Top 9s - PED Watch 2012

The Most Improved Player award is always one of the most exciting every season; not only did its recipient probably surprise us, but we got to watch someone make a name for themselves, forging a new star in the NBA that shone brighter than the many that battle for MIP every year.

As usual, the competition's been furious out of the gate, with many making bold claims that this is their year. Some do it for the team (injuries, new roles), some do it for self (playing time, contracts) and some do it out of pure love for the game, so here's a nod to the Top 9 guys who've taken their game (or HGH schedule - just kidding) to new heights: PED Watch 2012

9. Larry Sanders
It's taken a while for me not to picture Garry Shandling every time I hear this guy's name, but Sanders is making us forget all about subpar sitcoms with his play so far this year. Left with a void in their frontcourt by Ersan Ilyasova's inexplicably sudden crappiness (didn't seem like the "get paid and stop trying" type), Sanders has assumed a pivotal - and growing- role off the bench, providing capable mid-range scoring and staunch defense to backup their gamble-heavy perimeter. He plays with the all the hustle Ilyasova's lacked this year, so with increased playing time, his name (and face) could start to ring out much louder.

8. Kenneth Faried
Faried was a standout as a rookie last year, but is bending the NBA learning curve to his own standards this season, outweighing skill and size with raw motor and athleticism. The guy just does not stop moving on the court, and every single one of his steps or leaps is of benefit to his team. He cuts relentlessly, he screens constantly, he challenges for EVERY SINGLE loose ball, and generally makes whoever's facing him on either end of the court earn their paycheck twice-over that night. He's already arguably Denver's most effective player, and is still developing an offensive game beyond his off-the-ball activity. Cheesy as it sounds (but also fitting) the sky's the limit for a guy with so much hunger who's shown such steady strides.

7. Mike Conley
Many things have accounted for Memphis' surprise romp to open the season, but chief among them has been Conley's completion of his evolution into (and even beyond) what the Grizz saw when they gave him all that money. Conley's an excellent defender who's become a dangerous offensive presence; an extremely efficient scorer who can morph aptly in between attacker and playmaker modes as the defense dictates. He isn't afraid to take big shots and has been hitting 43% beyond the arc, as one of several D-stretching threats that have made the Grizz so dangerous this year. It's getting crowded in the "Elite Point Guard" mansion, but anyone who doesn't leave Conley's keys does so at their own risk.

6. OJ Mayo
Meanwhile, Conley's one-time running mate has found a new home in Dallas, and somewhat of a renaissance on a team that was suddenly bereft of explosive scorers. Vince Carter was too old. Dirk was too injured. Jason Terry was too in Boston. Well, if there's one thing Mayo likes to do, it's score, and he's responded to the Mavs' void by dropping 20/game and significantly lifting his shooting percentages across the board. What remains to be seen is if the historically streaky and zone-loving Mayo (meant both as "oh, they're in a zone, awesome!" and "no guys, I'm in a zone here, not passing") can maintain the consistent shooting as the second option once Dirk returns, but the early signs have been promising.

5. Anderson Varejao
Ok, so we all knew Varejao was a sneaky-effective monster on the glass, but this season he's become a completely different kind of beast, taking his rebounding to league-leading heights while becoming an increasingly large factor on offense, scoring 4 more points/game and doubling his assist avg to over 3/game. You can appreciate the work this guy's put into his game watching his crafty post moves and smooth finish, knowing this was the same kid that used to make Lebron James cringe with bobbled passes and botched layups several times a night. All it takes is a game, no a quarter, of Cavs basketball to see he's one of the hardest-working players in the NBA, and the effort's paying off huge this year.

4. Goran Dragic
It was evident Goran Dragic was a skilled player when he dropped 23 points in a single quarter... the 4th...On the Spurs....In the Playoffs. It seemed like he was primed for his breakout eons ago, but stuck behind Steve Nash in Phoenix (and then Kyle Lowry in Houston), Dragic was a victim of circumstance and never had the chance to blossom. Now back with the post-Nash Suns, Dragic has been everything he promised to be given starter's minutes; quick on both sides of the ball, with a nice shooting touch and playmaking abilities that would be much better suited to a team with so few options. It's not unfair to say Dragic might have been deserving of Suns teams past, but at least he's finally getting the chance to run the show.

3. Omer Asik
I'll admit, I thought the contract he got this summer was absolutely fucking ridiculous. I'll also admit, I was wrong, as Asik has taken absolutely no time to adapt to a much-expanded role in Houston, becoming a rebounding machine and improving his finishing around the basket seemingly every game. He was pegged by many for a breakout year (I'm far from the only person who's happy they swiped him in their fantasy draft) and so far might even be exceeding expectations. But then there's these two:

2. Greivis Vasquez
General Greivis showed off a solid shooting touch, gritty defending and even a minor clutch factor during Memphis' playoff run two seasons ago; it was evident then that he'd be a solid player. "Solid player" has been a significant insult to the improvement he's shown this year after winning New Orleans' starting PG spot almost by default. His career averages have doubled in every major category, while working with a young, raw, often confused roster that's hardly seen Anthony Davis yet, hasn't seen Eric Gordon at all, and can credit Vasquez's sudden uprising with keeping their early season afloat.

1. Jrue Holiday
Often, a player makes the boldest claim for this award by taking what pretty much every avid sports fan refers to as "The Leap": that breakout season where they ratcheted up from solid role player to unquestioned star, leaving little to no doubt despite the impressive efforts of others (see: Love, Kevin; 2010). Holiday, by all indications, is in the midst of said "Leap" with Philly's point guard reins all to himself. Good for 19/9 with 1.5 steals through the first 15 games, Holiday is adding yet another name to the seemingly endless tally of top-notch NBA point guards, and giving the 76ers a reason to pull the theoretical gun out of their mouths after news broke that their new franchise player indefinitely aggravated his injury bowling. If the Uhu putty holding Bynum's knees together ever settles properly, then these two could be a fearsome duo with Thad Young lurking, but for now, Holiday might have to be content with this trophy, as it's the only hardware he has a chance of winning this season.

Enter The GrindHouse - Denver vs The Grizz

The Memphis Grizzlies have been the talk of this young NBA season, reeling off a string of impressive wins over tough competition, which has earned them the early consensus of Top Dog while the picture continues to take form. The Grizz have been scoring more easily while playing a suffocating team defense that gleans back to the '08 Celtics (note the Tony Allen connection), balancing the scoring with Russian Roulette-like variance and appear to be clicking on most (if not all) cylinders through the whole rotation.

This can be blamed on a whole array of things, from Zach Randolph's apparent P90x training, to he and Rudy Gay having more time to gel on-court, the relentless bench production, the bitter taste of Playoff disaster lingering in their mouths all summer, OJ Mayo being in a different uniform, Marc Gasol channeling Mark Jackson, Mike Conley looking every bit worth the contract I spit out half my tea (yes, I drink tea) upon reading he signed...

Of course, as is with every team that exceeds pre-season projections, the question is: can they keep it up? Tonight, the Grizz face off against the Nuggets; a team many see them fighting for playoff position with, as they chase a franchise-record 9th straight win. Banter's got the play-by-play: welcome to the GrindHouse.

- Zach Randolph hit with a delay of game warning before tipoff. Astounding.

- Tony Allen "looking for his offense early but not shooting the ball very well". Not so astounding.

- The Grizz's first bucket comes off a nice Conley 3 after Gasol gets crowded in the high post and (as usual) finds the open man. Hitting the 3 has been one of Memphis' new weapons; should be of note tonight against a reputedly tough Nuggets' perimeter D

- Lebron James is the only non-guard with more assists this year than Marc Gasol. That's just impressive, even nine games in.

- Grizz timeout early after their effort on D looks very Knick-like

- Midway through the first, the Grizz have been attacking the post and the Nuggets have been hitting easy jumpers. Knotted at 11.

- Again, Denver's defenders overload the post, leave the top of the perimeter wide open, and get stung with a 3, this time by Rudy Gay.

- Iggy with the game's first dunk; a nice 2-handed baseline reverse off a pump fake that just looks TOO casual for what it is.

- Enter: Quincy Pondexter. This is bad news for you, Denver.

- Memphis has been murdering the offensive glass early, but having a player named "The Manimal" is a great equalizer. He forces two second-chance points to cap a Denver run that gives them a 17-14 lead... Until a Mike Conley 3 from the corner in transition knots it again.

- Lotta turnovers by Memphis, and Denver isn't playing particularly great D

- The Grizz are just murdering the Nuggets down low right now, between offensive-rebounds and feebly-contested penetration, it's been ugly, and every time Denver's stacked the key to compensate, they've given up an open 3. Memphis at their best is certainly not a team you want to play small-ball against, and...

- Yes! stealing my thought, George Karl has checked Javale McGee into the game over the break. Instant entertainment spike. On cue, McGee catches an Andre Miller backdoor lob.

- Enter: the rest of Memphis' super-subs, Speights, Bayless and Ellington.

- McGee confusedly dribbles into a triple-team with no teammates within 15 feet, jumps as if he's going to try and dunk over everyone from the dotted line, and gets stripped. Such a majestic game.

- The pace picks up as Speights finishes a near-dunk over Brewer on the break to give Memphis the lead, but a pair of free throws put Denver back up 27-26 after 1 quarter.

- The announcers talking about Memphis' "15-game home winning streak" makes me laugh. Let's just conveniently forget about the Playoffs and that 27-point 4th Quarter collapse. At home. Led by Nick Young.

- Both teams come out of the gates running in the 2nd, looking to set the tone. The result? More turnovers. McGee appears to have Pondexter sealed in the post, but falls over while establishing position after Miller creates what in his mind is another easy bucket. The ball rolls by - just out of his massive reach - and the Grizz get back and score in transition.

- Commercial break: 32-32.

- After the break, McGee is curiously absent.

- Jordan Hamilton checks in, tries to make a move off the pass, and blatantly travels. The announcer deadpans: "It does not end well for him".

- 3 more Memphis turnovers to start the 2nd. Hard to score at that rate.

- When they're not losing the ball, the Grizz are finding Randolph for nice looks in the post; keeping it simple, exploiting the edge.

- Pondexter cages the Manimal, taking a charge on the break well ahead of the play; the kind of consistent gritty effort we've learned to expect from them.

- Gallinari catches a lob into the post off a switch with Miller and finishes maybe the toughest shot of his career over three Grizzlies; game's high scorer with 9. Not to be outdone, Gay comes back and sticks one of those 3's that makes the rim mic twang; game's high scorer with 11.

- "Danillo Gallinari, who did NOTHING against the Grizzlies in three games last year, has been the man of the match for the Nuggets so far." Flattering. 45-45 with 2:37 left in the half. Very tight game so far, but if Memphis could just take care of the f***ing ball, they'd be not only scoring more (clearly) but preventing the  fast breaks that have led to fouls and enough of Denver's points.

- The Nuggets have been playing some very sloppy transition ball themselves; numerous lucky deflections are the only reason they're still in single-digit TOs.

- A couple pretty bad no-call fouls have the GrindHouse raining boos on the refs, and the Grizzlies trailing 52-49. The Nuggets are shooting are 54% and the Grizz's D looks about as confused as you would if you saw a grizzly bear in the city of Memphis.

- Time for some blueberry pancakes while some Grizzlies "legend" gives weak halftime analysis.

- Players I pictured doing that segment: Bonzi Wells, Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Blue Edwards

- Tip for blueberry pancakes, put more emphasis on the "blueberry", less on the "pancake"

- The first half was scrappy; the 2nd half at first impression won't be any different.

- Faried picks up 2 quick fouls - terrible news for the Nuggets as he now has 4. Karl isn't calling anyone off the bench though...oh...no...wait...here comes...JAVALE MCGEE! Who immediately throws up an awkward runner, but gets his own rebound over everyone for an easy putback, hardly jumping.

- Curious officiating. A lot of close calls going against Memphis nebulously, and a lot of swallowed whistles on close fouls. The Grizz are laughing, but what else can you do?

- More exploiting the post from Memphis; Denver's countered with a Koufos/McGee frontline that's getting confused on switches more than contesting shots.

- By the way, a quick shoutout to NBA League Pass for leaving this game and the Clippers/Spurs tilt untouched while blacking out the thrilling Magic/Hawks showdown. A rare treat.

- Memphis has grinded away, back to a 67-64 lead. As advertised their scoring is balanced: Gasol leads three in double-figures, Bayless has 9, Conley has 8, and only Ellington has yet to score.

- While Mcgee isn't doing much to prevent Gasol from scoring, he's at least answering with a few nice post moves of his own. There might be hope yet for the kid...

- A contested Corey Brewer 3 goes in (somehow) to bring Denver within one; 70-69 Grizz at the end of three.

- McGee's single greatest attribute might be his length allowing him to contest every single rebound; Z-Bo's working on the glass like Ruth's Chris is full and they lost his reservation.

- Nuggets on an 11-3 run up 73-70 early; the bench getting it done. Andre Miller's presence at least triple's McGee's value on offense.

- Admission: I went into this saying to myself "try not to talk about Javale McGee the whole game". Fail.

- If "50/50 balls" were an actual statistical category, Denver would just be completely pummeling Memphis. Then there's the 17 offensive rebounds - in which the Nuggets lead the NBA - but damn. The Manimal is just wreaking havoc.

- Speaking of which, Gay pulls down a board off a Pondexter miss for an uncontested two-handed slam that sends Denver to a time-out clinging to a 79-76 lead, and puts some much-needed wind back in Memphis' sails. It's their first bucket in the paint so far in the 4th, coming at 7:39.

- Conley for 3! Ties the game, validates that contract juuuuuuust a bit more. Gay swats a Ty Lawson floater on the other end, and Memphis is starting to bring out that energy. Tony Allen sinks two at the line and Grizz are up 83-81.

- The refs blow another call (a loose ball Faried knocks out - I swear, he chases every loose ball like he's a Season 3 Wire extra after "that WMD", the refs should just employ a "Faried rule" for sketchy plays they're not sure of)  that leads to a tying bucket for Denver.

- LEAVE TONY ALLEN OPEN FROM 18 FEET! I DARE YOU! Grizzlies up 87-83

- Allen makes a slightly less valuable play, getting T'd up for pulling Faried's hair after they fought for a loose ball. The ensuing free throw knot the game yet again at 87; the 12th time tonight.

- The refs blow another call (God this game's getting repetitive), but tony Brothers steps in off the ball to set things straight and cut Memphis some slack, after they've been on the bum end of virtually every close/blown call.

- The Grizz run an extremely dangerous play with Gasol isolated in the high post and slashers from the right baseline and flashing on the left perimeter. Rudy streaks baseline, Gasol with the beautiful drop pass, and-one.

- The quizzical officiating continues as McGee grabs Gasol's jersey while they fight for a rebound, and Gasol gets nailed with the call.

- I love how the GrindHouse routinely plays the instrumental to "Yonkers" in the 4th quarter. Apparently, Tyler does too:

Tyler, The Creator ‏@fucktyler

DUDE MY SONG WAS PLAYING DURING A FUCKING BASKETBALL GAME!!! THATS TIGHT CAUSE I DONT REALLY KNOW SHIT ABOUT BASKETBALL BUT HELL YEAH

- With the game under 2 minutes and Memphis up 92-90, the two teams trade deadly offensive possessions: a Tony Allen running pump scoop over 2 defenders with the shot clock dwindling, and an Iggy 3 off a broken play. Deadly.

- The offensive glass continues to be Denver's savior; two straight 2nd chance opportunities put them back up 93-92. Javale Mcgee, ladies and gentlemen.

- Gay picks up his dribble in an iso set with nobody near him, awkwardly tries to lob the ball back out to Conley, and gets picked off by Gallinari, comes back down and drills what appears to be the dagger off a Lawson drive-and-kick. 96-92 with 12 seconds left.

- ANOTHER Grizzlies turnover. Laaaaaate.

- Final score 97-92, the Nuggets end the Grizzlies' "15-game home winning streak", sending them to 8-2 after a pretty flat performance.

I recall reading a Randolph quote a few days ago, something about his team "thriving off the underdog role". Well tonight, they certainly played like a team who knew they were 8-1; they were too casual on offense, and turned the ball over a lot. They didn't challenge shots very well, and Denver hit a lot of them. Their effort on glass was so shoddy that Denver grabbed 21 offensive boards, which led to virtually all of their key baskets down the stretch. The officiating wasn't great, but Memphis did themselves no favors along the way to disappointing first home loss.

This wasn't the Grizz we've seen over the past few weeks; this team looked lost, careless and lethargic more often tonight than in their past eight games combined. Maybe this is just a crack in the proverbial windshield, but these kinds of lapses in effort are reminiscent of the Game 1 Incident, and the Grizzlies simply aren't talented enough to win a best-of-seven against a team like the Lakers - whom they face next on Friday - playing this carelessly. Three days off until then, hopefully they can get it together.

Mike Brown - Thrown Under The Buss

Last summer, Jerry Buss was faced with an important decision.

Phil Jackson had decided to take another coaching sabbatical, and the Lakers' owner would have to replace the most accomplished and revered coach in modern professional sports.

It was pivotal; not only in the immensity of the matter, but in its urgency too; LA's favorite sons had just been swept out of the Playoffs, suddenly weren't even the best team in their own city anymore, and were eyeing the twilight of Kobe Bryant's career.

So, of course, when  respected coaching veterans (Rick Adelman) and straight up legends (Jerry Sloan) were out of work, and could've been offered the World by basketball's most valuable entity, Buss instead hastily hired Mike Brown without so much as a phone call to his franchise player.

Brown's resume was somewhat sparse: he had harvested a reputation as a defensive guru, woefully inept offensive coordinator, and probable lost sibling of a certain McDonalds mascot through five seasons in Cleveland. He won a Coach of the Year award (mostly because of Lebron James) and made a Finals appearance (mostly because of a pitifully incompetent Eastern Playoff bracket, and again Lebron James) despite never earning the type of praise the best in the business tend to garner. Players weren't crazy about him. He didn't instill discipline, respect or fear. He wasn't great at in-game adjustments. He (with one unavoidable exception) didn't consistently get the best out of his young talent. He simply sort of existed, riding the wave of accolades that would come to any half-decent new coach with no expectations and the most ideal basketball specimen ever starting at small forward.

Things were certainly different this time around: Brown's "credentials" steadily built his profile to the pinnacle of expectation-ridden coaching gigs. Now under the bright lights of Los Angeles, trying to restore a proud franchise and harness the most mercurial and daunting coaching task in the NBA, we'd get to see what he was really made of. 

The first season was a relative disaster from a new coach's perspective. Any attempt Brown made to saddle Bryant into a team concept fell on deaf ears, as Kobe went on tear that laid to rest any question of how his knees were holding up and gave sabermetric stat geeks massive aneurysms. Coach Kobe was running the show as Brown regularly feuded with Andrew Bynum, failed to keep Pau Gasol engaged without the touches he craved, and the Lakers flamed out unceremoniously in the second round.

The year-long murmurings for Brown's head turned to open conversation, but Buss wasn't ready to drop the axe. He (well, more specifically Mitch Kupchak) had other plans. Kupchak's legendary offseason coups need no re-hashing (okay, yes they do, he pried a legendary, loyalist point guard away from a bitter Lakers' rival for nothing and then acquired the game's best big man without surrendering the player every team in the deal wanted. Incredibly played.) but they upped the ante yet again for Brown, when he was already struggling with the stakes.

As the Lakers bombed out the gate this season, the open conversation got very loud and heated. Press, fans, and people who just wanted to see an incredible Finals this year (like me) were screaming for Brown's demise. Things took a sharp turn this week: one second Brown was allegedly safe, and then as quickly as a cold look from Kobe can turn into a Tumblr phenomenon, Grimace was gone.

Instead of dwell on why the hell Brown was hired in the first place, or lament last season's waste of Kobe's mileage, the Lakers need to realize what 2012's failure has delivered them: a legendary assembly of talent that should contending for a title, not confounding the masses. 

The urgency to find a new coach and right this sinking ship is pressing, but with the importance magnified, this decision can't be as blind as their last coaching hire. Moreover, this hire needs to be fitting of what this team could become: legendary. This team needs a coach who will instantly command the respect of every one of its stars. This team needs a coach who won't panic under the pressure of the LA media and the dire situation his team finds themselves in. This team needs a coach who gets Kobe Bryant, and really, there's only one person on the face of the Earth who does. This team needs the man who Mike Brown tried desperately to replace but could never hope to: Phil Jackson.

Throw money at him. Throw a custom-designed Zen multiplex at him. Do whatever needs to be done to get this man out of retirement (I mean, hell, he's essentially Jerry Buss' son-in-law, how difficult can it be?) because it would be the easiest remedy to a situation that's turning a $100 million+ payroll - and the entire sports World - on its head. 

Hopefully Mike Brown can find work at a McDonalds Playland somewhere (more likely teaching one of the many needy teams in the NBA a proper defensive scheme), but this was a task far too great for him. This Lakers team is unparalleled, not only in its assembly of talent, but the precariousness of it coming together properly. 

Few would be up to it, and only one really makes sense. 

Back Like Obama: The NBA Returns

This time last year, we were all in hell.

Days were getting colder, nights were getting longer, and we were facing the seeming certainty that there would be no NBA action to carry us through the long, harsh winter. 

Saved by a last-minute (though hastily-compromised, we'll see how that plays in five years) CBA agreement, we got our season, and this year us Canadian fans might even get to enjoy baketball without the constant pestering of the NHL, mired in its own lockout.

A week into the season, things are at the usual frantic pace as teams welcome newcomers and jostle for position out of the gate. Here's a look around the League at some of the highlights: 

- The early season thunder (pun intended) was stolen suddenly when OKC woke up out of nowhere and traded James Harden to the Rockets after contract talks went south. Things got thicker than James' beard when he took off with an MVP-like romp to open the season, completely revitalizing Houston's hoops scene.

The unfortunate word out of the Thunder camp is that Harden was unwilling to budge on a deal that was $5m below the max, but would have covered the difference in easy incentives, dealing a huge blow to the Thunder's uber-nucleus. So, facing four max players on a small-market team, Sam Presti's hand was forced, and now instead of a player blossoming into the NBA's best two-way two guard, he's left with a great scorer and defender at the position, unfortunately they're just not the same person. The Thunder have also started the season looking like a feeble shell of the team that shook the Spurs last May, and who's to know if they can regain their swagger?

On the other hand, you've got the Rockets, who are looking like Anna Nicole Smith post-divorce (and pre-bloating), happily inking Harden to the max after stockpiling assets for years to land a player of his caliber. The Beard now teams with Linsanity to form perhaps the NBA's most intriguing backcourt, has all the room to shine, a city on his back, money in his pocket, and a straight-up frightening start to the season under his belt. Only time will tell, but this has all the makings of a historic, franchise-altering move for both teams. 

- Amid the Harden shockwaves were tremors out of Los Angeles, where the Lakers started 0-3 and underwhelmed everyone. The problems were plenty: Mike Brown shackling his imposing offensive arsenal with a Princeton system, a lack of defensive cohesion to mask the holes at several positions, incomplete health (something massively exacerbated by Steve Nash's demise). Where the Lakers go from here is anybody's guess, but by the time Nash returns in a couple weeks, if this ship doesn't begin to right itself, Mike Brown might be getting the axe. I'm not entirely sure why he has this job to begin with, but Brown trying to co-ordinate an offense for Nash and Kobe Bryant is sort of like Riff Raff trying to give Kendrick Lamar rapping lessons.

Mike, take a page from Erik Spoelstra, who's survived a baptism-by-fire in Miami to actually become one of the NBA's better coaches, recently saying that putting Lebron James "in a box" (theoretically) during his first year in Miami "was the worst thing I could've done". You've got revolutionary talent on your team, and the two players leading it are both more experienced and simply smarter than you offensively. Let them do their thing.

- The remaining unbeaten teams are (somewhat predictably) the Spurs, and (complete f***ing shocker) the Knicks and Bucks. San Antonio's doing what they always do: play monotonously effective basketball, Milwaukee's only played two games, but the Knicks have been shooting the lights out, despite being old, hobbled and hated on by pretty much everyone outside of Manhattan (they don't even have the other Boroughs anymore). Melo's been playing like he heard everyone's mumbles about his mentality this summer, Raymond Felton appears to have shed his Burger King addiction, and Mike Woodson might finally have made a sane human being out of JR Smith. Of course, this is the Knicks so things could be a Rasheed Wallace drug violation away from completely unraveling, stay tuned.

- The player everyone was probably most anxious to see - human pogo stick/ROY apparent/unibrow revolutionist Anthony Davis - was abruptly sidelined after concussion-like syndromes from an inadvertent Austin Rivers elbow ("thanks, pal!") prevented him from traveling with the team by plane after the NBA went all NFL on us and revised their policies about head injuries. The issue of brain damage from sports injuries is a very serious and relevant one; in all cases, not just that of a rookie phenom. But Hornets coach Monty Williams spoke out and hit all the right points; that basketball's a much less physical game, that this policy was revised without much history within the sport, and the players should be more involved in the decision (Davis was apparently fine the next day). That and my fantasy team's already got enough injuries.

- Meanwhile, over in Oregon, Blazers rookie Damian Lillard has been putting on a clinic and setting the bar very high for Davis. If the Summer League and Preseason exhibitions he put on weren't enough to convince you that the stunner of Draft Lottery might also be its best player this year, then tune into a Portland game on League Pass, watch his lethal stroke, killer quickness, great passing for a score-first guard, and try lying to yourself and saying he isn't the truth. It'll likely be a two-horse race for ROY, but it should be a damn good one.

- Mavs' owner Mark Cuban's been back in the headlines (where he seems to have taken a slight backseat from after his failed foray in Major League Baseball), picking fights with Donald Trump via Twitter in an effort to get Trump to first shave his immortally horrendous haircut off for charity, and then to match Cuban's $1m for Sandy relief (in his own state no less) when The Donald scoffed at the offer. Say what you want about Mark Cuban; he comes across as arrogant and maybe a man in his position has the right to, but he speaks his mind, is the best owner in the NBA, and in this case is using his public platform to not only raise money for a good cause, but have fun at the expense of one of the most unanimously disliked people in the World. Try and hate.

- Until Love and Rubio return and make Minnesota the indisputable Official Team of League Pass, there should be an interesting fight for the interim title. Houston has to be included for Harden Watch after his early season antics. Golden State's playing some inspiring ball, has several players to watch, and could actually (maybe) be something this year. The Clippers are obvious choices. The Cavs are less obvious ones. But for my money, I'm going to be watching a lot of Nuggets games over the next few weeks. Their team is young, exciting and dynamic; they play the kind of gritty, unselfish basketball you'd expect a good team with no superstar to play, but with a level of flair an athleticism that has to put them high for any true fan. Then there's the added bonus value of Javale McGee doing something completely, utterly unforgettable. Makes an easy win.

And last, but most definitely not least, a salute to David Stern - unmistakably the best commissioner in pro sports today - who recently announced his impending retirement after what will be a 30-year reign that saw him steer the NBA from fringe market to global juggernaut. He presided over an era of absurd economic expansion that saw professional basketball become adopted in media and countries it had previously never heard of. As with any commissioner there were highs and lows; along with his knack for expansion and reputation as a policy guru, relentless worker, and "stern" negotiator, were failed attempts at social engineering (the Dress Code), failed attempts to keep his owners' wallets in line (resulting in two season-shortening lockouts, though let us note the MLB and NHL both lost entire seasons to lockouts during his tenure), failed attempts to keep his referees from fixing games for the mob, and obvious signs of a decline into senility (the Chris Paul Fiasco). Despite these blemishes, the historical record will surely state that Stern was a basketball legend for his impact on the game's sharp rise in popularity. He was as steady a leader as a league that constantly found itself in public turmoil could ask for, and we can only hope (as is indicative) that Adam Silver will wear the shoes well.

Here's to an awesome season, enjoy and take care.