It’s the second half of the NBA season already. The usual suspects are riding high while some unusual suspects are in the line up. In the East Derrick Rose and the red hot Chicago Bulls are doing exactly what everyone expected of them and that is WIN.
The Lebron James and the Miami Heat are taking names and numbers all over the NBA. Jeremy Lin and Linsanity took the NBA by storm, and like a storm it went away. The Boston Celtics are looking more like to Golden Girls of the NBA; Fun to watch but just to old to hang around with the new school.
Then we have the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard. Everyone is trying to play Ms. Cleo on this one; when not even D12 him self knows where he is going to be after the march 15 (trade deadline). The crazy thing about this blog, this is only the Eastern Conference I have brought up so far. I will make a case for one team each day until the trade deadline. This will be my breakdown on the East and who should make trade moves. Now who’s Up First?
Chicago Bulls:
Key Players:
D. Rose: Team leader, Can penetrate the lane, leading scorer, and create his own shot
J. Noah: Defender of the post, Great Rebounder
L. Dang: Athletic, Shooter, Defends Great
C. Boozer: Aggressive, Defencive Stopper
The bulls have everything in place for a NBA title but one thing, “Another Option”. D.Rose is having another great MVP type season but does he want to fall into the same category as Allen Iverson? Yeah, I said it IVERSON one of the best SCORING point guards to play the game. Look at his stats and compare them to D.Rose…. I figure you wouldn’t so I took the liberty to show you myself.
Points Per Game: Assist Per Game: Rebounds Per Game: Steals Per Game:
Allen Iverson 31.1 4.6 3.8 2.5
Derrck Rose 25.0 7.7 4.1 1.0
Now you can make the argument he has more Assist and Rebounds then Iverson. I can make the argument Iverson is a 5’11 guard who had Tyrone Hill who avg 9 rebounds per game,Theo Curtis Ratliff avg 8 rebounds, and last but not least Dikembe Mutombo who avg 13 rebounds per game. His next leading scorer was Aaron McKie who averaged 11 points per game. So if you are the only person who can score where are the assist going to come from. They both are teams which pride themselves on their Defence, but a defence who only has one dynamite scorer.
The Bulls need one more piece to solidify themselves as the top team in the NBA if not the second best team behind the Miami Heat. Every Bull fan in America would love to have Dwight Howard but the truth is that the bulls do not have enough to give. Luol Dang and Carlos Boozer would not be enough to persuade Orlando to make the trade because they just to have the STAR power. They are good players; lets be honest nobody is running to the store to buy Dang and Boozer jerseys.
I honestly believe their best move would be try to get Josh Smith for Noah and some other things. Why do I think it would work. Smith is very athletic and plays Defence. He Averages 16 on a team that already has a high scorer in Joe Johnson, so adjusting to D. Rose would be very easy. Why it may not work. This makes them small down low but athletic enough to bang with the teams such as Miami and Phila.
In conclusion I am not saying that Derrick Rose and Allen Iverson are made from the same clay but both carry allot of the same attributes. They are the main reasons their teams are/were so successful and both led their team in scoring as a point guard. If you take away the bad attitude and the bad press Iverson received over the years he looks allot like a Rose. Heart of the team and the team lives and dies on his sholders. The bulls can be better than everyone, if someone on the team can become THAT other guy. They need to find a player who bull opponents can say “Nooooooooooo, dont leave him open” and not “Oh its just Dang if it goes in we can live with that”…
-Melvin McLean