Pardon My Bias

In three days of NBA Playoff action, we have learned one thing for sure. Carmelo Anthony wants to win his way and his way only. This involves having the entire Knicks offense run through him even though they have another good option in Amare Stoudemire who only got 9 attempts in Game 2. See, Carmelo Anthony just doesn’t get it. He claims he wants to win, he claims he wants to do whats good for the team. He feels that he’s just as good as Wade and James (he’s not, he’s only more clutch). He feels that if the offense doesn’t run through him, it can’t be successful. He also is completely delusional to the fact that the Knicks are playing 500 ball since he arrived. That’s right, kids. The Knicks have only won half their games since Melo’s arrival from Denver and guess what Denver is playing much better than the Knicks are because they play as a team. Don’t get me wrong, to win in the NBA you need superstar level players, but you also need superstars that are willing to concede. Even that jerk Kobe ‘Bean’ Bryant concedes some of his game. We all know LeBron is the singular most unselfish superstar to ever exist and even Wade has picked up his habits since the “King” arrived. But not Melo. Melo doesn’t make anyone better. He’s the best and most clutch all around scorer in the league but he fails miserably at doing anything else. The funny thing is, that when he does decide to not be a lazy idiot and apply himself on defense and on the glass, he does a pretty good job. But those moments are few and far between.

See, Melo was very jealous of Jeremy Lin’s rise in NYC and so he had to start blaming other folks for his inability to grow the fuck up. So he blamed D’Antoni and got his ass fired by owner James Dolan in a clear you know who wins power struggle. Dolan might be just as delusional as Melo in his thinking that you can build a franchise around this assclown. Melo just doesn’t get it. And he’s starting to approach Tracy McGrady/Dominique Wilkins territory. Great individual talents that could never get their teams to win anything substantial.

All that said, I won’t act like that tool Colin Coward, err Cowherd, and say that Carmelo will forever be stuck in his ways. Reason being, I believe people can change and adapt for the better at any point in their life even though it does become more difficult as you get older and more set in your ways. I believe this to be true of professional athletes. See, I still believe Alex Smith can be better and I still believe that quarterbacks such as him and Andy Dalton are not limited like Cowherd seems to proclaim every week during the NFL season while he’s sucking on that great talent Tony Romo’s cock. I believe this to be true of professional basketball players as well, they can strive to make changes but it sometimes takes hitting rock bottom to do so. Carmelo has not hit that point yet. Maybe he needs to get traded to a bottom dwelling hellhole of a franchise like say the Sacramento Kings, like a former All-Star once did and then proceeded to rebuilt his career into potential Hall of Fame possibilities, in order to understand that no one cares about his abilities anymore because in the grand scheme of the bottom line business that is professional sports it means absolutely nothing.

For the greatness of the NBA, I hope Melo does figure it out at some point because I do enjoy watching him put up numbers and clutch performances and he has star qualities,  but I also don’t enjoy watching kids between the ages of 9-22 look at him with starry eyes and say “Man, he’s so good, he can score on anybody, I want his jersey!” Melo sets a bad example for future aspiring ball players with the attitude of “I’m gonna get mine and that’s how we’re going to win”. This attitude is needed in spurts,  not in overall game play to determine the success and progression of a basketball team.

For Knicks fans, they better hope Melo figures all of this out in the next 2-3 years at some point.

Tyreke Evans, 2009-2010 Rookie of the Year, has a lot on the line as his 3rd season winds down.

SACRAMENTO, CA

Go back to 2009-2010, Tyreke Evans won rookie of the year, he averaged 20-5-5, he was being looked at as a potential savior and as a talent that has brought life into a losing organization. All is good…

Flash forward to 2012 current times… all of that momentum has come to a hault. The progression has not been there and fans are beginning to lose patience. I’m beginning to lose patience. Tyreke Evans has a lot on the line himself. He cannot hide his limitations on the court in his 3rd season. They are out there and there isn’t a more accurate scouting report in the NBA that exists today than that of Evans.

“Play him for the drive by packing the lane, make (excuse me) LET him shoot anywhere between 10-25 feet and you will succeed”

Unfortunately, this scouting report remains the same well into Evans’ third season.

We all know there are many reasons for this issue and they have been discussed in numerous forums on Sactown Royalty, Twitter, Cowbell Kingdom, The Sacramento Bee and 1140 the Fan. The reasons are no longer important. Tyreke Evans must improve the holes in his game. He is showing much better improvement playing off the ball yet still doesn’t look completely comfortable. At times, he has such horrible mental lapses during games. Not closing out on his man, isolating on one side of the floor and taking too long to get into the offense, slowly trotting the ball up the floor in the backcourt and at times skipping nonchalantly back on defense. These cannot happen anymore… he is too talented. And you know why we know he’s talented? It’is because we see flashes of it on both offense and defense where he can just literally will himself to control a ballgame. Those moments have become more few and far between as DeMarcus Cousins and Marcus Thornton have become focal points of the offense but Evans still needs to find his niche where he can maximize his talent. And if Keith Smart (a coach with a reputation for helping young guards succeed in the league) can’t get Tyreke to demand more of himself just as much as I and other Kings fans are demanding more, then the conversation of trading Tyreke will only get louder. I for one, am not in favor of trading Tyreke Evans for 20 cents on the dollar because 1) His value sucks right now and 2) Teams like the Kings can’t afford to trade their attempted lottery pick home runs when they have them on rookie contracts and expect to come anywhere near close to breaking even value wise in number of wins or financial flexibility. Tyreke Evans NEEDS to learn how to shoot the ball at a decent to average clip (40-44%) from the range mentioned above and he NEEDS to learn the floater shot/jump stop short pull up game that many guards are utilizing as a counter to the defenses that pack the lane.

Tyreke Evans needs to succeed, not only for himself as a player and financially but for the Kings organization to truly not have invested 5 years worth of rebuilding into complete garbage. Evans has a major payday on the line coming up this summer (he most likely won’t be offered an extension until sometime next year, if at all) and then, the Kings will have to make a crucial decision and given their status as one of the lowest revenue-generating small market franchises…that decision will be even tougher.

Who is this guy?

LOS ANGELES, CA

The Los Angeles Lakers have been a glorious franchise that has always done whatever it takes to put the best players on the floor and have been committed to winning at all costs since their move to city of Angels from Minneapolis. More than anything else, Dr. Jerry Buss has shown a major committment to having a family atmosphere of ownership and management of the NBA glamour franchise. Yes, they are the Yankees of the NBA, not the Celtics.

Something has gone completely wrong though and if changes aren’t made soon, the Lakers could be on their way to self destruction.

Let’s look at the transactions the Lakers have made through their entire organization since the end of the 2010-2011 NBA season.

1) Despite potential leading candidates such as Brian Shaw and Rick Adelman being available to the Lakers, they go with Mike Brown. Brown has had success, don’t get me wrong but his inability to handle one superstar (see every story about how the Cavs gave LeBron ultimate power) raises major red flags when it comes to the Lakers. Worse than that, they don’t even CONSULT with Kobe Bryant about the decision process. If anyone in the general public in So-Cal actually has a brain, you can bet Kobe was ticked about that.

2) They have let go of all the longest tenured staff including scouts, equipment manager, trainers around the team including Ronnie Lester, who has been with the organization for 26 years. If you want insight on this check out the LA Times link. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/22/sports/la-sp-lakers-layoffs-20110723 . The most telling quote of all: “You think of the Lakers and you think they are a great organization,” Lester said. “But if you work inside the organization, it’s only a perception of being a great organization. It’s probably not a great organization, because great organizations don’t treat their personnel like they’ve done.”

3) The Lakers handle the Brian Shaw situation completely unprofessionally after stringing him along as a potential replacement for Phil Jackson. Don’t believe me, read this: http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2011/07/16/brian-shaw-speaks-lakers-dont-come-off-well/

4) The NBA rejects a trade sending Chris Paul to the Lakers with Gasol going to Houston and Odom to the Hornets (other players involved are not the point here). After the veto (which was completely messed up btw and I’m a Kings fan saying that), Lamar Odom cries like a little baby for a couple of days (AS IF HE’S NEVER BEEN INVOLVED IN LAKER TRADE RUMORS BEFORE) and then walks into Kupchak’s office demanding a trade. The Lakers aka Jim Buss then decides screw you Lamar, we’ll send you to the team that spanked us in the playoffs and then spanked Miami in the finals for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. There is no way you can justify this trade at all. Forget a stupid trade exception or a pick (that will not be valuable at all). You just traded a man that can a) play all 5 positions,  b) won 6th man of the year, c) once had the potential of being a franchise player and no. 1 scorer on any other team d) maybe the most unique player in basketball currently. You traded him for nothing. Kobe Lamar Pau Bynum. On top of that, you don’t get CP3.Do you think Mitch Kupchak would ever be behind a trade of Lamar Odom for a bag of chips? This absolutely smell of Jim Buss.

This puts the Lakers in the worst potential disaster ever. The gap is closing with the Clippers (they acquired Chris Paul yesterday) and many Laker fans are going on the defensive as if So-Cal has run out of botox, while making elitist comments about the Clippers and how they will always be the Clippers and blaming Stern for this whole mess. You can blame Stern all you want, but you don’t put out a fire by throwing more fuel on it. What was the motive to trade Lamar so quick? That guy is an exploding array of emotions. He would have gotten over it at some point. Jim Buss is an idiot, period. He’s changing the whole landscape of how the Lakers have been run as top of the line organization.

The Lakers are in a horrible position now, Orlando WILL gather competing offers now that they have taken D12 off the market and force the Lakers to have to give up both Bynum and Gasol with the threat of Nets being able to acquire a 3rd team to sweeten its potential deal for Howard. Its not about leverage anymore, there are too many smokescreens out there to determine who has leverage. The facts are that the Lakers still have both Bynum and Gasol and therefore because they do, Orlando CAN ASK FOR BYNUM AND GASOL, which gives the Lakers an impossible predicament. They can’t sign any middle to upper tier free agents now for more than the minimum (see their insane payroll even without Odom) they can only make trades but the trades they can make will only weaken their team. The Odom trade hurts them so much more than people are realizing. In other related news, no one wants World Peace and his contract and unpredictable production.

Last point, Kobe Bryant is pissed off. The great Stephen A. Smith even said on 710 ESPN radio LA that he predicts Kobe will demand a trade by the mid season if things don’t change. I won’t go that far, yet. But he is fuming. Just read the quotes from training camp and you can tell. He is upset about the Odom trade and justifiably so. The Lakers just weakened their team for 1 of the final 2-3 typical Kobe elite seasons. Father Time is the only undefeated being in this world. Even if the Lakers get Dwight Howard, they will still be stuck with a bunch of overpaid role players and no size advantage (which was the prime reason for their titles 2 of the last 3 years).

Jim Buss is calling the shots here and Kupchak can’t do anything about it. Worse than that, if the Lakers do somehow (highly unlikely) get a shot at Dwight Howard without having to give up Gasol, who is to say that Buss won’t nix that deal because he doesn’t want to give up Bynum at all costs due to his love for the man with questionable knees.  Bynum is a good player right now and has a lot of potential, but “potential” at some point gets unfulfilled and gets coaches fired and gets management chastised. His health issues come up every year.  He’s not much younger than Howard, it’s a no-brainer to me.

What makes the situation even more pathetic is that Jim Buss is making Kupchak speak for the moves. That is worse. I want to hear what he has to say about the Odom trade and how it makes the Lakers better… wait it doesn’t.

The Lakers will now have to deal with 1) unhappy Kobe 2) mentally unstable Pau 3) unhappy and health risk Bynum 4) World Peace and his antics . They can still make the playoffs and be a top 4 seed in my opinion however, they got worse this offseason. They got smaller, lost length and did not get much younger and athletic. On top of that, they have made becoming a Clippers fan, the new hipster movement target in LA.

Jim Buss…what the hell are you doing? You’re like the girl or guy that has a great thing, and doesn’t realize it or doesn’t want it. You want to go down this path of creating your own mark…good luck.

With the NBA season finally back, let the rumors and trade talk commence! In the past week, we’ve heard that Chris Paul would like to go to New York, to form a Big 3 up there with Amare and Melo. So I asked, what if he does go to New York…which Big 3 would you take? New York or Miami? The PMB staff weighed in:

The Sacramento Kings were a quick approval away from moving to Anaheim and becoming the Royals, however the fans of the team, along with regional businesses and leaders, most notably Mayor Kevin Johnson, refused to let the team leave by showing an amazing outpouring of support for the franchise. A documentary on the movement to save the Kings titled “Small Market, Big Heart” will be released this December. As a long time fan of this franchise and a person that still calls Sacramento home despite being in Southern California for the last 7 years, I can guarantee that this story will tell an amazing tale of what civic pride, fan loyalty and long awaited political support (both citywide and regional) can do when it comes to sports teams. This documentary will also highlight the special relationship between the Sacramento Kings and the region over the last 26 years. The folks behind the documentary are key members of the famous grassroots movement called “Here We Stay”. They are Kings fans just like me and I can’t wait to see what they have put together. Here’s the trailer…

You can find out more information about the documentary at its website,  www.smallmarketbigheart.com

Photo courtesy of thesportsbank.net

LOS ANGELES, CA — Last night, the NBA finished one of the most thrilling seasons in the past few years. It all started with “The Decision,” and the headlines kept flowing in. “The Big 3 in Miami,” “The Lakers 3-peat,” “ The Celtics last ride,” “ D-Rose and the Bulls,” “Dwight Howard and the new look Magic,” “The up and coming Thunder,” Finally, “Dirk winning the championship.” To think that there would not be a season next year is an absolute shame.

The NBA has also begun experiencing its change of guard with old teams like the Spurs, Celtics, and Lakers slowly falling with young teams like the Thunder, Bulls, and Grizzlies rising. It would be a shame if we don’t get to see what the Spurs, Celtics, and Lakers have left in the tank. It would also be a shame if we don’t get to see how Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant come back and become the faces of the NBA.

Last night’s Game 6 of the NBA Finals ratings were up 59% from last year’s Game 6 and hit a peak rating of 25.121, 5 times what NBC and CBS had last night. First-round games on ABC, ESPN and TNT were watched by an average of 4.15 million people, up from 3.2 million last year and 2.7 million in 2007. David Stern said that, “We actually couldn’t be more pleased. We’re actually a little surprised, but pleasantly.”

The NBA is expecting big increase in NBA merchandise from a season ago. Sal LaRocca, executive vice president of the NBA’s global merchandising group said, “Last year, we had a double-digit increase, but we should end the season well over 20 percent.”

The numbers speak for themselves, but the amount of talent that is in the NBA right now should not be robbed of a season. The lockout would set the NBA back, truly exposing the greed of its players and its owners. The NBA has found itself in a situation where people are watching the NBA because they dislike players and teams so much. For as much flack that Lebron James catches, he makes for great television. Last night in the post game, there were more reporters there to interview James and Wade than the winning Mavericks team.

Let’s hope the owners and the players association figures this out, we need to have a season next year.

This is just an opinion…so please, Pardon My Bias.

Rick Adelman has had a lot of success with teams and individual player development.

LOS ANGELES, CA

According to multiple reports from both Sam Amick of SI and Marc Stein of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers are rumored to be interested in former Rockets head coach Rick Adelman. This should come as no surprise to anyone considering Adelman’s track record and career record of 945-616 (which is 8th all time). A career that no doubt has been much under appreciated by fans and the media all throughout basketball probably because he has yet to win a championship despite guiding the Portland Trail Blazers to two NBA Finals and the Sacramento Kings to within a game of the NBA Finals . While it might sound ridiculous to hire a coach that has no connections with the Los Angeles Lakers and in fact can be seen as part of possibly a major change to Lakerland in general, a closer look at the possible hiring reveals that it could be more of a seamless transition with minor changes in offensive philosophy.

COACHING STYLE

Two words can describe Adelman’s coaching style and they are “players’ coach”. What does that mean? Well…he allows players to be who they are and not conform to any particular status quo like disciplinarians such as Jerry Sloan and Scott Skiles. Ask any player who has ever played for him (and likely had their most productive seasons during his tenure) and they will tell you that they love playing for Coach Adelman because he holds no grudges, has clean slates with any player when meeting them for the first time, and tries very hard to bring out the strengths of his players based on their individual talent level.

X’s and O’s
Adelman runs what is known as the corner series offense which is basically a version of the Princeton and quite similar to the Triangle that was made so famous by Phil Jackson and Tex Winter. The corner series relies on having a very adept passing big man at the elbow that can hit cutters (many of them backdoor) for easy hoops or open perimer players for 3 based on the reactions of the defense to the pin downs. It was highly successful in Sacramento and beautiful to watch for basketball purists that love offense. While this offense has always been a staple of Adelman’s philosophy, he also is not afraid to use the pick and roll when it is effective as many times he has been known to go to it to exploit different advantages.

He gets the most out of his talent

No one can deny this fact. Every stop he has made in his coaching career (Portland, GS, Sacramento, and Houston) has been seen him change players for the better by maximizing their strengths and hiding their weaknesses. In Portland, he a team to two NBA finals against the Bad Boy Pistons and MJ and the Chicago Bulls with Clyde Drexler as his No. 1 primary star. In Sacramento, in his first season as head coach, he turned a group of complete castoffs aka players that were left for dead at some point in their careers (see Jon Barry, Vernon Maxwell, Jason Williams, Chris Webber, Scot Pollard) into key contributors that helped start a string of successfuls seasons going from an offensive circus to a well balanced machine and to a defensive focused team (when Ron Artest’s craziness arrived). What does that mean? Well he can basically adapt to the talent that he has and has the ability to change his team’s style to fit its personnel. No one makes better adjustments than Rick Adelman to his team’s style. He works with what he’s given and doesn’t complain despite never getting a true opportunity with Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming due to constant devastating injuries. He has had the Rockets competing hard all the way down until the final weeks for a playoff birth despite never getting a true opportunity with a full roster.

Bottom Line

This guy is a proven winner and can win anywhere he goes and has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time to show that he is not Phil Jackson’s whipping boy. Do the Lakers have to make some moves to quiet all the end of a dynasty talks? Sure! They need a true point guard that doesn’t just stand outside and shoot jumpers but instead creates shots for his teammates, especially for Kobe’s longevity (who needs to stop having to go isolate before his knees literally die on the court) and is excellent on the pick and roll and can defend those same type of guards as well as the fast ones like Westbrook, Rose and all the bright young ones that will take over the league in the next 10 years. They clearly also need more athleticism all around to keep up with the league but that should not stop them from hiring a proven winner over inexperienced coaches with no track record. Sure Shaw has been in the system the last 6 or so years but what does that truly mean? It means it will be a seamless transition to the same old boring triangle offense (don’t get me wrong it works but is that really why the Lakers have been contenders the last 3 years?…its their size advantage). Yes he has credibility and the support of the leaders on the team (Fish and Kobe) but what else besides that?

Rick Adelman would be a good fit for this team and deserves the opportunity  (let me go throw up now).

We now know that the New Jersey Nets are out of the running for Carmelo Anthony, or so they say. So many believe it is now up to the New York Knicks to finalize a deal but why are the Golden State Warriors not making a bigger splash in the Carmelo sweepstakes? Although I am not considering salaries and such, I do believe the Warriors have a great chance to land Carmelo.

The Warriors are 19-25 after starting the season pretty strong but they do have a vast amount of young talent. So, like I said, I am not considering how salaries and such can match up, but here are some players that could be used to get this trade done: Monta Ellis, Dorell Wright, Reggie Williams and Vladimir Radmanovic. I did not include Stephen Curry because I personally would rather keep him on the roster and trade off Monta Ellis.

Could the Warriors trade Monta Ellis to the Nuggets for Carmelo Anthony? Photo courtesy of www.bothteamsplayedhard.net

Monta is averaging about 25.8 points,  3.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists. You think the Nuggets would like having him in return for their all-star player? Of course they would love to get him! He would be a close replacement for the scoring that Carmelo provides the Nuggets and his youth is another upside. Monta can flat out score. Another player who is having a good season is Dorell Wright. He is averaging 16.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and is scoring 2.5 3-pointers a game.

Now let us explore the lineup that the Warriors could potentially have if they are able to land Carmelo:

PG: Stephen Curry

SG: Reggie Williams (If they trade him then this position will be filled by somebody else)

SF: Carmelo Anthony

PF: David Lee

C: Andris Biedrins

Seems like a pretty strong lineup to me! They would have a young, talented point guard in Curry, the superstar in Carmelo Anthony and a very good power forward in David Lee. I am not sure how large of an impact this team can make but they could potentially be a huge threat. It would be a very talented team that has the ability to really make a run. The biggest issue would be whether or not Carmelo even wants to go to Golden State. He has made it known that he would like to go to New York but the Knicks do not seem to have the right pieces to make this trade.

The chances of the Warriors landing Carmelo are most likely very slim, but it wouldn’t hurt them to try to get involved. Monta Ellis is good but Carmelo is better!

Durant is set for an MVP caliber season, photo courtesy of everyjoe.com

MVP – Kevin Durant

I look for Durant and the Thunder to have a big season competing for the second spot in the Western Conference. This is the year the Thunder will have to show growth, which will allow Durant to get some more recognition. Fresh off a gold medal in Turkey, Durant has his eyes set on a huge year.

Defensive Player of the Year – Ron Artest

Artest has preached his importance on playing defense. Ron knows that it is his role to be the stopper on the team and has totally accepted it. He has got his weight down in order to matchup to any number 1 guard in the league.

Most Improved Player – Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert has a lot to prove this year. He hasn’t started the preseason off well by faking an injury, but for once it wasn’t about Gilbert. He tried to do it for someone else. Arenas has came out and said this is John Wall’s team and he’s going to teach him the ropes. Arenas seems focused enough to have a big year.

6^th Man – Lamar Odom

Odom is also coming off a huge gold medal win for the US in Turkey and is looking better than ever. He is in shape and has got the experience of the international game which can transfer to big results in the NBA. The international game is a much more physical game and Odom was averaging a double-double in the elimination games. Odom will be the huge spark off the bench for the Lakers.

DMC was the 5th pick in the NBA Draft, photo courtesy of http://www.kingsfans.com

Rookie of the Year – DeMarcus Cousins

I think the Sixers, Nets, and Timberwolves made a huge mistake by passing up Cousins. I think he has more upside than any other player in this draft and the whole bad character issue is just an excuse. If the Wolves were really worried about that, they wouldn’t have picked up Michael Beasly, but that Kahn at his best. This award will go to either Cousins or Wall, but I think Cousins has a better chance due to his team and situation. Cousins has to opportunity to develop as a true post player, something the game is totally lacking.

Coach of the Year – Eric Spoelstra

Spoelstra should have himself the team with best record in the league. He will have to manage the three superstars and it will be interesting to see how he does that. Everyone has been asking who is going to take the last shot, and the answer from the Big 3 has been whatever coach says. I believe Spoelstra is a good coach, but he will be put to the ultimate test this year. Everyone thinks it’s easy to coach when your team has superstars, but it becomes more of a management role than it does coaching. The best example of this is Phil Jackson. Many complain that he never gets up and calls timeouts, but his team already knows what they have to do, so he manages the game. Spoelstra will have to evolve into a manager, and I see him be able to do that.

Eastern Conference Champions – Miami Heat

This team (or trio) definitely has what it takes to win a lot of games. My concerns are the post game and the role players. Haslem and Miller will have to play big roles, especially if one of them go down with injury, a problem already. The Heat haven’t had one full game to really gel together yet and the preseason would have been valuable time to get that done. The competition in the East is fierce; the Celtics will not give up this crown easy either. Other teams have emerged as well such as the Bulls, the Magic, the Hawks, and the Bucks.

Western Conference Champions – Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers clearly have the best roster in the league. Any bench concerns were definitely answered this offseason with the acquisitions of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake, and Theo Ratliff. The Western Conference is weaker than ever, and the Lakers should get through it pretty easily.

LA could be celebrating again come June, photo courtesy of nydailynews.com

Champions – Los Angeles Lakers

The Heat do not have the physicality to matchup to the Lakers, and that is truly where they will feast. The Lakers won last year’s finals because of rebounding, and this will be the case if this series happens as well. Rebounding and defense wins championships, and the Lakers are a much better rebounding and defensive team than Miami.

A lot of hype but now its time to get down to business for the Heat.

MIAMI, FL

I don’t know if any of you guys have watched footage of the Miami Heat’s first two days of training camp (Check ESPN and Heat.com if you are curious)…but if you are seeing what I am seeing then the rest of the league outside of maybe LA and Boston may need to take some mental notes of their own.

First thing to note, it is clear that LeBron James is pissed off about all of us hating on his “decision”, legacy, competitive fire, etc.. It is clear that this new found hatred was what he needed to become “all about business” as he likes to put it. As difficult as it is to imagine that players need extra motivation to strive to get the most out of their talent; this is clearly the case with LeBron. From the clips I have seen, he has put his stamp on the team already vocally during their intense defensive practices.

Second thing to note, with LeBron and D. Wade on the floor, the Miami Heat could become a lock down defensive team that may not allow teams to break 70 points. Both these players are excellent on-ball defenders when they want to be and should be able to create easy transition points that will put them well ahead of the league in fast breaks dunks and alley-oops.

Third thing to keep in mind, this team is fueled by the hatred, scrutiny, and the golden opportunity presented before them. Players like Carlos Arroyo,  Zydrunas Illgauskas, Mike Miller, Jamaal Magloire and Juwan Howard know that this will be the best opportunity they ever have to win it all. Don’t underestimate Eddie House and his newly slimmed down frame and attitude as he recently stated his desire to prove that he should never have been traded by Boston.

Finally, LeBron will get to thrive in a role that might have been more suited for him than being the primary scorer as well as playmaker. He will just have to be the primary playmaker (in my opinion) on this team and get to do his best Magic Johnson imitation. The prospect of him being able to possibly average a triple-double this year is very realistic with Dwyane Wade being the scoring machine on the wing and multiple shooters around him in Jones, Miller, and House.

While the one question mark still remains what they will have at the 5 (they should have signed Erick Dampier for insurance in my opinion) with Howard, Haslem, Magloire and Illgauskas all expected to contribute, this team still looks like a superpower for years to come. The question is… can they exceed my expectations and win it all in year 1?

This is just an opinion …so please Pardon My Bias