NBA Season of Déjà vu Season of Déjà vu - Part one

NBA Season of Déjà vu Season of Déjà vu - Part one

by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (12-2-13)



DAN:
The 2013-2014 NBA season is still very, very young and yet it's beginning to feel way too similar to last year. Injuries have once again derailed several teams and more than a few star players. I'm not interested in harping on the injuries, but what happens to Derrick Rose and the Bulls? Can the Nets turn the corner and get both Brooke Lopez and Deron Williams back at full strength to turn their season around?

I'm sad about Derrick Rose. I wanted a true contender for the Miami Heat come playoff time. Yes, yes there are the Indiana Pacers and Paul George is becoming a superstar. But he isn't one yet. Both the Bulls and Nets were serious competition, but I don't know if they can hang on for the long haul this season.

Things are looking up in the Western Conference, so give me your breakdown of the NBA season. Everyone knows its official start is on Christmas Day, so will the playoffs be as predictable as they were last year? Will every team we expect make it? Something has to change, doesn't it?


TODD:
You are correct in that it is much too soon to pay attention to the NBA standings. However, certain trends are obvious, whether because of injuries or the fact that your first-year head coach is spilling drinks on the sideline to get a free stoppage of play late in the game because he has no timeouts left.

The East is a wrap; call it right now. Miami and Indiana are both going to win over sixty games and no one else in the conference is going to approach fifty. It's a two-team race and Paul George is already a Star, with a capital S. He is making an All-NBA team this season. The Rose injury is the major cause of this supremacy race not being three-sided. Chicago has no ceiling with a healthy Derrick Rose. Now, their ceiling is fifty games and a trip to the second round of the playoffs. It's sad but true.

The rest of the East's supposed contenders have collapsed faster than stock in Kevin Garnett. Brooklyn and New York have been surprisingly terrible thus far, but lesser contenders like Milwaukee and Detroit have also failed to live up to expectations. Eight teams have to make the playoffs from this conference (some kind of silly rule mandates it). But that doesn't mean eight or seven (or even six!) teams will top a .500 record. If Miami does not face Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals, something drastic went wrong for one of them.

As for the West, the exact opposite is transpiring, and I could not be more delighted about it. It looks like there will be no dominant team, but as many as twelve good teams. It is quite possible, by the end of the year, there will be as many as a dozen West teams with a better record than the eighth seed in the East.

San Antonio still looks amazing but so does Portland. It also seems like Houston, OKC and some others haven't even gotten going at full speed yet, even though they're still winning over 70% of their ballgames. A lot was expected out of New Orleans; they may be an interesting team to keep an eye on in the coming weeks, especially with the Anthony Davis injury. At 8-8 they are still very much in pursuit of a playoff spot, but they currently sit in a three way tie for 10th in the conference so they can't wait too long to turn things around.

So to finally answer your question, the playoffs will be exactly the same as always! The East is already decided. Heat v. Pacers, Eastern Conference Finals, mark it down; bet it; do whatever you gotta do. As for the West, it is as much of a craps shoot as it has been in recent years. I still see as many contenders to win the conference as we thought in August. You could even talk me into expanding that from the four we thought at the beginning of the season. Through a month of play, the West has actually become more competitive.


DAN:

That stunt cost Jason Kidd $50,000! One expensive use of a Downy paper towel. But I'm going on record that the Nets will be in the Eastern Conference Finals. Nets vs. Heat. I know the Pacers are on fire, but they need one more year of playoff experience before they can reach that 'next level.' Unfortunately we'll also have to hear about the Knicks all year, since you're spot on when saying no other team is formidable enough to matter in the East this season.

We disagree out West, but I'll toss a question quickly your way before tearing open that wound in Part two. Is there a surprise team in the East? Maybe the seventh or eighth seed who makes a surprise playoff run. It can't be the Nets, or even the Knicks. I'm pulling for the Celtics to take home that title this season.

[Part two - Its happening again]

Destroying legacies & the Steroid witch hunt - Part three

Destroying legacies & the Steroid witch hunt - Part three
by Dan Salem and Todd Salem (9-23-13)

[Part one - Steroids, PEDs & Sports. Oh my]
[Part two - PEDs & the Children]



DAN:
I'd like to think you asked a fun follow on question, but you're asking me to tarnish the memory of one of my favorite athletes of all time. If either of my two favorite athletes growing up were big time steroid users I'd be very sad. Those two players are Marshall Faulk and Charles Barkley.

I LOVED Faulk on the Colts and his time with the Rams was icing on the cake. Barkley was and still is amazing. I'm not sure how I'd feel if I found out they took steroids, but their greatness would be tarnished. My memories of awe and delight would not be as sweet. I'm past the age of glorifying athletes, so I don't have a current player I'd be bothered by. I REALLY hope Mike Trout is clean, mainly because he is an unbelievable talent and has trashed users, but if he was a user I'd still be okay.

I'm classifying users as steroid users. I'm not bothered by HGH or supplements nearly as much. Steroids and the needle in the butt crosses a line for me. But you're correct on my apathy towards how Manning and Peterson successfully rehabbed injury. As for Derrick Rose, I'm equally as apathetic mainly because he still go paid. Manning had to rehab as quick as possible to ensure he had a job. So did Peterson really, since roster turnover in the NFL is week to week and no one trusts a guy who's been out for over a year. Things are different in the NBA and Rose was guaranteed to come back to cheers and a starting spot no matter when it happened. Plus he got paid to rehab, knowing full well his team was probably not going to beat Miami. Rehabbing naturally was fine for him, mainly because he's in the top ten talent of the NBA. But if he isn't at 100% today and HGH will get him there, he should take it. Its medicine. Take it.


TODD:
I agree that becoming a role model is a responsibility these guys have to deal with, whether they like it or not. But I have a hard time believing they are any more suited for it than those worrisome musicians or politicians you mentioned. After all, you just painted Derrick Rose as some sort of egotistical monster. You say he would cheat at the drop of a hat, but the only reason he's not is because he is selfish and greedy beyond belief. If he didn't have millions of dollars and a starting job waiting (if he had to play his way back to them), he would have cheated in a second. That's the impression you just laid on one of the NBA "good guys." Yeesh.

I'm also having a hard time with your distinction between steroids and HGH and supplements. If something is against the league rules, it is cheating. Why is one form of cheating worse than the other? It sounds like you're only concerned with the cheating that is harmful to the users in the long term; is that fair?

And if that is the case, would you be equally as sad if you found out Faulk or Barkley were some of the first HGH users? They would have cheated before it was cool! But apart from the time frame, just assuming growth hormone was around and in use in the early 90's (it might have been; I don't really know), you would be fine with finding out those guys cheated with HGH but crushed if they were using harmful steroids? I'm going to be honest here. It sounds like you are still stuck on those petty children. You don't have any problem with players actually cheating/breaking the rules. You just have a problem if they take something that would harm teens who also took it.

I don't exactly know what to make of this so I am going to move on.

Why does it seem like Major League Baseball is so much more concerned with this epidemic than the other sports? It has to be equally as prevalent in football and basketball; there's no doubt in my mind. So why does the MLB care and the others don't? Should they care less...should the NFL and NBA do more? Supposedly, during the Biogenesis scandal, there was information to be passed on about players in those other sports, as well as the NCAA. When investigators went to these leagues and told them, the leagues decided to pass; they didn't care and didn't want the info. This is both hilarious and disturbing at the same time. But it also makes Bud Selig and baseball look like kooky nuts who are on a witch hunt...even if those witches exist in droves.


DAN:
I didn't say that Derrick Rose would cheat at the drop of a hat. I was simply saying that it didn't matter to me if he 'cheated' to get healthy or did it naturally and that it DEFINITELY didn't matter to Derrick which way he rehabbed. The only scenario in which Rose benefits from rehabbing by 'cheating' is if he couldn't get completely healthy the natural way. Otherwise, let it take its time and do it naturally because unlike Manning and Peterson, he did not have incentive to speed things up.

I'm bothered by the 'cheating' that hurts the player's health, yes. But its practically impossible for me to say protein powder or a muscle builder from GNC is acceptable (not cheating because its not against league rules), while a low level steroid is unacceptable (cheating because its against league rules). Both are supplementing the bodies natural levels of whatever and both are helping build muscle faster and stronger. The only reason one is cheating and the other is not is because of the all so holy league rules. We don't arbitrarily agree with the NCAA rules about how student athletes are suppose to act, so why arbitrarily agree to this one about which drugs are 'good' and which are 'bad.'

For me it comes down to what hurts your body and what is unnatural. I don't see HGH as unnatural, but shooting up juice into your veins is definitely not natural. So yeah, I wouldn't care if Barkley or Faulk took HGH. Its not in the 'cheating' category for me. I don't hold it against Andy Pettitte either. But if they took the roids I'd be a little sad. They were GREAT without it, as far as I know. They didn't need it, as far as I know. I want to keep it that way!

I wish I had a mind-blowing answer for you on MLB and its steroids witch hunt, but I'm going to have to disappoint you and our audience with simply a best guess. Major League Baseball is WAY more concerned than the NFL and NBA and NHL about steroids and PEDs. I'd harken to bet that it has a significantly smaller problem with it than either of those other sports, yet its blown it so far out of proportion that you would never know it. Its unsurprising that the other sports passed on the Biogenesis information. Why ruin careers with second hand information? If a player fails a league test, he gets punished. Otherwise its don't ask, don't tell for the NFL and NBA. They have nothing to gain from chasing witches like the MLB.

Here goes; I'll make a guess at why MLB has gone on a steroids witch hunt. They actually do have something to gain from all this. They can reclaim public respect and credibility. Don't forget how much MLB was completely embarrassed by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds. Like pie in the face, pull your pants down and spank your naked behind in front of a 1000 people embarrassed. This did not happen to the other leagues. And more importantly, this happened to Bud Selig himself. So before he retires, I think he would like to close the door on this mess, pin it all on a few bad apples and show the public he's cleaned things up. Once he retires the witch hunt ends. Or once Alex Rodriguez retires, whichever comes first.

[Part four - Statistics, steroids & What exactly is cheating]

[If you missed Part one - Steroids, PEDs & Sports. Oh my]

[If you missed Part two - PEDs & the Children]