*FAN SUBMISSION by Gabe Teeger of Toronto.*
Earlier this week, the Portland Trailblazer’s twitter account tweeted asking whether it was too late for them to join the Eastern Conference. The first quarter of the NBA season is almost over and the standings could not be stranger. Only two teams in the eastern conference, the Heat and Pacers, have records over .500. Both the public and many basketball experts had high expectations for eastern conference teams the Nets and Knicks, which both have unimpressive records so far.
The Nets are struggling with injuries to Paul Pierce and Brooke Lopez, and with rookie head coach Jason Kidd. They are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division and have won only 5 out of their first 18 games, putting them only ahead of the Knicks. Kidd served a two game suspension at the beginning of the season for admitting to driving while impaired and received a $50,000 fine for an embarrassing event where he asked a player to intentionally hit him, causing him to spill his soda onto the court. It was an act of desperation to stop play because the Nets had no more time-outs. Kidd also recently got into a verbal altercation with assistant coach Lawrence Frank, ultimately reassigning him from the Net’s bench. With a dismal record, dirty tactics, and the abrasive relationship Kidd has with his coaches, the evidence is mounting that Kidd, a first year coach with no previous coaching experience, is not a good fit for the Nets.
Courtesy: NY Daily New
The Knicks are in last place in the Atlantic division, having won 3 out of their first 16 games. According to Carmelo Anthony, The Knicks are the laughingstock of the league, and he’s right. Many thought that the Knicks and Nets would duke it out for who would be the atlantic division champion, but the Knicks have the second worst record in the NBA so far.The Knicks are dealing with an injury Tyson Chandler after he suffered a fractured fibula earlier this season. Without Chandler, the Knicks defense has allowed opposing teams to score an average of 99 points against them.
I know it’s still too early to judge these teams as failures this season, but the amount of games played so far is significant. It is safe to say that both the Nets and Knicks teams will have to fight rigorously for the remainder of the season to make up for their terrible starts if they are too succeed in making the playoffs.
Another point that is worth noting about the lack of winning teams in the east is that this season has the potential of pointing out a serious flaw in the way the NBA structures the playoffs. If the season ended today, eastern teams with losing records like the Bobcats (8-11), Pistons (8-10), and Bulls (7-9) would make the playoffs, and western teams with winning records like the Pelicans (9-8) and the Grizzlies (9-8) would be out.
