Nash, Kwame, and the Boston Celts: NBA Potpourri

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(Aaron Torres is a journalist whose work has been featured by Sports Illustrated online, and syndicated by AOL.com, USA Today, and Slam.com. To read all his work, including this article in its entirety , please visit him at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

You know, they say the best things happen when you least at expect them.

For some, it might be finding a winning lottery ticket on the side of the road. For others, meeting the love of your life in line at the grocery store (What, it happened in that Reese Witherspoon movie. Why can’t it happen to me?).

As for me? It was the opening night of the NBA season when I realized that I had free NBA League Pass for a whole week. It was like an early Christmas, except in this case, well I got something I actually wanted (no, seriously grandma if you’re reading, I loved the wool socks, I really did).

Watching 12 games a day for seven days in a row is exhilarating, and a lot to take in. Luckily for you, my loyal readers, I took notes.

And here’s what I learned, in what I like to call my “NBA Potpourri”

There Are Four Teams That Have Exceeded My Expectations:

1. Phoenix Suns: It goes without saying that Steve Nash is otherworldly, even my uncle with an eye patch can see that. But for the first time since the pre-Shaq days, the Suns have the peripheral parts around him to make another run at an NBA championship.

Watching the Suns this week against both Philadelphia and New Orleans, they really are in perfect harmony. Amare is playing well. Jason Richardson is the perfect slashing/jump-shooting swing man this team hasn’t had since Shawn Marion left. Channing Frye is doing a little bit of everything. And Grant Hill is making me wonder how good he could have been if he’d be been healthy his whole career.

Add in a bunch of hustle guys off the bench (Louis Amundson, Jared Dudley, and Leandro Barbosa), and I think this team is actually good enough to compete with anybody out West, and yes that includes L.A.

Side note to Alvin Gentry: If you wouldn’t mind getting Earl Clark a few more minutes, I’d really appreciate it, and it’d really help my fantasy team. Even if it’s just like the last 10 minutes of the game when  you’re up big, I don’t care, and I don’t think he would either. Thanks!

2. Denver Nuggets: So wait, I’m confused. Why were we all (myself included) doubting Denver coming into this season? Because I’m pretty sure they were in the Western Conference Finals last spring.

Either way, they might be even better this year. Carmelo is playing out of his mind, Ty Lawson is a huge spark off the bench (although he’s bringing down their 11.2 tattoos per player average. No need to worry though, it’s early and he’s still got plenty of time to get inked) and J.R. Smith is just getting into the mix  after his early season suspension.

And even though the Nuggets have struggled the last few games, I’m not really worried, considering nobody has played more road games early on (six in a row and seven of nine overall. To quote Dr. Evil, can “Somebody throw the Nuggets a frickin’ bone here?).

They get the Lakers Friday night in Denver, and like their fans,  I’m curious to see what a little home cooking can do for the Nuggets. We shall see soon.

3. Memphis Grizzlies: Ok, so maybe they’re not better than I thought they’d be from a wins standpoint (1-8 really isn’t that bad is it?).

But from a “When they stop playing defense and turn games into the And-1 mix tape tour,” nobody is better, and more fun to watch.

Rudy Gay is a freak. O.J. Mayo is a loon. Zach Randolph is, well, Zach Randolph. And Marc Gasol is about 8000 times more likeable than his brother.

Plus, their backup point guard is maybe my favorite college player of all-time, Marcus Williams (when he was in college I was convinced that he’d be an All-Star by now. Little did I know he’d spend more time his first three years in the league playing video games and eating cupcakes than practicing. Oh well, you live and you learn I guess).

Are they good? Nope. Will I enjoy watching them every time they’re on TV? You better believe it.

4. Miami Heat: Think it’d be weird if I serenaded Dwyane Wade with “You’re Simply The Best,” before the Heat’s next home game? What? I was just asking.

Four Players That Have Exceeded My Expectations:

1. Steve Nash: Alright, so maybe I already talked a little bit about Nash when discussing the Suns. But what can I say, the “Steve Nash for MVP,” bandwagon is picking up full steam, and I’m getting on before it’s too late.

The guy’s stat line is incredible. He already had a 20 point 18 assist game earlier this year, and had another 21 and 20 a few nights ago.

And watching him Wednesday night, I can honestly say I’ve never seen him look better. Going against one of the best defensive guards in the league (Chris Paul), he weaved in and out of traffic at breakneck speed (which reminded me of my mom driving on the highway by the way) getting the ball to his guys at angles that no one else on the court saw.

If you just looked at the box score all you saw was that he finished with 12 points and 10 assists, but if you watched, you know that he had seven and seven at the end of the first quarter and really didn’t play much after that.

Nash is back. And so are the Suns.

And if you’re wondering, yes I have constant nightmares about taking Jason Kidd over Nash in my fantasy draft. I’m going to lose the league over it. And, no I’m not bitter about it, I swear.

2. Carmelo Anthony: Yep, you’re right. I’m literally a day late and a dollar short on this one, as Scoop Jackson wrote a great piece about Carmelo for ESPN.com on Wednesday.

With that said, I agree with Scoop, I’ve never seen ‘Melo play better. Not during the 2008 Olympics, not in the Western Conference Finals last year, not even in his one year at Syracuse when I anointed him the “Most Dominant College Basketball Player of My Lifetime.”

I honestly did. I’ve never seen a guy take over games like he did that year, not even Kevin Durant in his one year at Texas. Carmelo was still the first and only college guy I’ve ever said to myself, “He needs to leave college now, if only to make it fair for everyone else.”

His jumper is working, and for some reason he seems more explosive around the basket than ever before.

Carmelo for MVP? He’s probably 1A to Nash right now.

3. Brandon Jennings: Alright, I’ve got to come clean, I totally whiffed on this one. To me, Jennings always came off as arrogant and selfish, and I even got a little enjoyment out of hearing his sob stories from Italy last year.

Well Jennings is currently making me eat my words, and I’ve got to be honest, they really don’t taste that good. He’s averaging 20 points and five assists per game, saving his best performance for Denver Wednesday, when his line looked like this: 32 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 8-8 from the foul line, 2-2 from three.

At this point, not only is Jennings exceeding expectations, but he’s the favorite for Rookie of the Year. And maybe more importantly, he’s making Milwaukee semi-watchable again. Which is no small feat in itself.

4. Anderson Varejao: So Varejao isn’t really doing anything different than he did last year, but has anyone in NBA history gotten more uncontested dunks and lay-ups than this guy. Seriously, I think he may be the first player in NBA history to get 20,000 points while being no better than his teams fourth option. If you think I’m joking watch the Cavs sometime.

Biggest Storyline Going Forward, the Boston Celtics: Funny, how I have yet to mention arguably the NBA’s best team. At least so far.

All I can say about Boston is this:

Offensively they can score from all five spots on the floor, and are literally the most unselfish team in the league (26.6 team assists per game leads the NBA). Defensively they play every possession like it’s the last two minutes of a playoff game.

And with so many games against the putrid Atlantic Division (Philadelphia? New Jersey? The Knicks? Someone get me a brown paper bag), if they can stay healthy I think 65-70 wins should be expected.

Now there’s a lot of basketball left to be played, so I’ll save you the hyperbole. But nine games in, if they can stay healthy, it looks like the Celtics championship to win.

It’s going to be a fun ride towards June.

Then again, it's been fun already.

(To read the REMAINDER of this article including the teams and players who have disappointed Aaron the most, please click here , or visit Aaron at www.aarontorres-sports.com )

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