It's not long now. In 14 long, miserable days, we can finally be reunited with the basketball that we have missed so bad. And there are tons of reasons to look forward to this season, none of which rhyme with Dony Barker.1. The Hibachi is Fired Up.
Two seasons ago in the first round, Gilbert Arenas surprised us all by providing a worthy dueler for LeBron James and the Cavaliers. He dropped 60 on Kobe in La La land, including an NBA record 18 in OT. He randomly threw down a between-the-legs dunk off a trampoline in the All-Star game.
Then last year he broke his leg and missed the playoffs. He says he's ready. Not to mention everything else that he says, Agent 0 is ready to perform. Not only was he one of the league's leading scorers, Arenas hit a ridiculous number of buzzer beaters last year, including multiple shots in the same game. Tune in for this guy, it's always a show.
2. Steve Nash has little clones now, and their fast.
Last night as the Phoenix Suns consumed the Utah Jazz in preseason, I noticed something; everyone is in really good shape. Jazz commentator Thurl Bailey acknowledged it as well. "Last year they came out and started 3-6, and Nash missed some of those games... This year they came out ready to play."
And it's true. Boris Diaw seems to have lost all the weight he gained for last season, and D'Antoni doesn't seem content with that, playing him some 41 minutes last night. Marcus Banks and Raja Bell looked slimmer, and all of the Suns who played last night just ran and ran and ran.
"We weren't prepared to play, not against those guys." Said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "Not that team."
It looks like Phoenix might score even more points than they did last year. Honestly, if you're a basketball fan, you should seriously embrace this time, because it is rare for a team this fun to be together. Enjoy the show.
3. The Wild West got Wilder.
Ok, who out west feels like they got better this offseason? What's that Golden State? You have a Euro star and a nice rookie? Baron Davis, Al Harrington and Steven Jackson have lost a combined 85 pounds?
Is that you Houston? What's that? Bonzi Wells is going to try this year? Steve Francis isn't going to be Disgruntled? Mike James is going to get open jumpers? Didn't you get the Scola guy from Argentina, you know, the Americas tourney MVP? Rafer Alston won't have to try to be a real point guard? T-Mac and Yao won't be the only people who score? Look out NBA, this team is officially for real.
And Denver too? Carmelo shone over the Summer? Iverson is still AI? JR Smith is healthy? K-Mart is too? You still have Nene and Camby right? Wasn't that Kleiza guy getting better, too? And now you have Chucky Atkins to play back up point guard? Yikes!
The easy road to the finals out west is now imaginary, and that is really exciting. Just think, the darkhorse in the west is.... everyone.
4. All the Spurs got was older.
The Villains of the NBA, San Antonio just got older. With every passing day, the chances of Manu or Horry breaking a hip via flopping increases dramatically. We can all just pray for plantar fasciatis to come back to Tim Duncan as well, but in all reality, the reason they don't repeat is that they never re-stock after winning. Maybe next year fellas, but hopefully never again.
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