NBA Season 2011-12, Cold Start, Hot Finish

Published on July 28, 2012 at 5:51 pm by Robert McNamara, Sports Editor


Christmas Day saw the start of the much delayed 2011 basketball season. It had been held up for over two months while the owners of the teams and the players, hammered out a new collective bargaining agreement. When they eventually sorted out their differences, the season had to be shortened from its regular 82 game format to one where teams only play 66 games. It seemed for a time that no games would be played at all and the season would have to be cancelled, the first time such an occurrence would happen in the NBA. But thankfully for the fans, they got to see their favourite stars hit the courts before the New Year.

Which was especially good news for New Jersey nets fans, or bad news depending on how you look at it? Because this is to be the last season the Nets play in New Jersey. From next year the Nets will play ball in Brooklyn. Unfortunately they could not send off the home fans with a memorable season. They only managed 9 home wins and finished bottom of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. With the franchises move to the Barclays Centre, maybe the new Brooklyn Nets can have a bit more success next season.

While Nets fans only had 9 home wins to cheer, it was a far better record than the one that materialized in Charlotte. Bobcats fans saw only 4 home court wins all season, combined with 3 wins on the road, gave them a win percentage of only 0.106. They posted the worst regular season record ever while sitting rock bottom of the Eastern Conference Southeast Division for the most of the year. It would only have been worse for them had the teams played the full 82 game season. They lost their last 23 games, only once even managing to get a game to overtime.

When Charlotte found themselves bottom of the pile, it was Miami who come out on top. The Heat, behind the drive of league MVP LeBron James, won their second NBA title. They beat the Oklahoma City Thunder by four games to one. In doing this they laid to rest the ghosts of the previous year, where they lost in the finals to the unfancied Dallas Mavericks, silencing the critics who said that this team did not have it in them to take home the big prize. Do LeBron and the Heat have it in them to retain their crown? Fans will hope to find out if they do, after a full 2012-2013 basketball season.

By Garry Irwin

Share

Posted by on at 5:51 pm.

This article was posted in: Sports, with tags: , , , , , , , .

Got an opinion on this article? Leave it below.


Comments are closed.