thoughts of informality.

My colleague earlier made a post briefly touching on something that I have been thinking about since the beginning of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. A changing of the guard. In the past few years the NBA has seen some significant transitioning and these playoffs are the culmination of some of them. First of all out with old in with new. In the nine of the last twelve years the NBA champion has either been the Lakers or the Spurs. In fact only once in that same time span has another team represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals the now surging Mavs were defeated by the Heat in 2006. Both teams sent to a early summer in a rather sudden and surprising fashion. The two time defending champion and favored Lakers in the first round and quite possibly more surprising. The veteran Spurs team shocked on their home floor by a young and underrated Grizzles team in the first round. The whole youth rising up in the NBA in my opinion started a few years back. An extremely young Blazers team with an explosive Brandon Roy trying to make a name for itself. They however were maligned by injuries. Then we have a Bulls team turning heads creating a epic series with the Celtics in 08. Now we have the Thunder two young superstars Westbrook and Durant becoming a fearsome duo and slowly coming of age as evidence with Westbrook’s 40 point explosion in a excellent triple overtime game against the  up and coming Grizzlies. This all doesn’t happen overnight. There has been a change from a traditional center to more athletic and explosive Power Forwards. Then comes the one and done rule in terms high schoolers jumping right into league play. Derrick Rose’s development into the most valuable player and a better shooter and defender is just evidences that these “Freshman Phenoms” are indeed spectacular but need the coaching and time to grow and develop. It will be interesting to see the path John Wall takes in his first 3 years in the league. That being said this is a revival. Several superstars Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Paul just to name a few are just reaching their prime while there are even more players the explosive Rose, and Westbrook, the electrifying Durant, and a young Mayo and Wall to just touch on a few who haven’t even fully developed yet. We are in for an exciting time. The guard is changing and the young players are making it more interesting every game. A perfect opportunity if your not a NBA fan to start following and to see some legends in the making.