Changing Copywrite Laws

These last six months haven’t been the best for the Indiana Pacers. After having the best record in the NBA at the all-star break, they proceeded to throw up all over themselves, looking like a shell of themselves during the second half of the NBA season. They eventually lasted six games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Heat, but that was in a lowly Eastern Conference in which they were almost bounced out of the first round against the Hawks. To make matters worse, their best player and perennial NBA all-star Paul George suffered a sickening injury competing in a Team USA scrimmage in August (see video). So instead of ranking them as a playoff team going into the 2014 season, I have them finishing near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. 

Last season, George along with swingman Lance Stephenson took 35% of the Pacers' shots. Now that George is out because of injury, and Stephenson took his talents to Charlotte, the Pacers will have to find a way to produce on the offensive end on a nightly basis. The number one candidate for that role is 34 year old David West. Last year he was probably the most consistent player on the team, averaging 15 points and seven rebounds per game. He’s also known as the leader on this less than stable Pacers ball club. He will be relied on to be the team’s leading scorer and rebounder… a heavy load for a guy who is on the downhill slope of his career. 

If the Pacers are lucky, they will get the old Roy Hibbert back this season. Halfway through the year it seemed as if Hibbert completely forgot how to play the game of basketball. The Georgetown product would have games where he literally wouldn’t score a point and not grab a rebound. Seems hard to do when you’re over 7 feet tall. There were rumors that his bad play resulted from off the court issues, but who will ever know. Last year he averaged nine points and five rebounds, which isn’t half of what he’s expected produce. The Pacers will need him to return to his all-star form if they have any chance of making noise this season. 

George Hill is another player who struggled to get it going last year. This season will be his fourth to be a permanent starter since coming from the Spurs, and in his career he’s never averaged more than five assists. He will need to become a better distributer at the point guard position. Backing him up this year will be CJ Watson. Watson has shown his bright spots in the past, so it’ll be interesting if he can expand on the five points he averaged last year. 

Since George is out for likely the season, the Pacers will need to find someone that will fill the position of small forward. That person will likely be CJ Miles, who’s been with the Cavaliers these last few seasons. Last season he averaged almost ten points per game in only twenty minutes of action a night. With an expanded role, I expect him to produce at a higher rate. The Pacers also acquired Rodney Stuckey in the offseason so if he can become a more consistent scorer he could find himself as a permanent starter. 

Luis Scola and Chris Copeland will both be solid contributors off the bench. Last season was rough for both players, but if they can find a way to perform like they were expected to last season, then the Pacers bench will likely be improved. I just don’t see too much promise with this roster. Frank Vogel just signed a longterm extension, which relieves some pressure off him not having his best player healthy this season. He will have to coach his way out of a tough situation this year, and if he can do it don’t be surprised if he wins coach of the year. 

ciao amico

      What is with the people in the trees wearing blaze orange while deer hunting with a firearm? Blaze orange has saved hundreds of lives because it is more apparent in the woods than other colors, like brown, blue, green, and pink. Blaze orange is very bright and can be spotted from a distance, whereas colors like green and brown blend in with a hunters surrounding, making it harder for others to see them. Hunters are not mistaken for an animal while wearing blaze orange because no animal is blaze orange, and it does not blend in with a hunters surroundings.

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The Los Angeles Lakers… the name itself screams basketball. This is the most legendary franchise in all of the NBA with multiple hall-of-famers such as Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabar.

This 2014-15 squad still has future Hall-of-Famer on it named Kobe Bryant, but we all know he’s on the downhill slope of his legendary career. It kills me to say that… As an "NBA lifer", it would be idiotic to not appreciate what Kobe Bryant has done for the game. Unfortunately, his bones are brittle and his knees aren’t getting any younger. He will be a great role model to the younger players on the Lakers squad, but the question is, how many of those younger players will be with the Lakers for the long-term. This Lakers roster looks like it may be shaping up space to offer one of the soon to be free agents in a couple of years..  (KD). 

Even though this roster doesn’t look to be playoff bound this season, it still has some solid talent that will translate to some decent wins throughout this season. I think the "Black Mamba" will make sure of that. At the point guard position the Lakers will have both Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin. I’m sure that newly appointed head coach Byron Scott will start Nash to start the season, but Nash has struggled to stay healthy these last couple years, therefore I think we will see more "Linsanity" at that postion this season. Last year with the Rockets, Lin averaged 12.5 points along with four assists per game. He was a good pickup for the Lakers this offseason, despite his more than hefty salary. 

First round draft pick Julius Randle is another player who shows a lot of promise. He was a beast at Kentucky last season, and many scouts believe he will have a career similar to Zach Randolph's because of their similar skill sets and body frame. Both players bang in the post and finish near the rim. Carlos Boozer is another offseason addition that will help out in the near future. He was claimed off of waivers once the Bulls dropped him in order to have cap space to sign Pau Gasol (away from Lakers) in the offseason. 

I think the Lakers strong point this season will be its wing scoring. Along with Kobe, the Lakers have streaky shooter Nick Young. “Swaggy P” can light it up, and when he’s on fire, be sure to get out of his way. But he struggled with consistency throughout his career, so it’ll be interesting to see how he performs in his expanded role. The Lakers could potentially start him along with Kobe on the wing once he's recovered from his hand injury. 

I think one player who's overlooked in the NBA is Xavier Henry. I’ve been watching him play since middle school, and he's got game. If it weren’t for injuries, I truly believe he would be living up to his lottery pick selection. He averaged ten points last season, to go along with a monster slam on former college teammate Jeff Withey, which many people think was the dunk of the year. If Henry can stay healthy, don’t be surprised to see him become one of the top bench scorers in the league. 

Kobe will lead this team to at least 35 plus victories if he can stay healthy and stay on the court. The Lakers could potentially make the playoffs if they played in the Eastern Conference, but unfortunately for them... they don’t. The West is stacked, plain and simple. It would definitely be a shock to still see this team playing into late May. 

Was out and about taking photo of LA last night

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1. Red Special 

. Lucille

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It’s been a long time since basketball has been where it needs to be inside of Target Center in Minneapolis. In fact, it’s been a decade since the Timberwolves have been to the playoffs, and the “Big Ticket” aka: Kevin Garnett was still the best player in the Twin Cities when that happened (don’t forget Wally Szczerbiak). 

Though it’s been quite sometime since they’ve reached the mecca of the playoffs, the Wolves and their fan-base weren’t left without hope. They had a young, talented star in Kevin Love that was supposed to deliver the land of 10,000 lakes to the promise land, and no I’m not talking about the Mall of America. That all changed this offseason when Love decided that he wanted to be traded away from the organization that drafted him. Many think the Wolves are starting from scratch now that their best player is gone, but that really isn’t the case. After breaking down their roster, there are a few different things that I noticed that could play a big factor in where this team finishes at the end of the season. 

The T'Wolves have a plethora of young talent. I mean when you trade someone good, you’re going to get some good pieces back, right? That’s exactly what the Wolves did. In exchange for Love, they received the first pick from the last two drafts in Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. I know what you must be saying, “Wiggins is good, but Bennett has clearly been a bust in the NBA so far.” That statement may have some substance, but many young draft picks are chosen based on potential, and  Bennett still has plenty of that. Much of the criticism he's faced was that he wasn’t in good enough shape to play heavy NBA minutes, but that problem may have been resolved this offseason. Bennett had his tonsils removed, and has reportedly said he can finally breath the right way which should help his play. Also….. the Cleveland Cavaliers post and pre LeBron weren’t necessarly the cream of the crop when it came to developing players. Their franchise has had plenty of turmoil from their egotistic owner, to the inconsistency of the coaching staff. I mean what kind of organization fires Mike Brown and then re-hires him three years later? Then oh yeah fires him again after a year? Don’t forget that even their young phenom Kyrie Irving supposedly asked to be traded halfway through the season. This isn't about the Cavs, but what I’m getting at is that Bennett will have more opportunities to shine in Minnesota where he will face less pressure, and will have a head coach in Flip Saunders who is known for developing young players (ex: John Wall,  Garnett). 

Let's not forget about Andrew Wiggins. Yes, he was hyped as “Maple Jordan” before he even rocked the KU Blue, but I truly believe he can grow into being an NBA superstar. He has the frame and the athleticism to thrive in this league, and I definitely expect him to do so. I also think the whole "being the first, first pick to ever be traded before the season" will also serve as extra motivation for him. Hopefully we'll see the product we all hoped we would when he was emerging from high school in Canada. 

Another piece of young talent on this Timberwolves squad is Gorgui Dieng. Most of you may remember him from the NCAA Tournament a couple years ago when Dieng, along with Peyton Siva and Russ Smith led the Louisville Cardinals to a National Championship. Dieng was slow to get going during his rookie season, but he eventually started to flourish as the year went along. In the last two months of the season, Dieng averaged ten points and ten rebounds. Not bad for a rookie. Not to mention he's a stellar shot blocker, averaging two a game in the month of April. Let's also not forget how good Shabazz Muhammed was supposed to be. Last year he struggled to get going, only appearing in 37 games and averaging about three points. He was heralded similar to Wiggins coming out as the top high school prospect in the class of 2012, but after a bumpy year at USC he fell to the bottom of the lottery in last years draft and he's yet to recover from his free fall. If he can somehow blossom into the player we all thought he could be, the young talent on this T’Wolves team could be outright scary. 

The Timberwolves also have some veterans they can sprinkle in with the young talent. Let me go ahead and remind everyone that Nicola Pekovic is no scrub. The dude is a double-double machine and he can rebound with some of the best in the NBA. He’s a strong, Russian presence in the paint for the Timberwolves, and if he can stay healthy then look for him to increase his scoring average from 17 points per game to over 20 with the absence of K-Love. 

Then there's Ricky Rubio, the Spanish phenom. It didn’t seem like too long ago when all the hype was about a Steve Nash 2.0 playing over in Spain, and "just wait" until we see the next great passing point guard. I'll admit his passing ability is among the top in the league, but if he’s going to live up to any of his pre-NBA hype, he'll have to figure out how to make a jump shot. You would think NBA players wouldn’t struggle with something so simple as a mid-range jumper, seeing that they are in a gym shooting all day, but clearly that’s way over my head (do I sound like a frustrated Timberwolves fan?). But in all seriousness, Rubio is in the top half tier of NBA point guards and if they can find a consistent wing scorer then his assists will go up from 8.6 a clip. 

Along with Wiggins and Bennett, the Wolves were able to acquire Thaddeus Young from the Philadelphia 76ers in what could be the dark horse of the trade. Young was one of the few bright spots on a 76ers team that could go down as one of the worst in NBA history (maybe because they were purposely tanking). He averaged 18 points and six rebounds, and if he can duplicate that effort in Minnesota, the Timberwolves won’t be near as bad as I have them projected. 

Flip Saunders will be coming back down to the bench. Who was the coach when the Timberwolves last made the playoffs you might ask? The answer is Flip.  He was leading team filled with Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, Wally Szczerbiak and Kevin Garnett to the Western Conference Finals. He was no stranger to the playoffs even when he left Minnesota. Flip was the coach of the Pistons after Larry Brown stepped down, and he went to few Eastern Conference finals with Chauncey BIllups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. 

The playoffs are a humongous stretch for the Timberwolves because they play in a stacked Western Conference, but to say they’re the worst team in the league isn’t giving them their due justice. They also have players such as Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, J.J. Barea and Chase Budinger that should contribute this season. I truly believe that in two or three years this will be a team to look out for.