Mid-season Most Improved Player Award

Here is where the most improved player will go if the season were to end today.

Most Improved Player
Winner: Devin Harris: This season - 22.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 6.6 apg
Last season - 14.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.9 apg
Runner up: Danny Granger: This season - 25 ppg, 5 rpg, 3.1 apg.
Last Season - 19.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.1 apg
This award will go to Devin Harris, his numbers are all up, and he has found a spot in the starting five as his minutes are up as well. Not to mention his sweet game winner recently. He is averaging a little more than seven points a game more than last year. Being traded away from the Mavericks may have been the best thing for Harris' career. Danny Granger also has seen significant improvement. His points are up a little more than five a game, but anyway you stack it up he is nowhere near more improved than Harris is. I think Harris wins this award, as he will continue to play well all season.

Mid-season Defensive Player of the Year

If the season ended today, here is what the defensive player of the year race would look like.

Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: Dwight Howard - 14.1 rpg, 3 bpg, 1 spg
Runner Up: Kevin Garnett - 8.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 1.1 spg
Defensive player of the year is a tough award to predict. It not only reflects the numbers, but how you play, the effort you give, and how well one can defend. Howard is a defensive force anyway you stack it up. If you take the ball in the paint against Orlando, there is a good chance something bad happens. On the other end, Kevin Garnett is a great defender, as the games that he has been out, opponents are scoring almost 10 points more per game. Garnett's numbers do not come close to comparing with Howard's but he is the next in line for the award. In the end, the award will go to Dwight Howard, and rightfully so.

Mid-season Coach of the Year

The mid-season coach of the year is a good race likely between three different guys.

Coach of the Year
Winner: Stan Van Gundy - Record: 41-15
Runner Up: Mike Brown - Record: 43-11
While there are better coaches in the NBA in terms of winning percentage, and records, the coach of the year won't be a person that has the best record, because in most cases they have the best teams. Of all the best teams, the Magic have the least talent. And it's because of that, that Van Gundy will edge out Mike Brown or Phil Jackson for coach of the year. It's common knowledge that Brown and Jackson should have top three teams. Van Gundy on the other hand is a surprise to have 41 wins at this point in the season, and because of that and the remarkable job he has done with his team, he will win the coach of the year.

Mid-way Rookie of the Year.

This award will be the closest of all the mid season awards. However if the year ended now, there is one rookie slightly better than the next.

Rookie of the Year
Winner: O.J. Mayo: 19.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg
Runner up: Derrick Rose: 17.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 6.4 apg
There will be no award race closer than this one. These two are neck and neck for the rookie of the year award, but only one will win. If you take the stat road, Mayo is a better scorer and rebounder, but Rose is a point guard and he gets more assists a game. Both men are around the same steals per game. Rose shoots a little better from the field, Mayo is a little better at free throws. Both kids are showing leadership qualities while playing on sub-par teams. Mayo's strength between the two is his 3-point ability and free throw percentage. Rose has the ability to run the floor and get people involved. This is and will be a close race till the end of the season, but in the end Mayo edges Rose out for the award.

Mid-season Awards...MVP

Each post will be a new award. Today's award is MVP.

If the season were to end today and awards were handed out, here is where the MVP would go:

MVP
Winner: LeBron James - 28.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 7.0 apg
Runner Up: Kobe Bryant - 27.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.9 apg
LeBron leads the NBA in scoring, and is also seriously being considered for defensive player of the year. He is a great two way player, and is a complete team player. He is averaging 28.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7 assists a game. His field goal percentage, and free throw percentage are career highs. While his numbers are still amazing, his minutes are at the lowest of his career. That makes this year that much more impressive. While Kobe is the closest to him, all of LeBron's numbers are better. Stats don't make an MVP, but Kobe also has a better supporting cast than LeBron. If the season were to end, it would be a no brainer for MVP...LeBron James.

Steve Kerr is an idiot, and it's not Terry Porters' Fault...Completely

Terry Porter got fired late Sunday night - early Monday morning. I blame everything on Steve Kerr.

It was Kerr's decision to get rid of Mike D'Antoni for a defensive minded coach. Fine, but what isn't fine is that the Suns have one of the best, if not the best fast break point guard in the league. The only defensive players on the Suns are over 35. Amare wants to run, when he is playing fast paced basketball he plays better. The only reason Amare wanted out was because the game is slowed down, Shaq takes touches away from him. While there was no hope for Terry Porter in the Suns system, that wasn't his fault. It was a bad move by a bad GM. The Suns have the oppotunity to run the offense their way again, whether or not they do remains to be seen. However because of the Terry Porter firing, it seems that Amare will stay in Phoenix, and he will be just fine.

It's going to be interesting to see if the should be playoff team can rebound and make a playoff spot, my guess...yes they can.

Horse...and why is Kevin Durant boring?

The NBA finally wised up and put (supposedly) an exciting event to accompany the dunk contest in all star weekend. Everything about the horse game was good, except for the winner. All things set aside, it was really cool that Kevin Durant went down four letters to both O.J. Mayo and Joe Johnson, and he came back and won. That was cool. What wasn't cool, was his shot selections. Horse is meant to be played for our entertainment, which is how Joe Johnson and O.J. Mayo were playing...whereas Kevin Durant was seemingly playing to win, and he did. Joe Johnson had some cool shot selections, such as spinning the ball of his finger and shooting like that, a free throw with his eyes closed, between the legs lay-ups, and a shot from the broadcast booth behind the hoop. O.J. also had some sweet shot attempts, he shot from behind the hoop, he tried to shoot sitting down, he did fancy lay-ups, and he took the longest shot of the day, which he made. While Durant tried some good shots, everything he did seemed unoriginal because it was some variation of Johnson's or Mayo's shots before. After Johnson got eliminated, the game turned extra boring with Durant just taking three-point jumpers. By doing this he turned a potentially exciting horse game into a game of horse that would be played by middle schoolers. Too bad.

5 "next year rookies"...5 "this year rookies"..."5 Motley Crue songs"

(Photo from siriusbuzz.com)

Here are five people that I believe could make an impact in the NBA next year, right out of college:

1) Blake Griffin - University of Oklahoma
2) James Harden - Arizona State University
3) Hasheem Thabeet - University of Connecticut
4) Al-Farouq Aminu - Wake Forrest
5) Stephen Curry - Davidson

(Photo from goodlogo.com)

Here are my top five rookies in the NBA as of right now:

1) O.J. Mayo
2) Derrick Rose
3) Russell Westbrook
4) Eric Gordon
5) Michael Beasley

(Photo from musicremedy.com)

Last night I went and saw Motley Crue, and while I know it's no longer the 80's it was pretty amazing, so as a tribute to that here are my top five Motley Crue songs:

1) Kickstart my Heart
2) Girls, Girls, Girls
3) Wildside
4) Home Sweet Home
5) Dr. Feelgood

So there you have it, two relevant top five lists, and one not so relevant but at the same time, amazing.

5 Teams atop the NBA

1) Los Angeles Lakers.
They are holding onto the best record in the NBA with 41 wins and 9 losses. There may have been some questions about the team since Bynam went down, but with Lamar Odom picking up the slack, they still look dangerous headed by Kobe Bryant. The Lakers just got off a six game road trip where they won all six, including a very impressive/controversial overtime win in Boston, and another impressive win in Cleveland, beating the Cavs where they haven't been beat yet.

2) Cleveland Cavaliers
Yes, they just lost for the first time at home, yes, they continue to be riddled with injuries, but yes they still have LeBron James. The Cavs have a 39-10 record, and while some may believe that the Celtics are better, the Cavs have a better winning percentage, which is why they are my number 2. In the last 12 games, they have lost three times, twice to the Lakers, and once to the Magic, not bad. They are right now without a key member of the starting five, Delonte West. Ilgauskas just came back from a significant amount of time gone, and Szczerbiak, Wallace, and Pavlovic has missed time with the flu, but when this team gets healthy, watch out.

3) Boston Celtics
The Celtics right now are 42-11, and supposedly the second best defensive team in the league behind Cleveland. In the last 5 games the Celtics have given up 101, 99, 110, 100, and 105. However the Celtics are the most dangerous team in the league, and as long as you can get the big three to click, and get Rondo running the floor instead of trying to become a shooter, then there is no better team than the Celtics. For the sake of Boston, they better show that defensive minded team that showed up all of this year, and that won them a title last year.

4) Orlando Magic
Orlando is a team that is still flying under the radar. They have 38 wins and 12 losses. Orlando's biggest problem is the injury to Jameer Nelson. If they can overcome that injury, the Magic should be good to go. He's a big part of that team, without Nelson, you are losing almost 17 points per game and they'll need someone to pick up that slack. Dwight Howard is the self proclaimed Superman, but he can only do so much.

5) San Antonio Spurs
The Spurs currently have a record of 34-15, but that is a bit deceiving. The Spurs have played a significant amount of time early on without Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. With those two back the Spurs are starting to look like the Spurs of old. With recent wins over Utah, Phoenix, New Orleans, and Boston, the Spurs may have figured it all out just about at the midway part of the season. Watch out for the Spurs in the second half of the season, they could be very dangerous, especially if they can land another big guy through a trade.

Cavs, Lakers

A possible NBA Finals preview, The Lakers and Cavaliers will play in Cleveland on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Two men who just put up the greatest performances in Madison Square Garden History, will go head to head tomorrow afternoon. By the way, the Cavs still have not lost at home. It's going to be a great game, and I think everyone should watch it.

Once Upon a Time in America...The Blazers are good?

(Photo from Stoneybox.com)

I am a huge fan of mob movies, I love them. Gangs of New York, Goodfellas, all of the Godfathers, Casino, and oh yeah, I have seen every episode of the Sopranos. Last Night while walking through Best Buy, I discovered one that I have never heard of. Once Upon a Time in America, it's a movie directed by Sergio Leone, and has a great cast. Robert DeNiro is the main character, in the movie are James Woods, Joe Pesci, and a very young Jennifer Connely. It's a four hour long movie with an amazing ending. I bought it and came home to watch that instead of the Celtics, Lakers game. And while it's a long movie, if your a fan of the genre, I highly recommend the movie.

Something else that I discovered last night, the Portland Trailblazers are actually a good team. They are completely flying under the radar. The Blazers right now are sporting a 30-18 record, and until Wednesday nights loss to Dallas, they were on a 5 game winning streak. Their next five games are against sub-par teams, and they are currently the fourth seed in the West. They are ahead of some teams that were great teams when the season started. They have better records than New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, Utah, and Phoenix. They have a talented starting five anchored by Brandon Roy, and also have a lot of depth on their team. If Portland doesn't fall for any trades, this team could be here to stay in the years to come.

To sum up, watch Once Upon a Time in America, and watch out for the Portland Trailblazers.

MSG - KB - LBJ

(Photo from ESPN.com)

Madison Square Garden, one of the NBA's most prominent venues, and lately home to visiting stars destroying the Knicks.

Kobe Bryant just set the Madison Square Garden record with 61 points. He went 19-31 from the field with 61 points and three assists. He went to the line 20 times, while knocking down all 20 of his free throws. What an amazing night for one of the NBA's best players.

Two nights later, King James comes to town. Just a little back story for those who may not follow the NBA. Madison Square Garden is LeBron's favorite venue, since the season started there have been whispers about LeBron playing in New York in 2010. While I'm not going into that right now, (That's a whole different post) Madison Square Garden could be considered LeBron's home away from home. Because Kobe went in there and scored 61, LeBron would want to go in to New York and make everyone's jaw drop for the second time in three days.

And he did.

LeBron went 17-33 from the field, scoring 52 points and he didn't stop there. LeBron also had 10 rebounds and 11 assists. A triple-double with 52 points, that's extremely impressive in my book.

The point of this is not to compare the two superstars' nights, but to put your head down in a moment of silence for the Knicks. They are a franchise that is cutting ties with any and all players who want money, and they are waiting for the summer of LeBron. Even though he has recently expressed extreme content about what the Cleveland front office is doing for him. The fact of the matter is the Knicks will have money, come 2010 if LeBron is not an option, there are about 20 other impact free agents that year. It would really be something if the Knicks could get a player capable of doing what Kobe or LeBron just did, on any given night.