Surprise, Surprise

After about 1 month into the NBA season, there are always feelings of the “same-old-stories,” but what has surprised people the most so far? The Celtics' raging start? Isaiah Thomas squandering the Knicks' off-season improvements? The southwest division being over-loaded?

Well honestly, the Celtics have only beaten 2 real playoff teams, Isaiah will always seem to confuse me, and no matter how you draw the division lines one division is always stacked.

So what really makes you stop and say “Hmm, that was unexpected?” Well, like Rasheed Wallace not getting a technical for a full month - here are the top surprising stories of the NBA so far.

1. A Skinny Durant Doesn’t Matter-

Being undersized is hard to pull off in the NBA, unless you have incredible speed or have a basketball I.Q. equivalent to 3 Hubie Browns. Yes, being skinny is quite difficult for an NBA player. However, Kevin Durant proves to be the anomaly to this theory. Although the Sonics are struggling to win, the bright spot of Durant’s play has brought a light to Seattle that would even make a young ‘Glove’ and ‘Reignman’ pause to take a look. Durant already has a nice all around game that can be developed a lot further - perhaps he should start with bench pressing? OK, that was low, but all he really needs are a few more young talented players to complement his game and a nifty nickname. I put my vote into “Slim Jim” so a few years down the line you can imagine announcers calling “Slim Jim for 3… SNAP!”

2. Lakers- from trade to made

Trade Kobe? What? Why? Who would ever do that? It’s almost nostalgic to think that Kobe really wanted to be traded from this team about a month ago. Now, he is giving high-flying body bumps to Jordan Farmar and lobbing up balls to Andrew Bynum in the lane. The Lakers start with an 8-6 record with impressive wins over the Suns, Jazz, Rockets, and Pistons. There is some young talent twinkling here and there. Ironically, the trade rumors really helped the team grow up fast to make a statement that they can be legitimate contenders in the near future. This can be seen by the uncanny bench point production from the first 15 games of the season- it has been so good you would think Kobe was coming off of it. If they bring in a consistent role player or if Lamar Odom becomes a greater force, then look for this team to make some noise (that is not whining) in the playoff picture.

3. Bulls’ Blunder

My hometown beloved Chicago Bulls… It is definitely true when someone says that there is a thin line between love and hate. First off, what really surprised me was the lack of moves that John Paxson made during the off-season. I think he is too accustomed to the mindset that the off-season is ‘break time’. So while many other teams got at least a step better, Paxson just sat on his draft pick (Joakim Noah) and thought that the Bulls would be fine. Sadly, this lack of management savvy is coming back and biting him in the… well ok, the Bulls, especially Paxson, need to concentrate on 2 lingering issues that have crippled them worse than Kenyon Martin’s knees. [1] No inside scoring – a problem since the Eddy Curry trade to New York, and as a result Aaron Gray is the best post player in the lineup. [2] No all-star – Luol Deng is the closest, but no cigar. It is a sheer naïveté to think that the Bulls can evolve into a championship team without any additions or fixing at least one of these problems. And if nothing evolves by the all-star break, Chicago may have to start rebuilding from rebuilding.

4. Miami- Party in the city where the heat is gone

OK, so they were without D. Wade for the first few games, and Shaq got called out for being lazy so now the diesel is trying harder. But overall, there isn’t that feeling of fear when playing this team like there was two years ago. That killer championship edge has been lost over the past year accompanying an early first round exit of last years' playoffs. Maybe it is the adjustment of Ricky Davis coming to the lineup, or maybe it is the lack of bench production that they have lost via free agency. Well, regardless of the issue, the Heat are now looking from the bottom of the barrel. This might be an issue later on since Shaq is accustomed to resting some games to be ready for the playoffs. This year does not seem like that luxury will be available. He’s either going to get no rest or an early vacation depending on how the season pans out.

5. New Orleans- Gellin’

The Hornets definitely have talent, and to be on such a solid start in the strongest division is admirable. But let's look at the team's makeup. Other than Chris Paul, the Hornets’ team does not scream playoff caliber. Actually, looking at the Hornets’ roster on paper you would initially think that this was a list of ‘NBA lost souls.’ However, fortunately for the Hornets, the players are being utilized to the fullest. Tyson Chandler found himself on team USA over the summer and has become a rebound machine. David West can hit 20’ jumpers with one hand on one foot with one eye open. Peja Stojakovic looks like the Peja of old draining 3-balls like nobody’s business. And Chris Paul… is Chris Paul. The Hornets are the top jump-shooting team in the NBA and probably will continue to be as long as Paul is setting them up for open looks. New Orleans is hosting All-Star Weekend this year, and the Hornets might be sitting pretty in that Southwest division. So with this nice core emerging from the bayou, there might be something to look forward to other than Mardi Gras this season.

-D.Choi

Kirk in Bewilderment

"Oh. Am I supposed to be guarding him?!"























Wow, Kirk. Why are all your stats lower than last year? Every season, you've been improving ever so slightly. And for some reason, the one year we are supposed to be a favorite to win the East, you decide to have your career lows in everything. Your 3PT% is .172 ?!?! That's horrid. Grow some balls, Kirk. You used to jack up Js with no regard, but now you hesitate every time. Don't go Antoine Walker on us or anything, but give us something, man. You used to be more confident. You are white. You're SUPPOSED to be able to shoot 3s. Make Paxson proud. Make us long for hearing "Hinrich for three..... KABOOM!"

Quit staring at real guards and try to be one yourself.

this is bull

Wow, its quite amazing to see a team considered by many to be this year's eastern conference champion start a season 0 and 4. Considering the competition the bulls faced thus far, a real contender should be atleast 3 and 1 right now. However, the bulls lost their fourth straight last night and its apparent the bulls have some glaring weaknesses.

Many experts considered the bulls to be contenders in the east because they claimed the "core" of this team would take "the next step." Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Kirk Hinrich will finally mature and with their playoff experience lead the bulls to the nba finals. However, what I've seen thus far are the same mistakes these guys have been making since they entered the league and in my opinion, just aren't that good.

Now, I may anger some fans in chicago, but lets take an honest look at the bulls roster. Does anyone really scare you? Do they have an all star on this roster? I don't wanna hear maybes and ifs...this is not a hypothesis, do the bulls have an all star? My answer to that is no. The biggest problem for this organization has been that the general manager has fallen too much in love with his players. I cannot say enough how good character guys we have, but in the end, talent wins.
The bulls have a lot of young talent, but will they be enough to win a title?

John paxson said no to a possible deal with minnesota for kevin garnett. He also passed on pao gasol, jason richardson, and zach randolph. The belief was that the core would develop and a piece here and there would get the job done. What mr. Paxson failed to realize was that the other teams in the nba are doing the same thing. Mr. Paxson, did you think you're the only team that is developing young talent? Who are you kidding. Notice how all the teams in the east improved. The bulls need to adapt and change as well. Also mr. Paxson, where are those pieces that you're talking about? We are so close to getting over the hump you claim, but is joe smith
enough? Is joakim noah enough? Where is the big guard we need? Winning the past few years have disguised a lot of the bulls biggest flaws and weaknesses. Yet after this slow start, many around the league are starting to see how easy it is to capitalize on the bulls shortcomings.

To begin, lets begin with luol deng. I am a luol deng fan, but I am also an honest bulls fan. I never considered him to be much of a star. I thought he'd develop into a possible all star player, but not a sure fire star. Last year his midrange jumper was a major weapon. He was known league wide when he averaged 25 plus in the playoff series against the heat. However one major fact the media and bulls fans failed to see was that luol deng was never guarded by the heat. The
heat focusedl all their attention on the guards and dared luol deng to beat them. He eventually did, but once the pistons gameplanned on beating deng, he was a non factor. tayshaun prince showed deng he was the better version of deng by driving, passing, and defending three positions. Scouts and coaches are following the same gameplan and have forced deng to shoot his own shot instead of settling on a spot and letting him shoot. The biggest disappoint for deng this year has been his lack of defense. Iguodala, maggette, and yi jianlin all had big games against deng.

Ben gordon has shown this year his offensive game is not enough to cover up his defensive and ballhandling woes. If ben was like arenas or kobe where he can consistently score 30 to 35 a night, itd be ok. However for a guy who averages low to mid twenties and nothing more is deadweight.

Onto the other ben, mr wallace has been the biggest disappoint this year. He's the 15 million dollar man whom everyone thought would be a man downlow and be a force on the boards. To be averaging 3.32 rebounds a game is inexcusable for a center, becuase he should accidentally have atleast 7 to 8 boards a game. I won't go into his offensive game, enough said.

The next victim on my bulls hit list is kirk hinrich. The most overrated player in the nba, kirk hinrich has made chris duhon look like a star this season. Hinrich is known for his defense yet every opponent he's faced thus far has averaged a double double. Some defense kirk. So will u score then? No, his shots been off like his whole career, and he's averaging a whopping 6 points a game. Alright kirk, I guess you are dishing the rock then. No,he's averaging a whopping 4 assists a game. What???

What do you do kirk hinrich? For a 50 million dollar man yourself. You sure bring a lot of garbage to the court. Kirk hinrich needs to work on driving to the basket. Teams are playing the bulls in a zone. If kirk can penetrate and draw a foul or kick out once in a while, maybe we won't have to shoot so many jumpshots. Kirk consistently gets driven backwards. He dribbles way too long, and his shot selection is horrendous. The most amazing this is, he's been doing all this bad work in about 25 minutes per game, cuz he's usually on the bench most of the game for being in foul trouble. Now most of that comes from guarding ben gordon's guy which puts him in bad positions. So I won't knock on kirk too much about his foul troubles, but paxson should be aware that his backcourt needs a change. How long can u go with these two guys who can't complement
each other???

So what should we do?

I know I painted a gloomy picture of the bulls roster, but in all fairness its not that bad. They have good pieces and all players mentioned above are all well above average. However one thing we lack is the stud who we can count on every night. Even teams like the pistons who didnt have the quote unquote star won titles, because they could depend on billups and hamilton to bring it every night. Who do the bulls have?

I know paxson doesn't wanna hear this right now, but he needs to break up this core and get kobe bryant. People argue giving up too much will hurt this teams chances of goin to the finals. The way I see it, this roster won't win the finals as is. Kobe with a depleted team won't win a finals either. However, at the end of the day, the bulls now have kobe to build around. Now that's a player you can add a few pieces here and there,and say you can win a title, mr. Paxson.

- Mr. Hook