You Wouldn't Pay to See the Wizards? I Would.

Instead of being bored to death with my family at Deep Creek Lake last night, I stayed home and went to the Washington Wizards home opener with two other LBS writers.  The Wiz will probably win no more than 15 games in the shortened NBA schedule, but for some reason I was excited to go.  Would the average fan pay to see a team whose only marquee player is John Wall? Probably not, but I thought writing an article about why I would pay would be interesting.  So, in the ten seconds prior to me beginning this article, I decided on three different things that will be included:

1) Why I love going to Wizards games despite the fact that they suck

2) My impressions of the team after the home opener

3) Music at the end of the post

 I see promise in Javale McGee that I didn't last year

2011-2012 NBA Breakout Players

Who is going to be this year's Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love or LaMarcus Aldridge? Each year guys like the aforementioned players breakout and become stars, the question becomes who will they be. Now that the start of the 2011-2012 NBA season is within a week from tipping off, it is time to look at which players can make the leap from a player with potential, to a player that can change a game. Here are the guys I am going to pay special attention to this season.

Obvious Three:
These three guys are already household names, and are already good players in the association. They have the best chance of making a Derrick Rose-esque leap this season.

John Wall: Washington Wizards Point Guard
Everybody loves to compare John Wall to Derrick Rose. The two had very comparable rookie seasons, Rose was able to take the next step in his second year in the league (and then became the MVP of the league in his third year). Wall put together an insane lockout highlight tape, but NBA defenses will be better prepared to stop him and his blistering speed and breathtaking change of pace, so Wall must improve his jump shot (which he has been working on constantly this offseason) and cut down on his turnovers if he wants to take the next step this year. If Wall can average 20 and 10, the Wizards will have an outside chance at the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, but if he doesn't progress the way most people expect he will, the Wizards will be in the hunt for the #1 pick in the draft yet again.

Who to Root For this NBA Season

I already wrote a piece on reasons to watch every NBA team this year, but I just can’t contain my excitement for the NBA season.  Now that the Chris Paul disaster is in the rearview, we can all look forward to the slate of Christmas day games.  In the meantime here are 10 NBA players I’m going to be rooting for this year.

2011-2012 NBA Preview: Part I

Matt will be doing a four part NBA preview before the season kicks off on Christmas day. This is part one. 

I love the NBA. I love Christmas. I love the NBA on Christmas. So it brought me indescribable amounts of joy when Roy woke me up on the morning of Saturday November 26th to tell me that the lockout was over. The effects of the festivities that took place the night before were immediately overwhelmed with a feeling of pure joy.

The Great Gelfandini's All NBA Athlete Team

In the world of professional sports, just about everyone is a great athlete.   But, within this bubble of supreme manhood, lie a few individuals that are a little better than the rest.  These are the guys that are referred to as "Freaks" or "Animals."
They are the ones making sportscenter's Top 10 on a daily basis.  They are the ones little kids try to emulate.  Quite frankly, they are the best athletes.  So I am proud to present you with my All-Athlete team.  I will go sport by sport honoring the worlds best physical athletes.

Today, I start with the NBA.  Provided that this list of players didnt stop working out during the lockout, you will be seeing them posterizing slow centers and flying across the paint to swat floaters.