Its been a
ragged start to the 2014 NBA season. Player efficiency numbers are down across the board, and quite frankly the season has been a dud thus far. Especially from a fan viewing perspective and from a fantasy basketball perspective. A number of factors have contributed to the shaky beginning. First and foremost are the number of injuries to key players to start the season.
http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/injuries/nba/all/League MVP Kevin Durant and his partner in crime Russell Westbrook lead the list of injured superstars. There injuries and a number of others to Oklahoma City wrecked the Thunder's season before it began. OKC now has the worst record (3-11) in the West and may not even make the playoffs.
The Indiana Pacers lost starters David West (ankle) and George Hill (knee) in the preseason, just after losing All-Star Paul George to a broken leg in the offseason.
The Houston Rockets are now without there starting frontline of Dwight Howard (knee) and Terrance Jones (leg) for an unknown amount of time.
David Lee (hamstring) is still out in Golden St. Derrick Rose (hamstring) continues to be in and out of the Chicago lineup. And the Lakers took a hit when rookie Julius Randle (leg) went down in the first week with a season ending leg injury. Free agents like Jodie Meeks (Detroit) and Josh McRoberts (Miami) have yet to debut for their new clubs due to injury as well.
There also has been an unusual number of blowouts early in the season. We've seen teams like the Sixers and Timberwolves down by as many as 40 to 50 points in some games. These type of beatdowns are usually reserved for women's college basketball.
Why so many blowouts so early? Well obviously the injuries play a part as some teams are dressing less than 10 guys to play. Other factors are teams already tanking like the Sixers who really don't have more than 3 legitimate NBA players on their roster. Philly is 0-12 and will be hard pressed to win 10 games this year. And honestly if they got every team's best effort every night they could go 0-82.
Then there's the whole issue of back to back games. Some players are now complaining about how long the season is and the number of back to backs. Well back to backs have been part of the NBA every since I can remember. But now its like players are using this as built in excuses not to show up and give effort every night. Players don't get paid any less on the 2nd half of a back to backs, but they and coaches like the Spurs Greg Popovich continue to give the fans less than their money's worth in these situations.
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| bleacherreport.com |
So what is the solution? Well if back to back games are causing a diluted product on the court for fans, why not solve the problem by scheduling back to back games at home. 99% percent of teams back to back games are on the road. Schedule those back to backs for the home team and you lessen the reason for a team to rest players, or sit them out completely. Also you give players an opportunity to get adequete amounts of rest, and increase the chance of them giving maximum effort.
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| twitter.com |
Finally, some of the preseason championship contenders, the L.A. Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and aforementioned OKC Thunder have gotten off to lousy starts. That whole "Coming Home" thing is not going so well in Northeast Ohio. The Cavs are under .500 and have all sorts of chemistry issues. The Clippers will get it together, but still seems to be a piece or two away from challenging the Spurs.
The good news is the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards are building on last season's success and are currently the top two teams in the East. The Memphis Grizzlies are healthy and are grinding teams into the ground every night. They currently have the best record in the West.
But who's really excited to see the Memphis, Toronto and Washington at the top of the league, with the Lakers, Celtics, Knicks and Sixers near the bottom? Maybe Commissioner Adam Silver is. Maybe the NBA is the new NFL and everybody has a chance to win. Just not the fans right now. But it's only November.
twitter: @kmooresports
website:
www.fanhoops.net
