The Daily Fix: Featuring The Texas Triangle And My Infatuation With Jose Calderon
Starting when the NBA season kicks off next week, I’ll be writing a daily recap of all the previous night’s action, called The Daily Fix (except on Thursdays because you can just watch TNT that night). In the preseason, I’ll focus mainly on team-specific rotational issues, injury updates and anything else newsworthy. When the regular season begins, I’ll be focusing on every issue possible, with the intention of providing all the information that a box score doesn’t give (although statistics will obviously still be used). Each night’s games will be broken into categories, like “Western Conference Showdown” or “Battles Between Eastern Conference Cellar Dwellers Who Are Doing Everything in Their Power to Lose,” for example. The Daily Fix will also serve as an avenue to all the team-specific writing and I’ll be following all the story lines that are covered in great detail by the team-specific scribes.
Until the season begins, I’ll be going team by team to iron out my opinions on how each team and player will fare this season (I promise to call myself out for my incorrect predictions as often as I pat myself on the back for my correct predictions). For the Eastern Conference, I went division by division, but since the preseason has been so excruciatingly boring, I’ve decided to break the teams in the Western Conference up and talk about them a few at a time. Today, I’ll be going over the Texas Triangle (with preseason scores at the bottom):
San Antonio Spurs
Has the championship window finally closed for the Spurs? Last season, San Antonio came insanely close to grabbing their fifth title in as many Finals appearances, but a combination of LeBron James’ headband falling off (and LBJ then going insane for 10 minutes) missed free throws and one of the greatest shots in NBA history did them in. How do they recover? By doing what they’ve done for the past decade: sticking to the plan.
I’m of the belief that San Antonio will be ousted in the second round of the playoffs this year, but that alone won’t be the only way to judge how they performed this season. With Tim Duncan at 37 years old (he’s got to show some age soon, right?) and Manu Ginobili at 36 years old (he has already shown his age, like a normal human does on the wrong end of 35), it’s imperative that San Antonio goes through a changing of the guards this season, with youngsters like Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter stepping up their respective games. Even with improvement from those three guys, San Antonio will have trouble keeping up with a loaded Western Conference, although I still think they’ll be a top-three seed.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Kawhi Leonard will turn into an All-Star-caliber player, but I’m less sure about Splitter and Green. Leonard is Luol Deng 2.0 to me. He can shoot from the outside, defend, rebound and he has some scoring chops (his offensive ceiling is higher than Deng’s due to his ability to handle the rock). Can Leonard become a 16-and-8 guy for the Spurs this year? He certainly can and I believe that he will.
On the other hand, Green and Splitter don’t look like above-average starters to me. Splitter has a little polish in the post, with a number of post moves, legitimate size and the ability to finish with either hand, but his foot speed is a major concern. Can he ever become a good help defender and a dynamic rebounder? Can he play 35 minutes per game at full speed, while staying out of foul trouble? This year, Splitter will need to become a 15-and-7 guy, and will need to show improvement as a help defender if he wants to become a staple of the post-Duncan Spurs (he’s already getting paid like one).
Green is a solid 2 at this point, but I’m not sure if he ever improves drastically. Right now, he’s pretty much just a solid defender who can stretch the floor. That’s about it. Is that a bad thing? No. Is that someone who you’re definitely going to want to start next to Tony Parker after Duncan and Ginobili retire? I don’t think so. Green needs to become a more expansive scorer and it would be a great sign if he could hone the ability to create 3-point shots off down screens, a la Klay Thompson and Ray Allen.
I don’t see the Spurs making a run at the Western Conference crown this season, but that doesn’t mean that their future won’t be bright. Obviously, a title is the ultimate goal, but with an educated fan base like San Antonio’s, they know that the future is always going to come. Leonard, Green and Splitter will join Parker in what will become an ESPN feature entitled something like “Not Your Older Brother’s Spurs.” After this season, we’ll know a little bit more about where this team is going post-Duncan (which also means post-Gregg Popovich in all likelihood).
Houston Rockets
I write for the Rockets on the Yahoo Contributor Network, so I don’t want to spend too much time talking about them here. I’ll make my argument short and sweet about my favorite sports team in the world: they’re going to be very, very good. I think they have a legitimate shot at winning the Western Conference (30 percent), although that number could rise if general manager Daryl Morey moves Omer Asik for an upgrade at the 1 or the 4 (probably the 4).
I’m not a big fan of Jeremy Lin’s, mainly because of his defense (or lack thereof), but he might improve this year (key word: might). Dwight Howard will look like the best center in basketball this season (no doubt in my mind). James Harden will be the best 2 in the NBA (no doubt in my mind). Chandler Parsons is a perfect third star. Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas will need to improve in their second years, but I believe they’ll both carve out a niche and serve a function (and maybe their function will be to get dumped with Asik for Greg Monroe or Paul Millsap).
Howard will not be a distraction for this team (no matter how much Lakers fans want him to) and coach Kevin McHale will have a great relationship with Howard. Houston is going to enter the postseason with a lot of people saying that they have a shot to make it to the Finals and they might do just that. I’m hoping they take it all and I know that they have the ability to do it.
Dallas Mavericks
This will be one of the more interesting teams in the league this season, as Dirk Nowitzki enters his slide from elite player to aging elite player, which is never a fun time for an NBA superstar. Just like two summers ago, this summer Mark Cuban snatched up a bunch of free agents, but failed to score the ultimate prize (Howard).
This year, Nowitzki’s supporting cast consists of newcomers Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, DeJuan Blair, Devin Harris and Wayne Ellington, in addition to incumbents Shawn Marion, Vince Carter and Brandan Wright. On paper, this team could make the playoffs (I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I have the chances at around 15 percent), but I, for one, am hoping they will. In my mind, they pose absolutely no threat to my favorite team (Houston) and they have a number of players who I’ve oftentimes daydreamed about playing in expanded roles or in different settings. This Mavericks team gives us Monta Ellis next to another top-flight scorer; Jose Calderon starting, rich, and ready to lead the league in assists; old Vince Carter trying to make good (kind of); and DeJuan Blair in prime position to take Samuel Dalembert’s starting role.
All of those ideas tickle my basketball palate and for whatever reason, I’m hoping each one of those guy succeeds. Ellis is one of the most talented guards in the NBA, with scoring chops for days and the most beautiful rise-up jumper (it doesn’t look human), but he never got into the right spot. Could next to Dirk be the right spot? Could Ellis play off of Nowitzki and vice versa? I think it’s a distinct possibility. Remember, Ellis once averaged 25.5 points per game in a season and although that doesn’t tell most of the story, it proves his talent is worthy of watching out for. Ellis’ teammates have never had games like his. Now, he’s playing with one of the best pure scorers of the past decade; pretty cool if you ask me.
Calderon’s situation is more personal than anything else. For whatever reason, Jose Calderon has been my favorite basketball player since I was about 14. I just always loved watching the guy play. Always in control. Always looking to facilitate. Better in motion. Knockdown shooter. I just always had a deep appreciation for the way the guy played the game and now, I get to see him running with Ellis next to him? Almost too good to be true. Despite my admiration for Calderon, I know he’ll get lit up on defense, but he’s a better defender than Lin, so I take solace in that (kind of). If you haven’t caught much of Calderon, sit back and get ready for a treat, because his game is Shannyn Sossamon kind of pretty (different and exotic).
On top of what’s going to be an awesome backcourt to watch, we have Blair maybe finding a comfy role at center. Doesn’t a Dirk and Blair frontline sound really fun to watch? Blair goes down to the block, throws his ACL-less knees and the rest of his thick body into some guy five inches taller than him, while Dirk isolates on the high post. Maybe Blair could grab 12 boards a game and become the emotional leader of the squad; probably not, but if we were writing a script, that would have to be a subplot.
Then, there’s old Carter. Honestly, I just kind of feel bad for him. Why I feel bad for a guy who’s made $158 million (not including endorsements)? I have no explanation.
Hopefully, everything falls into place for Dallas, which would result in 45 wins and a first-round exit. But if we were writing the script, that first-round upset would come in seven games (remember, the end of Major League had the Indians beating the Yankees in a one-game playoff).
Preseason Scores
Golden State Warriors 115, Los Angeles Lakers 89
Memphis Grizzlies 97, Orlando Magic 91
Chicago Bulls 103, Indiana Pacers 98
Portland Trail Blazers 94, Los Angeles Clippers 84
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