The Best PG?

Recently, Deron Williams has been getting a lot of props and credit for being the best point guard right now in the NBA. Its hard to argue that because he has been playing great as of late and his numbers have been insane. His numbers are down a little bit in the Lakers series, but the Lakers are playing great D against him. I'm sure Deron is going to have some great games in Utah. Ever since I've been watching Deron, I thought he looked like a really good guard. He is very solid, shoots well, and has a great vision. He is a very good point guard. However, it seems the way people are speaking is that Deron is the clear cut and has overtaken the number 1 position. I have to disagree a little bit here. Chris Paul has been putting up even more insane numbers and he is an absolute amazing point guard. Chris was injured this year, but some of the numbers he put up were still amazing. I am anxious to see how Chris comes back next season and proves himself to be one of the best. Hopefully no injuries will hold him back. I also have to give some props to Rajon Rondo and his skills at point guard. He has had a great year and he has played spectacular in the playoffs. He is putting up some incredible numbers. Its funny to think a couple years ago, the Celtics were trying to figure out how to upgrade from Rajon, and now Rajon is sometimes the best player for the Celtics. Its almost a 3 way tie for best point guard right now, and you could almost say a 4 way tie if you put Steve Nash in the conversation. Right now I'd say that Deron and Rajon are playing the best right now.

Kobe looking better

I've been disappointed in Kobe's play during the playoffs, however, his last 2 games he his shooting the ball much better. He is shooting 54.5 % in has last 2 games. We'll see if he is able to continue that efficiency.

"Fear the Deer" - Milwaukee one win away! (Bucks vs Hawks - 6 vs 3)

Can you believe the Milwaukee Bucks are one win away from winning the first round and eliminating the Hawks? Milwaukee had a solid run at the end of the season and was playing very well. Props to Scott Skiles and his coaching. He's proven to make teams very tough and defensive with Chicago and Milwaukee. The Hawks have shown to be a very good team throughout the whole season. It seemed like they would have a good chance to be in the conference finals at least. However, they are on the brink of elimination. The Bucks have been real good, but the real surprise is they are leading the series being undermanned. They are missing one of the their best players - Andrew Bogut. I think the Bucks have a great chance of advancing to the next round because the next game is in Milwaukee and Milwaukee continues to play solid.

One more thing, John Salmons is a very good basketball player. He showed me that in Chicago, but he's been the best go to guy for the Bucks. He's proven to be a good scorer and a solid defender as well.

Mavericks vs Spurs (No 2 vs No 7)

The Mavericks have had a great season, but the Spurs played very well at the end of the season and had good momentum coming into the playoffs. The Spurs have some great veteran talent, and when they are in sync, they are tough to beat. Currently, it seems to me the Spurs are in sync and very tough. Part of that syncing was Manu Ginobili's play. Manu has came back with a vengeance toward the end of the season, playing like the Manu of old. I think the Spurs have a great chance of advancing to the next round. The Spurs are always competitive when they have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu playing well. Dallas has a lot of talent too. They are a dangerous team as well. I feel like the Spurs play them very well and can totally pick them apart. They are very evenly matched and I think this series has a good chance of going 7. If it goes 7, I have a feeling the Mavericks will pull it out because of the home court advantage, but the Spurs have already shown they can win in Dallas. As of this writing, the Spurs currently lead the series 2-1. By the way, Jason Kidd's shot has greatly improved. The joke with Jason was they used to call him ason without the J because he had no jump shot. However, Jason was in the top 3 for 3 pointers made and he is shooting at a great percentage. The Mavericks trade during the season has helped a lot as well.

Kobe can't deliver

I've been doing a lot Kobe "hatin" recently. I've been "hatin" on his play and shot selection. In normal situations if Kobe shot as bad as he did in game 3 last night against Oklahoma, you would chalk that up to a bad night and coming back strong. However, this has been the same story for a while. I've been harping on Kobe's shooting. Its not even fun to watch him shoot this bad. Artest shot better in the game, but still not  nearly well enough. The unfortunate thing is that the Lakers had this game. They could have been up 3-0. Yes, I give much credit to the Thunder. They played great at the end. Durant was a beast. Artest did well limiting his scoring early and making his shots tough. However, Durant rebounded amazingly and picked it up at the end. Durant is definitely making a name for himself for those who don't know him yet. The main thing to any victory is that you pulled it out. That is what the Thunder did. Kobe wasn't dependable in the 4th quarter and just shot terrible. He couldn't give the lift to his team that they needed. It seemed everyone else's play picked up except Kobe.

Kobe at a young age is already an old veteran. This is his 14th year in the league. That is pretty crazy. He is starting to break down similarly to other guys who came in around the same time as he did. A lot of them haven't even made it this far. Kobe is a great player, but he will always be compared to himself at his peak. At his peak he was the best in the NBA. Currently, Lebron has that title easily. Kobe's injury filled season has not even allowed it to be a debate of who the best is right now.

Last night Kenny Smith was talking that in a few years that Kevin Durant would be the best player in the NBA. I don't know about that quite yet. However, as Kobe goes toward the end of his career, I think Lebron and Kevin Durant will be fighting for who the best is. Lebron is currently on top.

Lakers vs Thunder (1 vs 8)

The Lakers had a terrible way of ending the season, basically going sub .500. I believe they were 4-7 in their last 11 games. Pretty pathetic for a team trying to win the championship. The first problem for the Lakers is health. Bynum has been out as well as other guys during the season. The main guy, Kobe, has had his play greatly affected by his health. I've seen Kobe play through injuries before. The difference is Kobe was still tremendous. Kobe's injury to his finger has made him mortal. He is shooting some pathetic percentages, such as 30%. This is awful in any way you look at it. I think someone was saying Phil was implying or stating Kobe needs to distribute and get the ball around more. If your shooting less than normal, you should pass it out more. I agree. Kobe is shooting way under normal. Even open or regular shots he makes most of the time are missing. That is one of the main problems. Kobe is not quite near Kobe. The second thing is that the Lakers depth is minimal. That used to be one of their strong points. Now its basically up to the starting 5. Lamar is so up and down this year. Ron can't make a shot if his life depended on it. Artest has played some great defense as of late. He is doing a great job with Durant at times as well. The problem is its offset by his terrible shooting (such as 1 made 3 pt in 8 attempts). They swing it to him for an open shot or he takes a terrible shot which of course doesn't go in. I am happy with his defense, absolutely dominant at certain times. The thing with Ariza was he had solid defense and a solid shot that went in at a consistent basis. Pau has been off this year. He hasn't shown his same consistent greatness. All these factors point to the Lakers falling this year. Oklahoma has been in both games so far. They had chances to win it. Oklahoma, however, is a very strong 8 seed. One of the best maybe. In normal situations, they would probably be a number 4 or 5 seed.  Kevin Durant is amazing and I can't say enough about him. He is definitely the future of the NBA. Oklahoma has a lot of great young players. Russell Westbrook is another favorite of mine. Very good player. Oklahoma should be a team that will continue to get better and be in contention in the next years. Oklahoma does have a chance I believe to beat the Lakers in the first round. If the Lakers don't give their absolute best, Oklahoma has a great chance to take the series. The Lakers need to prove they can be a dominant offensive and defensive team. Their defense has looked great at times, but their offense still not as great as I'd like to see. My feeling is the Lakers will be win the series.

Its the playoffs!

Its been a few days since the playoffs have started and I haven't updated my blog. I've been pretty busy with work and other things going on. The playoffs is when the excitement and intensity goes up another level. This is where you see the guys intense, superstars prove to be superstars, and amazing story-lines and finishes happen. I wanted to write my thoughts on all of the series and I think I'm going to write a separate entry for each of the series.

Lakers downfall

The reason I am hesitant on the Lakers winning it this year is that they haven't won the big games or the meaningful games that they need to do. For example, they had a chance to win home court for the entire playoffs, they lost that opportunity by losing several games that they could have won. Hey, Cleveland was just unbelievable, so give them that. However, the Lakers just had to play decent, just fairly well, like a team thats a top team, to have the second best record.They didn't even have to play their best, just solid. Now they have lost the second seed overall, meaning if they meet the Magic in the Finals, they don't have home-court there either. This is more of a concern because last year the Lakers were such a great road team. This year the Lakers haven't shown that. In fact, the Lakers have made me more disappointed than even excited. Here is the final main point, as the season is closing, they are 4-6 in their last 10 games! 4-6??? Are you serious? This is how you close a season? This is my concern. I'm not saying they can't turn it on. It is possible. The Lakers team that went 15-1 in the playoffs basically turned it on in the playoffs that year. Its just that I haven't seen that ability at all in the Lakers this year. Just more inconsistency this year. The injuries to Kobe have made him too mortal. The edge to the Lakers isn't there either. I guess we will see once the playoffs start.

Playoffs approaching...

The Lakers just lost to the Nuggest tonight. It was a close game and they played with Kobe. However, thats their 4th lost in 5 games. Let me be completely honest. The Lakers are just not playing well at all and I don't think they will win the championship. They have their ups and downs, and they are playing as of late with too many downs. Their record is still top in the West, but that was helped with the good record/schedule early on. They haven't put a string of games together with total domination at the end of the season. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but how come it hasn't happened now. I guess we'll see. Kobe still isn't in his top form, not even close. Everyone just seems to be off their game. Artest seemed to have improved but yet overall behind.

Cleveland on the other hand is looking great. Lebron has basically been the best player in the league and the Cavs have such a flow to their game. They look determined this year and I think they have a great chance of winning the championship.

Kevin Durant is now one of my favorite players and he has quickly progressed to be one of the best players this year. Probably #2 behind Lebron actually.

Regular Season almost ending

I believe there are about 10-12 games left for everyone in the NBA. The season is wrapping up. Cleveland pretty much has a lock for the #1 seed for all of the NBA if they don't go on some crazy losing streak. Lakers should get #2 overall if they don't go way off. I'm still not happy with the Lakers play and now Bynum is out for a while. It seems like the pattern every year with him. I'm concerned with Kobe's play. I don't think he is playing quite up to Kobe's standards. I know his injuries have affected him and I don't like to see him force it. I think he has been playing better as of late. I think you might as well hand Lebron the MVP for this year. He really has done a tremendous job. Milwaukee seems to be playing out of their mind winning all the games they have in recent weeks. I'm looking forward to the playoffs and seeing what happens.