Tuesday Cup of Canis

Good morning, folks. I hope everyone’s week is off to a good start. I’ve been thinking about the NBA restart, and I wanted to share them with you and pick all of your wonderful brains for your ideas.

For one, I don’t really see the logic behind bringing 22 teams back. Why are the Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns part of this restart? The Suns are 13 (!!) games below .500, while Washington is the same, sitting at 24-40 and 5.5 games behind a playoff spot. What is the purpose of bringing those teams back in a time where the league should be prioritizing health and saftey amid Covid-19? John Hollinger brought this up in a recent article for The Athletic, and it’s so true. The league is adding unnecessary risk by bringing non-competitive teams to Orlando.

The other thing I’m interested in is how long it’s going to take teams to get back into a rhythm. I believe iso and pick & roll heavy offenses will be able to get back into the swing of things quickly, which benefits teams like the Lakers and Rockets. The flip side, though, is that those teams also relied heavily on defensive communication, albeit in different styles. How quickly will teams get that back? Will it take teams longer to get their chemistry back on offense or defense?

How is the long layoff going to impact stars? LeBron should be refreshed, which is great for the Lakers, as should be the case for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Most stars who were a bit banged up heading towards the initial postseason should be healthy now, which should lead to some really high-level basketball.

The one superstar that I’m really interested to see how Kawhi Leonard holds up. He’s had plenty of time to rest now, which is obviously good. The other side of the equation is that he’s not going to be able to take any night’s off, which might be a bit difficult for him considering the lingering nature of his leg injury.

Can Paul George carry enough of the load to take some of the pressure off of Kawhi? I think George’s playoff reputation is so interesting. He was awesome with the Pacers as those squads went toe-to-toe with the Heatles, but “Playoff P” has become a bit of a punch-line in recent years. Which PG will show up this year? If both Clippers’ superstars are clicking, they’re going to be nearly impossible to defeat.

Lastly, how are we going to treat the champion this year? I personally don’t think there should be any asterisk — winning a title is really hard — but I am certain that some will try to paint it that way, especially if James Harden somehow becomes a champion this year.

Clearly, there’s a lot of questions. All I know is I’m rooting for peak chaos. GIVE ME ALL OF THE CHAOS!