Best in the NBA

Here's an unfinished idea i was working on, maybe with some input i can finish it.

NBA

Who’s The Best?

Who’s the best player in the NBA? I think when you ask this question, you have to first define what you’re asking. I believe there’s a difference between “best” “most valuable” “talented” and other terms. I’m gonna try to make some sense of this.

First, lets define the MVP, since this is the actual award every year. Most Valuable Player. Well, what makes something valuable? It’s when the talent is rare, hard to find. So what’s hard to find in the NBA today? Well, I think there are two types of player that teams struggle to find, a very talented center, and a leader-type point guard. This would mean that Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, Shaq, Nash, Cassell, Chris Paul, these are the players that are valuable. These players are the hardest to replace. You have to admit, Shaq has been the Most Valuable player in the league for the last 10 years. Look at the playoff appearances and championships. But he’s getting older and now Yao and Dwight are stepping up.

As for the point guard argument think about this: who runs the show and who just facilitates? Andre Miller vs Sam Cassell. Even though Andre was the PG for Denver, he was never in charge, this was Carmelo’s team, Camby’s team, Andre just brought the ball up and dished it off. Now Sam Cassell, one could argue that the Clips are his team, even Minnesota back in the day, he’s in charge, he’s telling people where to be, what to do, he tells Elton Brand where to go, and Cassell obviously isn’t the best player on his team.

Look at it this way. Tim Duncan has been the NBA MVP twice. Is he really that talented? Sure he’s solid, he’s better than almost every forward in the league, he’s consistent, but how many aspects of the game can he excel in? He’s valuable, but is he the best. You know who the best is? Kobe. And I hate Kobe.

What is the “best”? Players who can do everything, shoot, drive, dribble, pass, rebound, control the game, clutch. A player who doesn’t need to score 30 every night, and recognizes when they’re playing badly and can adapt and get other players involved. So which players fit this description so far? Kobe, LeBron, McGrady, Iverson, Nowitzki, KG, Arenas. There’s a difference between the Best, and Very Very Good. Dwade is very good. Baron Davis is very good. Carmelo is very good.

Think of it this way. If you’re on defense, are you scared if this player brings the ball up and needs 2 points to win? Are you scared of Duncan? No. Are you scared of Garnett? Yes. Who could go for 50 any night? Who could stop shooting and get others involved? Kobe did last week. Iverson has been doin it in Denver.

Kobe can score whenever he wants, no one can stop him. Aaron and I saw him play the Nugz 2 years ago and he went for like 45. No one could stop him. McGrady is the same way; he could dribble up the court, run into a double team, rise up and hit a jump shot 3-pointer. That’s ridiculous. Duncan could never do that. Nash couldn’t do it either, or Billups.

But here’s the thing, Kobe and those guys aren’t rare. Could you replace Kobe with Micheal Redd and the Lakers still be close to as good as they are? Yes. Scorers aren’t that hard to find. Ray Allen can score. Bibby can score. Pierce can score. So maybe that why they aren’t the MVP’s but they are the best players. The most talented.

So with that all said, here’s my lists:

Great Players:

Kobe

McGrady

Iverson

Garnett

Arenas

Lebron

Dirk

Very Very Good Players:

Dwayne Wade

Carmelo

Chris Paul

Nash

Stoudamire

Pierce

Kidd

Most Valuable Players:

Duncan

Yao

Dwight Howard

Players:

Brand

Baron Davis

Marion

Amare

Marbury

Jermaine

Too Early to Tell:

Bosh

Paul

Boozer

Bogut

Prediction Time

so, since i'm going on no sleep, no disrespect to my wife who's going on less than no sleep, i have plenty of time to air my opinions

here are my predictions for the remainder of the sports week:

-When JR Smith rejoins the Nugz on wednesday against the Spurs its going to be awesome.

i know everyone is waiting for Melo, but JR was averaging 19.9 ppg before the suspension. he's a credible 3 pt threat. the nugz have no scoring threat besides AI. don't give me Boykins, he's not reliable, and don't give me Camby, he get his 12 in the easiest way possible. JR will make an instant impact.

-Indy over Baltimore

I'm a Colts fan so this is biased, but, i like Peyton, and i think he can get it done this year.

by the way, the above post was actually cut and paste from the last 2 years of predictions

-SD over NE

i think the Superchargers have more talent than Marty can screw up. and the Pats are banged up

-Philly over N.O.

this is a tough one. Experience vs Emotion. Last year emotion carried the Squeelers to a championship. this year it won't work. i've thought the Saints over-achieved all year, and i'm still not sold. Westbrook, Stallworth and Garcia will get it done, Andy Reid has been here before

-Chicago over Seattle

a game that could be absolutley terrible. Are the bears not one of the hardest teams to watch this year? but i think Seattle is too banged up, i mean, they got a gift last week on their home turf against a struggling Cowboys team, are they really gonna beat a rested Bears team on the road? no.

-Man United over Aston Villa

man united is the greatest team ever. this saturday will be no different as they will take care of business and United will continue to run away with the Premiership. I mean, Larsson scored in his first game as a red devil. its not even fair. i say ManU 3-1.

Ohio State Sucks

NCAAF

so....i was way wrong about that. No Tressel for the Brownies, and definitely no Troy Smith. Could Ohio St have played any worse??! Troy Smith has no pocket awareness! he never felt that rush from the backside., and he holds the ball FOREVER. terrible.

also, Florida ran the same 3 and 5 play every time, and Ohio St ran the same defense every time, which resulted in...yes...a first down for Florida. Did Tressel ever realize he was losing? he certainly didn't adjust.

So where does this put the Browns?

Well, say we get the 3rd pick after the coin toss with Tampa. Oakland should take LaMarcus from LSU, he'd be a good fit. Detroit then takes Adrian Peterson since Kevin Jones looks to be injured pretty badly. That leaves the Browns with Brady Quinn. is that good? better than Troy Smith, Charlie Frye, Derek Anderson, Ken Dorsey, Tim Couch, Vinnny Testaverde and Bradlee Van Pelt. i don't know what to do.

This draft is supposed to be full of receivers, the one thing the Browns have already in Braylon, JoeJurevicious, Kellen "should be at the pro bowl" winslow, and up-and-comer Travis Wilson.

isn't it great to be a Browns fan

anyway, Ohio St sucked, this whole 51 day waiting period is terrible. meanwhile, over on Altitude, the D-Nugz took care of business and destroyed a Bucks team lead by Bogut and Ruben Patterson. don't mess with the Nugz. JR Smith back on Wednesday, this changes everything!

Fun Rumors

NFL/NBA


SO this weekend might be more important for the Browns than people think.

Rumor #1: When Ohio St. wins the national championship, Jim Tressel can and will opt out of his contract and look into coaching the Browns

i like this idea. Romeo Crennel is fine, but not great. Jim Tressel might be a good change, considering the second rumor

Rumor #2: Troy Smith said he wants to be the Browns saviour, and i like that. It sounds like right now he's slated at a late first round pick. if that stands true, we'd have a shot at him if we trade our 2nd round pick. This would be after we take Adrian Peterson with the 3rd pick of the draft.

Brady Quinn said he want to play for Cleveland, but wouldn't you if you had a choice between Cleveland, Detroit and Oakland?

Rumor #3: Miami Heat are interested in Mike Bibby and/or Ron Artest.

Please don't trade Bibby! i love me some Bibby, he's so cool. Please trade Ron Ron, he's only in it for himself. But i guess the Heat don't have much to offer, could this be another JWill for Bibby trade?

sidenote, JWill looks horrible these days. not only did he change his hairstyle and now it looks like he's standing in front of a fan all the time, but he's slow, not flashy, and he's got a bad back. the media ruined this player. he was the most exciting thing to watch when he came out, and all this talk about Ast to TO ratio and too many wild shots ruined Jason. thats terrible, i watch his clips on YouTube all teh time, Sacramento area fans are the worst, they don't know a good thing when they got it, like Adelman, JWill, Keon Clark, Mike Bibby. These are good players/coach, don't be fickle.

Rumor #4: Plummer to the Vikes, Culpepper to the Raiders.

whatever, these teams need help

Where it went wrong for the Cowboys

NFL

so i watched the Cowboys/Seahawks game last night with my friend Alan, and we got to see a great game. I don't like the NFC, and i don't really have any teams in the playoffs, so i'm more rooting against teams like the Ravens, Patriots and i thought, Cowboys. but last night i couldn't feel worse for Romo and Bill Parcells. Romo said that he's never felt lower. that sucks.

the irony is how much parcells hates kickers and special teams, and how it haunts him

but i think the real mistake happened a little earlier.

remember when Seattle went for it on 4th down and didn't make, leaving the cowboys starting on the 1 yard line. their first play was a throw instead of a run out of the end zone. now Julius Jones was having quite a game, i think he got over 120yds for the game. why not run it out like everyone always does? no, they throw a quick pass to Terry glenn.

so what is glenn thinking here?

first, i've got to catch this, then, i have to not get tackled for a safety, then i have to actually gain yards to make this play work.

give the ball to Jones on a run up the middle and what is he thinking?

go straight, run hard, don't fumble

anyway, Glenn does fumble, giving the seahawks the safety.

i mean, don't you have a untested quarterback throwing this pass also? i dont know about you, but this seems like a poor decision from the Dallas coaches, and in turn, cost them the game.

now hopefully New England loses today

Introduction

So, i decided to keep a blog of my biased sports views. some of my good friends have encouraged me in different ways, to pursue something of sports broadcasting, either radio, podcasts or whatever. knowing that i'm in no way good enough, or do i have the patience, to do anything on a big level, i thought a blog would be fun.

i think i'll update this as often as i can, and it will cover a variety of sports and topics. Where ESPN tries to be neutral, and not biased, i will be, because thats way more fun. I have teams i hate, and teams i love, and nothing makes me love my teams more than not living in their cities. out here in denver its Bronco's all the time, with a splash of Avalanche and Nuggets. so i have to search a little harder to get info on the Kings and Browns, but its worth it.

anyway, i hope this sparks some debate and conversations, i hope i can get you to stop drinking the koolaid and see the bigger picture. and i hope you'll comment back, because thats what makes sports worth following, discussion and debate.

blog on!