Each week sports reporters Matthew Lambert and Eric Schroeder will face off on a hot topic in sports. The world of sports is changing quickly and constantly, but we want to slow it down and take a better look at the juiciest gossip, scandal, rumor or issue that is making headlines this week. Lambert and Schroeder will take different sides and battle it out, telling you why you they are right.
This week’s topic: Who will rise above the Cleveland Cavaliers?
With the NBA season starting Oct. 28, the NBA’s biggest headlines of the summer were the trade of Kevin Love and LeBron James back home to Cleveland. So does this make Cleveland the team to beat in the East or is there another team that could cause some serious problems for “The King” and his court? Eric and Matthew will each mention a team that will challenge the Cavs as the top team in the Eastern conference and maybe even the NBA Championship. Let’s talk about it… (Recap by Matthew Lambert)
FROM ERIC SCHROEDER
While everyone may make the assumption that the Cavs are locked in to win the title this year based on pure star power, there is certainly some room for doubt and for a team everyone is sleeping on—the Chicago Bulls.
When James first went to Miami, there was an adjustment period as all the players learned to work with one another. The same will occur in Cleveland this year especially as Kyrie will have to learn to take a backseat for the first time in his career as Lebron will take the spotlight.
The Bulls have always been one of the most competitive teams under coach Tom Thibodeau, and their defense ranks as one of the top in the league. Yes, Noah, Gibson, Butler and Hinrich, in his second tour for the Bulls, are all returning. Yes, Derrick Rose has always been here, and yes, no one really knows what he will do coming off his second knee surgery in as many years. Despite this, the Bulls are still one of the most deep and explosive teams.
With the additions of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic at the forward position along with Aaron Brooks up front, this Bulls team is the deepest since the Jordan era. It is also the deepest and most well developed second string of guys in the entire NBA.
Some may argue there might be cohesion issues with Bulls as well, bringing in two role players in Gasol and Mirotic could be a major issue. The difference in Chicago is the fact that these guys are all complimentary players. They were not the number ones or go-to-guys previously so there is no adjustment period that needs to happen. It is simply getting out there and learning to play with each other. With this being said, the Bulls are poised to take control of the East.
FROM MATTHEW LAMBERT
There hasn’t been this much excitement surrounding the Washington Wizards since Michael Jordan made his return in 2001.
If you think about the Wizards since Jordan played, they have been through a lot of problems. Their draft picks have been absolutely awful (i.e. Kwame Brown, Juan Dixon and any foreign player they’ve drafted), the trade of Antawn Jamison to the Cavs for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, they obtained Al Thornton (how did this happen in the first place?), the Gilbert Arenas contract (6 years for $111 million) along with his gun incident.
Those Wizards are gone and have been replaced with some impressive players. John Wall, the man who inspired a dance and has shown he could be the fastest man on the planet, finally got his jump shot down. Bradley Beal looks to be capable of playing 40+ minutes a game with 20 points and five assists. Other than the obvious suspects of Wall and Beal, they have something that can separate themselves from the pack—veteran leadership.
This offseason the Wizards signed Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce to show former 2013 first round pick Otto Porter the NBA ropes. Pierce, although old, may be valuable and can still shoot. I still trust him to make a clutch three in the last seconds of the fourth quarter, something that isn’t unheard of in his career.
Along with Pierce, the Wizards signed two rebounding experts in DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries. Don’t laugh at these two—they are very important. The Wizards struggled with rebounds. When you mix Nene and Marcin Gortat with Blair and Humphries you have the perfect combination of rebounding and scoring. Also, you can put Blair and Humphries at either the power-foward or center position.
The Wizards have depth and veteran leadership. Mix this with the insane talent and athleticism of Wall and Beal, you have team that could easily challenge the Cavs.
