Profiling the NBA Contenders: Thunder

Tweet With less than a quarter of the regular season left, it seems like a perfect time to spend the next few weeks taking a closer look at the contenders for the NBA title. Our first look will be on the Thunder of Oklahoma City.

Overview

Currently, OKC (I hate that this is the only short form nickname for them, it adds to my heavy dislike of this team) sits second in the Western conference with an impressive record of 54-20 (as of this writing). They have an outside shot of catching the Spurs for the one-seed, and are led by the impressive tandem of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Last season, the Thunder made the NBA finals and are hoping to take that final step to win this year.

Key Players

If it wasn't for Lebron submitting one of the greatest seasons ever, Durant would be the run-away MVP, he is averaging 28.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game (all above his career averages) while shooting an astonishing 50% from the field, 40% from 3 and above 90% at the free-throw line. Durant has the ability to dominate playoff series, and take over in big moments, an absolute must for a team hoping to win a title. Although Durant is the best player on his team, his supporting cast is not too shabby. He is flanked by Russell Westbrook, a very dynamic and explosive player that you are not winning against if he is on his "A" game (more on this in a bit). In addition to Westbrook, the Thunder also have Serge Ibaka, one of the best interior defenders and athletes in the league along with Kevin Martin (a 20 ppg player on most other teams, but a role player on the Thunder. If Martin is your fourth best player, you are in good shape).

Strengths

Star power, a great home-court advantage, benefit of every borderline call, can protect leads, can adapt to play slow, fast, quick, or big, RussellWestbrook.

Weaknesses

Questionable coaching (especially when Scottie Brooks insisted on staying with Kendrick Perkins in the finals last year instead of starting James Harden and matching Miami's small-ball approach), poor late game execution; usually its just one guy going one-on-one and forcing a terrible shot (they get away with this because that guy is usually Kevin Durant), and Russell Westbrook.

You may have noticed that Russell Westbrook is featured as both a strength and a weakness. This is because if Westbrook brings that aforementioned "A" game, where he involves his teammates, is an absolute beast defensively, and does not force shots, the Thunder are unbeatable. However, for every "A" game Westbrook provides, he also provides games where he forces too much, shoots a long two with 22 seconds on the shot clock and blows possessions by not running the offense (not giving the ball to Durant) and looking for all the glory. Most often this results in one of those "how did we blow that game" games.

Key Question

How will the second unit and crunch time line-ups function without James Harden once the playoffs start?

Playoff Match-up Casual Fans Would Like To See Most

A duel with James Harden and the high-scoring Houston Rockets. Hands down.

 
Why They Will Win

Westbrook provides more "A" games than "F" games, a third (James harden would have been this) option emerges who relieves some of the burden of the offense that Durant and Westbrook provide, Derek Fisher hits some clutch shots.

Why They Will Lose

A third option does not emerge, Miami meets them in the finals, They get worn out from tough Western conference series, Scottie Brooks and Russell Westbrook blow winnable games with questionable decision making.

Next feature: Miami Heat

Playoff Awards: Second Edition

Tweet Enough time has passed since part one of this award gimmick (part two would have been up sooner, but life and summer got in the way), meaning that its time to hand out some more awards! You will notice one glaring omission, but don't worry, I will explain myself at the end. Without further delay, on to the awards!

I always defend like this!

'The Dick Bavetta Award' - Usually reserved for the single, worst ref in these playoffs, this year however, every NBA ref gets it, a team effort baby! So why is it a team award? Let's run through a checklist: Inconsistent calls? Check. Bad calls? Check. Calls where multiple players start laughing in disbelief? Check. Really bad interpretations of flagrant fouls and technical fouls? Check (we are not done talking about those yet). It amazes me that we are in the year 2012, and the NBA doesn't even have an idea to improve officiating (ignoring the problem does not help anyone in the long run). Hopefully, this will become a non-issue, but I doubt it.

The Millennium NBA playoff preview

Tweet With the NBA playoffs starting today, how can we not put up an article with some analysis (may contain predictions), but we will do more than that with Luka doing a full on running diary of the day's action that will be posted later. So, without wasting too much of your time, let's preview each series (in the order of the weekend TV schedule).

# 1 Chicago Bulls vs. # 8 Philadelphia 76ers

Or as I like to call this one "integrate Derick Rose into the line-up" series. Chicago could not have asked for a better match-up. The 76ers like to play defense and slow it down, they are offensively challenged, and some would argue that Philly didn't even deserve to make the playoffs with the way they closed out the season. On our podcast (which should be posted fairly soon) Luka made the argument that all teams need a closer, or at least someone who they know is going to be taking all of the big shots late in games, Philly definitely does not have "that guy" and it will probably hurt them in this series. There really isn't much to say about the Bulls, they are a contender, they managed to win 50 games despite Rose missing a significant chunk of time, and they will be ready. Expect a quick series, with few entertaining games.

The prediction: Bulls in 5.

# 2 Miami Heat vs. # 7 New York Knicks

Recapping the week in the NBA

Tweet When I decided to start this weekly segment last week, I had no idea that we, the fans, would be treated to such a great week of NBA basketball. The week had a little bit of everything, from playoff races, to MVP races, to complete collapse, I have you covered.

It is only right that I begin by talking about that amazing game between the Miami Heat and OKC Thunder, The game was so good that it had analysts salivating over a potential finals match-up between the two teams. What I think got lost in all of this, is the fact that the game was actually very sloppy and poorly played, Durant had nine turnovers by himself! What made this game good was the officiating (let a lot of things go), the competitiveness, and the hard fouls. You truly got a sense that these two teams did not like each other and they were playing like it. What made the game even better was the match-up of Lebron vs. Durant, with Lebron basically telling everyone that was trying to build hype for the Durant MVP campaign last week, that the MVP trophy is his to lose. He completely shut down Durant in the final minutes and was the entire Heat offence in the fourth quarter, it was nice to see him step up and separate himself from everyone else on the court. He rose to the occasion and did not shrink from it, of course this means nothing until the playoffs start so stay tuned.

Last week I also named a few teams who had very important weeks coming up that would likely determine their fate in regards to making the playoffs, those teams were Memphis, the Knicks, and the Celtics. The Grizzlies took care of business in a very impressive 4-1 week (with the one loss being to Dallas in the third game in a back-to-back-to-back set, and they avenged that loss by beating Dallas three days later) that has given them some breathing room in the crowded Western conference. Memphis could get as high as a 3-seed if they keep playing this well, and continue to be a scary match-up for anyone. The Knicks actually managed to climb to the 7-seed in the East (because Philly is self-com-busting at this point) and beat a Rose-led Bulls team in OT. They are also winning enough games to keep the streaking Bucks at bay, while waiting for the health statuses of Stoudemire and Lin, a solid week for the Knicks. Lastly, the Celtics stumbled a bit with losses to the Bulls and Spurs (although not many teams would beat those two teams) but recovered to beat Indiana and Philadelphia. Boston is really playing some good ball and at this point there really is not much more to say about the team. They did not fold this year, (when they had every chance to do so) they stuck together, and now worst of all (for every other team) they are starting to believe.

But enough about the teams that are actually taking care of business, on to the teams that are doing the exact opposite. Firstly, OKC is no longer the West's number one overall seed having lost three games in a row and only snapping that skid with a win against the lowly Raptors. For a young team that has yet to win a title like OKC, home-court advantage is a must and they have let it slip away. Another team that is doing its best NOT to make the playoffs are the 76ers. I have no idea what happened to this team, but within the span of two weeks the race for the East's 8-seed went from a two-team to a three-team race, and you know what? I think New York and Milwaukee both make it and Doug Collins' early season COY bid becomes a thing of comedy. I will conclude this segment with the obvious: the Orlando Magic. I am actually amazed that SVG still has a job coaching this team. While I am on his side in this (he did get screwed over by Shaq in Miami) there is no way you can keep him around at this point right? Could any other coach get away with completely throwing his star player under the bus? Needless to say, Orlando is in the middle of a funk that could drop them even lower than the 6-seed they find themselves in right now, they need to decide (and soon) if they want to try and actually accomplish something in the playoffs, or fade into obscurity.

That will do it for this week, I am keeping things short only because exams are breathing right down my neck this week. Hope you enjoyed anyways!

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A Look at the Week That Was in the NBA

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Which teams are making noise?

With only four weeks to go in the NBA's regular season, now is the time where teams need to make their move and peak at the right time (which everyone seems to agree is right before the playoffs). The team that did that in a resounding way last week were the Thunder of Oklahoma city. OKC is currently riding a 6-game winning streak in which they went 3-0 against other title contenders (The Lakers, Bulls, and Heat) as well as another quality win over a good opponent who isn't quite as good as the other teams (The Clippers). I have to admit that I was genuinely impressed by Oklahoma's performance, especially the chemistry between Westbrook and Durant. Last season Westbrook took a lot of criticism for not deferring to KD, but as Magic said today "we hated on him last year, but now we have to give him his props", the truth is, if both of those guys can sustain this level of performance (and play with each other unselfishly) in and throughout the playoffs, we could see the birth of a very scary dynasty. However, despite their level of play this year, Oklahoma still has work to do to clinch home court advantage throughout the West thanks to the ageless Spurs.

San Antonio did not really impress me as much as the Thunder this week, but this is largely due to the fact that San Antonio's consistency over the last decade, as well as their refusal to die (figuratively of course) does not phase me anymore.  I could type how under-the-radar they have been, or how they have quietly gotten younger and more athletic, and how they have the best coach in the league, but none of that stuff matters because nobody will be interested in hearing it. San Antonio will get their proper respect after the first round of the playoffs (if they get there), until then, you really wont hear as much about them as you will about some of the other contenders. One last team I will mention, before moving on to other topics, is the Boston Celtics. Following the trade deadline, in which Danny Ainge wisely decided to let this crew have one last run (and if you think anyone will knock this team out easily, you are mistaken) Pierce, Rondo, Garnett, Allen, and Rivers will have this team believing, even if no one else believes in them. They have crept up on Orlando for the 3 seed in the East and are in full out business mode. The blowout they laid on the Heat yesterday signals that these guys are locked in, and the Heat and Bulls wont be happy about it and they definitely will not be happy if they have to face a rejuvenated and motivated Celtics team in the playoffs.

How is the MVP race shaking up after last week?

The NBA: Where Do We Stand 1/4 of the Way Through

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With the NBA regular season being over 25% over, I figured it would be a nice time to examine some interesting story lines and hand out some of my personal awards. Let's get to it.

Eastern Conference coach of the quarter: Doug Collins. Did anybody expect the Sixers to be this good? It seems like Philadelphia is trying to prove that last year was not a fluke and have been absolutely destroying teams, while barely losing most of their games. I have no idea if they will keep this up, but if the season ended today, Collins would likely get the nod for coach of the year. Collins narrowly edges out Tom Thibodeau, whose Bulls squad has only lost four games so far while winning seventeen.

Western Conference coach of the quarter: (tie) Rick Adelman, George Karl, Gregg Popovich, Nate McMillan. Yeah, I did just put four guys in a tie here but can you blame me? Every one of them has done an outstanding job so far, whether its improving a team (Adelman), performing miracles (Karl), or refusing to let injuries cripple them (Pop, and Nate). Honestly, it is a joy to watch these guys coach night in and night out. I would like to point out that, had Zach Randolph not been injured, then Lionel Hollins would probably be on the list too. Look for him to be a dark-horse candidate for COY once Z-bo gets back.

The 2007 Golden State Warriors award for: "we might be 10x better when we get player x back from injury". This one goes to the Knicks and the Grizzlies who are waiting for Baron Davis and Zach Randolph to be healthy enough to play. If Davis can even give 60% of what he gave to the Warriors in 2007 then the Knicks might just be a contender. As for Memphis, they survived the Randolph loss by winning 7 in a row but have since lost 3 on the run. With Arthur out for the year and Speights not providing great back-up, the Grizzlies are pretty thin in the front court where they usually excel. What these two teams do in the playoffs will depend on the health of their injured stars.

Eastern Conference rookie of the quarter: Kyrie Irving. He has somewhat exceeded expectations and even has this dreadful Cavs team in a playoff contention spot (will the East ever have a season where a team 8 games below .500 realistically has a shot at the playoffs?-Toronto is 6-14 and only 2.5games out). At this point his only competition seems to be...

Western conference rookie of the quarter: Ricky Rubio. He hit a recent shooting slump that dropped his shooting percentage way down and teams are still forcing him into rookie mistakes, but that will be about it for the negative column. His passing, decision making, leadership, and defense have impressed even those who thought he would excel in the NBA. It took him about 10 games to crack the starting rotation and Rubio is delivering 10+ assist and 2+ steal games like they're going out of style. He has been so good that Kevin Love decided to stick around in Minnesota and sign a new contract. He has been so good that watching Wolves games is now encouraged. While he may not be far ahead of Irving statistically, his impact in other aspects has to push him over the top. The rookie of the year race will probably come down to the last week of the season.

Defensive Players of the first quarter: Dwight Howard, Tony Allen, the Chicago Bulls, Rajon Rondo. Any of these players (in the case of the Bulls and Sixers, their team defense is amazing. Holding opponents to 87ppg in the era of no hand-checking is a spectacular feat, and their key defenders should all get a nod) could get this award but Dwight Howard will probably win it. I dislike how there is a bias towards big-men who can block shots when it comes to this award, especially today where being a good perimeter defender is much more difficult then it was 10 years ago.

The "How does he make this list" award, given to the player who constantly makes all NBA defensive teams, despite better candidates out there goes to: Kobe Bryant. I have never heard so many coaches talk about how over-rated his defense is, yet he still makes the defensive teams. No doubt he exerts more effort on the defensive end them most shooting guards do but the fact is that he can no longer shut people down like he used to. This should be the year that Kobe's spot rightfully goes to a more deserving player.

The "David West" award for the player selected by coaches that makes the fans and the media question how it could have happened award goes to: Paul Pierce. The poor Celtics start, coupled with many forwards playing well in the East (Iguodala, Granger, Anthony, James, Stoudamire, Bosh) will probably lead to a lot of questions about whether or not Pierce is deserving of a spot. This is just a prediction and I think that by the time the All-Star weekend does come around, Pierce will have played well enough to justify his selection.

The "Dwight Howard trade me" award, given to players that absolutely need a change of scenery goes to the following players: Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. I have to admit, its a little sad watching Nash try to make players around him better, when his owner only cares about saving money (this team once had Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and picks that turned out to be Luol Deng and Rajon Rondo) and will get rid of players to save costs. Hopefully Phoenix and Orlando will come to their senses and trade these guys before they get nothing in return during the off-season.

The "Most Entertaining Team" award goes to: The Denver Nuggets, who could potentially add J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler before the playoffs. They are built almost exactly like the 2007 Warriors, its kind of scary actually.

Eastern Conference MVP of the first quarter: LeBron James. Its not even close.

Western Conference MVP of the first quarter: Kevin Durant (for now) but he has some competition. Danilo Gallinari, and Chris Paul. I know that 18-5-3 are not even close to MVP numbers, but if Denver finishes first in the West ins't Gallo at least considered? If the Clippers finish first however, Chris Paul would be a natural candidate. At this point its to early to call anyways. I will be back with more thoughts and awards later in the season but this week its all about the Super Bowl. Look for some previews from us on that and more this week

We at Millennium Sports & Entertainment try to bring you interesting and thought provoking views from the worlds of sport and entertainment. Follow us on Twitter @MillenniumSandE

Incoherent NBA Ramblings

Tweet The other night I went to bed at a particularly late time. When you chill with friends this tends to happen and even though it's worth it; you still feel like you will fall asleep as soon as you hit your pillow. Imagine my dismay when I closed my eyes only to be woken up by the vibration of my phone. Usually I would just leave it, but I'm glad I didn't. As my brain processed the words "lockout over", I forgot everything about being tired and was literally smiling for the next 30 hours. What better way to celebrate the end of the exam period than with the NBA? We even got a 66-game season, which is a much better number than 50 (like the 1999 season had) and a WAY better number than 0 (which I had come to peace with). The shorter schedule and less cross-conference games means that some teams (especially in the East) will make the playoffs even though they would not have under an 82-game slate. It also means that some good teams will probably miss out due to coming together too late to make a playoff push. This should make for an interesting season where getting hot at the right time might be enough to win a title. Right now I don't want to get too much into season previews and predictions (you will get a lot of that later). Instead, I will just gloss over some key story lines that everyone will be talking about (which they would have already done if it wasn't for the lockout).

Mike Brown as the Lakers coach - how will he fare? How will Kobe fare without Phil? The only time in his career that he has missed the playoffs was when Phil was not calling the shots on the sidelines. Will the Lakers be able to mount one more title push with this group or will they settle for getting Dwight Howard? This franchise is probably the luckiest out of any in North America. Let's move on.

Carlos Boozer - do the Bulls regret signing him already? They did make the Eastern Conference finals last year, but found out quickly that Boozer may not be a long term solution (too bad they paid him that kind of money). Rose needs more help than Chicago has given him because they are currently in the worst possible spot: pseudo-contenders. They will always be a high seed, but I don't believe they can beat anyone (I also believe that they could make me look like an idiot).

LeBron - did he add anything to his game? Does the sight of J.J. Barea guarding him in the post still give him nightmares? Does he still have all those "mental notes" he bragged about? Does he regret celebrating like he won the title when he won certain non-finals games? I can't wait to hate on the Heat again.

Memphis Rising? Last year, they were one triple-OT game away from setting up a series with Dallas in which both teams could not guard the others' superstar. This year they bring everyone back and add Rudy Gay (who missed out on the playoff run because of a shoulder injury). This team looks very, very scary.

Has Jose Calderon learned to play defense? Has Bargnani toughened up? Has Kleiza learned to play basketball?! Raptors fans want the answers (don't count on any of these). Also, only Raptors fans will be talking about this, but it had to be included.

Can Dallas repeat? I'm going to say that if they re-sign Chandler, then they absolutely can. If they don't, then they have no chance.

Is this San Antonio's last run? Sadly yes. At least the lockout gave their old legs a rest and they can use a shorter season to mount one last run.

That is all I have time for now. Patriots and Eagles reports will be posted tomorrow, along with some other stuff this week. Cheers.

Thoughts on the Celebration of Failure in Sports

Tweet I, like many of you (hopefully) reading this article am at work right now and the constant repetitive tasks i am assigned to do bring with them a time to reflect on what is happening in the world today. As I am a die-hard NBA fan, only one thing comes to mind; the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. But more specifically the way that this great series is being discussed in the media, on twitter, Facebook, and among my friends. In today's world of information where immediacy is the most important thing when it comes to reporting on anything, one spin on the NBA Finals and sports in general seems to be the most popular, "Athlete Fails" instead of "Athlete Succeeds" has become the go to story for any sporting event in the last year. After game 4 of the Finals, one in which Dirk (battling a three digit fever and cough) willed his way to a good not great performance to win the game and even the series at 2 games apiece, little was written about Dirk channeling his inner Jordan in the 4th quarter or Dwyane Wade throwing up a 32 point, 6 rebound performance on disgusting ( in a good way) 13/20 shooting. No, rather all the conversation after the game was Lebron's "passive" (Since Wade was feeling it, he was getting most of the ball and therefore taking away from lebrons offensive output. Not making excuses for 'Bron but if Miami had won the game this wouldn't have been as big of a deal) game.

The aftermath of game 4 is just one example of how we as a public crave stories about how world-class athletes fail and not how they succeed. Recently, this is most evident in the team everyone loves to hate (due to a poorly thought out decision by a 26 year old and his childhood friends...if some people say that they've never made a bad decision growing up, they're just lying. Only difference with Lebron and the decision is that it was televised for the world to see) the Miami Heat. People have written about the Miami Heat's failures this year with an almost manic glee as if Chris Bosh shooting 1/17 somehow made their lives better. Although Miami has been the center of this trend to acknowledge the failures and not the accomplishments of athletes, it has not been the only one. To bring it back to the finals, after game 1 where the Heat turned up their much talked about defense in the fourth to shut down Dirk (not really) and the rest of the mavericks (absolutely) people chose to write and talk about the failings of the Mavs' supporting cast and not how the big 3 (or 2.5 depending on how you feel about CB4), Mike Miller (playing with no thumbs), Mike Bibby (he's still playing?!?!?), Juwan Howard (ditto) and the rest of the squad shut down a Mavs team that scored so easily and efficiently on the defending champs that Bynum and Gasol still probably have nightmares of a 5'8 man from Puerto Rico.

I guess what I am trying to figure out (and a better writer would have done it much more eloquently) is why we, as a society enjoy tearing down public figures ( in this case athletes) more than building them up. I won't pretend to tell you when this shift in mentality happened (maybe after the steroids scandal in baseball where we learned that our heroes weren't so squeaky clean as we had imagined them to be) but only that it isn't for the best. I'm not saying to blindly accept everything athletes do and not hold them accountable for the stupid things they do (Plaxico, why do you need a gun in a club, and better question, who wears sweatpants to a club?) but the level at which they are being scrutinized for every little thing they do doesn't feel right. Let me put it this way, when you see the words Michael Jordan you think winning, greatness, shoes, and an inability to keep ones tongue in ones mouth yet Jordan was a compulsive gambler, a terrible teammate (punched lovable announcer Steve Kerr in a practice, Scottie Pippen never really bonded with MJ even though they played and won most of their careers together as evident by his Lebron comments right before the Finals started), and by all accounts from people who've met him, an all-around asshole but because back in the 90's, sports coverage was different, we never hear of Jordan's failures, only of his successes.

In my opinion we do this to make ourselves feel better. After all, no one wants to see LBJ, D-Wade, and CB4 keep winning (side-note: how fast and far did Charlie Sheen drop off?) so easily in life so we try and celebrate their failures because we think that'll make ourselves feel better. But in reality, unless you're a Dallas Mavericks fan or anyone from Cleveland, you shouldn't be cheering for Lebron to fail because him failing at his job wont make yours any more entertaining or wont make that exam you're studying for that much easier or that girl you've been wheeling that more in to you so that's why on Sunday I won't be rooting for Lebron and the Heatles to fail, i'll be cheering for Dirk and the Mavs to succeed. After all, seeing someone win and feeling happy is much better than seeing someone lose and getting a kick out of it.

Luka Milanovic
@Luka_M91 on twitter