Basketballogy -- The Science of Basketball (#2): Early Performances

Eight days into the new season, each team has played at least three games. Maybe it's a bit too early to predict if a particular team is good enough to steamroll into the playoffs. A team may star great, but end up with a very long losing streak and find itself out of the playoff picture. Conversely, a team may have a sluggish start but might prove to be a powerhouse come February at the second half of the season -- which is after the All-Star Break (which is exactly what happened with the Phoenix Suns.

As of November 3rd, three teams have yet to be beaten. The Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Hornets and the Atlanta Hawks. In contrast, there are five teams who have yet to score a win. They are Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Bobcats, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers.

While these records aren't exactly barometers of things to come, they give us a glimpse of what we can expect from each teams. For example, after a season opening loss to the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat are on a roll right now, led by Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. Does this mean the Heat will storm its way to the NBA Finals? Or will they choke on its way to the holy grail of basketball (just like what LeBron's former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers did during last year's playoffs)? Only time will tell.

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Speaking of early performances, if this and last year's number one overall draft picks, John Wall and Blake Griffin respectively, consistently play the way they do, then they are definitely the top choices for this year's Rookie of the Year award. Unfortunately, their teams are at the bottom of the NBA food chain.

Personally, I like John Wall over Blake Griffin. Wall is more all around the Griffin. See? Wall flirted with a triple double in a Washington Wizards win over the Sixers.

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Fellow Lakers fans! Rejoice! Kobe "Better-Than-LeBron" Bryant is showing signs that he is near his old self. Sure, he's not 100% yet as he is recuperating from an offseason knee surgery. But take a load out of this: Kobe scored 23 points in the first half alone of the Lakers' 124-105 win over theMemphis Grizzlies. He didn't play the entire fourth quarter because, duh, the Lakers were up 20+. If he had, he could have had scored more. But the fact is, he scored 23 points (on 7-of-13 shooting) in the first half alone when in the opener, he scored 27 points the entire game on a meager 8-of-20 shooting. If Kobe continues to progress during the early part of the season, expect him to be back in dominating form as the season continues to unfold.

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If you think the season is awesome as it is in the early parts of the season, you can expect more awesomeness as the season rolls on. Holla