The NBA season is almost a week old, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dust off the old NBA Panic Meter! We’re going to take a look at five teams who have had rather underwhelming starts to see whether or not they should begin the panic. These teams all had certain expectations and are all failing to meet them. Our scale goes from 1 (least panic) to 10 (most panic), so let’s get started.
New York Knicks – Panic Level 7 (We know we aren’t that good, but it’s still somewhat of a secret)
After defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in their opener, the Knicks have lost a heartbreaker to the Chicago Bulls and a game in which they were housed for three quarters against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Sure, their defense is solid, but offense is a major struggle when Carmelo Anthony isn’t on. Those who pay attention know that the Knicks aren’t serious contenders, but the rest of the world is starting to take notice as well. Who can create offense when Melo can’t? Andrea Bargnani? J.R. Smith?
Chicago Bulls – Panic Level 6 (Maybe Derrick Rose isn’t going to be the same)
After tearing his way through the preseason and looking like his same old self, Derrick Rose has struggled during the regular season. Sure, he made a prayer of a game winner against the Knicks, but he’s averaging 14.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 28.8 percent shooting. Woof. The Bulls have a lot of quality players and have shown what they can do without Rose, so the panic isn’t as severe here. With Rose at his best, the Bulls could win a championship. With him the way he is, he’s basically stealing minutes from others.
Brooklyn Nets – Panic Level 2 (When it’s time to step up, we’ll be ready)
Lost in Cleveland in a close game, defeated the Miami Heat at home, then got destroyed by the Orlando Magic on the road. For a veteran team like this one, it makes sense that they’d bring more focus and determination to certain games and less to others. Jason Kidd‘s official debut was only Sunday night and Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and the rest of the guys are still trying to find some chemistry. They’ll be just fine, it might just take a little while.
Los Angeles Lakers – Panic Level 10 (No Kobe Bryant, no depth, no chance)
Nick Young is firing (and missing) at will. Steve Nash may never qualify as being healthy ever again. Pau Gasol is playing good ball but inexplicably gets shut out for long periods of time in the offense. Mike D’Antoni looks like he’s going to have an aneurysm and Kobe Bryant has started throwing subtle jabs at his own team. Were the Lakers expected to be contenders? No, but we didn’t think they’d show signs of falling apart this soon. It’s panic time in Los Angeles, at least until Kobe is back.
Memphis Grizzlies – Panic Level 4 (Defense never rests, but rusts)
We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt with their opening loss in San Antonio. Then, they struggled to defeat the new look Pistons in Memphis and got routed by the Dallas Mavericks. The good news is that defense rarely takes a day off and doesn’t usually suffer through droughts. The bad news is that the Grizzlies have yet to hold an opponent under 100 points. That’s not usually their game. The rotation has been deep, with only Mike Conley, Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph playing more than 30 minutes per game. Maybe they’re just biding their time until the playoffs this season.