The East is the Heat's to lose, and no team can change that

The East is the big 3's playground

The Miami Heat are the defending world champion and the back to back Eastern Conference champions. Once the month of May comes in it should be "back to back to back" Eastern Conference championships. They are first in the Conference right now, and will head into the All Star break with three All-Stars and Their whole coaching staff along the ride for the All Star game. The scary thing is, the Heat haven't even played their best basketball yet. Lebron James is playing his usual MVP dominating self, Wade is finally rounding up into his old elite self after being scrutinized for starting out slow despite coming off knee surgery, and Bosh continues to be the least talked about star in the league. When You think about potential threats to the Heat this year from the Eastern Conference, three teams come to mind: the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers, and the Chicago Bulls. However, the reality is none of these teams will be able to beat the Heat in a 7 game series (barring injury to any of Miami's big 3 of course).

Melo will look to take the Knicks past Miami this year

Lets begin with the New York Knicks, who are having their best season in over 10 years and led by Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have two victories against the Heat this year and one happened to be without Anthony. Don't think too highly of these two victories though, in the first year of the Big 3 era in Miami, the Heat went a combined 1-7 against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls in the regular season and proceeded to beating both the Bulls and the Celtics in 5 games each once the playoffs arrived. The Heat dismantled the Knicks in 5 games in the first round of last year's playoffs and that one loss was a product of a monster night by Carmelo Anthony. How can you expect a Knick team that will depend heavily on scoring from Anthony, JR Smith and Amar'e Stoudemire to handle the fire power of the Heat? The Heat know they can get stops down the stretch, but can you say the same about the Knicks? Who really only have 2 elite defenders in Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert (who happens to be coming off major ACL surgery). The Knicks are also very dependent on the three point shot, something that will not hold up in the playoffs where the game slows down and defenses key in more. Then theres' the Amar'e Stoudemire problem, Stoudemire is clearly the second best player on this team, and if you cant find a way to have both your superstars on the floor, how do you expect to beat the defending champion four times? Amar'e was putting up monster numbers before Anthony arrived, but it seems that its impossible for Anthony to have a second star alongside himself who can score 20 plus points a game. Speaking of Anthony, what makes anybody think that Carmelo Anthony can lead a team to a championship? Carmelo Anthony has been in the playoffs every year of his  career, and he's only been out of the first round ONCE, in 10 years. That one year he got out happened to be the year that Chauncey Billups arrived to Denver and who came in with a streak of multiple years of making it to the Conference finals. Carmelo Anthony is not the elite defenders, that Lebron James and Dwyane Wade are, and quite frankly he has done nothing to merit the trust of being able to beat the defending champion let alone make it to the NBA finals. How about they win a playoff series first before we deem them good enough to dethrone the Heat.
Then there's the Indiana Pacers, who many credit (me included) as the main reason the Heat won last year's NBA title. Indiana could not beat the Heat with Chris Bosh out and Shane Battier guarding power forwards and Centers for 6 straight games and with a Healthy Danny Granger. The Pacers are a great defensive team, but they lack a true star even with Granger, and while Paul George is having a marvelous season, he cannot carry the Pacers in a 7 game series.  You know where the points are going to come from the Heat, but where are the Pacers going to get enough fire power to match the defending champions?
The Chicago Bulls are having a great season, but all hopes are on Derrick Rose coming back and being the old Derrick Rose, and thats not realistic. Even with a healthy Rose, two seasons ago the Bulls could not match up with the Heat. That wont change, the Bulls should be good enough to win one playoff series, but thats about it. Remember Derrick Rose scored primarily on his explosive assaults on the rim, something he wont have back for a while, maybe until next year.
So in the end, the east is the Heat's to lose, and no team in the East will change that. The Heat have defeated each of these teams in the playoffs, and there should be no reason why it wont happen again.

Images from Bleacherreport.com

As we head into the elimination round, what role will each USA player play?

Image from bleacherreport.com

As elimination round begins, let's take a look at what each player has to do for team USA to take gold in London.
Chris Paul
Paul lead the USA in minutes played in the preliminary round, he will be the starting point guard, he must be a bulldog on the defensive end, stifling opposing backcourt players to create turnovers and transition offense for his team, we all know that the US wants to get out on the open court, and Paul must be the first catalyst of that. Defense leading to offense, dont expect much scoring from him, he knows this team doesnt need him to score, he will focus more on getting Kevin Durant open looks and finding his wing players on the fast break.
Kobe Bryant
Kobe is the starting SG, at this point we don't know understand why, he has been extremely inefficient with his shot selection, and sometimes tries to force the issue on a team where frankly he does not need to (shot 4-17 going into the Australia game). In addition, his defense (which was his calling card in beijing) hasn't been all that good. Perhaps he's biding his time for when it matters most, but Kobe needs to choose his spots on offense and focus on being that bulldog he was in international play on defense.
Kevin Durant
Durant needs to do what he has been doing, shooting the ball. He's the USA's leading scorer and nothing more is expected of him but to shoot the basketball.
Lebron James
The US's swift army knife, Lebron must continue to do whatever is necessary for this team. For the most part he has not looked to score unless needed and is more interested in being a facilitator and thats what he must continue to do. His presence is more needed on the defensive end though, where he is asked to guard bigger low post players every game, aside from Chandler and Love who else with playing time can guard bigger players with consistent success?
Tyson Chandler
The Team's only true big man, stay out of foul trouble Chandler
Deron Williams
Williams must do the same as Chris Paul and try to limit his turnovers, he has been a turnover machine in these olympics, which does not help the US much.
Russell Westbrook
Westbrook has been the team's best perimeter defender, tormenting opposing ball handlers and providing energy for his team with his highlight dunks, he needs to do the same on defense and NOT take crazy shots 2 seconds into the shot clock
Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo has clearly been a monster scoring the ball, nothing more is expected of him as he battles Durant for USA leading scorer,
Andre Iguodala
The mini swift army knife, he needs to continue to be a lockdown defensive threat whether its guarding 6-10 bigs, or 6-3 guards, on offense anything he provides will be a boost.
Kevin Love
After Carmelo, Love is the most important player off the bench, the only other big on the team with legitimate playing time, he has to establish himself in the low post and NOT shooting threes, and HAS to rebound, he knows he will be depended on heavily when Chandler gets in foul trouble, and must be a presence inside.
James Harden
make threes? Harden does not play a lot, when he does the game has usually been decided
Anthony Davis
Must remember to put his jersey on before walking out on the floor

Carmelo Anthony reminds everybody he's a big part of this team

Image from Elitedaily.com

It wasnt pretty, (at least the final score wasn't) but one thing was clear, everybody seemed to have forgotten how great Carmelo Anthony is. After a disappointing NBA season, Melo rejoined this olympic squad for his third and what will possibly be his last time. He was now in the shadows of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and yes even Kevin Durant who is arguably the best player on this team after Lebron James. To top it off, Melo also lost his olympic starting spot to Durant, something he's held since 2006.
Yet, in one game Carmelo Anthony showed us why he is (and not Durant) considered the best PURE scorer in the world. Anthony shot an incredible 13 for 16 from the field and 10 for 12 from the three point line on his way to a record shattering 37 points. The US rolled through Nigeria 156 to 73, unlike the previous games of the day which featured a thriller between Spain and Great Britan, and Brazil and Russia, both games came down to the wire. Oh, did we mention that Carmelo only played 14 minutes? Yes 37 points ON JUST 14 minutes!!
The beauty of Melo's game is that he can do it every way possible. He's deadly on 1 on 1 coverage, blowing by slower bigger defenders and posting up smaller ones. He can shoot the three ( did you not just read that he shattered the scoring record?  And we also forgot the record for made three's and attempted) whether spotting up or creating off the dribble. He can handle the ball as well, all in all Melo is a bully. It is an insult to his game and sacrifice over the years in international play when we forget about him on this team.
As far as his record breaking, there will be critics of course. People will say that the US played against a greatly inferior team in Nigeria. No disrespect against the Nigerians of course, but not many people can go 10 for 12 from the three point line shooting by themselves, let alone on the biggest stage of the world against professional basketball players. Anthony, could have easily scored over 40 had coach Krzyzewski decided to play him in the fourth quarter. Would Melo had come back in the game if asked? Of course he would he knew he was making history, but when asked he will downplay his record,  and say that all that mattered was the win. But just because Melo will downplay his big day, it does not mean we should downplay the importance of Carmelo Anthony on this national team.
Other news of the day
-The Russians defeated Brazil on a last second 3 to win a thriller
-France defeated Lithuania behind 27 from an out of shape Parker
-Spain defeated Great Britan but just barely escaped with a one point win
-Celtics coach Doc Rivers says he's open to coaching the US team next
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Top PF going into 2012-2013, #9 Amar'e Stoudemire

Image from nypost.com

We continue our countdown of the top power forwards heading into the 2012-2013 season with Amar'e Stoudemire of the New York Knicks at #9. Now, Stoudemire is a player that gets and will continue to get mixed feelings from the basketball world. Last season he had his worse season as a pro since his rookie year. He averaged 17.5 PPG, 7.8 RPG, on 48% from the field. Then came the playoff, and Amar'e's incident with the fire extinguisher. His playoff numbers were even worse: 15.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, on 55% shooting. Despite playing well below his standards, it is very difficult to find 10 power forwards with numbers as good as his.
There are several key problems when it comes to Stoudemire. The first is the league wide assumption that he cannot play with Carmelo Anthony. It is a valid argument, D'antoni system or not, before Melo got to New York Stoudemire was wrecking havoc in the league, but ever since Melo arrive he has not been the same. Another issue is his health, whether by his own fault or not, Stoudemire continues to find nagging injuries at the wrong times. He injured his back two playoffs ago against the Celtics in a meaningless warmup dunk, and this season we saw the fire extinguisher issue against the Heat. That being said we are talking about a 21.6 career PPG scorer and perennial All-Star.
Stoudemire is a 6-11 physical specimen, he has no post game and rarely would you see him get his points with a back to the basket move. He has a great jumpshot, and although he does not shoot the 3 with regularity he can knock the shot down. Take these two baskets here, and a couple of things jump at you. The first, is that Stoudemire has a very good form and quick release. Usually, big men who can shoot need time and space, but Amar'e is one of the elite bigs who can get his shot off quickly and with pressure. The second thing that jumps out at you is the readiness and easiness with which he takes the 3 point shot, he looks comfortable taking that shot.
Amar'e is also an elite athlete, he has an uncountable amount of poster dunks and a lethal first step. His upper body strength allows him to go through contact and finish. It is one of the most intriguing facets of Stoudemire's game, he has no post moves what so ever, and outside of his jumpshot he  simply muscles his way through defenders. Amar'e is also any point guard's dream teammate for the pick and roll game. He is a nightmare for defenses on the pick and roll and pop. He can either pop out and shoot the jumpshot or attack the rim with a very high chance of this happening.
Stoudemire could easily be higher on this list, and we expect him to be after next season. His problems on offense have a remedy, and even playing alongside Melo if he can stay healthy for a full season, he will no doubt have a better season than this year. Stoudemire's rise on this list also relies heavily on the Defensive end of the floor. He has never been known as a defensive player but with his height and athletic ability he should be able to play well above average defense. He is not an elite shot blocker and his one on one defense is suspect to say the least. Take this play, Stoudemire is picked on an inbound play and he does not show any interest in even trying to fight through the screen.
Amar'e is an elite player in the NBA, he will no doubt rebound from an abysmal year. With a training camp this season and a summer working with Olajuwon problems of starting the season out of shape will no longer be a factor. Even without becoming a better defender, (after all he has been in the league for 11 years now) he will rise on this list. We expect him to have a bounce back season offensively, but in order for him to really take a dramatic jump, he must become a better defender and combine that with his gifted offensive skills. If he does that, and learns how to play with Carmelo Anthony then get ready to see a lot more of Stoudemire come playoff time.
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Now that the Linsanity Drama is over, how good can this Knicks team be?

Jeremy Lin is gone, whether fans like it or not he will not return and will be nothing more than gossip over the next months. Now its time to pose the question, how good will this New york Knicks team? They have resigned JR Smith and signed veteran PG Jason Kidd, Iman Shumpert continues to recover from a torn ACL and Raymond Felton was acquired from Portland. In addtion, they will of course have their monster frontcourt of Melo, Stoudemire, and Chandler back. Coach Mike Woodson will have an entire season and a full training camp with his team. So how good can this team realistically be?
First, everybody knows that the Miami Heat are the favorites to repeat as champions. In the minds of most it is a foregone conclusion that they will come out the Eastern Conference (barring Injury or a major change). After the Heat however, the Eastern Conference is wide open. There will be 3 other spots available with at least fhome court advantage in the first round. Indiana has resigned Roy Hibbert and George Hill and have their core in check. They will have home court advantage in the first round, whether the second third or fourth seed (we believe third or fourth). The Boston Celtics will also be back in the mix, Kevin Garnett may be old, but he was deadly in last year's playoffs. They have signed Jason Terry, and Brandon Bass will be back. Avery Bradley will be healthy to go along with Rondo in the backcourt so look for this Celtics team to make a run at the Eastern Conference again (once again barring injury).  The Brooklyn Nets have made a lot of moves and will definitely be in the playoffs. They have positioned themselves to acquire Howard after January because that is when Brook Lopez will be available for trade. If they get Howard, they will catapult themselves into championship contention, and if they dont they are still a very good team. Kris Humphries is a double double machine, and people forget how good Brook Lopez is. He is a career 17 PPG scorer, and has yet to have a full season playing with a true PG like Deron Williams, who was forced to be more of a scorer for the last year and a half because of the team's lack of scoring options. They will also challenge for home court in the first round and will definitely be no worse than 5th in the conference.
The Knicks have several issues, the most glaring one being the fact that Carmelo Anthony and Stoudemire cannot play together because of Melo's dominance of the ball. When Melo touches the ball, the flow and movement of the basketball stops. Perhaps if the Knicks had acquired Steve Nash (who played with Stoudemire in the years that Phoenix was part of the elite of the Western Conference) things would have been different. They have Jason Kidd, but at this point in his career how much of a difference can he really make? Stoudemire is coming off one of the worse if not THE worse season of his career. Before Melo was traded to the Knicks Stoudemire was averaging over 25 points and was breaking Knick's scoring records. With the arrival of Melo? things have gone south. Stoudemire is the Knicks second best player. if Melo is 1A, then Stoudemire needs to be 1B for them to truly be successful.
Now, at this point Successful isnt making the playoffs. Successful for them is making a run at the championship. They need to be a better defensive team, Iman Shumpert was their best defender and he was a ROOKIE. He is coming off a torn ACL and will take some time for him to get back in his groove. The Knicks also struggled shooting the 3 last year, and they had the best 3 point shooter in the league in Steve Novak who shot a blistering 47%. After Novak though, it was abysmal, Jason Kidd should help in that category and Felton will look to help Stoudemire regain his dominance as he was with Amar'e before the Melo trade. Ultimately, it comes down to whether Melo and Stoudemire can make it work, they are their two best players and unfortunately neither plays defense. The Knicks will be no higher than third in the Eastern Conference and we see them as no more than the second round at best.
News around the league
-Kobe Bryant calls sterns age limit for olympics "stupid"
-The Clippers have signed Grant Hill to add to their mix
-Heat's Miller will not retire and will return to the Heat
-Miami Heat are interested in Greg Oden
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With Felton now heading back to the Knicks, you can say goodbye to Lin, and why not?

image from usatoday.com

Jeremy Lin the New York Knicks starting point guard. What was believed as a sure statement has now become a long shot. Last night the Knicks agreed to acquire point guard Raymond Felton and center Kurt Thomas in a sign and trade deal that will send Portland Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric. Raymond Felton is a very good starting point guard, he was a key component of the Knicks success back in Stoudemire's first season with the Knicks, before the Carmelo trade. He averaged 17.1 ppg in that short stint with the Knicks and had stated that he wanted to return to New York. In addition, they also have Jason Kidd so where would that leave Jeremy Lin?

The main issue with bringing Lin back is the way the Rockets have structured their offer sheet to Lin. the first year Lin would receive 5 Million, the second 5.225 Million, but the problem lies in the third year and 14.8 Million he would receive. By that year the new collective bargaining agreement will kick in, and with those 14 million in the books, the Knicks would be over the cap, and would have to pay luxury tax for every cent they go over. That means the Knicks would pay about 1.75 in taxes for EVERY dollar of Lin's 14 million that year. If you do the math, that means that Lin that year would cost the Knicks almost 30 million dollars.

Now, Lin will obviously make them a lot more money off the court, but regardless of how much money he makes them because of his appeal off the floor, 30 million in one year is 30 million. Jeremy Lin is not worth all that money in one year, specially when you have a point guard in Felton who has produced over a 8 year period and not just for 32 games. After all, we are talking about production on the court, Felton knows how to play with Stoudemire. Don't forget, that in order for the Knicks to become a championship team they need their 2 stars to play like stars. Stoudemire cant have another year like his 2011-12. Felton knows how to play with Amar'e and will definitely easy his burden of having to play with Melo a bit.

Now, lets look at a situation in which they do sign Lin back. The Knicks would have 3 point guards who could all be starters. How do you distribute the minutes? Kidd is the veteran future hall of famer, he obviously needs to see playing time. Kidd signed to help the Knicks get deep into the playoffs not to sit on the bench. He is a great three point shooter, the better of the 3 and quite frankly this is an area that the Knicks need help in. Outside of Steve Novak last year, the Knicks struggled shooting the 3. Felton and Lin will obviously need to play and both are starting quality point guards. So one way or another, if you have all three point guards the knicks would be spending money on an asset and not using it to its full potential. Depth is never a problem, specially at a time where the league is being dominated by good point guards. But you need to use your depth one way or another. 

The Rockets meanwhile need a point guard, they lost both their point guards in Lowry and Dragic who were both very good. Lin will immediately start, and in addition will have a much better chance to develop in Houston. So Lin to Houston is the best move for everybody, the Knicks, Houston, and Lin himself. After all Did you really expect Lin to continue his development playing alongside Carmelo Anthony for a full season?

News around the league
-The Hornets have matched the Suns offer sheet for Gordon, despite Gordon stating publicly that he hoped they wouldn't

-The Bulls once had a deep bench, and now have lost Watson, Korver, Brewer, and possibly Asik and Hamilton

-Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving broke his hand in practice yesterday

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Jason Kidd to the Knicks? makes no sense. While the Clippers improve and Heat make their move

Image from thescore.com

Steve Nash has stolen the spotlight of this hectic but fun free agency for the moment. 24 hours after his move to Los Angeles, and the buzz is still going on. Will Nash be a good fit or not for the lakers? That question will be heavily debated until the season starts and we spoke on it in yesterday's entry.  Yet, the Clippers just keep giving us reasons to believe that they are a legitimate western conference championship contenders.
The Clippers have been in the Ray Allen hunt alongside the defending champions since day 1. Today they gave up on that hunt and instead signed Jamal Crawford and Chauncey Billups. Crawford has been coming off the bench for most of his career and is a former six man of the year. However, look for him to start alongside Chris Paul to form a devastating backcourt. Crawford is a traditional shooting guard and a downright scorer, he can spot up, create by himself and can score against any defense (interesting fact, he is the all time leader in 4 point plays in the history of the league). Billups, who started at shooting guard last season, was injured after only 20 games but he was having a terrific season. He will play the point when CP3 is out and will play alongside him.
Whether they decide to bring Billups or Crawford off the bench, you are now looking at a bench that will feature Lamar Odom, Billups or Crawford, and potentially Nick Young and Kenyon Martin (who are both free agents). The Clippers will have size, depth from the bench, shooting, and will add something they desperately needed last year: Free Throw shooting. Paul was the only consistent free throw shooter after Billups went down, now with Billups and Crawford back expect that problem to be ancient history.
Now Ray Allen, has a very difficult choice to make. We laugh at those who say that there is no way that Allen would choose hated Rival Heat over the Celtics. The reality of the matter is that it is a very difficult choice to make. On one side Allen would only be making half as much money if he goes to Miami and would essentially be betraying Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. On the flip side, realistically speaking Miami will be the favorites next season, they are the defending champions and the Celtics are only getting older. In addition, Allen knows that returning to Boston would mean coming off the bench for Avery Bradley, something that Allen feels disrespected about. So why come off the bench for a team that you helped win a championship? and who's starting spot he (Allen) is giving to a player that will never be as good as he is (Bradley). Instead of coming off the bench for the defending champion who have 2 superstar players in their prime, and will definitely give him a better shot at a tittle. So, ultimately it comes down to Money VS winning opportunities.
Finally, the Knicks have agreed to sign Jason Kidd in a move that we believe will change nothing. The Knicks tried and failed to sign Steve Nash and now must focus on resigning pg Jeremy Linn, who was offered a 4 year 30 million by Houston. Linn has verbally agreed to sign the offer sheet. The Rockets have placed the Knicks in a tough spot, the Knicks can only offer Linn a 24.5 Million 4 year contract. Therefore, if the Knicks decide to match the rockets offer, they will be paying Luxury taxes once the new collective bargaining agreement kicks. Despite this, we expect the Knicks to resign Linn because of all the money he makes them off the court,  So why bring in Jason Kidd? The word around is that he will be serve as a mentor for Linn, but will he start or come off the bench? When Linn Exploded last year in the absence of Melo, it raised national concerns about whether Melo and Linn can play together. Whether they can or not, the New York Knicks will not be a championship team this year and Jason Kidd will not change that. Contrast to popular believe, there is just no way that Stoudemire and Melo can work together, and those 2 (not Jeremy Linn) are the key for the Knick's success.
Yes, the Knicks have one If not the best scorer in the league in Melo, but when the ball gets to him, it doesn't continue its movement. For all his offensive bringings, Melo is also a defensive Liability. Their best defensive player is Iman Shumpert a second year player who is coming off a torn ACL. Jason Kidd will provide steady leadership and a great mentor for Linn (if they sign him back) but it wont catapult the Knicks into the Easter Conference Elite. Kidd has not been as good as Nash now for quite some years, and as such the Knicks will be no better than a 4th seed at most.
-In other news, Eric Gordon stated that he feels the Suns are more committed and does not wish the Hornets to match the offer that the Suns have provided
-Kyle Lowry of the Rockets was traded to Toronto, he had voiced his displeasure with Rockets Coach Kevin McHale and did not wish to return to Houston
-Hasheem Thabeet has signed a 2 year contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Thabeet was the second pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, and has failed to meet expectations so far
-Jameer Nelson stated that he will be returning to the Orlando Magic next season

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