All NBA Team

With the NBA regular season coming to a close I figure now should be the time for me to name who I think should be on the 1st All NBA Team. In simple terms, its is who I think is the best point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center in the league.

The league will list out their own version of the All NBA team, but if you notice the voting ballot is for one center, two guards and two forwards. Meaning the All NBA team could have two small forwards, two shooting guards and a center. Doesn't sound like a complete team to me. I know I wouldn't want to have a team without a point guard.

So I will list a true All  NBA team, no position changes or anything. I'll explain why each player deserves the spot and who the choices came down between.

Center: Dwight Howard 20PPG 14.5 RPG 2.1 BPG.

Howard is the best center in the league hands down. There are very few big men that can dominate like him. He uses his size better than any player in the NBA, posting up anyone who dares go into the paint with him. He usually will get a basket or a foul.

Dwight Howard is the center every team wants, a big guy who can post up, score and play lights out defense. He may not have the most class, I mean he wants his coach fired and has been drawing out his long term status in Orlando out way too long, but this award if for on the court success, and as far as centers go he is number one.

Howard been named first team all NBA the past four seasons, and he will likely get his fifth this year. He is a great center, but it also shows how little depth there is at center in the NBA today. There just isn't much competition. Many NBA analysts say that this award is Dwight's to lose each year.

When I think of people who could compete for it, I can think of Andrew Bynum of the Lakers. He is finally healthy and has had his best seasons yet averaging  almost19 points and 12 boards per game. He is showing that he can be an elite center and challenge Howard for being best center in the NBA. However, Bynum will not win the award this season. Bynum is the second option in LA, sometimes third. Orlando has built their entire franchise around Howard, Orlando ownership would be willing to sell a kidney if it meant Howard stays long term.

Power Forward: Kevin Love 26PPG 13.2 RPG.

This is the easiest for me to choose for this list. Kevin Love is hands down the best PF in the league. He has no equal. Before he went down for the season with a concussion he was in the top 3 in points per game and rebounds per game. He plays great defense, even playing at center at times due to his teammates being injured. Most of all, he puts these stats up on an awful team. Whenever you play Minnesota, all you have to worry about it Kevin Love. You stop him, you stop the entire team. He has little help around him. Ricky Rubio played well at point guard, but when he went down with an ACL injury Love kept putting up the same numbers.

Kevin Love is putting up MVP numbers this season, if I had a vote I would vote him MVP(just read my last article), he won't win it this year. He has been hurt the past two weeks or so and is playing on an awful team.

When the NBA announces their All NBA team the two forwards selected will be Lebron James and Kevin Durant. Both of these two are amazing players, top 5 in the NBA right now. However, they both play small forward, but because the NBA has it set up now, Love will not get the award despite his stellar year.

Small Forward: Lebron James 27PPG 6APG 8 RPG.

The argument for who is the leagues best small forward comes down to two players, and these two players happen to be the two best in the NBA. Lebron James and Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant comes up a little short this year despite his amazing numbers(28PPG 3.5 APG 8 RPG).

James and Durant's numbers are almost the exact same, so its hard to say which one is better if you look purely at the stats that are available.

So how did I decide?

I watched both of them play, and it came down to one simple thing. Lebron looks like the better player. It's a close call, but for me it came down to one thing, defense. James is simply a better defender. He should be a candidate for defensive player of the year, he won't win it but he should be in the conversation for it. James and Durant are both averaging 8 rebounds a game, but remember, defense is not all about stats. Defense is about shutting players down limiting points.

While both players are very good defenders, James is better.

Some people may not like me choosing James over Durant, they may argue that James plays with better teammates. However, Durant has a very, very talented team around him. James does play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but take a look at the other players on the roster. Not a lot of depth, I mean Shane Battier is pretty good, but he plays small forward as well.

Durant plays with Russell Westbrook, who many experts think is an elite level NBA point guard(I have to disagree, I can explain on a later post). Durant also has a great defensive center in Kendrick Perkins, a defensive minded Forward in Serge Ibaka and the 6th man of the year(I'm assuming he will win the award as he should) in James Harden.

You can make the argument the Durant plays on the team with more overall talent. The Thunder have a great point guard and an amazing center. These are the two most important positions in the NBA. The Heat are very weak at these two spots. The Thunder also have a deeper bench.

So please, don't act like Durant is playing with a bunch of scrubs. There is a reason why they were contending for the number one seed in the western conference playoffs, before their awful April meltdown, they are a great team.

One of these two will win the MVP, even though I would not vote for either, and it will probably go to James. Despite the fact that I personally do not like the guy, as an unbiased sports blogger I cannot deny that James is the best small forward in the game today and probably the best player in the game.

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant 28 PPG, 4.6 APG, 5.4 RPG

Despite my personal dislike for Kobe, I cannot deny his greatness. I cannot deny how clutch he is. I cannot deny that even at age 33 and being in the league for 15 years he is still one of the best in the game and easily the best 2 guard in the game today.

Kobe should be on the decline, I mean he is old. He has bad knees. He's been playing since 1996. He always plays a lot of minutes and he always plays hard. So how is it that he is having one of his better seasons?

There most be something in the water in LA.

Kobe's numbers talk for themselves. However what sold me for Kobe as the best shooting guard in the league is how he is still clutch.

If the game is down to one possession and you had the choice of any current NBA player to have the ball in his hand, who do you choose?

To me its a simple answer, and its been the same player for the past decade it seems. Kobe.

Kobe comes through in the clutch. Hitting game winning shots, playing lights out defense when it matters most, and is usually the catalyst for starting a comeback.

Just look at last weeks game between the Thunder and Lakers. OKC was winning by 18 in the second half. The game should be over. OKC is younger and has more talent. However, they do not have Kobe. Kobe started slow, but he willed his team to take the game into double overtime and eventually the win.

Kobe gets a look in his eyes when he is dialed in. When he has the moment, especially in the clutch, he is not going to be denied. He is going to score, and there is literally nothing you can do about it. Its that simple. If you don't believe me just look on youtube for some of Kobe's clutch shots.

I cannot think of another shooting guard that comes close to Kobe this year. He wins it.

Point Guard.

This is easily the hardest of them all for me. Let me go ahead and list some of the point guards I had to consider(in no particular order).

Chris Paul(Clippers), Steve Nash(Suns), Tony Parker(Spurs), Rajon Rondo(Celtics), Deron Williams(Nets), Russell Westbrook(Thunder), Derrick Rose(Bulls, I only consider him because he is the reigning MVP. He missed over a third of this season so he really shouldn't be in the conversation).

I listed seven players. The media would consider all of these 'elite' point guards. I have a hard time with Westbrook being considered elite. He is a great point guard, but he can take too many shots, and when it comes to crunch time he will just go into a panic and pull up jump shots.

The other six I say are elite. Rose won't make the team this year because of injuries, and the odd fact that despite him missing so many games the Bulls have the best overall record in the NBA, weird.

With a field that is this deep I have to consider a few things. First is what should a point guard do?

Point guards are an extention of the coach, they set up plays to run and get their teammates involved. They are facilitators, racking up assists and running a team. They still need to score, but being the top scoring point guard doesn't gurantee you a spot on the All NBA Team.

So how much better do these point guards make their team? This can narrow the field down a little. It drops Deron Williams out. He is having a great season statistically, averaging 21 points a game and 8.3 assists. Those numbers can get you an All NBA Team nomination. However, Deron is playing for the Nets, an awful team. Its not Deron's fault, but with so many other guards to choose, this kicks him out.

It doesn't seem right for Westbrook to make the All NBA Team, when his teammat Durant doesn't. Durant is the leader and a way better player. Westbrook is a great scorer, averaging 23.6 points a game. However, he is only averaging 5.5 assists a game. That is pretty low, I'm sorry I can't have him win this when Kobe is close to his average assists a game.

And this is where I come to a complete stalemate. Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker. Each of them deserve to be on the All NBA Team. Chris Paul and Tony Parker deserve it because they are the best scorers on their team, and the clutch go to guy. Nash and Rondo deserve the nod because they make their teammates so much better around them.

Chris Paul was traded to the Clippers and has taken one of the worst franchises in the NBA to the playoffs in his first season. He has some decent talent around him, but its nothing great. When it comes to the crunch time for the Clippers, they basically hand the ball to Paul and say 'go make something happen'. His has great numbers, 19.8 PPG 9.1 APG, and has made the Clippers matter in the NBA.

I can't give Paul the nod, however. He's great, but I just don't think he's the best. The Clippers aren't a great team, they may be the 5th seed in the west, but they don't look like a 5th seed. They seem average.

Steve Nash had one of his better seasons at the ripe old age of 38, putting up 12.5 points per and dishing out 10.7 assists a contest. You may ask how Nash is ahead of guys like Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams when he is only putting up 12 points a game, my answer in simple. He is great at facilitating the ball and making his players better around him.

The Suns have a pretty awful roster, overpaid players that are underachieving is the best way to put it. Yet, Nash had the Suns in the hunt for the playoff until they were eliminated by the Jazz this past week.

Nash played his heart out and played well. However, I don't think he is the best PG in the game. He is still weak on the defensive side of the ball. Its not that Nash didn't play well, I just think there are two players that played point guard better.

One of them is Rajon Rondo. He averaged 11.9 points a game and 11.7 assists. Very similar numbers to Nash, however Rondo also averaged nearly 5 rebounds a game. He also has the most triple doubles in the league this year. He had six, no other NBA player had more than 1.

Rondo is also a very good defensive guard, getting nearly 2 steals a game and showing he is a lockdown defender. With such close numbers between Rondo and Nash, it came down to defense that gave Rondo the nod.

You could argue that since Rondo is playing for a better team, and since Nash's numbers are so close to Rondo's, the Nash should get the vote. It is true that Boston is better than Phoenix. But Boston has been on a tear since the all star break, clearly the hottest team in the NBA. What triggered this hot streak? Rajon Rondo. He has been playing his best since the all star game and is the reason why the Celtics look as good as they do.

Boston is old and has some big missing parts, but Rondo has kept them together and is playing at his best.

As much as I like Rondo, he doesn't get the award. Tony Parker gets it.

He is averaging great numbers, 18.3 points a game and 7.7 assists. Chris Paul has better numbers, so does Deron Williams. So why does Parker get the nomination? It's pretty simple, actually. He is the best player on the best team in the NBA.

Not only is he the best player for the Spurs, he is the most important. The reasons why the Spurs have the best record is all because of Parker. The Spurs are very old, their other best players are old(Duncan and Ginobli), but Parkers play has kept the Spurs as the best team out there.

Everyone said the Spurs were too old to contend in the playoffs, they said the same thing last year as well, but Parker proved them wrong. It wasn't the play of Tim Duncan or Manu Ginobli. It's been Parkers play, clutch and facilitating that has the Spurs hot, looking to win a 5th NBA championship.

To make it easy, he puts up similar numbers to Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Those two are the big scoring point guards. At the same time he has taken an old team that nobody thought would be a contender and made them the number one seed, Rondo has his team in the playoffs but not the number one seed and Nash couldn't get his team into the playoffs at all.

Let me know what you think, I may be wrong. But as far as I'm concerned these are the best players at their respective positions.

Love for MVP

So I'm back! This is my first post in over a year, and I plan to try and do at least two posts a month.

Let me start out by saying that I am a huge fan of Kevin Love. For those of you who don't know much about him, he is the starting power forward for the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the NBA's worst franchises in recent memory.

He is a rebounding machine, right now averaging over 13 rebounds a game. Last season he set a record for most consecutive double doubles(since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976) with 53 straight double doubles. Pretty amazing stat considering he entered the NBA in the 2008-2009 season.

He is also playing with sub par talent around him as well. The Wolves are notorious for making bad free agent signings and bad draft picks. I've felt bad for Love for a few seasons now, he is a phenomenal player surrounded by below average players and a terrible front office.

Why do I bring up his bad teammates? Because when you play the Wolves you know all you have to do is stop Kevin Love from scoring and rebounding and you will likely win. It's pretty simple. Yet Love puts up ridiculous stats, last season averaging 20 points and 15 rebounds a game, this season so far(as of 4/7) 26 points and 13 rebounds. Those are above amazing stats, especially when you consider he is the main focus for opposing teams.

Hopefully I've made it clear that Love is an elite player, in my book he is easily the best power forward in the game. Kevin Durant of the Thunder and Lebron James both play small forward, although they look more like power forwards. LaMarcus Aldridge of the Blazers is trying to make a case that he is the best PF in the game, but its not even close at this point. Aldridge is an elite forward, but isn't close to touching where Love is at.

So my point in this blog is to try and convince why Love is the MVP of the NBA this season. He probably won't win it, there are a few reasons. First off is he is playing on a team that will miss the playoffs, however its not really Loves fault. Minnesota's second best player, Ricky Rubio, tore his ACL in the beginning of March and since then the Wolves have been hit with the injury bug.

Another reason why he won't win it is because of the media sensation around two of the NBA's most marketable teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat. Each team has a player that is an MVP candidate, Kevin Durant and Lebron James. Both of these players are having amazing years statistically. One of these two will win it. I'm thinking Lebron will win it, he doesn't deserve to ever win an MVP because of The Decision(but that argument is for a later blog post). The media loves these two teams, over hypes them and over sells them.

However my argument for why Kevin Love is the MVP of the NBA is simple. Imagine if Kevin Love and Lebron James were traded. Now I know this will never happen, but work with me. Lets pretend they were traded, player for player. Don't look at salary cap or contract issues, lets just look at what they bring to the court. Which team would improve more with this trade, the Heat or the Timberwolves? I'll let you think about that while I explain how I came up with this idea.

My good friend and I were having a sports debate. We debate about all sorts of topics and recently have been debating about how good Kevin Love is. I am adamant that he is the best PF in the league and through a few debates me and my friend agreed, Love is the best in the league.

We then started to debate about who should be MVP. It didn't take long at all for us to agree that Love should win the award. We both see how ridiculous his stats and what he brings to Minnesota that the mass media doesn't see. Our debate then quickly turned on how can others see our point of view? The NBA is in love with Durant and despises Lebron, and with the constant coverage that they get one of the is likely to win the award.

This is when I asked my friend the same questions I asked you earlier. What if Lebron and Love were traded? Which team improves more? For me the question was easy. For my friend it was easy. The answer is the Heat become a much better team with Love. It's crazy to think, but its true. Lets look at the stats, they both are averaging 26 points per game. But think on how each player gets those points. Lebron will drive to the hoop, take jump shots and score on fastbreaks. All of those are very nice to have. Teams need a player that can get to the hoop. The thing is, Dwyane Wade can get to the hoop. Wade has a great jumpshot and he can get to the free throw line easily.

How does Love score? Well he does have a good three point shot, but most of his points are in the paint with a strong post game. A physical, dominant post game that makes teams collapse to the paint to try and stop Love. That is something that Miami doesn't have, and it is their biggest weakness. It is well documented that the Heat are lacking a post game. Lebron James does not have a post game, despite being a 6 foot 8 inch small forward weighing 250lbs(He is a very big small forward) he cannot post opponents up.

Just look at the NBA finals last season. The Mavericks tried something risky. The decided to have their point guard Jason Kidd guard Lebron. Now Lebron has a considerable size and weight advantage over Kidd. The Mavericks were basically begging Lebron to post up Kidd. He never did, he couldn't. So the Heat lost.

Miami would love to have an elite post game player on their team, and Love would easily fill that role.

Now, how else would the Heat become better? Besides having a strong post game, not to mention they would own the boards with a good amount of rebounds, it would force Dwyane Wade to be the clutch scorer for the team. And Wade is clutch. Lebron is not, he will shrink away from the ball in crunch time. Don't believe me? Just look at the finals last year, or the 2010 NBA eastern conference semi-finals series between the Celtics and Cavs. Lebron quit and didn't want the ball when it mattered most. Wade wants the ball, and is a better finisher, better clutch player than Lebron. However, with Lebron on the Heat, he is the go to guy, the finisher and it doesn't quite work.

So to sum up how the Heat would be better. A strong post game offense, Kevin Love could work the inside, scoring his 26PPG from the post and thereby opening up the other part of the court for his teammates, thus resulting in more points. They get a huge improvement in rebounds. And they have Wade lead the team in crunch time. Sounds like a complete win for Miami.

Now how does Minnesota win? Well they immediatley become a big time team. Any team that has Lebron is going to get extra media coverage. Everyone wants to know what he is doing and how he is playing. So Minnesota immediatley goes into the spotlight, a huge plus for the very small market team. It also makes it easier to get free agents to play in Minnesota. Cleveland isn't exaclty the biggest market or free agent draw, yet Lebron was able to get some good players to follow him there. Minnesota also becomes more exciting to watch, as Lebron is a highligt real on his own. Kevin Love is not as exciting to watch but gets the job done.

In my unbiased opinion, the Heat would win the NBA title easily. The Timberwolves might make the playoffs, but wouldn't go far. Both teams get better...however the Wolves get slightly better and most of that is because of the marketability of Lebron, and the Heat get much, much better.

Now if Kevin Love would make the Heat better if he replaced Lebron shouldn't that make him MVP? I think so. He probably won't win it. It is hard to award the MVP to a team that misses the playoffs. But I think if you look at it in this way, Love has to be the guy that wins it.

There are flaws to my idea, first of all Love is a power forward and Lebron is a small forward, so them switching teams makes it hard to figure out where the other players go. In Miami Chris Bosh is the PF, so what do you do with him and who would start at small forward? However, if you look at it very basically at who makes the team better, Love is the one that wins and Love is the one that should win.