WATERCOOLER CHAT: VAN GUNDY THINKS HEAT WILL BREAK RECORDS, REDS RESURFACE
BASKETBALL
In the NBA, with all the hype circling the Miami Heat going into next season, many have wondered if this group will be as good as expected. After all, this is three-alpha dogs all trying to play team ball. Some experts were predicting this team wouldn’t even reach the finals, but get beat by Boston or Orlando in the conference finals. Well, a certain ex-head coach/current announcer thinks very differently. Former NY Knicks and Houston Rockets head coach doesn’t just think the Heat will be excellent, but they will break numerous records, including the famous 72-win season set by Michael Jordan’s Bulls in the late 90’s. That would mean the Heat would have to lose fewer than 10 games the entire season. We’ll see if Van Gundy is spot-on.
Elsewhere in basketball, the NBA announced it would play two regular season games in London at O2 arena, where the league had played exhibition games in seasons past. This is all part of the league’s effort to bring even more international awareness to the NBA — to get loyal fans in every crevasse. It’ll be two games featuring The Toronto Raptors vs. The New Jersey Nets. By playing two games, it keeps things fair, and ensures that these teams don’t have a home court disadvantage to the rest of the league.
BASEBALL
For the first time since 1995, the Cincinnati Reds are hoping to reach the playoffs. This team has been practically invisible over the last 15 years. They made headlines by signing the then red-hot Ken Griffey Jr. at the end of the 1990s, but that experiment was a total failure. Since then, they’ve hovered around last place and haven’t had many marquee players to draw attention. Now, they’ve made a resurgence, and yesterday traded for slugger Jim Edmonds from the Milwaukee Brewers. This trade shows that they think they have a fighting chance to do some damage in the post-season. Perhaps Cincinnati will return to it’s glory days of the late 70s and 80s. Hey, if the Phillies can do it…
