NBA Midseason Report Card: Biggest Disappointments, Flops and Embarrassments
The NBA is reaching its midseason point and a lot of news and excitement has come with the first half of the season.
Players like Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Derrick Rose have all caught our attention with their outstanding play thus far this season. But not everything has been peachy in the NBA.
There are those teams that have underachieved, those players who have not lived up to expectations and those plays that have just been embarrassing to watch over and over again on Sportscenter's Not Top 10 replays.
With that said, let's take a look at some of the biggest disappointments in the NBA this season.
12. New Orleans Hornets
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What happened to the New Orleans Hornets?
This team started off the season with eight straight wins and stood at 11-1 after the first month. Since then, the Hornets have gone 15-15. At one point this season, the Hornets stood at .500 before they won eight of their last 10 games.
They have been beyond erratic and are one of the biggest question marks in the NBA at this point in the season. When they are on, they are one of the best teams in the league. When they are off, they are a questionable playoff team at best.
It will be interesting to see which team shows up in the second half of the NBA season.
11. Ron Artest
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Ron Artest came to the Lakers last year and played like a man on a mission. He was crucial in the Lakers' NBA Championship run and looked to be like a perfect fit in LA.
So, what has happened with Artest this season?
He averaged 11 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the field last season. But at the midway point this season, Artest is averaging just eight points per game and is shooting at a 40 percent clip. He has had several reported arguments with coach Phil Jackson and just doesn't appear to have that edge and motivation that he played with in his first season with the Lakers.
Kobe is still great, Gasol is a top three NBA big man, Odom is solid as always, but Artest is nowhere to be found this season. Lakers fans can only hope that Artest can get back to his old ways in the second half of the season.
10. Manu Ginobili Flop
3 of 12Well, since we used the term "biggest flops" in the title of this slideshow, it is only fitting that we add in one of the best flops of the season. And who better to feature here than the biggest flopper in all of basketball, San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili?
This is a clip from the Spurs' Dec. 16 matchup against the Nuggets and Ginobili takes one of the most awkward flops of all time. He appears to be going for the ball, but misses all together and then just swan dives onto the ground in classic Ginobili fashion.
Great player. Great flopper. This is Manu at his best.
9. Milwaukee Bucks
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This has been a nightmare of a first half to the NBA season for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Coming into this year, the Heat, Magic, Celtics and Bulls were supposed to be the creme of the crop in the Eastern Conference. If you add Atlanta in there, that has been pretty accurate for the most part this season. But Milwaukee was supposed to be that No. 5 or 6 team in the East and potentially have the talent to compete with those elite four teams.
Instead, the Bucs currently sport a 14-24 clip, good for the sixth worst record in the East. They are 6-15 on the road and have lost eight of their last ten games.
Unless Brandon Jennings and crew can begin playing good basketball soon, no one is going to be fearing the Bucks coming playoff time.
8. Carmelo Anthony Trade
5 of 12Can they just get it over with already?
The biggest talk throughout this season thus far has not been the outstanding play of young guys like Blake Griffin and Kevin Love. In all reality, for the past three weeks, it hasn't even been LeBron James and the streaking Miami Heat.
The biggest talk that has been dominating Sportscenter and sports media across the country has been the trade talks involving Carmelo Anthony. Will he go to the Nets? Will he go to the Knicks? Does anyone outside of Denver and New York really even care anymore?
The disappointment has been that this potential trade, which feels like it has taken forever to get done, has been dominating the news instead of players that are worthy of big news due to their superior play on the basketball court.
Just get it done already. We're all ready for it, Carmelo.
7. Yao Ming
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After sitting out the 2009-10 season, Yao was supposed to rehab his injury and be ready to return at some point this season. Yao’s reconstructive surgery was to make the his foot flatter and help distribute the stresses. But it was announced last month that Yao will miss the rest of this season as well because of the stress fracture in his left ankle.
This guy has been beyond injury prone, and it wouldn't be such a disappointment if he was a nobody. But Yao Ming showed promise in his first couple of years in the league and now, it looks like anyone's guess if Yao will ever play another game in the NBA.
He has been thrown around in trade rumors as well, but with the constant injuries that come with him, who would want to take that risk?
6. Detroit Pistons
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What has happened to the Detroit Pistons?
Just two years ago, this was a team that was building an NBA dynasty. Before last season, the Pistons made the playoffs eight straight years and had five straight conference championship appearances this past decade.
Everything begin to go down hill after Joe Dumars made the decision to trade Chauncey Billups, and then gave a combined $100 million to Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva just added insult to injury. Those two have been nothing short of awful for Detroit, who currently sport a 15-26 record, which is the seventh worst record in the entire NBA.
They are a huge disappointment to everyone in the city of Detroit right now and with the lack of cap room, there are no immediate signs of improvement in the Motor City.
5. Hasheem Thabeet
8 of 12This was supposed to be a breakout year for the 2009 NBA lottery pick. Does 1.2 points per game and 1.6 rebounds per game qualify as being a breakout season? How about getting dunked on whenever you do make an appearance in a game?
I don't think so.
Thabeet has struggled to break the lineup this season for the Grizzlies and when he does, he looks completely outmatched and overwhelmed out on the court. He was even sent down to the NBA Developmental League to work on his game, but that clearly did not help.
Thabeet has been so bad thus far that the Grizzlies are already talking about shopping him with O.J. Mayo in a potential trade this season. Just another big man who was drafted high and turned out to be a bust. Sign up Thabeet, he is well on his way to joining this list.
4. Evan Turner
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The Philadelphia 76ers made Evan Turner, last year's college basketball player of the year, the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.
After an outstanding season at Ohio State and off-the-wall expectations, Turner was figured to be a can't-miss prospect who was going to play a big role in getting the 76ers back to NBA relevance.
Not so fast.
In 38 games this season, Turner has averaged just seven points per game and is shooting a dreadful 39 percent from the field. He was projected as a starter, but has started only 12 games this year while averaging about 24 minutes per game. He has shot 28 percent from three point land, which is a worse percentage than the 76ers starting center, Spencer Hawes.
The organization still has a ton of hope in him and obviously this is only his rookie season, so he has plenty of time to improve his game. But at this point, Evan Turner's rookie season certainly looks like a bust right now.
3. Lakers Booed off the Court Against Memphis
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The Lakers have not had the type of season that fans have come to expect with the NBA champions. But nothing was worse for Kobe and the gang than when they got booed off their own home court in a 104-85 loss to the Grizzlies back on Jan. 2.
A day after a rough loss at Utah, and four days after losing to the NBA-worst Sacramento Kings, the Grizzlies' blowout began to stir up the Lakers at that point. Talks begin to formulate about Kobe Bryant being called out by his coach, Phil Jackson. Then came stories about Ron Artest having a loud verbal argument with Jackson at a practice.
The Lakers currently sit at 31-12, which is the third best record in the NBA. They are still considered to be the creme of the crop in the NBA, until they lose their NBA championship belt. But that stretch right there, which concluded with the champs getting booed off the Staples Center court, was hands down one of the most embarrassing moments in the first half of the NBA season.
2. Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers
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This was a team that was on the verge of competing with the NBA's best. This was a center that was supposed to be a once-in-a-decade type player that would be able to change a game with his defensive abilities.
Instead, the Trail Blazers are underachieving with a 22-20 record, good for eighth best in the Western Conference. They are 8-15 on the road this season and are 14 games behind the West-leading San Antonio Spurs, a team who was considered to be close to equal with the Blazers heading into the 2010-11 season.
Greg Oden is a sad story and you have to feel for what the guy has been through. But yet again, he will be sidelined for the entire NBA season.
Blazers fans made Oden the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft over Kevin Durant. But since that day fans chanted his name in excitement, there has been a constant downpour of discouraging health issues.
This season's injury will require the third season-ending surgery Oden has experienced in his four years in Portland. Like I said earlier, you have to feel for the guy and the rough luck that he has had thus far, but if you're a Portland Trail Blazers fan, this scenario spells out the word d-i-s-a-p-p-o-i-n-t-m-e-n-t.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers
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Oh, what a disappointment this season has been for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Do you think it's fair to say that this team misses LeBron James?
Days after LeBron made the decision to take his talents to South Beach, Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert came out and said that the Cavs will recover from the loss and that they will win an NBA championship before King James ever does.
Wow, was he wrong.
LeBron and the Heat are 30-12, which is the second best record in the East right now. Cleveland is 8-32 and are currently riding a 13 game losing streak. They are the worst team in the NBA and have been the laughing stock of the NBA thus far this season.
Everything about this franchise is an absolute embarrassment right now, including their hot-headed owner, who has been somewhat quiet as of late about his outrageous statements involving this team before the season started.
So we ask, why so quiet Mr. Gilbert? Oh wait, I think we know why.
