Going Upstairs: Quick Reactions to Christmas Day

I spent Christmas with the (future) in-laws, so I wasn't able to watch the early games and had only one eye on the Bulls game. I'll offer my quick thoughts on the Bulls win here...

Positives:

Obviously, Derrick Rose's clutchness. I love his confidence, taking it in for a score as soon as he saw Derek Fisher was guarding him. He was composed, took his time, and delivered another memorable moment. It's great that in his first game back, Derrick reminds us why we love him and gives us something to talk about already.

Going Upstairs: Western Conference previews next week

It's starting to become a tradition that I post my Western Conference previews after the season starts. Anyways, I will be traveling over the weekend and haven't finished all of them. I will post them next week. Meanwhile, check out my Atlantic, Central, and Southeast Division previews.


Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy Opening Day! 

Going Upstairs: Southeast Division Preview

This is the third of six division previews that I’ll be posting before the season starts. I understand that divisions themselves are mostly meaningless, but it offers a convenient way to split up my preview series. Below I’ve listed teams by predicted order of finish, alongside their projected playoff seed in their conference.

If you were going to create a team of players from each division and have a tournament, the Southeast would likely take home the crown. Even with Charlotte, who would have a hard time placing a player on any division’s All-Star team. The NBA’s two best players, LeBron James and Dwight Howard, reside here, and as a result their teams are perennial contenders. Atlanta brings three All-Star level players to the table, and Washington has assembled a host of young talent, one in particular who is a star in the making.

Going Upstairs: Central Division Preview

This is the first of six division previews that I’ll be posting before the season starts. I understand that divisions themselves are mostly meaningless, but it offers a convenient way to split up my preview series. Below I’ve listed teams by predicted order of finish, alongside their projected playoff seed in their conference.


This looks to be the most lop-sided division in all of basketball, one that the Chicago Bulls almost swept through last season, save for an overtime loss to the Pacers in late March. However, Indiana has emerged as a solid playoff team, and one that will give it's first round opponent fits. The bottom of the division will help the division claim the most ping-pong balls in next year's lottery.

Going Upstairs: Atlantic Division Preview

This is the first of six division previews that I’ll be posting before the season starts. I understand that divisions themselves are mostly meaningless, but it offers a convenient way to split up my preview series. Below I’ve listed teams by predicted order of finish, alongside their projected playoff seed in their conference.

The division that the Boston Celtics have dominated for the last half-decade may be up for grabs this season. They no longer boast the most talented team in the division, and will likely pace themselves for the playoffs, sacrificing wins in the process. Expect the Knicks to attempt to prove themselves as true contenders during the regular season and try to grab a top three seed in the East. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the division rests perhaps the worst team in basketball, the Toronto Raptors.

On The Backburner: Evaluating Players (cont'd)

Hello, it is great to be back for another season of Pro Basket-blog!

So, the Becker-Gorman NBA Evaluation Model is going public. From here on I will refer to it as BGEM (pronounced Bee-Gem); sounds catchy enough. Before we release the initial BGEM player ratings, I want to discuss my definition of each tier. As Matt Becker stated, they are subjective rankings. If you want statistical evaluations, there are plenty of smarter, more disciplined analysts that can provide you statistical breakdowns. What’s important, though, is being able to dissect the information we provide to tell a larger story. Throughout the year, I will be using the composite BGEM rankings to predict which teams I believe have the best chance to win a title. I am sure Matt has many good ideas on how to interpret the information as well. Ultimately, my classification of each tier falls closely in line with Becker’s, but to give you insight to my unique thought process, here are my definitions of the five tiers.

Going Upstairs: Evaluating Players

Several years ago, Shawn Gorman and I developed a system for evaluating NBA players where we essentially grouped them into different tiers. What’s unique about this system isn’t that we grouped them this way, but rather how specifically we defined each tier. Although the rankings are based purely on our own opinions, this system is helpful in describing what conditions we believe a player must meet in order to be in a certain tier. We group players before each season starts, projecting what we expect their value to be in the only upcoming season, and we assume full health. After each season, we would refine our system to be a more accurate model of how we value certain players. We are now ready to introduce our system to the world through Pro Basket-blog, and hopefully spark debate among our readers. You won’t see our evaluations in this post (those come soon), rather you’ll just see the rubric we created to distinguish each level. Without further ado, here is the Becker-Gorman NBA Evaluation Model:

Going Upstairs: Pacers-Bulls Game 5 Recap

Game four turned out to be exactly the wake up call the Bulls needed. It took a loss for them to realize they couldn't get away with playing the way they did, but it was worth it. Had they made that incredible comeback and won on Saturday, it would have only reinforced the bad habits this team had been playing with all series long, and likely would have resulted in quick loss in round two.

Going Upstairs: Pacers-Bulls Game 3 Reactions

This was one of those games where you want to take a shower afterwords and never talk about again. So on that note, I won't give too much analysis, and just be happy with the victory.

Going Upstairs: Pacers-Bulls Game 2 Reactions

I stayed up late to watch this one, secretly hoping the Bulls would put it away early so I could go to bed. I guess that's too much to ask for in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

The Bulls won another thriller that looked awfully similar to the Game 1. The only difference is that in Game 2 I actually feared at one point that the Pacers would put it away, primarily because Derrick Rose had a sub-par first three quarters. You'd think I would have learned by now after a season's worth of MVP performances that no matter how poorly Rose plays all game, he always shows up in quarter number four. As was the case last night.

Going Upstairs: Pacers-Bulls Game 1 Reactions

For the most part, this was one of the most frustrating games to watch all season.

Coming in as favorites to win the East, we all, including the players themselves, likely overlooked the Pacers. But Indiana gave the Bulls their best, making big basket after big basket. All game long we waited for the big run that would close the gap and eventually put the game away, but it never happened. At least not until the game was at it's most crucial moment. With about three and a half minutes left, Boozer fouled Hansbrough on his fast break dunk to put the Bulls in a 10 point hole. It was at that moment I almost turned off the game.

Going Upstairs: Rose answers every call

Derrick Rose isn't one to pay attention to what others say. Or so we think. Behind the driven, yet humble, superstar is someone who loves to prove people wrong. He doesn't come out and say it, but watching him day in and day out, year after year, you can see it on the court.

Take, for example, when people said he couldn't shoot. That was the knock on him coming out of college, and even when he shot 49% last season (5th among point guards league-wide), he was still critiqued for his lack of range. So what did he do? Well, his improvement from the three-point line has been well documented, and was the first hint we got that Rose had a special work ethic.

Minimum 8-Pete: Five Game Wrap (Games 53-57)

The Bulls had one of their better five game stretches when they beat two (San Antonio and Miami) of the top six seeds in the league. These statement wins were televised nationally showcasing the team itself; but maybe more importantly the nation was able to see Derrick Rose pump up his MVP resume. The third year player out of Memphis scored a total of 68 points, and dished out 14 assists in the two games (he also started the first All Star game of his career between these must see showdowns).

The Madhouse: Our Guy

Tonight, we will see the first Bull start in the All-Star game in 13 years. Derrick Rose does not just find himself this weekend as an All-Star starter, but the focus of considerable attention around the nation, especially in the MVP discussion. No one could be more deserving of all of the attention, columns and accolades. And through all of this, Derrick has stayed true to himself, not allowing any of the attention to change who he is. And who is he exactly? He is our guy.

Minimum 8-Peat: Five Game Wrap (Games 48-52)

The Bulls pushed their record to 36-16 overall with a 3-2 road trip while Disney on Ice occupied the United Center. They currently sit atop the Central Division just 2.5 games behind Boston for the top seed in the Eastern Conference (if the playoffs started today they would be the three seed matched up against the New York Knicks). Side note: what’s more impressive, the Bulls being undefeated in the Central or the T’Wolves going winless thus far in the Northwest?

On the Backburner: NBA Cliques Exposed

The NHL recently announced that it will change its all-star game format to increase fan & player interest. Next Friday, three captains for each team will be drafting their teammates in a video game style fantasy draft. It will be televised on Versus at 7pm. I'll be honest - I'm the type of person that will tune in on Friday but still won't watch the game. I think the draft is must-see-TV, even though hockey players generally seem cordial to one another & there's little drama amongst stars in the sport.