"At least a half a dozen or more teams will be drastically changed throughout the course of the season, meaning what you see now isn't always what you get come playoff time."
In case you missed it, that was a direct quote from the first edition of "In the Rotation" last week.
It didn't take long to prove that point.
The Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons pulled off the first, and most likely biggest, trade of the 2008-09 NBA season when the Nuggets sent future Hall of Famer Allen Iverson to the Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheik Samb.
It was a move that some viewed as a salary dump of sorts for the Pistons, giving the team more salary cap flexibility than virtually every team in the league heading into the now infamous free agent period of 2010. Others saw it a last-ditch effort at an NBA title while the Pistons' window is still open — a swing-for-the-fences type move by Joe Dumars before rebuilding this team.
Whatever the case may be, both teams made statements early that they were going to aggressively pursue an NBA championship this season.
This trade gives the Pistons the one thing that they have lacked during their current streak of six straight Conference Finals appearances: a go-to scorer. While the Pistons' balanced offensive attack has caused nightmare matchups for teams in the playoffs, it has also lead to their biggest weakness as a team: prolonged scoring droughts.
Sunday's blowout loss at home against Boston, which featured, you guessed it, a prolonged scoring drought in the second quarter, proved that the new-look Pistons are still a work in progress. Allen Iverson has shown flashes of what has made him one of the greatest scorers in NBA history in his two games with the Pistons, but looks like he needs a lot more time on the floor with his new teammates before they establish any sort of comfort level.
The Pistons missed out on having Iverson with this group for an entire training camp, but still have 77 preseason games left to figure things out before the season really starts in Detroit.
Let's take a look at what else is In the Rotation this week in the NBA:
Starting Five
1. Wednesday, November 5th
If the NBA season was "off and running" last week, it hit "full stride" on Wednesday.
First, the day started off by Carmello Anthony vowing to drop 44 against the Warriors later that night, an homage to new President Elect and soon to be 44th President Barak Obama. (Anthony scored 28, honoring the legacy of the great Woodrow Wilson instead.)
That was followed by Derrick Rose making his national TV debut on ESPN against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game in which not surprisingly LeBron James stole the show with a vintage LeBron-like performance, scoring 41 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists.
While that was going on, Amare Stoudemire was busy lighting up the Pacers to the tune of 49 points and 11 rebounds in a 113-103 victory.
Then, Tony Parker scored a career-high 55 points in a double OT thriller in Minnesota that saw the Spurs pick up their first win of the season.
Finally, the night ended with the seemingly invincible Lakers torching the lowly Clippers with a 22-0 fourth quarter run, allowing the Lakers to coast to an easy 18-point victory.
2. Chris Paul
Chris Paul made history this week by becoming the first player in NBA history to have at least 20 points and 10 assists in his team's first six games, breaking a nearly 40-year-old record held by Oscar Robertson.
Here's a quick rule of thumb when deciding whether or not an NBA achievement is noteworthy: if there is a record held by either Oscar Robertson or Elgin Baylor, and a player breaks that record, it's noteworthy.
Think of all the great point guards that have played in the last 40 years. Not one of them has played at as high a level to start the season as Chris Paul is playing right now.
It's almost funny to think about how great a season Paul can have if he keeps up this pace. Unless, of course, you play in the Western Conference. Then it's not as funny.
3. Jerry Sloan
On Friday, Sloan became the first head coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games with the same team. Since Sloan took over as head coach in December of 1988, there have been 219 coaching changes in the NBA (with Larry Brown accounting for nearly half of those).
Sloan's Jazz teams have reached the playoffs in 17 of the 20 seasons he has spent on the bench, with an average of 51 wins per season, yet he has never won an NBA Coach of the Year award. Don Nelson, the only active coach with more wins than Sloan, has been named Coach of the Year three times, but has never coached in the NBA finals.
Sloan may be one of the least decorated coaches in the NBA, but aside from Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, he may be the most successful.
4. Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks cracked the rotation last week, but they are getting the credit they deserve for their 5-0 start this week by making the starting five.
I said that the Hawks would be tested this week with tough games at New Orleans and home against Toronto, and they passed both tests with flying colors. They didn't miss a beat Sunday when they traveled to Oklahoma City to play the Thunder without their star power forward Josh Smith, who will miss the next two to four weeks with a sprained ankle.
Despite the loss of one of their top players, the Hawks join the Lakers as the only two unbeaten teams left in the NBA.
5. NBA Schedule Makers
Kudos to the NBA for not cowering at the obvious stranglehold the NFL has on Sunday afternoons by scheduling two potential Conference Finals preview games Sunday evening: Boston at Detroit and Houston at the Lakers.
Call me crazy, but I thought watching four of the best teams in the NBA was a nice change of pace after an afternoon of watching football games, and a welcome alternative to sitting through three hours of Al Michaels and John Madden.
Sunday games during the NFL season are common in cities like L.A. and Toronto, but I for one would like to continue to see more marquee matchups on Sunday nights, regardless of the football schedule.
IN THE ROTATION
Brandon Roy
Brandon Roy has picked up right where he left off in the heroics department. His final minute of the Blazers game against the Rockets just added to the reputation that he received last season (and rightfully so) as one of the top clutch performers in the NBA.
Roy hit not one, but two high degree of difficulty shots in the final minute of the Blazers' overtime victory over Houston on Thursday night. (He also had a bonehead foul in that span, but that tends to be forgiven if you can follow it up with this.)
After hitting several big shots last season, Roy has once again proven that his name belongs in the conversation as one of the top closers in the NBA.
BURIED ON THE BENCH
Tracy Mcgrady
Speaking of Thursday's Rockets/Blazers game, it also serves as the last time Tracy McGrady decided to show up.
McGrady followed up his 30-point, 8-assist, 7-rebound performance on Thursday night with a terrible 0-for-5 shooting night in L.A. against the Clippers Friday, and returned to the scene of the crime with a 1-for-11 dud against the Lakers in the Rockets' 29-point embarrassment Sunday night.
The Rockets have shown flashes of greatness early in the season, but this team needs to maximize each game they get with their Big Three healthy. Instead, they have yet to hit their stride with Ron Artest, Yao Ming, and McGrady all on the floor at the same time.
Unless these "superstars" start to show some consistency, hovering around .500 might become familiar territory for the Rockets.
INACTIVE LIST
Stephon Marbury
Steph doesn't make this week's inactive list for literally being put on the inactive list. That could happen to any $22 million player.
No, what landed Marbury on this week's inactive list was Steph doing what Steph has always done best: talk.
First, the former "Starbury" said earlier this week that he planned to practice at his former high school, Abraham Lincoln High, in order to stay in shape while sitting on the Knicks inactive list, but decided better of it saying, "I spoke to the Players' Association and they said it wouldn't be a good idea."
Probably not.
Then, later on in the week, when asked his thoughts on being benched, Marbury said he wanted to buy the team so he could activate himself. He was joking. I think.
Apparently the recession hit some harder than others.
Either way, it doesn't look like Marbury's getting out of the Mike D'Antoni/Donnie Walsh doghouse any time soon. Hopefully that won't stop him from still commenting on it.
Be sure to check back at Sports Central every Monday to see who cracks Scott Shepherd's rotation as he breaks down what is going on around the NBA.
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