The Final Buzzer – 82 Random NBA Thoughts (Part 2)

The NBA is back! After a 66 game lockout season last year, it’s a refreshing change of pace back to the 82 game season that we all know and love. And what better to celebrate the NBA returning than to give 82 random NBA thoughts!  If you haven’t read part 1 click here. Otherwise, let’s jump straight into part 2!

Enough talking let’s play some basketball!

1. Did you know that the New York Knicks are officially the oldest team in league history. LEAGUE HISTORY. This isn’t good when Tyson Chandler AND Amare Stoudemire are injured, which means that you have to rely on Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace. You couldn’t even rely on them in 2002!

   Kurt Thomas and Jason Kidd aren’t high-fiving . They’re actually trying to help each other up.

2. Carmelo Anthony better step up this year and deliver. Otherwise people are going to start talking about how he’s not a winner. LeBron’s got a ring. Wade’s got a ring. Bosh’s got a ring. Darko’s got a ring…at some point the questions that we’ve asked over LeBron are going to be asked of Carmelo. And with LeBron winning his first ring, this looks like it’s the year.
3. But in saying that it’s awesome to see Rasheed Wallace back in the league. I’ve missed his bald spot.
4. The new Knicks jerseys are really just the old jerseys.

   New or Old Knick Jerseys?

5. I’m interesting to see what Jason Kidd is able to do with the Knicks. Will they let him run the offense or will he just pass it to Melo and become a spot up shooter?
6. Cannot wait for Jeremy Lin’s return to MSG! I hope Lin has a good season, but the reality is he probably won’t. Not now that teams will be preparing for him. He’ll be more Linaverage than Linsanity this season.
7. NO WAIT. I hope he’s terrible until he plays the Knicks at MSG and then unleashes a 40 point game! How great would it be if Lin comes back and goes into FU mode and unleashes. Take that Melo! Take that Dolan! Take that Spike Lee!
8. And what’s an NBA column without talking about the Black Mamba? Kobe Bryant is in the best position for ring number 6 and according to ESPN, should break the 30,000 point mark this year. That’s incredible! People have been wondering how he’ll fair with Nash and Dwight and to be honest I think it’s going to be fine. He’s played with a dominant center in Shaq and they won three rings. Plus he’s older and wiser so he’ll defer to Dwight more because he understands his limitations. The bigger question is how it handles not having the ball every possession because of Nash? Again I think it’s going to make Kobe even more dangerous because he’s so good at moving off ball. Plus because of the talent around him it’s going to be harder to double Kobe and Nash is going to get him easier shots. It might take some time getting use to but having Nash is going to be one of the best things that ever happened to Kobe. Oh by the way, it’s still Kobe’s team.
9. How good can the 76ers be this year? They’re only going to go as far as Andrew Bynum’s knee can carry them. And at the moment? Not far. By the way, Bynum’s afro is inspiring.

   Andrew Bynum or a young Don King?

   Bynum hasn’t suited up for his new team since media day and will definitely miss the season opener. He’s by far the best center in the East but he needs to be on the court! Philly did a nice job of surrounding Bynum with some decent shooters  to kick it out to such as Dorrell Wright, Nick Young and Jason Richardson.  But maybe I’m thinking about this wrong. Maybe Philly brought these shooters in to surround Kwame Brown? After all, Doug Collins did say that Kwame Brown would be his starting center. Sad thing is…Kwame Brown will be the 76ers starting center…OH IRONY!  

10. I can’t believe Ray Allen joined the Heat. There must be some serious beef between him and Rondo if he left the Celtics to join their biggest rival. The Heat also signed Rasheed Lewis. But nobody cares about him.

    How many wide open 3’s will Ray Allen get playing next to LeBron?

11. I love how KG deleted Ray Allen’s number. That’s old school NBA right there. The NBA is too friendly. Everyone is friends with everyone else these days. We need more genuine rivalries like this Heat-Celtics one. Apparently Doc Rivers tells his players to hate the Heat. THAT’S AWESOME.  I bet in the Celtic’s training room they have Ray Allen’s head plastered on a punching bag. The Celtics should re-sign Delonte West just so he can sleep with Flo Allen AND remind LeBron about what he did to his mother. That would instantly raise this rivalry up 3 levels.

    Doc Rivers patiently waiting for the perfect moment to tell all the Celtics players that LeBron slept with their mothers. He always knows the right thing to say to motivate his players.

12. Ray Allen leaving the Celtics is probably the best thing to happen to them. It’s definitely Rondo’s team now and they reloaded by acquiring Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and welcome back Jeff Green. Plus Avery Bradley should come back from injury around December. The Celtics are both younger and deep than last year. These guys just won’t go away!
13. Plus they signed Darko!

    Bill Simmon’s worst nightmare. Seriously though…who wears 99?

    Can’t wait for Bill Simmons to write about what a fantastic pickup he is…only to throw him under the bus a week later.

14. Will Derek Fisher play in the NBA again? This is a legitimate question. If the Lakers don’t sign him I think he retires.
15. Stephen Jackson and Manu Ginobili. The Joker and Zorro. Halloween doesn’t get much better than this.

    Best. Halloween. Ever.

16. Speaking of the Spurs, I think they’re going to end up with the number 1 seed in the West, especially after this Harden Trade. Did you know they’re the only team in the league that didn’t make at least one trade this offseason? Crazy right?! EVERY OTHER TEAM MADE AT LEAST ONE TRADE! They’re banking on the development of Kawhi Leonard and I hope it works out because he was great last year. Duncan is a little older, Manu is a little balder Stephen Jackson is a little crazier. Should make for a fun year! Quietly, the Spurs have been really fun to watch since the team has slowly transitioned from a Tim Duncan-focused offense to a Tony Parker-focused offense. They play slightly faster and have some beautiful ball movement. Props to Pop for adjusting his coaching philosophy yet still remain as effective as ever.
17. Will the Wizards make the playoffs after trading for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Arizia? Nope. (John Wall + injury) + (Nene + injury) = NBA lottery.
18. Staying out East, the Nets finally have a new home in Brooklyn! Being a full arena should instantly make them better than the god awful crap they’ve been putting on the court in the last couple of years. Trading for Joe Johnson to team up with Deron Williams was a costly but probably necessary move. It’s probably the only reason Deron Williams stayed in Brooklyn in the first place, so Joe Johnson, consider your contract earned!

    New arena, new backcourt. Not a bad start for the Brooklyn Nets

19. Hopefully Williams has a good season and can get back into that ‘best point guard in the league’ conversation. If he has a bounce back season, the Nets have the talent to be a top 4 team in the East. And how fun will it be to have Jay Z and Beyoncé courtside?

    How many Nets games will Beyonce be at this year? Who’s going to babysit Blue Ivy?

20. It’ll be interesting to watch the Chicago Bulls this season without Derrick Rose. He’s not expected to be back until around the All Star break (Feb) so we’re going to see if coach Tom Thibodeau can keep the Bulls competitive until their best player returns. They’ll be the team no one wants to face come playoff time if they have a healthy Derrick Rose is healthy. And that’s a BIG if!
21. You got to feel for the guy, he was the defending League MVP and was injured most of the season and then he tears his ACL. Have you seen these Derrick Rose #thereturn videos from Adidas? 
22. Here’s episode two:
23. And episode three: I got to admit, brilliant job from Adidas. Turning Rose’s injury into an endorsement for his shoes! And because he’s so likeable nobody cares!!
24. I just hope he’s able to play his ‘herky jerky’ style when he gets back. If he’s never able to get back to that pre-injury playing level, Rose’s career is going to be one of the biggest ‘what if’ questions in NBA history.
25. You know who’s going to be sneaky in the Western Conference? The Utah Jazz. They’ve still got Al Jefferson, traded for both Mo and Marvin Williams who both look like they’re ready for a bounce back season and Enes Kanter who has lost a tonne of weight. 51 pounds to be exact! You know you’ve got nowhere to go but up if the biggest offseason story about you is your weight loss! Well done Enes Kanter. Here’s his weight loss plan thanks to nba.com.
26. One more thing about the Jazz. Have you seem this block/dunk by Jeremy Evans?! Poor Ronny Turiaf, the preseason is about earning playing time in the season, not earning play of the year nominations. 
27. Having a quick at the rookies, the ROY award really looks like Anthony Davis’ to lose. There’s been a lot of talk about the Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. To be honest, I think the award’s the ‘Brow’s to lose. To be really honest, I have no fucking idea about the rookies. I haven’t played NBA 2k13 yet so I don’t even know what they look like.
28. Now can you have too many quality players on a team? It looks like the Clippers are going to test that this year. In the offseason they acquired Lamar Odom, Grant Hill, Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Ronny Turiaf and resigned Chauncey Billups! On paper that team looks great. But there’s only 240 minutes to go around each game and you’ve still got Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Caron Butler, Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan! Someone’s going to miss out and I think there are going to be some unhappy players later in the season!
29. They’re still really thin in that front court and dunks aside, Griffin and Jordan aren’t that competent offensively. DeAndre Jordan were 1-10 from the free throw line during a preseason game. AND THIS IS AFTER SPENDING THE OFFSEASON WORKING ON HIS FREE THROW SHOOTING!  HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?! FIRE THAT SHOOTING COACH!
30. I hope Lamar has a bounce back NBA season. He was terrible last year and all reports coming out of the preseason is that he came into training camp out of shape. Not a good sign. The Clippers need him to help with their front court!

    Uh Oh.

31. While it’s not funny to talk about Lamar’s weight struggles, it has inspired some pretty funny photos like this one

    Spot the chocolate bar.

32. And this one

    Stop feeding him Chris!

33. And my personal favourite

    Maybe he should’ve held up the Clippers away jersey?

34. If you’re a Timberwolves fan you’ve got to be gutted about the Kevin Love injury. Ricky Rubio is already out until December and then this happens! They reloaded in the offseason and now have a very good shot at making the playoffs this season. But then Love breaks his hand doing knuckle push ups! The need Love to be competitive. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery because the Wolves team looks like a lot of fun this season.
35. And speaking of the Wolves, they signed two wing players looking to make a statement this season. First of all, Andrei Kirilenko is back after spending the lockout season tearing up Europe and the Olympics. Did you know that his wife lets him sleep with one stranger a season and he also has a pet ostrich?
36. Did you know I only made one of those up?
37. And welcome back Brandon Roy!

    Welcome back B-Roy!

    After retiring due to crappy knees a year ago, Roy has signed with the Timberwolves to try and kick start his NBA career again. Honestly it’s great to have him back and any meaning basketball he’s able to play will be a bonus! Good luck Brandon Roy and welcome back. It’s going to be a very emotional return to Portland for the man. Do you think the Trailblazers will retire his jersey one day? I know he only played there for 5 seasons but he was great there.

38. Will the Pacers be the number two seed in the East this year? I think Boston’s better than them. Boston is better than they were last year, and the Pacers can’t sneak up on teams like they did last year. I don’t think that DJ Augustin is an upgrade at PG over Darren Collison. The best this about the Pacers was this nba.com video that focused on coaches during training camp. In this video Pacers coach, Frank Vogel says “if you want to play with size…and speed…we’ll be the best team in the league”… NO SHIT FRANK VOGEL!
39. The Dirk Nowitzki knee injury is disappointing. They’ve gone from winning the NBA in 2011 to starting Eddy Curry as their center in 2012. Poor Dirk. Call it a year buddy, and pray that Mark Cuban gets his act together next offseason.

    Don’t worry Dirk. Mitch Kupchak will trade for you soon.

40. It was recently announced that David Stern is going to step down as NBA commissioner on Feb 1^st, 2014, which coincides with his 30^thanniversary as league commissioner. The man will go down as one of the greatest commissioners in all of sports. But more importantly, he’ll go down as the man who help set into motion the moves that would get Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to the Lakers. Without his veto of the Chris Paul deal, the Lakers would have Paul and Bynum instead of Nash, Gasol and Howard. This was probably his plan all along. David Stern. Commissioner. Puppet master. Genius. Secret Laker fan. Thank you David Stern. Thank you.

    The puppet master.

41. Lastly, the Charlotte Bobcats. Because let’s face it, when your best player is your 50 year old owner, you deserve to be last.

Welcome to the 2012-2013 NBA season friends. It’s going to be a great one. Go Lakers!

And that my friends, is The Final Buzzer.