NBA Preview: Seriously, Is Anyone Watchin on New Years Eve?

Well, we are coming towards the end of 2009. December has been a pretty weird month. I've been sidetracked by the holiday, my new toy (PS3), Season 3 of Heroes. Things will get back to a normal pace after the new year...etcetera, etcetera , etcetera....

Anyways, a pretty lite slate of NBA Action on the tube this week. A couple New Years Eve Games on TNT and thats it.

2-76ers vs. Clippers --Thursday TNT

So the 76ers weren't expected to be this bad, but they at least were expected to be average. Sadly enough, the Clippers are having a better year. Honestly, I ain't watching either of these games since its New Years Eve and I prolly won't be focused on whats on TV but even with the fantasy implications in it for me (Kaman and Iguodala)....still not enough incentive to see a couple future lottery teams.

1- Heat vs. Spurs --Thursday TNT

Not the most interesting match-up but its at least not as dreadful as the other match-up. At least these are teams that we know are likely going to the post-season. The Miami Wades are on a crash course for another 45-win season and an early playoff exit. The Spurs are going through the motions probably not going to peak until March but still win 55 games and be a legitimate threat in the playoffs. In other words, don't expect to see either team play a great game.

NBA Holiday Preview: Guaranteed 99 Percent Less Painful Than The Last Play of Yesterdays Packers-Steelers Game

Well, there have definitely been better sports weeks for me. The Packers choking on the last play, Big Ben throwing for about a million passing yards not to mention the Giants inevitable win tightening up the NFC Playoff Chase, the Bucks going 0-3 and losing those games by a combined 5 points (2 of those games in the last second)........not quite rock bottom but a bit too close for comfort....anyways on to the games:

5- Heat vs. Knicks Friday ESPN

Ouch indeed. The Heat may be a 5-seed, they may have Wade but being on TV on a constant basis, i'll pass. The Knicks........seriously? Well they can at least sell the playoff implications card as the Knicks are one game out of the 8-spot (the Eastern Conference....where hey even the Knicks have a chance happens)

4- Clippers vs. Suns Friday ESPN

Even without Blake Griffin, the Clippers have been respectable (by their standards 12-14) they would be a 6-seed in the East, but having the misfortune of being the L.A. team that did not benefit from the Tim Donaghy era, they are 3 games out of the last spot. The Suns, great at home mediocre on the road. Not much i'm excited about team-wide. This mainly got pushed up to the 4 spot as I have Nash and Kaman on my fantasy team and I don't care who wins just as long as they put up big numbers.

3- Nuggets vs. Blazers Friday ESPN

If the season were to end today, the Nuggets and Blazers would be matching up in the pivotal 3-6 match up. Both of these teams are solid interesting teams but the match-up itself, i'm just not feeling it.

2- Cavs. vs. Lakers Friday ABC

A match-up between two teams that beat the Bucks by a combined 4 points last week. Could it be they played better? Could it be they have LeBron and Kobe respectively? Could it be that having said players biased the refs to horribly mis-balance the free throws? (33 to 17 in the Laker game and 31 to 14 in the Cavs game). Man this puts that 2002 Kings-Lakers officiating to shame.

I give it a 60 percent chance that out of habit that LeBron and/or Kobe will commit a foul at some point and out of habit the ref will find a way to blame it on Andrew Bogut.

In all seriousness OMG LeBron, Kobe.........LeBron, Kobe........LeBron Kobe.

1- Celtics vs. Magic Friday ABC

Opening act of the ABC doubleheader, in my opinion the better of the two games. With all due respect to the Hawks and Cavs, these two teams have established themselves as the class of the Eastern Conference.

These teams matched up for a 7-game epic in the Second Round this year and seem destined to clash in the Eastern Conference Finals. Not sure if this game will do much in the context of the final standings but considering they are playing on a national stage when the majority of people have the day off, the winner of this game has the chance to shift the Eastern Conference landscape.

The NBA National TV Preview: 12-14 Edition

Alright so its been a few days since I had the motivation to post something. Probably attributable to rain-induced laziness plus my 2-day addiction to the short lived tv show Journeyman that I watched on Hulu over the weekend.

Anyways, it's another week in which to excel and with that, my take on this week's nationally televised NBA Games.

6- Wizards vs. Warriors Friday ESPN

The idea of putting the Wizards on National TV several times this year does not look to be panning out very well. Sure Gilbert Arenas is an interesting player (when hes not injured) but this team is just not that good. Sure, they are a game and a half out of the last spot (in the East).

On the other end is a Warriors team that is interesting in all the wrong ways. Dysfunctional coach ? Check Team Going Absolutely Nowhere? Check Team that considers defense optional? Check..with the Kings improving this year the Warriors have proudly representing as the biggest train wreck of a team in Nor Cal.

5- Magic vs. Heat Thursday TNT

A less than exciting battle of Florida. The Magic are battling for Eastern Conference Supremacy. The only difference between the Heat and the Wizards is Dwayne Wade is at least able to push the Heat into playoff contention. Sad But True: The Heat are .500 (11-11) but in the East thats good for battling the Bucks for the 5-spot in the East.

4- Mavericks vs. Thunder Wednesday ESPN

The Mavericks are off to a strong start and look headed to playoffs, nothing to see here for the next 58 games. For the Thunder, they get another chance to capitalize on their resurgent season. Any time Kevin Durant is involved, it's worth at least checking out the game. Fun Fact: If the Thunder played in the East they would be a 5 seed right now. However, they play in the West and are thus 1/2 game out of the last spot.

3- Suns vs. Blazers Thursday TNT

Toss-up between the game above but this wins the tie-breaker with Steve Nash on my fantasy team. In the real world, the Suns seem to be coming down to earth after a scorching hot start it will be interesting to see if they stay amongst the elite or if they are in danger of missing the playoffs for a second straight year.

The Blazers, coming off a couple tough losses to the Cavs and Bucks and are nobly trying to compete with about half of their roster injured. How well the Blazers hold up being this short-handed will go a long way to see if the Blazers are going to be a legit playoff team.

2- Wizards vs. Kings Wednesday ESPN

When I started doing this NBA preview, I mentioned that I was ranking them based on how interesting I found the game which is NOT always correlated to how good the teams are. This week is definitely an example of this. As I mentioned earlier, I could care less about the Wizards, the only thing separating them from the bottom of the east are the 76ers and Nets.

The only reason I care about the game is I find the Kings to be one of more interesting teams this year. Sure they may be 10-12, but compared to what they were last year, it is a night and day improvement. Living in the Sacramento area (Davis) last year, I got plenty of opportunities to see the Kings on TV (and a couple chances to see them in person.....the last game of the Reggie Theus area and a loss to the Bucks, ironically a team that they ended up going on similar paths.)

But thats besides the point, this will be the first Kings National TV appearance of the Tyreke Evans era. The Kings seemed to have shed aside the Theus/Natt era is just a bad dream and look ready to contend for a playoff spot. If that wasn't enough, Arco Arena is doing a $1-beer night to get more fans into the stands (a high priority since as recent as last year you could walk up and buy tickets half an hour before the game....also this opens up the possibility of fans having a few too many of those dollar beers and seeing how that works out)

1-Bucks vs. Cavaliers Friday ESPN

Less to say about this one, but since the Bucks are involved the interest level over-rides the Kings. This team is pretty much Sacramento East. A moribund team seemingly going nowhere makes good use of their first-round pick (Jennings), an injury to their leading scorer from last year (Martin/Redd) and just enough from the rest of their teams to stick around .500.

The Bucks playing the Cavaliers means a dose of LeBron (always fun to watch) plus a lumbering Shaq who has definitely lost a step (or twelve). The way you hear the media talk, this has got to be one of the worst teams ever......to start 17-7.....their "struggles", definitely overblown. Shaq was never known for his quick starts and they shouldn't be worried unless they're still in chaos in March/April.

NBA Preview: Lots of Heat on TV

Another week.....another slate of NBA games on National TV (NBA TV doesn't count since I don't get it).....pretty thin slate of stuff but out of the 4 games.....this is the order of interest I have in these games......

4- Bulls vs. Cavs Friday ESPN

The Bulls are off to a pedestrian start. The Bulls have just lost tonight, snapping the Bucks 4-game losing streak. So far, the Bulls haven't done much to follow up on nearly pulling off the biggest upset of the Playoffs.

The Cavs have sleep-walked to a 12-5 start in their we better win a championship to show LeBron he has the best chance by staying in Ohio.

3- Heat vs. Nuggets Thursday TNT

Dwayne Wade is one of the best players in the league...but the Heat on back to back nights is overkill. The last time the Heat were on TV they lost to an inferior Wizards team.

The Nuggets are in the lead in a competitive Northwest division and will be looking to get some distance from their competition.

2- Heat vs. Lakers Friday ESPN

Two chances to watch the Heat....if you miss them Thursday all you have to do is wait another day.

The Lakers are neck and neck with the Suns in the Pacific and should be in good shape to win playing against a Heat team on the back end of a back-to-back

1- Celtics vs. Spurs Thursday TNT

Out of the four games, this match-up is the most likely to be a finals preview. On an unrelated note, this game is the only one of the four involving a player on my fantasy team (Tim Duncan)......in an attempt to help me get one step closer to going undefeated (5-0) at this point......ahhh the uninspirin-ness of early December NBA Action.....It's Amazing

Well, off to watching more episodes of Reaper (I can always count on Hulu to find a show to get hooked on every few months) and reading the book Baseball Between the Numbers that I got in the mail today.

Counting Down The NBA Games: 11/23 Edition

Alright so I haven't really talked about the NBA too much. I decided to add a new feature where I preview the NBA games that have been deemed worthy enough for national television coverage. I'm going to count the games down based on how interesting I am in the games.

5- Wizards vs. Heat --Friday ESPN

This game looked better a month ago than it does now. The Heat have done their part and started off solid. They haven't been great but so far they at least look to get back to the playoffs. The Wizards were seen as a sleeper team that was supposed to improve with Flip Saunders as coach and a healthy Gilbert Arenas. Then they started 3-9 and look poised to get blown out on National Television. Stay Classy DC.

4-Bulls vs. Jazz -- Thursday TNT

Michael Jordan isn't walking through that door! Scottie Pippen isn't walking through that door! Karl Malone isn't walking through that door! John Stockton isn't walking through that door!

There will be better games...There will be worse games...This game just isn't doin it for me.

3- Heat vs. Magic-- Wednesday ESPN

Worth watching because of their stars (Dwayne Wade/Dwight Howard) but since there is a second chance to watch both teams....this one isn't really a must watch.

2-Magic vs. Hawks --Thursday TNT

Possible Eastern Conference Finals preview. The Magic are at the top as expected and look primed to defend their Eastern Conference Championship. The Hawks have slowly but surely risen from the abyss to become a pretty good team.

Is it just me or does the talk about the Hawks being a surprise team sell them short a little bit. Sure they've started stronger than predicted but it hasn't been a night and day difference. They almost upset Boston a couple years ago, they made the second round last year, they were expected to win about 45-50 this year. Granted, at their rate they look like they'll break through at fight for conference supremacy but its not this team was expected to be a push over.

1- Bucks vs. Thunder --Friday ESPN

This game was a late add for ESPN. The Bucks are definitely the most pleasant surprise in the NBA this year. They were pretty much left dead...predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league and....BOOM Brandon Jennings breaks out...exceeds expectations and proves his skeptics wrong (such as myself)...granted the Bucks got worked by the Spurs tonight but the Bucks have legitimate hope for the first time in a while.

Their opposition is another young team hoping to break into the playoffs (Thunder). They may not be the best team in the league (yet.....check back in a couple years) but they are definitely one of the more interesting team.

Milwaukee and Oklahoma City may not be the biggest markets but the teams have two of the brightest young stars in the league (Jennings and Durant) and this should make for a good Friday Night Match-Up.