The bloom is back in the Rose (Garden)
Blazers have got to be the hottest team in the NBA. Warmer than defending NBA champion Heat, even the Pacers who went down recently after opening the season 9-0.  This Northwest division team has won seven games in a row and has returned to winning once again. Oh, my bad the arena’s name has been changed. It’s no longer the Rose Garden it’s now the Moda Center. *“In August 2013, the Trail Blazers announced a 10-year deal with Moda Health, an Oregon-based health insurance provider, to rename the arena Moda Center.” I couldn‘t title this story the bloom is back in the Moda Center could I? *Wikipedia

Upsets
Monday’s edition of Words eye view briefly discussed the significance or importance of Top 25 polls. Two mid-major schools had upset Top 25 schools this past weekend. One game was overlooked; Iowa State is certainly no mid-major they are unranked however. They managed to knock off the number 7 Michigan Wolverines 77-70.

No football allowed
The conference realignment across the nation was football generated, all except one. The re-constituted Big East Conference was dubbed the “Catholic League” but that’s a misnomer. True the majority of schools are Catholic affiliated but not all of them. The key difference between this conference movement and others this move was basketball driven rather than football. This new Big East Conference competes in a variety of other sports, they are:

Butler
Creighton
DePaul
Georgetown
Marquette
Providence
St. John’s
Seton Hall
Villanova
Xavier

This is a throwback in a manner of speaking; the original Big East was founded as a basketball only conference. The conference has now returned to the days of its founding. There are exploratory talks of adding two teams to make a 12-team conference.

Motor City
Have you noticed how many new jerseys NBA teams introduce each season? We discussed the tee-shirt jerseys earlier and others. As for the Pistons I missed the introduction of their alternate jerseys. They introduced a third jersey with the words Motor City across the front. Of course the Pistons are going to require more than new jerseys to return as a competitive team. Once upon a time this team was the scourge of the Eastern Conference. The road to an NBA championship ran through Detroit until Jordan’s Bulls came along. The Pistons are off to slow start however draft picks and free agent signing have added talented players to their roster. Adding veteran Josh Smith to the Andre Drummond/Greg Monroe combo will hopefully improve play from this point into the future.

Things you do while waiting on Kobe’s return
My view of the Lakers so far while waiting on Kobe‘s return. I will inform you up front I haven’t seen all 12 games played thus far. Surprised at the play of Jordan Hill and Jody Meeks, both are shooting well at this stage. If they can sustain the pace until Kobe returns. The Laker bench has been light years better this season than last season it’s been productive to date. Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry have been catalyst off the bench. I could include Hill in the mix however he’s been moved into the starting lineup. Disappointments (so far) must be the play of Pau and Chris Kaman. I knew in advance Kaman had limited skills at the center position so far he’s been up and down.

As for Pau I don’t know if its injuries, D’Antoni’s system or what? Steve Nash for obvious reasons, realizing the age factor he cannot remain healthy for a long enough period for a quality assessment. I must include Shawne Williams in the disappointment category. He was to serve as the stretch four D’Antoni so likes to use in his system. Team defense must be a considered for the 5-7 the record to date. The Lakers have lost a minimum of two games they could have won giving up leads late. Call me a dreamer if you must, it’s still my belief Kobe at 90% will still be a threat. The key is him convinced he must play at a lower skill level. Late in his career we didn’t witness Air Jordan as much as we saw mid-range Jordan. Of course we’d see glimpses of MJ’s early years but like others he probably realized his diminished skills.