Divisions II, III get in on Final Four
The NCAA will hold the Divion II and III championship games in Atlanta, the same city as the Final Four.
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NBA Atlantic Division: What Will Be the Division’s Biggest Rivalry This Season?
According to Webster’s Dictionary a rivalry is a competitive or antagonistic state or condition. That’s an apt description of how the NBA‘s Atlantic Division will be this season. Boston is top dog in the division and will wear the biggest bull’s eye once again.
But which rivalry will be the biggest, the meanest and the most fun in the ultra competitive Atlantic? I’ll give you a hint, the teams are based in the Big Apple. The Knicks and Nets are poised to wage fierce battles for years to come. All of the key components are in place.
First, and most importantly, both teams will be pretty good and should make the playoffs. The Lakers and Clippers shared Los Angeles for years and no one paid much attention because the Clippers couldn’t get out of their own way. Insert Chris Paul and a dash of Lob City. All of a sudden things get a little chippy. Okay, things attempt to get a little petty and fail miserably, and in one season it’s a budding rivalry.
When both teams place a good product on the court at the same time over a prolonged period of time that’s what allows rivalries to grow, develop and make reputations for themselves that are unique to that rivalry and that rivalry alone. Imagine if New York and Brooklyn are seeded fourth and fifth (or vice versa, to be fair) and meet up in the first round of this year’s playoffs. That series will be an absolute war.
Secondly, the Nets are officially moving into New York City. Nets fans no longer have to make their way out to the Meadowlands. They will now call the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn home. The timing is perfect as they endeavor to compete with the Knicks on and off the court and throughout the city.
The town is big enough for the both of them. It will be fun to see how divided it will really become now.
Third, at least one owner needs to be very outspoken on matters concerning the rivalry. Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has already shown that he’s more than willing to do this. At 6’8″ a lot of men are going to appear little to Prokhorov, at 5’6″ Knicks owner, James Dolan fits the description perfectly.
The linked statement, referring to Dolan as a “that little man” was funny and true at the same time and it’s one of Mikhail’s ways of telling New York, Dolan and the Knicks that the Nets are going to have to be reckoned with whether anyone likes it or not.
This is perfect owner bravado for the situation. Imagine if an additional NBA or NFL team were about to start its inaugural season in Dallas. How much smack would Jerry Jones or Mark Cuban be talking? The battle for city supremacy on and off the court or field would be constant, as it will be in New York.
There’s only one component that the Nets are missing in this rivalry mix. They need a big time celebrity. Jay-Z is top notch, you can’t get any better than that. But he’s a part owner. I’m talking about a famous Nets fan who’s court side for all 41 home games a la Spike Lee and Jack Nicholson. It will come with time.
The Knicks and Nets rivalry is ready to take off. They have squared off three times in the playoffs with the Knicks winning two of the series but the Nets have been to The Finals more recently. I’m looking forward to their next playoff matchup.
A motivated Raymond Felton versus Deron Williams, or Carmelo against Joe Johnson sounds pretty good. The world will be watching.
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Big Ten Basketball’s Look with Leaders and Legends Divisions
With the addition of Nebraska into the Big Ten Conference in July 2011, the Big Ten expanded to 12 teams. The purpose of this move was so that the conference could split up into two divisions and have a Big Ten Championship game at the end of the season between the two division winners.
While the Nebraska addition was made primarily for football, I think it would be interesting to look at how the basketball divisions would stack up if divided between the Leaders and Legends. Only a handful of conferences use divisions for basketball, and the Big Ten has never been one of them.
While this is purely hypothetical and will not happen anytime soon, if ever, I decided to split up the divisions and rank both the teams and players in each to determine which would be stronger during the upcoming season.
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Magic Spite Themselves to Pretend That Divisions Matter in the NBA
The Orlando Magic‘s trade return on Dwight Howard has been analyzed in every way possible, but from no angle does a collection of mid-level assets look promising.
Thus, Orlando’s rebuild begins with a setback; rather than operating from a clean slate (after ditching the contracts of Hedo Turkoglu or Glen Davis) or picking up compelling assets (like those offered by the Houston Rockets), the Magic will move forward with Arron Afflalo and a pocket full of change.
Things certainly could have gone better for Orlando and considering the delays and deliberation throughout the trade process, they were certainly expected to.
But as is hinted above, that’s essentially the Magic’s fault. Whether newly hired GM Rob Hennigan, chief executive officer Alex Martins or some other front office party was responsible for the blunder is almost beside the point.
The front office as a collective failed this team’s rebuilding efforts with their refusal to accept superior trade packages. Each offer that was reportedly rejected only adds to the basketball public’s bewilderment.
The best bit of Orlando’s inexplicable judgment yet: according to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Hawks may have been ruled out as a potential trade partner due to their position within the Magic’s division:
[Hawks GM Danny Ferry] approached the Orlando Magic about a trade for Howard in early July but was turned down. He never had the opportunity to share his vision with Howard and try to convince him the dysfunction that Howard (an Atlanta native) was familiar with was a thing of the past. It never even got as far as being in position to convince Howard to sign an extension.
“We had discussions with Orlando about Dwight Howard,” Ferry said. “They were apprehensive to trade him within the division.”
That may seem to hard to fathom. Logically, the Magic should’ve been more concerned about acquiring strong assets for Howard than him playing for another Southeast Division team. But given the dumpster full of unspectacular players, bad contracts and lottery-protected draft picks the Magic ended up with in the four-player trade, maybe it’s not so hard to believe.
There is no construction in the NBA more arbitrary than divisions—a system of separation that seems to exist strictly for convenience’s sake. Considering the difficult job that the NBA’s schedule makers have as is, playing four games against each opponent in-division may help in orchestrating the complicated travel plans of 30 NBA teams.
But that’s no reason to pretend like these divisional relationships really matter for any other reason, particularly among two teams who have played out playoff series against one another without much incident or contempt.
The Hawks and Magic have been introduced, but there’s no spiteful chemistry to be found. Rivalry relationships can only occur organically and despite being given several chances to spark a flame, Orlando and Atlanta made for a cold postseason pairing.
Yet for whatever reason, the Magic decided to lend credence to a relatively useless construct and in the process deny themselves a chance to get players like Josh Smith, Al Horford or Jeff Teague.
Atlanta had plenty of pieces that would be worthy of inclusion in a deal for Howard, but faced an uphill battle on the basis of proximity.
Pause for a minute and consider how ridiculous that very idea is; Orlando certainly isn’t the first team to be overly concerned with trading a superstar player within their own conference, but if Atlantic Division ties really had anything to do with the Hawks’ inability to push a deal through, then the Magic deserve the “haul” of underwhelming assets they received in dealing Howard.
When making a deal as important as this one, teams don’t really have the luxury of dictating these kinds of specifics. Yes, it’d be nice if an outgoing superstar could be dealt across the country, but that consideration should come secondary to creating cap space and acquiring high-level assets.
Somehow, Orlando did neither of those things while trading away one of the best players in the league. If this bit of intel from Ferry (via Schultz) is at all indicative of the Magic’s process, one can see how this particular trading failure came to pass.
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Atlanta to host 3 divisions of NCAA title games (Yahoo! Sports)
ATLANTA (AP) All three divisions of NCAA men’s basketball will see their 2013 national champions crowned during Final Four weekend in Atlanta.
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Miss. State coach Rick Stansbury says SEC needs divisions
Despite every coach in the Southeastern Conference disagreeing with him, Rick Stansbury isn’t quieting down.
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SEC eliminates divisions for basketball (AP)
There will be one basketball division in the Southeastern Conference along with some unhappy football coaches. School presidents and chancellors voted Friday to eliminate divisions in men’s basketball and to reduce the annual signing classes in football to 28 players. SEC football coaches voted unanimously to keep the number at 28.
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SEC votes to cap football signees at 25, end hoops divisions
The Southeastern Conference has capped football signing classes at 25, a move coaches voted against and one school presidents hope will be adopted …
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SEC expected to eliminate divisions (AP)
Men’s basketball in the Southeastern Conference is about to be united. The league is expected to eliminate divisions Friday, a move that would make seeding the postseason tournament more fair but also could create some scheduling issues. The SEC’s 12 basketball coaches proposed to athletic directors this week that the league scrap the divisional format and that the tournament be seeded 1…
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New Divisions Shape The NBA: Loyalty Vs. Limelight
The 2010 NBA offseason has been as intriguing as any other in league history. We’ve seen the formation of a new powerhouse in Miami, as well as big names stars leaving the West for the likes of Chicago and New York.
The biggest names have and still continue to dominate the headlines.
New Orleans PG Chris Paul is reportedly unhappy with his situation in New Orleans, despite having three years and almost $50 million left on his contract.
Denver Nuggets star forward Carmelo Anthony has joined the disgruntled ranks of Paul, repeatedly refusing contract extensions offered to him. Anthony has just one guaranteed year left on his current deal.
It’s become apparent that both players want out of their respective organizations, hoping to possibly join forces with Amare Stoudemire and the New York Knicks, in an attempt to one-up the recently formed Miami conglomerate of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
The 2010 offseason has pitted the East vs. West. In 2009, the West as a whole outplayed the east. Yet, the biggest free agents on the market all ended up in the East.
Miami has become the automatic favorite for an NBA championship. Carlos Boozer has joined Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah in Chicago. Amare Stoudemire has “taken his talent” to the Big Apple. Plus, you still have the incumbent Celtics, as well as Dwight Howard and the Magic.
It seems as if New York would be the favored landing spot for both Anthony and Paul, but even if neither of them ended up there, the New Jersey Nets are a possible fit.
At any rate, the NBA is headed towards a clash of epic proportions: those stars loyal to their organizations against the newly formed superteams seeking multiple championships and a dynasty.
Two faces emerge as the epitome of player-organization loyalty. Both reside in the West. One is a veteran, the other, just a kid.
Yes, I’m talking about Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant.
Amidst the free agent speculation and pretentious ESPN specials, Kevin Durant quietly agreed to a five year contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The deal will keep him with OKC through the remainder of the 2015-16 season.
Durant will look to further continue the Thunders vast improvement, as they made the jump from 23 to 50 wins last season.
Remember just a few years ago when Kobe, crucified by the press for his off-the-court dealings, couldn’t get an advertisement deal? When the Lakers were a barely a shoe-in playoff team?
Well, that couldn’t be any farther from the current state of things.
Kobe, fresh off back-to-back NBA titles and finals MVP awards, has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time.
Not only that, he’s threatening the likes of Johnson, West, Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy, and Baylor for the title of greatest Laker ever. Some would claim he’s already accomplished that feat.
Bryant will remain a Laker through the 2013-14 season, and likely will retire having played his entire illustrious career with the purple-and-gold.
On the other hand, you have the new look Miami Heat. They are the consensus preseason pick to win the NBA title. They represent the glitz and the glamor of the NBA. They are a marketing firms dream come true.
They will look to push the envelope in the NBA; looking to do what few have accomplished, all the while challenging the existing belief held by many who surround the NBA that elite players should play against, not with, each other.
The Heat, James especially, will look to shed the current image that surrounds them; that they are a group of arrogant superstars looking for millions of dollars and some cheap hardware.
Whoever you root for, the 2010 offseason has brought the NBA into uncharted waters before. Never before has the superstar athlete dominated the sport as much as it has now.
The upcoming seasons should be some of the most entertaining and memorable in recent history.
And, just remember, don’t ever let Scal dunk on you.
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