| Intrigues of the NBA season that has started Last night the 58th NBA season kicked off with three games. It’s been a long time since the championship of the world’s strongest basketball league has been so eagerly awaited. The off-season was too turbulent. Because during the pause in basketball America, so many interesting things happened. And it continued to happen right up to the start.
Last Saturday, the president of the Miami Heat fired one of the most decorated coaches in the history of the association - Pat Riley, that is, himself. Coach Riley was not helped by his biography, which includes more than a thousand victories (the second most in NBA history), nor by several championship titles won in the mid-80s with the Lakers, nor by successfully held control games in which the Heat won five victories with two defeats. It's just that President Pat Riley decided that it was time for him to end the combination. The illustrious mentor focused on administrative work, handing over the reins to Stan Van Gundy.
The new coach, although he has no experience of working independently, did not come from an advertisement on the street; he worked as a second coach for eight years and is very familiar with the team. So this replacement is sensational only at first glance; Riley has been preparing his replacement for a long time. Interesting fact. For the first time in the history of the association, two clubs will be led by siblings. The Houston Rockets are led by Jeff Van Gundy, the younger brother of the Miami coach. Jeff, unlike his older brother, is not a rookie; he has seven years of experience with the New York Knicks. Will Riley's bet on his assistant pay off? This is the first question that the new season will have to answer. Stan Van Gundy's team will have to take the first test against Allen Iverson and his Philadelphia team.
Test matches added intrigue to the yet unborn championship. The winner of the preseason (unofficial, of course) was Utah, where Russian Andrei Kirilenko plays. In addition to the aforementioned, Miami successfully played friendly matches with the chronic underdog Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State, Denver, and many others, who are difficult to classify as favorites. Are the noted outsiders really ready to get rid of such an unpleasant label? Utah, the most Russian club in the overseas league, will have a hard time this season. There are no longer Karl Malone and John Stockton in the “jazz band,” so the burden of leadership falls on other players, on Kirilenko in the first place. Will Andrei be ready for this role?
We continue the list of questions. Can the champion San Antonio Spurs stay on top and silence those who say it wasn't the Spurs who won the Golden Basket, but the Lakers who lost? After all, Gregg Popovich used “two towers” for several seasons - Robinson and Duncan. “Admiral” David Robinson has retired, how will a lonely Duncan feel? And will the new center - Rade Nesterovic, who came from Minnesota - be able to adequately replace the Admiral?
Failure in the 2002-03 season hurt the pride of the Lakers and their Lord of the Rings coach Phil Jackson, who has nine championship rings in his collection (eight of them coaching rings) and is missing a tenth. In the summer, Jackson began creating a “dream team” by signing two glorious, but ringless old men - Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Together with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, they can move mountains. It’s just bad luck with Kobe. Amorous adventures brought the leader of the Californians to the dock. Whether Kobe will be jailed or not will become known on November 10th. In the meantime, the youngest of the star four Californians has no time for basketball, and besides, an injury prevented Bryant from preparing for the season. The results of the test matches of the 13-time champions are not impressive yet - three wins in eight matches. Here's another bundle of firewood for you to add to the fire of intrigue - was last year's departure of the Lakers from the top an accident or is there something more serious here? And what will the Californian superclub look like if Bryant does wear a prison uniform for four years?
Another favorite, the Dallas Mavericks, is watching the battle between San Antonio and the Lakers. For the young president Mark Cuban and the most experienced coach Don Nelson, it’s not enough for the “bulls” to become “riches” (you know where), it’s time to aim for more. The appearance in Dallas of one of the best power forwards in world basketball, Antoine Walker (formerly of the Boston Celtics), speaks of the seriousness of the Mavericks’ intentions. If Walker can play with the leaders of the Bulls, Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash - and there is no reason for them not to play together - then Dallas' opponents will have a hard time. Although the Mavericks played the preseason with a C grade, just like the Lakers. On the first day of the championship and let's see who prepared better.
So far, the note has only mentioned representatives of the Western Conference, who have set the tone in recent years. What about “East”? Eastern clubs are still one-man troupes, even the conference champion New Jersey Nets is no exception. The role of the leader of the “networks” Jason Kidd is too great. In addition, the owners of the club, who also own hockey and baseball teams, intend to sell the Nets. Will these efforts affect the club's performance?
The first pick of the draft, LeBron James from Cleveland, has not yet played a single official match, and has already received the title of the second Jordan. Let's see how accurate the advances are. And will the 18-year-old prodigy be able to pull a mediocre club into the leaders of the Eastern Conference. As Allen Iverson managed to do a few years ago, reviving the former glory of Philadelphia. James looked good in the test matches, but it is perhaps premature to compare him with Jordan.
On the eve of the new season there are more questions than ever. The championship promises to be interesting. It's been a long time since the barometer of overseas basketball showed a storm. Oleg TIMOFEEV |
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