We’re about a week and a half into the 2014-’15 NBA season and everything is so obviously clear. The Warriors and Kings will be fighting tooth an nail in the Western Conference Finals, the Cavs will never pass to each other, and the Lakers are going to be terrible (okay, maybe that one’s not a stretch.) NBA champions aren’t crowned in the first few weeks of the season, but every year pundits seem to take a few games as evidence for their opinions and run with it. So we’re going to introduce a new segment into The Backdoor Cut this week called Overreaction Theater. As the season progresses we’ll be rolling out a few new features, trying to find the voice of the post and see what sticks.
Overreaction Theater
- Lebron James will have his worst season since his rookie year. He’s been the league’s best player for several years now, with MVP’s and Larry O’Brien trophies to show for it. His PER has ranged from suberb to historically great. Now, after five games, that rating is just shades above his rookie year’s 18.3. He and Kyrie are not handling the transition to playing with each other nearly as well as most expected. Lebron’s occasional passivity with hurt him this year as he adjusts to playing back in Cleveland.
- The Kings will be a top four seed in the Western Conference playoff picture. Obvious picks for home court advantage in the first round in the Thunder, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers have all shown signs of weakness. The Thunder may struggle to even make the playoffs being in the loaded West. The Kings don’t lack for talent, have a great home crowd, and one of the best young stars in Boogie Cousins. This will be a fun playoff team.
- The Thunder will be near the top of the lottery. Entering the season, they were already facing a tremendous uphill battle after losing Durant to the foot injury. Now with Westbrook out and other injuries piling on, finding a good chemistry may be impossible even after the stars come back.
Moments of the Week
With the young NBA season, we don’t have a lot of highlight plays just yet but that doesn’t mean there’s been no excitement. With Lebron back in Cleveland, all eyes are on their struggles and Gordon Hayward’s game ending heroics were a fun moment.
Here is the top ten plays from the NBA’s YouTube account from November 7th.
Let me know what you think below. Plays I should check out, trends you’re notice, or just to tell me why your favorite player is the best. Until next week,
Generally Trivial 