While it’s still early in the NBA sea... Wait, what? OK, it’s come to our attention that it actually isn’t actually early anymore. In fact, we’re basically halfway through the regular season already. It still feels early though, doesn’t it? It feels like nothing at all is settled in the NBA right now besides the terribleness of the New York Knicks, and even they finally won a game this week.
As the Central Division turns
Many predicted that the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls would be the last two teams standings in the Eastern Conference, but each team has had a rather bumpy road so far. For much of the season, mostly for LeBron James related reasons, the harsh spotlight has been on the Cavaliers’ struggles, but after their 108-94 victory over the Bulls on Monday it feels like it’s the Bulls’ turn to face the scrutiny.
The win was Cleveland’s third in a row, a streak the team desperately needed after struggling without James. Although the Cavs dropped in the standings during his absence, the break may prove beneficial for the team in the long run. James looks closer to his old self, healthier and mentally refreshed.
Of course, none of this means anything if they don’t start playing above .500 basketball on a consistent basis. Another prolonged slump and head coach David Blatt will be back on the hot seat, the usual suspects will gang up on James and the Kevin Love-to-the-Lakers rumors will start up again. ESPN will play the footage of James shoving his coach on a neverending loop.
The Bulls, meanwhile, are starting to look just as out of sorts as the Cavs did a few weeks ago. After losing six of the previous eight games, Rose commented that the team isn’t “on the same page.” After Rose’s outbursts the team cancelled Tuesday’s scheduled practice and put a kibosh on media availability.
Rose could be sincerely frustrated at what his team has been going through. He also could be trying to fire up his team by calling them out in the media. If this strategy seems familiar, it’s pretty much exactly what LeBron did earlier this season. It didn’t really work then, it would be surprising if it worked now.
Ultimately, the reason why the Bulls are having trouble coming together might be as simple as they’re desperately missing a healthy Joakim Noah. Noah, who has been either out or playing through injury for much of the season, was the one constant during the last two seasons, his offense and defense carrying the team while Rose has been on the shelf. No amount of motivational tactics will make up for Noah’s absence.
The NBA needs to chose its London games more wisely
Forget “manifest destiny,” the NBA’s first goal in trying to spread pro hoops to the UK is to export a decent match-up. Last Thursday’s game between the New York Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks at London’s O2 Arena was a complete dud. The Bucks began the game on a 14-0 run and at no point did the Knicks seem like they were going to snap their then-15 game losing streak. The Bucks eventually won 95-79, which was probably a closer margin of victory than it should have been for Milwaukee considering how long it took their opponents to put up any points whatsoever.
It was not a good game. In fact, it’s hard to imagine who in the league thought this possibly could be a good game back when the schedule was created. It’s reminiscent of how the NFL keeps sending the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that doesn’t even draw fans in Florida, to Wembley in hopes of expanding the sport overseas. The Bucks were the worst team in the league last season, accidentally out-tanking the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Knicks have been in “walking punchline” mode for quite a while.
It could be said that the NBA got lucky here, as the Bucks, for those maybe rightfully not paying attention to the Eastern Conference standings, have been doing well. They’re currently in sixth place and should remain in the playoff picture for the duration, despite losing top draft pick Jabari Parker for the year. If they had gone with a more traditionally relevant franchise, they could have sent them a Knicks/Celtics or Knicks/Lakers match-up and, during this season at least, that might have been tantamount to a declaration of war.
Note to the league: You want to expand the brand to the UK? Two words: Steph Curry. Have the Golden State Warriors as one of the teams next season. Heck, have the Warriors as both teams going to London. A Warriors intrasquad scrimmage would most likely be far more entertaining than Knicks-Bucks.
Larry Sanders’ saga takes another twist
One Bucks player who didn’t appear in Thursday’s game in London was center Larry Sanders, who has been absent from the team for personal reasons since 23 December. On Friday, the NBA announced that Sanders would be suspended for a minimum of 10 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. This would be Sanders’ second violation: he had previously been suspended after testing positive for marijuana.
This suspension feels something close to irrelevant. It’s not entirely certain when Sanders will return to the Bucks, there has been speculation that he may not return to the NBA at all. As noted above, the Bucks have been surprisingly competitive this season without him.
In a vacuum, failing a drug test may not be a huge deal, particularly if this ends up just being for marijuana again. The suspension, however, looks somewhat troubling when combined with everything else going on with Sanders: the off-the-court altercations last season, the mysterious “personal reasons” absence, the rumors saying that he might just abandon the game altogether.
As Robert Silverman wrote for the Guardian earlier this month, Larry Sanders seems to be going down the Ricky Williams route: whatever is going on personally for him, it’s clear that his career in professional sports is not his top priority. Although Sanders recently shot down speculation that he was contemplating leaving the game behind, he made it clear that there was no timetable for his return:
I’m in the process of working things out now to do as best for my psyche and my physical health going forward. There’s a lot of evaluating going on. There’s a lot of inside talk just to put myself in the best place for my health right now.
The hope shouldn’t be that we see Sanders return to the NBA in the near future, or even at all, at this point it should be that he gets himself right.
Father and son reunion in LA
On Thursday, the Boston Celtics shipped off guard Austin Rivers, whom they just received from the New Orleans Pelicans in the three-team deal that sent Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies, to the Los Angeles Clippers. The move created a little bit of history, as Austin is now playing for his father, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers, a NBA first.
The trade was yet another one of those three-team deals, because this is officially the Season of the Threeway in the NBA (note to self: there might be a better way of phrasing this). In the trade, the Clippers sent Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns and Chris Douglas-Roberts to the Celtics, who also received Suns reserve Shavlik Randolph in the deal. That’s actually rather straightforward, isn’t it? There’s not even any conditional future draft picks or trade exceptions here.
So, there’s more going on in this deal, but the newly forged father-and-son union is clearly the most compelling storyline here (sorry Shavlik Randolph superfans). As many predicted before he was drafted, Austin has struggled to find himself in the NBA after getting so little playing time during his one year playing college hoops at Duke. It’s not certain whether playing for his father will help him realize his potential, or if it will act as a stumbling block.
It’s a risky move for Doc, who is the President of Basketball Operations for the Clippers as well as the head coach. With so many teams in the Western Conference making bold moves to improve their rosters, it could end up looking like short-sighted nepotism if this ends up being the Clippers’ only major move this season, particularly if Austin continues to be the same disappointing player he was in New Orleans. As with all things in the West, it’s going to be hard to judge this move until we see who manages to survive the bloodbath of the postseason.
Other things we’ve learned
• The Twitter map of NBA fandom. SPOILER: The Lakers are popular.
• The New York Knicks won a game! After 16 straight losses, a franchise record, they managed to eek out a 99-92 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.
• The Atlanta Hawks were introduced by a choir for their Martin Luther King Jr Day game. When you’re riding a 13-game win streak to the top of the Eastern Conference standings you are allowed to get a little showy.
• The worst flop in NBA history, PJ Hairston of the Charlotte Hornets was fined $5,000 for doing this during last Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
• Portland Trail Blazers Quietly Being Awesome Department: Maybe Damian Lillard doesn’t really do awesome very quietly as this dunk from Monday’s 98-94 victory over the Sacramento Kings proves:
