In the words of Caster Troy, "I hate to see you go, but I love to watch ya leave." Goodbye Thabo, goodbye Noc. Johnny Pax delivered when no one thought he would. No, it's not the huge splash some morons out there expected. But no one improved their team at the deadline to the extent the Bulls did.
Brad Miller is back, our favorite pot-smoking, tatoo-wearing, non african american in the league. He's the ideal compliment to Tyrus Thomas. He won't clog up the paint on offense and he'll be a physical presence on defense that will allow Tyrus to roam. Although he can't block shots like Noah, he's bigger and stronger and tougher, not to mention a lot smarter. Hopefully, we'll see a little high-low action between the Miller and Thomas, with Tyrus developing some go-to post moves, including a face-up jumper and a small jump hook.
A few years ago, Krause signed a decrepid, washed up Charles Oakley to "teach" the young big men, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. That backfired. Expect this to be different. I think Tyrus and Joachim will greatly benefit from having a veteran center on the roster, instead of just Aaron Gray and Drew Gooden. Plus his contract is up after next season, the hope being that by then Noah is ready to step in and be the full-time center. And if he isn't, we have only 3 players signed through the 2010 season: Deng, Hinrich, and now John Salmons. We'll assume they'll extend Rose, Thomas, and likely Noah and perhaps Gordon. But they should still have plenty of money left on the table to make a legitimate run at Dwayne Wade and/or Chris Bosh. And if Pax can convince D.Wade in the summer of 2010 to come home and play his prime years in his hometown, running with D. Rose, Deng, and Thomas, then he might convince his friend Chris Bosh to come back down to the states and join him in the Chi.
(Plus, if the rumors are true, and Wade, Bosh, and King James made a pact while in China this past summer that they'll all sign with the same team in 2010, then well... oops, I just got a hard-on. Could you imagine? I mean, I know everyone talks about Lebron going to New York, and yes, he can make more in that city than anywhere else... but Chicago ain't no slouch. And you've got to believe that the team Chicago will have should be better than whatever the Knicks run out there. Could you imagine a starting lineup of Derrick Rose at point, Dwaye Wade at shoot guard, Lebron James at small forward, Tyrus Thomas at power forward, and Chris Bosh at center? I know it seems impossible, but they aren't stupid. They've witnessed how a Big 3 on any team immediately makes that team a title contender. Duncan, Parker, Ginobli. Pierce, KG, Ray Ray. Kobe, Pau, Odom. And if those three ever decided to join forces, as rumors abound they agreed to, they could win 5 or 6 Chips together, minimum.)
Anyway, back to reality. John Salmons is Thabo Sefalosha with a jumper. I really like Thabo, thought he could be a Scottie Pippen-like defender. But you have to be able to at least be a threat on O. And Thabo not only couldn't score, he didn't even look to score. Salmons gives the Bulls a true shooting guard. He's got the right size and ideal game. He can shoot and slash, plus his long arms make him a pest on defense. I didn't watch Sac-town often, but when I did, Salmons usually guarded the opposition's best scorer, even when Artest was still there. D.Wade was probably overjoyed to see Thabo leave his conference. Then when he heard Salmons was coming here, that must've shut him up in a hurry. On top of that, he's cheap. And he'll give us insurance when Lil Ben walks this summer.
Last but not least, welcome back Tim Thomas. He's virtually the same player as Nocioni, only with darker skin and a darker attitude. At least he won't bitch as much as Nocioni did. He played a ton during that one season in Phoenix and had somewhat of a career revolution there. Del Negro remembers that for sure. He'll be able to spot Tyrus at the 4, while at the same time, not demand as many minutes as Noc did.
A few years ago, the Sonics, with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, went up against a high-seeded Spurs team, still with David Robinson, in the first round of the playoffs. The game that comes to mind was in Seattle, where the Sonics were defending their home court after losing two in San Antonio. The game was an especially physical one, and the Admiral, never one for enjoying the contact, was getting mauled by Jerome James. The Sonics beat the Spurs in a very close game, with James out-dueling the obviously aging Robinson. James had something like 16 points and 14 rbs and basically beat the crap out of Robinson the whole game. Jim Gray grabbed him as the team was running off the court talking shit as the time expired and tried to do an interview. James was asked a series of generic questions that he turned into a trash talking fest toward Robinson and Duncan. He was saying things like, "At my best, those two guys can't guard me," and, "No way can they come here and beat us." The last question to him was, "Do you respect the Spurs?" to which James replied, "I ain't got NO respek fo' dem!" I hate Jerome James, and if he ever puts a Bulls jersey on and steps foot onto the court in an NBA game, I will kill myself.
Fritz Periwinkle for NBA GM!!!
Alright, it's time. It's time for me to throw myself back into the fray, into the fires of the Mt. Doom that is the NBA trade deadline. My apologies for being away so long. Truth is I've downloaded so much porn that my computer crashed every time I opened up this cursed site. (You all can blame Teagan Presley and Flower Tucci for my absense.) Someone out there doesn't want to hear how a nobody from the Chicago burbs knows how to run an NBA franchise better than every general manager in the league not named Kevin Pritchard or R.C. Buford.
But, anyway, I stopped doing drugs long enough to save up to buy a new laptop. The old cpu had more viruses than Manhattan in the mid-'80's. I felt like I needed to wear trojans on each of my fingers as I typed. It was as if Angels In America, Philadelphia, and Boogie Nights all had a giant orgy, someone got pregnant, and gave birth to my computer. It was like the machine form of Robert La Bruce's father in Braveheart, seriously. But now I'm back, disease free and cocaine fueled, and I'm ready to help each team find their way out from under the heap of shit and long-term contracts that they've ridden themselves with. Call me The Cleaner, but don't you dare compare me to Benny Bratt. Lets start at the top:
Atlanta Hawks: They have no starting center, no backup point guard, and their bench is thinner than Karen Carpenter. It goes one deep, and that one is Flip Murray. They start a power forward at center and a small forward at power forward. They drafted Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams. They drafted Sheldon Williams over Brandon Roy, Randy Foye, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo. They drafted Acie Law over Rodney Stuckey. Yet... still, Billy Knight hasn't been assasinated, and they currently sit 4th in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They'll get out of the first round, but there's no way they pass up any of the Big 3 in the East, so they have to make a move. It's a buyer's market out there right now, with 75% of the league folding it in and trying to save some money under the banner of "We want to get under for the summer of 2010!" So they have a chance at making a splash. They have a young talent in Marvin Williams. They need a big to battle Big Z and D12 in May. Big Al can only do so much. And Zaza Pachulia fell off the top of the ugly tree and hit every branch along the way. The Hornets are shopping Tyson Chandler. He would compliment Horford perfectly, with Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith on the perimeter. Marvin Williams, Zaza, and Speedy Claxton for Chandler and Posey would work perfectly. They get a big man who, when healthy, can guard any center in the league, and they get the ultimate playoff, clutch, off-the-bench, does all the little/dirty things, the-next-Robert Horry, glue guy in Posey. They need to make a run now. Cleveland and Orlando are only gonna get better. New Orleans might seriously do this since they'll get Williams and save a ton of coin. (Side note: Wouldn't it be the ultimate revenge if Atlanta were to get Posey and use him to beat Boston in the 2nd round. In last year's epic 1 vs 8 seed matchup, if you were to take him off the Celtics and put him on the Hawks, there's no way Boston wins that series.)
Boston Celtics: Speaking of the champs, remember the stretch when they lost 7 in 9 and everyone jumped off the bandwagon faster than Chris Brown's endorsers. It's a distant memory now, isn't it. They have the most wins in the league heading into the all-star break, and although they haven't appeared as dominant as we seem to imagine them, they're actually 1 game better than they were last year after 55 games. That said, there are chinks. Tony Allen has not stepped into the 6th man role vacated by Posey. Eddie House is another year older and couldn't guard a Fathead of Mo Williams, even if they allowed hand-checking. Leon Powe couldn't score on a Fathead of Mo Williams. And Big Baby Davis just might've eaten Sam Cassell. Plus I've noticed another chink. There seems to be some friction and frustration between Ray Allen and his mates. Pierce is constantly yelling at him. Rivers too. I've even see Rondo snap at him a couple times, yelling at him to get back on D. Bottom line: as long as he can stretch the floor and showcase that arrousingly smooth J, he's a valuable piece to a championship calibur team. But I'm getting the feeling Rondo has taken his spot as the third member of the Boston Three Party. They don't need to make any moves now, but they'll snatch up a vet or two come March or April. Maybe a Joe Smith or Stephan Poisonbury perhaps.
Charlotte Bobcats: In the words of Neil McCauley: If you want be making moves on the street, allow nothing in your life that you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner. Well, the 'Cats have spotted the heat in the form of a pissed off and embarrassed 6' 6'' black man named MJ, and they're makin' moves. Since this season started, they've made 6 transactions, more than any other team. MJ is doing the one thing Isiah shoulda done, and that thing is to trust Larry Brown, who is notorious for liking every player in the league except the ones on his own team. If Coach Brown were to get married to a woman who already has young kids, he'd trade them away for teenagers. Whatever Larry wants, he's getting though. You want a defensive minded 2 and a power forward who isn't 70 lbs overweight like Sean May? Fine. Goodbye, J-Rich. Hello, Raja and Boris. You want a veteran swingman who can spread the floor? Fine. Goodbye, Adam Morrison. Hello, Vlady. You want a veteran backup center. Fine. Goodbye, Matt Carroll. Hello, Desagana. (Sidenote: the 4 centers on the team are named Nazr, Emeka, Alexis, and Desagana. Whatever happened to Jimmy, or Bill, or maybe Chris, or a Steve perhaps?) Expect them to trade Ray Felton and then chillout for the rest of the year, get a lottery pick, go after a stud power forward in the draft, and then trade him before the season starts.
Chicago Bulls: Let me just say this - Just because you were an intelligent and successful basketball player, it does NOT alone make you an eligible candidate for a front office job, particularly one of such importance as General Manager. These positions are supposed to go to people with business degrees and finance degrees. Wall Street types who can follow trends and crunch numbers and analyze data. They don't have to be good scouts. They don't have to be able to recognize talent. You just have to be able to run an organization, just like you would a business.
Perhaps Pax ain't cut out for this. We've seen it before, former players getting in over their head, falling in love with their draft picks and not willing to swallow their pride: Elgin Baylor, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Steve Kerr (too early to tell maybe, but still...). These are all smart people, but I'd trust them more to coach than I would to run a business. That said, Pax still can salvage this thing. It depends on if he swallows his pride and makes the Suns the offer for Amare. Him and Kerr are boys. Kerr's hangin' out by the phone waiting. I know Pax is sitting in his office, watching the Bulls on his big screen plasma with his macbook on his lap. On the screen it reads "Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, Thabo Sefelosha, Cedric Simmons for Amare Stoudemire, Alondo Tucker" and he's about to hit that "SUBMIT TRADE" tab the next time Tyrus jacks up a running left-handed brick.
But then Tyrus drives to the hoop and gets fouled and hits both free throws. And then he successfully D's up Dirk. And then he makes a great help-side play by coming over and blocking a shot into the 5th row. And then he hits an elbow jumper off a pick and pop with Rose. And the cursor on the screen slowly inches away from the button. Pax, if you ever read this, a word of advice: In any trade, the team that gets the best player in the deal 99% of the time wins the trade and is better off. I love Ty. Anyone who knows the game knows he'll be a stud. In two years he'll be averaging 15 ppg with 9 rbs and 3 blks and 2 stls. But he won't be averaging the 27 and 10 that Amare will get you. If you can get Amare without giving up Thomas, then try. If not, you gotta bite the bullet. (Side note: same goes with Chris Bosh, though I'd rather see the Bulls trade Deng than Thomas. Parker would probably have to be thrown into the deal, which would be great. He's a Chicago guy. We'd give them Deng, Gooden's ex-tract, Thabo and our 1st rnd pick. We'd get Bosh and Parker's ex-tract. The Bulls would run out Rose, Gordon, Parker, Thomas and Bosh. And they'd have Kirk, Noc, and Noah off the bench. Not bad.)
Cleveland Caveliers: Last year at this time I declared, on this very site, that Danny Ferry NEEDED to make drastic moves (like get a stud point guard) and that everyone on his team, including the starters, should be tradeable. Since that day, he traded his starting shooting guard (Larry Hughes) and starting power forward (Drew Gooden) and made what has turned out to be the most important off-season move in the league by trading for Mo Wil. Behind Devin Harris, is there a point guard in the East playing better than him right now? As soon as that trade happened I predicted a repeat of the '07 finals - Spurs vs Cavs. And this time, the outcome may very likely be different. However, there could be a tinker or two still left to be done. Ferry offered the Suns a deal for Amare involving Wally's expiring contract, J.J. Hickson and a draft pick, but Kerr shot it down. If I'm Ferry though, I don't give up quite yet. Though Stoudemire might be out of reach, Jason Richardson may still be had with Sarver wanting to drop payroll. Does Ferry really think Delonte West is the answer at the 2? Can he guard the Joe Johnsons and Ray Allens of the East? Richardson could probably be gotten for Wally and Hickson. And as much as I see Hickson as an all-star power forward in three years, it's worth going after J-Rich. On the flip side, if the Suns decide their fire-sale is all hype and their players are not touchable, then a Wally for Brad Miller trade will immediately put the Cavs in the driver's seat in the East. You can never have too many big men who can shoot in the playoffs, and the Cavs are a team already built for a finals run. If I'm Boston, or any team in the West, Cleveland is the team I am most worried about, by far.
Dallas Mavericks: Remember the scene in the Godfather when Tom Hagen informs Vito that is was Michael that killed Sollozzo, prompting a very weak and tired Godfather to wave everyone out of the room in disgust. That is the reaction I had when I had heard Cuban had traded Devin Harris for Jason Kidd. It so disappointed me. It signaled the official end of the glorious Mavericks run. Imagine a lineup of Harris, Terry, Howard, Bass, and Nowitzki. Plus they'd have the option of trading an unpopular Howard and Jerry Stackhouse's contract for a Vince Carter, or maybe even a Chris Bosh. Even though they made the right move in hiring Carlisle, who does he have left to coach? Kidd is a terrific leader and one of the smartest in the game, but he's no longer a top ten point guard. Dampier is perhaps the worst starting center in basketball. Stack is done. Antoine Wright sucks. Howard is the least popular man in Dallas outside of maybe Lee Harvey Oswald. Plus, I guarantee Cuban has ordered Carlisle to limit Brandon Bass's minutes so as to not raise the free agent's price. It's so blatent and it sickens me that no one talks about it. Dirk and Jet have nothing to really play for anymore. They've gone through 3 coaches in 4 years, they're in their prime, having one of the best seasons of their careers and its all for nothing. Sad. Amazing what one trade can do to a franchise.
Denver Nuggets: I repeat, it's amazing what one trade can do to a franchise. Currently sitting 3rd in a still very competitive Western Conference, would anyone have guessed they'd be this good? This offseason there were reports of George Karl resigning and of trading Nene, K-Mart, J.R. Smith, Kleiza, and even Carmelo. Chauncey is like the Clooney to Carmelo's Pitt in Ocean's 11. Chauncey is the idea man while Carmelo is the star. They're gonna be trouble for some teams in the playoffs, and now that Carmelo was snubbed in the all-star game... oh man, think of him as Joe Pesci and all of the coaches in the Western Conference just told him to get his shinebox.
Detroit Pistons: I'm sensing a trend: It's amazing what one trade can do to a franchise!! Coach John Wooden, in an interview recently, said, "I absolutely cannot stand watching that guy play." Now, I'm not going to tell you who he was referring to. I'll let you guess. But he's the same guy that we know REFUSED to go to the bench and forced Rip Hamilton (the starting shooting guard since he was traded to Detroit) into a 6th man role. Detroit is more likely to replace Joe Dumars with Isiah Thomas than they will be in getting a free agent to come to the most economically depressing city in the country. It's somewhat ironic the main guy they're pursuing is the same guy Joe D passed up (Chris Bosh) back in '02. They need to trade for Amare if possible, using 'Sheed's contract and future bust Amir Johnson as bait. Or they just need to start unloading and rebuild around Stuckey and Rip. I'd strongly consider selling on Tayshaun "Stretch Armstrong" Prince now. He's vastly overrated and perhaps Portland would take a flyer on him for Rodriguez and Outlaw with Raef's ex-tract. And another thing: why the hell does Rip Hamilton still wear that mask?!?! I wore it for a year in high school and got made fun of every day. He can't possibly play better WITH it rather than WITHOUT it. Hasn't it been like 4 years since he broke his nose? Is it really still a risk? This guy must have bones like Samual L. Jackson in Unbreakable!
Golden State Warriors: Sometimes, when I'm sitting on my lobsided bed in my ant infested bedroom in my delapidated apartment while holding an empty pack of parliaments in one hand and a bank statement that has a red number reading "$-127.84" at the bottom of it and I'm running late for work and my car has been on E for over a week, I think to myself, "At least I don't work for the Warriors." Lightning struck when The Baron found his way to San Fran and met Don Nelson. The fans were packing the house. They were on cable every week. Every team in the league not from San Antonio wanted to play like them. They had it all, and then, somehow, they managed to screw it all up. It's like the mafia in Casino. Don Nelson is Sam Rothstein. Baron Davis was Nicky Santoro. And Chris Mullin was Kevin Pollack, the guy who on the surface was in charge, but actually had nothing to do with the day to day running of the team and Nelson was really calling all the shots. Chris Mullin has the least amount of power any GM could possibly have. He literally has no say in the team's operations. He's like Little Carmine from The Sopranos. He's the boss, but no one listens to him and he's generally laughed at. It's amazing to me how Chris Mullin and Don Nelson could hate each other so much when the two brought the best out of each other when Mullie was playing for Nellie. Imagine if Phil Jackson was the coach and Scottie Pippen was the GM of the team and Phil was trying to get him fired. Can you even picture it? It's just so bizarre.
Houston Rockets: I feel like if I were to walk in on a Houston Rockets practice facility. I'd see Ron Artest and Skip-to-my-Lou trying to teach Luis Scola how to rap, T-Mac smoking weed while sitting in jacuzzi trying to loosen up his 16 pulled mustles, Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier betting on who could set a better screen, Brent Barry and Dikembe Mutombo showing each other pictures of their grandchildren, while Yao Ming is watching all of this and saying to himself, "Yup, 2010, that's the year. I'm getting the fuck outta here." Poor Rick Adelman. I give him credit for keeping them competitive for this long. But this experiment is over. They probably shouldn't bother trying to make any move before the deadline. I guess they should give this group at least one try in the playoffs. But after that, some things are going to have to change.
Indiana Pacers: Back in '06, Luol Deng and Danny Granger were both very similar players with similar games. They were about 6' 8", long, athletic, young, bashful small forwards that had the ability to slash but tended to settle too often for the long jumper. I remember thinking that if only Granger had a chance to play on a young, up and coming team like the Bulls, oh boy, what a player he'd become. I remember also thinking Michael Richards was destined to have a very successful post-Seinfeld career. But what can Larry Legend do? Yes... we know Tinsley is available. We get it. But who wants a short, stocky, unathletic point guard who can't shoot? He's like Khalid El-Amin with a head band and a criminal record. Perhaps Orlando after losing J. Nelson. Or maybe Boston if the Knicks don't release Poisonbury.
Los Angeles Clippers: I fucking HATE Mike Dunleavy. Fuck that asshole. I fucking hate him. Only in the shittiest of worlds would this guy be given the right to coach other human beings and to manage a professional basketball organization. Being out in Los Angeles for well over a year now, I've been able to witness what a disgrace he is to the league. Imagine you're a teacher, and your subject is nuclear physics. But you've never studied nuclear physics your whole life and you actually failed your Calculus class twice in high school and once more in college. You have no idea what you're doing. Plus, the students you teach are all majors in nuclear physics, know 10 times more about the subject than you, and laugh at everything you say whenever you say it. On top of that, the Board of Education just fired the dean, the one who hired you, and has now made you the new dean. You are in charge of everything, and you have no clue what you're doing. The horseshoe up Dunleavy's ass is bigger than anything Secretariot ever wore. Either that, or he has pictures of Donald Sterling with teenage russian prostitutes covered in feces that would make the girls in the infamous "2 Girls and a Cup" video blush. His ENTIRE team hates him. Nobody listens to a word he says. Yet he stands up, stalking up and down the sideline, barking out orders to Baron and Camby and Thornton, while his team is down by 20+, and he expects them to listen!!!! The other day, the Clip were down by 2 in the closing seconds. Dunleavy was yelling at Baron Davis as he was bring the ball up the court. He was waving his hands trying to call out a play. Davis saw him. In the replay, you can tell, Davis saw Dunleavy and heard what he said. Then he turned back, looked at his defender, then at the hoop, and then jacked up a 25 footer that went in. Clippers win. He didn't give a shit what Dunleavy called. I'm telling you, we will witness the first on-court assasination eventually if Davis isn't traded from this team. (side note: expect Kaman in a Bulls uniform in the next few days if they can unload Davis because then they're going to want Hinrich.)
Los Angeles Lakers: We all know there is a difference between the Best player, the Physically Most Talented player, and the true MVP. Lebron James has been the MVP so far this year. And there is little question that he's the Physically Most Talented player. But the Best player in the league is still Kobe. How do you define it - the Best Player? If you could pick ONE player to start your team with in order to win a championship THIS year (not for the future and contract sizes don't matter), you pick Kobe first, bar none. He's having another terrific year, and playing with a mangled finger to boot. After the loss of Bynum, if they could add one more big, they should try. But let me just mention this: It would epitomize all that is wrong with the world if Kupcheck trades Lamar Odom and his ex-tract for dominant big man. Lamar kept silent when he was not offered an extension. He kept silent when Phil decided to start the less talented Bynum over him. He kept silent when he was moved to the bench and his minutes and shots drastically decreased. He did this for the good of the team and in order to win a championship. If they trade him now, I will root against them for the remainder of the year. If they trade Lamar Odom, it will, once again, prove that money is the only thing that matters and that players should look out for themselves first and team second because the team is certainly not looking out for them.
Memphis Grizzlies: They just turned down a Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, and Mike Conley Jr. for Amare deal, and rightfully so. Amare plus Mayo doesn't equal shit in the West. They still have Lowry and Warrick as legitimate trade bait. And Conley Jr. is quickly becoming that as well. They've contemplated going after a swingman (J-Rich) and moving Mayo to the 1, which would be like going to a ballgame and spending the whole time at the concession stand. They drafted him to be their shooting guard! Why change him into something he's not? They did the same thing with Drew Gooden years ago when they tried to mold him into a small forward. And they did it to Rudy Gay last year in trying to change him into a 4. If they didn't want Mayo then they shouldn't have traded Kevin Love and kept the comedically ripe Gay-Love tandem in Memphis. (side note: Oh God, could you imagine how hard it would have been for sports journalists in that city had that trade not gone through?! They would have had GLAAD watching them like hawks, just waiting for the first appearance of the title of a newspaper article like "Gay-Love dominates again!" or "Gay-Love Stands Out" or "Gay-Love Takes it to the Heat.")They need a veteran point who can distribute and delegate and break up the fights between Gay and Mayo as they argue over who is allowed to shoot more. Maybe a Luke Ridnour for Warrick and Greg Buckner perhaps. But Conley Jr. is nowhere near ready to play in the league.
Miami Heat: Shawn Marion outta take a shit and then give himself a swirly. Two years ago he was playing for one of the best point guards of all time and in the most appealing system an NBA player could ever dream of playing in and for a coach that will go down in history as one of the most influencial minds on the game. Today, he's playing in Canada for some guy name Triano. Riley has come out and said his biggest nightmare would be to see D.Wade walk. Drafting Beasley and his notorious 23 man posse filled with drug dealers, criminals, and Kansas State students, won't help. They should have taken Mayo. Expect them to make a serious run at Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010.
Milwaukee Bucks: As soon as the Klansman Scott Skiles starts Sessions over his beloved Luke Ridnour, they'll be better off. It's absurd that Ridnour held onto his starting job as long as he did. The NAACP better start looking into the identiy of the Grand Wizard and if he currently resides in Milwaukee. (Seriously, Coach Skiles is severly racist. It will eventually come out. Remember you heard it here first.) Anyways, this team has more people on the shelf than the barracks at Aushwitz. I think they only dressed like 7 guys in their last game. They need to get healthy. And then they'll need to find a new home for Michael Redd Rover. Get some picks for him. Continue to rebuild.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Remember how I mentioned earlier that former players don't make good GMs but could make for good coaches. Case in point: Kevin McHale. As soon as he started calling out the plays, they immediately starting turning things around. He sat Rashad Mccants, moved Foye to the 2 and inserted Telfair to the point. And things began to run smoothly. The Kevin Love - Al Jefferson tandem was the best white on black combo since Klum started banging Seal, that is until Big Al's knee exploded. I'm telling you this team is cursed. I'm convinced Garnett has a Kevin Mchale voodoo doll hidden somewhere in his locker that he likes to stab on occasion. Nothing they can do now except wait for Jefferson to get healthy, make another lottery pick (perhaps the kid from Wake, Amino. He'd be the perfect small forward for this team.), and hope then hope Brian Cardinal loses his knee pads, misses the team plane, and they're forced to suspend him for the year.
New Jersey Nets: They're trying to rid themselves of Vince Carter's contract more than DeNiro tried to rid himself of Waingro in Heat. (Yes, I watched it the other night and it's on my mind throughout this thing. That film doesn't age. And that cast - from Jon Voight to Natalie Portman, from Bubba to Buffalo Bill, very underrated.) Expect video footage to appear courtside after practice of Vince Carter grabbing his knee and crying out in agony, "Why!?!?!? Why?!?!?!?! Why!?!?!?!" a la Nancy Kerrigan. If this guy survives the trade deadline I'm changing his nickname from "Half-Man, Half-Amazin'" to "Chris Angel." It's Devin Harris's and Brook Lopez's team now. Carter is a bystander. I've heard rumors of a deal to the Spurs and also the Rockets for T-Mac. How strange would it be to see Carter traded for a decrepic Tracy McGrady, his cousin, almost ten years after McGrady was forced out of Toronto because he was taking too many shots away from Carter? David Stern works in mysterious ways.
New Orleans Hornets: They're shopping Chandler around like Harvey Weinstein did with The Reader during award season. (side note: the biggest travesty in the movie world is that Dark Knight wasn't nominated for a best picture oscar and The Reader was. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.) They'll eventually get a taker. I read a rumor he was going to Ok City for Joe "I've now officially played with every team in the NBA" Smith and Chris Wilcox. I get it, but they could do better. Going after Marvin Williams from Atlanta, as I mentioned earlier. Plus you move Chandler to an Eastern Conference team so he doesn't come back to bite you. CP3 is a God, but as long as this team's 2 and 3 go-to guys are David West and Peja, they're going nowhere. They need a legit all-star. Would have like to see Vincanity work his way here.
New York Knicks: D'Antoni has turned Chris Duhon into a starting NBA point guard and a fearless leader on the highest scoring team in the league. In other news, Manhattan has had an unexpected climb in DUI's in recent months. Rumor is D'Antoni is turning water into wine. He is a miracle worker. The Knicks have probably the least amount of talent of anyone in the Eastern Conference outside of maybe Washington. And the Miracle Man has them just around 500%. Imagine what he'll do when he gets Lebron and Amare in two years! Other than hold onto David Lee, and releasing Poisonbury, they should consider mailing in some games to lock up a high lottery pick. I love Jrue Holiday for them. Or even better, Ricky Rubio. Euro style coach D'Antoni meets greatest Euro style guard since Petrovic. I'm aroused.
Orlando Magic: Coach of the Year, Ron Jeremy. Howard is a legitimate MVP candidate for the first time of his career. And Jameer Nelson, before he went down with injury, was the Most Improved Player of the Year. What does it say about Van Gundy that consecutive MIPs would be coached by him? They may have to make one final play for a point guard to replace Nelson (Hinrich perhaps? You'd have to give up Reddick, Anthony Johnson, and maybe Cook to make the salaries work, but it's worth it, particularly with Hinrich's declining contract.), but this team is set up for the next five or six years. Expect a lot of Eastern Conference Finals between the Magic and the Lebrons (whether that's in Cleveland or New York).
Philadelphia 76ers: In the words of Lynyrd Skynyrd, listen closely to what I say here: Anyone that says the words "The 76ers or better off without Elton Brand," is just plain stupid. Never acknowledge their opinion again. Even if they tell you something that's totally true, like "Grass is green," you have to take that with a grain of salt and go outside with your crayola box and start comparing colors. Here's the common misconception. Just because you have a player that prefers to play in the post, doesn't mean he can't also play run and gun. The Suns stupidly thought that with Shaq and now look at them. Great players adapt. They're great in any system. They're all like big Dirk Digglers. "I can fuck fast. I can fuck slow. I can fuck hard. Whatever the girl wants." Elton Brand can get 20 and 10 playing uptempo. Be patient with him. And don't trade Andre Miller. Why is this guy always on the trade block? Great point guards are hard to find. Can't you see why so many teams are in the hunt for one! You've got one! Don't trade him away.
Phoenix Suns: Where do I begin? Gentry's hire? No. Porter's firing? No. Putting Amare on the block? No. The trade for J-Rich? No. D'Antoni's firing? Maybe. The trade for the Deisel? Nope. I'll start with how Sarver traded away draft pick after draft pick just to save money. They didn't replenish their team. Look at the Spurs. They first won with Robinson, Duncan, Elliot, and Avery Johnson. Then they replenished themselves with Parker, Ginobli, Finley, and Horry. Now they've done it again with Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill. You have to be constantly rebuilding, even when you're not. The Suns didn't do that in order to save money. And now they're older and without a direction.
I look at this team the same way I look at the Kings from earlier this decade. They became so frustrated with always getting so close and failing that they tried to prematurely rebuild and now they're stuck at the bottom of the league. They could have made one or two more runs with Bibby, Webber, Peja and with sTurkoglu and Gerald Wallace waiting in the wings. Steve Kerr tried to prematurely rebuild by firing D'Antoni. They were sooooooo close the last few years. (Could Robert Horry's hipcheck single-handedly lead to the downfall of the Suns?) I don't want to believe that. They went 15 and 3 in the last 18 games of the year last year, when D'Antoni was coaching them and they were running and gunning and playing their 7 Seconds or Less basketball. If not for the double overtime Tim Duncan 3 pointer game, who knows how far they could have gone in last years playoffs? Im convinced the Spurs are the only team that could have beaten that Suns team. But the point is - it was working. D'Antoni was able to integrate Shaq into his SSOL offense. (It is possible to play uptempo with a dominant post player. The Lakers won 5 chips in the 80s doing it.) This year was going to be their year. Nash in his final year as an elite point guard. Grant Hill on his last legs as a productive small forward. Amare and Barbosa entering their primes. Shaq the final piece - the inside presense they had lacked over the years. And D'Antoni as the orchestrator of the whole thing.
I'm not sure what happened that caused Kerr to think he HAD to fire D'Antoni. But that was the first mistake. Not the trade for Shaq. Plus it didn't help that Kerr hired Porter, who I think is a real good coach, just not for a team stocked with veterans. They should have went immediately with Gentry. (In the long run, I don't think Porter's firing was justified. They're only 3 1/2 games out of the 4th spot in the West. He and Kerr will get most of the blame. But they really weren't playing that poorly.) But now they're making another drastic midseason move in consecutive seasons, and I wonder, what if? My prediction: they make the playoffs and give someone fits in the first round. Maybe they even steal a series. But there's not enough time for them to build the chemistry capable of beating San Antone or L.A. in a 7 game series. I expect them to play much better under Gentry, but it's a case of too little, too late.
Portland Trailblazers: Remember the scene from The Simpsons where the family is driving in the car and in the back Lisa and Bart keeping asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" and Homer keeps responding "No. No. No." That's what's happening with the Blazers. Everyone's flipping their shit because they're not dominating night in and night out. But they're sitting at 4th in the still competitive Western Conference. They have an emerging superstar in Roy, a terrific young power forward in Aldridge, and a future dominant center in chameleon Greg Oden who, as long as he stays healthy, will be an all-star for many years in this league. Yet everyone's bitching. "Greg Oden is too sensitive." "Aldridge has no heart." "They have no small forward." "Rudy Fernandez gave me chlymidia." Yes, it's true Oden needs to turn off Terms of Endearment and watch an all day marathon of Bond on Spike TV. Yes, it's true Aldridge needs to find the real Rudy Rudiger and become his friend. Yes, it's true Travis Outlaw hasn't grabbed the 3-spot for his own even with Martel Webster missing nearly the entire season. Yes, it's true we haven't seen a person sexually burst onto the scene in one city the way Rudy Fernandez has in Portland since Warren Beauty started painting L.A. red after Bonnie and Clyde came out. But despite all of this, they really are poised to make a legitimate run in the playoffs this year. And what no one is talking about, but something that is really quite incredible, is that they don't need to rely on Oden at all. He can participate and help in spurts. But for the most part, as of today, he is the 6th or 7th most important player on this team behind Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw, Blake, Rudy, and Pryzbilla. This is all a learning experience for him. As long as he's healthy, he will be a monster in this league.
But, anyway, I stopped doing drugs long enough to save up to buy a new laptop. The old cpu had more viruses than Manhattan in the mid-'80's. I felt like I needed to wear trojans on each of my fingers as I typed. It was as if Angels In America, Philadelphia, and Boogie Nights all had a giant orgy, someone got pregnant, and gave birth to my computer. It was like the machine form of Robert La Bruce's father in Braveheart, seriously. But now I'm back, disease free and cocaine fueled, and I'm ready to help each team find their way out from under the heap of shit and long-term contracts that they've ridden themselves with. Call me The Cleaner, but don't you dare compare me to Benny Bratt. Lets start at the top:
Atlanta Hawks: They have no starting center, no backup point guard, and their bench is thinner than Karen Carpenter. It goes one deep, and that one is Flip Murray. They start a power forward at center and a small forward at power forward. They drafted Marvin Williams over Chris Paul and Deron Williams. They drafted Sheldon Williams over Brandon Roy, Randy Foye, Rudy Gay and Rajon Rondo. They drafted Acie Law over Rodney Stuckey. Yet... still, Billy Knight hasn't been assasinated, and they currently sit 4th in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They'll get out of the first round, but there's no way they pass up any of the Big 3 in the East, so they have to make a move. It's a buyer's market out there right now, with 75% of the league folding it in and trying to save some money under the banner of "We want to get under for the summer of 2010!" So they have a chance at making a splash. They have a young talent in Marvin Williams. They need a big to battle Big Z and D12 in May. Big Al can only do so much. And Zaza Pachulia fell off the top of the ugly tree and hit every branch along the way. The Hornets are shopping Tyson Chandler. He would compliment Horford perfectly, with Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith on the perimeter. Marvin Williams, Zaza, and Speedy Claxton for Chandler and Posey would work perfectly. They get a big man who, when healthy, can guard any center in the league, and they get the ultimate playoff, clutch, off-the-bench, does all the little/dirty things, the-next-Robert Horry, glue guy in Posey. They need to make a run now. Cleveland and Orlando are only gonna get better. New Orleans might seriously do this since they'll get Williams and save a ton of coin. (Side note: Wouldn't it be the ultimate revenge if Atlanta were to get Posey and use him to beat Boston in the 2nd round. In last year's epic 1 vs 8 seed matchup, if you were to take him off the Celtics and put him on the Hawks, there's no way Boston wins that series.)
Boston Celtics: Speaking of the champs, remember the stretch when they lost 7 in 9 and everyone jumped off the bandwagon faster than Chris Brown's endorsers. It's a distant memory now, isn't it. They have the most wins in the league heading into the all-star break, and although they haven't appeared as dominant as we seem to imagine them, they're actually 1 game better than they were last year after 55 games. That said, there are chinks. Tony Allen has not stepped into the 6th man role vacated by Posey. Eddie House is another year older and couldn't guard a Fathead of Mo Williams, even if they allowed hand-checking. Leon Powe couldn't score on a Fathead of Mo Williams. And Big Baby Davis just might've eaten Sam Cassell. Plus I've noticed another chink. There seems to be some friction and frustration between Ray Allen and his mates. Pierce is constantly yelling at him. Rivers too. I've even see Rondo snap at him a couple times, yelling at him to get back on D. Bottom line: as long as he can stretch the floor and showcase that arrousingly smooth J, he's a valuable piece to a championship calibur team. But I'm getting the feeling Rondo has taken his spot as the third member of the Boston Three Party. They don't need to make any moves now, but they'll snatch up a vet or two come March or April. Maybe a Joe Smith or Stephan Poisonbury perhaps.
Charlotte Bobcats: In the words of Neil McCauley: If you want be making moves on the street, allow nothing in your life that you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner. Well, the 'Cats have spotted the heat in the form of a pissed off and embarrassed 6' 6'' black man named MJ, and they're makin' moves. Since this season started, they've made 6 transactions, more than any other team. MJ is doing the one thing Isiah shoulda done, and that thing is to trust Larry Brown, who is notorious for liking every player in the league except the ones on his own team. If Coach Brown were to get married to a woman who already has young kids, he'd trade them away for teenagers. Whatever Larry wants, he's getting though. You want a defensive minded 2 and a power forward who isn't 70 lbs overweight like Sean May? Fine. Goodbye, J-Rich. Hello, Raja and Boris. You want a veteran swingman who can spread the floor? Fine. Goodbye, Adam Morrison. Hello, Vlady. You want a veteran backup center. Fine. Goodbye, Matt Carroll. Hello, Desagana. (Sidenote: the 4 centers on the team are named Nazr, Emeka, Alexis, and Desagana. Whatever happened to Jimmy, or Bill, or maybe Chris, or a Steve perhaps?) Expect them to trade Ray Felton and then chillout for the rest of the year, get a lottery pick, go after a stud power forward in the draft, and then trade him before the season starts.
Chicago Bulls: Let me just say this - Just because you were an intelligent and successful basketball player, it does NOT alone make you an eligible candidate for a front office job, particularly one of such importance as General Manager. These positions are supposed to go to people with business degrees and finance degrees. Wall Street types who can follow trends and crunch numbers and analyze data. They don't have to be good scouts. They don't have to be able to recognize talent. You just have to be able to run an organization, just like you would a business.
Perhaps Pax ain't cut out for this. We've seen it before, former players getting in over their head, falling in love with their draft picks and not willing to swallow their pride: Elgin Baylor, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Steve Kerr (too early to tell maybe, but still...). These are all smart people, but I'd trust them more to coach than I would to run a business. That said, Pax still can salvage this thing. It depends on if he swallows his pride and makes the Suns the offer for Amare. Him and Kerr are boys. Kerr's hangin' out by the phone waiting. I know Pax is sitting in his office, watching the Bulls on his big screen plasma with his macbook on his lap. On the screen it reads "Tyrus Thomas, Drew Gooden, Thabo Sefelosha, Cedric Simmons for Amare Stoudemire, Alondo Tucker" and he's about to hit that "SUBMIT TRADE" tab the next time Tyrus jacks up a running left-handed brick.
But then Tyrus drives to the hoop and gets fouled and hits both free throws. And then he successfully D's up Dirk. And then he makes a great help-side play by coming over and blocking a shot into the 5th row. And then he hits an elbow jumper off a pick and pop with Rose. And the cursor on the screen slowly inches away from the button. Pax, if you ever read this, a word of advice: In any trade, the team that gets the best player in the deal 99% of the time wins the trade and is better off. I love Ty. Anyone who knows the game knows he'll be a stud. In two years he'll be averaging 15 ppg with 9 rbs and 3 blks and 2 stls. But he won't be averaging the 27 and 10 that Amare will get you. If you can get Amare without giving up Thomas, then try. If not, you gotta bite the bullet. (Side note: same goes with Chris Bosh, though I'd rather see the Bulls trade Deng than Thomas. Parker would probably have to be thrown into the deal, which would be great. He's a Chicago guy. We'd give them Deng, Gooden's ex-tract, Thabo and our 1st rnd pick. We'd get Bosh and Parker's ex-tract. The Bulls would run out Rose, Gordon, Parker, Thomas and Bosh. And they'd have Kirk, Noc, and Noah off the bench. Not bad.)
Cleveland Caveliers: Last year at this time I declared, on this very site, that Danny Ferry NEEDED to make drastic moves (like get a stud point guard) and that everyone on his team, including the starters, should be tradeable. Since that day, he traded his starting shooting guard (Larry Hughes) and starting power forward (Drew Gooden) and made what has turned out to be the most important off-season move in the league by trading for Mo Wil. Behind Devin Harris, is there a point guard in the East playing better than him right now? As soon as that trade happened I predicted a repeat of the '07 finals - Spurs vs Cavs. And this time, the outcome may very likely be different. However, there could be a tinker or two still left to be done. Ferry offered the Suns a deal for Amare involving Wally's expiring contract, J.J. Hickson and a draft pick, but Kerr shot it down. If I'm Ferry though, I don't give up quite yet. Though Stoudemire might be out of reach, Jason Richardson may still be had with Sarver wanting to drop payroll. Does Ferry really think Delonte West is the answer at the 2? Can he guard the Joe Johnsons and Ray Allens of the East? Richardson could probably be gotten for Wally and Hickson. And as much as I see Hickson as an all-star power forward in three years, it's worth going after J-Rich. On the flip side, if the Suns decide their fire-sale is all hype and their players are not touchable, then a Wally for Brad Miller trade will immediately put the Cavs in the driver's seat in the East. You can never have too many big men who can shoot in the playoffs, and the Cavs are a team already built for a finals run. If I'm Boston, or any team in the West, Cleveland is the team I am most worried about, by far.
Dallas Mavericks: Remember the scene in the Godfather when Tom Hagen informs Vito that is was Michael that killed Sollozzo, prompting a very weak and tired Godfather to wave everyone out of the room in disgust. That is the reaction I had when I had heard Cuban had traded Devin Harris for Jason Kidd. It so disappointed me. It signaled the official end of the glorious Mavericks run. Imagine a lineup of Harris, Terry, Howard, Bass, and Nowitzki. Plus they'd have the option of trading an unpopular Howard and Jerry Stackhouse's contract for a Vince Carter, or maybe even a Chris Bosh. Even though they made the right move in hiring Carlisle, who does he have left to coach? Kidd is a terrific leader and one of the smartest in the game, but he's no longer a top ten point guard. Dampier is perhaps the worst starting center in basketball. Stack is done. Antoine Wright sucks. Howard is the least popular man in Dallas outside of maybe Lee Harvey Oswald. Plus, I guarantee Cuban has ordered Carlisle to limit Brandon Bass's minutes so as to not raise the free agent's price. It's so blatent and it sickens me that no one talks about it. Dirk and Jet have nothing to really play for anymore. They've gone through 3 coaches in 4 years, they're in their prime, having one of the best seasons of their careers and its all for nothing. Sad. Amazing what one trade can do to a franchise.
Denver Nuggets: I repeat, it's amazing what one trade can do to a franchise. Currently sitting 3rd in a still very competitive Western Conference, would anyone have guessed they'd be this good? This offseason there were reports of George Karl resigning and of trading Nene, K-Mart, J.R. Smith, Kleiza, and even Carmelo. Chauncey is like the Clooney to Carmelo's Pitt in Ocean's 11. Chauncey is the idea man while Carmelo is the star. They're gonna be trouble for some teams in the playoffs, and now that Carmelo was snubbed in the all-star game... oh man, think of him as Joe Pesci and all of the coaches in the Western Conference just told him to get his shinebox.
Detroit Pistons: I'm sensing a trend: It's amazing what one trade can do to a franchise!! Coach John Wooden, in an interview recently, said, "I absolutely cannot stand watching that guy play." Now, I'm not going to tell you who he was referring to. I'll let you guess. But he's the same guy that we know REFUSED to go to the bench and forced Rip Hamilton (the starting shooting guard since he was traded to Detroit) into a 6th man role. Detroit is more likely to replace Joe Dumars with Isiah Thomas than they will be in getting a free agent to come to the most economically depressing city in the country. It's somewhat ironic the main guy they're pursuing is the same guy Joe D passed up (Chris Bosh) back in '02. They need to trade for Amare if possible, using 'Sheed's contract and future bust Amir Johnson as bait. Or they just need to start unloading and rebuild around Stuckey and Rip. I'd strongly consider selling on Tayshaun "Stretch Armstrong" Prince now. He's vastly overrated and perhaps Portland would take a flyer on him for Rodriguez and Outlaw with Raef's ex-tract. And another thing: why the hell does Rip Hamilton still wear that mask?!?! I wore it for a year in high school and got made fun of every day. He can't possibly play better WITH it rather than WITHOUT it. Hasn't it been like 4 years since he broke his nose? Is it really still a risk? This guy must have bones like Samual L. Jackson in Unbreakable!
Golden State Warriors: Sometimes, when I'm sitting on my lobsided bed in my ant infested bedroom in my delapidated apartment while holding an empty pack of parliaments in one hand and a bank statement that has a red number reading "$-127.84" at the bottom of it and I'm running late for work and my car has been on E for over a week, I think to myself, "At least I don't work for the Warriors." Lightning struck when The Baron found his way to San Fran and met Don Nelson. The fans were packing the house. They were on cable every week. Every team in the league not from San Antonio wanted to play like them. They had it all, and then, somehow, they managed to screw it all up. It's like the mafia in Casino. Don Nelson is Sam Rothstein. Baron Davis was Nicky Santoro. And Chris Mullin was Kevin Pollack, the guy who on the surface was in charge, but actually had nothing to do with the day to day running of the team and Nelson was really calling all the shots. Chris Mullin has the least amount of power any GM could possibly have. He literally has no say in the team's operations. He's like Little Carmine from The Sopranos. He's the boss, but no one listens to him and he's generally laughed at. It's amazing to me how Chris Mullin and Don Nelson could hate each other so much when the two brought the best out of each other when Mullie was playing for Nellie. Imagine if Phil Jackson was the coach and Scottie Pippen was the GM of the team and Phil was trying to get him fired. Can you even picture it? It's just so bizarre.
Houston Rockets: I feel like if I were to walk in on a Houston Rockets practice facility. I'd see Ron Artest and Skip-to-my-Lou trying to teach Luis Scola how to rap, T-Mac smoking weed while sitting in jacuzzi trying to loosen up his 16 pulled mustles, Chuck Hayes and Shane Battier betting on who could set a better screen, Brent Barry and Dikembe Mutombo showing each other pictures of their grandchildren, while Yao Ming is watching all of this and saying to himself, "Yup, 2010, that's the year. I'm getting the fuck outta here." Poor Rick Adelman. I give him credit for keeping them competitive for this long. But this experiment is over. They probably shouldn't bother trying to make any move before the deadline. I guess they should give this group at least one try in the playoffs. But after that, some things are going to have to change.
Indiana Pacers: Back in '06, Luol Deng and Danny Granger were both very similar players with similar games. They were about 6' 8", long, athletic, young, bashful small forwards that had the ability to slash but tended to settle too often for the long jumper. I remember thinking that if only Granger had a chance to play on a young, up and coming team like the Bulls, oh boy, what a player he'd become. I remember also thinking Michael Richards was destined to have a very successful post-Seinfeld career. But what can Larry Legend do? Yes... we know Tinsley is available. We get it. But who wants a short, stocky, unathletic point guard who can't shoot? He's like Khalid El-Amin with a head band and a criminal record. Perhaps Orlando after losing J. Nelson. Or maybe Boston if the Knicks don't release Poisonbury.
Los Angeles Clippers: I fucking HATE Mike Dunleavy. Fuck that asshole. I fucking hate him. Only in the shittiest of worlds would this guy be given the right to coach other human beings and to manage a professional basketball organization. Being out in Los Angeles for well over a year now, I've been able to witness what a disgrace he is to the league. Imagine you're a teacher, and your subject is nuclear physics. But you've never studied nuclear physics your whole life and you actually failed your Calculus class twice in high school and once more in college. You have no idea what you're doing. Plus, the students you teach are all majors in nuclear physics, know 10 times more about the subject than you, and laugh at everything you say whenever you say it. On top of that, the Board of Education just fired the dean, the one who hired you, and has now made you the new dean. You are in charge of everything, and you have no clue what you're doing. The horseshoe up Dunleavy's ass is bigger than anything Secretariot ever wore. Either that, or he has pictures of Donald Sterling with teenage russian prostitutes covered in feces that would make the girls in the infamous "2 Girls and a Cup" video blush. His ENTIRE team hates him. Nobody listens to a word he says. Yet he stands up, stalking up and down the sideline, barking out orders to Baron and Camby and Thornton, while his team is down by 20+, and he expects them to listen!!!! The other day, the Clip were down by 2 in the closing seconds. Dunleavy was yelling at Baron Davis as he was bring the ball up the court. He was waving his hands trying to call out a play. Davis saw him. In the replay, you can tell, Davis saw Dunleavy and heard what he said. Then he turned back, looked at his defender, then at the hoop, and then jacked up a 25 footer that went in. Clippers win. He didn't give a shit what Dunleavy called. I'm telling you, we will witness the first on-court assasination eventually if Davis isn't traded from this team. (side note: expect Kaman in a Bulls uniform in the next few days if they can unload Davis because then they're going to want Hinrich.)
Los Angeles Lakers: We all know there is a difference between the Best player, the Physically Most Talented player, and the true MVP. Lebron James has been the MVP so far this year. And there is little question that he's the Physically Most Talented player. But the Best player in the league is still Kobe. How do you define it - the Best Player? If you could pick ONE player to start your team with in order to win a championship THIS year (not for the future and contract sizes don't matter), you pick Kobe first, bar none. He's having another terrific year, and playing with a mangled finger to boot. After the loss of Bynum, if they could add one more big, they should try. But let me just mention this: It would epitomize all that is wrong with the world if Kupcheck trades Lamar Odom and his ex-tract for dominant big man. Lamar kept silent when he was not offered an extension. He kept silent when Phil decided to start the less talented Bynum over him. He kept silent when he was moved to the bench and his minutes and shots drastically decreased. He did this for the good of the team and in order to win a championship. If they trade him now, I will root against them for the remainder of the year. If they trade Lamar Odom, it will, once again, prove that money is the only thing that matters and that players should look out for themselves first and team second because the team is certainly not looking out for them.
Memphis Grizzlies: They just turned down a Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, and Mike Conley Jr. for Amare deal, and rightfully so. Amare plus Mayo doesn't equal shit in the West. They still have Lowry and Warrick as legitimate trade bait. And Conley Jr. is quickly becoming that as well. They've contemplated going after a swingman (J-Rich) and moving Mayo to the 1, which would be like going to a ballgame and spending the whole time at the concession stand. They drafted him to be their shooting guard! Why change him into something he's not? They did the same thing with Drew Gooden years ago when they tried to mold him into a small forward. And they did it to Rudy Gay last year in trying to change him into a 4. If they didn't want Mayo then they shouldn't have traded Kevin Love and kept the comedically ripe Gay-Love tandem in Memphis. (side note: Oh God, could you imagine how hard it would have been for sports journalists in that city had that trade not gone through?! They would have had GLAAD watching them like hawks, just waiting for the first appearance of the title of a newspaper article like "Gay-Love dominates again!" or "Gay-Love Stands Out" or "Gay-Love Takes it to the Heat.")They need a veteran point who can distribute and delegate and break up the fights between Gay and Mayo as they argue over who is allowed to shoot more. Maybe a Luke Ridnour for Warrick and Greg Buckner perhaps. But Conley Jr. is nowhere near ready to play in the league.
Miami Heat: Shawn Marion outta take a shit and then give himself a swirly. Two years ago he was playing for one of the best point guards of all time and in the most appealing system an NBA player could ever dream of playing in and for a coach that will go down in history as one of the most influencial minds on the game. Today, he's playing in Canada for some guy name Triano. Riley has come out and said his biggest nightmare would be to see D.Wade walk. Drafting Beasley and his notorious 23 man posse filled with drug dealers, criminals, and Kansas State students, won't help. They should have taken Mayo. Expect them to make a serious run at Chris Bosh in the summer of 2010.
Milwaukee Bucks: As soon as the Klansman Scott Skiles starts Sessions over his beloved Luke Ridnour, they'll be better off. It's absurd that Ridnour held onto his starting job as long as he did. The NAACP better start looking into the identiy of the Grand Wizard and if he currently resides in Milwaukee. (Seriously, Coach Skiles is severly racist. It will eventually come out. Remember you heard it here first.) Anyways, this team has more people on the shelf than the barracks at Aushwitz. I think they only dressed like 7 guys in their last game. They need to get healthy. And then they'll need to find a new home for Michael Redd Rover. Get some picks for him. Continue to rebuild.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Remember how I mentioned earlier that former players don't make good GMs but could make for good coaches. Case in point: Kevin McHale. As soon as he started calling out the plays, they immediately starting turning things around. He sat Rashad Mccants, moved Foye to the 2 and inserted Telfair to the point. And things began to run smoothly. The Kevin Love - Al Jefferson tandem was the best white on black combo since Klum started banging Seal, that is until Big Al's knee exploded. I'm telling you this team is cursed. I'm convinced Garnett has a Kevin Mchale voodoo doll hidden somewhere in his locker that he likes to stab on occasion. Nothing they can do now except wait for Jefferson to get healthy, make another lottery pick (perhaps the kid from Wake, Amino. He'd be the perfect small forward for this team.), and hope then hope Brian Cardinal loses his knee pads, misses the team plane, and they're forced to suspend him for the year.
New Jersey Nets: They're trying to rid themselves of Vince Carter's contract more than DeNiro tried to rid himself of Waingro in Heat. (Yes, I watched it the other night and it's on my mind throughout this thing. That film doesn't age. And that cast - from Jon Voight to Natalie Portman, from Bubba to Buffalo Bill, very underrated.) Expect video footage to appear courtside after practice of Vince Carter grabbing his knee and crying out in agony, "Why!?!?!? Why?!?!?!?! Why!?!?!?!" a la Nancy Kerrigan. If this guy survives the trade deadline I'm changing his nickname from "Half-Man, Half-Amazin'" to "Chris Angel." It's Devin Harris's and Brook Lopez's team now. Carter is a bystander. I've heard rumors of a deal to the Spurs and also the Rockets for T-Mac. How strange would it be to see Carter traded for a decrepic Tracy McGrady, his cousin, almost ten years after McGrady was forced out of Toronto because he was taking too many shots away from Carter? David Stern works in mysterious ways.
New Orleans Hornets: They're shopping Chandler around like Harvey Weinstein did with The Reader during award season. (side note: the biggest travesty in the movie world is that Dark Knight wasn't nominated for a best picture oscar and The Reader was. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.) They'll eventually get a taker. I read a rumor he was going to Ok City for Joe "I've now officially played with every team in the NBA" Smith and Chris Wilcox. I get it, but they could do better. Going after Marvin Williams from Atlanta, as I mentioned earlier. Plus you move Chandler to an Eastern Conference team so he doesn't come back to bite you. CP3 is a God, but as long as this team's 2 and 3 go-to guys are David West and Peja, they're going nowhere. They need a legit all-star. Would have like to see Vincanity work his way here.
New York Knicks: D'Antoni has turned Chris Duhon into a starting NBA point guard and a fearless leader on the highest scoring team in the league. In other news, Manhattan has had an unexpected climb in DUI's in recent months. Rumor is D'Antoni is turning water into wine. He is a miracle worker. The Knicks have probably the least amount of talent of anyone in the Eastern Conference outside of maybe Washington. And the Miracle Man has them just around 500%. Imagine what he'll do when he gets Lebron and Amare in two years! Other than hold onto David Lee, and releasing Poisonbury, they should consider mailing in some games to lock up a high lottery pick. I love Jrue Holiday for them. Or even better, Ricky Rubio. Euro style coach D'Antoni meets greatest Euro style guard since Petrovic. I'm aroused.
Orlando Magic: Coach of the Year, Ron Jeremy. Howard is a legitimate MVP candidate for the first time of his career. And Jameer Nelson, before he went down with injury, was the Most Improved Player of the Year. What does it say about Van Gundy that consecutive MIPs would be coached by him? They may have to make one final play for a point guard to replace Nelson (Hinrich perhaps? You'd have to give up Reddick, Anthony Johnson, and maybe Cook to make the salaries work, but it's worth it, particularly with Hinrich's declining contract.), but this team is set up for the next five or six years. Expect a lot of Eastern Conference Finals between the Magic and the Lebrons (whether that's in Cleveland or New York).
Philadelphia 76ers: In the words of Lynyrd Skynyrd, listen closely to what I say here: Anyone that says the words "The 76ers or better off without Elton Brand," is just plain stupid. Never acknowledge their opinion again. Even if they tell you something that's totally true, like "Grass is green," you have to take that with a grain of salt and go outside with your crayola box and start comparing colors. Here's the common misconception. Just because you have a player that prefers to play in the post, doesn't mean he can't also play run and gun. The Suns stupidly thought that with Shaq and now look at them. Great players adapt. They're great in any system. They're all like big Dirk Digglers. "I can fuck fast. I can fuck slow. I can fuck hard. Whatever the girl wants." Elton Brand can get 20 and 10 playing uptempo. Be patient with him. And don't trade Andre Miller. Why is this guy always on the trade block? Great point guards are hard to find. Can't you see why so many teams are in the hunt for one! You've got one! Don't trade him away.
Phoenix Suns: Where do I begin? Gentry's hire? No. Porter's firing? No. Putting Amare on the block? No. The trade for J-Rich? No. D'Antoni's firing? Maybe. The trade for the Deisel? Nope. I'll start with how Sarver traded away draft pick after draft pick just to save money. They didn't replenish their team. Look at the Spurs. They first won with Robinson, Duncan, Elliot, and Avery Johnson. Then they replenished themselves with Parker, Ginobli, Finley, and Horry. Now they've done it again with Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill. You have to be constantly rebuilding, even when you're not. The Suns didn't do that in order to save money. And now they're older and without a direction.
I look at this team the same way I look at the Kings from earlier this decade. They became so frustrated with always getting so close and failing that they tried to prematurely rebuild and now they're stuck at the bottom of the league. They could have made one or two more runs with Bibby, Webber, Peja and with sTurkoglu and Gerald Wallace waiting in the wings. Steve Kerr tried to prematurely rebuild by firing D'Antoni. They were sooooooo close the last few years. (Could Robert Horry's hipcheck single-handedly lead to the downfall of the Suns?) I don't want to believe that. They went 15 and 3 in the last 18 games of the year last year, when D'Antoni was coaching them and they were running and gunning and playing their 7 Seconds or Less basketball. If not for the double overtime Tim Duncan 3 pointer game, who knows how far they could have gone in last years playoffs? Im convinced the Spurs are the only team that could have beaten that Suns team. But the point is - it was working. D'Antoni was able to integrate Shaq into his SSOL offense. (It is possible to play uptempo with a dominant post player. The Lakers won 5 chips in the 80s doing it.) This year was going to be their year. Nash in his final year as an elite point guard. Grant Hill on his last legs as a productive small forward. Amare and Barbosa entering their primes. Shaq the final piece - the inside presense they had lacked over the years. And D'Antoni as the orchestrator of the whole thing.
I'm not sure what happened that caused Kerr to think he HAD to fire D'Antoni. But that was the first mistake. Not the trade for Shaq. Plus it didn't help that Kerr hired Porter, who I think is a real good coach, just not for a team stocked with veterans. They should have went immediately with Gentry. (In the long run, I don't think Porter's firing was justified. They're only 3 1/2 games out of the 4th spot in the West. He and Kerr will get most of the blame. But they really weren't playing that poorly.) But now they're making another drastic midseason move in consecutive seasons, and I wonder, what if? My prediction: they make the playoffs and give someone fits in the first round. Maybe they even steal a series. But there's not enough time for them to build the chemistry capable of beating San Antone or L.A. in a 7 game series. I expect them to play much better under Gentry, but it's a case of too little, too late.
Portland Trailblazers: Remember the scene from The Simpsons where the family is driving in the car and in the back Lisa and Bart keeping asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" and Homer keeps responding "No. No. No." That's what's happening with the Blazers. Everyone's flipping their shit because they're not dominating night in and night out. But they're sitting at 4th in the still competitive Western Conference. They have an emerging superstar in Roy, a terrific young power forward in Aldridge, and a future dominant center in chameleon Greg Oden who, as long as he stays healthy, will be an all-star for many years in this league. Yet everyone's bitching. "Greg Oden is too sensitive." "Aldridge has no heart." "They have no small forward." "Rudy Fernandez gave me chlymidia." Yes, it's true Oden needs to turn off Terms of Endearment and watch an all day marathon of Bond on Spike TV. Yes, it's true Aldridge needs to find the real Rudy Rudiger and become his friend. Yes, it's true Travis Outlaw hasn't grabbed the 3-spot for his own even with Martel Webster missing nearly the entire season. Yes, it's true we haven't seen a person sexually burst onto the scene in one city the way Rudy Fernandez has in Portland since Warren Beauty started painting L.A. red after Bonnie and Clyde came out. But despite all of this, they really are poised to make a legitimate run in the playoffs this year. And what no one is talking about, but something that is really quite incredible, is that they don't need to rely on Oden at all. He can participate and help in spurts. But for the most part, as of today, he is the 6th or 7th most important player on this team behind Roy, Aldridge, Outlaw, Blake, Rudy, and Pryzbilla. This is all a learning experience for him. As long as he's healthy, he will be a monster in this league.
Sacramento Kings: Man, do you remember how much fun it was to watch a Kings-Lakers game earlier in this decade? Or a Kings-Mavs game? Or a Kings-Wolves game? Or a Kings-Jazz Game. Webber against Dirk or KG or Mailman. Bibby hittin' clutch 3's. Peja knocking down 27 footers. Vlade suffocating his teammates in his armpit hair during every timeout. Oracle Arena was the greatest place to see a game. It was Golden State before Golden State. And now it's all over. They're officially the least talented team in the league. What's worse is their financial situation is pretty poor too. (Rumor has it the Maloof brothers lost a ton during the economic shithole we're in.) No one is trying to unload money as much as them. Expect Brad Miller to be gone soon, probably to an East Coast team like Cleveland or Chicago. John Salmons is as good as gone too, probably to the Thunder. But they're going nowhere anytime soon, which is generally what happens when you sign long term contracts with guys named Beno or Mikki. They'll have the worst record in the league, have a high pick and go after Blake Griffin. But they'll still have no coach, no point guard, a shooting guard with the ugliest shot this side of Bill Cartwright, no small forward, a logjam at power forward, and the least athletic center in Spencer Hawes since Eric Montross. (Side note: C-Webb will go down as one of the most underrated players of all time. When someone lists the top 10 power forwards of all time, they throw around names like Petit, Duncan, Garnett, Barkley, and Karl Malone. Webber is often forgotten. But let me say this: from 2000, after Malone's last MVP in '99, to 2003, there was no better power forward in the game. That includes two Duncan MVP's, the rise of Dirk, Brand, and KG, and the ending of Karl Malone's reign. Webber would ALWAYS win the head to head matchups against these guys. Seriously, always. It's why the Kings always had home court in the playoffs. Everyone forgets this. Honestly, even Duncan and KG, two of the best defensive big men ever, could not stop Webber at his best.)
San Antonio Spurs: I love 'em. My favorite team this side of the Bulls. I'm convinced that Ginobli was playing on just one leg in the playoffs last year. Had they been at full strength, they would have beaten the Lakers and given the Celtics a run for their money. Tony Parker has emerged as the 2nd best point guard behind CP3 (yes, even better than Deron Williams). Roger Mason Jr. has become their Michael Finley and Bruce Bowan, rolled into one. He guards the opposition's best scorer like Bowan but also is a terrific secondary scorer in the mold of Finley. Another terrific signing by Buford. I just hope they don't stand pat. They can turn the sports world on it's head if they trade Finley's ex-tract, Jacque "Stop calling me Vince" Vaughn's ex-tract, Ime Idoku's ex-tract, and maybe Bowan or Bonner for Vince Carter or Rasheed Wallace. They would immediately match the Lakers as the favorites in the West, and maybe even surpass them. They need to make one more move to address their power forward position to put them over the top. (side note: I'm worried that Manu is still playing on only one leg. He has flashes, but something is wrong with him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him sit out a few weeks before the playoffs start.)
Toronto Rapters: Think of what the Charlie "Hairless" Villanueva trade is turning out to be. He went to the Bucks for T.J. "Ouch! My neck!" Ford. Ford was turned into Jermaine "What the hell happened to me?" O'Neal. And now O'Neal is turned into the expiring contract of Shawn Marion, who would rather be Amare Stoudemire's roommate than re-sign with the Rapters. And it all happened within the last two years. As Villanueva continues to develop and T.J. Ford leads the Pacers to a playoff birth, that deal may go down as the most lopsided trade since the Slave Trade. The Raptors are still trying to find takers for Anthony Parker's ex-tract, which any playoff team in need of a solid wing defender who can shoot in the mold of a Raja Bell or a Bruce Bowan should want. Perhaps Cleveland for Wally's ex-tract. But I just had a euphoric idea: How about Bosh and Anthony Parker for Oden, Outlaw, and Raef "the team no longer even lets me on the plane" LaFrentz! Portland gets the other super star it will need to go after a Chip this year. Plus he's young and they'll definitely be able to resign him. So they're solid for now and for the future. Toronto knows they can't win this year so they're playing for the future anyways. And they know they won't be able to re-sign Bosh so they have to at least get something for him while they can. They also know Bargnani will never be strong enough to play the 5 in the NBA and is much better suited to play power forward. They can team him up with Oden, insert Outlaw at the 3, and with Calderon at point, they're set for the next 10 years. God I'm good.
Utah Jazz: Can Carlos Boozer be any more of a prick? He's one of only a handful of guys in the league that will give you 20 and 10 in their sleep, along with Duncan, Howard, Jefferson, and Zach Randolph. Yet, today, we look at him as more similar to Randolph than the other three. He's become a team cancer, and in order to keep it from spreading to the heart (Deron Williams) the Jazz need to go through a little Kemo-therapy in the form of a trade (Walt Whitman doesn't have shit on me.) The Jazz currently sit at 8th in the West, despite playing without their leading scorer practically the entire season, their second leading scorer most of the season, and their best defender, AK-47, for part of the season. They did it with team play, and with the emergence of Paul Millsap. This is my pick for NBA's best second half team. They're going to go on a run now that they have all their horses back. They're one of just a few teams in the league who can realistically take the Lakers in a 7 game series. The others being the Spurs, Magic (if healthy), Celtics, Cavs, and maybe Portland. They have the best home court advantage in the league. They have one of the best point guards in the league. They have a 3-headed big man combo between Millsap, Boozer, and Okur that rivals the Lakers Gasol, Bynum, and Odom. They have a deep bench filled with veterans. They have the ultimate x-factor in Kirilenko, who is one of the few players in the league who can dominate the game without scoring. And they have a fellow hall of fame coach in Sloan who can match wits with the Zen Master. My prediction: they can take the Lakers, but Boozer needs to be huge. If he's a no-show, kiss it goodbye.
Washington Wizards: I had secretly hoped they made Caron Butler available. He'd look great in a Bulls uniform. But they're smarter than I gave them credit for, especially after handing out that insane contract to a one-legged Arenas. Hibachi has no intention of coming back this year and embarrassing himself. They should really consider trading Jamison and getting out from under that contract. The Spurs could use him at the 4-spot. Maybe if they dangle suprising rookie point guard George Hill, plus Bonner and Bowan's contracts, something could be done. Then next year the Wiz could run out Hill at the 1, Arenas at the 2 (where he should be playing anyway), Butler at the 3, Blatche at the 5, and their own lottery pick (likely Greg Monroe from Georgetown) at the 4. Though the trade is waaaaay in the Spurs favor, it makes sense from an economic standpoint for the Wizards. Never, maybe in the history of the league, has the financial situation of the country played such a major role in, not just the day to day activities, but also the large scope of things. Would Clay Bennett be so eager to move the Sonics to Ok City as soon as possible if the economy was better? Wouldn't the Hornets be trying to compete for a Chip this year instead of trying to dump salary? Wouldn't Mark Cuban be waving Stackhouse's ex-tract in people's faces if not for the economy? We've never seen the league like this. It's strange to think that Raef LaFrentz's expiring contract is more valuable than Amare Stoudemire today.
Fantasy Sports is My Reality
Why do we follow sports? There are reasons abound. I can only speak for myself as a sharp-tongued vagabond, but my reasons are as follows:
1. I have little to no talent in just about everything under the red sun. It’s a daily treat surveying the sports world and watching human men do godly things.
B. I am bored constantly. Perhaps I should be reading medical journals or sculpting supple shapes, but being that I have no drive or ambition things of that ilk are very much outside my scope. Sport is comforting and pure. Always delivers excitement and gets the blood flowing hard to my black heart. Something a simpleton like myself can really sink his or her yellow teeth into ya heard me?
3. It gives us fantasy sports, the greatest creation since the cotton gin and the theme of this post. It creates a new world, an opportunity for the critic to build and shape franchises of their own accord. It breeds competition from those incapable of competing on the stages they dreamed of as youths. Yeah this got gay real fast. Moving on...
Solid intro. In pouring my insides out I’ve realized I probably need a fist full of Prozac for the next 50 years, but also I need to get back on track. The purpose of this entry is to talk about my only passion in life. Miley Cyrus comes to mind, but we’ll save that for a later date. Fantasy sports governs all. Three to four hours a day perusing articles, checking injuries, scouring the waiver wire for a piping hot star probably doesn’t do justice. It’s an all day love affair. It’s really quite ridiculous, but what is the alternative? Spouting poetry under a young fern? I’ll pass.
1. Baseball – Nothing better in this world than that first crisp bite of spring air and the anticipation of a live fantasy baseball draft. I feel like a phoenix rising to the heavens. It’s a real commitment, not for the weak or faint of heart. The GM hat is on from January till October. I really wonder how anyone gets up in the morning without checking box scores, sifting through player updates and staring at chiseled mug shots of hot young studs. It would an unholy pursuit to live any other way.
2. Hockey – It is a game made for the sport of fantasy. The challenge lies in scouting for the simple fact hockey is a lost art in the American states. You have to dig deep to fill your dossier of player info, but the trying search gives fantasy hockey its allure. Once again the every day grind scratches me right where I itch. The live draft in October is a wondrous occasion, but building and maintaining a working roster throughout the year, dealing with rookie slumps, shifting lines, cold goalies and suspensions for breaking faces challenges the mind, heart and loins. Passion gives way to obsession fairly quickly. I want a life-size mural of Patrick Kane with skate and stick. Nothing more.
3. Basketball – A solid third place on this list. Perhaps the most frustrating fantasy sport of them all, which in a sense makes it great, but I am an impatient surly youth. I crave results and the general malaise that surrounds the NBA is abundant in the fantasy world. I’ll give an example to further illustrate my irritation. Eric Gordon. Player enters the starting lineup right before Thanksgiving and drops these lines in back to back games. 25 pts. 4 threes. 3 assists. 4 steals, 1 block. Then 24 pts. 4 threes. 5 rebounds. 4 assists. 4 steals. 2 blocks. Wow. I’ve got an MFing star on my hands. Yes and no. Follows up with a 2-7 night with 5 pts. It’s a crushing blow when you live and die with each game. EG has been solid since but I am always petrified of awaking to a god awful line. Now times that by 20 for every player on my roster and you have a ton of grief.
4. Football – Hate it. Won’t play ever again. I have my reasons. They are hard-hitting and on point. But I choose to keep them locked away from you.
Admit It, True Love Between Fan and Athlete is Real and Wondrous
Baseball is in full swing. Which means it’s time to unveil Man Love for 2008. I hate the term Man Crush. It reaks of infatuation. I love men. Well professional male athletes. Baseball allows Man Love to be a relentless affair for damn near eight months, which just doesn’t compete with any other sport. You have the option to watch your new beau six days a week till October. That is some real quality time. Also, Man Love has much to do with age. There won’t be a single dude on this list over 25. And you have to be good looking. Gayness has zero to do with this, but lets get serious who wants to openly cheer for a ghoul (Vernon Wells). Enough gay banter, here is the list… in no particular order.
Johnny Cueto – Kid can deal. Flat deal. Three plus pitches, sweet name and a nice young face. Makings of a real ace for the next decade. Absolutely fearless and the numbers back it up. What’s not to love really? 29 K jobs to three BB’s in four starts on the bump! Love the sexy WHIP (.72). Johnny C just has no trepidations about challenging anyone. Which is truly unreal considering he's on the light side of 22. Clearly there will be bumps in the road, but the dominant starts will far outweigh the troublesome ones. The Reds are a squad on the rise. (Not on this list… Jay Bruce, Edison Volquez, Homer Bailey. They qualify, but a combination of ugliness (Volquez), ineptitude (Bailey), and zero time in the show (Bruce) led to their disqualification.
Johnny Cueto – Kid can deal. Flat deal. Three plus pitches, sweet name and a nice young face. Makings of a real ace for the next decade. Absolutely fearless and the numbers back it up. What’s not to love really? 29 K jobs to three BB’s in four starts on the bump! Love the sexy WHIP (.72). Johnny C just has no trepidations about challenging anyone. Which is truly unreal considering he's on the light side of 22. Clearly there will be bumps in the road, but the dominant starts will far outweigh the troublesome ones. The Reds are a squad on the rise. (Not on this list… Jay Bruce, Edison Volquez, Homer Bailey. They qualify, but a combination of ugliness (Volquez), ineptitude (Bailey), and zero time in the show (Bruce) led to their disqualification. 
Zach Greinke – Definitely a member of Man Love 2004 at the supple age of 21. Started 24 games that season and posted an ERA under four for the hapless Roy-als with Cheese. Now, Greinke has matured into the oldest of the Fab Four on this list. He will be 24, b-day (Oct. ??), for all of 2008 unless KC turns into Wild Thing Rick Vaughn, Willie Mays Hayes and the rest of the Injuns from Major League 1 & 2. For the record, Greinke is by no means an Adonis, but he has boyish charm. And who doesn't love that. Kid has been filthy so far and I don’t see him letting up. Only thing to keep my main man from competing for the AL Cy Young is if he wigs out again and falls into a yawning chasm of depression. Deeper than some lame EMO queen who cuts himself in the dark listening to Panic at the Disco! It could happen.
Justin Upton – The next Ken Griffey Jr... J-Up will be “The Kid” from 1996-99 when he was blasting damn near 50 a year with 150+ RBI, 15-20 SB, and a .285-300 average (might want to curve it though since Griffey was no doubt on the dope.) Twenty years young and taking the league by storm. Player is a physical specimen and can flat rake. There’s not much more to say. Although, would love to see him start running. How lovely will it be to watch CB Young and Upton making up two-thirds of the D-Back outfield for the next 10 years. Hands down the Rookie of the Year in the NL. J-Up is just too compact and quick at the plate to regress. Plus he’s an absolute sponge. Already a different player from end of last year to Opening Day to April 22. 
Alex Gordon – What a tasty treat so far. See a lot of David Wright in his game. Of course Gordon does hit from the left side, but I see the combo of power and speed. Everyone knows the lefty swing is a work of moving art so he's got that over his 3-bag counterpart. Not quite D-Wright defensively; however, the guy is nothing short of a Greek God. A legit candidate for 30/30. Not out of the question for 100 run/ 100 RBI at some point soon considering the ever-improving KC lineup. (Only qualm: would love to see more patience at the plate. Four BB to 15 K’s in 19 games in 2008. Whiffed 137! in ’07 in 151 matches. Not doubt in my monkey brain those numbers will improve.) Also, might need to improve his looks a bit. Nothing serious, perhaps some scruffiness and a sweet hair style. I've noticed the hair is already desheveling...Nice.Honorable Mention Man Lovers (All worthy selections): Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Braun, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore, B.J. Upton, Curtis Granderson, Fausto Carmona, Lastings Milledge, Adam Jones, Troy Tulowitzki, CB Young, Evan Longoria, J. R. Towles, Mark Reynolds, Hunter Pence, Joe Mauer, Ryan Zimmerman, Delmon Young, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Kemp, Cole Hamels, Justin Verlander, Scott Kazmir, King Felix (although ugly, makes up for it in many ways), Tim Lincecum (see Felix), Frankie Liriano, Huston Street, Chad Billingsley, Carlos Marmol, Dustin McGowan, Phillipe Hughes, Clay Buchholz, Micah Owings, Conor Jackson, Nick Markakis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Gomez.
Too ugly: Yunel Escobar, Casey Kotchman, Tom Gorzellany, Matt Garza, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Cain, Yovani Gallardo, Manny Corpas, Joba Chamberlain, Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana, Dana Eveland, Edison Volquez, Justin Germano, Jair Jurrjens, Ian Kinsler
(Wow. This got out of hand. This will have to be continued at some point. Man Love 2008 Part II is on the horizon.)
Daaaa BULLS(hit)
You want to believe they were doing the right thing. You want to believe that hard work leads to success. You want to believe that rewarding the right attitude leads to winning. But this season, the Bulls are throwing a wrench into what every sane person believed was the only foolproof way of developing a successful organization from scratch. The Bulls had a plan, and it seemed to make sense.
1) Have patience, it's going to be awhile. You have to know going in that you aren't going to win a championship next year. When teams try to do the "one year turnaround" it almost never works, and usually ends up setting the team back even further. Look at the Orlando Magic in 2000 after making the giant free agent signings of T-Mac and Grant Hill. They rushed it, and it cost them so much money that they couldn't afford filling the rest of the 12 man roster with any semblance of talent. To this day they are still recovering. The Knicks (Jalen Rose, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolf...), the Sixers (C-Webb), and the Pacers (Dunleavy, Murphy) all have been victims of this thinking. (Side note: Notice how they are all in the East.) The '08 Celtics are expections to the rule and that's just because Kevin Garnett is involved.
2) Hire a GM that the owner will have no problems with going forward. The man must be smart, dedicated, have a plan, and have some experience with a winning franchise. John Paxson has served as an assistant coach under one of the smartest coaches ever, Phil Jackson. He was the key member of 3 championship teams: two as a starter and one as a go-to guy off the bench. He came in with a plan (to build through the draft and collect assets to eventually use toward requiring a franchise player) and started implementing that plan almost immediately.
3) Get rid of the filth. Pax started by getting rid of anything that reminded us of the Krause era. Goodbye, Eddie Robinson. Goodbye, Jamal Crawford. Goodbye, Eddy Curry. Goodbye, Bill Cartright.
4) Hire a head coach that shares the same basic principles as the GM. Pax hired Skiles, a former unathletic caucasion point guard, like Paxson, whose success as a player stemmed from his work ethic and no-nonsense attitude.
5) Draft players from successful universities/backgrounds. Pax needed to change the atmosphere as soon as possible. The work environment is often more important than the workers themselves. If you put a dumb kid in a classroom full of nerds, pretty soon that dumb kid ain't gonna be so dumb. You put an honor roll 10 year old little girl in a classroom full of drug addicted prostitutes and paper bag boys, pretty soon that honor roll 10 year old little girl will be pregnant. With that in mind, in comes Jason Williams from the '01 NCAA championship winning Duke. In comes, Kirk Hinrich from the '03 runner up, Kansas. In comes Ben Gordon, leading scorer for '04 champion, UConn. In comes Luol Deng from '04 Elite Eight member, Duke. In comes Andres Nocioni, veteran starter for Argentine Olympic Squad. In comes Tyrus Thomas, best player for '06 final four member, LSU. In comes Joachim Noah from back-to-back national champion Florida Gators.
The process was working. The team had improved. Not only could we FINALLY see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light we saw was blinding. So what the hell happened? Why are they not kicking ass and taking names this year? Allow me to enlighten you, my fellow depressed Bulls fans.
For starters, Skiles sucked. Everyone thought this guy was such a terrific coach. "Finally, an old school coach that tells it like it is!" "It's about time we found a coach that doesn't mince words. He'll demand accountability. He'll demand that the players play the RIGHT way." Every columnist in the Chi was slurpin' this guy just because he brought a team full of lottery picks to 3rd place in a horrible Eastern Conference. Some idiots from the FLN were even mentioning his name as a Coach of the Year candidate. It was the biggest overreaction since the warden in Shawshank Redemption sentenced Tim Robbins to two months in the hole just for calling him "obtuse."
To us, Skiles seemed like the type of guy we'd want our son to play for, an old-school coach that cherishes fundamental principals. If our kid did something wrong, we could count on Coach Skiles to set them straight. Well, that probably works for high school kids. College kids, maybe. Professional athletes, puh-lease.
For some reason in Chicago, people get confused between "honesty/integrity/toughness" and "good coaching." Not that it's wrong, but it's slightly misguided. They usually coincide. But you have to be able to teach it. Skiles talked it, but he didn't teach it. One could argue this Bulls team is one of the least mentally tough teams in the league. The natural inclination of the average racist idiot is to say, "Coach Skiles told these guys time and time again. The players just didn't listen. They quit on him. They're lazy. They don't try hard. They're unmotivated." This is inaccurate. Players still played hard, or at least, as hard as could be expected. But when when you continue to lose and it becomes harder and harder to compete with better teams with more talent, one begins to lose motivation.
Yeah, I hear you all saying, "A professional athlete shouldn't require additional motivation. They're getting paid millions to play a game. What other motivation does one need?" True that, true that. But look at this way. A guy can offer me $1000 every time I run into a brick wall. And I'll do it. For the money, I'll do it. If he wants me to run hard, fine. $1000, sure, I'll run hard. But after a while, despite being motivated by the money, believe me, I'll begin to lose motivation.
That's what the losing is. It's running into that brick wall. It's taking the court every game knowing you're outmatched and you'll most likely lose no matter what level of effort you bring.
The players did begin to slack off. Yes, it's true. And every one of them will admit as much. But when Skiles was consistently outcoached and the team's game plan was constantly being squashed by average defensive teams, he was eventually going to get tuned out.
What professionals respect is winning. Period. And Skiles doesn't win. What he does is get young players to play better, particularly young guards. But big men under him have never flourished. Veterens can't stand him (J-Kidd, Jalen Rose, Antonio Davis, Scottie Pippen, Corey Blount, Ben Wallace...). In a sense, he has the ultimate "little man syndrome." He's taken stubborness to Tony Soprano-type levels. The job of a coach is to get the best out of what he's given and to win. Skiles simply didn't do that. He didn't adapt. He had a dominant low post player in Eddy Curry, who became a bust here. He had a dominant defensive shot blocker in Tyson Chandler, who became a bust here. He had a former defensive player of the year in Ben Wallace, who became a bust here. He had a freak of nature athlete in Tyrus Thomas, who is on his way to becoming a bust here.
The average fan sees these players underachieving and thinks it's all their fault; that they either suck or they don't play hard. Not the case, people. Skiles disregards the big man on offense and puts them in lose-lose situations on defense. He allows his guards to gamble on defense and expose the big men to penetration. (Ever wonder why Tyson was always in foul trouble? Ever wonder why Big Ben had no impact? Look at the lack of help from the guards, who consistently hung them out to dry.) Both guards, Kirk and Lil' Ben, are too small to be playing significant minutes. You can't start two undersized shooting guards in the backcourt and expect to be defensively efficient. Offensively, Skiles insisted on these ridiculous drive and kick scheme that allowed the guards to jack up a disgusting amount of jump shots from the perimeter. Decent defensive teams began to stick with their men instead of collapsing on the penetration. Pretty soon, last year's open 20 footers turned into contested 20 footers. It was Skiles fault. He didn't adapt. He didn't use the weapons at his disposal. He didn't get the best out of his players. He didn't coach and he didn't win.
He routinely gave Kirk Hinrich 35 minutes a game this year, even though Captain Kirk brought less and less to the table. If anything he took things from the table. He was a bus boy, really. His turnovers, poor shot selection, and inability to run the offense all contributed to maybe the biggest key to this team's lack of success: no floor leader. We don't have one player capable of yelling, "Lu, get your ass on the block. You're 6'9'' damnit. The guy whose guarding you is 6'5''. What the hell are you doing on the perimeter?!" Or, "Noc, if you jack up one more 3 with a man in your face when your 10 times quicker than the opposing team's four and can easily take him off the dribble, I'm going to fly to Buenos Aires and screw your wife." Gordon never speaks up. I'm not sure if Luol even knows how to talk, I've never heard him say a thing. Noc doesn't speak English. Tyrus and Joachim are too young, I guess. It's the defacto point guard's job to take charge. Kirk didn't do that.
The players didn't trust their on-floor leader. They definitely didn't trust their coach. And that brings up Pax. The players lost their trust in him as well. It began last year when Tyrus Thomas was fined $10,000 for his comments regarding the slam dunk contest. Most people remember it as the immature Thomas saying he'll go just to collect a check. Then Pax fined him. Truth is the NBA had been late in the process of selecting the slam dunk contestants, giving the finalists very little time to plan and work on the dunks they would use. The four finalists each receive a check from the NBA no matter the outcome of the contest. After the late selection, all Thomas said was, in a joking manner, "I guess I'll go there to collect the money." Then a huge deal was made out of it. Fans called him a spoiled athlete. And Paxson, fearing bad press, decided to fine his rookie $10,000. It was unfair and disloyal. That may have been the beginning to the downfall.
The following offseason's trade rumors and contract negotiations didn't help. Pax waited to the last minute to offer Lil' Ben and Luol Deng new contracts, and when he finally did, they were both in the, "Take it or leave it" category. This is simply not the way you deal with the two best players on your team. Then, to add insult to injury, he waited till several weeks into the season to squash any trade rumors involving any of the players.
Fans said the players should be professional and play through it. How would you like coming to work everyday for month after month, wondering if today is your last day? It wasn't very condusive to winning games and it certainly wasn't condusive to building trust between players and management.
You can even go so far back as Paxson's decision to trade Chandler. Tyson had been one of the hardest working players on the Bulls, the anti-Eddy Curry. He was a fan favorite as well as a locker room favorite. But because he didn't fit Skiles plans, he was traded for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith. Smith was let go within days. The plan was to use Brown in a trade for a big name player, a trade Pax was too conservative to pull the trigger on. We look back now at how little Memphis asked for in return for Pau Gasol from the Lakers, and as LA just wrapped up home court advantage throughout the playoffs in the most competitive conference in NBA history, we realize Pax effed it up.
In the end, the blame lies mostly in the lap of management. The easy thing to do is blame the players; to accuse them of being lazy, unprofessional, and immature. Amazing! These are the same players from fantastic backgrounds who never once in their lives have had their character questioned. They were thrown into an unprofessional environment, and pretty soon they began to act unprofessional. That's the truth.
2) Hire a GM that the owner will have no problems with going forward. The man must be smart, dedicated, have a plan, and have some experience with a winning franchise. John Paxson has served as an assistant coach under one of the smartest coaches ever, Phil Jackson. He was the key member of 3 championship teams: two as a starter and one as a go-to guy off the bench. He came in with a plan (to build through the draft and collect assets to eventually use toward requiring a franchise player) and started implementing that plan almost immediately.
3) Get rid of the filth. Pax started by getting rid of anything that reminded us of the Krause era. Goodbye, Eddie Robinson. Goodbye, Jamal Crawford. Goodbye, Eddy Curry. Goodbye, Bill Cartright.
4) Hire a head coach that shares the same basic principles as the GM. Pax hired Skiles, a former unathletic caucasion point guard, like Paxson, whose success as a player stemmed from his work ethic and no-nonsense attitude.
5) Draft players from successful universities/backgrounds. Pax needed to change the atmosphere as soon as possible. The work environment is often more important than the workers themselves. If you put a dumb kid in a classroom full of nerds, pretty soon that dumb kid ain't gonna be so dumb. You put an honor roll 10 year old little girl in a classroom full of drug addicted prostitutes and paper bag boys, pretty soon that honor roll 10 year old little girl will be pregnant. With that in mind, in comes Jason Williams from the '01 NCAA championship winning Duke. In comes, Kirk Hinrich from the '03 runner up, Kansas. In comes Ben Gordon, leading scorer for '04 champion, UConn. In comes Luol Deng from '04 Elite Eight member, Duke. In comes Andres Nocioni, veteran starter for Argentine Olympic Squad. In comes Tyrus Thomas, best player for '06 final four member, LSU. In comes Joachim Noah from back-to-back national champion Florida Gators.
The process was working. The team had improved. Not only could we FINALLY see the light at the end of the tunnel, but the light we saw was blinding. So what the hell happened? Why are they not kicking ass and taking names this year? Allow me to enlighten you, my fellow depressed Bulls fans.
For starters, Skiles sucked. Everyone thought this guy was such a terrific coach. "Finally, an old school coach that tells it like it is!" "It's about time we found a coach that doesn't mince words. He'll demand accountability. He'll demand that the players play the RIGHT way." Every columnist in the Chi was slurpin' this guy just because he brought a team full of lottery picks to 3rd place in a horrible Eastern Conference. Some idiots from the FLN were even mentioning his name as a Coach of the Year candidate. It was the biggest overreaction since the warden in Shawshank Redemption sentenced Tim Robbins to two months in the hole just for calling him "obtuse."To us, Skiles seemed like the type of guy we'd want our son to play for, an old-school coach that cherishes fundamental principals. If our kid did something wrong, we could count on Coach Skiles to set them straight. Well, that probably works for high school kids. College kids, maybe. Professional athletes, puh-lease.
For some reason in Chicago, people get confused between "honesty/integrity/toughness" and "good coaching." Not that it's wrong, but it's slightly misguided. They usually coincide. But you have to be able to teach it. Skiles talked it, but he didn't teach it. One could argue this Bulls team is one of the least mentally tough teams in the league. The natural inclination of the average racist idiot is to say, "Coach Skiles told these guys time and time again. The players just didn't listen. They quit on him. They're lazy. They don't try hard. They're unmotivated." This is inaccurate. Players still played hard, or at least, as hard as could be expected. But when when you continue to lose and it becomes harder and harder to compete with better teams with more talent, one begins to lose motivation.
Yeah, I hear you all saying, "A professional athlete shouldn't require additional motivation. They're getting paid millions to play a game. What other motivation does one need?" True that, true that. But look at this way. A guy can offer me $1000 every time I run into a brick wall. And I'll do it. For the money, I'll do it. If he wants me to run hard, fine. $1000, sure, I'll run hard. But after a while, despite being motivated by the money, believe me, I'll begin to lose motivation.
That's what the losing is. It's running into that brick wall. It's taking the court every game knowing you're outmatched and you'll most likely lose no matter what level of effort you bring.
The players did begin to slack off. Yes, it's true. And every one of them will admit as much. But when Skiles was consistently outcoached and the team's game plan was constantly being squashed by average defensive teams, he was eventually going to get tuned out.
What professionals respect is winning. Period. And Skiles doesn't win. What he does is get young players to play better, particularly young guards. But big men under him have never flourished. Veterens can't stand him (J-Kidd, Jalen Rose, Antonio Davis, Scottie Pippen, Corey Blount, Ben Wallace...). In a sense, he has the ultimate "little man syndrome." He's taken stubborness to Tony Soprano-type levels. The job of a coach is to get the best out of what he's given and to win. Skiles simply didn't do that. He didn't adapt. He had a dominant low post player in Eddy Curry, who became a bust here. He had a dominant defensive shot blocker in Tyson Chandler, who became a bust here. He had a former defensive player of the year in Ben Wallace, who became a bust here. He had a freak of nature athlete in Tyrus Thomas, who is on his way to becoming a bust here.
The average fan sees these players underachieving and thinks it's all their fault; that they either suck or they don't play hard. Not the case, people. Skiles disregards the big man on offense and puts them in lose-lose situations on defense. He allows his guards to gamble on defense and expose the big men to penetration. (Ever wonder why Tyson was always in foul trouble? Ever wonder why Big Ben had no impact? Look at the lack of help from the guards, who consistently hung them out to dry.) Both guards, Kirk and Lil' Ben, are too small to be playing significant minutes. You can't start two undersized shooting guards in the backcourt and expect to be defensively efficient. Offensively, Skiles insisted on these ridiculous drive and kick scheme that allowed the guards to jack up a disgusting amount of jump shots from the perimeter. Decent defensive teams began to stick with their men instead of collapsing on the penetration. Pretty soon, last year's open 20 footers turned into contested 20 footers. It was Skiles fault. He didn't adapt. He didn't use the weapons at his disposal. He didn't get the best out of his players. He didn't coach and he didn't win.He routinely gave Kirk Hinrich 35 minutes a game this year, even though Captain Kirk brought less and less to the table. If anything he took things from the table. He was a bus boy, really. His turnovers, poor shot selection, and inability to run the offense all contributed to maybe the biggest key to this team's lack of success: no floor leader. We don't have one player capable of yelling, "Lu, get your ass on the block. You're 6'9'' damnit. The guy whose guarding you is 6'5''. What the hell are you doing on the perimeter?!" Or, "Noc, if you jack up one more 3 with a man in your face when your 10 times quicker than the opposing team's four and can easily take him off the dribble, I'm going to fly to Buenos Aires and screw your wife." Gordon never speaks up. I'm not sure if Luol even knows how to talk, I've never heard him say a thing. Noc doesn't speak English. Tyrus and Joachim are too young, I guess. It's the defacto point guard's job to take charge. Kirk didn't do that.
The players didn't trust their on-floor leader. They definitely didn't trust their coach. And that brings up Pax. The players lost their trust in him as well. It began last year when Tyrus Thomas was fined $10,000 for his comments regarding the slam dunk contest. Most people remember it as the immature Thomas saying he'll go just to collect a check. Then Pax fined him. Truth is the NBA had been late in the process of selecting the slam dunk contestants, giving the finalists very little time to plan and work on the dunks they would use. The four finalists each receive a check from the NBA no matter the outcome of the contest. After the late selection, all Thomas said was, in a joking manner, "I guess I'll go there to collect the money." Then a huge deal was made out of it. Fans called him a spoiled athlete. And Paxson, fearing bad press, decided to fine his rookie $10,000. It was unfair and disloyal. That may have been the beginning to the downfall.
The following offseason's trade rumors and contract negotiations didn't help. Pax waited to the last minute to offer Lil' Ben and Luol Deng new contracts, and when he finally did, they were both in the, "Take it or leave it" category. This is simply not the way you deal with the two best players on your team. Then, to add insult to injury, he waited till several weeks into the season to squash any trade rumors involving any of the players.
Fans said the players should be professional and play through it. How would you like coming to work everyday for month after month, wondering if today is your last day? It wasn't very condusive to winning games and it certainly wasn't condusive to building trust between players and management.
You can even go so far back as Paxson's decision to trade Chandler. Tyson had been one of the hardest working players on the Bulls, the anti-Eddy Curry. He was a fan favorite as well as a locker room favorite. But because he didn't fit Skiles plans, he was traded for P.J. Brown and J.R. Smith. Smith was let go within days. The plan was to use Brown in a trade for a big name player, a trade Pax was too conservative to pull the trigger on. We look back now at how little Memphis asked for in return for Pau Gasol from the Lakers, and as LA just wrapped up home court advantage throughout the playoffs in the most competitive conference in NBA history, we realize Pax effed it up.
In the end, the blame lies mostly in the lap of management. The easy thing to do is blame the players; to accuse them of being lazy, unprofessional, and immature. Amazing! These are the same players from fantastic backgrounds who never once in their lives have had their character questioned. They were thrown into an unprofessional environment, and pretty soon they began to act unprofessional. That's the truth.
The Great Race of '08
From my omnipresent standpoint, the 5 real contenders are, in no particular order: Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant. Guys like Carlos Boozer, Brandon Roy, Dwight Howard, Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Chauncey Billups, and Tracy McGrady have all had their names mentioned as well. Allow me to shut them down one by one.Boozer, despite being a top 25 player in the league, can't be the true MVP of the league if he isn't even the most valuable player on his own team (Deron Williams). Brandon Roy was getting slurped by all the critics when the Blazers went on that mid-season winning streak. Now that the team is coming back to their senses, so are all the critics. Dwight "Superman II" Howard is a monster, and the 2nd best center in the game behind Duncan, but turnovers, inconsistency, and playing with a below average point guard in a below average conference hurt his chances. Baron Davis didn't even make the All-Star team, plus many say Stee-Jack is the heart and soul of that team. Nash's defense (or lack there of) is finally beginning to be discussed openly. He gets 20 and 10 dropped on him too consistently from the top ones in the West (Paul, D-Wil, Baron, Tony Parker, etc). Dirk Nowitzki could have averaged 32, 14, 6, 3, and 3 this year, and the league would still have refused to give him the back-to-back after he took it like anal queen Taylor Rain from Stephen Jackson and the Golden State Warriors in last year's first round.
Chauncey "I have the goofiest name ever and nobody seems to realize it" Billups suffers in the same way that Boozer does. Most people don't know it, but Rasheed Wallace has been the most valuable player on the Pistons since he's gotten there. Very few players can score inside and out, play both front court positions on both sides of the floor, and guard the opposing team's best big man without fouling. Proof of his value lies in how smoothly the Pistons transitioned after losing Ben Wallace two years ago. Better proof lies in how when 'Sheed flipped out like a drunken homeless man clearing out a late night burrito joint in last year's playoffs against The Lebrons, the Pistons promptly tanked. Chauncey drives that team, but 'Sheed is the backbone.
The darkhorse is T-Mac. Allow me to go out on the limb here and say that if McGrady had never had these recurring back issues and ever had a chance to play with a great coach earlier in his career who demanded his accountability at the defensive end, we might be talking about him in the same light as we have the Kobe's, Duncans, and KG's over the last 7 or so years. A 6-8 terror who could score from anywhere, was practically unguardable, and could jump out of the gym. He still drops 22, 6 and 5 consistently, but you can literally see the strain in his eyes as he rises to the basket on a drive and can barely get a runner up and over a shot blocker, when 5 years ago he would have dunked with ease. He deserves an entire article here. But the bottom line is this: he's gotten a depleted Rockets team up to third place 3/4 of the way through the season in the most difficult conference any of us has ever seen. If he keeps it up through season's end, then his name does deserve to be mentioned in the original 5 that I pointed out earlier.Now, let's get to the 5 true MVP candidates. These are the five we immediately think of, and rightfully so. Before I breakdown their pros and cons, let me first remind you of the 5 categories used to determine most valuable player. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
1) Who statistically had the best season?
2) Whose team had the best season?
3) Who got the most out of his teammates (not who did the most despite his teammates)?
4) Who, relatively, is the most valuable player to his team?
5) Who is the most clutch player or who performed the biggest in the biggest and/or closest games?
I will rank the 5 players in each of the five categories.
Chris Paul: 21.3 ppg, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals, 49 FG%. Hornets: 43 - 20.
I've often said of all the positive influences Michael Jordan had on the game of basketball, the one negative was that classic point guards became non-existent. Before MJ, kids who playe
d point guard on their YMCA or school teams focused more on ball handling and passing than scoring. Coaches taught it more consistently. Little men wanted to be more like Magic or Stockton. But the MJ Effect changed everything. Every player under 6'4" wanted to be a scorer. They practiced shooting fade away jumpers or circus shots driving to the basket. Come to think of it, every player taller than 6'4" wanted to play like Michael too. If Kevin Garnett came along 25 years ago, his coaches would have told him to get his ass on the block or he'd be sitting next to them. No way would a Dirk Nowitzki be allowed to jack up a 2o footer from the top of the key on an iso with a man in his face and have that be called a "good shot" for him. Anyone above 6'9" played in the paint, or he simply wouldn't play.
That is what is so refreshing about CP3. He's the face of a revolution, the Reincarnation of the Classic Point Guard. Guys learning the game now are not watching MJ drop 40 every Sunday on NBC. They're being taught what a true point guard does, which is be the primary ball handler, make good decisions with the ball, be the coach on the floor, and run the team's offense while still being a scoring threat. These are the guys who watched Jason Kidd and Steve Nash growing up. For every Iverson and Arenas, there now is a Tony Parker or a Deron Williams or a Devin Harris.
Or a Chris Paul. If I'm starting a franchise and I get to have the team for the next ten years, my first pick is Lebron, followed by Dwight Howard, possibly Greg Oden, and then Paul. He's that good. 21, 11, and 3! From a 3rd year player! Are you kidding? He's looking like a combination of Isiah in the late 80's and Tim Hardaway in the early 90's, the only two classic point guards ever who could put up 20 and 10 out of habit. He consistently eats up the opposing team's point guard, including Nash and Parker and Baron and Bibby and Kidd (and he finally exorcised the demon that was Deron Williams last week).
Stats-wise he's earned MVP recognition. He's got the "team success" front covered too. 42 - 20 in the hardest conference ever. Most people thought they'd struggle to make the playoffs, not struggle to have the best record in the West. He's made everyone around him better. Peja has rediscovered himself in N'Awlins. He was wasting away in Sac-town and was completely lost in Indiana. He gets 3 - 5 open looks from 3 simply by his man collapsing on CP3's penetration. His shooting % is way up and he doesn't need to put up as many bad shots. David West has become an all-star power forward in a conference full of all-star power forwards. Tyson Chandler has become an olympian, from "bust" to "bad ass" in 1 1/2 seasons. Jannero Pargo is getting legitimate minutes for the first time in his career as a shooting guard because Paul sets him up for so many good looks. CP3 is by far the most important player on his team. In fact, you can make the argument that NO ONE in the league is more important to his team's success than Paul is to the Hornets. Everything is run through him, every play. Byron Scott totally trusts him on the floor. He's their most talented player, most exciting player, leader on and off the court, and the heart and soul of their team.
Of the 5 candidates, I have him 4th however. That's not really a knock on him. It's more of a compliment to the three I rank ahead of him. The biggest objection I have to CP3 winning the MVP is that he doesn't do it at both ends (yet). KG, Duncan, Kobe, and even Lebron, when forced to, can and do shut down the opposing player at their position. You might say, "But look at his steals. He's averaging almost 3 a game!" That's a misleading stat. Iverson has averaged more than 2 steals a game practically his whole career, and he lets more people get passed him than the backdoor bouncer at the Dresden in "Swingers". Yes, Paul usually outscores his opposing point guard, but it's still too close for comfort.
Overall analysis: 1-Stats) 3rd, 2-Team) 4th, 3-Teammates) 4th, 4-Value) 1st, 5-Clutch) 3rd
Kevin Garnet: 18.8 ppg, 9.8 rbs, 3.5 ast, 1.3 blk, 1.4 stl, 54 FG%, Celtics: 51-12
My favorite player in the league along with The Diesel. If only this guy was in his prime right now. How great would this Celtics team be? I imagine if you polled every basketball fan in the country on who their favorite player is, and told them they weren't allowed to vote for anyone on their favorite team, KG would probably win in a landslide.
Through the first half of the season, the Big Ticket had this award locked up. But then Lebron became Jordanesque and the Lakers, Hornets and Spurs all went on huge runs. And then he got hurt. These are the reasons why he's dropped out of the top 2 or 3 conversation. He's still up there though, and if the Celtics get 65 wins or more, it's going to be very hard to not give him the award.
3) Who got the most out of his teammates (not who did the most despite his teammates)?
4) Who, relatively, is the most valuable player to his team?
5) Who is the most clutch player or who performed the biggest in the biggest and/or closest games?
I will rank the 5 players in each of the five categories.
Chris Paul: 21.3 ppg, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 2.7 steals, 49 FG%. Hornets: 43 - 20.
I've often said of all the positive influences Michael Jordan had on the game of basketball, the one negative was that classic point guards became non-existent. Before MJ, kids who playe
d point guard on their YMCA or school teams focused more on ball handling and passing than scoring. Coaches taught it more consistently. Little men wanted to be more like Magic or Stockton. But the MJ Effect changed everything. Every player under 6'4" wanted to be a scorer. They practiced shooting fade away jumpers or circus shots driving to the basket. Come to think of it, every player taller than 6'4" wanted to play like Michael too. If Kevin Garnett came along 25 years ago, his coaches would have told him to get his ass on the block or he'd be sitting next to them. No way would a Dirk Nowitzki be allowed to jack up a 2o footer from the top of the key on an iso with a man in his face and have that be called a "good shot" for him. Anyone above 6'9" played in the paint, or he simply wouldn't play.That is what is so refreshing about CP3. He's the face of a revolution, the Reincarnation of the Classic Point Guard. Guys learning the game now are not watching MJ drop 40 every Sunday on NBC. They're being taught what a true point guard does, which is be the primary ball handler, make good decisions with the ball, be the coach on the floor, and run the team's offense while still being a scoring threat. These are the guys who watched Jason Kidd and Steve Nash growing up. For every Iverson and Arenas, there now is a Tony Parker or a Deron Williams or a Devin Harris.
Or a Chris Paul. If I'm starting a franchise and I get to have the team for the next ten years, my first pick is Lebron, followed by Dwight Howard, possibly Greg Oden, and then Paul. He's that good. 21, 11, and 3! From a 3rd year player! Are you kidding? He's looking like a combination of Isiah in the late 80's and Tim Hardaway in the early 90's, the only two classic point guards ever who could put up 20 and 10 out of habit. He consistently eats up the opposing team's point guard, including Nash and Parker and Baron and Bibby and Kidd (and he finally exorcised the demon that was Deron Williams last week).
Stats-wise he's earned MVP recognition. He's got the "team success" front covered too. 42 - 20 in the hardest conference ever. Most people thought they'd struggle to make the playoffs, not struggle to have the best record in the West. He's made everyone around him better. Peja has rediscovered himself in N'Awlins. He was wasting away in Sac-town and was completely lost in Indiana. He gets 3 - 5 open looks from 3 simply by his man collapsing on CP3's penetration. His shooting % is way up and he doesn't need to put up as many bad shots. David West has become an all-star power forward in a conference full of all-star power forwards. Tyson Chandler has become an olympian, from "bust" to "bad ass" in 1 1/2 seasons. Jannero Pargo is getting legitimate minutes for the first time in his career as a shooting guard because Paul sets him up for so many good looks. CP3 is by far the most important player on his team. In fact, you can make the argument that NO ONE in the league is more important to his team's success than Paul is to the Hornets. Everything is run through him, every play. Byron Scott totally trusts him on the floor. He's their most talented player, most exciting player, leader on and off the court, and the heart and soul of their team.
Of the 5 candidates, I have him 4th however. That's not really a knock on him. It's more of a compliment to the three I rank ahead of him. The biggest objection I have to CP3 winning the MVP is that he doesn't do it at both ends (yet). KG, Duncan, Kobe, and even Lebron, when forced to, can and do shut down the opposing player at their position. You might say, "But look at his steals. He's averaging almost 3 a game!" That's a misleading stat. Iverson has averaged more than 2 steals a game practically his whole career, and he lets more people get passed him than the backdoor bouncer at the Dresden in "Swingers". Yes, Paul usually outscores his opposing point guard, but it's still too close for comfort.
Overall analysis: 1-Stats) 3rd, 2-Team) 4th, 3-Teammates) 4th, 4-Value) 1st, 5-Clutch) 3rd
Kevin Garnet: 18.8 ppg, 9.8 rbs, 3.5 ast, 1.3 blk, 1.4 stl, 54 FG%, Celtics: 51-12
My favorite player in the league along with The Diesel. If only this guy was in his prime right now. How great would this Celtics team be? I imagine if you polled every basketball fan in the country on who their favorite player is, and told them they weren't allowed to vote for anyone on their favorite team, KG would probably win in a landslide.
Through the first half of the season, the Big Ticket had this award locked up. But then Lebron became Jordanesque and the Lakers, Hornets and Spurs all went on huge runs. And then he got hurt. These are the reasons why he's dropped out of the top 2 or 3 conversation. He's still up there though, and if the Celtics get 65 wins or more, it's going to be very hard to not give him the award.
The impact he's had on this team cannot be measured. 24 - 58 last year, as I'm writing this they are 51 and 12. The reason for this is, quite simply, Garnett. As much as I love Ray Allen's game, his influence has been far more tempered by the intensity of KG and the revitalized game of Paul Pierce. More importantly, they gave up an average of 99.2 p/pg last year. This year: 90.2, good for top 3 in the league. Don't tell me this is Jesus Shuttlesworth's doing. He's got worse ankles than James Caan by the end of "Misery" and usually guards the other team's scrub. But a nine point difference in one season? This never happens. It's almost impossible to comprehend. As is KG's influence.
He's turned Kendrick Perkins from a overweight headcase into an important role player. Perkins
gets at least 1 or 2 open dunks or layups per game from feeds by KG, the best passing big man in the game today. Plus he's become a decent post defender, allowing KG to roam and get into passing lanes. Rondo is averaging double figures now, his confidence soaring. KG has taken him under his wing. He is in his face after every play, encouraging him or giving advice. Paul Pierce has become one of the best all-around players in the game. He's the go-to guy down the stretch and he's also developed into a lock down defender, something he was never known to do, or, more importantly, asked to do.
gets at least 1 or 2 open dunks or layups per game from feeds by KG, the best passing big man in the game today. Plus he's become a decent post defender, allowing KG to roam and get into passing lanes. Rondo is averaging double figures now, his confidence soaring. KG has taken him under his wing. He is in his face after every play, encouraging him or giving advice. Paul Pierce has become one of the best all-around players in the game. He's the go-to guy down the stretch and he's also developed into a lock down defender, something he was never known to do, or, more importantly, asked to do.This is what KG does. He DEMANDS accountability from his teammates. Last year, if Pierce's man scored on him - no big deal. This year, if scored on, he's embarrassed, as is the rest of the team. The change in mentality is amazing. The "KG Impact" is bigger than anything since Barkley's arrival in Phoenix in the summer of '92 and Moses Malone's influence in Philly in '82. Both those players won MVPs in their first year with their new teams. More importantly, both those players took their teams to the Finals at the end of the season. Count on KG to to do the same.
The Celtics have the best record in the game, so he's got the team success factor covered. He's made everyone on the team better, including Rivers. (Whatever back room deal he and Ainge had established last season as they were giving games away more often than Bush gives away pardons to white collar oil criminals in order to get their hands on Oden, Rivers definitely seems to be more comfortable and interested this season than last.) The knocks against him are that his stats are sufficiently down from years passed. Injuries are a reason for that, as is there more capable scorers around him. And he's only 1 point and 1 rebound away from being a 20 and 10 guy once again. However, Pierce and Allen have been getting most of the looks down the stretch in close games, with Garnett appearing to be comfortable with handing them that responsibility. In Minnesota he'd be taking the last second shot. In Boston he's been setting the pick to free up Allen or Pierce. A true MVP doesn't do that. Plus, one could make the argument that Pierce is just as valuable to this team's success as KG, the evidence being they were 7 and 2 while he was injured. KG is still a top 5 candidate, but barely. (Side note: outside of seeing Erin Andrews spread eagle on your bed with the words "Enter here" written on her abdomen with an arrow pointing down, is there a sight any true sports fan would want to see more than KG clutching the O'Brian trophy with champaigne and tears flowing down his face a'la Michael Jordan in '91?)
Overall analysis: 1-Stats) 5, 2-Team) 1, 3-Teammates) 1, 4-Value) 5, 5-Clutch) 5
Tim Duncan: 19.8 ppg, 11.6 rbs, 1.9 blk, 3.1 ast, 50 FG%, Spurs record: 44-20
Tim
maaayyyy!! The overall best player in the league this decade. One of the best players of all time. Winner of 4 championships. Only 31 years old. By the time his career is over, where will he rank on the list of all-time great centers (And don't tell me he's a power forward. He's been playing center since the day he arrived in the NBA. The Spurs started two centers, Duncan and Robinson, 2 small forwards - Sean Elliot and Mario Elie, and 1 point guard - Avery Johnson, on that '99 team)? With Kareem, Russell, and Wilt definitely ranked ahead of him. It's a battle between him, Shaq, Hakeem, and Moses for the last two spots in the top 5. If he wins another 1 or 2 titles, he could crack into the top 3 someday.
This year his stats are slightly down, but you can count on him still finishing as a 20 and 10 guy by the end of the season. But, as usual, his name has been left out of the MVP conversation. Of course, as usual, he has his team set up as favorites heading into the playoffs. The problem with Duncan is that he is just so damn consistent. The things he does get taken so for granted. He's like the SpellCheck. As I'm writing this I know, as much as I try not to, I'll probably misspell a few words. But there's a comfort level in knowing when I'm finished, SpellCheck will clean up my mistakes. I should be thanking God every single day that he created someone smart enough to make the SpellCheck. But I take it for granted after a while. That's what Tim Duncan does. He allows for Parker, Bowen, Finley, and Ginobli to gamble and jump passing lanes because they know they got TD backing them up. He's the SpellCheck. He's up there with Russell, Cowens, Mutombo, Ewing, and Hakeem as one of the best big man team defenders. Not to mention he's pretty much a shut down one on one man. Come crunch time, it's him guarding the Boozers, Amares, and Garnetts, not Oberto. (This might change with Kurt Thomas's arrival.)
Ginobli is having a career year, and he has Duncan to thank for that. He gets doubled more than any other player in the NBA. This includes Lebron, Kobe, and anyone else you want to throw at me. Along with Shaq and KG, he's one of the best passing bigs in the game, and guys like Ginobli
and Parker know this. It's beautiful to watch them play because Duncan knows exactly where those two are going to be when the double comes. His dominance has allowed for the growth of Tony Parker, who is the second best point guard now behind Chris Paul, and Ginobli, who is the 3rd best 2 in the league behind Kobe and TMac. These two don't become the players they are today without the luxury of having been Tim Duncan's teammates.
Although he and Kobe are the two best players in the league this year, he probably won't get as many votes as Kobe or King James. Statistically he's doing fine and his team is second in the West. And he's definitely made his teammates better. But maybe that will come back to bite him now. Ginobli and Parker are so good that they can carry the team for long stretches with TD out and not skip a beat. Another interesting thing I've noticed is that Ginobli has become the go-to guy down the stretch. Where in the past, they'd dump it into Duncan, let him do his thing, and if the double comes they'd get an open look because they know TD will find them, now I'm seeing a lot more pick and role with Parker and Duncan and even more of Ginobli and Duncan, and it's been Ginobli getting those crunch time shots. A true MVP takes those shots. I love TD but he's 3rd on my list this year.
Overall analysis: 1-Stats) 4, 2-Team) 3, 3-Teammates) 3, 4-Value) 4, 5-Clutch) 4
Kobe Byrant: 28.2 ppg, 5.3 ast, 6.1 rbd, 2 stl, 35% 3-point, Lakers record: 45-20.
Lebron James: 30.9 ppg, 7.4 ast, 8.1 rbd, 1.9 stl, 1.1 blk, 49 FG%, Cavs: 37-29.
One of these two will win this award almost certainly. Unless the Rockets don't lose again for the rest of the season, in which case they'll have to give it to T-Mac, It's going to either Kobe or Lebron. Both are having incredible years. Trying to pick between the two is like trying to pick between DeNiro or Pacino. It's impossible to accomplish and almost sac religious to even try. So why bother? Instead thank God that you're alive right now and are able to witness their greatness. But for sake of argument and stupidity, I'm going to try to break them down one category at a time. God help me.
STATS) Lebron
Kobe is having a fantastic year. Most people have now declared him the best all around player in the league. And I agree, when you take into account his defense. Along with Artest, Battier, and Raja Bell, he may be the best one on one perimeter defender in the league. And with Ariza being injured and Luke Walton being white, Kobe is often asked to guard the opposing team's best perimeter scorer. And to do that and still put up 28+ is kind of Jordanesque. All that said, Lebron, statistically, is even more Jordanesque. In fact, only two players ever put up similar numbers: The late 80's Jordan and the early 60's Big O.
Oscar: '60-'61 - '65-'66: 30.45 ppg, 10.7 ast, 9.9 rbd. ('61-'62: 30.8 ppg, 11.4 ast, 12.5 rbd)
Michael: '86-'87 - '92-'93: 33.2 ppg, 6 ast, 6.4 rbd. ('88-'89: 32.5 ppg, 8 ast, 8 rbd)
We don't see these kinds of numbers often. That seven year stretch MJ had from his 37.1 point per game explosion he had in '87 till his first retirement in '93, you could count on him to give you 32, 7, and 7 just as much as you can count on Seinfeld to deliver a classic episode every week between its 4th season and it's 7th season. From the "Contest" episode to the season finale of Season 7 when George accidentally kills Susan and mourns by deciding to go get some coffee (poor Lilly), that was the best stretch of TV any sitcom has ever had. I truly believe Lebron is about to embark on a Seinfeld-esque streak. And the scary thing is he's only 23 years old. He'll be doing this for a while, people. The commercials are right; we are all witnesses to something special here. Lebron does everything for that team. He's pretty much unguardable, and in terms of physical talent, he's the best in the league.
I also want to mention that if he smartens up (and it will come with age), his stats should really increase quite a bit. He's shooting almost 50%, which is unheard of in today's NBA where shooting 45% is considered transcendent. MJ used to shoot 50+ percent every year and still average above 30. Lebron will be the first perimeter player to pull that off if he learns to discipline himself and not jack up 25 footers at the end of the shot clock. More of his shots should come from the post. At 6-8, 250, he should have a house built on the lower left block for him to live in, have barbeques, and throw parties. Once he realizes where his strengths lie, fuggedabodit, baby.
Clutch) Kobe
Kobe is the best clutch player since Michael. That's it, that's all. It's not a knock on Lebron. It's a compliment to Kobe. He's got ice in his veins in the 4th quarter. He and Sam Cassell are, I think, the only two players that are genuinely not the least bit frightened to take the final shot in the game. They have zero conscience. They might have missed their previous 25 shots, but in their mind, they're making that last one. Lebron definitely has an argument after he Jordaned the Pistons in last year's playoffs. And he's done the same to the Bulls and Wizards and Magic over the last few years. But Kobe's done it in the Finals countless times. He's got balls forged in the fires of playoff crunch time. He routinely leads the league in 4th quarter scoring. There is no one in the league today I'd rather have taking my final shot than Kobe, period.
Value) Lebron
Without Lebron, the Cavs would be the Grizzlies. That team is absolutely horrible. Not much more I can say really, other than if Ferry doesn't get his act together he won't be allowed to enter the state of Ohio after Lebron becomes a Brooklyn Net. Kobe's team has the best coach in the history of the game and a good mix of veterans and talented youngsters that can carry the team when Kobe is out.
Team) Kobe
The Lakers have the best record in the most competitive conference in the history of the NBA. The Cavs are only 8 games above .500 in one of the worst conferences in the history of the NBA. Lebron's tendency to dribble out the shot clock down the stretch and then try to go one on five in the closing seconds is not particularly conducive to winning games. That's partly Lebron's fault and partly Mike Brown's fault. But Kobe is the best closer in the game, and is still every bit as capable as Lebron at taking over and finishing a game down the stretch.
There are some interesting parallels from Lebron's Cavaliers to the Bulls teams of the '80s. Where Jordan had to do everything by himself for his first 3 or 4 years in the league, Lebron is faced with the same task. And where Michael had Magic as the standard in the league whom he had to topple, Lebron has Kobe. Even though, by the late 80's, people had come to accept MJ being the most talented player, everyone still considered Magic as the best player and a true
winner. They didn't give Jordan the "true winner" label until he beat Magic in '91. Perhaps Lebron will need to do the same before he gets "true winner" credit.
winner. They didn't give Jordan the "true winner" label until he beat Magic in '91. Perhaps Lebron will need to do the same before he gets "true winner" credit.Teammates) Kobe
A lot of lessons were learned following "The Great Disbanment of 1998" by then Bulls general manager, Jerry Krause. One was that we will never see another tandem like Scottie and Michael again. Another was that this might be the last great dynasty we will ever see. One more we be that Jerry "Humpty Dumpty" Krause would not be able to put a winning team back together again.
A few years went by and another lesson was taught to us. Whether or not we learned from it is still debatable. The lesson: Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan are two of the most underrated players ever. Hard to believe, right? Especially due to all the accolades given to Lord MJ over the years. But it's true. They are two of the most underrated players ever to lace 'em up. The proof lies in the post '98 careers of every teammate they had during that run.
RODMAN: Played 23 games with the Lakers in '99 and then 12 with the Mavs the year after. By 2001, he was out of the league.
LONGLEY: Played two unproductive seasons with the Suns before being traded to the Knicks were he stayed 1 year before retiring. He never averaged more than 8.7 ppg.
WENNINGTON: Played 38 games with the Bulls in '99 before signing with Sacramento where he played 7 games before retiring.
BUECHLER: Played another 6 seasons with 3 different teams, never appearing in more than 66 games and never averaging more than 5.5 ppg.
CAFFEY: Played another 6 seasons, only making the playoffs once with Milwaukee as a bench warmer.
RANDY BROWN: Played one more season with the Bulls before going to Boston, where he played 3 more seasons, never averaging more than 4.1 ppg.
Ron Harper, Toni Kukuc, and Steve Kerr were the only players to have any kind of success post '98, and that was simply as marginal role players.
My point to all this is simple: Scottie's and Michael's supporting cast SUCKED. They were terrible. Pippen and Jordan carried those guys to new levels during those championship years, levels they never reached before or since. This ability, the ability to bring up your teammates' level of play, to demand their accountability, is every bit as important as a player statistics and winning percentage when determing most valuable player.
Applying this to today's race, it especially stands out as the major difference between Kobe and Lebron. Kobe makes his teammates better. Lebron does not. All of Kobe's teammates have improved since playing with him, from Farmar to Fisher to Luke Walton and particularly to Andrew Bynum. Bryant has demanded they get better. All of Lebron's teammates have not improved. In fact, if anything, they've gotten worse. Larry Hughes was a borderline all-star before coming to play with King James, where he was labeled a bust. Ilgauskas was a former all-star, and his numbers have gotten worse nearly every year since James came into the league.Another way of looking at it is this. Look at the number of players remaining on the Cavs since Lebron was drafted in '02/'03. The answer: 1, Ilgauskas. Look at the number of players that have stayed with Kobe. Turiaff, Bynum, Mihm, Odom, Vujacic, and Walton have all been there at least 3 years. Plus Fisher actually came back to play with him. Now granted, they have a hall of fame coach that excels at putting his role players in a position to succeed. But ask yourself this: do you believe Andrew Bynum would have become the player he is today had he played with Lebron instead of Kobe. Look at the careers of Darius Miles and Dejuan Wagner. Where are they now?
Bottom line is this: Kobe could go out and average 35 a game like he did a couple years ago. He could put up Lebron numbers. But he knows, at this point in his career, he needs his role players playing well in order to win in the playoffs. Lebron hasn't learned how to do this yet. That is what makes Kobe Bryant better. And that is what makes him this year's MVP.
Lebron James - Overall analysis: Stats) 1, Team) 5, Teammates) 5, Value) 2, Clutch) 2
Kobe Bryant - Overall analysis: Stats) 2, Team) 2, Teammates) 2, Value) 3, Clutch) 1
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