WOW! That's all I can say after those two games last night.
The Bulls beat the Heat, 108-66, in the worst loss every for a defending champion. Almost made the ring ceremony a moot point, huh?
I had no idea Chicago would come out like that. Hinrich showed how much playing with the best in the League at the World Championships improved his game. He won't shoot like that all season, but his 26-point performance gets him off to a nice start. The Bulls ran and played with energy for a full 48 and made Miami look, well, old. Dwyane Wade, the youngest guy in the Heat rotation, was the only Miami player who looked like he wanted to be out there. Shaq looked awful in his 24 minutes of action. You'd think that, after an entire summer off, he would have come out with some zeal. Gary Payton looked slow and was killed repeated by Hinrich and Chris Duhon-20 points off the bench, inclduing 3-3 from three-point land. Ben Wallace looked solid in his Bulls' debut, pulling down 11 boards and converting his only free throw attempt. Yes, it's only the first game and Miami is supposedly built for the playoffs, but if they can't put in a good effort against a team like Chicago, visions of back-to-back titles will fade quickly.
How about them Lakers!!!
It was announced shortly before tip that Kobe was going to sit out the game and he may miss the first week of action, too. L.A. subsequently came out and gave up 41 to Phoenix in the first quarter. The Lakers gave up just 65 the rest of the way, on their way to a 114-106 win, and got a superb showing from Lamar Odom-34, 13, 6, 3 steals-and a career game from second-year man Andrew Bynum-18, 9. Maurice Evans and Luke Walton chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively, in what could prove to be the best win for the Lakers all season. Phoenix didn't look bad, although Amare Stoudemire didn't do much in his 12 minutes of action. Two-time MVP Steve Nash had 15 and 13 dimes and Leandro Barbosa torched L.A. for 30 off the pine. I say this was an important win for the Lakers because performances like that of Odom and Bynum could have finally shown Kobe that he can trust in his teammates to get the job done and help him out. If he's not too stuborn and pig-headed to see that, the Lake Show could see a lot of air time come the second season.
Good post Jay;seems as if you enjoyed the games as well.The 2 games last night proved a couple of things to me.1)This is going to be a good NBA season.2)even though I'm basing this off of just the 2 games from yesterday but I've been stated this to my boy for a couple of weeks;Phoenix finishes 6 in the west this year and the Bulls finish not only 1st in east but with the best record in the league.I know some may think I'm jumping the gun but I felt this way the minute I heard they got Ben Wallace and P.J.Brown.I told my friend if nothing else the Bulls will hold teams to a league low 69-70 points even before yesterday's game and low and behold Miami scores 66 points and they won't be the only team.Yes I think Miami is that bad against the power teams in both conferences but the Bulls will definitely be that good.As far as the Suns that game didn't surprise me at all that's why I still watched even after hearing Kobe was not playing.They play absolutely no D.and a Kobeless Lakers should not be able to put up over 110 points on any team;think of what the Spurs,Mavs and Clippers will do to them all season.Now I know someone will say it so I will stop you now;shooting better is not going to help the Suns and neither is Stoudamire(teams have figure out D'antoni's Euro-Style of play).Better yet this is my top 8 each conference you will see some surprises but you'll also be surprised how eerily close I come by seasons end East-1)Chicago 2)New Jersey 3)Cleveland 4)Miami 5)Detroit 6)Knicks 7)Orlando 8)Wizards or Bucks.In the West-1)San Antonio 2)Houston 3)Dallas 4)Lakers 5)Clippers
Cont-6)phoenix 7)Utah 8)Denver or Sacramento.I know this may draw some chuckles but don't be surprised if the seeding looks exactly like this.The only thing I see as potentially being off is maybe Miami and Detroit trade spots and the Lakers could finish even higher than Dallas;I just see them taking a step back.Again Bulls finish 1 game ahead of the Spurs for the best record.Now this is based on key players of each team remaining healthy;obviously if T-Mac goes out again Houston doesn't finish 2nd.
Last edited by lyrikell on November 1st at 8:00 AM.
I agree about Miami looking old and Phoenix not playing much D, but you're basing an awful lot on one game. Phoenix will finish six only if Mike Dunleavy has his 12th man Tonya Harding Steve Nash tonight. L.A. played an awesome game, and don't forget, the Lakers played their last seven games of last season against Phoenix, too, so they learned a lot on how to combat the Suns.
Yes, Hinrich and Duhon looked good. Yes, Miami looked like they have a championship hangover, but the Bulls can't go from 41-41 to best record. I don't see it. They'll be tough, and they'll finish in the top five in the East. They have to establish some kind of scoring on the low block, though. And Ben Gordon has to do better than six points. Who else saw Nocioni's, "aw, #### I can't #### at the refs anymore" momemt? High comedy.
No Jay,I'm actually going by what I saw from teams last year and the improvements they made or didn't make.Chicago was one of the best defensive teams last year minus around the paint area and gave Miami fits in the playoffs.So when you add a player like Ben Wallace who is going to bring defensive intensity every game and expect that of his teammates I see them being Detroit 3 years ago actually slightly better.The West in my opinion is just so stacked that a team that was maybe the 2nd seed last year can slide back 3 or 4 spots this year and to me I think that team will be the Suns.Until they realized that the answer to every game lost is not we needed to shoot better and actually focus on some sort of defense they are going to look no more than a couple of points better than the Nash lead Dallas team from a few years back.Team have figure out if you control the boards,play D and attack the basket Phoenix will lose thus finishing 6 in the west.
jaycarmel ..... The one thing last night proved to me is that when you get old , you get old exceedingly fast. The Bulls' players ran roughshod over a Heat that looked out of place and out of sorts. Blame it on the festivities or from the mere fact that the Bulls came to play and the Heat just wanted to pary all night.
Riley can't have been pleased and this loss will have stuck in his claw. He'll make someone pay for this, be it his players with extra training or the next opponent the team faces. But someone will pay and pay dearly !
After that, I could sees ome SERIOUS roster moves down in South Beach. The Bulls got off like that and Miami's worst defensive player, J-Will, didn't even suit up. I keep hearing Riles wants to go after Jalen Rose. He's 63 years old, too, so how much is he gonna help? I think Riley killed that team for the future just to win one ring. I can't see any long playoff runs out of Miami. If the old guys retire, next season they could have a starting line-up of Chirs Quinn, Wade, Dorell Wright, Wayne Simien and Earl Barron. Not exactly the 86 Celtics.
Last edited by jaycarmel81 on November 1st at 1:13 PM.
It'll be fun to see what sort of moves will be made by Riley. He knows that the team won't be able to play that well without the sevices of Jason Williams.
My name is Jason Carmel Davis, and I am a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Yes, we do go to class in East Lansing, not just to bars and the liquor store.
I'm almost positive I had an SI with me in the womb, checking out Ralph Wiley. He's the main reason I ever decided to pursue a career in sportswriting .
I even remember the first highlight I ever saw on SportsCenter. I don't remember who was reading it, but it was Michael Jordan's 63-point game against the Celtics in the Garden in the 86 Playoffs. I've been hooked ever since.
