NBA Is In Full Swing And We Have The League Leaders, For Now
Jazz & Bucks align at the top of the league. What’s the current situation in Brooklyn? And how are things going in LA?
NBA Is In Full Swing And We Have The League Leaders, For Now
At the top, as per expected, the Milwaukee Bucks led by previous MVP and Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is easily taking the Eastern Conference at the moment with a 10-1 record. The star himself is averaging over 31 points a game and 12 rebounds and has had production from players such as Jrue Holiday, and Brook Lopez, and rising role players in Jevon Carter and Bobby Portis.
Speaking of Carter, he reached his career high of 36 against Oklahoma City last night as the Bucks squad has been able to squeak out victories even while their leader takes a night off to rest. If this team also had their former All-Star in Khris Middleton, I don’t know how any team could match up pound for pound with these young Bucks.
Giannis makes the big 3 formula look dumb and his team has stuck to the philosophy of attacking the paint judiciously and pairing it with ferocious defense. Taking Milwaukee especially with an active Giannis on the court to win most of their games this season is a fine bet and Utah as well with an immensely shot-making depth squad that has thrived after removing Gobert from the scene and adding Lauri Markkanen spread the floor.
Everything Besides the Net
Brooklyn is burning in flames. One of their stars Kyrie Irving, known for his previous controversial takes and absences of last season has carried over those same bad habits going into this year but ten times worse. He was quick to post anti-Semitic comments on his social media and denying to address and apologizing to the mass after doing so.
Not only that, the team even before this hasn’t been able to mesh and play up to par which leads recently to the firing of the head coach Steve Nash to start the year. Their experiment with Ben Simmons has also led to failing Brooklyn.
As not only has Ben’s skill taken a big drop-off since his Philly days, but if you watch the actual games you’ll see flashes of lost confidence in the man where he’ll wildly miss easy layups or shots, or be too passive and hesitant in general to rather make an aggressive defensive play or slash to the rim like the rookie year Simmons we all remember seeing.
Joe Tsai the owner, while not too happy with his team’s situation, he’s not afraid to stand up for his team, himself, and the community and has tried to make good decisions. Such as temporarily suspending Kyrie for his actions off the court and getting an interim head coach to maybe change the mentality and drift of where this Brooklyn boat is sailing.
You have to imagine with their leader in Kevin Durant who’s averaging 31 points has to think and I wouldn’t expect him to be with this organization after this season completes itself. Total dysfunction will call for a total rebuild. But we’ll just have to wait and see.
LEwinning or LElosing Still?
Did sending Russell Westbrook to the bench work? Was that the missing formula? Has it translated to wins? Is LeBron happy? Well, I can answer some of these for you. The Lakers are indeed still losing. Shockingly, Westbrook is actually improving with his new role scoring 26 against Utah.
And the team has yet to acquire or find within their roster their own marksman which they truly need to spread the floor for assets such as AD or LeBron. With the second-worst record in basketball at 2-9, my prediction of the “Tank for Wembanyama” sweepstakes is looking more obvious day by day and I think the possibility can be seen highly that it comes to fruition.
Will LeBron cop out and leave if this season ends like that? Probably not. He likes LA and he wants to continue his acting roles out there. I also don’t think he’ll mind picking and rolling on the top of the key and then choosing to roll it out and shoot or throw a lob to the “Greek Freak Jr.” in Victor.
Houston, Detroit, or Los Angeles have to be the top best bets to take the future of the league very soon.
