All-Stars

This year’s all-star picks are going to be more statistical, courtesy of my two favorite stats: 82games.com’s Roland Rating and ESPN’s J0hn Hollinger’s PER Rating.

Let’s Start with the West Guards:

Off the top of my head I’d probably go with Chris Paul, K.O.B.E., Ginobili, Chauncey Billups, and *duh-duh* Brandon Roy.  Let’s see what the stats guys say. These are all the players who rank out of the top 50 of each:

Top West Guards by PER:

1. Chris Paul  – 30.2 PER
2. Kobe Bryant – 24.95 PER
3. Brandon Roy – 24.6 PER
4. Tony Parker – 22.91 PER
5. Manu Ginobili – 21.91 PER
6. Chauncey Billups – 20.42 PER
7. Jason Terry – 19.98 PER
8. Kevin Martin – 18.80 PER
9. Steve Nash – 18.38 PER

Ok so we can delete K-Mart since he’s missed more than half of the season.  So far, I see nothing that makes me change my opinion.  I still give Billups and Ginobili over Parker just because Ginobili seems like the best player on that team and Billups has been so important to the Nuggets’ turnaround.  Let’s check the 82games:

1. Paul – 20.1
2. Roy – 11.4
3. Bryant – 11.2
4. Nash – 8.1
5. Ginobili – 7.5
6. Terry – 6.4
7. Billups – 5.7
8. Parker – 4.7
9. Martin – 4.5

So we have the same 9 guys in a different order. I think it’s pretty safe to call Paul and Bryant the starters and give Roy the first bench spot. Then the debate gets interesting. One thing that stands out to me at the moment is that Ginobili, despite being the Spurs’ best player, has only played 37% of the team’s minutes. I think this calls for him to be thrown out with Martin’s injury problems. So we’re down to Nash, Terry, Billups, and Parker fighting for 2 spots.

Nash – 18.38 PER + 8.1 Roland = 26.48 Total
Terry – 19.98 PER + 6.4 Roland = 26.2 Total
Billups – 20.42 PER + 5.7 Roland = 26.17 Total
Parker – 22.91 PER + 4.7 Roland = 27.61 Total

If you want to get too technical, Parker and Nash should go, but their stats are essentially identical, so we’re going with the two players on better teams: Billups and Parker.  Sorry Nash and Terry, maybe next year when your teams are better. As for who is actually going to make it, T-Mac is leading CP3 for the second spot so that pushes everyone down a notch. My feeling is the Spurs get spurned again and CP3, Roy, Nash, and Billups probably make it – with Billups going as an injury replacement for T-Mac. I don’t see Terry going, so if anyone else gets hurt we’re probably seeing Ginobili.

Now to the West Forwards:

PER:

1.Carlos Boozer – 24.77

1. Tim Duncan – 24.46
2. Dirk Nowitzki – 24.01
3. Al Jefferson – 22.38
4. Amare Stoudemire – 22.26
5. Pau Gasol – 21.76
6. Paul Millsap – 20.65
7. Zach Randolph – 19.57
8. Kevin Durant – 19.39
9. Andrei Kirilenko – 19.16
10. Brendan Wright – 19.08
11. Nene – 19.04
12. LaMarcus Aldridge – 18.36
13. David West – 18.60

One curious note about this list: No Carmelo Anthony. Now to the Roland ratings:

1. Kirilenko – 11.2
2. Nowitzki – 10.9
3. West – 9.2
4. Millsap – 7.5
5. Stoudemire – 7.4
6. Lamar Odom – 7.0
7.Aldridge – 6.9
8. Duncan – 6.7
9. Nene – 5.9
10. Hakim Warrick – 5.9
11. Anthony – 5.7
12. Jefferson – 5.4
13. Ron Artest – 4.6

A couple of things strike me here, first that Duncan and Jefferson are so low on the Roland Ratings. Also, I would’ve never guessed D-West to be so high. Also, this re-inforces my point that Kirilenko should be an all-star. But to sum things up, Nowitzki and Stoudemire deserve to be your starters. And while neither of them will end up there, they both should make the all-star game pretty handidly, so that’s nice. Filling the bench is a bit more of a stretch. Millsap actually looks the best of the rest with Kirilenko and Duncan right after him. So those are your deserving All-Stars: Nowizki, Stoudemire, Millsap, Kirilenko, and Duncan. We’ll go with David West as the sixth in case of injury. However I think Gasol actually gets the call, since the Lakers have been so good and he has the next best stats. Millsap and Kirilenko probably don’t make it, but Carmelo’s actually going to start or make it strictly off his name so D-West stays the alternate again.

The center position isn’t much of a question. Yao Ming is 2.3 Roland points ahead of Camby and 3.3 ahead of Shaq, though Shaq does beat him by .52 in PER. Camby is more than 2 points behind both in PER. So Yao will probably go and no one else, but both Shaq and Camby are more than deserving if either of them make it as reserves, since Yao is always voted as the starter. Unfortunately, Shaq’s Suns are in 7th in the West and are not likely to get three all-stars if Nash goes and if the coaches have to choose between Shaq and Nash it’s probably Nash at this point. And Camby’s team is so terrible he’s not likely to be rewarded.

But just to make things fun we have West, Shaq, Camby, Terry, Nash, and let’s throw Al Jefferson in there as guys right below the all-stars competing for our 12th roster spot.

Terry – 19.98 PER + 6.4 Roland = 26.2 Total
Nash – 18.38 PER + 8.1 Roland = 26.48 Total
Shaq – 23.56 PER + 6.8 Roland = 30.36 Total
Camby – 20.89 PER + 7.8 Roland = 28.69 Total
Jefferson – 22.38 PER + 5.4 Roland = 27.78 Total
West – 18.6 PER + 9.2 Roland = 27.8 Total

As you can see, Shaq wins this pretty handidly. Camby comes in a close second and becomes the first alternate with Nash as the guard alternate – we’ll even say that David West is the third alternate.

So here is our Western Conference All-Stars (starters in bold):

G Chris Paul, NOH
G Kobe Bryant, LAL
F Dirk Nowitzki, DAL
F Amare Stoudemire, PHO
C Yao Ming, HOU
G Brandon Roy, POR
G Chauncey Billups, DEN
G Tony Parker
F Tim Duncan, SAS
F Andrei Kirilenko
F Paul Millsap
C Shaquille O’Neal

In reality, the All-stars will look like this:
G Kobe Bryant
G Tracy McGrady
G Chris Paul
F Tim Duncan
F Carmelo Anthony
C Yao Ming
G Brandon Roy
G Steve Nash
G Chauncey Billups
F Amare Stoudemire
F Dirk Nowitzki
F Pau Gasol
C Shaquille O’Neal

To the East we go, starting with the Guards.  These are our PER stats:

1. Dwayne Wade – 28.87
2. Devin Harris – 23.63
3. Jameer Nelson – 21.15
4. Vince Carter – 20.82
5. Joe Johnson – 19.05
6. Mike Bibby – 18.94
7. Michael Redd – 18.94
7. Rajon Rondo – 18.9
8. Jose Calderon – 18.94
9. Andre Miller – 18.25

Yes this is correct, Harris and Nelson are 2 & 3, deservedly so.

Roland Ratings:
1. Wade 19.5
2. Ray Allen 11.2
3. Johnson 8.9
4. Nelson 8.6
5. Redd 8.0
5. Carter 6.8
6. Delonte West 6.5
7. Rondo 5.7
8. Harris 5.6
9. Ramon Sessions 4.8

Wade is the easy pick as the first starter. The real surprise is Nelson as his backcourt mate. After that it’s a pretty tight race with Allen, Johnson, Vince-sanity, Rondo, and Harris. Three of the five can make it, two will get left out. Let’s take a look at the race:

Allen – 17.66 PER + 11.2 Roland = 28.86
Johnson – 19.05 + 8.9 = 28.95
Carter – 20.82 + 6.8 = 27.62
Rondo – 18.9 + 5.7 = 24.6
Harris – 23.63 + 5.6 = 29.23

So Rondo clearly is eliminated, but after that it looks like the last man out is Carter. Not bad, since Harris has been a little better than him and the Nets don’t deserve to have two all-stars. So Wade and Nelson are our starters with Harris, Allen and Johnson as his backups. But the difference between Nelson and Harris is so small that it could change after any game. I think AI is going to win the second starting spot which pushes everyone down a spot, eliminating Allen. Nelson and Harris should be quite a nice story going into this game.

The Eastern Forwards’ PER:
1. Lebron James – 31.59
2. Chris Bosh – 23.38
3. Danny Granger – 22.16
4. Kevin Garnett – 21.25
5. Marreese Spreights – 20.44
6. Antawn Jamison – 20.38
7. Andre Iguodala – 18.4
8. Caron Butler – 18.24

And on the Roland side;

1. James 24.2
2. Iguodala 10.2
3. Granger 10.2
4. Garnett 10.1
5. Bosh 8.3
6. Rashard Lewis 8.0
7. Hedo Turkoglu 4.9
8. Paul Pierce 4.6

So here our top 5 is pretty clear cut. The only question is, after James who starts?

Let’s look at the numbers:
Bosh – 23.38 + 8.3 = 32.18
Granger – 22.16 + 10.2 = 32.36
Garnett – 21.25 + 10.1 = 31.35
Iguodala – 18.4 + 10.2 = 28.6

So by a nose, Granger starts and we start two tweener-small forwards. With Bosh, Garnett, and Iggs backing them up. Now for the actual team I’d probably have to say Pierce makes it and Iguodala gets pushed off as an alternate.

Which leads us to…

Dwight Howard is the center. No question. Big Z is a clear-cut #2 as well. But I think for the actual game, Iggy gets his roster spot. Plus Z is hurt anyway.

Our Deserving Eastern Conference All Stars (Starters in Bold):
G Dwayne Wade, MIA
G Jameer Nelson, ORL
F Lebron James, CLE
F Danny Granger, IND
C Dwight Howard, ORL
G Devin Harris, NJN
G Ray Allen, BOS
G Joe Johnson, ATL
F Kevin Garnett, BOS
F Chris Bosh, TOR
F Andre Iguodala, PHI
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE

And the team that will likely make it:

G Allen Iverson, DET
G Dwayne Wade, MIA
F Lebron James, CLE
F Kevin Garnett, BOS
C Dwight Howard, ORL
G Jameer Nelson, ORL
G Devin Harris, NJN
G Joe Johnson, ATL
F Paul Pierce, BOS
F Chris Bosh, TOR
F Danny Granger, IND
F Andre Iguodala, PHI

Snubs:
So here we go with whose going to get snubbed. The two Jazz potential All-Stars are going to be spurned by the more popular Gasol and Anthony, while T-Mac’s winning the West Vote won’t probably mean much as he looks like he’ll miss the game anyway. In the East, Pierce essentially cancels out Allen, and Iverson takes Z’s spot. Not too much to complain about, though I’d bet Jerry Sloan’ll be pissed. What’s impressive is Millsap and Terry’s success as reserves.

 

Kill that Noise!

MC Shan told you about Chris Bosh!

First of all, let me say this: Chris Bosh is NOT an MVP candidate currently.  Stop giving him so much credit.  He’s probably 11th in the league right now.  Right behind Dirk and right ahead of Vince Carter.  So in the immortal words of MC Shan, “Kill that Noise!”

“So Jason, then who are MVP candidates?”

Glad you asked.  I’m going to give you the top 20 players in the NBA (statistically speaking) and the 10 worst in the NBA this season, so far.  Then, I’m going to give you my early All-Star picks.

(*Applaude*)

The 10 Worst Players in the NBA so far in 2008-09:

10. Dahntay Jones, DEN: To think that this guy’s started 14 of their 17 games is pretty outlandish.  This is the same guy who couldn’t make the Kings’ roster last year, and they sucked.  Homeboy can jump out of the gym, that’s for sure, but he’s not a solid NBA player.  The guy shoots 43% from the floor and averages more than three times as many turnovers to assists.  But with George Karl’s grudge against JR Smith still in place, Jones starts.  And they wonder why Denver’s under-achieved so greatly under Karl.  At some point, you can’t blame AI or ‘Melo, you have to look at the coach too.  But Denver’s been red hot with Billups running the point, so that may be a moot point for now.

9. Bobby Simmons, NJN: This guy had two good years, but after getting hurt two years ago, he’s completely fallen out of favor with the basketball Gods.  He plays for a significantly over-achieving Nets team, but can’t seem to keep up.  The scary part: he, like Jones, starts.  He’s basically their replacement for Richard Jefferson.  I say slide Vince to the 3, and start CDR (my favorite college player from last year)!

Even the most advanced statistical studies can't show everything Bruce Bowen does for you on the court

8. Bruce Bowen, SAS: Bowen always scores low on statistical tests because his one-on-one defense doesn’t really show up in stats.  And he’s not really good for anything else.  There was one point where you could count on his three-point shooting, but that age has gone far away.  Plus the Spurs looked pretty terrible to tip off the season, especially when Tony Parker went down.  But the good thing about that injury is that Coach Pop was forced to play bench guys.  They’ve put together quite a little rotation now with George Hill and Roger Mason, who will come off the bench with Ginobili and Parker healthy.  I still think they need one more big to really compete with the elite of the Conference, but they’re much better off than I’d thought they’d be.  But then again, why doubt the Spurs?

7. Tyus Thomas, CHI: To call this guy a bust is probably an understatement at this point.  He’s joining the Michael Olowokandi/Kwame Brown/Darko Milicic group soon.  Let’s just face it: Thomas got too much credit for LSU’s Final Four run that year, when really Big Baby was the center of that team.  Thomas’ upside at this point is maybe Hakim Warrick.  Maybe.  And considering Warrick’s a below-average NBA player, that’s pretty bad for a guy who was essentially a number two pick in the draft.  Even with a stud point guard, this guy can’t score.  Ouch.

6. Jason Kapono, TOR: I’ve always thought this guy was overrated.  He’s supposedly the best shooter in the league (and he does shoot 52% from behind the arc), but he can’t stay on the court because his defense is so bad.  I don’t know how I left him off my list of the top 10 worst defenders in the league.  But let’s just call a spade a spade: Kapono is terrible.  He does more things to hurt your team (defense) than he can make up with his one skill (shooting 3’s).  Also to be noted is that he can’t create his own shot and is a completely straight-up catch-and-shoot guy.

5. Nick Collison, OKC: This is a guy who doesn’t belong here.  He’s an average NBA starter, but he must be hurt or something.  His rebounding numbers are half of his career average.  His shooting percentage is way down and all of his defensive numbers are way down.  I’m thinking he’s hurt.  He’s normally a very good hustle-work guy in the Jeff Foster-mode.  I’m not sure what’s going on here.

4. Ronnie Price, UTH: You can’t see it, but I smiled while typing that name.  When he was with the Kings I told anyone that would listen; don’t be fooled, he’s not good enough to be in the NBA.  He’s too small to defend anyone, and not quick enough to stay in front.  He’s also not especially athletic and takes terrible shots.  But he would put up such solid garbage-time numbers that all my fellow Kings fans wanted to bring him back.  But he’s garbage.  He sucks.  He’s someone you’d want to root for, but he’s just not good enough.

Last year Deshawn couldn't feel his face, this year he can't feel his jumper

3. Deshawn Stevenson, WAS: This one hurts.  Deshawn had become one of my favorite players in the league after last year’s run-ins with LeBron.  And after two years of very solid player, has gone into the tank this year.  He’s currently in a season-long shooting slump, and his Defense has slipped drastically.  Though I think he’ll get it together, you have to wonder if the past two years were simply him playing over his head.  In which case, he didn’t take the step forward that I’d thought he’d taken.  But if you’re looking for reasons Washington has been so horrible this season, Deshawn’s probably reason #1.  #2 would be Andray Blatche and the center position, which has been almost as horrible.  And #3 is Tough Juice’s defense has slipped.  But I’m a big Wiz fan and I’m rooting for them to turn it around.

2. Earl Watson, OKC: Watson has been in the bottom five for at least 3 years now.  The fact the Sonics-turned-Thunder keep bringing him back is more indicative of how bad their point guard situation is than how good he isn’t.  It’s pretty impressive that he keeps finding jobs though.  He must be a great practice player.

Mr. Triple Double is having a down year

1. Ricky Davis, MIA: Ahhh Ricky.  I have to admit, I didn’t think he’d be this bad.  It’s quite well-documented that he’s never on a good team (usually not a coincidence), but at least he gets ‘buckets’ right?  Well he has the worst +/- in the league, and has the lowest PER of players with enough minutes to qualify.  In fact, he’s so far having the worst season since i began checking these stats two years ago.  He’s shooting 27% from the field and averaging 4.3 points per game.  And he’s a scoring-specialist.

Now for a turn for the better:

The 20 Best NBA Players this year so far:

20. Andrew Bynum, LAL: Lost in the Gasol/Kobe hype is that Bynum is having quite a year as third wheel.  He’s actually having a better season than Gasol or Odom, and is third on the team on this list.  (The second is going to surprise you.)  But 12.4 and 9.1 while shooting 53% fromt he field will do that for you.  Not to mention he’s shooting 72% from the line.  Did i mention that he got off to a slow start and his stats sure to race up as his averages catch up?  It’s going to be a long year for everyone in the West trying to catch the Lakers.

19. Chauncey Billups, DEN: It should be no real surprise that Chauncey’s Denver’s top player thus far, or that he was easily Detroit’s.  He’s been in the top 10-15 every year since the ’04 title year.  Especially given how slow ‘Melo’s started statistically.  Chauncey’s actually been the third best PG this year, ahead of such luminaries as Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, and Jose Calderon.  It should also surprise no one that Denver caught fire once Billups was acquired.  They look like a legit threat to take down the Lakers and/or the Rockets, if they ever get theirselves together in Houston.  Talent-wise, there’s these three in the West, and then everyone else.  We’ll have to see how things work out in May and June though, as both Denver and Houston have histories of under-achieving.

18. Marcus Camby, LAC: Stat-heads are always crazy over Camby.  Because he gets outrageous amounts of Rebounds and Blocks without being a real viable option on offense.  He  litterally only seems to care about the team’s well-being.  Unfortunately, he went from an average club in Denver to a terrible club in LA.  But he’s still scoring 10 pts, grabbing 10 boards, and over 2.5 blocks/game.  What’s strange is that Denver has actually become a better defensive team without the former Defensive Player of the Year.

Ray Ray's rejuvenation

17. Ray Allen, BOS: I have to admit, I thought RayRay was done.  Sure he can be a fourth or fifth wheel on the Celtics and they can win a title, but his days of Jesus Shuttlesworth saving his team were long gone.  But he’s proving me wrong…..again.  17.7 Points, 4 boards and a new committment to defense say Ray Ray’s still got it.  His three-point percentage is down a bit, but overall Allen’s been the defending champs’ best player thus far through the season.

16. Trevor Ariza, LAL: The second Laker on the list is probably the biggest surprise of the group.  Though I can admit there are a couple other surprises coming up, Ariza isn’t even a starter, and he’s statistically the second best player on the best team in the NBA.  Ten points and 5 boards in 23 minutes/game isn’t that impressive.  But 1.73 steals per game in that time looks good.  Plus the kid rarely turns it over and has a really high FG% (50%) for a guy who can’t shoot (as his 32% from behind the arc and 62% from the line will tell you).  I’m not sure anyone saw this coming.  Last year when the Celtics won the title, Lakers fans said “wait til we get Bynum and Ariza back.”  We all kind of snickered at Ariza’s name being included in that claim.  We were wrong.

15. Danny Granger, IND: Anyone who thinks this one is a surprise does NOT watch enough basketball.  Granger has played at an all-star level for the past two years, and is sixth in the league in scoring this year.  What?  You thought Indiana was over-achieving because of Mike Dunleavy??! The fact that he’s continuing to improve should surprise absolutely no one.  This kid was the reason they felt Artest was expendable in the first place.  24 points and 5 boards is nice, but they’re even nicer when they come on 47% shooting.  What’s great about him is he’s also a lock-down defender.  His rebounds and 3 point shooting are down from his career averages, but if they come back out this Pacers team could be in the playoffs and you’ll know why.

14. Tim Duncan, SAS: He’s still 20/10 with 52%.  Though no longer THE dominant four in the league, he’s still very close to the top.  And with the early injuries to Ginobili and Parker, the Spurs have had to rely on Duncan even more than normal.  And now they are getting healthy again with Duncan having held down the fort.  Tim Duncan, despite his 20/10’s will always be underappreciated based on numbers alone.  He has been the dominant PF of this generation and is one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Brandon Roy is a superstar, officially now

13. Brandon Roy, POR: Last year he became a new poster-child for the NBA, as we all thrust him into the spotlight.  He had praise given to him that he wasn’t quite deserving of yet, sort of like Deron Williams.  Except he wasn an all-star, Williams was not.  Roy got most of the credit for the Blazers’ surprising first half success last year, when really it should have been doled out equally between he and LaMarcus Aldridge.  This year is another story.  This year it’s all him.  He’s gone from borderline star with superstar potential, to flat out superstar.  21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and stellar defense for the franchise player who is, unofficially, their point guard.

12. Vince Carter, NJN: Big rebound year for Vince.  While he played well with Jason Kidd, he’s playing even better now.  It could be argued that he’s playing the best ball of his career this year.  And even then, he’s not the best player on his team.  Jersey is the surprise team of the NBA this season, and Vince-sanity is a major reason why.  He’s dropping 24 points on 48% shooting for the Nets.  It’s tough to say this about Vince, since he’s pretty much universally hated, but he’s having one helluva year so far.

11. Chris Bosh, TOR: Here is where I have the most overrated player in the league so far.  Yes, he’s third in the league in scoring.  Yes he dominated the Olympics.  It looked like he had gained the edge in the constant battle with Dwight Howard.  But since they returned to the states, he’s looked a distant second in that competition.  Howard continues to put up rediculous stats, while Bosh’s numbers are just as good – maybe better.  How about 27 & 10?  How about 54% shooting?  But the downfall here is that the intangibles are just not coming Bosh’s way.  He has a fairly low +/-, and usually that has to do with defense.  With Jermaine O’Neal now in the low post, Bosh has struggled to find his role in the defense.  The team as a whole doesn’t have enough talent to compete with the big boys in Cleveland and Boston anyway.  Hopefully they figure something out or Bosh might really be New York-bound in a couple years.

10. Dirk Nowitzki, DAL: Dirk has accomplished a lot in the NBA.  He’s won MVP, been to the NBA Finals, and been universally praised.  In my book, his best season was 2005-06, when I had him as the second best player in the league.  But this year may prove to be his biggest challenge.  With Kidd still productive, but on the downside of his career, and defenses able to key more on Josh Howard, Dirk has to carry more of the load than ever.  It doesn’t help that Jerry Stackhouse has been all but left for dead by Coach Carlisle, or that no one outside fo the Dirk/Kidd/Howard/Jason Terry group is even playing like an average NBA player.  Dirk is the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, so obviously he got something going.  He’s going to have to step up his game a bunch if the Mavs are actually going to compete.

9. Amare Stoudemire, PHO: Nobody appears to be happy in Phoenix, least of all Amare.  After have such a breakthrough in the second half of last year, Terry Porter’s new offense has been more centered around Shaquille O’Neal, and less around STAT.  This is a bad idea both business-wise and basketball-wise.  Business-wise, you are taking the risk of pissing off your marquee attraction for the future.  Nash and Shaq and Hill are all getting old fast.  The team is going to have to be rebuilt around Stoudemire.   But playing this game with him is risking losing him in 2010.  Even though he’s considering this a down year, he still is dropping 22 points and 8 boards a night.   He’s also shooting 57% and getting a block and a steal a night.  His defense is slowly improving, though it is still pretty bad.  Basketball-wise, you would want to get the ball in the hands of your best player, and Amare is the best player in Phoenix these days.

8. Andrei Kirilenko, UTAH: After his tiff with Jerry Sloan two years ago, Kirilenko went into the tank.  This season he’s come back rejuvenated.  Whatever he did, whatever his offseason regimen contained, he needs to stick to it because it worked quite well.  Boozer’s gotten most of the credit for holding the Jazz down during Deron’s injury, but it’s been Kirilenko doing the heavy lifting.  12.6 points and 6 rebounds a night are not outstanding numbers.  But it’s his defense and huge +/- numbers that put him among the game’s elite.

Even after all of the team's transactions, it was improvement from within that's led to Cleveland's hot start

7. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE: This is probably just as big of a surprise as Ariza.  Ilgauskas has always been a plausible NBA center.  He even got to the all-star game one year by default.  But this year he looks legit.  While Lebron and Mo Williams get the credit, it’s really Big Z who, by taking his game to another level, managed to improve the team so greatly.  Zydrunas is only 16 points, 7 boards, and 54% from the field, but all of his percentages are high.  He’s shooting 87% from the line and 38% from behind the arc.  The impressive part is that he’s putting up good numbers in decreased minutes. The Cavs, smartly, want to keep him fresh for the playoffs and try to reduce risk of injury so Big Z can help them attempt to take out the Celtics.

6. Kobe Bryant, LAL: Sure last year he was MVP, but it wasn’t his best year.  And he really wasn’t the best player last year (that was Lebron).  But the argument can always be made for Kobe being the best in the league.  Even Shaq now recognizes the greatness of Mr. Kobe Bryant.  The Kobe-ster has a very quiet 25 ppg and has not needed to take over too many games this year.  With the lineup the Lakers have, he hasn’t needed to.  Must we remind ourselves just how loaded the Lakers are…..

Anyone who says they saw Devin Harris' 2008 season coming is lying.

5. Devin Harris, NJN: This guy has to be, hands-down, the biggest surprise of the year.  He’s gone completely nuts.  He’s basically turned into Gilbert Arenas.  25 points and 6 assists.  He just dropped 47 on Phoenix the other night.  He dropped 38 on Detroit.  He’s the main reason the Nets are still smack dab in the middle of the playoff race.  We always knew he could defend and get to the rim, but who knew he could score like this?! Devin Harris has Most Improved Player quite easily thus far.  And should be a dark horse in the MVP race if he keeps this up.  He’s having a completely rediculous season for the a Nets team that looked like they were going to be horrible.

4. Dwight Howard, ORL: After Harris, the rest of this list is fairly predictable.  Howard finds time, in between McDonalds Monopoly adds, to drop 24 & 14 every night, lead the league in blocks, and shoot almost 60%.  Just another day at the office for Superman.

3. Chris Paul, NOR: Statistically  he’s even better than last year, when I had him as the second best player in the league.  He’s going to lose points from MVP voters because of the Hornets’ underachieving, but that’s not his fault.  That’s more because David West’s jumpshot is in the Lost & Found somewhere.  20 points & 11 dimes are Paul’s M.O.

2. Dwayne Wade, MIA: Wade is currently second  in the league by a whisker.  Literally a one-hundredth of a point separates Wade from #1.  And to call this a bounce-back year would be a severe understatement.  The dude is single-handedly willing a  team lead by Chris Quinn into the playoffs.  Keep in mind that this is a team that has 2 of its’ best 5 players are rookies.  They have no bench and a rookie head coach.  And Wade has them currently tied for the 8th spot in the playoffs.  Flash is rediculous.  There is, however, one man playing even better (though however slight the difference may be).

1. LeBron James, CLE: Let’s clear something up: Lebron has been the best player in the league for the past two seasons.  But Wade is right on his rear tail.  Well, not even…these two are neck-and-neck.   But yes, i can admit that LeBron’s been the best player in the league thus far, which leads us to:

The Eastern Conference All Star Team

Starters:

PG Devin Harris, NJN
SG Dwayne Wade, MIA
SF LeBron James, CLE
PF Chris Bosh, TOR
C Dwight Howard, ORL

Bench:
F Danny Granger, IND
F Kevin Garnett, BOS
F Caron Butler, WAS
G Vince Carter, NJN
G Ray Allen, BOS
G Joe Johnson, ATL
C Zydrunas Ilgauskas, CLE

Here Ilgauskas gets it bad because there’s no other Centers worth mentioning for the team. Butler makes the team despite hsi lousy team, and Johnson takes the final guard spot. No surprise with Allen and KG both making the team from the Celtics, as two Nets and Cavs make it as well.  Obviously, it’d be tough for Z or Butler to make it, so you’d probably get a Piston or two in there along with Paul Pierce on the actual team.

The Western Conference All-Star Team:

Starters:

PG Chris Paul, NOR
SG Kobe Bryant, LAL
SF Andrei Kirilenko, UTA
PF Dirk Nowitzki, DAL
C Amare Stoudemire, PHO

Bench:
F Tim Duncan, SAS
F Marcus Camby, LAC
F Al Jefferson, MIN
G Brandon Roy, POR
G Trevor Ariza, LAL
G Chauncey Billups, DEN
C Andrew Bynum, LAL

Here Jefferson makes the cut as the last player on the squad.  This dude reminds me of a Elton Brand.  But he’s a number one guy, unlike Brand, and plays porous D, unlike Brand.  Here, Kirilenko, Camby, Jefferson, and Ariza would all have trouble making the squad.  You could probably replace them with Boozer, Yao, Carmelo, and T-Mac for the actual squad.