10 Early, Ugly Surprises from NBA's Opening Week

During preseason you think everything is going to work out. You've made all the right moves. You've got your team primed to win or improve. It's set to go. 

Then the ball tips off and you get that sad, ugly dose of reality. A player isn't who you thought he was. Someone gets hurt. Your team isn't working together the way it should. The defense isn't working. 

Yes. The first week of the season is a reality check. These are the 10 biggest "ugly surprises" from the first NBA season. 

Miami Heat

Yes, the Miami Heat started off at 5-0. Yes, they are still the favorites to win it all. Nevertheless, you can't tell me that you envisioned the first week for the Heat going like this. 

They've had two extremely impressive wins against the Dallas Mavericks and the Charlotte Bobcats. 

Apart form that they've struggled though. In their four remaining games, they've only outscored their opponents by three.

They had to come from behind to beat the Boston Celtics without Paul Pierce. They needed game-winning shots from Dwyane Wade to pull out wins against the Charlotte Bobcats and Minnesota Timberwolves. 

The Heat are 5-1 but they aren't far removed form a 3-3 record. That's not the domination we were expecting from them. 

Oklahoma City Thunder Defense

Another team that got off to a great start if you're looking at their record but has some concerns if you look beyond it is the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Yes, they might be 5-1 and technically, the last team to lose, but things aren't as glossy as their record would indicate.

The "improved defense" we were expecting to see is not there. The Thunder are yielding 104.5 points per 100 possessions, 18th in the NBA. 

As a result the team's Margin of Victory average is only 2.33 in spite of their record. That's only 14th in the NBA. Margin of victory is a better indication of a team's quality than record. In fact their Pythagorean record is 3-3. 

Now, of course none of that matters in the standings, but it is cause for concern. An average defense is no way to win a championship and if the Thunder don't step it up on that end of the court, they won't be in the Conference Finals, much less the NBA finals. 

Indiana Pacers Offense

Indiana's defense has bee impressive. They are just the opposite of Oklahoma City though. With the NBA's second best defensive rating, they also have the NBA's 17th "best" offensive rating. 

It's bad enough to make jokes like "How do you know Danny Granger just shot the ball?" 

"Because it went sailing out of bounds." 

If you take the range out Granger you just have Gr, which is what the Pacers fans are growling every time he takes another ill-advised shot. 

Of course, to be fair, the majority of the team isn't shooting either. 

If the Pacers want to get to the second round this year, they are going to need an offense. They weren't expected to be the Heat, but they weren't expected to be this bad either. 

Utah Jazz Rebounding

The Utah Jazz have one of the deepest front courts in the NBA in Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Ernest Kanter and Derrick Favors. 

With all of those bigs you would think the Jazz would be owning the boards, right? Not! 

In fact, the Jazz have been out-rebounded through their first five games, 214-206. They are a meager 20th in rebound rate league-wide.

When your strength isn't a strength, what does that do for your weakness? It's little wonder that the Jazz have the fourth lowest MOV in the NBA, -10.0.

Manu Ginobili's Injury

This is not anyone's fault, but few things are uglier or more surprising than a major injury to a star player. In a strange twist of irony, less than a minute after the Spurs broadcasters Rick Renner and Sean Elliot were talking about Manu Ginobili having great hands, he broke one of them reaching in to pick the ball from Anthony Toliver who was breaking to the basket.

Ginobili is a huge part of the team and the way the Spurs run their offense. You can plug another player in there, but not one who will do what Ginobili does. 

Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies came in getting a lot of love, especially after the way they handled the San Antonio Spurs and gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a run for their money in the playoffs last year. 

The Griz have not impressed so far. They have only one win in four games, and they were blown out by the Bulls by 40 in their last game. Even short-handed, that's inexcusable. 

They've been without starting point Michael Conley for the last two games, and power forward Zach Randolph went down after 11 minutes with the Griz trailing by 11 against Chicago. 

No matter how you frame it, this team needs to pull itself together. 

New York Knicks

The New York Knicks were even mentioned by some to be on par with the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat as the class of the Eastern Conference after the signing of Tyson Chandler. Much of that speculation ignored some pretty big realities. 

The Knicks lack depth, particularly at the point, which is the most important position in a D'Antoni offense. Furthermore, the style of play of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire indicate they skipped kindergarten (where we learned to share). 

While the old Phoenix teams led the league in assist rate, this year's Knicks team is just 24th in the NBA. It's little wonder that the Knicks offensive rating is just 19th in the NBA. This is the Philadelphia Eagles of the NBA. Great pieces put together with little regard to how they fit. 

DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Cousins wants a trade. I know his agent is saying he doesn't, but the exclamation, "Trade me now!" leads me to believe his agent is obfuscating. 

Cousins is a player with huge potential but this is an ugly surprise to the Kings and to their fans. 

The ugliest part, though, is that Paul Westphal has sent him packing until he shapes up his act. 

Let's just say this is not a positive turn for the Kings. 

New Jersey Nets

If you surround one of the best point guards in the NBA with abysmal players, you don't magically get great players. Rather you get a discouraged point guard. 

There was some hope that the New Jersey Nets with a healthy Deron Williams might be able to be competitive this year. Pretty much the only time that's happened, though, is when they're playing five on five in practice. 

Based on margin of victory the Nets are the second worst team in the NBA. I wonder if that has anything to do with Dwight Howard's suddenly re-thinking the whole Orlando thing. 

Also, it seems to have Deron Williams thinking about Texas. 

Dallas Mavericks

There's nothing that says "ugly surprise" like celebrating the raising of your championship banner with getting your own floor wiped with your own bottoms by the Miami Heat, whom you had beaten to raise those banners.

Following that up with another shellacking by the Denver Nuggets just makes things uglier. 

Then losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, whom you had beaten to get to the finals on a last second buzzer, makes things even uglier. 

The Mavs appear to be getting a handle on things, handily beating the Thunder last night, but that's not enough to keep them form being the ugliest surprise to start the season.