next eight months.

During the next week, I will be releasing previews for the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. But before the season starts tomorrow night, I want to get in writing my (un)official predictions for the upcoming season.

Going Upstairs: Staying Ahead of the Curve

One of the most enjoyable things I like to spend my time doing (I know, my life is pathetic) is finding the next "it" team. This is a team that breaks out of the lottery and into basketball relevance, usually due in large part to a group of young players that finally gel. The following season they become everyone's darling team, and a trendy sleeper pick to win their respective conference. Last year it was Oklahoma City, the year before that it was Portland, and the year before that it was New Orleans. (A year before that? Chicago.)

Going Upstairs: New Bulls Ad Campaign (Link Post)

Check out this and this. Warning: These videos may increase your heart rate to an excessive, unhealthy rate.

I wonder if the Bulls brought in a new marketing team, this is a big step up from the old campaign. Wouldn't you rather hear our stars talk than these guys? But I guess for me it doesn't make much of a difference, since I never really got to see the old commericals and probably won't see the new ones. Instead, I'll have to endure this.

Going Upstairs: Carmelo

All the latest news surrounding the league pertains to Carmelo Anthony supposedly asking to be traded from the Nuggets. Speculation is starting to surface as to where he would like to go and which teams are the front-runners.

Of course, much of this speculation has him headed to the Big Apple, and to no surprise, the New York media is behind most of it. Both Michael Kay of ESPN Radio in New York and the NY Post are reporting stories of Anthony's interest in joining the Knicks. Let's remember, these were the same guys, along with Chris Sheridan, that fueled the LeBron James-to-New York fire and made it seem as if they were the clear favorites to land him. As it turned out, LeBron barely considered New York an option.

The Madhouse: A Tribute to #33

This is my first blog at Pro Basket-blog and I'm very excited to be a part of the crew. Matt Becker, Joe Romano, Tapan Jani, Kevin Connors and Shawn Gorman are some of the brightest basketball minds around and my only hope is that I can keep up with their high standards when it comes to insight, analysis and humor.

The team over here on Pro Basket-blog are very big Scottie Pippen fans. We know a lot about Pip and Pip means a lot to us. When this is the case, sometimes, it can be quite difficult to say everything that you want to. So instead, we have limited ourselves to one paragraph each.

Below, along with our paragraphs, we have gathered quotes from various sources. To truly understand the complexity of Scottie Pippen the person, you had to know him. To truly understand the brilliance of Scottie Pippen the basketball player, you had to have played with him.

On the Backburner: Five Most Fun 2k11 Teams

First off, I'd like to thank Mr. Becker for allowing me to become a guest writer on his blog. Matt - I hope you don't regret adding me that I can add a unique perspective on NBA basketball. Best of luck to you in North Carolina. I'm really looking forward to reading about Bulls basketball from a group of friends, for a change, instead of just internet randoms. I already know Tapan will bring style, Kevin passion, Becker hunger, Romano savvy, and Vineeth wisdom. Am I missing anyone? Whatever. Enough with the soapy introduction. Let us talk basketball.

The NBA's Final Four

I know this is a day late (Boston beat Orlando yesterday), but I wanted to weigh in on the Conference Finals. To no one's surprise, the Lakers and Magic are two of the last four remaining. But not many expected Boston and Phoenix to be a part of the mix. I'm going to break down each series with my very own version of "What could happen? What might happen? What will happen?"

(Basically this is how it works. "What could happen?" is a long-shot scenario. Think J.P. from Angels in the Outfield. "What might happen?" tells of a plausible situation which may or may not be contrary to popular opinion. "What will happen?" gives my official prediction. We'll see how well this works.)

Chicago-Cleveland Game 3 Recap

I missed the first half of this game, but was there to see the Bulls effectively blow a 21-point lead. After Charles Barkley predicted at halftime that the Cavs would come back and win the game, the Bulls came out gangbusters to start the third quarter, and at one point I actually convinced myself the game might be over. Well, all it took was a 13-0 Cleveland run to make it a game again.

Reactions to the first weekend of NBA Playoffs

April is my favorite sports month of the year. I know a lot of people say fall is their favorite sports season, but to me April is the best time to be a sports fan. Maybe it's because I'm such a big NBA fan. And maybe it's because I love baseball. But to me, nothing beats the spring season. Not with Opening Day, 40 games in 40 nights, or even the Masters (and the NFL draft for you football fans).

Trade deadline recap

So after a busy trade deadline, the Bulls managed to make two deals, acquire four expiring contracts, nab a first round pick, and help out their immediate competitors. We can now see that Gar Paxdorf (credit Blog a Bull for the name) is gunning to sign one of the big free agents this summer and the "2010 plan" is now in full-effect as Chicago has enough cap space to sign one max free agent and even have a few bucks leftover. For those of you wondering exactly how much money the Bulls will have to play with, I'll break it down for you:

Breaking down the contenders

Here's the thing. I don't see anybody beating the Lakers. There are other teams that might be able to beat them, but nobody beats a healthy L.A. team. But I'm going to break down the contenders anyways.

I see eight contenders in the NBA today, with four serious contenders. I'll define a contender as a team that could win the NBA championship. So, in my estimation there are eight teams that I think have a chance of winning the title. I left out Atlanta and Portland because, can you honestly see either of these teams beating at least three of the other eight teams on this list? Me neither.