Iavaroni is in. Avery is out. D’Antoni is…well….no one knows yet. The NBA coaching carousel is in full swing as teams exit the playoffs. I thought I’d weigh in on who is in, who it out, and who is in the rumor mill. If you have been following the NBA drama season you will recognize a few of the names while a few others may surprise you. Read the rest of this entry »
LeBron James is already “The King,” but will he be able to dethrone the current Triple Double King in Jason Kidd?
Jason Kidd has done it most of his career. In fact it is somewhat expected that he get his nightly triple double. It typically looks like 10-14 pts, 11-13 assists, and 10-11 rebs. He barely makes it in each category, but he usually makes it.Many have argued that this skill comes because he isn’t a natural scorer. Kidd is 3rd on the all-time triple double list (behind Magic (138) and Oscar Robertson (181)).
Now LeBron has decided to give his own interpretation of the triple double. He posted 30 points, 11 rebs, and 10 assists last night against the Pacers. This coming after 37 points, 12 rebs, and 12 assists the night before. (Man I’m glad I traded for him last year when he was in a “slump” in my keeper fantasy league.) Not only is the triple double there, but 30+ points? There has never been doubt about his ability, now it looks like his summer with Team USA is paying off huge dividends. Here is a sweet poll that ESPN.com is running about this topic right now (which has James winning the vote 59% at the time of this post). James may win the title this year, but the Triple Double Czar, Oscar Robertson, is far from worried about his prestigious record where he went as far to average a triple double for an entire season (almost 2 seasons).
As you can tell I’m really excited about Team USA’s chances to take the GOLD in 2008. This is starting to feel like an obsession. The other night I stayed up until 2am online just to watch the stat ticker change during the USA vs. Argentina game. Even though Argentina doesn’t have 5 of their studs, they aren’t anywhere on the level of the USA. It can easily be argued that Team USA will decide their own fate, no other team can claim that. I’m going ahead and labeling this team as Dream Team Rebirth.
With dominating performances thus far in the FIBA tournament (which gives 2 teams a berth in the 2008 Olympics), is Team USA back to its glory days? Is this team going to be worthy of caring the Dream Team namesake? Those questions lead us to our new poll:
Don’t forget to post some comments about your vote too!!
I have to admit that I am impressed by Team USA this year. They seem to want it again and realize that they can’t just show up any more (like the Original Dream Team did ranked #15 on all-time blowouts). I’m even more impressed that everyone has seemed to shelf their egos this time around.
Many attribute this new success to the team adding a more traditional shooter.Here is a story from ESPN.com on the success of adding some pure shooters to the mix. I think this is a big value, but I think this squad’s basketball IQ is much more important. Jason Kidd has dominated the game masterfully without having huge stats. I hardly ever see him dribble more than 5 times. Very fun to watch. I wish the NBA would play like this as a league!!