Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The NBA Finals

I know it has been a while since I last had a post, I apologize. But on the bright side of things, tonight is the start of the 2011 NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat.

I am very excited for this series. It's between two teams that I like. And these teams played each other in the 2006 Finals, with the Heat beating the Mavs in that one. However, each team only has 2 players that are hold-overs from that 2006 series. The Heat have Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem. The Mavs have Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. The Heat have been the big story all year since LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join Wade in Miami to create a super-star led team. The Mavs have been Dirk's team for years now, he has won an MVP before, but never won a title.

It's the big match-up between Dirk and LeBron for who needs to win their first championship more, and I for one, will be watching with great anticipation.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Season Awards

Now that most of the regular season awards have been given out, I want to go through and take a closer look at them.

MVP
Winner: Derrick Rose
Who should have won: Derrick Rose
Rose became a superstar this year. He took the leap from one of the best young players in the game to one of the best players, period. He led the Bulls to the number 1 record in the league, kept his team afloat when they had a couple major injuries, and became a deadly closer at the end of games. There is an argument to be made for LeBron James to have won, he is still the best basketball player in the world, and he had better stats than Rose, but he had a couple things going against him. First, he has won the MVP the last 2 years. Voters get tired of voting for the same guy year after year. That is really the only explanation for Karl Malone ever winning an MVP award over Michael Jordan. Secondly, James switched teams and now plays with Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat. Having two superstars on the same team means both are going to lose votes on awards like these because it's hard to say who was truly leading their team.

Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: Dwight Howard
Who should have won: Dwight Howard
Let's face it, Howard is a beast. He is the biggest and strongest player in the game today. He was ranked 2nd this year in rebounds with 14.1 per game (but led the league overall in defensive rebounds), and 4th in blocks with 2.4 per game. He also had a career best 1.4 steals per game. This is his 3rd straight year winning DPOY and I'm not sure when anybody else with take the award from him.

6th Man
Winner: Lamar Odom
Who should have won: Lamar Odom
I really have no problems with Odom winning the award. The Mavs' Jason Terry is about the only other guy I think that has an argument. Odom is good enough to be a starter on most teams, but he plays for the Lakers who are kind of loaded. The thing with Odom that perplexes me, besides him marrying the ugly Kardashian sister, is how this seems to be the biggest award of his career. He has the size and talent to have been a All-Star several times. When he was younger, he was thought to be a future star. He is listed as being 6'10", which allows him to play as a center, but he has the skills of a guard. He can play all 5 positions. But one of the most well known things about him is his love of candy. So maybe that has something to do with him not living up to the potential, who knows.

Most Improved Player
Winner: Kevin Love
Who should have won: Dorell Wright
I have a general theory on how the MIP should be restricted. A player should not be eligible for the MIP if they are still on their rookie contract. Players are supposed to improve a lot in their first few years in the league. I think this award should be given to a player that most people didn't foresee improving by much. So by those standards, Love should be ineligible. But the award has increasingly been given out to young players in the last few years. Wright, however set career highs this year in points, rebounds, assists, steals, games played, and minutes played. His points increased from 7.1 last year to 16.4 this year. Wright also became the first player in NBA history to have scored more points in his seventh season than all of his first six combined. And he led the league in 3-pointers made and attempted, setting Warriors franchise records for both. How did he not win?

Rookie of the Year
Winner: None yet
Who should have won: Blake Griffin
Griffin will easily win ROY this year. He became a must-see attraction with his highlights and amazing athletic ability. After sitting out all of last year with an injury, he was a rookie this year, and became the leader of the Clippers. He is awesome, and will be an All-Star for many years to come.