Worst of the Week (Jan.21-27)

Here are the bad guys. 

5.)  Ricky Davis:  23.5% FG, 3.3PPG, 3.7 Reb, 0.7 Stl 

The only thing Ricky Davis seems to be contributing to are the mounting losses in Miami.  In the last 20 days, Davis has had only one game in which he scored in double figures, yet he is still the team’s third leading scorer.  It is bad news in Miami.  Poor D-Wade! 

4.)  Jamario Moon:  27.3% FG, 3.0 PPG, 3.5 Reb, No Blocks 

The feel good story of the year in the NBA did not look so good over the past week.  The things that he has done on the court that has made people take notice, he did none of over the past week.  He blocked no shots and grabbed only the rebounds that seemed to fall miraculously into his hands.  Just so the story can keep feeling good, let’s hope he gets over this past week. 

3.)  Jarrett Jack:  30.8% FG, 2.8 PPG, 1.5 Reb, 2.0 Ast, No Steals 

Sometimes I look at Portland, and I wonder how in the hell they are getting it done.  They have serious issues at the PG spot and at the Center position.  The gurus of basketball would say that is a recipe for disaster.  Jack was horrible over the past week, and the guy in front of him (Steve Blake) was not much better.  There is not a lot to be said about the production of Jack over the past week.  It simply stunk.  In four games he could not even come up with one steal.  That is some real hustle play. 

2.)  J.R. Smith: 30.4%FG, 50.0% FT, 0.5 3PT’s, 4.3 PPG, 1.8 Reb, 1.0 Ast, 0.3 Stl 

He is supposed to be the spark plug off of the bench.  I think maybe he needs to have his wires checked after this week.  He had a marvelous 0 point, 0 assist, 2 turnover game against Atlanta early in the week and things did not improve that much for him as the week went on.  His game looked to have improved last season, but he has had a rough beginning to this season.  This would be his senior year at UNC if he would have opted to go to college.  I wonder if he made the right decision. 

1.)  Brevin Knight:  15.4% FG, 2.0 PPG, 0.5 Reb, 3.0 Ast 

I know it is rough for the Clippers, having to play without Elton Brand, but Brevin Knight is doing nothing to help alleviate that pain.  He is getting close to 20 minutes a night off of the bench, and this is what he gave them over the week.  In 3 of his past 4 games he has not even made a field goal.  He got his paycheck regardless.  The only good thing about his performance was the fact that he didn’t turn the ball over—except when he air balled his shot. 

Un-Honorable mention:  Bruce Bowen, Joe Smith, Ben Wallace, Raymond Felton, Al Harrington, Drew Gooden, Yi Jianlian, Darko Milicic

Best of the Week (Jan. 21-Jan 27)

This week there are some new faces on this list, and for the first time in a while Mr. James is not in the top 5. 

5.)  Caron Butler:  46.1% FG, 16/16 FT, 23.5 PPG, 7.3 Reb, 3.8 Ast, 3.3 Stl 

Butler is having a career year and is more than making up for the loss of Gilbert Arenas to injury.  Butler has always been an excellent all-around player, but this year he has moved his total game into the top-tier of players in the NBA.   

4.)  Kobe Bryant:  51.4% FG, 29.8 PPG, 9.8 Reb, 6.8 Ast 

One of the top few players in the league, he has stepped up his all-around game since Andrew Bynum got hurt.  Though his scoring is down this season, he is still a dominant force on the offensive end of the court. 

3.)  Monta Ellis:  60.8% FG, 85.3% FT, 30.3 PPG, 5.0 Reb, 2.0 Stl 

Ellis is one of the most underrated players in the league and has been a legitimate scoring threat over the last 2 years.  He is similar to Richard Hamilton with a bit more athletic ability.  He always seems to end up with a few steals. 

2.)  Josh Smith:  90.9% FT, 17.5 PPG, 9.5 Reb, 4.8 Ast, 2.8 Stl, 3.8 Blk 

One of the true freaks of the NBA–he puts up the most unique numbers in the league, and he can be a god-send to your fantasy team.  He has a real knack for blocking shots, but he can rebound, score, and dish out the ball as well.  Who knows how good this kid can be? 

1.)  Dwayne Wade:  54.2% FG, 34.7 PPG, 6.7 Reb, 6.7 Ast, 2.7 Stl, 1.0 Blk 

This week picking the number 1 guy was pretty easy.  Wade was dominant this week and showed why there are those that argue he is better than LeBron.  He seems to have finally gotten back on track after his injury-riddled beginning and maybe Miami can now win a few games. 

Honorable Mention:  Kirk Hinrich, Al Jefferson, Jose Calderon, Rudy Gay, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James 

The Slam Dunk Contest

The Slam Dunk Contest is not what it used to be.  The days of Dr. J, and Jordan, and Dominique are gone, but it is still an interesting spectacle.  I still try to watch it every year, and it still has its moments.  Nate Robinson was fun to watch; Gerald Green put on a pretty good show last year, and Dwight Howard showed what a freak he is by slapping that sticker near the top of the backboard. 

This year should also be an interesting display, and for the first time the fans will be the final judges.  Green and Howard are back in it, along with Jamario Moon, and Rudy Gay.  All of these guys can jump through the roof and produce some great in-game dunks. 

I think it will probably come down to Moon and Green.  If you haven’t seen Moon yet, you will be in for a treat.  He used to play with the Globetrotters and he was their designated dunker.  Green, we all saw what he can do last year.  Howard is a monster dunker, but I think he may be too big and unable to do some of the more creative dunks.  Gay is a wild card.  He could fizzle early, or he could come out and surprise everyone. 

It is hard to repeat in the dunk contest, because it is hard to come up with enough dunks to wow the audience for a second year in a row.  I think Moon will probably edge out Green in what should be an entertaining contest. 

Start thinking about your favorite Dunk Contest dunks.  I’ll have a post a little later listing the best dunks ever in the All-Star Game Dunk Contest.

Worst of the Week (Jan. 14-20)

What a week it was for these guys.  The sad thing is that some of these guys are beginning to make it a habit of appearing on this list.

Here are the guys who need some extra practice this week.

5.)  Derek Fisher:  37.5% FG, 7.5 PPG, 1.0 Reb, 0.5 Ast

This guy is the starting PG on an NBA team, and all he can muster is 1 assist over the course of the 2 games he played during the week.  It wasn’t as if he were scoring to make up for it either.  He didn’t make it to the free throw line at all during the week.  I just wonder what he was doing out there on the floor at all.

4.)  Bruce Bowen: 21.4% FG, 2.0 PPG, 3.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast, 0 Stl, 0 Blk

I know Bowen is not an offensive player, and his worth to the Spurs can’t be seen on the stat sheet, but this was a bad week for Bowen.  He shot the ball horrendously and in 3 games he did not have even 1 steal.  He only had 1 assist in 3 games.  I usually leave Bowen out of consideration for this list because of the way he plays the game, but this week was just too bad.

3.)  Channing Frye:  18.8% FG, 2.3 PPG, 2.8 Reb, 0 Blk, 0.3 Stl

The 8^th pick in the 2005 draft was actually a better player in New York than in Portland.  This kid has some talent, and every couple of weeks he’ll put together a good game, but for the most part he is really struggling in Portland.  This guy can’t beat out Joel Przybilla for the starting gig.  His minutes were down this past week, but even when he was on the floor he was a non-factor.  He couldn’t shoot; he blocked zero shots all week, and had only 1 steal in four games.  If he could start doing something on the court, imagine how tough the Blazers would be.

2.)  Morris Peterson: 16.7% FG, 3.0 PPG, 1.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast.

Here he is again.  Mo’ Pete was number 1 on this list last week and was almost there again this week.  He got the same amount of playing time as always, and for the second straight week he did nothing with it.  When you are getting paid because you are a shooter, and you make only 2 of 12 shots for the week, then maybe you shouldn’t be getting paid anymore.  I still don’t understand why Bobby Jackson has not taken away all of Mo’ Pete’s minutes.

1.)  Andrea Bargnani: 18.2% FG, 3.0 PPG, 3.3 Reb, 0 Stl, 0 Blk

Here is our other member from last week.  Bargnani was 4^th last week on this list, but he fought hard and made it to number 1 this week.  He seemed to fight harder for this honor than he did for any rebounds or challenging shots.  In four games he got no block shots (He is 6-10) and no steals.  In four games how do you not at least fall into one steal?  He is not a rebounding machine either, and let’s not even talk about his shooting.  This guy could still turn it around and become a good player in the league, but he is a long way from that right now. 

Un-honorable mention:  Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Charlie Bell, Steve Blake, and Ron Artest

Best of the Week (Jan. 14-20)

It was quite a week in the NBA.  The stars really shined and it was hard to whittle it all down to just a handful of players, but here they are. 

5.)  Deron Williams: 57.5% FG, 85.2% FT, 23.7 PPG, 9.3 Ast, 4.3 Reb

The 3^rd year PG is doing everything right.  I like to compare him to Jason Kidd, but he is a much better shooter and scorer.  He had a 33 point game over the week and still ended up with 10 assists.  Stockton is no longer there, but the PG position in Utah is as strong as ever. 

4.)  Lebron James:  51.9% FG, 39 PPG, 3.5 3PT’s, 8.5 Reb, 8.0 Ast, 1.5 Blk

I may as well reserve a spot for him on this list every week.  His 51 point game certainly didn’t hurt his chances this week.  There may be arguments as to who is the best player in the league, but there is little argument that anyone can stuff the stat sheet better than Lebron.  Cleveland is finally starting to play better, and they are now over .500 for the season.   

3.)  Gerald Wallace:  46.7% FG, 29 PPG, 7.8 Reb, 4.8 Ast, 3.0 Stl, 1.0 Blk

One of the best athletes in the league is now turning into a legitimate offensive juggernaut.  He had scoring games of 40 and 36 over the past week, and continued to do the other things on defense everyone has grown accustomed to him doing.  Not only that, but Wallace averaged almost 5 assists per game.  In fact he has average over 5 assists for the past month. 

2.)  Baron Davis:  48.5% FG, 84.4% FT, 26.3 PPG, 3.0 3PT’s, 7.0 Ast, 5.0 Reb, 4.5 Stl

You know it was a good week when you put up numbers like Davis did and still did not have the best week.  Davis led his team to a 3-1 record and he was all over the place on defense.  He had 7 steals in the one game that the Warriors lost.  Baron is not known for his high shooting percentages, but he had a good week shooting the ball.  His knock is that he has a hard time staying healthy, but hopefully he can pull off a full season this year.  

1.)  Marcus Camby:  11 PPG, 18.0 Reb, 3.0 Ast, 5.3 Blk, 1.5 Stl

Camby was a monster over the past week.  He had an 11 block, 24 rebound game against Utah, and a 20-20 game against Charlotte.  Normally you wouldn’t say a guy who averaged 11 points could have had the best week, but Camby is not a scorer.  He can score if he has to, but he does everything else.  He even dished out 3 assists per game.  His worst game of the week still saw him get 4 steals and grab 12 rebounds. 

Honorable Mention:  Kobe Bryant, Yao Ming, Chris Bosh, Al Jefferson, Rudy Gay, Tim Duncan, and Pau Gasol.

The Most Underrated Players in the NBA

Yesterday I touched on what I thought were the most overrated players in the NBA.  Today I want to show you my list of the most underrated players in the NBA.  These are the guys that get it done night in and night out but don’t seem to get the recognition they deserve.  Some of these guys are stars in the league and you know who they are, but they do not get the lucrative endorsement deals, or talked about on Sportscenter every night. 

5.)  Nate Robinson:

 With all of the high-priced bums on the Knicks, Nate is one of the few that is actually producing on a nightly basis.  He is not even starting for them, nor is he playing the amount of minutes that he should.  He is producing more in his 25 minutes a game than Marbury was in his 35 minutes.  Nate is only 5-9, but he has a 7 rebound game and a 9 rebound game in the last 3 weeks.  He can score and distribute and plays hard.  I guess that type of play doesn’t fit into the Knicks corporate profile. 

4.)  Shawn Marion:

 Yes, we all consider Marion a star, and he makes the All-Star team on a regular basis, but he does seem to get overwhelmed by Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire.  He doesn’t lead the league in scoring, he doesn’t lead the lead in rebounds, but he does everything on the court well, and if you play fantasy basketball, he is a regular top 5 fantasy draft pick.  He is one of the top 10, maybe top 5, players in the league, but he does not get that type of credit. 

3.)  David West:

 He is having his best season to date, but has been a very good NBA player for the past 3 seasons.  He scores (19.3 PPG); and he does it efficiently, he rebounds (9.5 Reb), and this year he is blocking shots (1.3 Blk).  Chris Paul is not the only reason New Orleans is playing so well this year.  West is an offensive presence in the post and gets the job done.  He was a mid-first round draft pick in 2003 and has flown under the radar ever since.   

2.)  Kevin Martin:

 This is a guy that many people, even those fairly familiar with the NBA, have never heard of.  He flew under the radar in the 2004 draft, and became one of the best scorers in the league last year, averaging 20.2 PPG.  Though he has been hurt most of this early season, he is averaging 25.2 PPG.  He is an excellent perimeter scorer and has shot over 47% over the past two seasons in compiling his points.  Since his return from injury, he has scored more points than minutes played.  This is not the guy you want to be stuck guarding.  He is the type of guy that could win the scoring title sometime in the next few years. 

1.)  Antawn Jamison:

 I am no Tarheel fan, but I remember Jamison from back in his Tarheel days, and he was a handful.  He just seemed to get things done quietly, but did he ever get things done.  He has been doing the same thing in the NBA for years now.  This may be his best season to date, as he is averaging 21.2 PPG and 10.8 boards per game.  Take away a sub-par one-year stint in Dallas, and Jamison has averaged no less than 19.6 PPG each and every season for 8 straight years, and in 5 of those seasons he played in all 82 games.  He has only once been named to the All-Star team, and there are those that wonder if he is still in the league.  This guy is a solid NBA star, and I would welcome him on my favorite team.     

Most Overrated Players in the NBA

We all have in mind those players in the NBA that seem to get a lot of attention for very little productivity.  These players always seem to fall below what is expected of them, yet when the next year comes around there they are, all hyped up again.  Of course, I could have simply listed the entire starting lineup of the Knicks, but that would have been too easy.

Here is a list of what I think are the top 5 most overrated players in the NBA. 

5.)  Jermaine O’Neal:

His numbers are at a career low.  Now I will admit that when he is healthy he can be a beast.  The problem is he has reached a point in his career where he can no longer stay healthy.  Over the past 3 ½ seasons he has played in less than 69% of the Pacers games.  This year he is averaging only 15.3 PPG and only 7.3 rebounds.  For an interior player he has an extremely low FG%–44% over the past year and a half.  If you can’t stay healthy, you can’t help your team. 

4.)  Larry Hughes:

I have learned to no longer expect anything from Hughes.  He is injured every year.  He has produced some decent numbers in the past, but I think those days are over.  He is shooting only 33.3% from the field and averaging only 9.4 PPG.  He had two good seasons in Washington (he missed 21 games both of those seasons) and everyone thought he could be a star in the league.  I feel sorry for Lebron, because this guy is supposed to be his help. 

3.)  Stephon Marbury:

This one just may be too easy.  In those seasons when he was putting up numbers there was a knock on his game, and now he is not even putting up numbers.  For some reason though, a lot of people are still waiting for him to break out and put some sort of stamp on his career.  The guy is 31 and been in the league for 12 years.  I think that stamp has already been applied.  He is a whiner that is overpaid and appears to have his glory days behind him.  This will be the third straight season in which he will average less than 17 points and less than 7 assists. 

2.)  Ben Wallace:

I wonder if there are any players in the league that are still intimidated when they go in the lane with Big Ben standing there.  This is the 5^th straight season in which Wallace’s rebounding and shot blocking averages are down.  He is now nothing but an above average rebounder and shot blocker, and he still has not one offensive bone in his body.  He was paid big bucks by Chicago to be an intimidating presence in the middle.  The only thing intimidating about Big Ben anymore is his contract.   

1.)  Shaquille O’Neal:

It is a sad thing to see the big fella lumbering around like he was 45 years old.  He seems like he should be old.  He looks like he is old.  He is only 35 years old.  Should he be slowing down at the age of 35? Yes.  But Shaq looks like he should retire.  I don’t know if I have ever seen someone so dominant go downhill so fast (Shawn Kemp maybe).  Shaq is only scoring 14 points per game and grabbing 7.9 rebounds.  He only averaged 7.4 rebounds last year.  How can a guy that is 7-1 and 325 pounds only get 7 rebounds per game?  Shaq has not been motivated to play since Miami won the title.  I don’t think he will ever again be motivated to get himself into playing shape.  He is still young enough and he still has the skills. 

Shaq simply does not have the heart anymore, and that is why he is the most overrated player in the NBA.

Worst of the Week (Jan. 7-13)

Some weeks are good and some weeks are bad; for these guys it was a bad week. 

Delonte West:  22.2% FG, 50% FT, 4.3 PPG, 4.3 Ast

He was a piece in the Ray Allen deal and was supposed to give the Sonics solid PG play.  That has not happened, and the Sonics have been doing PG by committee (which has worked out horribly you will see later).  Delonte is not the starter, but he is consistently getting 20-25 minutes per game.  He is not shooting well, obviously, but he is the most talented PG on their team.  Maybe he needs the starting gig to find his rhythm. 

Andrea Bargnani:  40% FG, 5.7 PPG, 2.0 Reb, No Blocks

The number 1 overall pick from 2006 has not panned out thus far.  He showed some flashes the week before last, but then he had a week like this. He is young, but in an era were there are 18 and 19 year-olds playing well, that is really not much of an excuse for this 22 year-old.  He had a 25 point game on Jan.4, but he has yet to score more than 7 since.  The disturbing thing for this 6-10 guy 250-pounder is his lack of rebounding and shot blocking. 

Quentin Richardson:  21.4% FG, 2.8 PPG, 2.3 Reb

This guy is still starting!  I don’t understand why you would start a guy and then let him play only 11 minutes.  He is playing horribly right now (this is his second week in a row on this list), but either let him play through it (he does have some talent) or don’t start him.  This is the Knicks we are talking about, so who am I to question.  Richardson may be having the worst shooting season of anyone this year.  He is shooting only 30.9% from the field and 60% from the line for the season.     

Earl Watson:  18.2% FG, 50% FT, 4 PPG, 3.3 Ast

These are the stats for the starting PG for the Sonics.  That makes 2/3 of the committee, Luke Ridnour being left out, on the worst of list.  Watson was coming off a good week; a week were he had a 20 point effort and an 18 point effort.  That is the thing with these guys.  They are all serviceable PG’s, but they just can’t seem to get it together this year in Seattle.  They will have one good week followed by 2 or 3 horrible weeks.   

Morris Peterson:  23.1% FG, 2.7 PPG, 2 Reb, 0.3 Ast

Mo’ Pete had a horrible week shooting the ball, and the tragedy is that he really brings little else to the table.  He doesn’t play defense, he doesn’t rebound, and he doesn’t distribute the ball.  Luckily for New Orleans, they have a good all-around team, and they can bring Bobby Jackson off the bench when Mo isn’t shooting so well.  Jackson is 6 inches shorter than Peterson, yet he still gets nearly as many rebounds and works harder on defense.  I think a change is in order. 

Here are a few more guys who may need to self-medicate after their performance over the past week. 

Un-honorable mention:  Ray Allen, Peja Stojakovic, Ricky Davis, Brendan Haywood, Sam Cassell, Troy Murphy, Yi Jianlian

My Top 5 BBall Movies of All Time

#5) Celtic Pride

-A big debate for the last spot between The 6th Man, The Air up There, and this Boston bball film where two crazed fans kidnap the star player of the Utah Jazz.  Turns out I like Marlon Wayans better than Damon, Kevin Bacon and that dude from Home Alone.  And the bar/drinking/kidnapping scene is hysterical.

 #4) White Man Can’t Jump

-Billy, I even know 7 foods that start with the letter q.  I mean how many quotes can come from one movie that we still throw out today.  We goin’ Sizzler, we goin’ sizzler.  Hmmm, I guess its two if you’ve used that first one ever.  Still awesome to think basketball hustling could ever involve Woody Harrelson.

#3) He Got Game

-Spike Lee knows basketball.  Denzel is awesome and you have to pick up the soundtrack if you haven’t heard it.  This is worth purchasing solely for the sex scenes with such up and comers as Milla Jovovich and Rosario Dawson.  Oh yah, and Ray Allen has a threesome with two white chicks who are porn stars in real life.  Well played, Spike, well played.

 #2) Blue Chips

-Nick Nolte acts like himself, Shaq forgot they weren’t filming Kazaam, Penny is actually awesome, and the story alone makes it a worthwhile film.  Right along with The Program in showing stuff we’re not supposed to talk about.  What I can’t believe is Reggie Bush only took $300k while at USC.

#1) Hoosiers

-Still sets the standard for sports films.  Just in a different class than anything else and I am just realizing I might be a Gene Hackman fan.  Not sure how I feel about this.  I am going to go sit in the dark and contemplate that one for awhile.

I better not get comments for Eddie.  Chris Paul, MVP 2008 booyah!

The Bulls finally showing some heart

The Chicago Bulls have been one of the best teams in the east the last few years and this year was supposed to be no different. Currently 11th in the east, 3 games behind 8th seeded Atlanta Hawks, the Bulls seem to be ready to make a move. The team voted to have rookie forward Joakim Noah benched for more then one game because of an altercation with assistant coach Jim Boylan. “We have a chance to salvage this season and we just need everybody on the (same) page,” said Bulls veteran guard Adrian Griffin. “It’s one of those things that I believe is going to bring us closer.” It sounds like a team that understands they are underachieving and wants to make a push. To me it is very refreshing to have a team that at-least talks like they have some heart. I’m a Knicks fan and I’d give anything for a little of that. Talk is cheap though and the Bulls have already cost coach Scott Skiles his job this year. The Bulls have a ton of potential and they have my confidence to make a strong push in the second half.

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