PARIS (George Eddy's International Show) - Everyone has played around ten games in the NBA this season and certain observations come to mind already!

It seems obvious that Steve Kerr has won the coaching sweepstakes by preferring to go to Golden State instead of New York.  The Warriors have it all; loads of talent with players who complement each other, lots of good outside shooters which is a key to success in the modern drive and kick era, and a smart young coach who mixes what he learned from two masters of coaching Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich but also what he learned as the General Manager in Phoenix.  As I stated earlier, if Andrew Bogut stays healthy the Warriors can qualify for the Conference Finals or better!

Another Phil Jackson protegé, Derek Fisher, is barely treading water as he inherited the lowly Knicks situation which is going to take years to turn around.

Somehow I have a hard time seeing J.R. Smith fitting into the "triangle".  Even the NBA commisioner mocked the Knicks level recently and Jackson didn't like that at all! 

Phil probably can't even take solace in the fact that the Lakers are so bad even though they preferred to sign Mike D'Antoni instead of bringing him back two years ago.  What a shame that such a storied franchise is reduced to watching Kobe Bryant hoist up 30 shots a game in order to climb up the all-time scoring leaders list because that will be the only interest this cellar-dweller can generate before praying during the lottery process.  For many years the Lakers have been all about Kobe and this season will be the summum in regards to that.

At the top of the conference standings after ten games, we see some new blood thanks to Houston and Memphis in the West and Toronto and Washington in the East.  The Rockets and Grizzlies have the best two defences in the NBA right now and have won nine out of ten. 

Memphis has shared experience and a healthy Marc Gasol to lead them but their aging bench scares me.  It's clear that the Knicks would love to build their future around Marc when his contract is up because he is the ultimate "triangle" player just the way his brother was. Houston made a great move picking up Trevor Ariza and they have some international players producing off the bench.

Washington counts heavily on two internationals for their success, Marcin Gortat and Néné Hilario, the same way surprising Toronto counts on Jonas Valenciunas and Grevis Vasquez.  I am not convinced that these two teams can replace Cleveland and Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals but their progress is impressive and their coaches have done a wonderful job getting the most out of their somewhat limited potential.

After a bumpy start that had me worried concerning David Blatt's status, the Cavs have won four in a row and LeBron James is the NBA's leading scorer.  Each player is trying to find where he fits in the best, but the overall rule from my standpoint is that Kyrie Irving has to adapt to LeBron and not the contrary.

James knows how to play winning basketball and Irving still has to prove that he can lead a team to new heights.  Kevin Love is so fundamentally sound that he will fit in beautifully even though he will have to accept lower individual stats because he's on a much stronger team now.  It makes me laugh when I see rumours that Love would want to jump ship to the Lakers' Titanic next season!  

My last observation is that Derrick Rose and the Bulls are being smart about bringing him back slowly and methodically.  They must look at the long term like Popovich does.  Derrick's ankles are hurting, sit him down.  He tweaked his hamstring, sit him down.  I like the way he's taking more jumpers and floaters and not trying to dunk on everyone.  Stop comparing to the past and think of the future.  His health is the only priority and as Joakim Noah says, "everyone is just going to have to chill out and be patient". 

George Eddy

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.