The Sports Beat

Here are some random observations from the first few weeks of the NBA season:

• The Celtics appear to be just as we expected–a tad bit less enthusiastic, playing at a slightly slower pace, with Rondo’s stats improving and everyone else’s dropping (although it’s very early and PERs below 15.00 from many rotation members should change positively).
• LeBron and Kevin Durant have mostly stopped jacking threes.  This is good news for their teams, since neither has demonstrated sufficient range yet to hit from deep. Durant, however, will almost certainly reach a point when he becomes lethal from international waters whereas Prince James will likely not. If LeBron limits his three-point attempts to one open shot per game he’ll increase his efficiency even more–difficult considering he’s the best player on the planet (sorry, P^2, you won a title but that title–BPOTP–remains LeBron’s).
• Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudamire, and LeBron own the Association now and will for the next 5-10 years.
• The Piston-Nuggets trade is a strange one. It’s perfect for Denver, except for McDyess messing things up a bit, but questionable for the Pistons.  AI at Detroit’s point fits worse than an isotoner on O.J. Simpson. He doesn’t play defense and is a volume scorer prone to turnovers on a stoic team in need of more Rodney Stuckey, not less. The cap room Detroit receives is tremendous, but it’s hard to see LeBron choosing the Motor City over Brooklyn, Manhattan, or any of the many suitors he’ll have–from Cleveland to Italy. This move sets up Joe Dumars’ team up for another playoff failure before the rebuilding really starts.
• Philadelphia will be alright. They’ve got an impressive starting lineup that will right itself in time and Thaddeus Young is perfect stroking from range at the small forward position.  The 20-year-old from Georgia Tech is shooting an absurd 48% from behind the big arc and 52% overall. He might just turn out to be good enough to throw his name into the Amare-LeBron-CP3-Dwight Howard ring in a few years.
• The Lakers are scary good. Their point differential during a 4-0 start is an insane 20.8 points per game. They are the favorites.