Great Oden?

The NBA season has begun with 10 teams playing against each other. The games included the Portland Trailblazers against the Sacramento Kings. Trailblazers' Greg Oden, who was missing in action last season, is back with something to prove. Oden and the rest of the Trailblazers displayed an offensive edge during the preseason opener, with 50.6 field goal percentage, and winning 110-81 against the Kings. Martell Webster got 15 points and six rebounds, while Joel Pryzbilla ruled the boards with 12 rebounds. Oden and Lamarcus Aldridge had 13 points apiece. The drive that Oden displayed could give the Blazers the ticket to the road where the New Orleans Hornets used to be. The newbie, Donte Greene, tried to pull off a great show for the Kings at the Rose Garden, with 18 points. But the effort wasn't enough to lessen the Kings' terrible offense.

It's probably just the start of the season and some teams are probably not putting all efforts on winning preseason games. But it's definitely the perfect time to stretch out and apply the new strategies and see what happens. For the Kings, it's definitely not a good start, specially pulling off a 28.9 fg%. Cheers to Oden, of course, he's definitely made a huge difference in the Blazers' rotation. And since he's never had the chance to show what he's made of last season, he's definitely going to make up for his team now and surely that's what the Kings and the other teams have to watch for. [anyways, there's something very classic about the name "Oden", don't you agree? or is it because Greg sounds a bit like great?]

Hornets, Back Again

Of all the teams that, I think, is going to be play better this season is the New Orleans Hornets. You see, they're not the newbies anymore. They know what and how it feels like to play during the postseason. And Byron Scott, Hornets' head coach, have surely made some improvements on his team particularly on David West.

The road in the West for the Hornets, however, was blocked by the San Antonio Spurs. The series of the Hornets against the veteran Spurs were among the must-see games in the West. Chris Paul & Co. were in the lead during the first two rounds of the series and the 4-time champions almost on the verge of elimination. Then, the veterans showed the stingy Hornets who they were playing against and tied the series to 2-2. But the Hornets hopes were high because the tie would mean that they would go back to the Big Easy, which houses the most unified crowd. The result was a 3-2 lead of the bees and a game 4 at the Alamo City. The Spurs turned it over for the Hornets and tied the series again. And then it was the deciding game, Game 7, the Spurs outplayed the Hornets and left the newbies in awe for what could have been a great season against the LA Lakers. It was the Lakers, though, who got rid of the Spurs during the Western Conference finals.

The Hornets team that has surprised everyone last season is all set for this season, bringing all the lessons [even memories] of the last season. Paul, West, & the rest of the Hornets' weapon? Well, it would definitely be their 3-pt efficiency and there's no doubt that their defense is pretty [I think, even better than the Lakers]. But there's still definitely more room for improvement specially in the West side of America.

It's going to be hard to thwart these bees from advancing to the top of the ever-thrilling Western Conference. It's going to be a blast in the West, I'm sure!..

Up and Coming Season

Can you smell it? [inhale] Christmas is in the air but I'm not talking about it! I'm talking about the approaching NBA season. Can't wait to see the changes in the lineup of the San Antonio Spurs and the other teams. Actually, I'm looking forward to the Phoenix Suns without their former coach Mike D'Antoni, who's now the Knicks head coach. What's clearly new this season is the Oklahoma City Thunder that's wearing few new faces since it almost consist of the previous lineup of the outmoded Seattle SuperSonics. But before I go any further, here are some of the previews I got from the NBA. Starting from the defending NBA champions, Boston Celtics and the Western Conference champions, LA Lakers.

Boston Celtics: When you win 66 games and an NBA title, there's not much room for improvement. You might say that the only direction to go is down. And in the NBA, no team has repeated as champions since the 2002 Lakers. It's undeniable, the Celtics' defense was the best last season. The 66 games they've won meant the team was serious about getting to the top. But there's something a bit wrong with the Celts threesome and that could prevent them from defending their title this season. I still can't figure out what that wrong is, though.

LA Lakers: One thing is for sure, if the Lakers are going to defend their place as the Western Conference representative in The Finals, it’s going to come down to defense. Yeah, it's probably time to tweak a bit of the Lakers' ball game particularly on the defensive end. No problem with the offense because they still have Kobe Bryant, the nonstop shooting machine. There's Pau Gasol ready for the rebounds and Lamar Odom, who I expect to play better.

..It's going to be a lot different season. The Celtics are in good shape and the Lakers, I mean KB24, is determined to stay on top of the Western conference. The San Antonio Spurs, on the other hand, will have to play Manu-less until mid-December and Gregg Popovich made some huge changes in the lineup. But will it help the Spurs? Let's see.

Everyone's been talking about the Celts and the Lakers and how good they were during the regular season. And it seems like everyone's forgotten about the Phoenix Suns, who are still keeping quiet, counting out the time when D'Antoni decided to go with the Knicks. There's definitely "a lot" of talent in the Suns lineup, they were simply mishandled by D'Antoni. It's definitely a good thing that he's left the Suns and no one's going to baby Amare Stoudemire anymore. =p

It's exciting to write some more but I'm desperate for some sleep, so, that's all for now. Ciao! =)

My Other Blog

It's time to introduce my other blog. There's nothing much going on with it but I promise you, I'm writing nothing about basketball there. Promise! =) Hope you can drop by.

Waive For the Best

Reports regarding the New York Knicks waiving Stephon Marbury was one of best news I've got. Face it, the Knicks haven't given any serious threat to their opponents last season. Internal conflicts provided a huge disadvantage for the team and the best solution reasonable was to cut the cause for all of it, which for the most of the time involved Marbury.

It's probably time for the Knicks to get a fresh start, which can only be done without their infamous point guard. [honestly, the guy has an attitude] The author is already looking forward in seeing the Knicks' Marbury-free roster next season.