The Miami Heat are the clear favorite to come out of the East and many think it is a no brainer that they will repeat as world champions. Being a bitter LA Lakers fan, I of course rejoice in the Miami Heat losing.I was heartbroken to see them win last year but do agree that Lebron deserves a ring and even more. I just wish he would have went about it in a different manner without going to Miami and teaming with Wade and Bosh. What I’ve held onto going into this season was of course the Lakers dominating (didn’t happen) but also the Indiana Pacers maturing enough as a squad to be able to de-throne the Miami Heat.

The Pacers had a rough start to the season but are flying-high now and got Danny Granger back just in time to get him in rhythm for the playoffs. On February 1^st, the Pacers beat the Heat for the second time this season and did it with David West punishing them inside. West scored 18 of his 30 points in the paint in what appears to be the recipe for getting past them. Expose their weakness inside using David West and Roy Hibbert and contain Lebron the best you can. The Indiana Pacers do a great job of limiting the transition buckets of the Heat, allowing only 7 points in transition in their second meeting and a season-low 1 point in their January 8^th meeting. They do meet again during March in what will be a must-see game for all basketball fans.

Now I’m going to hop on my soap box for a brief moment and shed light onto why you should root for Indiana to dethrone Miami. Indiana is a team without one big superstar or “big three” but a culmination of a lot of solid ball players and a handful of them can step up and shine any given night. Paul George has made improvements to his game this year and appears to be the star but by and large not on the level of Kobe, Lebron, or Durant. As Roy Hibbert mentioned in the playoffs last year, the Pacers were a team built and a team that had growing pains, not a super team glued together (not a direct quote but you get the jab there he took).

This is in fact true, the Pacers drafted Danny Granger in 2005 and rode on his back for a while. They also drafted Paul George and Lance Stephenson in 2010. Roy Hibbert was acquired in a trade on draft night in 2008 from the Toronto Raptors and George Hill was acquired for Kawhi Leonard in 2011. No big spectacle, no pep rallies, or claims of 7 championships. Good old fashioned put your head down, work, and see the results. They play in Indiana, a storied state for basketball but not glamorous like Miami, LA, or New York. They don’t desire attention or fame, they just want to play basketball and win a championship. That is why I have become a Pacers fan (starts to step off soapbox) and I think you should as well. It’s good for basketball and a break from all these super-teams.

The recent resurgence of the Lakers (if you will call the last 2 games a resurgence) has people scratching their heads as to why Kobe Bryant was not more of a distributor earlier in the season. He obviously has the tools around him to do so, even with Steve Nash at the helm. I never thought I’d say this but Kobe needs to play more like Lebron James this year.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to many. Last year Phil Jackson stated that you want a player to do both score and pass and that he loves that Lebron is that type of player. As Phil stated, “You want a player that can do both. I tried to get Kobe to do both for a number of years, and he could, but his first instinct is to beat the guy that’s in front of him.” I think there are few people who know Kobe better than Phil and there’s no arguing that Phil Jackson is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.

This brings us to an interesting crossroad. Is Kobe to blame for the Lakers struggles? Forget injuries, this team is talent-wise head and shoulders above the 2006-2007 squad that made the playoffs. If you need a refresher, that starting lineup consisted of Smush Parker, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom, and Kwame Brown. At no point during that season were they under the .500 mark. Kobe averaged over 31 points because he had to during that season, he doesn’t need to with the roster in place currently. I’m saying all of that to say this. As much as I am a Kobe fan, he is to blame for the struggles so far. Not being the facilitator he can be while Nash was out and way too many FGA has put them in this situation. Now it’s his responsibility to dig them out of this hole.

The 19-25 start for the Lakers has to be the most disappointing start in franchise history given the roster assembled and the hype going into the season. The last two games in which Kobe posted 14 assists has Laker nation buzzing about the “new season.” In order for them to make a legitimate run, they have to get Dwight Howard involved and do that early. If my memory serves me correct (can’t find the exact page numbers for citation), in Phil Jackson’s book, “The Last Season,” he preached to Kobe that he needed to get Shaq involved early while Shaq’s legs were fresh and to open up the perimeter for open shots. By the time the fourth quarter came around, Kobe would have a little more freedom to do what his instinct is, which is take on the guy in front of him and the guys coming to help.

This is exactly what Kobe needs to be doing now. Get Dwight involved, early. Will Dwight have as many FGA as he did in Orlando? No, but he needs to get more involved in the offense. Shooters like Chris Duhon, Jodie Meeks, and Steve Blake will have much more success. Otherwise, those players are not playing to their strengths, which is not what the Lakers need. Speaking of Steve Blake, he is due back in action on Tuesday against the Hornets. Steve has been suffering from an abdominal strain and will play limited minutes. This will bring an outside threat off the bench for LA that is needed in their limited backcourt bench players.

In other random Laker news, Metta World Peace has been pushing his new single, “Get Like Me,” on Twitter. I listened to it, and one line really has me scratching my head. “NY DNA, blue and orange blood, Knicks all day.”  Metta has been coming to play this year but perhaps just leaving that line out would suffice? I’m not a fan of this move by Metta but I’ve never been able to pin down what goes through his head. Check out the video and song below.

The New Orleans Hornets had a difficult decision to make this past off-season. The franchise had to decipher whether shooting guard Eric Gordon was worthy of a maximum contract extension. The Phoenix Suns certainly thought so, as they offered Gordon a four-year, fifty-eight million dollar contract. But, the Hornets knew shooting guard Eric Gordon wanted to go to Phoenix and knew the former Clipper had no interest in continuing his career as a New Orleans Hornet. So, why waste the money?

Sure, a core that featured first overall pick, Anthony Davis, and Gordon would be ideal. That’s assuming that both want to be a Hornet, which Gordon did not. So, the franchise decided to move forward with Gordon, and match the Phoenix Suns maximum offer sheet. Instead of letting the clearly disgruntled Gordon walk to the destination of his choice, the Hornets kept Gordon in effort to prove that they did not lose the Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Clippers. To make matters worse the team drafted Austin Rivers, a shooting guard from the University of Duke, nearly two weeks before they resigned Gordon. With the team off to a rather rough start this season, a 7-25 record in their first thirty-two games, and Gordon having only played two games thus far; it is quickly becoming clear that the Hornets made a major miscalculation in bringing Gordon back on a maximum deal.

New Orleans could have moved forward without Gordon. After all they had drafted Austin Rivers, who was going to need playing time to develop. Gordon would create a roadblock for Rivers and certainly vise versa. The Hornets truly couldn’t believe Rivers was capable of handling NBA point guard duties, so why potentially stunt Rivers development as shooting guard? Gordon wasn’t putting this team over the top, even with his presence the Hornets are not playoff ready. If anything Gordon will make it much more difficult at a second consecutive top three selection, and much easier to get a selection towards the end of the lottery.

It’s not to say that Eric Gordon is not worthy of a maximum contract, when healthy the twenty-four year old is undoubtedly worth that and more. Then again when is Gordon ever healthy? He’s played in just eleven games as a New Orleans Hornet, nine games last season and two this season. Gordon’s had a history that has been riddled with injuries as the University of Indiana product has never played in more than seventy-eight games in a season.

New Orleans isn’t betting on Gordon’s playing ability to live up to this contract, they are gambling on his health. They are also betting on his commitment to the franchise, a commitment that has wavered from the get go.

The Hornets were well aware that Gordon was going to be extremely upset if the team matched the Phoenix Suns offer sheet. Gordon fell in love with Phoenix and was jubilant about joining the franchise, and was very public about his feelings. “ After visiting the Suns, the impression the organization made on me was incredible,” Gordon told ESPN.com. “ Mr. (Robert) Sarver, Lon Babby, Lance Blanks, the Front Office Staff and Coach (Alvin) Gentry run a first-class organization, and I strongly feel they are the right franchise for me. Phoenix is just where my heart is now.”

Perhaps the Hornets just shrugged their shoulders at Gordon’s comments, because in the end they knew they were the ultimate deciders in Gordon’s destination. But why would you want an unhappy player in your locker room? And pay him the max no less.

Gordon even went as far as to warn New Orleans not to match the offer sheet. “ If (the Hornets) were interested, there wouldn’t have been no tour, there wouldn’t have been nothing,” said Gordon. “ There’s been no negotiations. I was right there in Indiana. I haven’t received no calls, to me personally. They’ve contacted my agent. As for now, I don’t know what’s going on. (If the Hornets match) as of right now, I’d be disappointed.”

The Hornets didn’t heed Gordon’s advice, but rather subtly matched the Suns offer sheet and retained Gordon’s services. Now they have handed a maximum contract to a rather fragile player whose heart is in Phoenix and not New Orleans. A maximum contract that could have been saved for a more deserving player, and one that actually wanted to be in New Orleans. Small market teams don’t have a ton of max contracts at their disposal, meaning they have little to no room of error when handing them out.

Do the Hornets have the cap room to take such a hit? Certainly, even with Gordon’s maximum contract on the books the franchise is comfortably under the salary cap within the next few years. But that doesn’t condone handing over big contracts to undeserving players. Just ask the Detroit Pistons how that worked out.

The Pistons were notorious big spenders during the 2009 off-season. The team signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva for a combined ninety million dollars. The duo was supposed to put Detroit back in championship contention, but left the team strapped for cash and hungry for relevancy after three straight losing seasons. Simply put this Hornets-Eric Gordon marriage has disaster written all over it.

And the disaster has already begun. As Gordon sat out the Hornets first thirty games of the season, the rumors began swirling. Gordon claimed his knee injury was legit, but the reports claimed the Hornets’ star sat out due to his unhappiness with the organization. When Gordon returned against the Charlotte Bobcats last week, the trade rumors had their fun with the situation. We were told that Gordon may want to be traded in the near future, but the Hornets have no such plans of giving into such desires.

Whether Gordon truly wants to be traded or not, one thing remains clear and that is the New Orleans invited drama into their locker room. It has been persistent throughout this season, and should continue to be a theme for the franchise. They shelled out a maximum contract for a player that may not play enough games to warrant such a deal and has little commitment to the franchise. After all isn’t Gordon’s heart still in Phoenix?

Following the deal shipping off former 76ers go-to man Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets in the four-team blockbuster deal revolving the popularly named first and second best centers in the league in Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, much pressure was immediately put on third-year wingman Evan Turner‘s back to help facilitate the team. Undoubtedly he had the talent, however could he take a larger role after just starting 14 games in his first NBA season and 20 in his second? Now nearly mid-way through this 2012-2013 campaign, the answer is obvious, and evident in his play and the stat sheet. Yes, Turner can.  

With Andrew Bynum yet to participate in basketball activities, let alone suit up for action in Philadelphia yet, head coach Doug Collins has been tasked with trying to find scoring from a team built around a high-scoring big man. The problem needless to say being that there has not been a big man, nor any player to fill that scoring role all season. Evan Turner was certainly not expected to leap into a Kobe Bryant or Carmelo-esque scorer over one summer, however his game as a whole is much more recognizable and distinguishable then when he first entered the league, and the Sixers offense has been fluidly and successfully running through him.

When Turner is off the floor, Philadelphia’s OffRTG is a measly 96.3, though when he is in the action, it spikes to a 101.5. With Evan Turner’s true-shooting percentage taking a 3% rise from this past season over to this one, and his minutes per game being bumped by 10 now that he’s been promoted to a full-time starter, one would think his scoring has been the center of attack for Philly. No, in fact it’s a perfect distribution of his scoring, passing, and rebounding. Turner is averaging 14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists a night, and while his field goal percentage is just under the 44% mark, his long-range ability has been at a scorching clip at 42% from downtown.

Before you point to the spike in playing time, know that Turner’s advanced statistics have also seen improvements across the board, even with Turner now playing against starting units and not bench units on a nightly basis. Assist percentage up by 3%, turnover percentage down by 1%, more offensive win shares in these first 33 games than his first two years combined, and a PER at 14, with plenty of room to grow.

The fundamentals are there, it’s very difficult to miss them when watching Turner ball. Arguably the best ball-handling 6’7″ 205 pound wing in the league, with a vertical that helps him gobble up as many boards as he does, which makes way for his speed to push the ball up the floor for effective offensive transition opportunities. His passing is displayed in both the half-court and on the fast break, and his scoring, well it will come in time. His three-point shooting is already at a point where it’s likely too good to be true, and his post-up ability is solid. Now his next step would be to craft an arsenal of floaters to use when he’s not right at the rim, and to continue doing what he’s doing when it comes to being the all-around man for his team. once Andrew Bynum is finally set to play, he Turner and the emerging point guard Jrue Holiday will form a core to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.

The Washington Wizards plan of building through the NBA Draft hasn’t exactly come to full fruition. Despite having five first round selections over the past three NBA drafts, three of which were within the top six picks, the Wizards only have a 4-24 record to their name this season. By no surprise Washington’s pitiful record is by far the worst in the NBA this season.

The Wizards have seen nearly all of their first round selections flounder thus far. Bradley Beal, the team’s selection with the third pick in the 2012 NBA draft, has gotten off to a rather underwhelming start, averaging a mediocre twelve points per game on an unsteady thirty-five percent shooting percentage. Yet there is still some substance of hope with Beal, unlike the team’s 2011 first round selections Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton. Both of whom appear to be major busts for the Washington franchise.

With the team’s former number one pick, point guard John Wall, wavering on the topic of resigning long-term with the franchise, the Wizards are facing an immense amount of pressure to put a respectable roster around Wall.

And who better to turn to than a former college teammate of Wall’s, DeMarcus Cousins. It has been well-documented that Cousins is extremely unhappy and disgruntled in Sacramento, and a trade seems intimate. Washington has been described as an “ideal” landing spot for Cousins as reported by USA Today’s Sam Amick.

“ Specifically, two people close to the situation who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation said a trade to the Washington Wizards would be considered ideal for Cousins and Fegan because Cousins could rejoin former Kentucky teammate and fellow [Dan] Fegan client, point guard John Wall.”

Cousins determination to reunite with John Wall gives Washington the chance to atone for their most recent mistakes that have left the franchise lacking financial flexibility in the short-term. Those mistakes would be acquiring the hefty contracts of Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza from the New Orleans Hornets in an attempt at making a very unlikely playoff run.

But the question here is will the Wizards make a run at Cousins? They already had reportedly missed out at an opportunity at acquiring former Oklahoma City Thunder sixth-man James Harden. Whose to say they won’t do the same with Cousins?

The Sacramento Kings asking price for Cousins has been rumored to be extremely high, perhaps to high for the Wizards. The idea of building around Cousins and Wall is certainly an enticing one. The duo found much success at Kentucky, and with the right players around them could definitely do the same in the NBA. Washington has a pair of veteran big men in Nene Hilario and Emeka Okafor that could not only keep Cousins in check, but perhaps help the former Kentucky Wildcat grow into a more mature player.

But, in order to acquire Cousins the Wizards will be forced to take on the contract of forward John Salmons as well as relinquishing key pieces to their future. Salmons is due close to sixteen million dollars over the next two seasons. Realistically the franchise will most likely have to part with Bradley Beal, which at first look appears to be a very high asking price. After all Beal was just selected in the top three of the 2012 NBA draft and was in the good graces of numerous NBA scouts.

Beal certainly would not be going to Sacramento with Tyreke Evans still remaining, but more likely a third team with other parts going to the Kings. Washington certainly would rather part with Beal than their 2013 first round pick, a pick that could net them a better replacement for Beal in UCLA shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad. Muhammad is clearly an all-around more talented offensive player than Beal, as Beal has struggled this season beating opponents off the dribble. Not to mention that Beal’s strength coming into the season was his shooting, and that has yet to be seen through Washington’s first twenty-eight games.

There is no denying that such a move would be a monstrous risk for the Wizards. Washington is still having nightmares of the migraines caused by Nick Young, Andray Blatche, and JaVale McGee, and acquiring Cousins could easily make those nightmares a reality. Then again does Washington really want to put all their eggs in their drafting abilities and talent development? Both of which have failed miserably as of late.

Cousins would give the Wizards a center to build around, Okafor and Nene are coming to the end of their well-respected careers and neither should be in the Wizards long-term plans. The options in the 2013 draft are littered with question marks. Anyone from Nerlens Noel to Alex Len have detractions in their games that could prevent them from making the impact suspected from a top-five selection. Cousins is not only a more developed player than any big man in the 2013 draft, but he also has the most potential. He gives Washington a better core to build around no matter which way you look at it.

Sure, you Cousins may not be the most efficient offensive player and he may have the best attitude but there is no denying his talent. A change of scenery could do DeMarcus some good and potentially bring the best of out him. The Kings appear more and more unwilling to gamble on Cousins. Somebody has to. Should it be the Wizards?