The 2012 NBA Lightweight Report (Revisited!)

Greetings.  I decided to wait until after the NBA All-Star Break to bring you a revisit on our original lightweight terms for the NBA season.  You may not approve, but many didn’t approve of the NBA lockout taking chunks of two months out of the NBA season, so we’re even!  And even if we weren’t even there, you probably didn’t even see the lightweight report, and that is simply unacceptable.

I’ll quickly add my thoughts on All-Star Weekend, then we’ll get to discussing these teams as we enter the second half of things.  The first comment I have is that I didn’t turn my television on once during All-Star Weekend!  I was in South LA Friday night, Hollywood Saturday night, and Venice/Santa Monica Sunday night.  I did catch some bar shots, reruns, and highlights though.  Kyrie Irving refusing to miss shots in front of a national audience is a nice way to create even more distance in his quest to be the Rookie of the Year.  All-Star Saturday Night is a circus, and the TNT personalities are the ringmasters.  Seriously.  I stand by what I said last year about the Shooting Stars contest: make it a 3-on-3 tournament!  Kevin Love winning the three-point shootout is amazing, considering he’s a bruising PF who made 2/19 three-point field goals in his rookie season.  My idea for the bland dunk contest that Jeremy Evans won:  contestants should be able to call out a rival defender.  The defender is restricted from leaving the painted area as he tries to defend getting dunked on!  There’s a prize for the defender if he can prevent embarrassment.  The best dunks, after all, are when someone gets posterized like Kendrick Perkins, right?

The Future of the Dunk Contest.

That leaves the NBA All-Star Game itself.  Forgive me, but as a defensive player, I can’t take this game seriously until the end.  And even then, everyone plays defense as if Tupac Shakur’s character from Above The Rim is present.

D-Wade is lucky that was Kobe that he hit, and not Birdie.

But, because LeBron James blew it at the end (and I guess not because Dwyane Wade mishandled a pass), the West won the game and Kevin Durant took the MVP.  It’s going to be LeBron vs. KD frontrunning the MVP race this season, as their teams are tied for the best record in the NBA.  A convenient segue-way for the midseason review!

An NBA article that went 400+ words without a Jeremy Lin pun?!

 EASTERN CONFERENCE

Miami Heat (#1, 27-7):  As mentioned earlier, LeBron James is having an MVP-caliber season, and the Heat are getting strong seasons from Wade, Chris Bosh, and even PG Mario Chalmers.  Not that you care though.  Everyone is waiting on this team to fail and/or be marginalized if they win a championship.

Chicago Bulls (#2, 27-8):  Bulls are only a half-game behind Miami despite injuries to their starting backcourt of MVP Derrick Rose and new SG Richard Hamilton.  Remember, the Bulls won the #1 seed last season despite injuries to big men Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah.

Indiana Pacers (#3, 21-12):  The Pacers are the best of the rest of the East right now.  While C Roy Hibbert’s All-Star season is nice, it would help if SF Danny Granger weren’t shooting sub-40% from the field.

Philadelphia 76ers (#4, 20-14):  The 76ers have the best defense in the NBA and SF Andre Iguodala finally became an All-Star this season.  Unfortunately, the team has fell back to the pack as injuries to PF Elton Brand and C Spencer Hawes has left an incredibly tight-knit group struggling for answers offensively.  They risk losing confidence and perhaps their division lead as Hawes won’t be back anytime soon.

Orlando Magic (#5, 22-13):  Well, the Magic are off to a decent enough start this season considering the distraction that is All-Star C Dwight Howard.  Everyone but PF Ryan Anderson should be on the trading block at the moment as the Magic deal with this season’s Carmelo Anthony in Denver situation.

Atlanta Hawks (#6, 20-14):  Considering they are playing without C Al Horford and have to deal with guys like Tracy McGrady and Marvin Williams whining about their roles, the Hawks are doing well to still keep afloat in the Southeast division.  They’re playing solid defense, led by PF Josh Smith and PG Jeff Teague, but Teague and All-Star SG Joe Johnson are less than dynamic offensively.

New York Knicks (#7, 17-18):  This is where the East gets terrible.  On one side, it’s nice of PG Jeremy Lin to come in and save Mike D’Antoni’s job (and reputation as an “offensive genius”) with difference-making playmaking ability.  That said, this Knicks team is still underachieving if they don’t win the Atlantic Division with SF Carmelo Anthony, PF Amare Stoudemire, and C Tyson Chandler.  They have improved defensively, but they have the look of a wildly inconsistent ballhandling squad (RE: Lin’s 3.6 turnovers per game) that will need the rest of the regular season to develop chemistry.

Boston Celtics (#8, 15-17): The Celtics are still a solid defensive team, and PG Rajon Rondo is the most dynamic player on a decorated roster that is on their last legs.  While All-Star SF Paul Pierce, SG Ray Allen, and PF Kevin Garnett are still doing their part, they need PF Brandon Bass to get healthy, because he’s the only bench player who can consistently make the team better.

Cleveland Cavaliers (#9, 13-18):  This team is only five games out of .500?!  The only other guy Kyrie Irving has offensively is PF Antawn Jamison, though C Anderson Varejao was doing double-double work before going down.  Irving looks like an incredibly mature player and team leader, which almost makes up for The Decision for Cleveland.  Almost.

Milwaukee Bucks (#10, 13-20):  Considering another debilitating injury to C Andrew Bogut (and the subsequent defensive freefall), it would appear that the Bucks aren’t doing too bad for themselves.  But then you look at PG Brandon Jennings not feeling secure in Milwaukee despite solid play and SF Stephen Jackson (predictably) clashing with coach Scott Skiles, and you understand that things may get worse before they get better for the Bucks.

Detroit Pistons (#11, 11-24):  This team continues to make no sense.  They have exciting young talent in rookie PG Brandon Knight and C Greg Monroe, but neither of those guys are defensive standouts.  They don’t run, they’re painfully inefficient offensively, and their attempts to slow the game down are usually dashed by the fact that they are usually overwhelmed by teams with any kind of offensive talent.

Toronto Raptors (#12, 10-23):  Well, it’s hard to win when your lottery pick (C Jonas Valanciunas) is still playing overseas, your best player has missed almost 2/3 of the season (C Andrea Bargnani), and your new head coach (Dwayne Casey) is trying to preach defense to a team that was terrible at it last year.  Maybe next year.

New Jersey Nets (#13, 10-25):  Jay-Z’s Nets have a real shot to go 0-82 next season if they can’t trade for a certain All-Star playing in Florida and/or can’t convince All-Star PG Deron Williams to re-sign this summer.  As well as SGs MarShon Brooks and Anthony Morrow have been, they have been awful at SF and are one of the worst defenses in the league, which must drive head coach Avery Johnson crazy.  Luckily, C Brook Lopez is healthy now (for trade purposes), and PF Kris Humphries is showing that his breakout season last year was no fluke.

Washington Wizards (#14, 7-26):  I said that this team could be a sleeper because of their offensive talent, IF they matured.  Their “maturity” got a coach fired, as they are easily the Eastern Conference’s dumbest team.  PG John Wall is averaging 4.2 turnovers a game, which is bad because everyone else he plays with is a gun on offense and a turnstile on defense.  That is, except when C JaVale McGee is goaltending or throwing himself alley-oops in blowouts.  At least he tries, right?  (PF Andray Blatche leaves room at the word “effort”.)

Charlotte Bobcats (#15, 4-28):  Ye gods.  I told you this would be the worst team in the NBA.  You can’t just blame this one on injury.  This is a poorly assembled basketball team, bereft of anyone who can shoot or score consistently and/or proficiently.  Are we sure we want MJ to have the #1 overall pick??!?  Remember, Adam Morrison was supposed to be on his third All-Star game by now!

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Oklahoma City Thunder (#1, 27-7):  You know what’s interesting, is that starting C Kendrick Perkins might be the worst player in the Thunder rotation right now.  He is a glorified enforcer for the bullet train that is MVP candidate Durant, All-Star PG Russell Westbrook, and PF Serge Ibaka.  SG James Harden is the ultimate X-Factor, as he should be the leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year.

San Antonio Spurs (#2, 24-10):  The Spurs win with offense these days, and with Manu Ginobili needing time off due to injury, it’s nothing short of incredible what PG Tony Parker has been able to do to keep the Spurs near the top of the Western Conference.  Besides him and Tim Duncan, no other Spurs player that has played at least ten games are averaging double figures.

Los Angeles Clippers (#3, 20-11):  The Clippers had that devastating injury that I said would happen (SG Chauncey Billups’ Achilles), but as long as All-Star PG Chris Paul continues his outstanding job controlling games late and All-Star PF Blake Griffin haunts the paint, the Clippers will be in good shape.

Dallas Mavericks (#4, 21-13):  The Mavericks got off to a weak start due to the free agent defections, nagging injuries to All-Star PF Dirk Nowitzki and PG Jason Kidd, and the embarrassing no-show of SF Lamar Odom, but never mind that.  The Mavericks are rolling out a top-10 defense these days and while I’m not calling them major contenders just yet, people seem to forget that they didn’t exactly look like a championship team entering the 2011 postseason either.

Los Angeles Lakers (#5, 20-14):  I am so glad Chris Paul isn’t on this team.  The Lakers aren’t that far in second place in the Pacific, and they should just keep PF Pau Gasol so that he can overwhelm teams with All-Star C Andrew Bynum cleaning up for Kobe Bryant.  Instead, you’ll continue to hear whining from their fans about a failed trade (as if they’re the Houston Rockets, or as if they didn’t already get a questionable trade in 2008) and drama from their locker room due to the soft underbelly of their roster outside of Kobe.  Just shut up and play ball!

Houston Rockets (#6, 20-14):  Speaking of the Rockets, it looks like they’re benefiting more from the coaching swap with the Timberwolves than even the Timberwolves are, as head coach Kevin McHale has used a deep rotation all season that has put several starters on notice (SG Kevin Martin, C Samuel Dalembert, and SFs Chase Budinger/rookie Chandler Parsons get benched randomly).  It’s working for now, and it helps that whoever gets on the floor for Houston seems to play solid basketball, led by PG Kyle Lowry.

Memphis Grizzlies (#7, 19-15):  Last season, the Grizzlies had to play most of their second half without SF Rudy Gay.  Gay is healthy this season, and along with All-Star C Marc Gasol, they are helping the Grizzlies stay afloat despite the knee injury to PF Zach Randolph.  As maddeningly inconsistent as he is, PF Marreese Speights has also helped the Grizzlies overcome the loss of PF Darrell Arthur.  Randolph and Gay still have to prove they can both produce at the same time though.

Portland Trail Blazers (#8, 18-16):  Portland has lost a lot of close games, and head coach Nate McMillan has been wearing out his inconsistent backcourt; PG Raymond Felton and SG Wes Matthews have both been benched for Jamal Crawford and Nicolas Batum.  All-Star PF LaMarcus Aldridge has been a stalwart on this team, and the Blazers don’t lack for talent at all, but the dysfunction hasn’t been this high in Rip City since the Jail Blazers era ended.

Denver Nuggets (#9, 18-17):  How did the Nuggets slip so bad after starting 11-5?  Yes, the Nuggets are deep with talent at every position.  But like the Sixers, it is hard to compromise talent when you’re not fully healthy.  The Nuggets aren’t going away, but nagging injuries to PG Ty Lawson, SF Danilo Gallinari, and PF Nene will prevent them from capitalizing on their hot start this year.

Minnesota Timberwolves (#10, 17-17):  As predicted, the Timberwolves are looking like the 1999 Lockout Kings, another team head coach Rick Adelman took over and transformed in his first season with the team.  Kevin Love is putting up Chris Webber numbers, C Nikola Pekovic has made Darko Milicic irrelevant, and PG Ricky Rubio has been the new White Chocolate.  If only the T-Wolves could get any kind of consistency now from the wings, as SF Wesley Johnson has struggled, SF Michael Beasley is on the trading block, and rookie Derrick Williams has been way too quiet.

Utah Jazz (#11, 15-17):  They got off to a 10-6 start, but they have predictably fallen back under .500.  PF Paul Millsap and C Al Jefferson are playing well, but they aren’t getting good play on the perimeter on either end of the court, and young bigs Derrick Favors and rookie Enes Kanter just aren’t ready yet.

Golden State Warriors (#12, 13-17):  The Warriors are hamstrung by an uneven roster, which is really bad when you consider head coach Mark Jackson’s growing pains and obsession to play Nate Robinson so much despite the presence of PG Stephen Curry and SG Monta Ellis.  The Warriors have started to play better of late, but anything can happen with the trade deadline approaching and the Warriors need to replace C Andris Biedrins somehow.

Phoenix Suns (#13, 14-20):  It’s nice that PG Steve Nash and SF Grant Hill are playing so well in their twilight years, but it is alarming that they have no running game whatsoever.  They are a team that can play well enough in the halfcourt, especially with C Martin Gortat’s strong play, but they lack supreme weaponry offensively.  You already know their story on defense.

Sacramento Kings (#14, 11-22):  The Washington Wizards of the West.  This team has identity issues (look no further than PG/SG/SF Tyreke Evans, the low FG% of C DeMarcus Cousins, and the absence of rookie Jimmer Fredette from the rotation) and simply lacks basketball IQ to match their talent.  At least Kevin Johnson got them to stay in town!

New Orleans Hornets (#15, 8-25):  For “basketball reason”, they haven’t been able to play SG Eric Gordon (injury) or C Chris Kaman (trading block).  I thought they would be competitive with a full, healthy, focused roster.  The Hornets haven’t been any of those things.

It will be a fast finish to the playoffs, bolstered by the March trade deadline. Hold on to your hats until this year's bandwagon report is released on The NU!

-1SKILLZ