Le Basketbawl

There are many NBA sites that rely on “Weekly Power Rankings.” The reason that I decline from doing them, is in my opinion a week is not an accurate barometer in the Association. Since I was a child following the NBA in the 1960’s I have always divided a season into quarters, believing it is a better measuring system than a week, which is usually three games.

We did our first installment on December 17, and now that we are reaching the 42 game mark right about now, with some a few games behind, and other teams a few games ahead. We have seen quite a bit of movement with some teams moving up in the rankings, while others have seen their fortunes, and their season start to crumble. There is a new edition to our top category, so without further ado let’s take a look at the second quarter of the 2008-2009 NBA season the rankings are based on games played through January 27:

PLATINUM

Cleveland Cavaliers:  If LeBron James does not win the NBA MVP Award this season, the voters should be drug tested. LBJ along with his right hand man point guard Mo Williams, has the “Wine And Gold” playing championship caliber basketball without Zydrunas Ilguaskas and Delonte West playing. Do you think Kobe would have the Lakers playing that well without Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum?

Boston Celtics: The Celtics have been a team of streaks this entire campaign. They lost to the Denver Nuggets on November 14, for their second loss of the season, and then pulled off a 19 game winning streak. Christmas Day they fell to the Lakers, and proceeded to lose 7 of their next nine. After bottoming out against the Cavaliers on January 9, they have gone through a resurgence with their current streak. There was a lot of talk during the fallow period for Boston, that the team had gotten old over night, and they were not in the class of Orlando, Cleveland, or the Lakers. One would think that this current surge they have gone through will quiet that talk.

Los Angeles Lakers: Lakers lost at the Staples Center Tuesday to the Charlotte Bobcats. It was only the fifth time this season that the B-Cats had won on the road. So exactly what does this mean for the team from the “City Of Angels“? Considering they are playing in Minnesota Friday night, and in Memphis Saturday, the Tuesday loss was just most likely a slight dip in the road. However ponder this for just a minute; they are by far the best team in the Western Conference, but would they fare as well in the East? Boris Diaw ran roughshod over the Lakers, what if they had to face Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston five teams a season, would they fare as well?

Orlando Magic: The new guys in this neighborhood this quarter. Dwight Howard so dominates other centers in the Association, that the Magic have the luxury of going with essentially two small forwards in Turkoglu, and Lewis in their starting lineup. But the X-Factor in the second quarter of this season has been the maturation and development of point guard Jameer Nelson.

 GOLD

San Antonio Spurs: No this is not the team that won it all in 2007. They are older especially Duncan and Bruce Bowen, and Brent Barry now plays for the Rockets. But they survived being without Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, and have come on strong in the last month. Roger Mason, and Matt Bonner have started to become key players for this squad. 

Denver Nuggets: With LBJ almost a lock to be named the NBA MVP, he probably won’t get much consideration. However a strong case could be made for Chauncey Billups to get the award, the way that he has rejuvenated the Nuggets. Even without Melo playing the Nuggets right now are a force.  J.R. Smith should be named as the NBA Sixth Man.

New Orleans Hornets: I am starting to run out of superlatives to describe Chris Paul. CP-3 had his fifth triple-double of the season against the Sixers Monday, without David West or Tyson Chandler playing as they were both out with injuries. That’s 5 triple-doubles in 41 games, and you wonder why I believe he is the best pure point guard in the NBA?  Tyson Chandler before getting hurt was starting to resemble the player he was last season, David West is an All-Star, and Peja Stojakovic is always a threat especially from downtown.

 SILVER

Portland Trail Blazers: Brandon Roy will be an All-Star in the Association for years to come. LaMarcus Aldridge and Steve Blake are both very good players, and they have some talented young players in Batum and Fernandez. The big question is will Oden fulfill his potential? If he does, Portland will be in the mix for quite a while.

Houston Rockets: Can they stay healthy? Yao, McGrady, and “Tru-Warrior“  are a potent trio, but not if they are on the bench with injuries. Having the “Ancient Warrior” Dikembe Mutombo back with them will pay off, even if all Deke does is sit on the bench and wave a towel. 

Atlanta Hawks: Dependent on where they end up record wise, the Hawks could cause some damage in the Post Season. Joe Johnson took a lot of grief when he signed a free agent deal with the Hawks. He gets the last laugh as the team from “Hotlanta” has built a contender around him.

Phoenix Suns: The trade with the Bobcats may have done Charlotte more good than Phoenix. Will Steve Kerr make another move before the deadline? Maybe the most pleasant surprise for the Suns recently has been the improved play of Shaq.

BRONZE

Dallas Mavericks: I truly believe that the Olympics took a toll on Jason Kidd, if not we may be seeing the quickest decline in the history of the Association. Dallas was smart to get rid of the millstone that DeSeganna Diop’s contract. Howard, Nowitzki, and Terry can not do it alone here. 

Miami Heat: One of the rumors floating through the Association  grapevine, is the Heat trading Shawn Marion to Sacramento for Brad Miller. If Riley can make that deal,  he should as soon as possible, Miller could be a key pickup for a team that lost their two veterans (Shaq and Zo) last season. With Miller in the pivot, Miami’s chances get a lot better.

Detroit Pistons: Okay how did Joe Dumars turn into the post MJ era Jerry Krause over night? What ever he and Michael Curry are trying to accomplish, other than end up in the lottery it’s not translating to the hardwood. Their starting lineup for the rest of the season should be; Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Rodney Stuckey, with Iverson as sixth man. Want to win guys? That’s your lineup. 

Utah Jazz: Mehmet Okur may be playing his best basketball in his NBA career, while power forward Paul Millsap may be the best bargain in the Association as he is getting less than 800 thousand dollars for this season. This team though will only be able to realistically contend if they can get a healthy Carlos Boozer back in time. 

TIN

Philadelphia 76ers: No they are not the team that many observers thought would contend as an elite team in the Eastern Conference at the start of the season, but they are actually showing they are not playing half as badly in their second quarter of the campaign as they were through December. Brand is starting to get regular playing time, Iguodala, and Miller are two steady players. Thaddeus Young has played well as of late, and guard Lou Williams will try to do what ever it takes to get a win; he leaves nothing left on the floor.

Milwaukee Bucks: Scott Skiles was doing a nice job with the Bucks, but with Michael Redd injured for the rest of this season, this could be the high point for Milwaukee until the season ends in April.

New Jersey Nets: I have always had great respect for New Jersey Nets President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn, but I can not for the life of me figure out what he and Lawrence Frank this year have concocted with the Nets? If Coach Frank can get the New Jersey Nets to a .500 record, I say he should be given strong consideration for NBA Coach Of The Year.

New York  Knicks: If you are a regular reader of mine, then you are well aware of how critical I have been of the New York Knickerbockers, brain-trust Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni. That being said this team in most likelihood will claim the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Al Harrington, Wilson Chandler, and David Lee among others are having career years.

Charlotte Bobcats: Hate him or love him, you have to admit that Larry Brown may be the best “teaching coach” in the Association. It probably is not in the cards for this team to make the step to the playoffs this season, but there is now light at the end of the tunnel. The acquisition of Diaw, and Raja Bell  for Jason Richardson, has reenergized this team. On the other hand, I still have no clue why the picked up DeSeganna Diop.

Chicago Bulls: Bulls General Manager John Paxson should be on the phone on a daily basis with the agent for Ben Gordon, until Paxson has been assured that Gordon will sign a long term extension. Derrick Rose and Gordon have become a very productive and exciting tandem in the back court. If Drew Gooden can get back to form this team could be surprising down the stretch.

ALUMINUM FOIL

Toronto Raptors: Okay can anyone explain to me why Sam Mitchell was fired instead of General Manager Bryan Colangelo? It was not Sam Mitchell who traded T.J. Ford for Jermaine O’Neal was it? O’Neal to say the least has been underwhelming since joining the Raptors. Bosh, Bargnani, and Calderon, alone are not going to get you into the playoffs.

Indiana Pacers: The other half of the trade with the Raptors, and even though the Pacers as of this writing trail Toronto in the standings, they ended up with the better end of the deal. T.J. Ford is one of the toughest players in the NBA, and he will infuse that toughness into the Pacers. 

Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin McHale has done a nice job so far on the bench with the T-Wolves. The Boston trade is starting to pay some dividends, as Al Jefferson has been showing what he is capable of all season, and it looks like Sebastian Telfair may have finally found himself a home.

Golden State Warriors: What can Monta Ellis do the rest of this season is the biggest question on this team’s agenda right now. The Warriors can score, and are a scrappy bunch, but can they get better than that with the current cast?

CARDBOARD

Memphis Grizzlies: Chris Wallace has regained a lot of respect in this corner, with the way he has started to build the Grizzlies. Now Chris, take your cellphone and hide it until after the NBA trade deadline has come and gone. You will thank me for that advice later on. 

Los Angeles Clippers: Mike Dunleavy engineered a palace coup just before the season as he talked owner Donald Sterling into jettisoning Elgin Baylor. Problem now Mike, is at the end of this season, you will have no one else to blame but yourself. 

Oklahoma City Thunder: We now know that the Thunder will not have the worst record in the history of the Association. Scott Brooks while an improvement over P.J. still has not shown that he is more than an interim coach.

Sacramento Kings: This team has too much talent to be this bad, with Kevin Martin, John Salmons, and Jason Thompson among others. Kings should take a chance on Marion in the trade mentioned above with the Miami Heat, and see if Marion can take the place of Ron Artest.

Washington Wizards: Ernie Grunfeld is another NBA General Manager who may find himself unemployed at the end of the season. Grunfeld rolled the dice that ”Agent Zero“ would be fully recovered from his knee problems this season. Instead Arenas name is not even mentioned in conversations concerning the Association at this point, and his return date is still a mystery.

The NBA has announced the full rosters for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game that will be held on February 15, in Phoenix. The starters chosen by the fans were announce last week, the reserves who were chosen by the NBA coaches were announced on Thursday night. Among those named, Phoenix Suns veteran Shaquille O’Neal who has made the team for his fifteenth time. “The Big Cactus” is now second in All-Star Game appearances, trailing only Hall Of Fame Center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who was given the honor 19 times. Below are listed the entire rosters with the starters at each position in bold face. 

Eastern Conference:

Guards: Dwyane Wade-Miami,  Allen Iverson-Detroit, Joe Johnson-Atlanta, Devin Harris-New Jersey; Jameer Nelson-Orlando

Forwards: Dwight Howard-Orlando, LeBron James-Cleveland, Paul Pierce-Boston, Danny Granger-Indiana, Rashard Lewis-Orlando

Centers: Kevin Garnett-Boston, Chris Bosh-Toronto

Western Conference

Guards:  Chris Paul-New Orleans, Kobe Bryant-Los Angeles Lakers, Chauncey Billups-Denver, Tony Parker-San Antonio, Brandon Roy-Portland

Forwards:  Tim Duncan-San Antonio, Amare Stoudemire-Phoenix, Dirk Nowitzki-Dallas, Pau Gasol-Los Angeles Lakers, David West-New Orleans

Centers:  Yao Ming-Houston, Shaquille O’Neal-Phoenix

We are proud to announce that we are now part of a round table panel that consists of a virtual who’s who of NBA websites to determine the Association’s MVP and Rookie Of The Year Award winners. Round Six went online on Tuesday January 27, you can check out the results at Blogger MVP/ROY Voting: The Red’s Army Edition. We keep looking for ways to grow and expand at Le Basketbawl with you our loyal reader in mind. Hope you enjoy the results!

We have not heard from our old buddy Kyle Slavin from The Second Coming  in a while,  and as always he has something interesting on his mind. Here’s a taste;

There are a number of things on my mind today.

First, I would like to offer my best to Alonzo Mourning. The 17-year vet finally called it quits, a full five years after he was diagnosed with a life-threatening kidney disease and thought never to play again. He was a 7-time All-Star, a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year (while defensive giants like Mutumbo, Jordan, Hakeem, and Gary Payton were playing, no less), a perrenial 20-10 threat and a 2006 Champion.

You know, 2006, three years after he was supposed to take his seat next to Charles and Ernie as a talking head.

He will best be remembered for his intensity on the court, his flawless fundamentals (and physique…I mean, that’s a big boy) and his numerous charitable contributions throughout the years. He will be remembered for the thunderous dunks and the feathery fade-away, for killing the Celtics and challenging all who entered the paint.
Aw, who am I kidding? He’ll be remembered for dragging Jeff Van Gundy around on his leg. (Three-minute mark)

Check out that and all of Kyle’s thought’s on the New Year in the Association at  The Second Coming.

After watching LeBron win a game in dramatic fashion in Oracle discussing the Knicks-Sixers seems mute. But, alas I have a case of Flying Fish Winter Brew riding on this one. The Knicks easily beat the embarrassing Griz tonight. Yes, Griz fans I believed earlier this year. I was dead wrong! You officially are a disgrace. You better hope your management takes the Sixer’s sloppy seconds and hire Mo Cheeks! For all off Mo faults he is a tremendous developer of young talent. The Griz just aren’t that bright. It looks like they are going to hire Lionel Hollins for the third time. The third time isn’t going to be the charm Memphis. Sorry to say this but it looks like your fate is as dismal as the LA Clippers. Sorry I digressed back to the point at hand…

The Knicks are on a role winning three straight beating a team that would be better off in the D-league. The Sixers won seven straight and the eighth win was in reach until Dirk Nowitzki hit a game winner Monday. The Sixers should feel confident since they have been off for nearly a week and Saturday is the return of Elton Brand. That is the problem. The square peg in the round hole is returning. I have tremendous respect for Tony DiLeo. How can I not? He lives less then 5 minutes from my house. That being the case he still hasn’t dealt with the elephant in the room.

Eddie Stefanski made a big splash this off season in signing Elton. Philadelphia rejoiced! I was one of the masses praising Eddie. All of us were so desperate for a legit star. Philadelphians have been starved for a legit power forward since the disgraceful exodus of Charles Barkley in perhaps the worse basketball trade in Philly’s history. Thanks again Harold Katz! But we should have realized the Sixer’s game was not the half court set. Running the pick and pop with Brand was nearly impossible unless your name was Willie Green and the only reason Green could do that was thanks to the residual coaching efforts of Jim O’Brien. The Sixers made the error of playing Brand’s game. Their game was the up tempo style in transition. DiLeo recognized this and returned to the transition game. Hence Igodala’s game returned to normal and the Sixers returned to form. The emergence of Lou Williams and Marreese Speight’s has lead the return to a team that Philly recognizes.  DiLeo had the good fortune of Brand’s injury. Now the eighty three million dollar man is back and DiLeo must make this work. Everyone knows that Eddie won’t let Tony leave Elton on the bench for an extending period of time. Vegas knows this. Just look at the 1.5 point line for Saturday’s game. Brand is going to wreak havoc on the Sixers.

Is all hope lost? No. Look how well Zach Randolph responded to the Mike D’Antoni system. He responded so well the Knicks were able to trade the chronic underperformer. I am not saying that Brand is as bad as Randolph. In fact I believe he is a tremendous player. He still isn’t 100% from his surgery. Brand needs to be given time to adapt to the Sixers return to up tempo.

Bottom Line- Knicks beat the Sixers. The Knicks are more rehearsed in the fast paced frantic D’Antoni system. David Lee has had 31 double doubles and Duhon is emerging as a true point. Add that to Al Harrington and the amazing three point shooting of the Knicks and the Sixers are as fried as Crown fried chicken at 2am on a Friday. The Sixers are still in their infancy under DiLeo and Brand is like having a pharmacist do brain surgery. The pharmacist may be intelligent but he has no knowledge of surgery. Brand will learn how to play with the boys but it’s going to take time. Spike Lee enjoy! It’s all Knicks tomorrow…

NBA Commissioner David Stern must be tickled pink right about now, because if the vote totals from the fans is a clear indication of the Association’s popularity, than it is at an all time high! The NBA released the starters for the 2009 NBA All-Star game Thursday, and five  players exceeded the previous highest vote count in the history of the NBA. Houston Rockets center Yao Ming had received the most votes back in 2005, when he set the record with 2,558,278 fan ballots. He now resides in both sixth and seventh place, as he missed his previous high mark this year by a little more than 25,000 votes  (2, 532,958). The new record holder is the man they call “Superman” Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, who is the only player in the history of the NBA All-Star game to receive more than 3 million votes (3,150,181). Howard will man the pivot spot for the Eastern Conference team, he will be joined by Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (2,940,823), Kevin Garnett from the Boston Celtics (2,066,833) Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade (2,741,413) and Detroit Pistons guard Allen Iverson (1,804,649).

Kobe  Bryant was the recipient of the most fan votes in the Western Conference, as the Los Angeles Lakers guard received 2,805,397 votes for the February 15, contest. He will share the back court with New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul (2,134,798), Rockets center Yao Ming, San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (2,578,168), and Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire (1,460,429). The reserves will be announced next week.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now, I have far too much respect for Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars to suggest that either he or head coach Michael Curry are mentally impaired, but one does wonder when they are going to realize that they will not win with their current starting five. As of this writing, the Pistons have lost five straight games, and in this long time NBA observer’s opinion, it all comes down to the Pistons starting five as a whole, being less than the sum of their collective parts.

The Pistons decided to re-boot in November when they traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit decided that their elite point guard (Billups) was expendable, because they had a talented successor in Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey showed great promise last season in his rookie campaign even though he missed a great deal of the first half recovering from surgery. Stuckey was hurt in an exhibition game on the eve of the regular season, after being a standout in the preseason. Whether Stuckey can become as good as Billups remains to be seen, but the premise is sound.

The true question in the deal was why did Detroit trade for A.I. in the first place? Was he as myself and others speculated a rent-a-player for a year, so that they could use his salary slot to rebuild? Or did Iverson truly fit into the long term plans of the Detroit Pistons? The question remains unanswered in January, but the bottom line is that the Pistons were a better team before the deal than since they consummated it. And the five game losing streak they are currently experiencing is just a symptom of a far deeper problem. The current makeup of the Detroit Pistons does not work, and unless changes are made their record, and more importantly their fans will continue to suffer.

When the Pistons first made the deal, they tried a starting five of Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Iverson. That did not stay in place for long, as Tayshaun basically became a “point forward” and Brown showed that he is a a cipher. There have been cases of teams trying to tap that unfulfilled potential from big men as long as the Association has existed. Every once in a while it will pay off (Tyson Chandler seems to be the real deal with the New Orleans Hornets. Chris Kaman showed great improvement last season with the Clippers, but injury has kept him on the sidelines since late November.) Kwame Brown has not been one of those cases with Detroit.

The next incarnation of the starting lineup, is the one that the Pistons greeted the New Orleans Hornets with on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Hornets handed Detroit their fifth straight loss winning the game 91-85. The Pistons were severely under-sized as their starting five was Rodney Stuckey, Iverson, Hamilton, Prince, and Wallace.

Rasheed Wallace is not a pure center, and Tayshaun Prince is certainly not a power forward. How Curry and Dumars thought that pair could match up well against Tyson Chandler and David West, to me is mind boggling. Detroit actually played quite well in the game, hanging around until the end, but they were not strong enough to overcome the team from New Orleans.

Detroit has another very talented young player on their roster in power forward Jason Maxiell, who should be part of their starting five. The troika, of Iverson, Hamilton, and Prince, needs to be broken up, and Maxiell needs to replace one of them. The question is which one?

If Iverson is as I expect just a rent-a-player, then he should be the Pistons sixth man for the rest of this season. If Iverson is going to be re-signed, then the Pistons have to figure out, do they trade Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton. Because Detroit will not win with those three players as part of their core.

The Detroit Pistons barring a total collapse by Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando, will not be in the Eastern Conference Finals this season. Those three teams are just superior at this point of the season, it’s that simple. So Curry and Dumars should use the rest of this season to figure out the long term direction of the Detroit Pistons. Jason Maxiell is part of the future for Detroit, their current starting lineup is not.