With season underway, NBA picks stand

I had a football column prepared for today. However, I woke up early yesterday morning and realized that we were only 24 hours away from NBA All-Star Weekend. If you’ve ever read my column, you probably know that the NBA is my favorite professional sports league (although the NFL is close behind). I want to use the NBA midpoint as an opportunity to discuss this weekend’s All-Star game and revisit my preseason NBA predictions.

Before the season, I selected Houston, Phoenix, and Miami as my sleeper teams. So far I’m 2-for-3. Houston started the season pretty strong, and while they’ve wilted a little bit, they’re still three games over .500 and two games out of the eighth seed in the West. I knew that the Rockets would surprise people, despite missing Yao and the Artist Formerly Known as T-Mac. Last season, Aaron Brooks and company were able to perform admirably without their two stars, and that trend has definitely carried over into this season.

This season, the Suns have played like the Suns from the latter half of last decade. After firing Terry Porter, the Suns got back to running and utilizing Steve Nash’s strengths. It’s no coincidence that their offense is ranked first in the league. After a strong start, Phoenix struggled a bit, but they’ve rediscovered their groove and look to be a lock to make the playoffs in the Western Conference (unless they decide to deal Amar’e Stoudemire before the trade deadline).

So far, the only team that’s making me look foolish is the Miami Heat. The Heat are lucky that they play in a wack conference. At one game under .500, they’re still in position to make the playoffs—but if they continue to catch L’s, there is a very real possibility that Dwyane Wade will leave once he becomes a free agent this summer.

Apart from my sleeper teams, I was also correct with the rest of my predictions. I told you that Carmelo Anthony was going to go off this year, and he’s done just that. He has continued to forge his reputation as the best scorer in the NBA, averaging 29.5 points per game. More importantly, Denver has made it clear that last season’s deep playoff run was no fluke. They’re clearly the second best team in the Western Conference. I also stated that the Celtics made a great decision in deciding to sign Rajon Rondo to a long-term contract extension. His selection to his first All-Star game has validated my earlier sentiments.

Speaking of the All-Star game, I just want to say that the NBA All-Star weekend is clearly the best all-star event of all the major sports. No one has the patience to sit through an MLB All-Star game, the NHL All-Star game is irrelevant, and the NFL Pro Bowl is a joke. I also think that the slam dunk contest, the 3-point shootout, and the Rookie-Sophomore game all trump the MLB Home Run Derby on their own, let alone collectively.

I think that the Western Conference will probably win this year. While I have faith that LeBron and D-Wade are going to carry their team, there is no way I can pick the East to win when they’re starting Allen Iverson and Kevin Garnett—both first-ballot Hall-of-Famers who are past their prime. I’m looking forward to watching Kevin Durant exhibit no conscience and shoot from everywhere on the court. I am not looking forward to watching Zach Randolph do the same thing.

The second half of the NBA season is going to be fun to watch—probably not as fun to watch as Big East basketball, but fun nonetheless. Enjoy All-Star weekend and get excited, because March Madness is only a few weeks away.

Jelani Johnson is a Columbia College senior majoring in history.