Secret Up North

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Following a hectic few weeks post fantasy football, I’m back to deliver daily content. Everything now shifts to a quantum level in sports. Some may say it’s a down time but I beg to differ. College basketball offers up some of the premier highlights and recaps on a day to day basis. Comebacks, injuries, player issues, etc. all come to the forefront in conference play.

The NBA is a bit different but it has been for the last decade or when stability went awry amongst franchises. Development from the front offices seems to be without regard. Teams are pulling the plug on pieces worse than how NFL coaches get axed. Unlike the NFL, teams that have made drastic moves in the NBA have seen some success. Miami did it in an extreme way by grouping together megastars Chris Bosh and Lebron James. On a smaller scale teams like the Houston Rockets, Portland Trailblazers, OKC, and Memphis have done it with solid draft picks and adding high quality free agents that don’t break the bank.

This year’s team that has shocked many has been the Phoenix Suns. They’ve been steady for the first two and a half months of the season. Eric Bledsoe was their main acquisition in the offseason and he is proving to be worth every penny. Up north though there is a team that is cracking the relevant radar over their last eight games. That would be the Toronto Raptors.

The Raptors had a strong west coast trip in which they narrowly defeated Portland, and upset Oklahoma City on their home court. That sparked a win streak of seven of eight games until last night’s loss to the Miami Heat. A game they hung neck and neck with the Heat for four full quarters but just couldn’t muster a better fourth quarter than the Heat.

No one could have seen the current stretch the Raptors are on coming. When the trade was announced to send Rudy Gay to the Sacramento Kings it figured to be the coup de grace to the Raptors 2013 NBA season. After all they had let Andrea Bargani, a key player for the Raptors, sign with the Knicks in the offseason. Plans to build for the future seemed to be the main signal from the front office.

Instead it has allowed the team to play better team basketball, as Rudy Gay isn’t taking the bulk of shots on the offensive end. Kyle Lowry, Demar Derozen, and Terrence Ross have been stellar. But the key player to their team has been Amir Johnson.

He isn’t the go to guy offensively every night, which means he may be the forgotten one on the scouting report. Last season he showed flashes but this season he is looking more like an NBA starter on a nightly basis. He is aggressive in a good way on the offensive end of the court. Using his foot speed and nimbleness he is becoming one of the better interior scorers in the NBA.

He is one of those players that does his best with an adequate amount of shot attempts. Around eight to ten a night suits him well. For a fantasy basketball team I’d consider trading for Johnson. He has more upside to come as he seems to be hitting that time frame in a young athletes career where more blossoming occurs. Remember, Johnson was the last player drafted out of high school. Even though his career tenure in the NBA is listed at eight seasons, the first four were spent honing his skills as a Detroit Piston.

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During Isiah Thomas’s tenure with the Knicks he made several awful impactful decisions. Personnel moves by Thomas left the Knicks as a down and out franchise for several years. The signing of Carmelo Anthony was a move expected to bolster their prospects as a team on a year to year basis. After strong signs last year the regression has taken its course in a drastic fashion.

The season is hardly two weeks old and the Knicks have lost at home to the Bobcats, Timberwolves, and the San Antonio Spurs. The losses to the Timberwolves and Spurs were horrible blowout losses. Mike Woodson who is a defensive coach has to be burning with frustration. His team may be the worst in basketball currently at playing defense.

They gave up 120 points to a Spurs team Sunday that played their second unit in preparation of their back to back matchup. Rotation defensively on pick and rolls and cuts to the hoop by the Spurs were an embarrassment. It looks as if the Knicks were not prepared if Tyson Chandler would miss any time this season.

Bench depth at the power forward and center position is non-existent. Amare Stoudemire is attempting to perform on his bad knees, but clearly is at the end point of his solid career. Mistakes with the Knicks boil down to their offseason signings, it’s as if they want to make Carmelo Anthony have an easy decision to leave the New York Knicks.

Andrea Bargnani could be a complimentary offensive asset but with Chandler out he is the biggest defensive liability in basketball. He can’t rebound at all and is too flat footed to control the paint. Woodson has to rethink his lineup to get a big man in the middle that can disrupt penetration somewhat. If not teams will continue to score over 100 points a game against the Knicks.

The other poor acquisition was the signing of Ron Artest. Has Ron Artest aka Metta World Peace ever taken a shot on the offensive end that makes sense? His strong skill is still defensively but even that isn’t near what it was five years ago or even two years ago.

There just isn’t enough balance offensively to offset this team’s horrific defense. For fantasy basketball teams Carmelo Anthony is shooting the basketball at just 41 percent, far below his career average. In rotisserie leagues you may want to pick your spots at inserting Melo and hold off on any other Knick until they develop a win streak above two games.

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There are moments in an NBA season that you store in the memory banks for the turn around match up. Earlier this season in January Phoenix played at Brooklyn and seemed destined for a competitive second half. They had a lead at halftime and had played about as well as a road team could. Then came the third quarter and things unraveled in embarassing fashion. Phoenix which had a seven point lead at halftime, burned that away as Brooklyn went on a 24-6 run.

It was one of the worst second halfs of any team in the season, and the Suns scored just 26 points. Alvin Gentry’s walking papers probably started getting drafted that night.

This time around I think the Suns will have a little payback on their minds. Though Brooklyn covered last night and have been playing solid basketball, this is one of those underdog opportunities I like.

Take the 5.5 points which may move to 6 by game time.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

The impact of labor negotiations milling right to the brink of the NFL season figured to cause issues on the field. Poor play and non chemistry amongst teammates were expected. The season though has been a success for the most part. More quarterbacks than ever came close to eclipsing Dan Marino’s mark, and Drew Brees accomplished it.

The NFL showcases it’s dominance as the premier sport in America year in and year out. The NBA, however is coping with a delayed start to their season much differently. Teams are no where they need to be.

The first stretch of games have looked awful, and more like exhibition games. The imbalance of putting together four complete quarters is nightly. Struggles of displaying effort consistently is also there nightly. More and more teams are utilizing rookies, undrafted free agent rookies, and even NBA development league players.

Athletes that were likely training harder during the lockout to prepare for overseas, figuring they needed a true backup plan from the NBA.

Games have been so laughable that during the Atlanta vs. Miami Heat game, Charles Barkley and fellow commentators could not hold back comments aimed at lazy play. Atlanta had to rely on their near 12^th man in Ivan Johnson to provide a spark, while their nucleus of stars hoisted errant shots and played defense as if they were participating in practice drills.

To the annoyance of Charles Barkley, he was disgusted to broadcast play by play in a triple overtime game as such. The game already was missing the Heat stars of Dwayne Wade and Lebron James, but the enthusiasm of role players ready to play was night and day, between the two teams.

As the season continues towards a rushed All-Star break, how will fans cope with the accelerated season with a decline on the court? David Stern has been a solid commissioner for quite some time, but this lockout is going to offset some of the momentum the NBA had gained back from the 1999 lockout.

Many teams just do not have the superstars or talent on them. The superstars we are use to are aging fast. After the top ten to fifteen superstars there is a major drop off. Second units that come onto the court are typically inexperienced, as opposed to tenured veterans that could revive teams.

It’s a mess that can all plagued to front offices, coaching staffs, and players rushed to put together a season.

Revenue was already lost with the late start to the season, it will continue with the decline of the performance the NBA is displaying nightly to it’s fans.

By Vidur Malik

notjustagame23@gmail.com

Of the many recent trades in the NBA recently, the one between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Charlotte Bobcats isn’t getting much publicity nationwide, but it is one that seems to have worked out for both teams, especially the Blazers.

Portland traded center Joel Pryzbilla, forward Sean Marks, power forward Dante Cunningham and two first-round picks for forward Gerald Wallce. The Trail Blazers gave up a lot for one guy, but Wallace brings a lot to his new team and can help in several ways.

With the Bobcats, Wallace averaged 15.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and in three games with the Blazers, he’s averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. His numbers have dropped, but as he gets more comfortable with his new team, they should go back up. His steals per game have gone up from 1.2 to 2.0 since being traded, and he’s a great athlete who regularly gets play-of-the-night worthy blocks and dunks. Portland didn’t really have that kind of athlete on its roster, so Wallace brings a new element to the team.

Meanwhile, the new Bobcats have not done much since being traded. Pryzbilla and Marks have not scored a point as Bobcats so far, and Cunningham hasn’t played more than 12 minutes in a game. The first-round draft picks are for this year’s draft and for the 2013 draft, and they should help a young Bobcats team that has the pieces for success. Pryzbilla, Cunningham, and Marks could be key role players in Charlotte for a while, but as of now, the Blazers are getting a more immediate impact since the trade.

If you’ve got Wallace on your team, expect more of the same stats he’s been putting up this year. He’s a great player to have coming off the bench to give Portland a boost. It looks like he’s getting close to the same amount of minutes he was getting in Charlotte, so he can still play the same role in Portland. His statline in the Blazers’ 103-87 loss to the Houston Rockets on Mar. 1 is indicative of the many ways in which he can help your team. In that game Wallace had 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and went 3-4 from 3-point range. He can be Portland’s third or fourth-leading scorer and has a chance to be the team’s most complete player.

Look for Wallace to become a crucial part of the Blazers this season and beyond, and expect him to contribute significantly to your fantasy team.

By Zack Cimini

notjustagame23@gmail.com

One and done is often a phrase used by the quick exit strategy of college freshman hoops stars. Kentucky last year had a slew of them with all five going in the first round of the 2010 draft. The downside to this all the time remains that only a small percentage contribute right away. The rest are drafted on potential for years down the road. Case in point, DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins has carried over many of the concerns on his work ethic, maturity, and attitude issues to the NBA Casino Games Online . Resulting in multiple suspensions, fines, and an NBA coach having to baby sit Cousins when he shouldn’t have too.

Cousins is acting like an immature college student, which is where he should be. A sophomore on a Kentucky team possibly leading them further than their exit of last season.

The NBA seems to be getting younger and younger and it is. Teams are having to drift further out to find seasoned athletes to offset rookies not ready to play. Venturing to international teams to pickup players that couldn’t make it in the NBA out of college, but have grown their game overseas. The development league has also helped fill out rosters.

Tyler Hansbrough is an example of how the NBA Draft is supposed to work. The team realized they were aging depth wise, but also realized Hansbrough would need to be brought along slowly. Not be useless and sit on the bench, but earn his minutes based on his play. Jeff Foster and Mike Dunleavy aren’t necessarily going to be on the Pacers team a year from now or two years. Hansbrough is the guy that the Pacers truly believed will fill in and be able to start.

Hansbrough’s rookie season was filled with injuries, but thus far in his sophomore campaign he has proven to be a quiet gem. His energy has translated to many hustle points, and the older Pacers are feeding off that. The Pacers bench is now becoming a force. When AJ Price, Hansbrough, and rookie Paul George enter , the intensity is going to be raised on both ends. It all starts and leads based on Hansbrough. A simple deflection out of bounds or a missed put back affects Hansbrough tremendously. His expressions show it, and he plays with a huge amount of emotion on the court.

Good for Indiana. They’ve drafted properly. Notice the trend of their younger athletes and what their class of collegiate ranks were coming out. AJ Price, Hansbrough, and Danny Granger. Even Roy Hibbert and Paul George at least played multiple years in college.

Hansbrough currently is available in 83% of Yahoo Leagues. Don’t expect that too last much longer. After the All-Star break you’d expect Hansbrough’s minutes to increase. Indiana is in the race for the eighth seed, but the future relies with their depth and bench rotation. He has had a solid January and February statistically and will be garnering more minutes if his play keeps up.