After about 6 weeks of the NBA season, I have came to some thoughts. The Eastern Conference is totally up for grabs between Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Toronto, and the Wizards. Those 5 are the only good teams in the East. I left the Miami Heat off because without LeBron they are now just an average Eastern Conference team. Now let me breakdown the 5 teams I mentioned.
Atlanta Hawks: I don't know how they are on a 9 game winning streak, but whatever they are doing keep doing it. They are .5 a game behind Toronto for the #1 seed. I don't see them as being a real contender for the Eastern Conference Championship, but they will be tough to go through if they keep playing as they are for the rest of the season.
Chicago Bulls: On paper they look really good and they are really good. They have maybe the most complete team in the East. They are the favorite to a lot of journalist to win the East and they certainly can, but their playoff success depends on the health of Derrick Rose. Last night, he looked really good against a very good Western Conference team, the Portland Trailblazers. Dropping 31 was a great sign for him and the team. As a fan of the game I hope he gets back to his MVP form, but that's highly unlikely. Rose has struggled this season. He is shooting a very low FG% and 3P%. Those number's need to increase closer to 48% and 35%. I would say the biggest concern that I can see are the amount of free throws attempted. He has only one game this season with 10 FTA. His average FTA is only slightly lower than his career FTA, but I personally think that the scoring PG that he is should be getting to the FT at least 6 times per game. It's early in the season, so there is a lot of time to improve and get back to his peak, but that will take proper rest from coach Thibodeau in terms of minutes played and games played. The addition of Pau Gasol has been a great compliment to both Jokim Noah and Taj Gibson. The emergence of Jimmy Butler as premier defender and legit offensive threat has been impressive. The Bulls are a serious contender that could possibly knock King James off his throne.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Sitting at the #5 seed in the East, you would think this team will make it to the playoffs and then bow out in the first or maybe second round. That is not the case. The Cavs just ended a remarkable 8 game winning streak that truly showed us (the fans and league) what this team is capable of doing. After their sluggish start, they finally showed that they can be a sound defensive team and high powered offensive team that we all could predict when the new Big 3 (James, Irving, Love) teamed up. Blatt has finally figured out a game plan that will play to his team's strengths. With a defense first mindset, the Cavs can easily rise to a #1 o#2 seed in the East. Last night was an MVP like performance from Mr. James. 17/24 from the floor is quite spectacular. LeBron is playing great, it's his teammates that need to step up as it's always his teammates that need to step up where ever he goes. DeJaVu? When the Big 3 are all clicking, this team is pretty tough to stop, but it's the guys like Tristan Thompson and Varejo that are the X factors of the Cavs winning these regular season games. Thompson is a very important key to the Cavs success. If Thompson, Love, and Varejo can control the boards, the Cavs will be very successful. Getting Delladova back is a huge addition for the Cavs. He will be able to take some pressure off Kyrie Irving when Irving is on the bench or at the SG position.
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