The Doldrums

Well folks we have reached the middle of September, and for a NBA basketball fan this is the point in the year that is about as exciting as flannel pajamas on your grandma. Not that exciting, in fact if you think of ways to make that exciting there is something seriously wrong with you.
Free Agent signings of note have happened. Training camp battles haven't yet formed, as evidenced by an interview on Rockets.com where Steve Francis talks about watching old tapes of himself to get motivated and remember what he is capable of doing on the court. I am not holding my breath on the tapes bringing that back.
None the less, I sit here at 2 in the morning and feel compelled to provide you dear readers with some hope for the season that awaits us.
All things considered this has been an entertaining offseason given Baron moving south an area code or two, Brand giving the Clips the ol' Philly fake out, and Ron-Ron playing in building designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane(more on this in a second).
Baron going to the Clips should be fun because Baron and Mike Dunleavy seem very likely to mix like oil, water, and wildlife. I really don't see a control freeak like Mike Dunleavy being able to tolerate Baron Davis after Baron's sense of shot selection was just nurtured by a coach that whose offensive conscience is akin to Oscar Wilde's sense of self restraint. I though the year's in Golden State were perfect for a guy like Baron, but here is something to ponder... Corey Maggette could score as many points as Baron did in that offense and Monta Ellis was already turning into the closer on that team. So maybe it isn't time to mourn Golden State just yet. They could still be really fun if Nellie doesn't get bored. The Clippers are doomed, which brings me to my next point kids...
Elton Brand just pulled one of the smoothest exits of all time. He went to a younger team with a better coach, and at the same time made the Clippers look really silly. The Davis signing only looked good if they kept Brand. Now it looks like a team that is owned by Donald Sterling and run by Elgin Baylor, oh wait... Brand meanwhile takes a workman's game to a city that would boo the Liberty Bell and throw snowballs at the Declaration of Independence if they were losing a sporting event. Brand however has a pretty good chance of winning games in this city with the supporting cast he has, and the fact that he now resides in the Leastern (I will continue to call the conference as such even if Boston won last year). Brand long rumored a target of the Heat made a decision to go to a place with shittier weather and less attractive taxing policies, but a place where he steps in as a leader with a point guard with whom he has already played. I think the adjustments for Brand here are slight, and the players he gets at important positions are better on the Sixers than they were on the Clippers and he plays a cake schedule in conference having only to worry about the Celtics, Pistons, and the Lebron's.
Ron-Ron. I already wrote about this some, but upon a little further thinking this is something that has me perpelxed. Where are we going to play him most of the time, and who does he defend if he is on the floor at the same time with Shane? I think the second question will probably answer the first. Precisely because it won't matter nearly as much who is playing what position on offense when Shane floats around the three point line and Ron will be a cutter and a primary option. The beauty of a motoin offense is the passing, and I am interested to see whether Ron will make the reads enough of the time. On defense is where the interesting questions lay. If we are playing the Lakers who does Ron guard. Shane stays on Kobe, no question. So Yao stays in the middle with Andrew Bynum if he ever comes back. That puts Ron on Pau Gasol. I like that defensive line up because I think Ron will is mean enough to take Gasol or Odom out of the game when it comes down making them play a finesse game. Where I see this being a problem is when we play teams like New Orleans who have players like David West and Tyson Chandler who welcome the contact. They also present a defensive nightmare for the Rockets because best player on their team cannot be defended by Ron or Shane. Shane will stay with his assigment, but Ron gambles when it comes to off the ball defense, and Chris Paul eats folks like that for breakfast. Back to hurricane thing though, if that building is built to withstand a category five hurricane then I think it can withstand Ron Artest's volatile personality.
So there are a few thoughts. I will be throwing some more out there while we wait for the wind to fill the sails when we get out of this dead spot. The Captain siging off for now...