MLK Jr. Day Is About Service, but Also Provides Plenty of NBA Action
This Monday will be the 25th observation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage all Americans to volunteer to improve their communities - it's "a day on, not a day off."
You can find information on the holiday and ways to volunteer on the Corporation for National and Community Service website.
However you choose to commemorate the life of MLK, Jr. during the day, there will be professional basketball for you on national television when you have free time. The NBA has always paid special attention to this holiday with a full slate of games and many teams paying special tribute to the Reverend. I said I would do it at Christmas, but now it is definitely time to get into the NBA.
We are basically half way through the season. To get a proper lay of the land, I looked at the Sports Illustrated projections from the preseason and the current standings. There a are a few teams that have either failed to meet expert projections or outdone preseason prognostications.
Take a look at the chart below. The left side shows you the preseason SI projections and the right side shows you the current standings with a plus/minus rating.
We are going to take a quick look at some of these outliers to get a feel for our position at the halfway point of the NBA season.
Miami Heat: With a 29-12 record, the Heat have exceeded expectations considerably. Their excellent first half has not been built on weak opponents either as they have gone 10-6 against teams with winning records according to Brad Sullivan of HeatNation.com. Now Miami is being mentioned as a buyer in the trade market and attached to names like Jrue Holiday, LeMarcus Aldridge and Demar DeRozan. The Heat may be an overachiever that is ready to fade, but a big trade could put them on the short list for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Philadelphia 76ers: We all know about The Process, the Philadelphia plan to tank multiple seasons to load up on high draft picks and talented young players. Funny thing about The Process - it worked. The 76ers made it to the conference semifinals last year and were knocked out by the eventual champion Toronto Raptors. With a classic pivot in Joel Embiid, an elite distributor in Ben Simmons and three solid veterans averaging double digits points (Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford), why is this team not making the jump to the top of the Eastern Conference? Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated says the jury is still out on Embiid and Simmons actually being an effective tandem and the bench is weak. Without a change, this team will go no further than the conference semifinals again this year.
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James missed 27 games last year due to injuries and is now 34 years old. The Lakers also gave up three young players and multiple picks for Anthony Davis during the offseason. Some experts thought LeBron's advancing age and a lack of role players would hurt Los Angeles - clearly not. LeBron is putting up MVP numbers (25.4 ppg/7.7 rpg/10.9 apg) and Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday says AD is playing like the Defensive Player of the Year. If those two stay healthy and continue to play at their elite levels, it really doesn't matter who else wears the purple and gold this year. The Lakers feel like a lock for the conference finals at the least.
Memphis Grizzlies: I have said I haven't been paying attention to the NBA, but of course, I was keeping tabs on it and checking out some games. But, damn, I had no idea this was going on with Memphis. Chris Herring of the FiveThirtyEight.com says they are the most fun team to watch. I found some highlights - shoot, I didn't think they would be that much fun! I will be looking for the Grizz on the national television schedule going forward.
The Two "Locals"
Indiana Pacers: Couldn't be happier with the Pacers first half. They have dealt with a ton of injuries and remain in the middle of the playoff pack. Victor Oladipo returns soon, as well. If Oladipo comes back at or near the level he was playing when we went down last year, Indiana could be a sneaky team in the playoffs.
Washington Wizards: This is the team we get piped into the HOTPO headquarters through the local cable lines. Absolutely unwatchable. How bad are the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Atlanta Hawks that they sit below the DC Goat Rodeo? I see no way forward other than trading Bradley Beal and John Wall for whatever picks or players they can get for them.
Recommended Reading
NBA.com has Eastern Conference and Western Conference report cards compiled by Sekou Smith and Shaun Powell, respectively. The report cards give you a thumbnail and assessment of all the teams.
Bill Simmons' old Page 2 on ESPN really got me re-hooked on the NBA back around 2008. Simmons has moved on from the four-letter network and now heads up TheRinger.com. I always go there for unique and inciteful NBA coverage. See their The NBA in Tiers: Midseason Edition article if you are looking a more nuanced midseason report.
And this week I finished another book. My friend Charles Askew (pictured above) got me Truth Worth Telling by Scott Pelley. I ripped through it pretty quickly. Pelley was a correspondent for 60 Minutes and has seen history in the making over, and over, and over again.
Great college basketball on the docket today and you know the NFL conference championship games tomorrow are appointment viewing. We finally got to the NBA so you all might have to tell me what we cover next. Enjoy your holiday weekend and the games.
You can find information on the holiday and ways to volunteer on the Corporation for National and Community Service website.
However you choose to commemorate the life of MLK, Jr. during the day, there will be professional basketball for you on national television when you have free time. The NBA has always paid special attention to this holiday with a full slate of games and many teams paying special tribute to the Reverend. I said I would do it at Christmas, but now it is definitely time to get into the NBA.
We are basically half way through the season. To get a proper lay of the land, I looked at the Sports Illustrated projections from the preseason and the current standings. There a are a few teams that have either failed to meet expert projections or outdone preseason prognostications.
Take a look at the chart below. The left side shows you the preseason SI projections and the right side shows you the current standings with a plus/minus rating.
Miami Heat: With a 29-12 record, the Heat have exceeded expectations considerably. Their excellent first half has not been built on weak opponents either as they have gone 10-6 against teams with winning records according to Brad Sullivan of HeatNation.com. Now Miami is being mentioned as a buyer in the trade market and attached to names like Jrue Holiday, LeMarcus Aldridge and Demar DeRozan. The Heat may be an overachiever that is ready to fade, but a big trade could put them on the short list for the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Philadelphia 76ers: We all know about The Process, the Philadelphia plan to tank multiple seasons to load up on high draft picks and talented young players. Funny thing about The Process - it worked. The 76ers made it to the conference semifinals last year and were knocked out by the eventual champion Toronto Raptors. With a classic pivot in Joel Embiid, an elite distributor in Ben Simmons and three solid veterans averaging double digits points (Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford), why is this team not making the jump to the top of the Eastern Conference? Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated says the jury is still out on Embiid and Simmons actually being an effective tandem and the bench is weak. Without a change, this team will go no further than the conference semifinals again this year.
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James missed 27 games last year due to injuries and is now 34 years old. The Lakers also gave up three young players and multiple picks for Anthony Davis during the offseason. Some experts thought LeBron's advancing age and a lack of role players would hurt Los Angeles - clearly not. LeBron is putting up MVP numbers (25.4 ppg/7.7 rpg/10.9 apg) and Jeff Zillgitt of USAToday says AD is playing like the Defensive Player of the Year. If those two stay healthy and continue to play at their elite levels, it really doesn't matter who else wears the purple and gold this year. The Lakers feel like a lock for the conference finals at the least.
Memphis Grizzlies: I have said I haven't been paying attention to the NBA, but of course, I was keeping tabs on it and checking out some games. But, damn, I had no idea this was going on with Memphis. Chris Herring of the FiveThirtyEight.com says they are the most fun team to watch. I found some highlights - shoot, I didn't think they would be that much fun! I will be looking for the Grizz on the national television schedule going forward.
The Two "Locals"
Indiana Pacers: Couldn't be happier with the Pacers first half. They have dealt with a ton of injuries and remain in the middle of the playoff pack. Victor Oladipo returns soon, as well. If Oladipo comes back at or near the level he was playing when we went down last year, Indiana could be a sneaky team in the playoffs.
Washington Wizards: This is the team we get piped into the HOTPO headquarters through the local cable lines. Absolutely unwatchable. How bad are the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Atlanta Hawks that they sit below the DC Goat Rodeo? I see no way forward other than trading Bradley Beal and John Wall for whatever picks or players they can get for them.
Recommended Reading
NBA.com has Eastern Conference and Western Conference report cards compiled by Sekou Smith and Shaun Powell, respectively. The report cards give you a thumbnail and assessment of all the teams.
Bill Simmons' old Page 2 on ESPN really got me re-hooked on the NBA back around 2008. Simmons has moved on from the four-letter network and now heads up TheRinger.com. I always go there for unique and inciteful NBA coverage. See their The NBA in Tiers: Midseason Edition article if you are looking a more nuanced midseason report.
And this week I finished another book. My friend Charles Askew (pictured above) got me Truth Worth Telling by Scott Pelley. I ripped through it pretty quickly. Pelley was a correspondent for 60 Minutes and has seen history in the making over, and over, and over again.
Great college basketball on the docket today and you know the NFL conference championship games tomorrow are appointment viewing. We finally got to the NBA so you all might have to tell me what we cover next. Enjoy your holiday weekend and the games.
Comments
Post a Comment