NBA Watch: Gunning for Glory

Basketball's Biggest Prize?

The NBA season is just over a month old, and I feel it's about time we take a good look at the teams that are favourites to win the title at the end of the season.

Miami Heat: LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade – it doesn't get any bigger than this. The Heat came within inches of winning the title last season but came undone against a resurgent Dallas Mavericks team. James is showing how effective he can be without Wade. The Heat are favourites for another long playoff run and with Mario Chalmers, rookie Norris Cole and Udonis Haslem, chances are high that the Heat will storm their way to an NBA title this time around.

Los Angeles Lakers: Off the court, the Lakers' long-time Head Coach Phil Jackson retired following the end of the last season and he was replaced by former Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown. The Lakers boast two of the biggest men in the league, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, on their roster and they show that they can punish teams inside the paint. Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes have proved that they can shut down any five-star offences. Oh, and a certain Kobe Bryant averaged 43 points per game when the Lakers were up against worthy playoff opposition. After being blanked 4- 0 by Dallas last time around in the conference semi finals, this proud franchise will be out for revenge (and a title) this time around.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Two words: Kevin Durant. Durant had been playing an enormous amount of basketball during the NBA lockout, and it shows. He looks a lot tougher than ever before and has added a lot of moves to his arsenal. In my opinion, he's the best allaround player in the league after James. Also look out for Russell Westbrook, he's lighting up the league and he's a player you'd love to hate.

Chicago Bulls: The Chicago Bulls haven't won an NBA championship since 1998. It seems like a long time ago that Michael Jordan was on the roster of that championship winning team. Fourteen seasons later, the Bulls finally look like they have a title contender. With Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer and Derrick Rose, the Bulls are tough to beat at home; Rose can destroy any defence in the league, and Deng can shut down anyone from James to Bryant on a given night.

Portland Trailblazers: LaMarcus Aldridge is on quite the run. It's hard to catch him, and he makes scoring look easy. Given the fact that the Blazers lost key man Brandon Roy to premature retirement, this team looked beaten before the start of the season. Gerald Wallace will run, jump, punch and claw his way to productive nights and usually does so every time the Blazers play. Nicolas Batum and Raymond Felton are big-name spare parts, but in all, despite the loss of Brandon Roy, the Blazers look built for a long playoff run.

Outside chances: The Dallas Mavericks, defending champions of the NBA, the Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies will all make the playoffs comfortably, but I don't see them going on a very long run. The Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs too should make the playoffs. The Spurs lost key man Manu Ginobili to injury and his return is still not finalized.

The games are coming in thick and fast, and I, for one, know it's going to get exciting as the season goes on.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=7997&sectionID=4&issueID=194
Image Credit:http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID24107/images/Laker-Parade-2010-Celebration-Kobe-82.jpg
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UekSQkajhsU

NBA Watch: Fleshing out the early NBA season

Nowitzki vs Wade, it all begins.

Hey guys, I hope this column will be part of a regular weekly NBA column. I'll give it my best shot and cover the NBA season to the best of my ability, both reviewing and previewing the biggest action from basketball's premier league.

It wasn't long ago that many of us thought that there would be no NBA season. With the lockout and the constant breakdown in negotiations, many basketball fans (including myself) almost came to the conclusion that there would be no season. You could sense the disappointment from many players as they expressed themselves on Twitter. Kobe Bryant was thought to be on his way to China and Italy. Virtus Bologna was an Italian club that was confident in their abilities to land the five-time Larry O'Brien trophy winner. (For those of you who are unaware, the Larry O'Brien trophy is what the NBA Champions get; it's the NBA's version of the Stanley Cup.)

Anyway, all said and done, there was good news for basketball fans as the lockout ended on December 8 and the NBA was to begin on Christmas Day. It wasn't any ordinary beginning; Christmas Day had some pretty big matchups, including a rematch from the last NBA finals, a series that featured Miami and Dallas. Dallas did not have the best of starts as they fell to 0-3 in the space of a few days, a woeful record despite having the likes of Dirk Nowitzki (who was named the Finals MVP at the culmination of the 2010/11 season).

If anyone asks me, and I've had quite the few discussions with several people, the unluckiest team prior to the start of the season as the Portland Trailblazers. The reason why basketball pundits agree is simple: while most teams were building and acquiring their own 'Big Three,' the Trailblazers lost their big three. Greg Oden is still out injured and LaMarcus Aldridge is back to playing, but the biggest blow came when Brandon Roy announced his retirement at the age of 27, due to a degenerative knee condition. It was indeed disheartening for basketball fans around the world, for while the NBA tweeted pictures of the star players in almost every franchise, there would be no such picture for the Trailblazers. Of course, the team has done its best to move on, and after beating both the Lakers and the Clippers, you can sense that there's a swagger going around in Rip City.

This article would not be complete without mentioning the Chris Paul saga. He was running out of contract in New Orleans, and the Hornets preferred to deal him out to teams and get someone in return rather than let him leave for free. Suitors came, suitors went. Trades were agreed to and then nullified by NBA Commissioner David Stern, until the Clippers and the Hornets agreed on a deal on December 14. The saga was over and Paul was on his way to pair up with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, among others.

Basketball isn't as huge as hockey is here in Canada, yet all Canadian eyes are on the Raptors, who haven't really been playing the best basketball. I'd say the exception is Andrea Bargnani, who averages 22.3 points per game at the time of writing. In their game against Indiana on January 13, the Pacers had Danny Granger ejected from the game and were still able to hold out for the win. I guess in the Raptors' defence, they didn't have Bargnani, who was out with a strained left calf.

Originally Written for the Interrobang: http://www.fsu.ca/interrobang_article.asp?storyID=7976&sectionID=4&issueID=193
Image Credit: http://www.sportsbully.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/031.jpg
Video Credit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4BOuX92KpY