December In The NBA

It’s that time of the month folks, when I chime in with 10 observations from the previous month’s NBA action. Let’s get straight into it.

1. Chris Bosh Needs To Get His Hands Dirty

For the Miami Heat to reach their enormous potential (complete domination) Chris Bosh will have to undergo the same transformation as Paul Gasol – that is, removing the softness from his game. Gasol is still a finesse player in style, but he’s added grunt to his play on both ends of the floor. I acknowledge Bosh’s strong play of late, but in a seven-game playoff series an aggressive team like Boston with a big front line will expose him, as they did to Gasol and Odom in 2008.

Let’s not sugar coat it; Chris Bosh is a powder puff, a 6-11 jump-shooter who shies away from physical contact. But he can adapt. Instead of taking stand-still jumpers from the top of the key, rebounding and establishing a presence down low must become his priority. As was the case with Gasol, until he can make this transformation the scrutiny will be immense and the criticism harsh.

The reality is that Miami would have been better served with David Lee as their power forward; his heart and hustle would have been the perfect complement to LeBron and Wade. The price tag would have been $20-30m less, which would have allowed them to sign another role player (ex. Raymond Felton).

I am not saying that Miami’s success depends on Chris Bosh, in fact, far from it. I think they will go as far as LeBron and Wade will take them. But if Bosh wants to assist the cause and make this team unbeatable, he needs to roll up his sleaves and get his hands dirty.
Read more of my article at NBAMate

Stephen A. Smith - Heart Over Head?

Published by http://www.dailybasketball.com/ on 20/06/2008
Link: http://www.dailybasketball.com/2008/06/20/stephen-a-smith-heart-over-head.html

ESPN’s resident NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith could never be accused of ‘sitting on the fence’. He is opinionated, passionate and forthright when discussing issues that relate to the NBA. But just how accurate are his predications?

During his segments on ESPN’s Sportcenter, NBA Shootaround and the halftime show, Stephen A. often berates other panelists for having an opinion different to his own. He tends to talk in a manner that suggests his opinion is fact and the only one that counts. But during these rants, I can’t help but cast my mind back to three of his predictions, that were not only cringe-worthy at the time, but downright embarrassing today.

Prediction 1
At the 2006 NBA Draft, Stephen A. heavily criticized (ridiculed almost) Portland Trailblazers GM Kevin Pritchard for making a series of draft day trades that netted them LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. Today, these two guys are arguably the best players to emerge from the entire 2006 draft (along with Rudy Gay), and would both be in the top 10 most promising young players in the league. They form the foundation of a Blazers team (along with Greg Oden) that will, barring major injury, contend for a title in the coming years.

Prediction 2
At the 2007 NBA Draft, upon hearing that the New York Knicks traded for Zach Randolph, Stephen A. went on to proclaim that the Knicks would drastically improve and be a contender in the East. At the time I thought, “what planet is this guy living on?” Zach Randolph has never helped a team in the win column, is a poor defender and has had numerous off-the-court and on-the-court issues. Not to mention that they already had a guy on their roster who was eerily similar (Eddy Curry). Yet Stephen A. proclaimed him to be the savior of the Knicks, even though his price tag was $60 million over four years, further constricting them financially. In a long line of bad trades, this was another terrible trade for the Knicks. I don’t need to remind anyone how this situation turned out.

Prediction 3
Prior to the 2007/08 season, when asked who he thought were NBA title contenders, Stephen A. confidently predicted the Denver Nuggets. On what basis, I am still not sure. The Nuggets were beaten easily by the Spurs in the first round of the 2007 Playoffs (4-1). The only additions to their roster were Chucky Atkins and an injury plagued Kenyon Martin, hardly enough to get them by the elite teams in the West. I found it beyond belief that a person with Stephen A’s basketball background could predict that a team such as Nuggets, who are totally deficient defensively, could win the NBA championship, especially when it has never been done before. In my opinion, he grossly overestimated Carmelo Anthony’s ability to do what was necessary to lead his team to victory.

Look, I don’t expect media analysts to be 100% accurate with their predictions and in fact, I do believe that most of what Stephen A says is bang on. However, being way off the mark with the above predictions does make me question his credibility at times.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike the guy, in fact I love his passion for the game of basketball. However, in this instance with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, I believe it demonstrates that on occasion Stephen A’s heart rules Stephen A’s head.

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