bruce@godot.UUCP (Bruce Nemnich) (12/12/84)
Well, we're already a quarter of the way through the NBA season. Locally, things have been going very well. The Celtics are 19-2 and are playing considerably better than last spring. The Henderson trade has helped define the guard roles, and D.J. developed an outside shot in the offseason. Parish is rested and shooting very well (he tends to tire after a long season; he had a rough time in the playoffs last year). Bird is totally awesome. The Celtics are going to be very tough to beat. The whole Atlantic division is tough, though. I'd venture to say the three best teams in the league at the moment are in this division (Boston, Philly, and Washington). The Bullets should probably win 55-60 games this year. Gus Williams has made an incredible difference. It's wierd to see the Bullets fast-break. The Knicks and Nets have been decimated with injuries (the Nets dressed only 8 men tonight). Everyone knows the Sixers are great. Barkley looks good. Celtics-Sixers Round 2 tomorrow night in Philly! Round 1 was taken by the Celts in a blowout made famous by the Bird-Doctor fight. Evidently the media are really making hay down there anticipating tomorrow night's game. I'll be glued to my set. Elsewhere, I am surprised by the Pistons' problems. They look like the classic Denver team: all O, no D. I (and a lot of others) thought they'd run away with their division, but they have lost a bunch of high-scoring games. Michael Jordan has completely turned the Bulls around. They will probably win the division if Detriot doesn't get its act together. I can't imagine Milwaukee will stay on top, but last I heard, they still hadn't lost at home. I thought Dallas would pull out the Midwest division. They are a very good team, but they desparately need a center. Remember they have Cleveland's first-round pick next year, so they will definitly be in the Patrick Ewing lottery. Ewing could give them quite a dynasty in Dallas. :-) Houston has a good shot at winning it. Bill Fitch is the perfect coach for young talent such as the Twin Towers. Denver is off to a much better start than expected. I have seen very little of the Pacific. The Lakers seem to be having problems. Looks like they may be having the kind of year the Celts had in '83 and the 76ers had last year. What's the story? -- --Bruce Nemnich, Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA ihnp4!godot!bruce, bjn@mit-mc.arpa ... soon to be bruce@godot.arpa