So it all comes down to LA Lakers vs. Orlando. Not a huge surprise for me, as Orlando seemed the second most likely team to advance - albeit a distance second to Cleveland.
The Lakers have struggled against both Houston, in particular, and Denver at times, yet somehow they manage to escape through the West and even avoid having to face Cleveland. Likewise Orlando looked like they might lose in the first round to Philadelphia, just barely beat Boston in seven and then finally everything started working at the right time, against Cleveland.
Based on that, the Magic sound like the team carrying the momentum into the finals, but given that the Lakers have the first two games at home, they'll really need to win one of the two I think, otherwise they'll have a heap of pressure on themselves to win three straight at home.
I think the Howard vs. Gasol matchup probably goes about even, with Bynum perhaps giving Gasol just a little assistance. From there you have Kobe and Odom vs. Hedo and Rashard. With the way Hedo plays the first 45 minutes of games, I just can't see the Magic playing well enough each night to beat the Lakers.
LA Lakers 4 - Orlando 2
Showing posts with label Basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basketball. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2009
NBA 2008-09 Round 3 Playoff Review
Finals bound !
Cleveland 4 - Orlando 1 was Orlando 4 - Cleveland 2
Well, not sure where to start with this one. The Cavs seemed to be going to LeBron on just about every play - even more than in previous rounds. Simply give it to LeBron at the top of the key, and everyone else clear out. I suppose, in hindsight, such a strategy can only take you so far, and with Orlando having big contributions from several players on offense each night, they simply were reliable enough to hold off the Cavs.
LA Lakers 4 - Denver 3 was LA Lakers 4 - Denver 2
Close call on this one, the old away win in game six I hate to pick shows up once more. To be fair though, this was the 3rd win by an away team in six games, rather than the 1st.
Was a bit of a surprise that the Lakers split the first two games - the Nuggets showed a lot of promise, but in the end they didn't seem to have that bit extra, in order to show up every night. Billups in particular dropped off during this series.
Cleveland 4 - Orlando 1 was Orlando 4 - Cleveland 2
Well, not sure where to start with this one. The Cavs seemed to be going to LeBron on just about every play - even more than in previous rounds. Simply give it to LeBron at the top of the key, and everyone else clear out. I suppose, in hindsight, such a strategy can only take you so far, and with Orlando having big contributions from several players on offense each night, they simply were reliable enough to hold off the Cavs.
LA Lakers 4 - Denver 3 was LA Lakers 4 - Denver 2
Close call on this one, the old away win in game six I hate to pick shows up once more. To be fair though, this was the 3rd win by an away team in six games, rather than the 1st.
Was a bit of a surprise that the Lakers split the first two games - the Nuggets showed a lot of promise, but in the end they didn't seem to have that bit extra, in order to show up every night. Billups in particular dropped off during this series.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
NBA 2008-09 Round 3 Playoff Preview
Down to four, and now we should definitely see some close series, maybe...
Cleveland 4 - Orlando 1
Starting in the east, once again I don't see how the Cavs come close to losing a series, LeBron is just playing to well right now. The Magic were anything but, just getting by Philly and then Boston, Dwight doesn't prevent a significant matchup problem as Z is decent, and on the other hand they don't have an obvious choice to guard James. As in the past, I'll give the Magic a win at home, but that'll do it.
LA Lakers 4 - Denver 3
Although the Lakers are still a concern, I think they've got the experience from last year to scrape through here. Hopefully the series matches that of Boston vs Chicago in the first round - the two teams do fit similar roles. If the Nuggets can't get a win in game one or two, it will be interesting to see how they deal with that.
Cleveland 4 - Orlando 1
Starting in the east, once again I don't see how the Cavs come close to losing a series, LeBron is just playing to well right now. The Magic were anything but, just getting by Philly and then Boston, Dwight doesn't prevent a significant matchup problem as Z is decent, and on the other hand they don't have an obvious choice to guard James. As in the past, I'll give the Magic a win at home, but that'll do it.
LA Lakers 4 - Denver 3
Although the Lakers are still a concern, I think they've got the experience from last year to scrape through here. Hopefully the series matches that of Boston vs Chicago in the first round - the two teams do fit similar roles. If the Nuggets can't get a win in game one or two, it will be interesting to see how they deal with that.
NBA 2008-09 Round 2 Playoff Review
Cleveland 4 - Atlanta 0
Easy pick, and helped somewhat by injuries to Horford and Williams, but even the games in Atlanta weren't very close. Cleveland have had pretty much the best run they could have hoped for - people say the East is improving, but there's still only been three decent teams (and perhaps Chicago) this year, so that means Cleveland doesn't even have to try until the conference finals, a big difference compared to the west.
Orlando 4 - Boston 2 was Orlando 4 - Boston 3
Tough series. The Magic were not really impressive at all, while the Celtics tried their best to hang on for one more round. Basically all of the top players in the Magic turned up to play on various nights and not on others during the playoffs it seems, Rashard Lewis has probably been the most consistent.
LA Lakers 4 - Houston 1 was LA Lakers 4 - Houston 3
A number of surprises here, from the Rockets winning game one, to Yao out after losing game three, to the Rockets somehow winning game four and six at home after that. I really can't explain what has happened to the Lakers so far in the playoffs, but they've gone from a nearly equal championship favourite to not even being certain to make it out of the west. It does seem like Bynum and Odom haven't been providing much, and therefore the bench is looking pretty average.
Denver 4 - Dallas 1
Got what was expected from a 2 v 6 matchup, although Dallas did get ripped off a bit in game three and could have made the series go longer. Denver is the opposite of the Lakers, they're looking better in the playoffs than they did during the regular season.
Easy pick, and helped somewhat by injuries to Horford and Williams, but even the games in Atlanta weren't very close. Cleveland have had pretty much the best run they could have hoped for - people say the East is improving, but there's still only been three decent teams (and perhaps Chicago) this year, so that means Cleveland doesn't even have to try until the conference finals, a big difference compared to the west.
Orlando 4 - Boston 2 was Orlando 4 - Boston 3
Tough series. The Magic were not really impressive at all, while the Celtics tried their best to hang on for one more round. Basically all of the top players in the Magic turned up to play on various nights and not on others during the playoffs it seems, Rashard Lewis has probably been the most consistent.
LA Lakers 4 - Houston 1 was LA Lakers 4 - Houston 3
A number of surprises here, from the Rockets winning game one, to Yao out after losing game three, to the Rockets somehow winning game four and six at home after that. I really can't explain what has happened to the Lakers so far in the playoffs, but they've gone from a nearly equal championship favourite to not even being certain to make it out of the west. It does seem like Bynum and Odom haven't been providing much, and therefore the bench is looking pretty average.
Denver 4 - Dallas 1
Got what was expected from a 2 v 6 matchup, although Dallas did get ripped off a bit in game three and could have made the series go longer. Denver is the opposite of the Lakers, they're looking better in the playoffs than they did during the regular season.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
NBA 2008-09 Round 2 Playoff Preview
The second round of the playoffs is just about to begin, with no major upsets in the first round.
In the east we've got 1v4 and 2v3, although two series did go to seven.
In the west, we've got 1v5 and 2v6, with only one series even making it to six games, the 4v5.
Cleveland 4 - Atlanta 0
Surely only insane people would pick anything besides 4-0 or 4-1, the question is simply which one. The Cavaliers dominated the Pistons, and have their clear best three players (James, Williams, Ilgauskas) all healthy. The Hawks, on the other hand, just scraped in over the Heat, who were without Jermaine O'Neal for the last two games, and have injury concerns of their own -- Marvin Williams and Al Horford played little to none towards the end of the series.
If Atlanta had their full lineup, I'd definitely give them one win, but since they don't, it's another 4-0 for Cleveland.
Orlando 4 - Boston 2
I think this is the toughest one to pick in this round, since both teams are a little unknown with regards to injury and form. Boston had all kinds of trouble dealing with the Rose and Gordon combination, and to a lesser extend Noah and Miller at centre. Glen Davis has played quite well, but Rondo seemed strangely down in the last two games of this series, and almost was avoiding taking any shots. Having the benefit of actually watching parts of games five, six and seven (mostly the overtimes!) I also think Paul Pierce is definitely not at 100% either. When there's a cloud over your best players, and you've got such poor players in reserve, generally bad things happen -- see Spurs, round one.
Orlando surprisingly went into Philadelphia, without Dwight Howard, and got the win in game six. I'm not sure if that's more because of Orlando's play of Philadelphia's.
This is either Orlando in 6 or Boston in 7 for me, and I'm just slightly going with Orlando.
LA Lakers 4 - Houston 1
I don't see how the Lakers lose the series, it's just a matter of how hard they have to work, like in the first round. I think that Houston definitely gets one win at home, and maybe even a second. The previews I read often talk about the combination of Artest and Battier shutting down Kobe, but since I've never seen this first hand (by which I mean on television) I'm not sure how much impact this will have. What I do think is as important though, is if Bynum can have an impact. With both Gasol and Bynum doing well, I see the games going much more in LA's favour.
Denver 4 - Dallas 1
Another tough one to predict, since Dallas had an easy time in round one, but so did Denver. I think Denver are the more legitimate contender though, and seem to have got their defense in order this year, finally. They've both got a good bench too, featuring the top two in this years sixth man of the year award (Jason Terry and J.R. Smith). With that said, I think Denver should be good enough to steal one away. That could make this a 4-1 or a 4-2 result.
In the east we've got 1v4 and 2v3, although two series did go to seven.
In the west, we've got 1v5 and 2v6, with only one series even making it to six games, the 4v5.
Cleveland 4 - Atlanta 0
Surely only insane people would pick anything besides 4-0 or 4-1, the question is simply which one. The Cavaliers dominated the Pistons, and have their clear best three players (James, Williams, Ilgauskas) all healthy. The Hawks, on the other hand, just scraped in over the Heat, who were without Jermaine O'Neal for the last two games, and have injury concerns of their own -- Marvin Williams and Al Horford played little to none towards the end of the series.
If Atlanta had their full lineup, I'd definitely give them one win, but since they don't, it's another 4-0 for Cleveland.
Orlando 4 - Boston 2
I think this is the toughest one to pick in this round, since both teams are a little unknown with regards to injury and form. Boston had all kinds of trouble dealing with the Rose and Gordon combination, and to a lesser extend Noah and Miller at centre. Glen Davis has played quite well, but Rondo seemed strangely down in the last two games of this series, and almost was avoiding taking any shots. Having the benefit of actually watching parts of games five, six and seven (mostly the overtimes!) I also think Paul Pierce is definitely not at 100% either. When there's a cloud over your best players, and you've got such poor players in reserve, generally bad things happen -- see Spurs, round one.
Orlando surprisingly went into Philadelphia, without Dwight Howard, and got the win in game six. I'm not sure if that's more because of Orlando's play of Philadelphia's.
This is either Orlando in 6 or Boston in 7 for me, and I'm just slightly going with Orlando.
LA Lakers 4 - Houston 1
I don't see how the Lakers lose the series, it's just a matter of how hard they have to work, like in the first round. I think that Houston definitely gets one win at home, and maybe even a second. The previews I read often talk about the combination of Artest and Battier shutting down Kobe, but since I've never seen this first hand (by which I mean on television) I'm not sure how much impact this will have. What I do think is as important though, is if Bynum can have an impact. With both Gasol and Bynum doing well, I see the games going much more in LA's favour.
Denver 4 - Dallas 1
Another tough one to predict, since Dallas had an easy time in round one, but so did Denver. I think Denver are the more legitimate contender though, and seem to have got their defense in order this year, finally. They've both got a good bench too, featuring the top two in this years sixth man of the year award (Jason Terry and J.R. Smith). With that said, I think Denver should be good enough to steal one away. That could make this a 4-1 or a 4-2 result.
NBA 2008-09 Round 1 Playoff Review
A recap of the success (and failure) at picking the first round, and a little review of the games in general.
Cleveland 4 - Detroit 1 was Cleveland 4 - Detroit 0
I was generous and gave Detroit one win, in actual fact they didn't really come close to that. I don't think Cleveland did anything out of the ordinary in this series, just solid defence, as this Detroit era really has come to an end. Surely it's time to make some more drastic moves with this team, and try and actually get some return for their players, rather than having Rasheed Wallace leave as a free agent, for example.
Boston 4 - Chicago 3
First exact match, but I couldn't have predicted even half of the drama from this series. With Chicago winning game one it wasn't looking good, but there was simply nothing between these teams all series, as was plainly evident by the number of overtimes, double overtimes and even triple overtimes ! The series was great fun to watch, with a lot of different players stepping up in various games. Hopefully Chicago are even better next year, they're an entertaining team.
Orlando 4 - Philadelphia 2
I'm not a fan of 4-2 predictions for the higher ranked team, but this one worked out in my favour. I'm not sure how Philadelphia wins an early game in Orlando, then loses two at home, including one without Dwight Howard, but somehow they managed it !
Atlanta 4 - Miami 3
Three matches correct out of four in the eastern conference, too bad the west didn't go so well. I was quite uncertain of the fate of Atlanta going into game seven, with some big games from Wade in the leadup and uncertainty around both Al Horford and Marvin Williams. But the game seven was a poor contest, like all of the others really -- quite a shame for a 4v5 matchup -- and the Hawks had the game won by half time. Their reward, is to get destroyed by the Cavs I suspect...
LA Lakers 4 - Utah 1
At least this one went to plan in the west, quite predictably. Utah was probably a bit more competitive than I expected, particularly with Okur missing most of the first three games. Boozer and Deron Williams were both a bit hit and miss during the series though, otherwise it might have been a little closer again.
Denver 4 - New Orleans 3 was Denver 4 - New Orleans 1
New Orleans, what a disaster. Losing by 58 at home in game four is just unheard of. Chris Paul seemed to be completely outplayed by Billups for some reason, and the same for David West against Kenyon Martin and others. The Hornets basically got nothing from anyone else, so they'll need to do something dramatic in the offseason, or the foreseeable Paul future could be first round playoff loses.
San Antonio 4 - Dallas 3 was Dallas 4 - San Antonio 1
As noted, realistically I saw no way for San Antonio to win this series, and that's what happened. Quite similar to the Hornets, they only had two players providing any value during the playoffs, but they were much more respectable in defeat. They too really need to address what they want to do for next year, as they don't have many years to Tim Duncan left.
Portland 4 - Houston 3 was Houston 4 - Portland 2
I should have seen this result coming, but I didn't. I was convinced by the media saying that Portland are the only team capable of beating the Lakers, so I gave them the edge. In hindsight, they've got no playoff experience, they're a young team, and the Rockets have some good veterans -- even if many of them haven't been past the first round of the playoffs. The Blazers actually looked very shallow behind Roy and Aldridge, but I expect some players will develop by this time next year, hopefully Oden for one.
Cleveland 4 - Detroit 1 was Cleveland 4 - Detroit 0
I was generous and gave Detroit one win, in actual fact they didn't really come close to that. I don't think Cleveland did anything out of the ordinary in this series, just solid defence, as this Detroit era really has come to an end. Surely it's time to make some more drastic moves with this team, and try and actually get some return for their players, rather than having Rasheed Wallace leave as a free agent, for example.
Boston 4 - Chicago 3
First exact match, but I couldn't have predicted even half of the drama from this series. With Chicago winning game one it wasn't looking good, but there was simply nothing between these teams all series, as was plainly evident by the number of overtimes, double overtimes and even triple overtimes ! The series was great fun to watch, with a lot of different players stepping up in various games. Hopefully Chicago are even better next year, they're an entertaining team.
Orlando 4 - Philadelphia 2
I'm not a fan of 4-2 predictions for the higher ranked team, but this one worked out in my favour. I'm not sure how Philadelphia wins an early game in Orlando, then loses two at home, including one without Dwight Howard, but somehow they managed it !
Atlanta 4 - Miami 3
Three matches correct out of four in the eastern conference, too bad the west didn't go so well. I was quite uncertain of the fate of Atlanta going into game seven, with some big games from Wade in the leadup and uncertainty around both Al Horford and Marvin Williams. But the game seven was a poor contest, like all of the others really -- quite a shame for a 4v5 matchup -- and the Hawks had the game won by half time. Their reward, is to get destroyed by the Cavs I suspect...
LA Lakers 4 - Utah 1
At least this one went to plan in the west, quite predictably. Utah was probably a bit more competitive than I expected, particularly with Okur missing most of the first three games. Boozer and Deron Williams were both a bit hit and miss during the series though, otherwise it might have been a little closer again.
Denver 4 - New Orleans 3 was Denver 4 - New Orleans 1
New Orleans, what a disaster. Losing by 58 at home in game four is just unheard of. Chris Paul seemed to be completely outplayed by Billups for some reason, and the same for David West against Kenyon Martin and others. The Hornets basically got nothing from anyone else, so they'll need to do something dramatic in the offseason, or the foreseeable Paul future could be first round playoff loses.
San Antonio 4 - Dallas 3 was Dallas 4 - San Antonio 1
As noted, realistically I saw no way for San Antonio to win this series, and that's what happened. Quite similar to the Hornets, they only had two players providing any value during the playoffs, but they were much more respectable in defeat. They too really need to address what they want to do for next year, as they don't have many years to Tim Duncan left.
Portland 4 - Houston 3 was Houston 4 - Portland 2
I should have seen this result coming, but I didn't. I was convinced by the media saying that Portland are the only team capable of beating the Lakers, so I gave them the edge. In hindsight, they've got no playoff experience, they're a young team, and the Rockets have some good veterans -- even if many of them haven't been past the first round of the playoffs. The Blazers actually looked very shallow behind Roy and Aldridge, but I expect some players will develop by this time next year, hopefully Oden for one.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
NBA 2008-09 Round 1 Playoff Preview
A quick preview of who I think will advance through the first round of the playoffs. Assuming I am correct on all counts (highly unlikely) I've made a few quick choices all the way through to the NBA finals. I'll have more details playoff previews as each round begins. Note that the format for the first round of the playoffs is 2-2-1-1-1.
Cleveland 4 - Detroit 1
I don't see any way Cleveland loses to Detroit at home given their regular season record, also given that Detroit is quite a shambles since the AI trade. Since then AI is done for the season and Stuckey has done little to convince he can be a leading PG anytime soon. Best case scenario sees Detroit somehow winning a home game, but they could also lose 4-0 quite easily, 4-1 is the conservative pick.
Boston 4 - Chicago 3
Without KG, I don't see how Boston wins this series convincingly. They've been doing well enough without him until now, but Chicago has a pretty good squad and some depth on the bench. I'm not sure they win a game at Boston though, but this might be a repeat of last year for Boston where they don't win away games either.
Orlando 4 - Philadelphia 2
I really dislike picking the 4-2 result, but I'll go with it here only because of some concerns over the health of Hedo and Rashard Lewis. Even with less than 100% from those guys, I don't see the 76ers having enough to beat the Magic four times if Howard is close to his best, but having Thaddeus Young just back from injury certainly improves their chances, if only they had Elton Brand...
Atlanta 4 - Miami 3
Obviously the closest matchup should always be 4v5, but this is clearly the best matchup in the east in the first round. Atlanta apparently have a strong home court advantage -- they took Boston to 7 games last year -- and they rested up their starters in the last two games of the season while Marvin Williams made his comeback from injury at the same time.
I've heard too many times (more than zero) that "Wade can win a game by himself", which besides making no sense, doesn't mean Miami can win the series. That being said, if they can get good numbers out of Beasley and O'Neal for just one away game, that might be all it takes to steal this one.
LA Lakers 4 - Utah 1
Not quite the blowout I expect from the Cleveland series, but with Bynum back I don't see how the Lakers struggle in this one. Utah has also been just terrible in away games this whole season.
Denver 4 - New Orleans 3
Hard to predict what Denver will do in the finals, Carmelo doesn't have much experience (or wins) there but Billups should stabilise things. The Paul and West combination should make this a series, but the Hornets don't seem to be getting enough regular contributions from their other players -- and Posey hasn't added much -- to win a seven game series.
San Antonio 4 - Dallas 3
Another 4-3 result simply because I don't see one team having a distinct advantage over the other here. The Spurs are banged up and probably aren't getting past the second round, but they might just have the experience and determination in them to get past the Mavericks, who have been a little down for much of this season. The home court advantage probably means very little in this series. This is the one pick I might be most wrong about, the Spurs might very well fold at home and lose 4-1 or 4-2.
Portland 4 - Houston 3
Houston always seem to disappoint in the finals -- T-Mac hasn't won a first round if I'm not mistaken -- but Portland are so young and inexperienced, that this should be a very entertaining series. Portland have a good combination (Pryzbilla and Oden) to take on Ming while Houston have Artest and Battier to watch Roy. Portland have the capability to win this, but whether they can produce in their first finals appearance is tough to pick.
Cleveland 4 - Detroit 1
I don't see any way Cleveland loses to Detroit at home given their regular season record, also given that Detroit is quite a shambles since the AI trade. Since then AI is done for the season and Stuckey has done little to convince he can be a leading PG anytime soon. Best case scenario sees Detroit somehow winning a home game, but they could also lose 4-0 quite easily, 4-1 is the conservative pick.
Boston 4 - Chicago 3
Without KG, I don't see how Boston wins this series convincingly. They've been doing well enough without him until now, but Chicago has a pretty good squad and some depth on the bench. I'm not sure they win a game at Boston though, but this might be a repeat of last year for Boston where they don't win away games either.
Orlando 4 - Philadelphia 2
I really dislike picking the 4-2 result, but I'll go with it here only because of some concerns over the health of Hedo and Rashard Lewis. Even with less than 100% from those guys, I don't see the 76ers having enough to beat the Magic four times if Howard is close to his best, but having Thaddeus Young just back from injury certainly improves their chances, if only they had Elton Brand...
Atlanta 4 - Miami 3
Obviously the closest matchup should always be 4v5, but this is clearly the best matchup in the east in the first round. Atlanta apparently have a strong home court advantage -- they took Boston to 7 games last year -- and they rested up their starters in the last two games of the season while Marvin Williams made his comeback from injury at the same time.
I've heard too many times (more than zero) that "Wade can win a game by himself", which besides making no sense, doesn't mean Miami can win the series. That being said, if they can get good numbers out of Beasley and O'Neal for just one away game, that might be all it takes to steal this one.
LA Lakers 4 - Utah 1
Not quite the blowout I expect from the Cleveland series, but with Bynum back I don't see how the Lakers struggle in this one. Utah has also been just terrible in away games this whole season.
Denver 4 - New Orleans 3
Hard to predict what Denver will do in the finals, Carmelo doesn't have much experience (or wins) there but Billups should stabilise things. The Paul and West combination should make this a series, but the Hornets don't seem to be getting enough regular contributions from their other players -- and Posey hasn't added much -- to win a seven game series.
San Antonio 4 - Dallas 3
Another 4-3 result simply because I don't see one team having a distinct advantage over the other here. The Spurs are banged up and probably aren't getting past the second round, but they might just have the experience and determination in them to get past the Mavericks, who have been a little down for much of this season. The home court advantage probably means very little in this series. This is the one pick I might be most wrong about, the Spurs might very well fold at home and lose 4-1 or 4-2.
Portland 4 - Houston 3
Houston always seem to disappoint in the finals -- T-Mac hasn't won a first round if I'm not mistaken -- but Portland are so young and inexperienced, that this should be a very entertaining series. Portland have a good combination (Pryzbilla and Oden) to take on Ming while Houston have Artest and Battier to watch Roy. Portland have the capability to win this, but whether they can produce in their first finals appearance is tough to pick.
NBA 2008-09 End Of Season Awards
A quick review of the 2008-09 season, players rather than teams for now, by making my choices for the end of season award winners. Those marked with an asterisk are those which I think will be announced the actual winner in the coming weeks.
MVP
1. LeBron James *
2. Dwyane Wade
3. Chris Paul
Based on their individual stats on the season alone, James and Wade are almost identical, but for a couple of points (Wade) and rebounds (LeBron) per game. However, the team win-loss record speaks for itself, combined with the 39-2 home record and the defense that James provides makes it a pretty obvious choice.
Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul are at the next level, although the media seems to be getting stuck into both Paul and the Hornets for a late season drop off in performance. The people that vote on this award probably take the Lakers record, and the fact that Bynum got injured (despite still having Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and other capable fill-ins) into account so I wouldn't be surprised if the actual order is more like: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.
Rookie Of The Year
1. Derrick Rose *
2. O. J. Mayo
3. Russell Westbrook
Derrick Rose deserves to win this one without a doubt. Rose was only a little behind Mayo for scoring, on a much better team, while also contributing a lot of assists at the true point guard position. Before Mike Conley got it together in the second half of the season, and with Rudy Gay not improving at all from last year (or so it seemed), Mayo was seemingly the go-to player on this team. Westbrook deserves a mention, but a terrible field goal percentage and high number of turnovers hurts.
Interestingly, if Greg Oden was eligible for this award, and I'm not sure he is, I wouldn't have him in my top five.
I don't see the media getting fooled into voting Mayo over Rose, particularly with Chicago finishing in a tie for 6th in the East.
Coach Of The Year
1. Rick Adelman
2. Mike Brown *
I hate the "best team means best coach" predictability of this award at times, unless that coach happens to be someone like Pop or Jackson that has already won the award multiple times -- that's when they starting thinking outside the box. Perhaps this causes me to go too far in the opposite direction, and purposely not just pick the coach with the best record. I've heard several times again this year about how Jerry Sloan has never won one, which he probably deserves, but I don't think this is the year.
Adelman has done a good job with Houston this year, with T-Mac being not so great, then injured for the season. He didn't have much behind Yao on the offensive end -- with both Artest and Battier shooting terrible this year, not to mention Alston getting traded -- but he's got the team winning games, and in the end they just missed out on 3rd place in the West, on the final day of the season. Interesting fact, he's made the finals every year, except the two year stint he spent at Golden State for the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
The media will obviously look at Cleveland's dominant year, and the fact they went from 45 wins to 62 is quite impressive, but I think Mo Williams, and further improvement from LeBron this year, had quite a significant impact on that too.
Defensive Player Of The Year
1. Dwight Howard *
2. Chris Paul
3. LeBron James
Defensive player, and team, is hard to speculate on when you don't get to watch games/highlights day-in day-out, read the match reports in detail or generally be immersed in the game by being in the USA. For example, Troy Murphy and David Lee both had amazing rebounding numbers, but from all accords neither is more than an average defensive player. However, when you put together the blocks and rebounds, with some decent defensive numbers from the Magic, I think Howard has to be the winner here. It seems like a PF/C is often the winner of this award (Mutombo, Mourning and Ben Wallace in recent years), so it makes sense.
If I'm wrong, maybe Chris Paul as the league leaders in steals, or LeBron's steals and blocks, could get the nod.
Sixth Man Of The Year
1. Jason Terry *
2. Chris Andersen
3. Nate Robinson
The sixth man award is at times controversial, where the player has been, or could be, a regular starter for that team or any other team (e.g. Manu Ginobili). Terry started a handful of games this year, but most were probably due to injuries. Scoring almost 20 ppg, with more than 2 threes, is quite an impressive number for a bench player. When you consider they've also got Dirk (4th in the league for scoring), Josh Howard and Jason Kidd, the numbers only look better. As such, I think Terry is almost a certainty to win this one.
Chris Andersen has been increasingly dominant in blocks, and handy for rebounds, as the season has gone on. Finishing second in blocks to Dwight Howard for the season, that kind of production has to be priceless from a bench player, or a suitable fill-in should the starting PF/C get into early foul trouble.
Nate Robinson had a good year for points and assists, but like many of the Knicks his performances were very up and down, and more so down later in the season.
Most Improved Player
1. Kevin Durant
2. Danny Granger *
3. Devin Harris
4. Jameer Nelson
First off, I'm not a huge fan of this award. It seems quite subjective, and the parameters are not so clear. For example, is Nelson going from around 10.9 ppg to 16.7 ppg better than Granger going from 19.6 to 25.8 ? The increase is almost identical, but Nelson certainly won't make the headlines like becoming the 7th best scorer in the league will. With that said, on with the justification.
Durant has seen a big improvement in his second year, like many rookies usually do. He was only 0.4 rebounds per game off leading the team in every category except assists -- although to be fair the team isn't that great. However, leading a team means both more opportunity and more defensive attention, so to increase FG% from 43.0 to 47.6 is quite impressive. Dealing with a coaching change, and finally getting to move from SG to SF only adds to his credentials.
Danny Granger, on a slightly better team (with Mike Dunleavy out injured) than Durant, seems to be a more popular choice. He's had a steady increase from year 1 through to now (year 4), but his only real increase this year over last is 6ppg, which might be attributed to Dunleavy being out for almost the whole year and Jermaine O'Neal being traded.
All NBA First Team
G Kobe Bryant
G Dwyane Wade
F LeBron James
F Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard
I'm going with the 2G/2F/C formula, so Chris Paul had to the miss the first team, and a second forward had to be added. Close call over Pierce and Nowitzki, but I narrowly went with Duncan. Duncan produced numbers (20/10) just under his career average, but was without Parker and Ginobili for much of the season, and still achieved 54 wins for the Spurs.
The rest of the team pretty much chose themselves, as per the MVP choices.
All NBA Second Team
G Chris Paul
G Tony Parker
F Paul Pierce
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Pau Gasol
As above, Pierce and Nowitzki seem to be the next best forwards. Pau Gasol is a more than adequate second best player on the Lakers, in a league with few dominant centres. Another close call for the second guard, I went with Parker (for the same reasons as Duncan) ahead of Roy and Billups.
All NBA Third Team
G Brandon Roy
G Chauncey Billups
F Kevin Durant
F Danny Granger
C Yao Ming
Best of the rest, a couple that just missed included Deron Williams and Chris Bosh.
All Rookie First Team
G Derrick Rose
G O. J. Mayo
F Kevin Love
F Michael Beasley
C Brook Lopez
Like the All NBA, one of the guards from my Rookie Of The Year selections had to the miss the first team. This year was certainly a year for guards, and perhaps that's often the case -- the forwards probably take longer for their bodies to develop, and need more strength and muscle from a couple of pre seasons.
However, there was still enough quality to fill out the rest of the team. Lopez has been getting better as the season goes on, and contributes quality points, rebounds and blocks each night. Love was thrown into the starting lineup early, didn't remain there the whole year, but seems to have survived through the 82 games quite well. Beasley was managed a little differently and more cautiously, but had enough big games to earn a first team mention -- expect big things from him next year.
All Rookie Second Team
G Russell Westbrook
G Eric Gordon
F Jason Thompson
F Anthony Randolph
C Roy Hibbert
Westbrook and Gordon were the next best guards, and both starters contributed well to their respective teams. The rest of the team was a little trickier. Thompson was the next best forward, and worked his way into the starting lineup for the Kings -- although they were the worst team in the league. Randolph struggled due to a lack of game time, but showed some potential late in the season as the injuries started to add up for the Warriors. Hibbert was simply the next best centre, I'd rather have picked another guard, either D. J. Augustin or Courtney Lee.
All Defensive First Team
G Chris Paul
G Kobe Bryant
F LeBron James
F Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard
A little bit of guesswork here as with the defensive players. I went with the stats, team results, and past performances when all else fails.
All Defensive Second Team
G Dwyane Wade
G Bruce Bowen
F Shane Battier
F Kevin Garnett
C Chris Andersen
Would not be surprised if Andersen doesn't make this team, but I think he's earned a spot as the second centre. I've been a little creative with this team, as I've technically got 3 forwards and Wade in the other spots.
MVP
1. LeBron James *
2. Dwyane Wade
3. Chris Paul
Based on their individual stats on the season alone, James and Wade are almost identical, but for a couple of points (Wade) and rebounds (LeBron) per game. However, the team win-loss record speaks for itself, combined with the 39-2 home record and the defense that James provides makes it a pretty obvious choice.
Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul are at the next level, although the media seems to be getting stuck into both Paul and the Hornets for a late season drop off in performance. The people that vote on this award probably take the Lakers record, and the fact that Bynum got injured (despite still having Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and other capable fill-ins) into account so I wouldn't be surprised if the actual order is more like: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.
Rookie Of The Year
1. Derrick Rose *
2. O. J. Mayo
3. Russell Westbrook
Derrick Rose deserves to win this one without a doubt. Rose was only a little behind Mayo for scoring, on a much better team, while also contributing a lot of assists at the true point guard position. Before Mike Conley got it together in the second half of the season, and with Rudy Gay not improving at all from last year (or so it seemed), Mayo was seemingly the go-to player on this team. Westbrook deserves a mention, but a terrible field goal percentage and high number of turnovers hurts.
Interestingly, if Greg Oden was eligible for this award, and I'm not sure he is, I wouldn't have him in my top five.
I don't see the media getting fooled into voting Mayo over Rose, particularly with Chicago finishing in a tie for 6th in the East.
Coach Of The Year
1. Rick Adelman
2. Mike Brown *
I hate the "best team means best coach" predictability of this award at times, unless that coach happens to be someone like Pop or Jackson that has already won the award multiple times -- that's when they starting thinking outside the box. Perhaps this causes me to go too far in the opposite direction, and purposely not just pick the coach with the best record. I've heard several times again this year about how Jerry Sloan has never won one, which he probably deserves, but I don't think this is the year.
Adelman has done a good job with Houston this year, with T-Mac being not so great, then injured for the season. He didn't have much behind Yao on the offensive end -- with both Artest and Battier shooting terrible this year, not to mention Alston getting traded -- but he's got the team winning games, and in the end they just missed out on 3rd place in the West, on the final day of the season. Interesting fact, he's made the finals every year, except the two year stint he spent at Golden State for the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
The media will obviously look at Cleveland's dominant year, and the fact they went from 45 wins to 62 is quite impressive, but I think Mo Williams, and further improvement from LeBron this year, had quite a significant impact on that too.
Defensive Player Of The Year
1. Dwight Howard *
2. Chris Paul
3. LeBron James
Defensive player, and team, is hard to speculate on when you don't get to watch games/highlights day-in day-out, read the match reports in detail or generally be immersed in the game by being in the USA. For example, Troy Murphy and David Lee both had amazing rebounding numbers, but from all accords neither is more than an average defensive player. However, when you put together the blocks and rebounds, with some decent defensive numbers from the Magic, I think Howard has to be the winner here. It seems like a PF/C is often the winner of this award (Mutombo, Mourning and Ben Wallace in recent years), so it makes sense.
If I'm wrong, maybe Chris Paul as the league leaders in steals, or LeBron's steals and blocks, could get the nod.
Sixth Man Of The Year
1. Jason Terry *
2. Chris Andersen
3. Nate Robinson
The sixth man award is at times controversial, where the player has been, or could be, a regular starter for that team or any other team (e.g. Manu Ginobili). Terry started a handful of games this year, but most were probably due to injuries. Scoring almost 20 ppg, with more than 2 threes, is quite an impressive number for a bench player. When you consider they've also got Dirk (4th in the league for scoring), Josh Howard and Jason Kidd, the numbers only look better. As such, I think Terry is almost a certainty to win this one.
Chris Andersen has been increasingly dominant in blocks, and handy for rebounds, as the season has gone on. Finishing second in blocks to Dwight Howard for the season, that kind of production has to be priceless from a bench player, or a suitable fill-in should the starting PF/C get into early foul trouble.
Nate Robinson had a good year for points and assists, but like many of the Knicks his performances were very up and down, and more so down later in the season.
Most Improved Player
1. Kevin Durant
2. Danny Granger *
3. Devin Harris
4. Jameer Nelson
First off, I'm not a huge fan of this award. It seems quite subjective, and the parameters are not so clear. For example, is Nelson going from around 10.9 ppg to 16.7 ppg better than Granger going from 19.6 to 25.8 ? The increase is almost identical, but Nelson certainly won't make the headlines like becoming the 7th best scorer in the league will. With that said, on with the justification.
Durant has seen a big improvement in his second year, like many rookies usually do. He was only 0.4 rebounds per game off leading the team in every category except assists -- although to be fair the team isn't that great. However, leading a team means both more opportunity and more defensive attention, so to increase FG% from 43.0 to 47.6 is quite impressive. Dealing with a coaching change, and finally getting to move from SG to SF only adds to his credentials.
Danny Granger, on a slightly better team (with Mike Dunleavy out injured) than Durant, seems to be a more popular choice. He's had a steady increase from year 1 through to now (year 4), but his only real increase this year over last is 6ppg, which might be attributed to Dunleavy being out for almost the whole year and Jermaine O'Neal being traded.
All NBA First Team
G Kobe Bryant
G Dwyane Wade
F LeBron James
F Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard
I'm going with the 2G/2F/C formula, so Chris Paul had to the miss the first team, and a second forward had to be added. Close call over Pierce and Nowitzki, but I narrowly went with Duncan. Duncan produced numbers (20/10) just under his career average, but was without Parker and Ginobili for much of the season, and still achieved 54 wins for the Spurs.
The rest of the team pretty much chose themselves, as per the MVP choices.
All NBA Second Team
G Chris Paul
G Tony Parker
F Paul Pierce
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Pau Gasol
As above, Pierce and Nowitzki seem to be the next best forwards. Pau Gasol is a more than adequate second best player on the Lakers, in a league with few dominant centres. Another close call for the second guard, I went with Parker (for the same reasons as Duncan) ahead of Roy and Billups.
All NBA Third Team
G Brandon Roy
G Chauncey Billups
F Kevin Durant
F Danny Granger
C Yao Ming
Best of the rest, a couple that just missed included Deron Williams and Chris Bosh.
All Rookie First Team
G Derrick Rose
G O. J. Mayo
F Kevin Love
F Michael Beasley
C Brook Lopez
Like the All NBA, one of the guards from my Rookie Of The Year selections had to the miss the first team. This year was certainly a year for guards, and perhaps that's often the case -- the forwards probably take longer for their bodies to develop, and need more strength and muscle from a couple of pre seasons.
However, there was still enough quality to fill out the rest of the team. Lopez has been getting better as the season goes on, and contributes quality points, rebounds and blocks each night. Love was thrown into the starting lineup early, didn't remain there the whole year, but seems to have survived through the 82 games quite well. Beasley was managed a little differently and more cautiously, but had enough big games to earn a first team mention -- expect big things from him next year.
All Rookie Second Team
G Russell Westbrook
G Eric Gordon
F Jason Thompson
F Anthony Randolph
C Roy Hibbert
Westbrook and Gordon were the next best guards, and both starters contributed well to their respective teams. The rest of the team was a little trickier. Thompson was the next best forward, and worked his way into the starting lineup for the Kings -- although they were the worst team in the league. Randolph struggled due to a lack of game time, but showed some potential late in the season as the injuries started to add up for the Warriors. Hibbert was simply the next best centre, I'd rather have picked another guard, either D. J. Augustin or Courtney Lee.
All Defensive First Team
G Chris Paul
G Kobe Bryant
F LeBron James
F Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard
A little bit of guesswork here as with the defensive players. I went with the stats, team results, and past performances when all else fails.
All Defensive Second Team
G Dwyane Wade
G Bruce Bowen
F Shane Battier
F Kevin Garnett
C Chris Andersen
Would not be surprised if Andersen doesn't make this team, but I think he's earned a spot as the second centre. I've been a little creative with this team, as I've technically got 3 forwards and Wade in the other spots.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)