As I am writing this there are 49 seconds left to go in the
Portland Houston game 2 (looks like Portland is about to go up 2-0 in the
series), and I am asking myself are we starting to see Parity in the NBA? I’m only 28 but have followed all things
Basketball since I was a little kid (this is a prerequisite to live in the
state of Kentucky). So, back to the “Parity” in question. I’m going to start with my birth year (1985), in the 29 NBA season over this period there have been 8 different Champions. Of
those champions the Dallas Mavericks are the only team that has not found a way
to win another.
(Hey I was right Portland won)
Ok, so if you asking yourself if this guy has any idea what parity
is I assure you it is coming, well actually here it is. Right now all series
have completed 2 games, and we only have 3 series at a 2-0 mark. Only one of those three teams is the favorite. That team is the 2 time defending champion
(that hurts to say) Miami Heat… and they had no easy task getting there against
a team that is 2 years removed from a 7 win season (albeit a shortened season).
Let's look outside of the playoffs. Think back to the start of the season when everyone was
criticizing teams for setting up to tank. Phoenix was on that list. They
finished one game out of the 8th seed in the west. Who's the star on that team? No Dragic doesn't count (that's just a good player that got the ball a lot this season)! So how did they just barely miss the playoffs? Good players are closing the gap on the great players, and if you have several good players they don't have to be counted on every night. Remember when those superstars Terrence Ross and Corey Brewer put up 51? How about when Aaron brooks dished out 17 dimes? Maybe you can recall the face of the Denver Nuggets Timofey Mozgov grabbing 29 boards.
Last point I promise! Ultimately some ping pong balls will
have a lot to say about how some of these teams fair next season. Regardless,
this draft is deep, and filled with some big time talent. Not only are some of
the teams that will get lottery picks almost playoff teams already, many of the
teams well behind this season only appeared that way. (Once those balls are picked and the
underclassmen declare I will start working on a Mock draft and team outlook)
This is a small sample size, and I really doubt that the
Wizards are going to be the 9th team to hang a banner in my lifetime
this year. (I hope it’s the Thunder)
Id love to see more of this in the NBA, but my biggest concern with the NBA is the one and done players coming in from the NCAA. I would like Commissioner Adam Silver to up the age limit to have to do three years of service before they can make the jump.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see it go the other way... but most of these kids out of high school shouldn't be taken in first round much less the lottery. The GM's making these picks need to be held accountable when they draft Kwame Brown over Pau Gasol. You are going to have players like Howard and James that are hard not to gamble on (but these should be the exception not the rule), but most of these kids should be going as fliers in the second round i.e. Monta Ellis. If the kids that went to college proved that they could play were regularly selected first (and thus payed more) you would see kids choose to go to school. Forcing a legal adult to go to school when they could be making hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars at their chosen profession, makes a mockery out of the already feeble NCAA.
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