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.

Thumbs down for Lakers!

The Lakers aren't playing very well. Kobe isn't shooting that great, but he's assisting okay. Artest looked like he really stepped up on defense. In some of the recent games, he had this many steals in consecutive games - 6,5,5, and 2. That is an average of 4.5 in those 4 games. So its good to see he stepped up on defense. However, there were times I saw he played some bad defense such as in the Magic game, even though he had "Defense" colored in his hair in 3 different languages. The Lakers don't have good flow at all. They are not playing well. Artest needs to shoot better too. Overall, everyone needs to step it up. They are on a 3 game losing streak - first in the Gasol era with the Lakers. They were a superior road team last year, not looking so great this year. Teams like Dallas are on a 11 game win streak. Boston is putting it together too. The Lakers better get on a roll toward the end here and ride high into the playoffs. They are losing their footing. They had a chance to have the best record. However, now a lock for Western Conference champion is not even a lock anymore. Lets see if they wake up and start playing better. Perhaps they have lost some of their edge.

Kobe is back!

Kobe hit another game winner last night against the Grizzlies. I was very pleased with his performance. His shooting was tremendous and he was very controlled in his game. More importantly, he was very clutch at the end of the game. He basically won the game for them. Once again, the Lakers prob didn't have any business winning the game after the Grizzlies fought back and regained the game. However, they left the door open and Kobe took it and closed it shut on the Grizzlies. Kobe was Kobe. His ankle looked good to me on three nice dunks I saw he had in the game.

Another side note is the comparisons to Lebron. Lebron is great, in fact, spectacular. I just want to stay numbers and stats don't tell everything. I believe I've mentioned this before. I look at Lebron's stats. Honestly, his career stats in my mind blow away Kobe's. Lebron is as close to a triple double average you can probably get to in the current age. His numbers are what I like to do in a video game. Good amount of rebounds, assists, scores a lot of points. On top of that he gets to the line 10 times a game, shoots %50% from the field, and shoots decent from 3. He does it all and has it all. However, this is where watching and just knowing the game makes the distinction. If you went by the numbers, you probably would just say Lebron > Kobe easily. Most experts of the game, however, would probably still say Kobe is the best. Its just a matter of watching and seeing what he does. Its not all about the numbers. If you watched last night's game, you'll know what I mean.

Trades, trades, trades!

With the trading deadline over, a lot of trades were made near the deadline. Some of the major moves in my mind are T-Mac on the Knicks, Nate Robinson in Boston, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood on the Mavs, Antawn Jamison on the Cavs, and Kevin Martin on the Rockets. T-Mac will have a chance to show what he has left, but the Knicks care more about the money they will now have after this season to go after players like Lebron and Wade. Amare wasn't traded, a deal I guess just couldn't be figured out. Its interesting that the Cavs have the best record in the NBA, and yet made a trade for Antawn Jamison. I hear this is to appease Lebron and hopefully keep him in Cleveland.

Update: I guess it was an easy decision for the Cavs to make the trade because the Wizards will buy out big Z and most likely he will return to the Cavs. So basically, the Cavs will lose no players and gain a pretty good one with the trade.

All-Star Letdown

The All-Star weekend I don't think was as good as I thought it would be. I think a lot of that was the disappointment from the dunk contest. Its probably unfair expectations on these athletes to make original incredible athletic dunks. Congrats to D-Wade on winning the MVP, he played a great game. I think Lebron played pretty good too. It could have been a co-MVP thing.

I WAITED FOR THIS!??!!

The Slam Dunk Contest was horrible, horrible, horrible. Nate was okay, but I wonder if it was one of those things where he played to the level of his competition. I was so psyched to see Shannon Brown do some crazy stuff (as well as so many others I read). He did some lame crap. He didn't even advanced to the final round. What a disappointment. The other NBA events were okay. Still pretty much boring to even a big NBA fan like me. Besides the dunk contest, I think the 3pt shootout is the next big thing. I thought it was pretty good this year. Paul Pierce really impressed me. He is really shooting it well this year. Good for you Paul. Your shooting it great. I watched the events with my wife and best friend. We all agreed that Kenny Smith was very annoying. My friend mentioned how Kenny likes to hear the sound of his own voice. When he said that, it rang a bell in my head of "So true!" Kenny def speaks so much like he likes to listen to himself talk. His over narration and "trash-talking" just annoys the hell out of me. Barkley is annoying as well. Also, watching the event, the commercials are so cycled and boring as well. Not really great. I was waiting all this time for it and getting excited. It should have been a huge event but I felt like it was a huge letdown. The crowd wasn't even into it most of the time. I don't think Shannon will be invited back for it now.  I know Shannon can dunk 100x better than what he showed. Jeez, what happened?? As a side note, Mr. 720 aka "Air Up There" is one of the best dunkers I've ever seen.

Kobe news

So Kobe missed the game where the Lakers played the Jazz in Utah. Guess what?...the Lakers beat the red hot Jazz pretty easily without Kobe. The Lakers just looked focus and determined. Pau has brought  his play back up. He is playing like a beast. Coincidentally, it was with Bynum out. Its silly to say this, but Pau plays so well with Bynum out, its almost worth it to have Bynum out. Bynum is a great player, but to me Pau and Bynum haven't combined their play to the best level yet. Perhaps that is yet to come. However, the way that Pau is playing now, its almost like I feel like Bynum should sit out. Thats just how dominant Pau has been playing. Also, Lamar picks up his play tremendously. Going back to my first point, I think the Lakers were better off without Kobe these past 3 games. The wins, focus, and determined play I think prove the point. Kobe is also missing the All-Star game. That allows Kobe to have a good rest period to come back stronger. That version of Kobe will help LA tremendously. Kobe was trying to be Kobe but just couldn't and the Lakers were using him like that. With Kobe gone, it forced the guys to run the offense like they should. I'm looking for Kobe to make a push the second half of the season and match the level of Lebron. However, Lebron has been playing so out of this world. Lebron has improved so much. The weaknesses I saw in Lebron's game I saw in years past are essentially gone. I can't even think of much weaknesses with his game. He is playing so well right now.

Dunk Contest!!

The Dunk Contest will be coming up this weekend. I am so excited!! Watching the dunk contest is so much fun with the right people. Its the event I look most forward to. NBA tv is showing a marathon of previous years of dunk contests. There have been some great contests and some real crappy ones. I think one problem is whenever they try to have all these restrictive rules. I think its stupid. By the way, the wheel that was used to determine what dunks to emulate was one of the dumbest things ever added. Also the requirement to use someone with your dunk is kind of dumb too. I think that should be up to the person. Here is what I think the rules should be. The rules should be simple. Have at least 3 rounds. Don't limit what can be replaced/made dunk/missed dunk rule crap. Basically give each contestant a 1-2 minute time interval in each round to do the dunk they want. That way you give them a chance to do the dunk they want and don't penalize them for a silly slip of the ball or mis-timed jump. I think the dunk contest would be a lot better. If they miss a dunk attempt a lot, then it will probably lower their score because the judges would see the number of attempts. Also, I would love for the NBA to release how they choose/pick contestants. I wish fans could vote for competitors. They vote for All-Star starters, why not dunk contestants? Let NBA players who want to participate put their name out there, and fans vote who they want to see. Perhaps raise the prize money to get in some of the better players. Another cool idea I think could be "height classes." As in fighting you have weight classes, why not height classes for the dunk contest. That way you can have the best dunker under x, y, or z height. Then you have a final dunk off of those best dunkers. You have more competition and allow more guys to compete. I think people who love to watch dunk contests would appreciate it. Also, watching these dunk contests, you realize how annoying some of the announcers are. I like Kenny Smith as an analyst, but as someone talking about the dunks, he is annoying. Most of the guys are. Maybe I'm just being a hater.

Kobe should rest

Kobe hasn't played the past couple of games for the Lakers due to his ankle sprain. He is known as a "warrior" who fights through injuries. Missing the game stopped his 235 consecutive game streak. Surprisingly, the Lakers looked good beating Portland in Portland and the Spurs at home. They were two solid wins. The Lakers hadn't won in Portland in forever. Granted, they are injury prone but they seem to have the Lakers number there no matter what. However, solid play from everyone made for a good win. Same thing for the Spurs. The Spurs have been playing better and looking to take advantage of Kobe's absence. However, the guys stepped up again and it was great to see. Bynum was out for that game too and Gasol just had a monster game. Phil Jackson stated its nice to have Kobe (even if he's a little injured) because he provides that X factor that allows you to win. I have been watching a lot of the Laker games. Recently, as Kobe's injuries have slowed him down, he really hasn't helped the team. My analysis is that Kobe is hurting the Lakers directly and indirectly. He is hurting them directly because in some of the game he tries to be "Kobe" but he just can't do it. His shot is terrible or he can't drive like he usually does. Indirectly the guys depend on him too much and rely on Kobe to be Kobe. There were a few instances that Kobe relied on himself too much and didn't trust his teammates. That was the rep of the old Kobe, however, Kobe has been able to use his teammates more appropriately the past couple years. Don't get me wrong, there were times where Kobe definitely picked up the play for the Lakers, but there were times I was like "what are you doing!?" I understand that Kobe will play if he can walk, but I don't know if thats the best thing. He knows his body though. He is not one to wait until something becomes 100%. My assessment is you need to rest until your better enough where your not shooting/doing stuff your struggling to do. I'm sure Kobe will be back and I'll be glad to see it. However, I think I would like for him to miss this next game before the All-Star break and use the break to rest up and come back a little stronger. Kobe is still the man, but I think he can rest a little. With him missing games, its forced other Lakers to step up more. I think knowing that Kobe isn't playing puts more focus into the guys. I think this will be good for the long hall.

Quick notes

* The Cavs are playing unbelievable. They are rollin and playing great. Lebron is the MVP and best player right now.
* Lakers are so-so. Not playing great, but not playing terrible. Need to pick up play. Kobe shooting a little better, but he keeps having these nagging injuries bothering him (Only had 5 points in last nights game!!).
* Celtics have not been close to their championship ways. They are searching to get it back.
* Kevin Durant is ballin. Doing a great job in the past few games, scoring especially.
* Jazz and Nuggets are playing very well and kind of under the radar.
* Ready for All-Star weekend to get here!!

Lakers vs Grizzlies

I'm currently watching the Lakers game against the Grizzlies on NBA League Pass. Kobe has already surpassed Jerry West's scoring record. I wrote an announcer bias blog a while ago. The Grizzlies announcers are pretty badly biased. They are obvious haters of the Lakers, but I understand. However, here are a couple of actual quotes from the announcers in the game.

Regarding a shot called a 2 pointer when initially thought it was a 3 pointer. Review proved right call was made. Announcer comment - "It was the correct call, but I don't like how it was made". Hey - a correct call is the correct call, they would def LOVE it if it was FOR them.

Regarding a 3 pointer made by Kobe. Rudy Gay just made a 3 pointer that swished. Kobe made a 3 that bounced in. "He made the shot, but on the streets it wouldn't have counted." - Really? Really? on the streets it wouldn't have counted?? interesting. Sounds like plain Kobe hating.