Surprise? Surprise!

Almost 2 months since the inauguration of the 2009 NBA season, a lot of things have already happened around the league. Some of them we are already familiar with, as they’ve been somewhat a constant presence in the NBA. Allen Iverson’s unwillingness to come off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies comes to mind. There’s 2007 NBA first overall pick Greg Oden’s (not again!) knee injury (he’s played 82 games for the last 3 years, while that year’s 2nd overall pick, Kevin Durant, has already scored 4150 points and became the 2nd youngest player in NBA history to reach 4000 career points). We also witnessed Stephen Jackson’s beef with Golden State Warrior’s coach Don Nelson, which resulted to a deal sending the former to Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic. Another one is former Grizzlies Antoine Walker’s legal troubles and financial woes (seriously, when will these players learn?). I could go on with this list of unceasing reminders of what an NBA season typically offers, but I don’t want you, readers, to be fed up with all of these this soon. We still have 50+ games to go!

But we could not hide the fact that there have already been a few pleasant surprises from this young season. There’s the 55-point performance by the Milwaukee Buck’s rookie sensation Brandon Jennings (which broke the record previously held by some dude named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). We are seeing the emergence of Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman as a dominant force in the paint. There’s Ron Artest, who has been behaving as well as he could for the Los Angeles Lakers (at one point, even Coach Phil Jackson acknowledges Ron-ron’s too much unselfishness; he’s been encouraged by Jackson “to be a little more individualistic at times”).

Since we’re talking about surprises, two teams are currently creating huge waves to the astonishment of the rest of the league—the Detroit Pistons and the Phoenix Suns. During the preseason, these two teams have unfairly been given no chance to showcase what they have, with many analysts and critics giving them zero-percent odds of entering the playoffs. But lo and behold, the Suns, at 17-8, are currently the 4th seed in the Western Conference, whereas at 11-14, the Pistons are seeded 7th in the Eastern Conference. No one in their right mind would have thought that these 2 teams would be where they are currently now. What’s more surprising is that each of these two teams has been dealing with major bumps, and yet they have been able to overcome these issues and deliver W’s in the win-loss column. The Phoenix Suns have played 16 of 25 games away from home. They lost 8 games on the road, with 4 of those losses coming from the second night of back-to-backs. On a lighter note, they haven’t lost a game on their home court, where they will be playing 32 of their final 57 games. Also, they’ve been playing their trademark up-tempo style, with Steve Nash playing like an MVP again. The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, have been forced to rely more on their bench players, as 3 of their starters (Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Charlie Villanueva) have been dealing with injuries. Also, super-sub Ben Gordon sprained his ankle, hurting more the chances of the Pistons to establish themselves this early. But the surprise play of rookies Jonas Jerebko and Austin Daye, plus Ben Wallace playing like the Big Ben of 2004 and the veteran leadership of Chucky Atkins, has put the Pistons back on track. There’s Rodney Stuckey, who has been solidifying himself as the Pistons’ main man. Also, you cannot deny the genius of Coach John Kuester. When they got Villanueva back from the injury list, Coach Kuester adjusted his starting lineup, with Jason Maxiell taking the starting PF spot, with Villanueva and his offensive arsenal coming off the bench. This tweak in the lineup has resulted in a 5-game winning streak.

Robin Lopez improved his FT percentage under the tutelage of his cousin.

I know it's too early to tell, but the way these two teams have been playing this season, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of their hardcore fans would be reserving the latter weeks of April for a rendezvous with their favorite team.

By the way, this is my very first post. Feel free to give your comments and/or suggestions.