Good and Bad: Week Two 11/1 -11/8

Good:

Bobcats – The Bobcats won their home opener this year. This is a major step in the right direction. The win ended the Bobcats 23 game losing streak from last year. Although they lost their next two games they were competitive to an extent in each. This is new.

Damian Lillard – Averaging over 20 points per game, seven plus assists, and at this point is leading my rookie of the year. Yes it is very, very early but he is dominating and playing with the ball in his hands all the time.

Brandon Jennings – You think he wanted a max contract? Through three games he is averaging 10.3 assists, hit a game winner, and the team is 2-1. He is also averaging about 17 points. He looks like a different point guard and could be making his case to be the number one option in Milwaukee over Monta Ellis. GET HIM PAID.

Kyle Lowry – This guy is playing like a top 7 guard in the league. Averaging 23-7-7. He also outplayed Brooklyn’s Deron Williams who not too long ago was considered by many the best point guard in the league. Of course I wrote this before the Oklahoma City game, in which Lowry was hurt. Lowry sprained his right ankle and is day-to-day, hopefully he will be back so I can enjoy watching the Raptors again.

Rockets – Daryl Morey has to be riding high right now. The James Harden trade currently looks like a steal. And Harden looks like he can lead the league in scoring. But I am not going to go that far yet cause the only elite defender he has played against was Andre Iguodala. Harden only had 15 points, but it was his efficiency that suffered 15 points on 15 shots is not efficient. Even though this team is only 2-2 imagine where they would be with out this trade.

Knicks – The Knicks are absolutely destroying their competition. How long have I been waiting for this? I can’t even comment on their play, it is that good. Melo is playing like a defensive player of the year, eye-test, and the Knicks are 1st in offensive rating. To go along with that great offensive rating they are second in defensive rating. That is scary.

Clippers and Spurs – These two teams played last evening and the Clippers dominated. There records, play so far, and future potential are not why they are here, although those all look phenomenal. They are the beneficiaries of terrible play and adjustment periods. The Lakers are going through an adjustment period and are having trouble winning, now Steve Nash is hurt, no one really knows his time-table for return either. The Thunder, last years Western Conference champs, traded James Harden who may have been their second best player. This guy killed the Spurs last year and takes a huge dimension out of the Thunders repertoire. That being said I think these two teams have a terrific shot at making the finals, solely based on the 5 games they have played.

Bad:

Scheduling – Why NBA, why? What are you thinking with this scheduling? 13 games on Wednesday, 2 games on Thursday, and 3 games on Tuesday. How does anyone person watch 13 games? Split them up please, mainly so I can maximize my game watching.

Lakers –  They got a win, but still it was against the Pistons. The Pistons are the worst team in the league. Losing to the Clippers in the battle of LA is not a good sign. Then they followed up their lone win with a poor performance against the Jazz. The Lakers cannot put the two ends of the floor together at once. One night they score and lose while the next night they cannot score but play exceptional defense.

Hello Brooklyn – The Nets blew a 22 point lead to the Timberwolves. This wouldn’t be that awful if the Timberwolves had Love or even Rubio but they had neither. The nets are still the nets with the billions spent and town change. They followed this poor late performance against the wolves with a poor all-around performance losing by 30 to the Heat.

Derrick Williams – So I think the D-Will project is over now in Minnesota. The team has played better with him off the floor including the 22 point come back against Brooklyn. Really they have no need for Williams and no room for him in the rotation when Kevin Love comes back. He is not going to take minutes from Love nor Kirilenko. Cunningham has proven himself to be the best backup for Love and brings a ton of energy off the bench. Budinger has been solid off the bench behind Kirilenko, Kirilenko is also a better option at the four than Williams. So what do you do with Williams? Trade him. He is an asset and the Wolves should be shopping him. He has already been involved in trade rumors for Pau Gasol last year and the Wolves could really use a backup 2 guard to fill it up off the bench.

Pistons – The worst team in the league is not the Magic nor the Bobcats it is the Pistons. Going into last nights game they were 25th in offensive rating and 30th in defensive rating. They lost to the Kings, yeah it is that bad. Also Stuckey through the first four games is shooting 6 for 40. Let that soak in for a minute. And last evening they lost to the Kings. Stuckey improved his shooting though, 2-6. His line last night puts him at an astounding 8-46 on the year.

Related articles

• The Good and Bad: Week One (ontheballsportsmv.wordpress.com)