Top 5 Stories From the First Half

Ballings7 · Post #21 » by **Ballings7** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:32 am

1. Trailblazers
2. Lakers
3. Celtics
4. Bulls drop off
5. New Orleans (being this good, and staying healthy (so far) )

Knicks aren't even recognizable or deserving, simply because it's a similar and worse situation as in the past.

Post #22 » by **blkout** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:48 am

There's some homer picks in this thread, Ballings07's list looks good.

ranlamjon · Post #23 » by **ranlamjon** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:48 am

1. CP3 and his remarkable play
2. The Celtics
3. Portland
4. B.Davis and the W's
5. Miami (how tha mighty have fallen)

hermes · Post #24 » by **hermes** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:22 pm

nate33 wrote:What's so surprising about the Knicks? Any fool could have predicted that they would suck this year. I guess you can call the Isiah Thomas situation a story of the year, but it's not really a basketball story.

1. Portland
2. The Lakers leading the West
3. Washington winning without Arenas
4. Boston off to a near-historic start
5. Hornets and CP3

i like this list

midranger · Post #25 » by **midranger** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:51 pm

Some of us picked Miami to finish dead last in the East.

Post #26 » by **pineappleheadindc** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:19 pm

.

My list

1. Portland without Oden playing really well.
2. Didn't a number of writers pick the Bulls to come out of the East?
3. Miami and its subplots. End of the Shaq era? How many in a row will they lose?
4. Cs acquire KG and Ray Ray. Making a historic run.
5. Kobe singlehandedly molding (most of) the Kobe-ettes into an elite West team.

rise of raptors · Post #27 » by **rise of raptors** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 4:35 pm

Here's my list:

1. The Rockets - new coach, a better supporting cast (at least on paper), and Hollinger predicted Houston would have the best record. Now, they might not even make it to the playoffs.
2. The emergence of Bynum and the Lakers. The Kobe rumors didn't make this team worse but are actually better.
3. The Bulls - thought they would lead the East. Perhaps the Kobe rumors got to them more than the Lakers.
4. The rise of Portland.
5. The Celtics were gonna be good, just no one thought they'd be this good so quickly.

SabasRevenge! · Post #28 » by **SabasRevenge!** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 5:01 pm

5 biggest SURPRISES:

1. Trailblazers leading the NW Division at 41 games in after losing Oden (and here we were, hoping for a .500 season!). 1st and 2nd youngest teams in history won 15 and 16 games during the entire season, here they are at the halfway point with 26.

2. The Chicago Bulls, after being picked by many to win the east, on the outside looking in. Is Ben Wallace hurting them more than helping?

3. The rapid decline of Shaquille and the Heat. Two years after winning rings they're sitting with the second most ping-pong balls.

4. Chris Paul and NO looked primed for a breakout season, but this great? They're challenging Phoenix for the best record in the West.

5. Andrew Bynum and the Lakers solid start. After climbing to the top of the West, losing Bynum for 8+ weeks is a blow, but now we can see how this team will respond. Was it more Bynum, more the Lakers playing the right way, or both?

Honorable Mention, in no particular order:

The Celtics - Best record in the L, but are we really that surprised?

The Knicks - Things have gotten worse than we may have thought, but they were already pretty bad.

The Wizards - Arenas lost for the season and the Wiz are thinking about a series at home. Butler is still playing like an all-star and Jamison coming through. Are the Wiz better off without Arenas?

The Rockets - T-Mac and Yao still can't stay on the floor at the same time. Looking at Houston's supporting cast, are we really that surprised? Are the Rockets better off without McGrady?

Also mildly disappointing - Milwaukee and Memphis

The Rondo Show · Post #29 » by **The Rondo Show** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:22 pm

nate33 wrote:What's so surprising about the Knicks? Any fool could have predicted that they would suck this year. I guess you can call the Isiah Thomas situation a story of the year, but it's not really a basketball story.

1. Portland
2. The Lakers leading the West
3. Washington winning without Arenas
4. Boston off to a near-historic start
5. Hornets and CP3

This is the top 5 stories of the first half, not top 5 surprises. The Knicks are definitely an interesting and top story, despite the fact that they are a horrid basketball team and most could tell they'd be a disaster even in the off-season.

How many times have you seen a starting point guard just leave his team, let a newspaper know that he has "dirt" on his head coach and will reveal it if he's forced to come off the bench/sees his role decrease significantly? Just once, for me.

Ballings7 · Post #30 » by **Ballings7** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:52 pm

SabasRevenge! wrote:The Rockets - T-Mac and Yao still can't stay on the floor at the same time. Looking at Houston's supporting cast, are we really that surprised? Are the Rockets better off without McGrady?

Interesting though, how a lot of people (including myself) thought the Rockets off-season additions would make the Rockets noticably better. Or once chemistry got going.

"No more 4-players scoring in a game"

"The Rockets are so deep"

"The Rockets are a title contender" (I was never under this impression, though)

"Rockets depth is the best/top 3 in the league"

"T-Mac/Yao finally have a good supporting cast"

"This is the best team around Yao/T-Mac"

"The Rockets should/will get out of R1 now" (I wasn't under this impression, either. Increased chance? Yes.)

Rick Adelman has scrapped his original plan basically, and gone back to the basics, and what the players are used to.

pace31 · Post #31 » by **pace31** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:59 pm

Surprises and disappointments are way too broad to actually call it a story.

1) Portland's winning streak
2) Lakers towards the top of West despite off-season troubles
3) Miami's freefall
4) Hornets jumping to the top of the West with CP3 an MVP candidate
5) Boston playing THIS good

GhostsOfGil · Post #32 » by **GhostsOfGil** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:22 pm

kobeSTOPkobeDONT wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

This is the top 5 stories of the first half, not top 5 surprises. The Knicks are definitely an interesting and top story, despite the fact that they are a horrid basketball team and most could tell they'd be a disaster even in the off-season.

How many times have you seen a starting point guard just leave his team, let a newspaper know that he has "dirt" on his head coach and will reveal it if he's forced to come off the bench/sees his role decrease significantly? Just once, for me.

meh. that story is the among the last things i wanna hear about rite now. thats nba drama, the stuff the media feeds off of. if i wanna see drama i'll watch tnt

Ballings7 · Post #33 » by **Ballings7** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:55 pm

I don't see how the Knicks are a top ten story, even. They're just worse than they've been or as worse.

Can't count the Isiah trial because that didn't happen in the 1st half of the season. Even so, it's not basketball-related.

kellex · Post #34 » by **kellex** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:14 am

Ballings7 wrote:I don't see how the Knicks are a top ten story, even. They're just worse than they've been or as worse.

Can't count the Isiah trial because that didn't happen in the 1st half of the season. Even so, it's not basketball-related.

the basis for the list was what we've been blasted with all season. and the knicks could be #1 if you are looking at it that way. i'm so sick of hearing about them, but they just won't go away!

love all the lists!

keep 'em coming!

Philly Fresh · Post #35 » by **Philly Fresh** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:28 am

nate33 wrote:What's so surprising about the Knicks? Any fool could have predicted that they would suck this year. I guess you can call the Isiah Thomas situation a story of the year, but it's not really a basketball story.

1. Portland
2. The Lakers leading the West
3. Washington winning without Arenas
4. Boston off to a near-historic start
5. Hornets and CP3

My thoughts exactly, except not in any order.