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Then & Now: Your Weekly NBA Digest, 2/22

Feb 23, 2009, 2:45 AM UTC

Welcome to Then & Now, whereâ†µBethlehem Shoals sums up the week in NBA hoops and tells you what toâ†µlook for. Find it here every Sunday evening.
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The stars come tumbling down: Al Jefferson and Amareâ†µStoudemire, out for the season. Danny Granger, Kevin Garnett, and Manu Ginobili, down for several weeks. Greg Oden once againâ†µin street clothes; it doesn’t matter how long he’s out for, the jury’sâ†µgetting restless already. Of course it’s sad that first-time All-Starâ†µGranger has to take a break from his breakout season, or thatâ†µJefferson can no longer play for the honor of GM-turned-coach Kevinâ†µMcHale. The Spurs will miss Manu, but they’ve got youth and depth atâ†µthe guard position. But the Celtics without Garnett, that’s serious.â†µIt could very well cost them home court advantage.â†µ
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â†µTrades no one believes in: It’s funny, a few months agoâ†µeveryone was stockpiling cap space or expiring deals for a shot atâ†µLeBron, Wade, Bosh, or other marquee free agents, the ultimate boom orâ†µbust fairy tale. You know, the kind of irrationality we all expectâ†µfrom this most outrageous of pro sports leagues (MLB takes itself tooâ†µseriously and refuses to play along, despite the steroids). Now, though, this nation’s economic woes have hit owners andâ†µfranchises, and suddenly saving money is about -- gasp -- saving money.â†µColor me disillusioned.â†µ
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â†µPhoenix returns to scoreboard busting: Since replacing Terryâ†µPorter with Alvin Gentry, the Suns are 3-1, having gone over 140â†µpoints in all their wins. Yeah, I’d say the old Suns are back. Soâ†µmaybe only one of the wins came without Amare, and Sunday they fell toâ†µthe KG-less Celtics -- suggesting they’re not going to be winning anyâ†µtitles this year. But let’s hope that Steve Kerr has learned anâ†µimportant lesson and that as long as Nash anchors the team, runningâ†µwill be a priority. The best sign? Leandro Barbosa has returned fromâ†µoblivion.â†µ
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FILM CRITIC:â†µ
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â†µLeBron’s three-point shot has improved greatly this season. But to beâ†µquite honest, top-of-the-key jumpers just never really felt like theâ†µreal James. That is, until Friday’s 55-point explosion against theâ†µBucks, where LBJ hit a slew of outrageous long bombs that were everyâ†µbit as jaw-dropping, improbable, and superhuman as the rest of hisâ†µgame. He took the three-pointer and made it his, and we may never lookâ†µat it the same again.â†µ
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â†µCOMING ATTRACTIONS:â†µ
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â†µ-Will Toronto go on a second-half run now that Shawn Marion’s come onâ†µboard, and Andrea Bargnani’s secured the starting spot? Will Jermaineâ†µO’Neal, the other half of this semi-blockbuster, provide the Heat theâ†µbig man they need to move up in the East? And what about the Sixers,â†µgreatly improved since losing Elton Brand? Couple that with Garnett’sâ†µinjury, and there might be a lot of movement in the Eastern standingsâ†µthese next few weeks.â†µ
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â†µ-Delonte West has been on the shelf since mid-January with a fracturedâ†µwrist. Cleveland hasn’t exactly struggled in his absence, but with himâ†µand Williams on the floor, the Cavs instantly become a more versatile,â†µpotent, active, and less Bron-centric team. And, in a sharp break withâ†µthe past, anything but stagnant in the half-court.â†µ
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â†µ-Here’s a storyline no one really considered: The “soft” Pau Gasol andâ†µ“enigmatic” Lamar Odom have a chip on their shoulder because of lastâ†µyear’s crushing Finals loss, as well as the good news that Andrewâ†µBynum would fix everything this season. That’s why Gasol’s an All-Starâ†µand Odom, restored to a central role in the wake of Bynum’s injury,â†µhas taken it upon himself to dig in and single-mindedly crash theâ†µboards like he hadn’t spent most of his career trying to measure up to outlandish “next Magic” comparisons.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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