Blake Murphy Sports Writing

Title: My Spot On The ESPN.com Basketball Roundtable
Date: January 23, 2008
Original Source: The On Deck Circle
Synopsis: After ESPN had a round-table discussion with its basketball writers, I chimed in my answers, had I been asked the same questions for the feature.

Yesterday, ESPN.com held a Roundtable Discussion with some of its foremost basketball experts as a mid-season review of sorts. Somehow, my invitation to said discussion was lost in the mail and I was not “officially” a part of it. I’m disappointed that the World Wide Leader could make such an oversight, but I’m willing to forgive them and move on. Because I know the opinions of J.A. Adande, Henry Abbott, Chris Broussard, Ric Bucher, John Hollinger, Marc Stein, and Chris Sheridan aren’t sufficient, what follows are my answers to the questions posed to the ESPN panel. As usual, I strongly encourage feedback, but it goes doubly for this piece as I’d love to hear other people provide their answers to the questions.

1. The season so far in 100 words?
The best I’ve been a fan for. The number of great storylines and showcase battles so far is unprecedented for my run as a basketball junkie. With the parity in the East every game is must-see and has playoff seeding implications. The West has 10 playoff calibre teams that are, for the most part, exciting to watch. It’s to the point I’ve had to recreate this blog and push my bedtime from 11 to 1:30 to catch West Coast games. If the playoffs provide the same level of action the season has, there’s no way I’ll hold a summer job.2. Best thing about the season so far?
The potential for this year’s playoffs. If you look at the standings right now, the possibilities are limitless. In the East, you have the inevitable showdown between Detroit and Boston, unless of course LeBron has something to say about it. The East has underappreciated storylines bubbling, where the #3 or #4 seed could spell doomsday as you could run into LeBron or a healthy Wizards team. Plus, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that some East teams (Orlando, Toronto, Chicago) aren’t playing to their full potential yet. Out West, they could extend the playoffs to 16 teams (bring in an NBDL team) and I don’t think anybody would object. Not even the #1 seed is going to be safe from a first round battle this year, and the West bracket is going to do a number on any team with Championship aspirations. Yes, I realize this isn’t the best thing about the ‘season’ so far but come on, parity throughout the NBA Playoffs!

3. Worst thing about the season so far?
The number of big name players injured. It started with Greg Oden in the offseason and hasn’t let up at all. The injury bug has claimed time from Gilbert Arenas, TJ Ford, T-Mac, Shaq, Dwayne Wade, Brand, Bibby, Grant Hill, all of the Spurs’ Big Three, and the list goes on. Even LeBron sat out a few games. And now Bynum has been struck down as well (along with emerging teammate Trevor Ariza). It’s unfortunate that, in the best season the NBA has produced in a while, there is a lot more potential riding pine in flashy suits.

4. Will the battle for the NBA Title play out predictably or be wide open?
There is no way someone can be more than 40% sure right now on who the champ will be. If you say 40.5%, you are either a liar, an exaggerator, or an idiot. With the way injuries have been going around, no fan can feel safe in having a healthy lineup come April. In the East, nobody can feel confident heading into a series with Cleveland, Detroit, or Boston, and even those three teams have apparent weaknesses (and match-up problems) that make them less than certain bets to come out of the East. I’m clueless in the West because there may only be 10 or 15 wins separating first and eighth (side note: Hollinger’s Playoff Odds don’t have any West team with more than a 21% chance of taking the West). We saw last year that an 8th place team in the West is good enough to win a playoff series, and it feels like every playoff team there has a crunch time scorer who could take over a series. Even the question of East vs. West in the finals isn’t clear, since West teams face a tougher road to the ‘Ship and the East has the two best records in the league. I’m glad I’m not the one making the odds on title favorites right now, because I think I’d end up with 15 teams at 15:1 and 15 teams off the books, it’s that open.

5. The one thing you anticipate that most of us don’t expect?
A big name player get dealt. All the rumors so far this season have surrounded second bananas, with Pau Gasol generally being the biggest name thrown around. The general consensus is that there are too many good teams, so the market for a big name player is bearish, and nobody is willing to part with pieces to gamble on another star. I look at it differently and think that with so many good teams, some GM is going to realize the gamble may be worth it and throw some expiring contracts and picks at a top second tier or low first tier player. Names I’d expect to hear unexpectedly are Tracy McGrady, Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas (expiring deal and the team is doing well without him), Elton Brand, and Allen Iverson (nobody has mentioned it but the Nuggets are the least threatening West playoff team and the AI-Melo experiment hasn’t really worked out), plus the usual suspects for 2007-08 like Ron Artest, Zach Randolph, J-Kidd, Bibby, and Gasol. I know this is contrary to most (all?) popular opinion, but I feel like someone will be willing to roll the dice at the deadline.