The Whole 9… week of Nov. 30, 2009….

1. A.I.’s coming back to Philly
This story headlines this super-long T-Day weekend. Iverson retired, was led to believe the Knicks would sign him, and is now seeming to be ready to return to the Sixers, where he should’ve started the season. I’ve told everyone who’d listen to me since he was still a Nugget that there were only two places A.I. could go that made sense: Charlotte (with Larry Brown, which by the way is not applicable anymore since the team traded for Stephen Jackson), and Philly (which will always love Iverson more than any athlete in the city’s history, except…maybe…Jimmy Rollins). Both those teams also needed a SG who can score. And oh yeah, A.I. certainly can still do that. After the Jack trade last week, the Sixers were the only team that made sense. I almost was able to talk myself into the Knicks, but luckily that came and went before I could fully embrace that idea. But let’s face some facts; the Sixers are 5-11. They suck. AI2 is a second or third banana at best. Elton Brand is probably a second banana in his prime, which we suspect may be over. Lou Williams is hurt, but even before he got hurt this team couldn’t score.  A.I. just might be that spark to take them back into the playoffs.  It certainly would be a wonderful scene if that happened.

We all know Iverson as a Sixer, that’s how it should have always stayed.  Some guys just belong to a city. Bird belonged to Boston. Jeter belongs to N.Y. Probably a better comparison is Ricky Henderson, my favorite baseball player of all-time. Ricky started his career with the A’s, and had his most memorable seasons after returning. He played for many other organizations, but he belonged to Oakland, always. That’s how Iverson belongs to Philly. It always bugged me that he left.

2. Steelers lose to Ravens in OT, Hines calls out Ben, blah blah blah
Under the subject of “nothing to see here,” Hines called out Ben on TV supposedly. Only he really didn’t. He didn’t actually say anything to call out Ben. He did say that he’s played with concussions before and that he wished Ben was playing. Both of those are facts. Neither directly emplies him calling out Ben. On the other hand, the Steelers’ debut of Dennis Dixon was a mixed bag. He was great in the first half, but the Ravens adjusted well to him in the fourth quarter, and were able to shut him down. Well, on we go to next week hoping to cling to a playoff spot. Coach Tomlin says that the Steelers are going to “Unleash hell here in December,” so at least we got that goin for us.

2. Melo drops 50 on the Knicks
And we come to our second 50 point game of the year, this one a little less surprising. It was by the league’s leading scorer, Mr. Melo. However it wasn’t quite as impressive being that the Nuggets almost tripped over a terrible Knicks team, and did lose to an even worse T-Wolves team a couple nights later. They get Golden State tomorrow night which should be a great scorer’s duel because…

3. Monta Ellis scores 42 on Wed, 45 on Mon
Monta had to go and drop 45 tonight on the Pacers, and then fouls out with six minutes to go. The rate he was goin, he definitely would’ve topped 50 had he stayed in, and it was a pretty crappy call that he fouled out on. Actually Monta picked up a couple of terrible foul calls. But nothing could stop him. The best part of Monta’s development is that he’s starting everything on the defensive end. He guarded Danny Granger for most of the night and held him to 7-17 on the night. I think we are seeing the rise of another young superstar out west.

4. The Kings sweep all 3 Games, finally get some attention
While it’s true that the Kings beat the Knicks, Nets, and CP3-less Hornets, it’s also true that everyone else plays those 3 teams as well (at least until Chris Paul comes back). It’s also true that the Kings now sit at 8-8, and currently stand as the biggest surprise of the young season. J.T. and Tyreke are really the consistents, everyone else has sort of pitched in when needed. Donte Greene had a monster game against the Knicks, Beno Udrih was the MAN against the Nets, and Sergio Rodriguez destroyed the hot Darren Collinson and the Hornets.

5. Saints destroy Pats, ’74 Dolphins’ champagne ice begins to melt
The Saints and the Colts are both undefeated in one of the strangest football seasons I can remember. In other football news, Alex Smith looks to finally be on the right track, both Vince Young’s Titans and T.O.’s Bills are suddenly in the playoff races, and Desean Jackson and Matt Ryan both got hurt.

6. Brandon Jennings and Derrick Rose square off
In what was billed as this year’s eventual Rookie of the Year vs. Last year’s rookie of the year, Young Money and the Bucks beat Rose’s Bulls. Let me explain this a little more. The Bucks are fairly consistent, but not quite as good on their best nights as the Bulls. The Bulls are the opposite. They can play with anyone, and lose to anyone. Very strange team. And while Young Money has been very good, Andrew Bogut and Ersan Ilyasova deserver a lot of the credit for the Bucks’ turnaround as well. Still, this is definitely Young Money’s ship.

7. Rihanna Flops…sorta
In what seemed like the perfect set-up, Rihanna is not living up to expectations and looks to move slightly less than 200K in her first week. Oh well. None of her singles really took off before the release date, so it didn’t end up mattering that she released her album on the biggest retail weekend of the year. And that thing I wrote about her having the biggest album of the year? Let’s just forget I ever said that. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Breeze sells better when his album drops a week from today.

8. Clipse, Kellz, Timbo all spring a leak
As we get into the holiday rush, all of the albums that are actually going to be released should be leaking soon. Clipse I’m excited about, Kellz….ehhhh, Timbo….ehhhh. But all the leaked Clipse songs are dope, especially “Popular Demand,” and the “I’m Good” Remix with Rawwwsssee.

9. North Carolina’s Big Week
Having already lost to Syracuse, NC gets both Michigan State and Kentucky this week. We’ll see what the defending champs are made of, as we rarely see so many tough games scheduled so close to each other, so early in the season. Deon Thompson and Ed Davis are both studs, but what else do they have in the cabinet?

 

Dime’s Fantasy Finals Matchups

Basketball websites always has these gimmicky user-involved tournaments. Balls Don’t Lie is probably the king of these. But the best I’ve come across is Dime Mag’s Fantasy Finals. In fact I like these so much, I decided to post my thoughts on their early matchups.

2008 Lakers Vs. 1995 Magic

In Dime’s rules, everyone’s healthy and the older team has home court. Now personally, I have a somewhat low opinion of last year’s Lakers team, at least historically speaking. Fish is/was washed up. His last great year was with Utah. And I say “great” because Fish is one of the most underrated players of my lifetime. Played great D, hit clutch threes, Kobe and Shaq both trusted him, Phil trusted him. Vlad just sucked anyway. Ariza hadn’t really had his 2009 breakout year. Bynum’s soft. And Gasol needs to demand the ball more. Odom’s inconsistent. At least Vujacic and Farmar were much better last year. And they had Turiaf. Come to think of it, with the exception of Ariza, everyone on the Lakers was better last year.

This Magic team was one of my favorite NBA Finals losers. They had Shaq entering his prime, Penny in his dead-prime (which only lasted like 3 years). Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott playing out of their respective minds. Horace Grant giving it one last shot, and Brian Shaw doing all those little Brian Shaw-things. But their bench was very weak after Shaw.

The key to this series would be Odom. If he shows up every game, the Lakers probably win in 5 or 6. But since I have never seen him do that (even in Miami and with the Clippers – the playoffs were what made Wade and Brand the number one guys on those teams), I don’t think he does it here. I’d say if Kobe gets a 10 in this series, Penny’s probably an 9.5. Shaq’s a 10, Bynum’s probably a 6. I’d give Gasol a 10 if he was demanding the ball move – the dude has a sick arsenal of post moves. But since he’s so lax, he gets an 8, Ho Grant was standing on one leg at that point, he gets a 5. Since Penny and Kobe would guard each other, it’s washed up Fish vs. pussy Anderson. Fortunately it wasn’t until after 95 (when he missed the free throws) that Anderson went into a complete funk. But here he should have enough to barely edge Fish, say…..7-6. In the Vlad/Scott matchup we’ll call it even since Scott’s much more deadly, but Vlad has the size advantage, 7.5 each. The bench is where Odom comes in. I’ll give this to the Lakers, but only barely. When Odom doesn’t show up, it’s basically even. So we’ll say 8-7. Coaching-wise, Phil gets it 9-8 over Brian Hill. Totals? 46.5 for Orlando, 46.5 for the Lakers. Dead even. I’ll go with Orlando in 7. Because we know that Shaw shows up, we don’t know about Odom.  Plus the Magic get homecourt.

1998 Bulls Vs. 2007 Spurs

This is closer than you think. The most dominant NBA team of all-time goes up against possibly the most boring dynasty of all-time. At that point, Ron Harper was 2005 Derek Fisher. And Tony Parker kills him, we’ll say 9-7. MJ probably guards Ginobili, but Bowen probably guards him. We’ll say MJ gets a 10, because even though that’s got to be tiring, MJ’s sort of…well he’s the best player ever. Ginobili probably guards Pippen. So we’ll say Ginobili’s tired but still manages a 7.5. Bowen manages to be a solid 7, and Pippen’s a 9 here. Duncan gets a 10 while Rodman gets an 8, good matchup. And both of the terrible centers get 5’s because it’s really the sixth men who get play. The coaches are even at 10, but the Spurs pull the advantage off the bench with Horry, Finley and Barry over Kukoc and Kerr, 8-6. 55 for the Bulls, 54.5 for the Spurs. Bulls in 7.

2006 Heat vs. 2001 Sixers

This is a fun matchup. It’s Allen Iverson in his best season vs. Dwayne Wade in his I’m-better-than-MJ season.  One thing sticks out, Wade can sort of guard Iverson.  Iverson has no shot at Wade.  Wade’s almost as fast and about half a foot taller.  They have similar games in those seasons, but Wade is worlds better in efficiency.  Plus he has more help.  If Wade gets a 10, and Iverson a 9, the rest of this matchup is pretty one-sided.  Jason Williams, in his last effective season, beats snow, 8-7.  ‘Toine, also in his last effective season, bests George Lynch, 7.5-6.  For fun, we’ll call Haslem/Hill a tie, even though common sense would go with Haslem, 7-7.  And Shaq bests Deke, 8-6.5.  Coaching is an even 9, and the Heat’s bench still had James Posey, ‘Zo,  and GP, while the Sixers counter with Aaron McKie, a not-yet-developed Raja Bell, and a bunch of stiffs.  Heat, 9-6.  For a final total of 57.5 for a strong Heat team, and 50.5 for the Sixers.  I think the Heat sweep this.  Fun Series, but not too long.

2004 Pistons vs. 1994 Knicks

Bad matchup for the Knicks. The Pistons counter the Knicks strengths too well. Chauncey dominates Harper, 9-7. I think Rip pulls out ahead of Starks, 8.5-8. Tayshaun edges Smith 7.5-7. Rasheed pulls Oakley out of the paint, and beats him 8-7. While Ewing can only muster a 10-8.5 edge over Ben. Plus that Pistons team was deep. The Knicks’ strength was their depth, but this Pistons team was even deeper. The Pistons rolled out Corliss Williamson, Elden Campbell, Lindsey Hunter, Mike James, and Mehmet Okur. Picture that. Okur, entering his prime, was the 10th man on this team. And he’s been an all-star in this league. Anthony Mason and Greg Anthony give the Knicks the edge in a lot of series, but here they lose 10-9 Though we just called the Pat Riley/Larry Brown matchup a tie, so we’ll stick with that, 9-9. Brown gets his revenge here, 60.5-57. I think the Pistons take this in 6, they weren’t too good at breaking team’s backs, if you remember.

2008 Celtics vs. 1993 Suns

Wow, giving this a quick eyeball, it looks like the best matchup yet. KG’s best squad vs. Chuck’s best squad. Rondo/KJ. Majerle/Ray Ray. I’m giving KJ the PG edge, 9-8. But remember, KJ disappeared in the finals that year. Rondo does not disappear. He’s consistently annoying you. But KJ was better. Ray Ray gets the same slight edge on Majerle, 9-8. Mainly because, none of these guys could stop each other. But Ray Ray’s slightly better. He might be the best pure shooter I’ve ever seen. Pierce/Dumas is where the Celtics probably win the series. Pierce gets this, 10-7. Dumas was slightly underrated in memory, but also slightly overrated at the time because his numbers were better than he was. Mainly because of the system he played in – like a mid-90’s Leandro Barbosa. We’ll call KG/Barkley a tie, 10-10. Both moved on from their crappy first teams to much more loaded second squads. This was Barkley’s best year, but KG played better defense. The Centers were Kendrick Perkins vs. Mark West, and we’ll call this even at 6. As good as the Celtics’ bench was last year, the Suns’ was even better with Ceballos, Ainge, Chambers, Oliver Miller (don’t laugh, he was decent that year), and Frank Johnson, 9-8. And in Doc Rivers and Paul Westphal we have two of the most maligned coaches of all-time. They get an even 7. Final score, 58-56 Celtics. But the Suns get homecourt. I don’t know how to call this. It’s too close. Put a gun to my head? I’ll go with the Suns in 7.

2003 Nets vs. 1995 Rockets

Interesting matchup. I don’t know exactly how this’ll come out. Memory would probably tell you the Rockets were better, but let’s see because I think the Nets would give them problems. Kidd takes Kenny Smith pretty handily. Smith was one of the more underrated PG’s of the 90’s, at least he was before his TNT stint. But Kidd was the engine that made the Nets go, and 2003 was his best season. We’ll say 10-7.5. Clyde was not in his prime anymore, but still was very good. And he beats Kerry Kittles, quite easily, 9-6.5. Richard Jefferson probably beats Mario Elie, 8.5-7. They were similar players in those seasons, the difference being RJ’s defense and athleticism. K-Mart beats a young Horry, mainly on the defensive end. Most people don’t remember, but both of these guys were extremely athletic at that age. That would be a fun matchup. But K-Mart takes it, 8-7. Meanwhile, Hakeem dominates Collins, 10-6. I don’t need to say much else about that. Benches are pretty even – Deke/Lucious Harris & Aaron Williams playing over their heads/Rodney Rogers/a young Anthony Johnson vs. a young Sam I Am/Charles Jones (milk carton?)/Mad Max/Chucky Brown, 7-7. And Rudy bests Byron, 9-7. 56.5 for Clutch City, 53 for the Nets. Plus the Rockets get homecourt, so we’ll say Rockets in 6.

That was fun, we’ll do it again.

 

Stock Check

The NBA Playoffs are still in the first rounds.  But it’s time to see whose stocks have risen and dropped in the playoffs this year, leading to a comprehensive “best players of the year” list that i HOPE to write deeper into the playoffs.

Let’s start with the just-finished Denver/New Orleans Series:

UP: Chauncey Billups & Carmelo Anthony, Denver:

Probably having the most to gain from this series, Denver’s duo of all-stars’ stocks both went way up in this series for two different reasons.  Chauncey showed more ‘Melo in his game, and ‘Melo showed more Chauncey.  And right now it’s a legit question: Are either or both of these guys top 10 players in the league?  Chauncey took off from the beginning, catching fire from the tip off of game 1.  He drained three after three to help dominate this series.  Really, he played the role of Carmelo Anthony.  ‘Melo did the opposite.  He started off pretty quiet scoring-wise, but picked his spots perfectly.  Passing out of constant double-teams, playing shut-down defense on Peja, grabbing rebounds, playing all-around inspired basketball, and looking like he’s enjoying every minute of it.  ‘Melo was playing like Chauncey.  Until game 5, when ‘Melo and Chauncey went back to their familiar roles with ‘Melo dominating offensively and Chauncey rallying the troops.  When these two play like this, even the Lakers should be scared.

However it’d be difficult to find anyone on the Nuggets whose stock has dropped in this series.  (Nene, maybe?)  Just about everyone finally started playing up to their talents.  Whether it was Dahntay Jones and Kenyon Martin smothering the Hornets’ two best players, Chris Anderson soaring for blocks and rebounds (sometimes on the same shot), JR Smith nailing threes and then throwing up his three fingers so it looks like a gang sign, or Anthony Carter just looking for another guard to hit.

On the flipside, it’d be hard to see any bright side for the Hornets, but their two stars played particularly bad:

Down: Chris Paul & David West, New Orleans:

These two are on the downside for different reasons.  Let’s start with West.  He is not a legit all-star.  And after stealing Melo’s all-star nod this year, it was obvious in this series who was the better player.  In fact, I’d be surprised if he ever gets another all-star nod again.  Words can’t describe how well Kenyon shut him down.  He did not look like the David West we’ve seen for the past two years, he looked hesitant and scared.  He very rarely took that confident, catch-and-shoot style midrange shot that’s his bread and butter.  He’d always look around, scared Kenyon was going to swat his shit into the fifth row.  If David West was considered among the top 10 PF’s in the NBA earlier this season, he may possibly have fallen out of the top half.  It was just a really bad series for him.  Kenyon was in his head, as was Chris Anderson.  And they rendered him irrelevant in this series.

CP3 looked up, I’d think sometime in the first quarter of game 4.  He looked up and his team was getting their asses handed to them.  He had single-handedly given up his body and all his energy to lead them to a two-point victory in the previous game of a series his team was obviously over-matched in.  He was physically beaten, emotionally beaten, and mentally beaten.  He looked up at the scoreboard, and he finally got to thinking “there’s always next year,” and he gave up.

He didn’t give up in the sense that he didn’t play.  He still played.  Even played well at times.  But he wasn’t Chris Paul.  And you have to wonder about that.  Paul is considered by most (including myself) the best PG in the NBA and a consensus top 5 player in the league.  But Lebron or Kobe wouldn’t have just given up.  Certainly Wade wouldn’t.  Dwight Howard’s stock  may not be as high either, but at least he would’ve hit someone.  Chauncey definitely wouldn’t have given up.  You saw Deron, he played every minute of the Lakers series knowing he was out-matched, but still left it all on the court.  Same with Tony Parker against Dallas.  Rajon Rondo’s still doing it in Boston.

Chris Paul is still the best PG in the NBA until further notice, but you have to wonder about him after this series.

Utah/Lakers:

Up: Deron Williams, UTA:

It’s hard to give any sort of nod to the Lakers, since they won this pretty much as expected, so let’s focus on the Jazz. Deron Williams is for real. I questioned him in his rookie year because his performance was so streaky (ala Derrick Rose this year), but right now….he’s legit. He’s the second best PG in the NBA and is closing in on CP3 (of course we’re learning that Chauncey may be better than both of them….still). He pretty much single-handedly carried this team in this series, eventually falling in a noble defeat to the most talented team in the league.

Up: Paul Millsap, UTA:

While the Jazz did lose the series, Millsap proved to be a problem for the Lakers every step of the way.  And if Jerry Sloan ran more plays for him instead of Jarron Collins (!?), maybe the Jazz take another game.  But we’ll blame that on Sloan’s old age, instead of sadling it on Millsap.  He pretty much proved to just about everyone what I’ve suspected all along: that he’s better than Boozer, at least as an all-around player.

Down: Carlos Boozer, UTA:

While I don’t think Boozer directly effected his stock on the upcoming Free Agent market, since the Lakers were supposed to win anyway, Boozer sure didn’t help his situation in comparison to Millsap.  Millsap outplayed him in this series – defensively AND offensively.  And Boozer’s flaws defensively were never more apparent than having Pau Gasol simply dominate him.  Though to be fair, Gasol dominates everyone in the post.  And the undersized combination of Millsap and Boozer couldn’t stop the Lakers’ bigs at all.

Down: Mehmet Okur, UTA:

While it’s quite possible that the outcome may not have changed anyway, it’s hard not to notice that the Jazz were playing this series without their center when the Lakers are dominating them up front in every way possible.  Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not doubting Okur’s injury at all.  But many players are injured at this time of year, and if you can play at all in the series, you should play the whole series.  Especially when you watch your team being so easily handled on the boards and you’re the tallest guy on the team.

Cleveland/Detroit:

Up: Mo Williams & Delonte West, Cavs:

Lebron’s undersized backcourt sidekicks are the most important factor of the playoffs, let’s start with Mo.

I am now a believer.  I was as critical as anyone when the Cavs signed Mo in the offseason, but he’s proven me wrong throughout the playoffs and on through the postseason.  He’s fit perfectly into the team’s concept and proven to be the one sidekick-star Lebron’s had that is as reliable as the King is.  He hits big shots, plays good passing lane defense, and adds a ton of intangibles to a team that is my pick to win the title.  He is a legit all-star and is playing as well as any Eastern PG not named Rondo.

As far as Delonte, I was always a big fan of the kid’s, despite his uber-ghetto off-the-court life. And he’s proven me right throughout the season and well into the playoffs.  He plays great defense (especially considering he’s probably closer to 6’1″ than his listed 6’3″ and he’s guarding 6’7″ two-guards), provides necessary hustle plays, and fills up a stat sheet (points, rebounds, assists, steals, and even blocks).  With his development and the emergence of Jameer Nelson in Orlando as a legit all-star, just how good was that St. Joes team?

Down: Rasheed Wallace & Allen Iverson, Pistons:

This is a painful one for me to talk about.  But as much as I’ve been in both of these guys’ corners throughout their careers, they both turned in horrible showings in this series. I’m letting Tayshaun and Rip off the hook, and Dice played his ass off.  But these two have some explaining to do.

Rasheed pretty much stopped playing, and resorted to his typical screaming at refs.  As talented as he is, he’s always been an equally big head-case.  We thought that was mostly behind him when he joined Detroit.  But he he looked intimidated throughout the series.  Did he simply give up in game 4?  It wasn’t like Cleveland had anyone who could stop him.

Iverson probably lost the most ground out of anyone in the playoffs, and he didn’t even play.  Or perhaps I should say, because he didn’t play. It is not like the Answer to give up. But that’s how it appeared this year. Allen has been one of my favorite players in the league for years, but this year he had his first terrible year ever, and he didn’t fight through it in typical Iverson fashion. In fact, he didn’t fight much at all. It seemed like he was backed into a corner with the team’s failings and the coach wanting him to come off the bench. Instead of coming out and being the killer he’s been throughout his career, he gave up. I don’t doubt his injury was legit, but it certainly had funny timing, coming right after he was demoted to sixth man. And he’s a free agent this season, so it looks like it came at the worst time in his career.

Atlanta/Miami:

Up: Mike Bibby & Josh Smith, ATL:

The first is a long time veteran who was supposed to be done, and the other is a immature kid who looked like he’d never quite live up to his incredible potential.  Bibby’s post-Sac rejuvenation is one of the more over-looked stories of the year.  He’s been the team’s second best player all year (after Joe Johnson) and has carried the team in its’ Miami series despite JJ being MIA (get it?).  Bibby went from being outplayed by Beno Udrih (the worst starting PG in basketball) in Sacramento to being the second best player in this series.

Smith finally seems to be getting it.  Of course, the kid is still a headcase without a jumpshot.  But he plays great defense, runs down loose balls, and dunks on…well…everyone.

Down: Michael Beasley & Mario Chalmers, MIA:

So the Heat had the second pick in the NBA draft.  Who’d they pick, again?  The most NBA-ready player in the draft, you say?  Was he injured during their first round series?  No?  Sure was hard to nice him…

And where was the other rookie they had?  The kid who won the NCAA title game with his three?  He keeps fouling out?  Is 95-year-old Mike Bibby speeding faster than him from Bibbs’ wheelchair?

Dallas/San Antonio:

Jason Kidd, DAL & Tony Parker, SAS:

This series has traditionally been about Dirk Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, but this year’s was about the veteran PG’s.  Now mind you, Kidd is essentially a PG on offense only (there’s no way he’s chasing TP around for 40 minutes), but he’s still proving his worth.  Devin Harris’ emergence as an all-star put a black eye on Cuban’s trade.  But I’m pretty sure Kidd would trade an all-star nod to still be playing in May.  He still ran the offense, and most importantly, kept the scorers happy.  Dirk, Josh Howard, JJ Barea, and Jason Terry were the central scorers, but Kidd made sure they were all involved.

Meanwhile, Tony Parker went down in a blaze.  He averaged 28.6 in the San Antonio, good for second in all playoff series’, just behind Lebron’s 32. Unfortunately, after Duncan’s 20 & 8, Parker got no help whatsoever.  Part of that blame could go on him as the point guard, for failing to get his other guys involved, but most of it is just his teammates aren’t that good.  Especially without Ginobili. If there was any doubt that TP is a top 5 (at the very least) PG, it was erased in this series.

Down: Bruce Bowen, SAS & Dirk Nowitzki, DAL:

There was a time at which this would’ve been the heavily buzzed matchup of this series.  However it wasn’t to be here as both players failed to show up.  Bowen couldn’t stay on the court and Nowitzki couldn’t stay effective.  Ultimately it led to the downfall of the Spurs, but Dirk’s teammates had enough to lift up his struggles.  However things won’t get any easier for Dirk as he will draw Kenyon Martin in the next round.  And just as important, his key teammates will also get some strong defensive assignments: Kidd is in line to draw Chauncey Billups, while Jason Terry looks like he’ll draw Anthony Carter, and Josh Howard should get Dahntay Jones.

Houston/Portland:

Up: Brandon Roy, POR:

If there was any question regarding Roy’s newly-found superstar status, it was certainly answered in this series.  The Rockets have, arguably, the two best wing defenders in the league in Ron Artest and Shane Battier.  But it hasn’t mattered to Roy.  Artest called Roy the best player he’d ever covered.  I’ll tell you right now that he isn’t too far behind Kobe and Wade as the third best SG in the league.   Obviously, he doesn’t have the rings that they do, but there’s plenty of time for that.  The Rox very will may close out the Blazers at home tonight, but it won’t be without a fight from Roy.  He’s just too talented and too motivated.

Up: Yao Ming, HOU:

Scola and Brooks have played way better than anyone could’ve expected.  But its’ Yao who’s gained the most from the Rockets side.  It’s time to end this silly Yao Ming/Dwight Howard debate.  Yao is the best center in the world.  Period.  No commas.  No parentheses.  He’s the best, ok?  Live with it.  If the Rockets passed to him in the low post every single time, they’d win every game.  That’s it, he’s the best.  End of discussion.  Period.

Down: Greg Oden, POR:

He’s become sort of the joke of this series.  He’s been racking up fouls like he did in the regular season.  And with Outlaw struggling, you sort of wonder how good Portland would be a with a really good SF.  Maybe a SF like…..say, Kevin Durant?

Down: Ron Artest:

As everyone is enjoying talking about how much better the Rockets are playing without T-Mac. The little secret no one’s talking about is how little they’ve gotten out of, essentially T-Mac’s replacement, Ron Artest. You mean to tell me the Rockets wouldn’t have already won this series if T-Mac was out there? Even at 65%? Ron Artest has given you nothing in this series. Roy’s lighting him up on D, and Ron’s only scoring 13/game at 37% shooting. In his worst playoffs series, as a sixth man for Toronto, McGrady averaged 16.7 points on 39% shooting, his career playoff lows. As a starter, his worst series was two years ago when he dropped 25.3 pts on 39% shooting. Think the Rockets couldn’t use that right now? Along with his typical end-of-game heroics?

Orlando/Philly:

Up: Louis Williams & Thaddeus Young, PHI:

It is the general consensus that Philly wasn’t supposed to be close to Orlando.  In fact most experts picked a clean sweep.  However, it is also general consensus now that Philly will probably beat an Orlando team without Dwight Howard and Courney Lee, to force a game 7 in Orlando on Saturday.  Most of the credit for this surprise has gone to the team’s two Andre’s: Iguodala & Miller.  However the most efficient players have been Young and Williams, the second-tier players.  Basically, these two can score.  And yes, Miller is the veteran leader and Iguodala, well, it’s his team.   But it’s hard to ignore these two.  Young is averaging 13 on 47% shooting, while Williams is only 8 on 41 % shooting.  So it’s easy to see why they are overlooked.  But these two are leading the team with energy and defense that don’t usually show up in box scores.  But anyone watching the game can see their impact.

Down: Dwight Howard & Hedo Turkoglu, ORL

These two also moved down for different reasons.  Hedo (or “He Don’t” as  I’ve called him in his post-Kings days…which…by the way…is a nicknamed i ripped off from a Lakers fan) has been terrible in the series.  11.8 points on 33% shooting, while averaging 3 TO’s to 3 Assists and 3.4 fouls per game.  Just terrible.  Hedo’s playoffs have been a series of stinkers: 2-8 with four fouls in game one, a 3-10 night that was saved by his 9-11 from the line in game 2, a 2-5 night with 5 fouls and 5 turnovers in game 3,  a 8-11 breakout game in game 4 with 17 points, leading into a 3-14, 5 foul game in Game 5.

Dwight’s numbers, on the other hand, have been outstanding.  He’s been completely dominant and has made Sam Dalembert look like a kindergardener who just got his transformers stolen.  So with all of his dominance, why the need for the sucker punch in game 5?  That could end up costing the Magic the series.  That plus his fall on Courtney Lee rendered their most effective perimeter scorer out for the playoffs.  Altogether, the Magic could very well end up losing this series.  And while some of the blame will undoubtedly fall on Coach Stan Van Gundy.  The majority should fall on Howard.  He got himself kicked out of game 6.  He fell on Lee.  And he is going to have to make up for all of this with a monster game 7.

Boston/Chicago

Up: Ben Gordan, CHI & Rajon Rondo, BOS:

Other than maybe the Nuggets, these two have raised their respective stocks as much as anyone in the playoffs.  Rondo is leading an under-manned, beat up veteran team, and Gordon is keeping the inconsistent, young Bulls affloat.  He’s averaging 25 pts on 42% shooting in the playoffs.  And this is with a bad hammy.  He’s leading a Bulls team deeper into this series than anyone expected.  And, oh yeah, he’s in a contract year.

Rondo has been the unsung hero for the Celtics all year.  While it’s true that Pierce is still actually their best player, Rondo is a very close second, and has been even better than Pierce in this series.  How about 24.2 points on 51%(!!!) shooting to go with 10 dimes and 10 boards a game.  That’s right – Rajon Rondo is averaging a triple double in this series.  he may have passed Nelson and Harris as the elite young PG in the east.

Down: Eddie House & Stephon Marbury, BOS:

Nice performance off the bench from House and Marbury.  Combined, they are 15-50 from the field.  That’s 30%.  That’s terrible.  One would think that the Boston guards would have the advantage off of the bench.  But Kirk Hinrich is outplaying both of them.  If they don’t turn things around, the Celtics could have a long summer.

 

My name is Windy…and i like to blow trees…

With all the Atlanta dick-riding going on, it made me think of what other cities are relevant in hip hop today. Miami is makin some noise, obviously NYC is the mecca, but I think the next top city is Chicago, Illinois – and not just because our president reps it.

What it does have is most everything Atlanta has. It’s a city whose name was kept alive for over a decade by a superstar R&B singer. Atlanta has Usher, Chicago has Kellz. It’s a city that features one of the 3 mainstream-relevant rapers right now. ATL has Tip, Chicago has Kanyeezy. The only other mainstream-relevant rapper is a guy from New Orleans (which had its’ own time) who now lives in Miami, and is part of that movement there. It has secondary stars as well. ATL has Jeezy and Luda. Chi-town has Common and Lupe. But oh yeah, Chicago is a much bigger city. And that Obama guy reps it. Dwayne Wade and Derrick Rose? Yep, them too.

As far as professional sports go, Chicago’s a mixed back. The Cubs are good every year, but not great. The White Sox won a title a couple of years ago, but I wonder how far they can ride Carlos Quentin this year. The Bears aren’t too good, and the Bulls are lookin like they’re gonna grab either the 7th or 8th spot in the NBA playoffs.

But its all about hip hop in the Chi. Even beyond the holy trinity of Kanye, Common and Lupe, there’s Twista, Rhymefest is ill, and there’s the 90’s staples Do Or Die on the underground and Da Brat on the radio.

But it’s not just that Kanye, Common, and Lupe are dope. It’s not just that Twista and ‘Fest can rhyme. It’s the conscious underbelly of all five emcees’ material. All five of them are more righteous than club-hoppers. Kanye’s greatest asset as an emcee is the soul and spirit with which he makes his most emotional material. Think the uplifting joy of “Family Business” or “Good Life,” the despair of “Roses” or “Heartless,” or the anger and frustration of “Crack Music” or “Two Words.” Common is similarly soulful, dating back to his “I Used To Love her” days. Like Kanye, he makes music about love, pain, joy, and struggle. Lupe is another range. He likewise rhymes about conscious themes, but has been an even bigger inspiration to the current fad of “hipster” rappers out there. ‘Fest falls somewhere in between Kanye and Lupe. Meanwhile there’s Twista, the underground legend/multi-platinum rapper. He crosses the line between gangsta and righteous as well as anyone.

While there are more dope rappers on the underground tip, the mainstream ones line up with just about any area. Especially when you throw the R&B singers like R. Kelly and Donell Jones in there. Altogether, it’s about time Chicago started getting its’ props!

 

“La-di-da-di we came to party…”

…”we don’t cause trouble (well maybe only Ron Artest)/
we don’t bother nobody (except maybe at the Palace)”

It’s about time the NBA came back. And with that, here is my spirited 2008-09 preview!

And with it, I will answer all the questions, all the while counting down each team from 30-1!

30. Milwaukee Bucks

I don’t know why anyone thinks this team is going to be any good. They just lost their second best player from a team that was pretty bad last year. Yes they got Richard Jefferson, but Jefferson is on the decline, whereas Yi is going to improve. And Jefferson was a third wheel on a bad team in Jersey. Now he’s a second wheel on an even worse team in Milwaukee. At PG they start Luke Ridnour, but I have this keen sense that Tyronne Lue is going to finish the season there one way or the other. Either because of Ridnour’s inability to shoot, being one of the 10 worst defenders in the league, or because he is fragile like a porcelein vase. The two-guard is actually pretty loaded with All-Star caliber Michael Redd, Charlie Bell, and Damon Jones. What do they have in common? All three of these guys can shoot. What else do they have in common? They can’t play D worth a lick. And what’s more, they are all streaky shooters and even Redd has bouts of inconsistency. RJ doesn’t really have any depth behind him, with Joe Alexander’s horrible preseason stint. They are going to need him to score a lot of points. And as we have seen from him in the past, the more points he scores, the less d he plays. Charlie Villanueva, an undersized four who is much to stiff to attempt to play D, starts at power forward. He has no depth behind him either as Malik Allen should have retired 4 years ago. A decent group of centers backs up Andrew Bogut, a terrific passing big man who can do little else. On a good team, Francisco Elson probably starts here. But he’s relegated to third string on a team that does not understand the value of defense. Dan Gadzuric is the inbetween who plays d and o at an average NBA level but is not particularly great at either. As others have said before, this team has a chance to be one of the worst defending teams ever. I’m taking it a step further, they are going to be among the worst NBA teams of this decade. And by the end of the year, RJ is going to raise a fuss.

29. Minnesota Timberwolves

When Randy Foye is your second best player, it's going to be a looooong year!

This is a slightly against-the-grain pick here, because a lot of people think this team is going to improve.  I’m here to tell you that I am not one of them. We all love Al Jefferson’s numbers, but he’s playing out of position at center, and it remains to be seen whether he can guard anyone at PF either. The next best player on this team is Randy Foye, but he’s more of a combo guard playing the point because the team’s next best alternative is Sebastian Telfair. A lot of people would say SG Mike Miller is the team’s second best player. But the slip in quickness, as M&M is on the downside of his career, gives him problems getting his shot off. And Lord knows he’s not good for anything else. He’s not going to magically regain his stroke in Minnesota after struggling so mightily on an equally bad (but more talented) Memphis team. After Miller, all the wings are talented head-cases. Rashad McCants being the best of the bunch, dude can straight light it up. Unfortunately he’s also the biggest head-case of the bunch. Corey Brewer was a defensive stopper in college but couldn’t stop a tricycle last season. And Rodney Carney gets by on athleticism, but hasn’t really developed a game to match. Everyone else on the team is a big. Now the problem on defense is that the 3 best bigs are all under 6-10. Craig Smith, Jefferson, and Kevin Love would all be very good players on their own. But when that’s your big-man rotation, you are not going to be able to stop anyone. And one of them is going to have to play center, in the west against Shaq, Duncan, Yao, Andrew Bynum, Greg Odom, etc. I think Brewer gets his act together this year, and McCants’ scoring eventually puts Miller on the bench. Yet this won’t be enough as a slow, small team will have problems defensively.

28. Seattle Sonics

(you mean, they’re not?)
(Oh, screw it!)

The opposite of the last two teams, the Sonics will be very good defensively.  They have a solid defensive pg in Russell Westbrook, who should be able to defend at at least an average rate as a rookie (though i think he’ll be much better down the road), Kevin Durant has the size and legnth to bother two guards, Jeff Green is already a very good defender, Wilcox defends well when he wants to, and Collison’s MO is on D.  Problem is, they only have two guys on this team who can score the basketball – Durant and Wilcox.  And Wilcox is likely to be gone at the trading deadline.  Many people feel their inability to score is going to keep them at the bottom of the league.  But i think their defense and scrappiness will place them above the bottom two.  They’ll be more competitive this year, but it won’t necessarily translate into wins right away.  They’re another piece or two away.

27. Memphis Grizzlies

This is where i have Memphis.  They have one of the better young backcourts in the league with Conley running the show with potential stars OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay.  Unfortunately they have nothing up front.  Marc Gasol? Unproven.  Hakim Warrick? Undersized.  Darko Milicic? Eck.  Antoine Walker? Double eck.  Even if Gasol works out, they still have a gaping hole at the four.  And with the exception of pg, where they’re loaded – this team has no depth.  Are they going to play Gay and Mayo until they collapse?  They will be fun to watch the three young stars fly around the court, but they are not going to be any good this year.  But big nights from Gay and Mayo should be able to swipe a few games they have no business winning.

26. New Jersey Nets

This team is better than people think.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re still pretty bad.  But there are 4 worse teams in the NBA than the Nets.  And it’s not because I’m particularly big on Vince Carter – I don’t even consider him a star anymore at this point.  But, this team has a ton of good secondary players.  A Devin Harris/Keyon Dooling combo at the point is not going to scare the daylight out of anyone, but should be quietly quite effective.  Bobby Simmons, Jarvis Hayes, and Chris Douglass-Roberts are not all-stars but they each play to their strengths quite effectively at the three.  Ultimately i think CDR ends up starting there because this team could use his scoring.  Yi Jianlian is going to be very good, and even if he isn’t this year, they have tons of depth at the four;  Eduardo Najera is the classic “hustle” player, Stromile Swift can jump out of a gym, but Sean Williams probably ends up being the first big off the bench.  This kid is big, physical, and rebounds like a mad-man.  Eventually Josh Boone and Brook Lopez will fight it out for the starting center spot, but for now Lopez is not ready.  Boone’s the defense and Lopez is the offense.  This is a young, deep team of secondary players.  They are a superstar away from being very competitive.  Unfortunately, Vince Carter is not that superstar anymore.

25. New York Knicks

I bet Mike misses those Suns days right about now

It should make Knicks fans happy that I have them ahead of the Nets here.  Why?  Because there’s little else to be happy about.  Coach D’Antoni was an improvement, but I doubt it will show up immediately.  My midseason, they’ll have a midget backcourt of Chris Duhon and Stephon Marbury.  Not that Jamal Crawford was particularly imposing, but Marbury’s pretty small too.  Plus Crawford will surely be traded by then.  The 3-position is actually pretty solid – oh wait, no it’s not.  It was until they traded Renaldo Balkman, now it’s just as crappy as the rest of the positions.  At least D’Antoni is re-united with Quentin Richardson. Perhaps they can sign Darius Miles to ride the bench and do that head bump gesture with Q.  Zach Randolph starts at power forward.  He’s the most talented player on the team (if we assume that Marbury’s past his prime), and also the most troubled (pick on Marbury if you must, but he can’t hold a candle to Z-Bo’s problems).  He also can’t play defense worth a lick and has never met a pass he got along with (or a babysitter, but that’s another story).  David Lee starts at center because there’s no way D’Antoni is going to give that many minutes to both Z-Bo and Curry.  Lee’s actually probably the most efficient player on this team.  Unfortunately, outside of Curry and the Point Guard position, this team has no depth.  But they should avoid the cellar based on talent alone.

24. Los Angeles Clippers

Talent alone should keep them higher than this, but I just get a bad feeling about this Clippers team.  I get the feeling that Baron and Dunleavy will be at each other’s throats by March, Camby will revert to his old injury-prone self, Kaman won’t be able to score without Brand, and Al Thornton and Eric Gordon are at least a year away each.  They have all the signs of a bad team: two injury-prone marquee offseason acquisitions, a headcase pure scoring first rounder in Gordon, a slow center who played well as a compliment but now has to be the feature in the post, career losers like Ricky Davis, Tim Thomas, and Jason Hart, and a coach who has always been prone to underachieving.  All of this manages to keep them above another trainwreck team in the Pacific…..

23. Golden State Warriors

I had them higher earlier in the offseason, but after all the negativity out of that locker room, i dropped them.  They have leaders on this team: Stephen Jackson has a ring, Ronny Turiaf will play with the utmost intensity evrey night, even Harrington (if he plays) is a leader.  But if he doesn’t want to play, the Warriors are better off suspending him until they are able to trade him or buy him out.  Otherwise this team will really go into the tank.  Fortunately, they actually may be better off without him.  Especialyl when Monta comes back from his injury.  But I will not comment on how good they are until i see him play.  For now, this is a lost season……already.

22. Chicago Bulls

This is everyone’s sleeper in the east…..again.  I don’t really buy it.  I don’t think anyone knows how to run this team.  They have the speed and the shooting to play a D’Antoni-style.  Yet they walk it up the court.  My take on this team: they have a ton of second tier players.  We know that they are talented, but this creates two problems: one, they lack a franchise player who can put the team on his back and be counted on in clutch moments, two, they cannot give 20 shots a night to Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Derrick Rose, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, AND the Tyus Thomas/Joakim Noah two-headed monster.  It’s just not possible.  Last year, Hinrich went in the tank from the beginning, Deng slowly went in the tank (something that’s overlooked by nearly everyone), Gordon, Gooden and Noah pouted, and Hughes took everyone’s remaining shots.  What’d the Italian gangster tell Denzel in American Gangster?  “There has to be order!”

21. Charlotte Bobcats

What can I say?  This is a scrappy team coached by a scrappy coach.  Not much upside here or superstar potential (call them the anti-Grizzlies), but they could grow to be a very tough squad.  I think I’m the only person that liked the Augustin pick up (maybe b/c I’m one of the 3 members of the DJ Augustin fan club, or maybe because i overrate all Texas pro players).  You look at J-Rich, Emeka Okafor, and Gerald Wallace, and you think, “this team isn’t so bad.”  But then you look past these 4, and you see Raymond Felton (probably gone by New Years), Matt Carroll (was never really here), and cobwebs.  Ahhh, so that’s why this team stinks.

20. Sacramento Kings

Am I biased by saying Kevin Martin is really good?

This is probably higher than just about anyone rates us.  But I feel comfortable here.  Why?  Kevin Martin.  I really think he makes “the leap” this year.  Well, he really made “the leap” last year, but no one noticed because a.)the kings weren’t too good and b.)Ron stole the only headlines the kings did have.  But after Martin, they have a bunch of b-rate players.  Beno Udrih can shoot and penetrate but do little else.  John Salmons is ok at everything, excellent at nothing.  Mikki Moore tries his hardest, but……well, he really tries!  Francisco Garcia has never met a shot he didn’t like, but he doesn’t seem to like to do anything else.  Brad Miller is incredible in an offensive system, but he sometimes has trouble creating his own shot and can’t guard a chair.  The team has three young front court players in SF Donte Green, PF Jason Thompson, and C Spencer Hawes.  They are in the reverse order in terms of how far along they are.  None of them are ready to start, however.  But this team seems to be a whole that is larger than the sum.  They did fairly well last year playing, essentially, the whole season without Artest, Bibby, and large parts of it without Martin.  This is why they’ll surprise people, but hardly be a contender.

More coming tomorrow, including the Worst Defenders in the League!

 

When they reminisce over you…..

So it has been brought to my attention that Nuggets fans are criticizing the trade for Renaldo Balkman. It strikes me as odd that people still haven’t figured out that this guy can play. To prove my point, I think it’s time to revisit the Lottery of the 2006 NBA Draft. If it were to be re-done, how would it go?

1. Toronto picks Brandon Roy, G (Washington) [actual selection: 6, Portland]

Think the Raptors wouldn’t like to have Roy now?  Now that the swingman position is their weakest link as a team?  Sure Bargnani is a nice option to have as a sixth man, but a first overall pick?  Roy is the only all-star from this draft class thus far.  Though two or three of the other guys could end up being there.  But Roy is hands down the first pick overall if we were to re-tool this draft knowing what we know now.

2. Portland picks LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C (Texas) [actual selection: 2, Chicago – but dealt to Portland immediately]

That Portland ended up with the two best players from this draft is not particularly surprising, knowing what we now know about their GM.  Neither is the fact that Aldridge, who was picked second, is the second best player of his class today.  What is surprising is how much better he’s been than the man he was traded for – fourth pick Tyus Thomas.

3. Charlotte picks Rudy Gay, SG/SF (UConn) [actual selection: 8, Memphis]

Everything Charlotte was looking for out of their three position – a young player with huge upside who can score in bucketloads – ended up being taken 5 spots lower.  Gay still has the most pure talent out of this draft class, and it’s still mind-boggling how he fell to eight.  We knew how talented he was then! Of course the guy that Michael Jordan actually did select is probably going to be out of the league this offseason.

4. Chicago picks Rajon Rondo, PG (Kentucky) [actual selection: 21, Boston]

At the time the draft was done, I personally considered Rondo and Marcus Williams the two best points in the draft by far.  It absolutely shocked me how far both of them fell.  Especially considering how high the previous class’ points were taken.  So it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Rondo is the first one in this class to get a ring (there have been only two titles since this draft – and San Antonio, who won the other, didn’t have a first round pick).  He is the ultimate team-first point guard.  His main concern was that he couldn’t shoot.  Well, he still can’t.  But he sure can bling!

5. Atlanta picks Daniel Gibson, PG (Texas) [actual selection: 42, Cleveland]

This is probably the best draft pick that Cleveland’s made since LeBron.  Plucking Boobie Gibson out of the second round was a perfect set-up.  He is an almost-perfect role player alongside LeBron.  Sure he’s not going to wow anyone on either side of the ball.  But boy can he shoot.  And in a weak class, he’s probably the fifth best player.  Especially for an Atlanta team that he would fit perfectly on next to Joe Johnson, who is sort of a poor-man’s Lebron.

6. Portland picks Randy Foye, PG (Villanova) [actual selection, 7, Minnesota]

Foye is one of the few solid starters in this draft.   He gets the nod over Brewer here because Portland – while they have a lot of points, none are established – has three established players on the wings.  Even without Roy (who in this case would be in Toronto), the wing isn’t really a need.  Point guard, however, is really their only hole.  But this draft was secretly about how loaded Portland was beginnig to become.

7. Minnesota picks Ronnie Brewer, SG (Arkansas) [actual selection, 14, Utah]

Brewer is a perfect fit in Utah, and he would answer one of Minnesota’s many holes.  Actually, I put him here because he’s the best player available and Minnesota has holes everywhere but the post.  Brewer, very much in the Rondo-mold, does not shoot well but does just about everything else very well.

8. Memphis picks Leon Powe, PF (Cal) [actual selection, 49, Boston]

Everyone remembers Portland’s draft, but Boston had a quietly significant draft as well.  Powe and Rondo turned out to be key components on last year’s title team.  Powe was, essentially, the team’s first big man off the bench.  With Posey gone, he will probably become a more pure sixth man.  To be honest, the team’s most effective offensive lineup is sliding KG to center, and throwing Powe in at the four.  He is, very quietly, one of the most efficient bigs in the league.

9. Golden State picks Paul Millsap, PF (Lou. Tech) [actual selection: 47, Utah]

See how Golden State actually picked Patrick O’Bryant in this spot?  See how he did absolutely nothing?  Now imagine Millsap here.  They’d probably be in the playoffs last season.

10. Seattle picks Renaldo Balkman, PF (South Carolina) [actual selection: 20]

While everyone hated on it at the time, Isiah actually made a very good pick.  In this scenario, knowing that they’d get Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Westbrook down the road, Balkman is a very good hustle-guy compliment to form a very good nucleus.  Here, your 1-4’s are set for the next 10 years (barring injury).  So do i think the Nuggets could use him.  He’s sort of like a more athletic Najera.  And in this poor of a draft, he is one of the 10 best players.

11. Orlando picks Andrea Bargnani, F (Italy) [actual selection: 1, Toronto]

This feels like the right spot for Bargnani.  He is a very good player at times.  But he’s inconsistent and probably a bottom-rotation guy at best right now.  He still does have some upside, but he hasn’t shown why we should believe he’ll ever quite get there.  In this case, he backs up Rashard Lewis, and he doesn’t need to bring it every night.

12. New Orleans picks Jordan Farmar, G (UCLA) [actual selection: 26]

Sure they’d just picked a PG the year before, but they’re quite loaded anyway, and this is a horrible draft.  Farmar is by far the next best player on the board.  He probably backs up both guard positions and allows them to let Pargo leave this current offseason.

In retrospect, the complete flops:

3. Adam Morrison to Charlotte (Gonzaga) – Though he still seems to have a following, he sucks.  If he’d shown any flashes at all his rookie season, J-Rich would probably still be a Warrior.

4. Tyus Thomas to Portland (then traded to Chicago)(LSU) – It’s funny how Thomas is a second banana to Big Baby on a Final Four run, but Thomas gets all the draft-hype and gets picked #4 while Davis goes in the second round the next year.  Then Big Baby ends up the better pro.  But there’s home for Tyus, he’s still very young and raw.  But he seems to have fallen out of favor in Chicago and it might be time to send him packing.

5. Sheldon Williams to Atlanta (now with Sacramento)(Duke) – It’s funny that the bottom three of the top 5 all ended up sucking.  And the top pick wasn’t particularly impressive either.  now that‘s a shitty draft.

9. Patrick O’Bryant to Golden State (now with Boston)(Bradley) – You’ve gotta be pretty bad for a team as big-man-starved as the Warriors to completely give up on you

I’m reserving judgement on the last 3 lottery picks of that year (Saer Sene, JJ Reddick, and Hilton Armstrong) just because for one reason or another (injuries for Sene, being behind all-stars for Reddick and Armstrong), they’ve had the deck stacked ahead of them.  So it’s not really fair to judge what they can/can’t do just yet.  But if I was a betting man, I’d think all of them turn out to be journeymen, with Sene probably out of the league quite soon.

 

NBA Rundown

Every year the NBA takes a week or so off before free agent signings are allowed to be announced. This of course, is the busiest part of the NBA offseason. This also coincides with rookies and young players’ getting more burn than most normally would in the Summer Leagues. So much going on, we’ll have to give you a rundown, first by team:

Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks have been as quiet a team as there has been in the NBA. They had no draft picks, their summer league doesn’t start until Utah on the 18th, and they have made no signings (of players, though Coach Woodson did get re-signed). However they have two marquee free agents in Josh Childress and Josh Smith. Childress has no real offers on the table (though why someone like Miami or Boston isn’t after him is beyond me), but should start getting more now that Corey Maggette has signed with G-State and Mickael Pietrus is with Orlando. He is normally targeted as the fourth swingman available (after Maggette, James Posey, and Pietrus). His summer is just starting. But Mr. Smith is now the most sought after Free Agent left. Elton Brand’s signing with Philly leaves the early favorites without the cap room to sign him. However the L.A. Clippers are major players, and if Chris Mullin ever comes to his senses, he should now be G-State’s #1 target.

Boston Celtics: As i mentioned, James Posey is the second targeted swingman in Free Agency. One could argue he was just as sought-after as Maggette because of his championship credentials. However I’d think there are only three teams with a realistic shot at him: Boston, Miami, and Detroit. Ultimately I think he eventually re-ups with Boston, and Childress goes to MIA. But even if Posey leaves, rookie Bill Walker should be able to make up his offensive numbers. It’d be nice if they could get PJ Brown and Eddie House to come back as well, though it seems doubtful at this point. Most of this team’s improvements will likely come from their kids (Rondo, Perkins, Powe, Davis) getting better from within. Though Chris Anderson is in talks to join the team, in case you don’t know he’s one of my favorite players in the league.

Charlotte Bobcats: There is little news out of Larry Brown’s crew either. He has his PG in DJ Augustin (that seems to mean that Ray Felton is now available), and their only free agent that they really want back is Emeka Okafor. And even that’s not as important as you would’ve thought a couple years ago. But Okafor seems like a player who Brown would absolutely love, and, more importantly, vice versa. But of course, the Clips and W’s could make a run at Okafor (as should be the case with all FA big men).

Chicago Bulls: The selection of Derrick Rose with the first overall pick led the Bulls’ guards to scurry. Duhon is gone to NY. Hinrich could follow out of town (if a deal can be worked out – probably including Tyus Thomas), probably to G-State. Of course, Rose actually has to play. He was manhandled in the first Summer League game by Mario Chalmers (as were Thomas and Joakim Noah by Michael Beasley). Rose played a little better in the second game, as did Thomas. But the star of the Summer so far has been Demetris Nichols, whose now dropped 29 points in 2 games. He might be worth bringing back after all. Of course, the team still has to decide what to do with Deng and Gordon. Lots to think about in Chicago.

Cleveland Cavs: The Cavs had thrown their hat in the James Posey chase, but I don’t see him going to Cleveland. They’re also rumored to have looked into Monta Ellis (he’s not going anywhere), Devin Brown is gone, and it looks like they could be after Carlos Delfino. But really, the Cavs made their biggest move at the trade deadline. It may take a while before we really see the true outcome of that deal.

Dallas Mavericks: Rick Carlisle has definitely begun his tenure on the right foot. He seems to be making a hard push for Sac’s Ron Artest. They picked up Gerald Green and re-signed Diop. They’re also one of the teams that’s putting their nose into Houston and Denver to see if they can’t get one or the other to part with (my 2 favorite players) Carmelo Anthony and Tracy McGrady. But those are fairly unlikely.

Denver Nuggets: After another first round exit, one has to wonder if George Karl is the right coach for this team. The team seems to be wondering about Karl and ‘Melo. In my opinion, improvement for this team is not going to come externally. They have as talented a team as there is in the league. You’ve got a young budding superstar, who is an impossible matchup on offense (Melo); a top 50 player of all-time (AI), the best (or at least top 3) defensive player in the league (Camby), a former all-star who lost his athleticism but is still a lock-down defender to either Forward spot (K-Mart), another near-lockdown defender off the bench (Nene), a streaky outside shooter who can drop 40 at any moment (JR Smith), another ace outside shooter who can also bang (Linas Kleiza), and a free agent (who wants to come back) classic hustle guy (Eduardo Najera). Plus they look liek they are going to bring back Anthony Carter and sign Anthony Johnson to compete for the starting PG spot. But it all starts with Melo. But in terms of being a leader on this team and on the defensive end. If he shows he’s willing to commit to doing all the little things it takes to win (ala Paul Pierce last year), they’ll finally reach their talent level.

Detroit Pistons: After another EC Finals disappointment, Joe Dumars promised “big changes.” So far nothing of the sort has come. All they’ve done is replace Flip with Michael Curry. Anyone could’ve seen they needed to do that. They’ve tried to lure ‘Melo from Denver and T-Mac from Houston, but so far no luck. They went after Maggette and Pietrus, but each ultimately went elsewhere for more money. They were rumored to have a deal for Baron Davis had he re-signed with G-State. But that fell through when he went to the Clips. They halfway went after James Jones, but he ended up in Miami. Honestly, this is not a team that needs to make big changes. But we’ll see what happens.

Golden St. Warriors: Lots of stuff going on in Oakland. To summarize: Baron surprises everyone by opting out and signing with the Clips, W’s go after Arenas and Brand but are turned down, they drop $8-10 mil/year on Maggette, they throw a $4 mil offer sheet at Ronny Turiaf, and are now in discussions with Keyon Dooling (one of my favorite names in the L). Of course, what they should just do is: trade Al Harrington to Chicago for Kirk Hinrich straight up (unless they can also get a pick out of it), then turn around and spend whatever they can (keeping $18 mil under the luxury tax to re-sign Biedrins and Ellis), on Josh Smith. But that might just be the most logical thing to do, not what Mullin will do. Ideally, Maggette, Turiaf, and Dooling are bench players. But who knows what is going to happen here. They say Smith’s not on the team’s radar. But they also said that about Maggette, the day before they signed him.

Houston Rockets: Not much going on in Houston. Honestly if I’m the Rockets, i probably have too much talent on my roster. I’d be looking to deal some of my second-line guys (like Donte Green, Chuck Hayes, Luther Head) for a third-banana on offense. As much as I like Rafer, he probably isn’t a third banana on a playoff team. But he complements T-Mac very well. So I’d say, you probably want a third banana who can play well with Yao at the 2, 3 or 4 (T-Mac can switch between the 3 and 4). Next, you DO NOT deal T-Mac. Period.

Indiana Pacers: This is an unusual bunch. They’ve taken 7 new players in. In case you haven’t kept track, the team traded Jermaine O’Neal and Ike Diogu, and let David Harrison walk. They’ve also taken in Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts, Brandon Rush, TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Maceo Baston, and Roy Hibbert, which gives them 16 players. Their Depth Chart now looks something like this:
PG: Ford/Jack/Jamaal Tinsley
SG: Mike Dunleavy/Rush
SF: Danny Granger/Marquis Daniels/Shawne Williams
PF: Troy Murphy/McRoberts
C: Jeff Foster/Nesterovic/Hibbert
Likely Gone and/or D-League: Travis Diener, Shane Graham, Baston.
Jack becomes their sixth man, and they now have 4 white big-men, which probably leads the league. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rush ends up stealing Dunleavy’s starting spot.

LA Clippers: Here’s a team searching for answers. They signed Baron Davis with dreams of pairing him with Elton Brand and/or Corey Maggette. Well, Brand bolted to Philly. Maggette to G-State. Now what? They’re after Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor. Stay tuned here, something’s gotta be on the way….

LA Lakers: Probably not much going on here. After they decide whether or not to match G-State’s offer, they will turn their attention to re-signing Sasha Vujacic. Then all eyes will be on Andrew Bynum’s return. Unless Odom is moved to Sacto for Artest, it doesn’t seem like much is going on here.

Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizz have a ton of young Wings/Points. A trade would seem plausible. You have Crittenton and Lowry backing up Conley. Both could very well be starting-level points. I would probably say Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo are untouchable. But if teams with bigs come calling for anyone else, the Grizz would have to at least consider it.

Miami Heat: Miami has done quite well for itself this offseason. The Beasley pick was a no-brainer. But it looks like Mario Chalmers might be quite a player for them at the point. It is also reported that they are about to land ace sharp-shooter James Jones from Portland as a Free Agent. So the question becomes: what are they going to do with Marion. Anyone who is even remotely close to the Heat insists that it’s not a question of whether he’ll be traded, its who and to whom. We’ll see. A mega-deal may well be on the way out of Miami. The team has needs at PG and Center, with a glutton of 2-4 players.

Milwaukee Bucks: This is a team in need of defense. And while RJ is an upgrade at the 3, last year was the worst in his career defensively. No one on this team played d last year. You can go up and down the roster, and only Desmond Mason even plays a lick of D. The drafting of Joe Alexander gives them a logjam at the 3. The team has been pretty quiet since draft day. But right now they look like one of the worst teams in the league.

Minnesota T-Wolves: The T-wolves are stockpiling assets. That’s the only logical assumption that can be made for a team with 5 rotation-quality 2-guards. Their depth chart projects starting 3 shooting guards (Randy Foye, Mike Miller, and Corey Brewer) and 2 undersized power forwards (Al Jefferson and Kevin Love). Nice. McHale said the team remains active in trade discussions. “I don’t think we’re done,’’ he said. I’d hope not.

New Jersey Nets: Okay, so I actually like the deal for Yi. A VC trade has got to be coming up. It’s the only way they rid themselves of all the big contracts. To the Clips? They are heavy on the trail of Andres Nocioni. And they are making Nenad Kristic available (not surprising considering his injury history and the recent trade for Yi). All is not settled in Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn). Their lineup for this year currently projects to: Devin Harris/VC/either Bobby Simmons or CDR/Yi/either Lopez or Sean Williams. But let’s be real, they are clearing contracts for 2010 so they can make pitches for the threesome of LeBron, D-Wade, and CB4. They almost shocked the world and traded for Carmelo. Almost.

New Orleans Hornets: The Hornets have given CP3 a well deserved extension. They’ve also thrown their hat into the James Posey mix. Otherwise, they’ve been pretty quiet. They’re not going to sign anyone else until the first batch of FA’s is done with. They don’t need to improve too much, and they don’t have a lot of money to throw around.

New York Knicks: After signing Chris Duhon, the Stephon Marbury-era is all but over. He is the anti-Marbury. He does not have the overwhelming talent that Marbury does, but he is a steady hand at the point. But you have to worry about the defense of a Duhon/Crawford backcourt. To be honest, it will be a fun year in the Big Apple. Who knows how D’antoni is going to react to his new team, and vice versa.

Oklahoma City Sonics: This team has a shiny new Point Guard to run the team. A fast break of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Jeff Green sounds pretty good on paper, we’ll have to see how it plays out in real games (although they did tear up the team’s Summer League Game yesterday, that’s something they’re supposed to do. They’re the three best players on their team in a league with mostly lower level NBA players). There’s no way that they keep all those bigs as long-term projects too, so someone’s gonna havta go. My two cents: keep Collison, Elson and DJ White. Trade everyone else.

Orlando Magic: Honestly, they overpaid for Pietrus. But Courtney Lee will make a nice starting 2-guard for them. He’s lighting up the summer league. Really what they could use is some depth up front, but with the Pietrus signing and their cap status, nothing else is likely to happen. Except JJ Reddick is likely gone.

Philadelphia 76ers: Ahh Philly. A team with only 7 players under contract. Fortunately for them, one of them is named Elton Brand. The next step is to re-sign Andre Iguodala, then fill the roster with role players. One would think they’ll bring back Louis Williams and Shavlik Randolph, then sign their draft pick and maybe one or two minimum salary players. In my opinion this team needs a shooter (Reddick?). But otherwise, they’re primed for a deep playoff run.

Phoenix Suns: The Suns didn’t need much. But the team only has 10 players under contract (if you include first round pick Robin Lopez). But they have some huge salaries that put them deep into the luxury tax. Who knows how this team is going to react to its’ new coach. But Lopez is a nice piece as a first big off the bench for when Shaq and/or Amare get in foul trouble.

Portland Trail Blazers: This team is so loaded going into this season, James Jones wouldn’t have gotten off the bench. They are just loaded with young bigs and points, which is what every team is after. But they also dont have any weaknesses. Plus they have Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, and LaMarcus Aldridge as emerging star. I swear, If I’m the Lakers or Hornets, I’ve got my eye on the Blazers for the next few years. I don’t imagine them doing too much in the meantime.

Sacramento Kings: My beloved Kings have been all over the rumors in deals involving Artest for Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem, and Lamar Odom. But thus far all they’ve done is draft Jason Thompson and re-sign Beno Udrih. Apparently the Odom/Artest trade would have already gone through if the Lakers were willing to take Kenny Thomas’ contract back. Until the Artest situation gets settled, no one knows for sure what this team is going to be. But at the moment without Artest, they have:
PG: Udrih, Sean Singletary
SG: Kevin Martin, Francisco Garcia, Quincy Douby
SF: John Salmons, Patrick Ewing Jr
PF: Mikki More, Jason Thompson, Sheldon Williams
C: Brad Miller, Spencer Hawes
IR: Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Kenny Thomas
Notice that I gave them a separate IR position for two guys who aren’t likely to play, but are too expensive to cut or waive. Douby gets his final chance to prove why the Kings should keep him. Salmons is probably close to that boat too, though he was the Kings’ best player for a lot of last season. Ewing Jr is in there exclusively for defense. We’ll have to see how the Artest situation plays out.

San Antonio Spurs: They went after Maggette but were ultimately out bid. Finley is probably gone. Barry too. Horry is definitely. They need to get younger, but they don’t really have the means to do so. Kurt Thomas will likely return, but he’s old too. They will probably try to grab some of the second batch of free agents, as they currently only 9 guys under contract for next season.

Toronto Raptors: Trading for Jermaine O’Neal took a lot of balls. I can’t front. I’m quite impressed with Toronto’s front office for this. They now field a starting lineup of Jose Calderon/Anthony Parker/Jamario Moon/Chris Bosh/Jermaine O’Neal. If O’Neal works out for them, they’re challenging the Celtics. If not, they’re still about as good as they were last year. They’re way over the salary cap now. But fuck it. Go for the gusto. I love the trade. You now have three current/former/should be all-stars, a super-athletic swingman, and a lockdown defender and three-point ace.

Utah Jazz: There’s not much action in Utah. Next summer is the big one for the Jazz, when Boozer, Williams, and Okur are all free agents. Personally, I’d give let Millsap show what he can do before i re-upped Boozer. Re-signing Williams is an obvious, even if it takes the Max. Okur can walk though.

Washington Wizards: The Wiz re-signed Arenas and Jamison. Everything else is pretty much secondary on this squad. Id think Roger Mason is returning too. If the starting 5 stays healthy, and Blatche and Young continue to improve; watch out.