Get Up Eight Times

So the NBA revised it because of the KG trade, and in a huge surprise, small markets get hammered and bigger markets grab the lion’s share of the takes. The usual contenders get their due (San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix will be seen plenty this year), and the pushovers get close to squadoosh (The Sixers, Hawks and Bobcats all have a total of one game on the docket). Not much to see here.

But as always, the NBA’s TV partners seemed to miss the ball on teams that were going deep in June and fell into the big market trap that networks subscribe to garnish high ratings. It’s such a soft risk analysis that we’re bound to see some clunkers come March and April. And they’ve been doing this for years. Whatever; let’s get on with this column before I get depressed about the league again.

Underexposed

Utah (13 games)
Awesome. You get to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in a decade, and the NBA decides that three of the four teams in your own division deserve more national exposure. If this were baseball, I’d predict the Jazz would sweep through their conference. As it is, with all the schedules diluted and the competitive fire drained out, they’ll probably have to settle for another mediocre 50 win season. Thanks NBA.

Toronto (5 games)
Wow. This team could be in the Eastern Conference Finals this year and they get a grand total of five games, and four of those are on NBA TV. Thus when April rolls around you’ll have as good of an idea about the Raptors as you did last year. That idea being no idea. Oh well, them’s the breaks for trying to play ball in Canada.

New Orleans (1 game)
Let’s see. Your team came within one game of making the playoffs last year. Your city is just under two years shy of recovering from the worst natural disaster in modern American history. You have a bonus niche base developing over in Oklahoma City. And you get one guest spot on ESPN the entire season. So much for my sleeper pick of Chris Paul for MVP.

Overexposed

Denver (26 games)
Can someone tell ESPN that the LeBron-Carmelo rivalry is on life support? Was it even there? Poor Carmelo. He might come through in the clutch more than Kobe, Wade or LeBron, and yet he’s stuck chasing reefers in Boulder because he’s stuck out West in a Texas-dominated conference. It’s such a bummer. I don’t know how Iverson’s going to react to all of this, but I can’t imagine anything more than 48-34 and more uninspiring Karl coaching. And that’s worth another unenthusiastic 26 national spots. Ick. I do have some hope because of A.I. and Carmelo though, certainly more so than…

Miami (33 games)
Look guys, the Shaq-Kobe feud is over. OVER. And you forget that Shaq will be 36 this spring. He is heading toward that ugly portion of his career where Hakeem, Ewing and Kareem all spent the last five years of their careers. I love Wade, but there’s very little chance he can replicate the success of two years ago with Smush Parker as his one-guard. If he does get this team to 50 wins, he deserves three MVPs.

The Heat have about 45 wins written over them. And they get thirty-three on the networks? (On the flip side, the Wade-LeBron matchups should be sizzling. Can’t wait for those. Still doesn’t mean I should watch Antoine Walker throw up bricks against the Nuggets.)

LA Lakers (33 games )

Let me start off by saying that Kobe is reaching the prime of his career, that this might be his last year at his physical peak (everyone declines in acumen after they hit 30). So this next season might be must watch TV since he’ll be desperate to show off all his skills before he starts the long fade down.

But come on. This team barely took one game from the Suns last year in the playoffs. Now you’re spotting them 33 games? Even if you take off the NBA TV games, they’re still tied with Miami and Phoenix for most national exposure. While you can make an argument that either of those teams is going deep, you can hardly make the case for the Lakers. Unless they grab Andrei Kirilenko or Mike Bibby in the next few months, Bryant is going to be waiting another long year for a title shot. Or walking out of training camp and crossing over to New York.