Now that football season is winding down, it's time to turn the majority of our attention to the hardwood and the beautiful game of basketball. Our regular NBA feature, NBA Heat Check, will bring back memories of a day gone by and everyone's favorite video game, NBA Jam. We'll take you on a tour of the Association and tell you who's on fire, who's ice cold, and which unfortunate souls lie somewhere between. So what are you waiting for, c'mon, follow me!
ICE COLD
-Gilbert Arenas-G-Washington Wizards
Well, unless you've been hiding under Jay Leno's chin the last month, you know Gilbert Arenas was suspended indefinitely for his alleged gun possession in the Wiz locker room last month. Today, the news got much worse for Agent Zero as he learned he will face felony gun charges. Whether Arenas cops a plea or not, this seems like the first step in voiding his hefty $111 million contract. If so, it might be a long time before the enigmatic Arenas returns to an NBA team. Hopefully, today's news will be a wake-up call to Arenas and Javaris Crittenton (also implicated but yet to face charges) that they need to get their acts together.
-Detroit Pistons (12-25)
The good news for the Pistons finally came with a win over the "Martial Law" Wizards on Tuesday night. The bad news, they had lost 13 straight games before that victory. Granted, injuries have been an issue all season, but the addition of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva have robbed Detroit of their defensive identity (team points allowed per game up 3 from last year) while failing to help the Pistons offensively (team points scored per game down 3 from last year). The mismatch of parts in Detroit suggests Joe Dumars may be more inclined to rebuild at the trade deadline than reload.
Getting Colder
-Boston Celtics (27-10)
Sure, the Celtics are still in good shape to contend in the long run, but injury and age has to be a concern in Beantown. Since their big Christmas Day win at Orlando, the Celtics are 4-5 and have had to endure injuries to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels and Rajon Rondo (not to mention currently looking pathetic against the Bulls). When the Celtics won their championship two years ago, they needed every ounce of home-court advantage they had, winning their first two series in 7 games each. If the Celtics want to compete with the Cavs for the #1 seed, Danny Ainge needs to bring in some reinforcements at the trade deadline, and no, Mikki Moore will not get the job done this year, Danny.
-Blake Griffin-F-LA Clippers
The #1 pick in last summer's draft will have his rookie season end without even playing a minute, requiring more surgery to repair his broken kneecap. While Griffin didn't enter the NBA with the same level of injury concern as Greg Oden, one more serious injury will place Griffin firmly in the Walton/Bowie/Oden category. Physically and psychologically, Griffin has to take the time to fully recover and come back strong for the Clippers only when he's ready, and not a moment sooner. Or else, he risks not only his own future, but the Clip Ship's as well.
Room Temperature
-Vinny Del Negro-Chicago Bulls Head Coach
-My Coach Vinny somehow has managed to escape the firing squad...so far. But still at 4 games below .500, it's going to take at least take another near victory in the playoffs for the Bulls to even consider keeping Vinny as coach after the season. However, with his team getting healthy and players like Luol Deng and Derrick Rose rounding into shape, don't completely count out Vinny yet
-NBA Slam Dunk Contest
If you tuned in to PTI today, you saw the NBA was toying with the idea of expanding to both Friday and Saturday night of All-Star Weekend. Of course, the only downside is the fact that even fewer people pay attention to All-Star Friday night than they do to Saturday. Give credit to the NBA for trying to breathe life back into the proceedings. But, if LeBron James doesn't follow through on his promise from last year, it may be the final nail in the Dunk Contest's coffin.
Getting Warmer
-Memphis Grizzlies (19-18)
Somehow, the Memphis Grizzlies have won 9 of their last 12 games and sit one game above .500. If you are reading this and saw it coming, maybe you should go buy some lotto tickets right about now. In all honesty, since they got rid of Allen Iverson, the chemistry between young players like Conley, Gay, Mayo, and long-noted headcase Zach Randolph has been a pleasant surprise in the league. In the East, they'd be a Cinderella story in serious playoff contention...in the West, they're still last in their division. The NBA...where imbalance happens!
-Tyreke Evans-G-Sacramento Kings
-Although he doesn't have the singular performance of Brandon Jennings's 55 points in November, Evans has slowly but surely edged out in front of the Rookie of the Year standings. He's the top rookie scorer in the league at 20.6 PPG and without leading scorer Kevin Martin, has kept the Kings at a respectable 15-22. If he keeps this up, he'll be the latest Memphis PG to be a near-unanimous ROY.
On Fire
-Cleveland Cavs
The national media was quick to pounce on the Cavs for losing their first two games of the season, but has anyone noticed they have the best record in the East and are only 1/2 game behind the Lakers for best in the league? Of course not, because, well, you may not have heard, LeBron James is a free agent next summer. But if Mike Brown can stay out of the coma he's been in the last 3 years and continue to use his flexible bench to his advantage, the Cavs are going to be a hard time to beat. Heck, when Jawad Williams is coming off the bench to score double digits, you're doing something right. The bad news for the ravenous media is, LeBron may have no choice BUT to stay in Cleveland if the Cavs keep playing this well (only 5 losses since Dec. 1).
-Dejuan Blair-F-SA Spurs/Aaron Brooks-G-Houston Rockets
-Finally, we come to two players that are causing 90% GMs around the league to wake up in the middle of the night with a bad case of indigestion. The diminutive Brooks (18.9 PPG) is the driving force behind the Rockets (22-17) staying afloat without Yao Ming, most noticeably scoring 43 Wed. night in 3OTs against the TWolves. Meanwhile Blair is showing you don't need healthy ACLs to be a productive low-post presence as he matures and grows behind Tim Duncan in San Antonio. When a 2nd round rookie puts up 28 points and 21 rebounds, even one as successful in college as Blair, people begin to take notice.
That does it for this week's look at the temperature around the NBA. Stay with us tomorrow for our NFL Divisional Round Preveiw! Until next time, it's bye for now!
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