With two thirds of the games played as of today, the 2008/09 NBA season has sure had its fair share of story lines. For starters the Kobe vs LeBron comparisons have certainly raised the level of casual fan interest the league hasn't seen since its glory days of Magic vs Bird. If these two stars can cary their respective teams into the finals, this years grand spectacle will surely bring about a clash for the ages. Having witnessed Kobe go off for 61 at the garden two weeks ago, to having LeBron narrowly missing a triple double of massive proportions two days later, the games and league have to be happy with the play of its two marquee stars. I must mention before I go on that the week of Feb 2nd to the 8th has to go on record as by far the greatest scheduled week ever. Kobe to MSG, LeBron to MSG, Celtics to MSG, Celtics/Lakers to Lakers/Cavs, what a week!!!!!
However, as much as Kobe and LBJ have stolen the spotlight most of the time, there still have been a great number of awesome headlines to be had.
- Firstly has to be the re-emergence of Shaq, what a force, what a player, the guy has played well and re-invigorated his career. It's unfortunate that he's stuck in a lower tier team such as Phoenix. If only that trade to Cleveland had gone through, he'd even be more pumped.
- Charles Barkeley, oh how you've fallen. DUI...nuff said. You'd better behave Chuck, C Webb might slide under the radar and steel your job.
- The emergence of Kevin Durant has certainly been great to watch. How unfortunate for Portland. I feel bad for them and how they succumbed to pressure and hype of Oden, who'll maybe become a poor man's David Robinson. It stands here to say that I doubt it.
However, Durant what a game, the guy can play. I'll go out on a limb here but he's got "it", I see it in his eyes, he's got that "it" quality that Kobe possess, the "I'm not afraid of you quality". In my opinion he's got just as much upside as LeBron basketball wise, even more so. If he could just eat a sandwich I'd say he'll replace Kobe as the games finest in 5 years. Yes you read that, I see more killer in him that I do LeBron. LeBron's just a physical specimen no one's ever seen before, but he ain't no killer.
- The wear and tear of KG. His intensity is still there, his passion hasn't left him but oh boy have those 40+ minutes a game carrying that brutal 'Sota team worn him down. Take into account his lack of injuries and 1000 + games and you can understand his dropoff this season. Watch him and Duncan and you can see why Popovich has kept Duncan's minutes low for the past few seasons, the man hasn't aged. KG's newest injury might come as a blessing in disguise for the Celtics.
- Stephon Marbury + 20 million + sit on your ass = UNFAIR Stupid Isaih!!!
- So the league is hurting financially and well I'm going to take a page out of Charley Rosen's book and suggest that David Stern and company consider downsizing the league 4 or 5 teams. Yeah those cities will go ape shit over this proposal but if its for the betterment of the league than I say do it. It will save the league tons of cash while also helping to increase team competitivity. Goodbye Sacramento, Golden State, Memphis, Minnesota, New Orleans and the Clippers. I'd also include the Nets, Raptors and Thunder but those teams do have a couple things going for them. The Nets and Raptors have great money markets and the Thunder just received their team so with that I give them a pass for now.
much much more but I'll do that later.
Now on to those predictions:
Rookie: O.J. Mayo - I'd give it to Rose, but Mayo's been more flashy and voters tend to go with that
MIP: Devin Harris - He has this by a landslide, the kid has taken quite well to Frank's system
Sixth: Richard Hamilton - Jason Terry or Ginobili would win this in a cake walk, but due to their injuries, I'm going with Hamilton. To be honest I actually couldn't come up with another player.
Defensive: Dwight Howard - This award in my opinion is a crock of shit, Howard is a horrible defender but however, due to his size the man can block shots and rebound. In my opinion Duncan or Kobe should win this thing every year. Kobe's the best man defender in the game, and Duncan is the best man and help defender for big men. The fact that either has never won the award is crap.
Coach: Phil Jackson - Best team, best coach. He may have Kobe, but he certainly deserves credit for developing Farmar, Vujacic, Bynum, Ariza and to an extent Odom.
Executive: Mitch Kupchak - Has put together a cohesive group of veterans, youth and talented players. This group is young and could be a force for some time to come. Excellent drafting as well.
MVP: Kobe Bryant - Not his most dominating statistical season, but by far his finest. 28, 5, 5, 1.5, 48%, 87%, 35% and zero games missed are great achievements. But what separates him from LBJ is his leadership, his ability to control a game and his experience. Could he easily put up bigger numbers? Sure, but he doesn't need to, stats don't tell the whole story. Also his team swept Boston and Cleveland and his matchups with LBJ have been landslide victories. Kobe checked and guarded LBJ to the point of some of his worst games of the season. LBJ has been great and he's vastly improved, but where he needs to grow vs Kobe is his overall understanding of the game and until he does this Kobe will still be the man. However, all the pleas and points I make still wont garner Kobe his second MVP, LeBron is gonna win this thing due to the fact that writers have since the beginning of the season picked him to win the thing. They made up their minds back then and there's nothing Kobe can do about it. I guarantee that once LBJ wins the award this year, next year they'll be like "well now it's Wade's turn". Fucking bs. Let me point this out again, that Shaq has ONE MVP, Kobe has ONE MVP and Nash has TWO. WTF????????????????
All NBA 1st: Paul, Kobe, LBJ, Duncan, Garnett
All NBA 2nd: Williams, Wade, Pierce, Gasol, Howard
All NBA 3rd: Nash, Granger, Durant, Nowitzki, Yao
All NBA Defensive 1st: Paul, Kobe, Prince, Duncan, Garnett
All NBA Defensive 2nd: Wade, Ariza, Pierce, Camby, Howard
Finals: Los Angeles vs Cleveland = La in 7 (homecourt proves to be important)
Finals MVP = Kobe
later.
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