Major Weakness Each NBA Team Needs to Fix for 2011-12

The NBA lockout has now reached day number 55, and now that we have reached the double-nickel mark I'm starting to get a bit worried.

The only talks between owners and players have seemed forced and farcical and each side seems to be digging their trenches for a long battle with the players fleeing for Europe and David Stern gathering his troops.

Well I'm not going to let all of this make the end of my summer a bummer, although it could very well put a damper on my winter.

I'll plow ahead and keep writing my fingers to the bone for the fans, that's right people, I and my colleagues here at B/R are more dedicated to you guys than the players and owners, basically because we are fans at heart, mind and mouth.

So with much love I put forth a bit of a follow up to a piece I wrote earlier this week about the strengths of each team with the weaknesses of each team.

Atlanta Hawks

Weakness: Point Guard

I have some faith in Jeff Teague, but I'm not sure just how much faith I do have in him.

Teague showed a lot of promise in the playoffs, and he looks like he could very well take over as the starting point guard, either way that is something they are going to have to address when they eventually get to training camp.

Boston Celtics

Weakness: Lack of Big Men

After Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics have Jermaine O'Neal, Nenad Krstic and possibly Big Baby Davis if he ends up re-signing with the Celtics.

That is a lineup of big men that leaves a lot to be desired in health, toughness and just basketball ability in general.  They should try to pick up a veteran at a minimum contract like Leon Powe or (gasp!) even Eddy Curry.

And yes, that was completely serious, Eddy Curry could do some damage if he trims down a bit.

Charlotte Bobcats

Weakness: Inexperience, Uncertainty

I love the core that Charlotte has put together, but with so much relying on young players it's going to be tough for them to climb out of the basement of the league.

Bismack Biyombo and Kemba Walker can eventually be very good players, but it's going to be tough for them to make a huge impact right away, until then only more games will make them get better.

Chicago Bulls

Weakness: Shooting Guard

I like Keith Bogans as a basketball player, he is very smart and is a tough defender, but he is not a starting shooting guard for a good team like the Bulls.

They need to find a veteran shooting guard who can give 25 minutes a night in spurts giving an offensive threat and some passable defense.

Bogans would be much more effective coming off the bench like Shane Battier did for the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs last season.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Weakness: Small Forward Hole

Okay, besides the fact that they are younger than a bus full of kindergartners and have about the same amount of professional basketball experience, the Cavaliers have a big hole at small forward.

Last year, everyone from Anthony Parker (currently a free agent) to Alonzo Gee, Christian Eyenga and Joey Graham made starts for them at the first forward spot.

My suggestion would be to put Antawn Jamison into that spot, letting either a combination of Tristan Thompson and Anderson Varejao or Varejao and Ryan Hollins start at power forward and center respectively.

Dallas Mavericks

Weakness: Uncertainty

The one team that is going to have to figure out everything about their team before the season starts is your reigning champion Dallas Mavericks.

Dallas has JJ Barea, Tyson Chandler, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Brian Cardinal and Peja Stojakovic currently without a contract, and they are going to have to re-sign at least four of those guys (don't overpay for JJ, don't care about Peja) to keep their hopes to repeat high.

Denver Nuggets

Weakness: Sense of Direction

When you look at the Denver Nuggets as of right now, it's hard to say exactly what they are.

They could end up losing Nene and J.R. Smith in free agency, leaving some roster holes, but even then it's hard to tell what they are.

Denver without Nene will have veteran leadership that you may not necessarily want as your main veteran leaders (Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin), confusion at point guard (most likely Ty Lawson over Andre Miller) and no real go-to guy.

They just seem like an assemblage of players rather than an actual team.

Detroit Pistons

Weakness: Lack of Strengths

Terrible rebounding, poor scoring, mediocre defense, uninspiring leadership and guys that have basically quit round out your 2012 Detroit Pistons.

Barlie Gordonueva (Charle V and Ben Gordon) don't care and haven't cared since they signed their contracts, and Tayshaun Prince is trying to get whatever he can out of this young, growing team.

Golden State Warriors

Weakness: Defense

I pretty much could just copy and paste any weaknesses they had in the past three seasons coming into the year and it would be the same thing.

They aren't tough, they don't rebound well and they allow so many points that they can't possibly hope to contend without a change of philosophy.

Houston Rockets

Weakness: Depth

For some reason I am sold that the Rockets are going to be a playoff team so long as they either re-sign Chuck Hayes or pick up a decent center, even though they don't look great on paper.

They look to be about six to seven players deep with Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, Hayes, Kyle Lowry, Courtney Lee, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger.

Adding some meat to the bones of this lineup could do great things for this team in the long run.

Indiana Pacers

Weakness: Leadership

You could call Danny Granger the leader of this team, but I'm not so sure that I buy it.  He is a good all around player, but I don't see him as a guy who can rally his troops.

He either needs to step up and be the emotional center of this team, or Darren Collison needs to start to make his voice heard and get this team going in a direction together.

Los Angeles Clippers

Weakness: Small Forward Hole

I like Jamario Moon, I cheered for him for years in Cleveland, I love that he is a former Globetrotter, but he isn't even a top-20 starting small forward in the NBA.

If the Clippers could steal a healthy Caron Butler (they don't need to gamble on injured dudes, they're the Clippers) it could give them some veteran presence and a guy that could be considered a top ten small forward when he is completely healthy.

Los Angeles Lakers

Weakness: Toughness

The Lakers already addressed this one a bit by picking up Mike Brown as their new head coach, but he is going to need to teach his players how to be tough and get them to buy in to his philosophy.

Brown is the guy that got LeBron James (and the rest of the Cavs for that matter) to play a more physical style of basketball, giving them one of the best defenses in the league for his tenure with the Cavaliers, so he could do wonders for the Lakers if they just give him a chance.

Memphis Grizzlies

Weakness: How does everyone fit?

When the Memphis Grizzlies made a miraculous run nearly ending up with them crashing their way into the Western Conference Finals I thought that they were set up for an even better run in 2012 with Rudy Gay returning.

However, is it possible that Gay coming back would actually make them worse?  With Gay in, he is their leading scorer and the guy that controls the offense, so if he just sticks to that and the defense stays as fierce as it was then they should be fine.

But, if Gay comes back and they start to play a different style of game than what they did in the playoffs, I don't know if they will be as good.

Miami Heat

Weakness: Key Positions

Mario Chalmers is either a very good bad player or a very bad good player, I haven't decided yet.  He played good, but there is a reason the Heat started him in a third of their games and only once in the playoffs.

Chalmers is prone to brain farts and isn't a great defender mentally, although he is a good defender physically.

Elsewhere, they played all of last season with a center by committee philosophy, relying mostly on Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Joel Anthony.  Anthony played well defensively, but he is basically invisible on offense.

If they can find a halfway decent option to fill either of these holes then they could fill the other with Chalmers or Anthony and be fine, but they shouldn't count on putting out Chalmers and Anthony.

Milwaukee Bucks

Weakness: Uncertainty Over Jennings

Brandon Jennings has been the most volatile player in the NBA over the past two seasons.  He stunned everyone when he dropped a double-nickle on Golden State just a few weeks into his career, but went from scoring 22 a game in November of that year to just 10 a game in January, eventually evening out to 15 for the season.

The big problem is that he is a chucker, shooting 37 and 39 percent from the field in his first two seasons.  Plus, injuries suffered last season made more people question him.

If he can get his shooting percentage to about 42 percent and get his assist numbers up then they could be a playoff team.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Weakness: Uncertainty at Nearly Every Position

Here is what your potential 2012 Minnesota Timberwolves starting lineup will look like: Ricky Rubio/Luke Ridnour, Wesley Johnson, Michael Beasley/Derrick Williams, Kevin Love, Darko Milicic.

Besides Kevin Love, can you honestly say you would expect any of those guys to have a good year beyond a shadow of a doubt?

I like Johnson, and think he is going to improve but he won't be great, then you have Rubio who could flop and Williams who may be out of position, Darko and Beasley are basically coin tosses.

Basically addressing this situation is crossing your fingers and hoping that it all works out.

New Jersey Nets

Weakness: Toughness

Deron Williams is a moderately tough point guard and Travis Outlaw is a hard-nose fellow, other than that they are a team full of pushovers.

The frontcourt of Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez might as well be The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young circa 2011 (back in the 50s they were some tough old broads).  Lopez needs to assert himself down low and do better than six boards a game while Humphries needs to play a more physical offensive game and bang his way to the basket.

New Orleans Hornets

Weakness: Shooting Guard Hole

I like Marco Belinelli, he's a great three-point shooter, but that's all he is.  Belinelli can't rebound, pass or defend, so he should be a three-point specialist rather than a starting shooting guard.

If they want to take a chance to keep Chris Paul this season, they might want to swing for the fences with a play for Jamal Crawford or Jason Richardson to give him a second option with David West.

New York Knicks

Weakness: Depth

The Knicks have Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, the remnants of Chauncey Billups, toughness from Ronny Turiaf, decent play from Tony Douglas, three point shooting from Landry Fields and promise from Bill Walker.

That's two legit great players, one old dude who can still throw down, one young fella who has shown good play, two role players, and a kid with promise.  Oh, and they have rookie Iman Shumpert and future Brian Scalabrine replacement Josh Harrellson.

That's not enough for a championship team there Knicks fans, don't be disappointed if you guys get bounced in the second round if no moves are made.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Weakness: Head Honcho Dispute

I have literally been berated for even bringing this up as a dispute, but go back and watch the second round of the playoffs last season and the Western Conference Finals.

There are stretches at a time when Russell Westbrook is a complete black hole with the ball, bringing it up the court, looking around for ten seconds and jacking up a 17-footer.

I'm not exactly saying he is trying to usurp the throne from Kevin Durant, but they had some serious problems at the end of games in the playoffs, and saying otherwise is completely ignoring the problem.

Orlando Magic

Weakness: Team Makeup

The Orlando Magic seem like a team that was made when picking teams before a pick-up game.

Dwight Howard, obviously the best player available, followed by three-point shooters and athletes with nobody there to do the dirty work besides Brandon Bass.

They are in dire need of a guy that can crash the boards, play a bit dirty and get under the skin of their opponents, plus they need a serious lesson on ball movement after finishing 27th in assists last season.

Philadelphia 76ers

Weakness: Experience

The Philadelphia 76ers are a very good team with tons of promise, but they rely on many guys who have been in the league for just a few seasons.

After Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, they have seven players who are going on their fourth year or less in the league and another going on his fifth.

They could all step up to the challenge, or they could fold under pressure, either way it will be interesting to see.

Phoenix Suns

Weakness: Defense

The Phoenix Suns were the fourth highest scoring team in the NBA a season ago, scoring 105 points a game, unfortunately they were the second worst defensive team, giving up nearly 106 points.

If I were a Suns fan, I would almost want them to trade away Steve Nash to go ahead and jumpstart their rebuilding process, because they aren't going anywhere with their current makeup.

Portland Trail Blazers

Weakness: Injuries

Do I sound like a broken record here?  Portland needs more than anything else to be healthy, and that's it.  With a completely healthy roster, the Trail Blazers could compete for a championship.

Think about it, Greg Oden in sparing time has averaged 10 points, seven rebounds and just over a block a game, given a whole year of health he could end up nearly doubling those numbers.

Aside from that, they would have LaMarcus Aldridge back in his natural position at power forward and Brandon Roy as a spark off the bench, making them at least nine players deep.

Sacramento Kings

Weakness: Black Holes

Of their players, Tyreke Evans, DeMarcus Cousins, John Salmons and newcomer Jimmer Fredette are guys that get the ball and keep it for 10 to 15 seconds, killing their possession and forcing them to shoot.

You can't win when you have that many players who are either shoot first guys or who are basketball black holes.

San Antonio Spurs

Weakness: Age

This is the same complaint everyone and their grandmothers had before the season started last year, and what else would the Spurs do but go out and take first place in the West during the regular season?

Well, all seemed well and good until the Memphis Grizzlies upset them in the playoffs and had everyone declaring the end of the Duncan Era.

The last time so many people were convinced that something was over, rumors were flying around that Paul McCartney was dead.

Toronto Raptors

Weakness: Number One Option

Who is the go-to guy for the Toronto Raptors?  Is it the man who doesn't believe in defense Andrea Bargnani, the up-and-comer DeMar DeRozan or is it one of their other decent but not great players?

People have talked about how important it is to have a hierarchy in place in a basketball team, and as of right now I don't buy that the Raptors really have that, and if they do then their number one option is a rather horrible one.

Utah Jazz

Weakness: Direction

The Jazz aren't as bad as some teams like the Nuggets who could be pretty good or drop-dead terrible, but there is some dispute over whether they are rebuilding or if they are already rebuilt.

Adding Enes Kanter, Alec Burks and all of the pieces they got in the Deron Williams trade really helped them avoid the deep abyss of rebuilding, but they may still have a bit of a rut if things don't go well.

They could be a playoff team this year or they could decide to flip Al Jefferson, Devin Harris and Andrei Kirilenko for the future of their team, and either way I say they are in great position for the future.

Washington Wizards

Weakness: Defense

Going into this season, Washington looks like they are going to be one of the most exciting teams in the NBA with the ability to trot out a lineup of John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Nick Young, Jan Vesely and JaVale McGee whenever they want to go on an alley-oop-athon.

However, they are defensively light, especially after drafting Vesely, but they did go out and draft Chris Singleton and Shelvin Mack, both of whom look to be good defenders.

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