Overview
Coming into the season, the East was supposed to be much stronger this year. Derrick Rose was returning for the Chicago Bulls, the Brooklyn Nets made big acquisitions in the offseason, and the New York Knicks had resurgence last season. However, these teams have not been good so far and the East has become a two team race between the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. The rest of the conference is mired in mediocrity at this point. The Atlanta Hawks have the third best record at 9-9. While they have some good players, they do not have a superstar and are not even close to a good team.
Top Dogs
1. Indiana Pacers (15-1)
The Pacers had a coming out party in the postseason and it has continued into the beginning of the season as they have only lost one game. Paul George is the difference in this team as he has stepped up as a superstar. He is currently averaging 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.1 steals while shooting an excellent 47.3% from the field and improving his 3 point shooting to 40.4%. George has proven he is the real deal and his rise has coincided with the Pacers joining the elite teams in the NBA. Of course, George is surrounded by a deep team. He is also a part of the best front line in the league with David West, Roy Hibbert, and Luis Scola off the bench. Former All-Star guard Danny Granger should return eventually and add to their perimeter shooting as he was one of the best perimeter scorers and shooters before his injury.
2. Miami Heat (13-3)
The beat goes on for the defending two time champions as they are off to another great start. While there are other great stories in the league, Lebron James continues to be the best player in the game. His stats are ridiculous averaging 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. However, his shooting percentages are mind boggling as he is shooting 59.8% from the field and 49% from the three point line. While great centers can shoot at that high percentage from the field with close shots, it is unbelievable that a guard can do it as he is also shooting his three pointers at an exceptional percentage. Lebron James will win the MVP again this season unless the writers are bored and feel like giving it to someone else just to do so. The Heat are the favorites again to win it all. Of course, they will have to continue to work on their interior game and rebounding as it is their one glaring weakness. The Pacers will give them problems in that area. It should be interesting whether they can get a contribution out of former first overall pick Greg Oden. Moreover, the health of Dwayne Wade is crucial as Lebron will need a wingman in the playoffs.
Disappointing Starts
1. Chicago Bulls (7-8)
The start is not the alarming fact of their season. The loss of Derrick Rose again for the rest of the season due to an injury to his other knee is the most devastating news any team has received this season. They came into the season hoping to get Derrick Rose back to speed for championship aspirations. Instead, they need to question whether Rose will ever be the same. In my opinion, Rose is done as a big player in the NBA as it is tough to overcome injuries to both knees. Accordingly, the Bulls will need to face the unfortunate reality that their current core will never win a championship. As such, they will have to make tough decisions. I think they will simply wait and see if Rose can recover instead of blowing up the team to start a rebuilding process. They should expect the worse.
2. Brooklyn Nets (5-12)
The Nets traded for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to construct a team that could beat the Heat. Unfortunately, the Nets have not been able to beat anyone. However, it is too early for them to panic as they are in a weak Conference where they should still be able to make the playoffs. Their two best players, Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, have missed significant time so far with injuries. The biggest concern is that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have looked old. They are shooting 36.8% and 36.6% from the field respectively. Nevertheless, I expect this team to pull it together enough, once they are all on the court together at the same time, to make the playoffs and be a factor. As of right now, their biggest headline is their rookie head coach, Jason Kidd, purposely spilling his soda on a court so he could draw up a last second play without a timeout.
3. New York Knicks (3-12)
Tyson Chandler is the anchor of the defense and he has been hurt for most of the season. Iman Shupert is a promising guard but he has worked himself into Coach Mike Woodson’s dog house. They are a jump shooting team that relies on the isolation play of Carmelo Anthony. They did very well last year. In my opinion, they had an odd mix of players and it has been a disaster this season. While I expected them to regress from last year, I did not expect a 3-12 start. It does not look good as there is a lot of dysfunction. Moreover, Carmelo will be a free agent this coming offseason. While losing will not help the case in retaining him, I ultimately expect him to re-sign as he enjoys being a Knick and they should have the payroll flexibility to build a team around him in a couple of years.
Team to Watch
Washington Wizards (8-9)
John Wall was supposed to be the 6’4” Lebron James when he was selected first overall from Kentucky. While he has not lived up to the hype up to this season, he is an extremely talented player. His overall stats are great at averages of 19.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 2.4 steals. Bradley Beal is also a promising shooting guard so they can be developing into one of the best back courts. Making the playoffs would be a huge step forward for this young team.
About Pat Wong
Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.