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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - Central Division |
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Monday, 27 October 2008 |
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Continuing D Mizz's evaluation of the upcoming NBA Season. Today's segment looks at the Eastern Conference Central Division.
Without a doubt, we know the Pistons are contenders. We know the potential they have and we know this core group of players has done it before, so they can do it again. Besides handing the keys over to Michael Curry, this off-season was supposed to bring in some new faces to the roster. Instead, they're keeping their core and letting the young guys add some fresh legs to the mix. Check out the job Joe Dumars is doing in DE-TROIT. How many execs can keep their team a contender and rebuild at the same time? Let me count - None. Even the Spurs, you get the feeling they're going to have a few slow seasons coming up. But the Pistons have three youngsters that are total beasts. Amir Johnson, Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiel make for the deepest bench in the league. This is probably the last year for Sheed, Chauncey, Rip and Tayshawn doing it together, so hopefully they take it seriously, like they did for LB. If the Pistons do that, then they are most definitely in it to win it. But are they too late, and the opportunity passed?
The most boring team in the East, just got a lot quicker. TJ Ford finally brings to the Pacers a full-time point guard. Last season, JO and Jamal Tinsley were hurt almost the entire season, and they wound up missing the playoffs by one game! The trade of JO for TJ Ford doesn't just give the Pacers a solid option at the point (as long as he doesn't get taken off the court in a stretcher...again), but also has the last of the three main faces from 'The Brawl' leaving the team. Does this start a new era for Pacer Basketball? Danny Granger is a flat out stud. Last season, Mike Dunleavy played out of his mind. However, the departure of JO leaves a gaping hole in the post. Who exactly is even playing the 4 and 5 in Indiana? They have Jeff Foster, Troy Murphy and Rasho Nesterovic. Wow. Good luck with that. They better pray this guy Hibbert out of GTown is the real deal (or at least a decent deal).
When is Lebron James going to stop exceeding expectations? No, seriously, this is nutso. When he was in high school, most hyped player ever, no problem. Rookie, again. Took his team the playoffs, took his team to the FINALS! Last year, the Cavs almost went back, but lost to the eventual champs in a playoff perfect, defensive battle, in Game 7. You can pick any WNBA team, add LeBron James, and they’re a contender. Does Mo Williams push them over the top? I think he does, but I'm worried about Z's knees. Last year he played a lot more than usual, so we shouldn’t expect the same this year. Besides that, the Cavs are more of the same. It's amazing to watch Coach Brown focus almost entirely on Defense and see this team advance in the playoffs. This is the perfect example of how defense, slowing the game down, playing half-court ball are essential to playoff basketball. Offense comes and goes, but consistently solid defense can be dominant all the time.
Before the start of last season, people had high hopes for the Chicago Bulls. In fact, they were favored by many a sports writer to win the east. We don’t know if it was the Kobe trade talk, or the over-hyped expectations, or the fact that they tuned out their coach after years of tough practices and 100% effort. Do the Bulls redeem themselves from last years disappointing season? While they weren’t the worst team of the season last year, they wound up drafting like one. With the #1 pick in the 2008 draft, the Bulls select: Derrick Rose! How good can Derrick Rose become? I don’t quite see him winning the Rookie of the Year Award, but in a few years, this kid might turn into a total beast (See: Williams, Deron). The contract negotiations with Ben Gordon fell short of an agreement, but that just means Benny G is playing for a contract this year. They should see some production from him as first off the bench, as usual.I’m not quite sure what they’re doing in Milwaukee. You have to think they lost out in the Yi Jianlian deal, strictly for the reason that the interest from China will no longer be there. In return, they got Richard Jefferson, who with Michael Redd could give the Bucks one of the best 2-3 combos in the game. This should allow Michael Redd to get some set shots, instead of having to create his own. Did the Bucks get good enough to make some noise? I still don’t think Andrew Bogut is going to be a solid center in this league. He simply seems too short to play that position. He gets crushed on the D-Boards (while funny enough putting up decent numbers on the O-Boards). He’s a great passer, but I just don’t see him matching up with the Elton Brands, Chris Bosh, JO, KG, etc, of the Eastern Conference. Are the Bucks too thin in the frontcourt? For now, it’s a sure thing. They have Dan Gadzuric as their backup big. Who??
For more from D Mizz, check out Breaking Down The Game
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Sunday, 26 October 2008 |
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By now you will have heard of the news that former NY Knick Coach and General Manager Isiah Thomas OD'ed on sleeping pills on Friday. Information is now coming to light as to the events that led up to this incident.
To say that Thomas's tenure at Madison Square Garden was not the smoothest or ideal to the satisfaction of the organization and fans would be a gross understatement. His tenure was rocked by questionable moves, the hiring and firning of Hall of Fame Coach Larry Brown after one season, and then his own abortive attempt of righting the ship as coach. There was a sexual harrasment lawsuit that he and the Knicks lost to a former employee and run-ins with its star player, Stephon Marbury.
Truth is, we here at Game Over thought it best that Isiah was removed from the operational side of the organization and applauded the decision by management to do so. But that has no bearing on the fact that we wish him and his family the best in dealing with this crisis in his life.
We remember Zeke as arguably the best small point guard to ever play the game. His infectious smile and street-tough atttitude guided the Detroit Pistons to two NBA Championships. He led Bobby Knight's Indiana team to a NCAA Championship over Syracuse. Quite simply, he was great.
And even if he wasn't, no one deserves the purgatory he has been living. Some, if not all, may be self-made or even seen only through his perspective. Whatever it is, we hope he comes through healthier and stronger. He just has to remember to fight like that kid from Chicago, as he always did.
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New Game Over Contributor D Mizz Recognized By NY Newsday |
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 |
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We want to offer our congratulations to our newest team member, D Mizz. In todays New York Newsday (October 22, 2008) D Mizz is sited as "a promising new NBA blog with some insightful breakdowns of the division races". We think so too. Why else would we have him here at gameovernyc.com?
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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - Celtics |
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Wednesday, 22 October 2008 |
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Continuing D Mizz's evaluation of the NBA Northeast for the 2008-09 Season
Oh yea, I know what will stop them (76er's) . . . The 2008-2009 World Champion Boston Celtics. When the season started, they weren’t losing; we wondered how did they pull it together so quickly and When will they stop winning? The playoffs started, and we thought the pressure would be too much for Game 7 after Game 7, but they just kept winning. Finally, taking it to the Lakers and getting the ring. The only thing we play for; rings. Can the Celtics keep up the fire, the intensity, and the motivation, to do it again? Repeating is usually the hardest thing to do, because you’ve gotten to the top of the mountain, and you accomplished your goal. However, they have the single most intense basketball player to ever play the game. KG won’t let them slow down, and if that’s the case, there’s only one question to be asked: Can these old legs (or ankles, in Ray’s case) carry the weight of every team looking to take down the champs?
For more from D Mizz, check out Breaking Down The Game
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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - 76er's |
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Tuesday, 21 October 2008 |
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Continuing D Mizz's evaluation of the NBA Northeast for the 2008-09 Season
Ed Stefanski is clearly making his mark quickly in Philadelphia. The Sixers picked up Elton Brand after he walked out the back door of a Los Angeles signing. This was the perfect pickup at the perfect time. This season they have essentially the same exact team, plus EB. Does that make this former 7-seed, an instant contender? With the abnormal agility/ability of A.I.v2, Andre Miller’s experience running the point, Dalembert constantly improving on both ends of the court, What will stop them? At first you’d think an Andre Miller injury at the point, will slow this team down, but don’t forget about the Rondo-like abilities of Lou Williams.
For more from D Mizz, check out Breaking Down The Game
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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - Raptors |
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Monday, 20 October 2008 |
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Continuing D Mizz's evaluation of the NBA Northeast for the 2008-09 Season
Surprisingly enough, one the hottest stories of the Northeast, is north of the border. The Raptors made the biggest trade of the off-season, getting X-Pacer Jermaine O’Neal, but, Can he stay healthy? Is losing TJ Ford making the backcourt too thin? If Jose Calderon avoid an injury, they’ll be fine. Most of last season, Calderon had one of the best Assist to Turnover ratios in the league, and his stats, if repeated, will land him in the All-Star Game. Pushing CB4 to his natural position will definitely improve his numbers. We also must mention, he was one of the best players/surprises in Beijing. You know what that’ll do to confidence, and you know what confidence can do to your game.
For more from D Mizz, check out Breaking Down The Game
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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - Nets |
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Sunday, 19 October 2008 |
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Continuing D Miz's evaluation of the upcoming NBA Season
Part I – The Eastern Conference: NorthEast
This off-season, the Nets unloaded some big contracts and the seemingly century-long services of Richard Jefferson. They picked up the Chinese star, Yi Jianlian, which will bring about 100 million or more viewers to what projects to be the one of the worst teams in the East. Rod Thorn is going into LeBron for President, er, I mean, LeBron-for-the-Brooklyn-Nets-in-the-2010/11-season mode. That is, if they even move to Brooklyn. A story that hasn’t been touched on often…How long can Lawrence Frank last? We know he’s highly regarded as one of the best, and definitely the hardest working coach of the league. But, similar to Scott Skiles in Chicago, How long will the players listen to the same teacher? Hopefully he can make it through the growing pains, to LeBron coming into town. If so, we’ll be talking about Lawrence Frank like we talk about Jerry Sloan. If not, there will be a very high quality coach available to the highest bidder.
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Questioning the '08-'09 NBA Season - Knicks |
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Saturday, 18 October 2008 |
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Today begins a new feature from Game Over's newest contributor - D Miz! Welcome to the team Danny. As you will see through this series and in additional comments and observations from Danny in the future, he's got an opinion on everything. Enjoy.
Part I – The Eastern Conference: NorthEast
The Knicks have no where to go but up, Right? I would love to think that, but I also said that approximately seven times last season and was wrong every time. Will the Knicks show some respectability this year? Can Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni right the ship? Let’s just hope so, since the best franchise in basketball, playing at the world’s most famous arena, has the potential to bring an extraordinary amount of popularity to the game. The Knicks are playing to improve, while Donnie is playing to get some cap space. When will the damage from Isiah go away? They’re still the highest salary in the league, and they’re still in cap trouble until 2011, so something needs to happen. David Lee, and Nate Robinson would be nice contracts to sign long-term, but if they can’t shed some of the Isiah-made mess, then the might have to pass on that grass.
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Tuesday, 14 October 2008 |
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Everybody has their favorite time of the year. Some even have their favorite day of the year. Here at Game Over World Headquarters several of our staff chipped-in their ideas. Christmas morning (we can understand that). New Years Day. Birthday. Opening Day of the baseball season. And then there was the one that we agreed with the most - October 15th.
The 15th is the universal day of showing what you got, how much you improved over the summer. Its the day when you get to officially make that first impression on the coach. Its the day (or midnight madness) when everyone in the community comes out to show their support. The day when you break in the new pair of kicks.
Its the first official day of pracitce on the high school and collegiate level. Undefeated seasons and championship rings are all possible. Hard work, sweat, suicides, box-out drills, fast break schemes, defensive slides, more suicides, and trying to make the cut are known by all that ever have laced up a pair of sneakers. It is the time when old teams reunite with new teammates. It is the best day of the year. Game Over.
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