by Khendra Murdock
* What’s with the crazy win streaks lately? Dallas has an impressive 12 straight, Boston has 10 straight, Miami has 8, New Fricking York somehow has 8 (I guess that Amare signing worked out pretty well, huh?), and even Chicago is on a pretty good streak with 5 wins in a row. My guess to explain these streaks is that many teams are settling into a groove. We’re more than 20 games into the season, so we’re seeing teams swimming or sinking now that they’ve had time to respond to the metaphorical waters of the league. I predict we will see less overall parity this season than we’ve seen the last few years.
* As a Thunder fan, I am loving the Durant/Westbrook 1-2 punch, which will only get better. However, I will admit that this team, though very good and competitive, is simply not a title contender yet. Not only do they lack experience, they also lack efficient team rotation on defense. Rotating on defense is perhaps the most difficult thing to execute in all of basketball, but every championship team can do it come crunch time. Unfortunately for my Thunder, they tend to run around like they are drunk and confused when they have to make defensive switches.
* I love having DirecTV League Pass because I get to see teams many other people miss out on, like the Timberwolves. You wouldn’t believe how much smarter Michael Beasley is playing this year – he looks almost like a completely different player. Minnesota is still a pretty sucky team (ESPECIALLY on the road), but they aren’t getting blown out as often as they did last season. Of course, it’s also helping a lot that Kevin Love has turned into a total rebounding beast. If Minnesota’s backcourt wasn’t so atrocious, they’d be close to a .500 team. Still, they are surprisingly fun to watch.
* Rajon Rondo: 13.7 assists per game. The last time we saw a number that high? John Stockton, 1991-92. Need I say more?
9 comments
GG says:
Dec 13, 2010
“I predict we will see less overall parity this season than we’ve seen the last few years.”
– Do you think it will happen in the West though? Phoenix is the 9th team in the West and is only 1 game under .500. Memphis should start to push to get closer to .500 too.
If Minnesota’s backcourt wasn’t so atrocious, they’d be close to a .500 team. Still, they are surprisingly fun to watch.
– Ricky Rubio!
Fun stuff.
Khendra says:
Dec 13, 2010
The West actually has the _least_ parity (equal competition) of the two conferences. Mathematical parity isn’t about how many great teams there are, it’s about how many equally competitive average teams there are (thus equal competition) – the more teams you have that are really great *and* really bad, the less parity you have. Last season in the West, a ridiculous 8 teams had more than 50 wins, 4 had less than 40, and only 2 had between 40-50 wins (more teams should have between 40-50 wins for parity). They are going that route again – once again, only 2 teams are on pace to win between 40 and 50 games (Phoenix and Portland), but now I see less parity in the East as well – there is only *one* team between a 49% and 59% winning percentage right now (Indiana; the range between 49% and 59% winning percentage is roughly equal to winning between 40 and 49 games over the course of the season if you multiply .49 and .59 by 82), whereas last season we ended up with 5!
blerd says:
Dec 13, 2010
My head just exploded. Too. Much. Math.
Jay says:
Dec 13, 2010
But if 10 out of 15 teams are at .490 or better i’d call that pretty good parity. Same with the east this year 1 game separates seeds 2-6 and only 3 games separates the 8-14 teams. That’s pretty even.
blerd says:
Dec 13, 2010
Personally, I would say that there’s more parity in the league than there has been in quite some time. There’s a very clear delineation between elite teams and very good teams, yes. But it also seems like there’s more of each than there’s been in years past, with at least five teams with a very serious shot at winning it all: Boston, Miami, the Lakers, San Antonio and Orlando. Maybe throw the Mavs and Hornets right underneath. From there, you’ve got another seven or eight teams that are pretty identical in terms of talent.
Jay says:
Dec 13, 2010
What he said. With the exception of the Hornets.
Khendra says:
Dec 13, 2010
Ah, I see your point now – I didn’t qualify how my statement pertained to the league overall. So, yeah, I agree with you guys about there being more parity among the top teams specifically. Kobe is another year older, and with Bynum and Gasol having nagging injuries, the Lakers don’t seem as much a lock now (I predicted them to win last year without any doubts, although the Celtics ended up giving them more of a run than I was expecting). Throw a healthy Spurs team, a powerhouse Heat team, and a few others in the mix, and the shot at a title this year isn’t as limited as before.
blerd says:
Dec 13, 2010
Which is certainly good for us basketball fans!
GG says:
Dec 14, 2010
Those Heat are (ahem) heating up. The LeBron haters are starting to quiet down a bit.