The "Now" era of the NBA

Monday night Dwight Howard set an NBA mark, and he did it quite impressively.

Dwight Howard became the youngest player to reach the 5,000 rebound mark. The youngest player before him to do so was Wilt Chamberlain at 25 years and 128 days old. That's quite a feat with all things considered. Howard destroyed that mark getting to 5,000 rebounds at 23 years and 112 days old. 23,924 rebounds is Chamberlain's all-time mark which definitely looks doable from Howard's point of view.

LeBron James not to long ago became the fastest player in NBA history to score 10,000 points. With James and Howard setting these marks at young ages, is it possible we are seeing one of the greatest eras that basketball can offer?

Throwing out records, the NBA now has some of the most entertaining point guards. Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Deron Williams, Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, etc. While Nash, Kidd and Bibby are possibly hitting the tail ends of their careers, those are five of the best players to watch run the floor.

I didn't even mention the Kobe Bryants, the Allen Iversons, the Kevin Garnetts, or Shaqs of the league. The NBA has a very special core group of players right now. The game has a very bright future ahead, and I for one can't wait to witness it.

NBA happenings.

Tick tick tick...LeBron will be on 60 minutes this Sunday.

Rule Change...The NBA changed a rule on too many men on the court.

New Record...Cleveland set the franchise mark for wins in a season.

It's MAGICal...Orlando won their division with a W over Boston.

And finally in honor of the soon to be MVP, best player in the league, and my favorite player, here is a video...enjoy.

Not the NBA, But a Must See

Try to watch this without laughing.

Ahhh...Finally

While I don't doubt that he has gotten his due, it is finally a fact that he is rivaling none other than the great Michael Jordan for the greatest season ever. LeBron James is the focus of criticism always. He is always being compared to one person or another. People tend to pick at the parts of his game that aren't very good, for whatever reason. They say, "well he doesn't have that great of a jump shot." Who cares how the ball goes in, just because he doesn't have the best jump shot does NOT mean he can't score. How about this one..."He isn't clutch." From 2003-2009, LeBron leads the league in shots made in the last 24 seconds. That isn't just buzzer-beaters. The definition of a game winning shot opportunity is: With 24 seconds or less left in the game, the team with the ball is either tied or down by 1-2 points. LeBron hit 17 shots in the last 24 seconds of a game. This is including the playoffs. (Where clutch matters most.) Why do people still knock him for that? Do they not know? And there is always this criticism of his game, "He can't hit free-throws." Well, my responce to that is, yes he can. He is shooting a career high 77%. But the fact of the matter is that when it comes to free-throws, he is at the line so much, that 77% that he will hit will most likely come to double-digit points. This year his minutes are down and he is still playing out of his mind. There is a thing to keep track of how good a player is in the NBA. It's called a Player Efficiancy Rating, or a PER. Michael Jordan has the best PER to date, but LeBron is threatening to overtake that spot, and have according to the player efficiancy ratings, he would have the best season ever.

If you don't believe me, take it from a guy that knows what he's talking about. Click here.

Big Ten Tournament

The Iowa Men’s Basketball team takes on Michigan today at 1:30p.m. Overall, there is no enthusiasm or hope for the Hawkeyes in this years tournament.

Iowa had a 15-16 record overall, and a 5-13 record in the Big Ten, and some are translating that literally to them struggling in the tournament as they’ve had their problems against Big Ten teams.

Kyle Gerischer watched the Hawkeyes with his grandfather while he was growing up.

“They did awful in Big Ten play, so they are going to do awful in the tournament.” Gerischer said.

And who’s to say that’s wrong. After all, the Big Ten tournament is full of Big Ten teams.

Andy Jacobs has followed Hawkeye basketball since he was a little kid. When asked how the Hawks would do in the tournament, the reply was simple.

“They will lose in the first round.” Jacobs said

But some are not so down on Iowa’s hopes in the tournament.

Carl Hobart casually follows the Hawkeyes. He never did until he came to the University of Iowa, but now watches when they are on, and occasionally goes to the games at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

“They could possibly beat Michigan…If Kelly does well.” Hobart said. “But I can’t see them doing much else.”

With the main though being the Hawkeye’s will fall early in the tournament, there is an emphasis on hope for the Hawks in the future.

“They had a decent season.” Gerischer said. “It could have been worse…like Indiana.”

Iowa only started one upper classman for the majority of the year.

“They are too young, they’ll be better next year.” Hobart said.

Jake Kelly, a sophomore starter for the Hawkeyes is averaging 11.7 points per game, and just over three assists per game, and over three rebounds per game. Matt Gatens, a freshman starter for the Hawkeyes, averages 11.1 points per game, and almost four rebounds per game. And those are just the guards.

Once they get some experience under their belts, is when the majority of Iowa fans will have that hope that is lacking this year.

So all in all, the hope and enthusiasm is there, but it is on reserve for the next couple of years.

CONTRIBUTERS

Andy Jacobs

Carl Hobart

Kyle Gerischer

Brian Brotzman

5 worst sports injuries.

If you don't think you can handle these, chances are, you can't. They are very graphic, so watch at your own risk.

5) Shaun Livingston
Livingston went up for a lay-up, and came down with only one good knee.



4) Anquan Boldin
It's bad.



3) Joe Theisman
One of the worst leg injuries, still not the worst because of #2.



2) Willis McGahee
Still so hard to watch.



1) Clint Malarchuk
How can a goalie getting his throat slit not be the worst?

An Update around the NBA

Here are some things that caught my eye recently.

The NBA is looking to change the traveling rule.

In the most underrated move of the season, The Cavaliers signed Joe Smith.

Mark Cuban calls out his team.

With the Pistons just three games up from the ninth seed, Iverson is out two weeks.

Tyson Chandler thrives in a Hornet's uniform after they tried to trade him.

And finally, Stephon Marbury is not bitter with the Knicks?!

And that is currently what is grinding my gears in the NBA.

When superstars face off, does it bring out the best in them?

Last night LeBron James and Dwyane Wade seemingly went one on one for the entire game. LeBron scored 42 as his Cavs beat Wade's 41, and his Heat. We've seen it a million times, LeBron vs Kobe, Kobe vs Shaq, LeBron vs Carmelo, Howard vs Wade, and on and on. The games where superstars face off, they tend to go off. In some instances they buckle down defensively, like both games where LeBron and Kobe played each other. Some games are a personal goal to score more than the other like when Shaq and Kobe play, or when two of the top scorers play each other like LeBron and Wade. LeBron last week had an interview with Magic Johnson, LeBron said he looked at Kobe as one of the best in the league, that he watches him on his days off, and observes what he does, because they are both double and triple teamed. So is it any surprise when those two go at it, they want to one up each other? Look at the Madison Square Garden instance. Kobe went out there and scored 61 points, LeBron scored 52 points, and was a rebound short of a triple-double. There is no way anyone can say that none of these superstars go out and constantly try to one up each other. That's what makes the NBA so special, so fun to watch, when these guys go at it, it can be one of the most entertaining things in sports to watch. One of these best performances was last years playoffs, game seven of the Celtics and Cavaliers where LeBron had 45 points and Paul Pierce had 41. It was called "an epic battle" by Celtics executive vice president Danny Ainge, and rightfully so. It is these games, these "epic battles" that are so fun to watch, and with the superstars in the league now, most of whom are capable of 40 point nights every time they step on the court, there could be many of these highlight reel nights to come.

Mid-way Sixth Man Award

If the season were to end today, here is how the award race would look.

Sixth Man Award
Winner: Jason Terry - 19.7 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.4 rpg
Runner Up: Manu Ginobili - 16.1 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.7 rpg
This will be another good race. Right now it looks like Terry has this one in the bag, but one should never count out Manu Ginobili. Also, there is a wild card for this award, and that is Nate Robinson. Robinson is doing great off the bench, and Terry and Ginobili are coming off of injuries, so at this point anything can happen. However, if the season ended right now, no doubt about it the award to go to Jason Terry. He's got to watch out though, a month ago he was the clear winner, and now Ginobili is closing the gap, it will be interesting. But nevertheless the award will go to Dallas' Terry.