It's hard to say that the 2009-10 season has been full of surprises so far.  We knew New Jersey would be bad and that the Cavs would be good, though we didn't expect the Nets to be quite so bad or the Cavs to be not as good but, like most of the NBA, these teams are playing somewhat in line with expectations.  We do have a few outliers, teams that are playing much better than most expected: Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, and Dallas (we can also throw in Miami but they are only 9-6 with a … [Read more...] about Surprise Squads So Far

Going into the season, the Nets were expected to be a poor team.  They traded away Vince Carter for Courtney Lee and made no real additions.  We expected a bad team but 0-13 is even worse than was reasonably be expected.  The Nets are probably not quite as bad as they have looked so far.  They have had a rash of injuries (Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, Jarvis Hayes), though only Devin Harris was a really significant loss, the cumulative loss is significant.  The Nets have been above … [Read more...] about Welcome to Loserville, Population New Jersey

One of the side stories of the new season is dispute brewing between the Grizzlies and Allen Iverson.  Iverson, has left the team for personal reasons but there are reports circulating that he has left because he was unhappy to be coming off the bench and that he may not be coming back.  It's a somewhat bizarre scenario.  As a practical matter, AI's leaving the Grizz is much ado about nothing.  The Grizz are a bad team with or without him.  But Iverson's personality and his career … [Read more...] about AI and Going Out on Your Own Terms