NBA Update: A Season of Surprises
December 9, 2008 • written by D\'sean
Since the beginning of the 2008-2009 NBA season there have been many surprises that has made this season both boring and exciting.
Team scoring averages has gone down in the NBA this season. There have also been some surprises with teams and their records this year.
The Phoenix Suns as of right now have lost 4 straight games and have not been running their high octane flashy offense that they have been known for. The offense now runs through Shaquille O’Neal instead of through Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash. This has caused a disruption with the team and mostly with Amare who believes the offense should be run through him with him getting most of the touches. He also let it be known that he will keep his options open for the 2010 summer when he becomes a free agent with a host of other NBA Stars.
Another disappointment has been all the talk about Lebron James leaving Cleveland to possibly go to the New Jersey Nets or the New York Knicks in the summer of 2010. James has not come out publicly and said where he would like to go for sure but he has given answers like “if you want to you can go to sleep and wake up on July 1st 2010 because it will be a big day.” When hearing this, Charles Barkley, former NBA all-star now NBA analyst for TNT said “Lebron needs to shut up talking about the matter since its two years away, and he still needs to be loyal to the team he is on now”.
Along with the bad things there have been some good things that happened this season.
The Los Angeles Lakers have jumped out to a 15-2 start this season. They have the best start to a season since the 1999-2000 season a year when they won the NBA championship. The Lakers have a 5.5 game lead in first place and many believe they will represent the west in the finals this year. Kobe Bryant has shown even more leadership this year than in all his previous seasons. He realized that he doesn’t have to score all the points for his team to win games. He has more trust in his supporting cast and this has proven to work as they hold the second best record in the NBA. The Lakers are beating teams on average by 12 points which means Kobe usually sits out the fourth quarters so he can be fresh when playoff time comes.
Last years defending Champion Boston Celtics have started the same way they did last season with the best record in the NBA at 18-2. Even with the loss of their key role players, James Posey, it seems as if the Celtics have not lost a beat. Their key players are getting quality rest minutes since they are beating opposing teams on average by 10 points a game. This will be key for the big three: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen for the rest they are getting now so they will be fresh when playoff time comes.
Another surprise has been the play of Miami Heat superstar guard Dwayne Wade. After coming off two injury plagued seasons, this summer Wade led the U.S men’s Olympic basketball team to a gold medal by leading the team in scoring with 16 points per game. Since this season has started, Dwayne leads the league in scoring with 28.4 points per game; he is 3rd in steals with 2.42 steals per game, 8th in assists with 7.7, and15th in blocks with 1.74 per game. Along with his overall good play from Wade he has also added a jump shot to his game which makes him that much harder to defend. Wade has really stepped his game up this year and could make a case for Most Valuable Player.
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