Quick Thoughts

1.    More Age Limits?:    This has been one the more exciting NBA regular seasons that we can remember but back stage things there may have been some interesting changes being proposed on an administrative level.  Just a few days ago,  David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand were talking about requiring basketball players to stay in college (or just out of the NBA) until two years after high school graduation.  Obviously, the NCAA has every financial interest in keeping players in college as … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

It's really hard to explain and contextualize this amazing Rocket run.  The Rockets are a good team and have been in the 50-win range for the last few years but this 22-game winning streak makes no sense.  As we noted last season, almost any team that ever strung together an 18-game winning streak won a title.  In fact, before 2006-07, only one team with at least a 16-game winning streak didn't make it to the conference finals (the Mavs and Suns proceeded to get bounced in the first and second … [Read more...] about

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1.    Trade Progress Report:    The recent trades of Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal, and Jason Kidd have all been pretty well examined and re-examined to date but I thought we could take a look a little closer and see what else the trades have yielded to date and beyond:  -Pau Gasol:  This trade was obviously was a no-brainer for the Lakers.  They were willing to spend the cash and they got a huge asset, without giving up anything.  Since the deal, the Lakers are 14-3.  Even more impressive, the … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1.    Star  Power:  The state of the Western Conference is pretty astounding.  The top nine teams are separated by only a few games in the standing.  In fact, it seems almost certain that the eight seed in the West will break the wins record for an eight seed (currently held by the 2000-01 Minnesota Timberwolves at 47-35).  The concentration of great teams and great players, particularly after Paul Gasol came to the Lakers, has some harkening back to the 1980s and those Celtic and Lakers squads … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts

1.    Big Win In SA:    A few weeks ago, we examined the New Orleans Hornets' hot start to determine how real it is and how likely it is to continue.  We concluded that the Hornets were pretty good but that staying on 55-60 win pace didn't seem realistic.  Since that time, however, the Hornets have only stepped up their play, going 9-1.  Most impressively, the Hornets absolutely destroyed the Spurs last night in San Antonio by the score of 102-78.  The Spurs were at full force too, with all … [Read more...] about Quick Thoughts