Sloppy Start to New York Basketball

Atlantic	W	L	PCT	GB	CONF	DIV	HOME	ROAD	L10	STRK
Celtics	12	14	.462	0.0	9-7	2-2	7-6	5-8	6-4	W2
Raptors	9	13	.409	1.0	6-7	3-1	4-7	5-6	4-6	W2
Nets	9	15	.375	2.0	5-8	3-1	5-6	4-9	5-5	W1
Knicks	7	17	.292	4.0	7-10	1-2	4-9	3-8	4-6	L1
76ers	7	19	.269	5.0	6-10	0-3	6-8	1-11	1-9	L7

The 2013-2014 season has been all but good for New York Basketball. The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets both have a winning percentage of less than .500 (less than .400 in fact). Some would say it might be too say that they won't perform well, but at 20+ games already played, there are some problems that need to be addressed for both teams.

The Brooklyn Nets have a much different team from last year. In the offseason, they received a lot of different players. They get Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and Paul Pierce from the Celtics. They hired Jason Kidd as their new head coach. So, there was now a whole new game plan for this new team. Adding these good veterans to All-star, Deron Williams, veteran, Joe Johnson, and young Brook Lopez, made many people think these Nets would be 1st in their division. At the moment, they stand at 3rd with a 9-15 record. After 24 games, this team has not even won 10 of them...

The Knicks did not have as major an offseason as their New York counterpart, but they did make some moves. They traded veterans, Steve Novak and Marcus Camby, to the Toronto Raptors for 7-Foot, first overall pick, Andrea Bargnani. The Knicks were also supposed to be successful, but look where they are now. 2nd to last place at 7-17 the Knicks aren't looking good in the worst division in the NBA.

Both teams are in the awful Atlantic Division in the horrendous Eastern conference. These 5 teams have very bad records and the first place team, the Boston Celtics, don't even have a .500 win percentage. 

Filip Bondy from New York Daily News states, "Jason Kidd isn't helping the Nets as their coach or the Knicks as a retired piece of last season's rotation."

 

Injuries have not helped these teams either...

 

For the Knicks, they lost their starting center, Tyson Chandler early in the season. Though, he should be coming back soon. Being one of the Knicks' key players, he could have an affect on the team once he returns.

 

 

 

For the Nets, Deron Williams got hurt and missed a few games. Paul Pierce and Brook Lopez have both been on and off the court this year because of injuries.

 

These teams have obviously not met their expectations this year. In a division with tanking teams, you'd expect these two to be on top. Unfortunately, that is false.

 

Once these teams are fully healthy, though, they might turn it around. Until then, it seems like the Boston Celtics will remain in first place in this awful Atlantic Division in the awful Eastern Conference.

Norton High's Journey to the Patriots Hall of Fame

On Tuesday, December 3rd 2013, the Norton high School Sports Reading and Writing class traveled to Foxboro MA to participate in Pats Chat on Totally Patriots. This Field Trip was fully funded by Norton High School.

There, our class was able to walk around the Patriots Hall of Fame. There was a lot of exciting things to see and do there.

 

First, we got a tour of the second floor. There was a duck boat, short films, Super Bowl rings, and other activities. There was a short film for each of the three Super Bowls that the Patriots won. After the film was over, red, white, and blue confetti was shot all over the place. It was really cool.

As for the activities available, there were three cool "games" of some sort. The first one was a scale that displayed Vince Wilfork's weight. You would see how many people it took to weigh as much as he did. The second was a vertical challenge. You would stand straight and hold your hand over your head. Then you would jump as high as you could and touch the wall. There would be a measurement to see your vertical. Devin McCourty was the voice for this activity. The last one was a reaction time challenge with Teddy Bruschi. You would get into a line position and then when he says "Hike!" you would see how long it takes to get your hands on the markings.

 

 

There was a huddle circle that simulated what being in a real huddle was like. Also, there was real uniforms in real lockers that visitors could wear.

 

Also in the Hall was a Field Goal simulation that was simulating you being Adam Vinatieri during the Snow Game. You would kick the football and the simulator would take it form there. That, too was really cool.

 

Finally, there was Etched Glass that was the Patriots Hall of Famers.

 

 

Now, before the taping of Pats Chat, the class viewed the short movie on the Patriots history. It showed their problems they overcame to become the dominant team they are today. There were real fans that shared their stories about going to games even when the team was not good. A woman who worked there said that "Some people just come to the Hall of Fame to watch this movie."

 

After the movie, we went in for the taping of Pats Chat on Totally Patriots.

 

 

 

So, there was a current Patriots player that was there that we could ask questions to. The MC of the show was Romeo from Kiss 108.

 

The player was Linebacker, Steve Beauharnais. We were able to ask him a few questions on the show.

 

We asked him some things like, "What music pumps you up before games?" and "Who was your favorite player growing up?" Steve Beauharnais was a really cool guy, too.

 

 

 

Norton High School's adventure to the Patriots Hall of Fame was exciting. If you are considering going to the Hall or watching Totally Patriots, you should. Both were really great experiences.