The Basketball Chat - December 5, 2006

Dennis: Welcome to another edition of The Basketball Chat with my man, Mike Slane and myself. With a month under our long Michael Jordan style shorts (please don't tell David Stern because he just might fine us here at TBC for wearing our shorts too long), let's take a look at what has gone down thus far by taking a look at the division leaders and the players at the top of the various statistical categories. Mike, let's start with the East and then head West. So, basically we start ugly. The Atlantic Division... what's up?
Mike: What's up is that the Atlantic is still the only division without a winning team. Not much surprises me at this point in the season in the Atlantic other than the Nets losing record. Looking at Jersey's roster alone, you can see that they have the right pieces to make some noise in the East. Nenad Krstic has quietly become one of the better centers in the league and Vince, Kidd, and RJ still make up one of the best trios. Now all they need is their bench to step up and they'll be in good shape. Antoine Wright has surprised me a bit.
Dennis: Yeah, the Nets' record is a bit of the surprise, but I think they're still the team to beat in this division. And if there's anyone that will challenge the Nets for Atlantic Division dominance (is using the word, "dominance" inappropriate here considering the teams' collective record of 31-54, I think it will be the Toronto Raptors who have won two straight right now and let's remember, they had a really tough Western string early in their season. With that out of the way, I think they'll start to break out as the season goes along. Rookie Andrea Bargnani has been looking really good lately, but Jorge Garbjosa has looked better and has been more consistent. So, Nets in first place... for real or an anomaly that will change as the season goes along? I'm saying for real, but I won't be surprised if our Canadian friends win out.
Mike: And what about the Knicks? Or should I say Eddy Curry? This guy is putting up numbers and is playing like the player I always thought he'd be since watching him on that high school hoops show on ESPN years ago. That's the good news for the Knicks. The bad news... well, Isiah's still there. I guess you can say it doesn't get much worse than that. And sorry Isiah, you're not the missing piece to the puzzle, so you can take that pin off your jacket. Thanks.
Dennis: Hahaha. For those that don't know, the latest fashion trend for Isiah Thomas is too wear a puzzle piece pin. But, please, let's not talk about my Knicks. And, yes, I know the Knicks finally won another game at home last night, but it was against the Memphis Grizzlies, so it almost doesn't count. So, let's move on to the Central Division with apologies to the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics, but just like those teams are in transition (I don't care what you say about plans, Danny Ainge), we have to transition as well since we only have a certain amount of time to do up TBC. That said, the Detroit Pistons, who recently had their eight-game winning streak squashed by the Charlotte Bobcats are leading the Central Division by one game over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season the Pistons won 64 games, but lost Ben Wallace during the offseason. I think the thing that made the Pistons special was having Big Ben as a defensive anchor, allowing the others to focus on other things like scoring in Coach Flip Saunders offensive scheme. As mch as the team changed last season, it's going to change even more because Nazr Mohammed is no Ben Wallace. So, I really think that either the Cavaliers will come up and take the division IF Larry Hughes can get and stay healthy... although, let's face it, LeBron James could probably do it all by himself... and we can't forget about the Chicago Bulls who Wallace signed with. They started off slow, but have won five games in a row recently and with Andres Nocioni continuing to improve and becoming that consistent scoring threat, you have to think that the Central Division will look like a red flag and the Bulls will come rushing.
Mike: Big Ben has ruined both the Pistons and the Bulls early in the season. Detroits missing his inside presence and Chicago's really isn't getting their money's worth. 8.8 boards per game? What's that about Ben? My guess it's because he's not rocking the headband. Can he at least wear one of those soccer player ones like MIke Miller?
Dennis: Not if he wants to be called Big Sissy.
Mike: Hahaha... but in all seriousness, I agree and see the Cavs coming out on top.
Dennis: Well, I wouldn't say that Wallace has ruined the Bulls necessarily. Okay, so he's not cleaning the glass as much as he did in Detroit... it's still early and I really believe for this year at least, he'll be worth the money. The guy is all effort and eventually, if it hasn't already happened, he and Coach Scott Skiles will get along fabulously because Ben is the same type of player that Skiles was - all hustle and all work. In time, I think we'll all forget about Headband-gate and talk about when is Skiles going to wear an afro wig because he bet against Ben grabbing 15 boards in back-to-back games during the season. Things will go fine, but I think Bron will actually get better this season (isn't that scary) and be able to do what the great players do and that's carry their teams. How about the Southeast? What's shaking in the Dirty South?
Mike: The Magic are shaking more than the kids at Rucker when Chicken Noodle Soup comes on. They're still rolling and are especially impressive at home where they hold a 7-1 record. And down in Atlanta, you gotta love watching Joe Johnson and Josh Smith.
Dennis: No question about all of that. However, is Orlando the truth down there or will a team like, oh say the defending NBA champion Miami Heat going to catch them from behind and flex their muscle?