More NBA Ramblings: Coach of the Year, Underrated/Overrated Teams, etc

the all-star game allows for a moment to reflect. personally, i'm not really into the all-star game itself. i enjoy seeing it, but take it with a grain of salt. there is such a serious lack of defense that it makes american border control look like scaling the great wall of china...with a peg leg.

Coach of the Year:
first off, i do not buy into 'best-worst record' type stuff. i still can't believe mike brown won last year.

1) rick adelman: he's never made the conference finals, but why punish him for that? he is the epitome of consistency through turmoil. houston pushed LA to the brink last season in the playoffs without yao ming at the end. no yao ming, t-mac, artest this season and he somehow has them playing over .500. adelman maximizes talent and regularly has good rotation in his lineup. his teams are motivated and play good D.

2) nate mcmillian: almost for the same reason as above (though portland's GM gets credit for drafting so well the past few seasons).

3) mike woodson: atlanta is streaking right now and there seems to have been a 'mental' change. i always said atlanta was one of the biggest underachievers in the league when you look at the talent on paper. this team should push a conference finals, but it's all about matchups.

Worst Coaches:
1) don nelson: if you do fantasy b-ball, you know what i'm talking about. it goes beyond that though. this guy will set anthony randolph when he is playing good. he tinkers with the lineup way too much, wants to set the tempo with 'small ball' and just plain sucks at adjusting. anthony morrow, tolliver, biedrins...all their PT have been messed with and it's no wonder this team can't get in a rhythm and stephen jackson demanded a trade. he was once a decent coach but he has lost it, period.

2) jim o'brien: too many lineup changes. he doesn't seem to instill much motivation or consistency from his team. oh and he inexplicably benched tj ford for no apparent reason.

3) scott skiles: i guess you can say his team is disciplined, but i don't like the way he benches his star players because of missed defensive assignments in games. he will sit them after the first few minutes for the rest of the quarter and practically blow the game.

Underrated Teams:
1) atlanta hawks: i have to go back to mike woodson here. then you have the addition of jamal crawford. we know atlanta can score in bunches, but when mike bibby is playing well, the team is very hard to beat. i still want to see joe johnson take over the end of games. these are issues to address: keep the turnovers low (ie: play 'smart'), and get bibby involving his teammates early. this team has the ability to move the ball well and they need to utilize it because they have pretty good interior defense.

2) denver nuggets: is it just me or are people sleeping on them already? i mean, they did make the WCF last season with LA. as much as people will say melo is an MVP candidate, look at billups and kenyon martin's numbers during melo's injuries. billups is playing like a legit all-star and martin is cleaning up the boards and finishing around the rim with hustle plays. if they keep the mistakes low and maximize their chemistry, this team is very dangerous. JR smith is a streaky shooter but lethal when hot.

3) chicago bulls (just when we thought we could write them off): they've had some major adjusting. major lineup changes and it took them a while to get used to not having ben gordon. they relied on him a lot for their offense. if they keep the ball moving, they can make the playoffs and maybe pull off a 1st round upset (how exciting was last season's series with boston?). d-rose needs to become even more consistent and especially move better without the ball. moving salmons to the bench and starting hinrich seems to have helped.

Overrated Teams (per rating)/Disappointments:
1) orlando magic - just not what they were last season. there seems to be chemistry issues with adding VC. dwight howard still has moments where he disappears completely in the 4th. he doesn't have a great post game and doesn't use his physical size to get deep post position often enough.

2) san antonio spurs (disappointment): richard jefferson just isn't meshing right now and seems to be attacking the rim less this season. they have time to fix it, but it's a concern give the aging spurs.

Biggest Surprise:
oklahoma city thunder: durant is a scoring beast, but now he's improving other aspects of his game. they are young and hungry and westbrook is also an up and coming PG. if green gets more consistent, this team will be scary for seasons to come.

Verdict Still Out:
1) LA lakers. kobe is just taking too many shots, he needs to involve his teammates early especially when you have guys like gasol/bynum on your team. get his, but c'mon, let's go for wins here. it's good to see farmar picking up his game and against speedy guards, fisher is becoming a defensive liability, especially if bynum is going to rotate so late in the paint. it would also help if gasol wouldn't leave his man when he is under the hoop (have love for gasol, but that is getting annoying).

2) boston celtics: major problems rebounding and their defense hasn't been the same. you can attribute some of this to KG's injuries. this is a huge concern because KG doesn't seem as explosive as he once was and the knee injury seems to be lingering. KG is the emotional leader of that team and his influence cannot be overlooked. there is no way boston makes it to the finals without KG, period.

NOTE: i use stats but i'm not going to plaster it all over the place. they can be helpful and misleading at the same time, so keep that in mind. feel free to disagree and i won't capitalize words to get my point across.