I'm going to miss the NBA

Top storylines from the 2010 NBA season. In no particular order.

1. Headline: The Unholy Experiment

The Miami Heat need no explanation on why they were the biggest storyline. How many teams are so hated and reviled that people sell out arenas just for the chance to boo them? How often are 3 of the top 15 players in the league on the same team? How often do first year experiments end in a Finals berth. This experiment gave the players more power over the fate of a league than had ever really happened before. They are a historically important team not because of their success, but because they were able to make noise immediately despite immense pressure.

Subplot A:The Melo Drama

Not an original headline by any means. Were it not for Lebron, Melo might be the most hated man in the NBA. Then again, were it not for Lebron, Melo wouldn't have rushed his way out of Denver. In 2003 I said Melo would be better than Lebron because of his versatility and college experience. That argument is over as of right now. Whats more imporant is whether Melo can make the Knicks better. And how long will it take Iman Shumpert to get traded since Melo clearly doesn't care that he exists.

Sublot B: Will DH12 and CP3 shift the balance of power further

Dwight Howard, the league's best center, and Chris Paul, arguably the best pure point guard are up to for free agency after the hypothetical 2011-2012 season. Where will they go and how long will it take for them to get there. Will they play out their contract like Bosh and Lebron, or will they force a trade like Melo. Or will they do as Wade and Nowitski did and sign with their team again.

2. Headline: 6 for 24
I like this headline because on one hand it describes Kobe (number 24's) quest for his sixth all important ring. Will having one more ring make him better than Jordan? No. Will it elevate him to the point where a serious discussion must be had? Yes. It also was his horrid statline in the all important last game of last years finals. Jordan never did that either.

Subplot A: The biggest collapse of the NBA playoffs
No, not the Heat. They at least won 2 games in the finals. How about the defending champions. How did they manage to play so badly against the Mavs. Yes, Dallas is good but what happened with the Lake show that they couldn't manage to beat the Mavericks at all.

Subplot B: Where did the old Guard go?

In what was supposed to be the last stand before the young bucks took over the league, the Celtics, Spurs and Lakers didn't make it past the conference semi-finals. Even the Dallas Cowboys made it to their conference... Wait they didn't.... Not even the playoffs... Never mind.

3. The Emergence of the Young Guns

Headline. 2010 was Rose's coming out party. He carried the Bulls despite injuries and ineffective play by Boozer, Korver and many other players. I worry about rose having to carry the team, because point guards who do all the work rarely win in this league. Think of the top 10 point guards since 1995. How many of them won championships as the best player on their team? Exactly.

Subplot A: "The Posterchild" Blake Griffin

Mozgov became a household name because of what Blake did to him. He's responsibile for 60 percent of the NBA's top dunks last year. He made the Clippers fun to watch. First time that's happened since...

Subplot B: Robin's Revenge

The Oklahoma City Thunder overachieved in making the Western Conference Finals. Russell Westbrook was unfairly criticized for doing what he always has done, shoot and shoot often. The Thunder are an offensively challenged team who needs Westbrook's scoring output to compensate for not having much else. Without westbrook, the Thunder are essentially the Bucks of the West. Hearing complaints, you'd swear that Durant got frozen out of the playoffs. He wasn't getting 28.6 ppg from offensive rebounds. Westbrook got him the ball enough. However, the pressure builds every time Westbrook shoots the ball. Hopefully Harden continues to improve and fill the offensive void left by Jeff Green. If he does, these complaints will become distant memories.

Link: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4672777/nba-scoring-leader-hasnt-been-vs-mavs

Written in December 2010, it pointed out that the only western conference team that Durant didn't average more than 20 points against was Dallas.

4. Headline: The Front Office failure
The league has somehow managed to fudge up the best season in the last decade and manage to lose money. They needed to come to a solution for this problem before locking out their players which they have been for 17 hours now. I'm going to be mad if the only basktball related activity I get to do in Colorado is play NBA 2k12

Subplot A: Technically speaking

The fouls that were called this year were absolutely ridiculous. They need to increase the tech limit if this many technical fouls are going to be thrown around.

Subplot B: My Crew better work next year
Ok, I cheated a bit. I know that it isn't technically an NBA problem as much as it is a 2k sports problem. However, even though it is a better experience in most ways that 2k10 was, 2k11 felt like a series of failed opportunities. My Player was good this year when it worked, but the fact that My Crew rarely works is annoying. If the only experience I get it 2k12, then I'd better not see 8'5 players, disappearing players and basketballs, uncapped players (unless the cap is removed entirely), and pink shoes with green mohawks. Ok, maybe the pink shoes are fine but come on 2k.