Answering 5 NBA Questions....

Greetings everyone... been getting a lot of questions concerning the NBA and its makeup as we go forward... what does that mean? well, of course I'll take a look at where we stand by answering your questions!....

1. How many teams can win the title as presently constructed? Great question, and one of the most popular in the media this time of here... my answer is 6 with a giant caveat that I believe there's a distinct drop after 4... the list is Boston, LAL, Miami, Chicago, Orlando, and San Antonio for me... with Chicago and Orlando being in the bottom 2... Boston has the best roster makeup, all the experience in the world, and they're clearly right there... LA is the defending champion and feature the same cast of characters with slight upgrades off the bench (when Matt Barnes comes back), no argument.... Miami has the "key 3" and not much else, but it's universally thought that if they could get Haslem back, Miller shooting, and the trio going all at once, they can beat anyone... San Antonio has the best record in the league, the best coach in the league IMO, a healthy Ginobili, and the deepest bench they've had in years... after that? It takes some stretching... Orlando is soooo talented, and I'll give them a small (tiny even) percentage simply b/c if they put it all together (cough, Gil), I could see it.... Chicago is the X-factor... Derrick Rose has made the leap this year, but they haven't had Boozer/Noah playing healthily together yet for any stretch... can't determine until then.... 2 teams to watch? Dallas and OKC... Dallas' record with Dirk in the fold is outstanding, and Cuban seems to make a big move every year... that said, Caron Butler's injury hurt their depth significantly and Brendan Haywood has been a disaster compared to the contract.... OKC has the 2 elite players you need, and Ibaka is developing, but the front-court is under-talented otherwise, and they've seemingly whiffed on a lottery pick in Cole Aldrich...



2. Who is the MVP of the league right now? Man, this is tough this year... I think there are 4 guys who are a cut above right now.... Derrick Rose is carrying Chicago... we've mentioned the lack of Boozer/Noah together, but he also doesn't have a discernable starting 2 guard, he's averaging 25 and 8, and that team is playing over their heads... Kevin Durant is leading the league in scoring by a comfortable margin (29 a game), maintaining efficiency, and OKC is 4th in the West right now but his candidacy is hurt a bit by the emergence of Westbrook and how he played for that first month or so, the case will get stronger and stronger if he keeps the level of the last 6-8 weeks up... Lebron James is Lebron James... best player alive... the team is 37-14 as I write this, and he's bringing it every night... 26/7/7 on a team with another superstar and another top 20 guy?... It's really ludicrous... the argument against 'Bron is that Wade is nearly as valuable (true), and that basically, he's not going to get any votes because everyone hates him (also true)... Dwight Howard was my preseason pick, and he's lived up to it (technicals aside) so far... career-high 22.4 points per, 13.7 rebounds per (which would lead the league if Kevin Love wasn't from another planet), and 2+ blocks to quantify his crazy defensive impact... oh, and his entire team turned over mid-season pretty much.... the case against Dwight is the team record (32-20) but honestly, I'm not sure how he can be objectively blamed for this... he's been awesome... and a darkhorse? How about Amare Stoudemire? My first thought is, "huh?"... but look at it... 26 points/9 boards a game for a team playing well north of their expectations... and how about Dirk Nowitzki? All the guy has done is average 23 a game with utterly ludicrous 53/42/89 percentages on a team that is 36-15 overall but 34-8 (!) with him in the lineup... My pick? Right now, I'd go with Rose... I use a pure "most valuable" definition when I evaluate these things, and frankly, that team has no business being 34-16 with the amount of injury they've had to Boozer and Noah, and the calamity at 2-guard...



3. Can you address the overall situation of the Hawks, both this year, and going forward? Well... that would need to be its own column... but I'll give you the shorthand... This team isn't a title contender this year... Do I think they could possibly beat Orlando in a 1st round series? Well... yes, but only if they had homecourt, and I'd still pick Orlando... anybody else? Go against the Hawks with fervor... The nucleus has basically played to expectations this season... Al Horford is the team's best player in case that memo hasn't gone out yet... 16 points, 10 rebounds, best defender on the roster, and a bonafide all-star... Josh Smith has taken steps back in some areas, and advanced in others... his jump shooting is markedly better this year which is both a blessing and a curse... it is honestly to the point where I almost don't care when he takes uncontested, squared-up threes... he's capable... but the shot selection has regressed immensely, he's taking more long 2s and contested 3s than ever before, and as such, he's taken as his game farther away from the basket... there are positives... like a career high rebounding average (9 a game) and vastly improved FT shooting (up 12% from last year), but he's still an enigma... Joe Johnson was woeful by his standards in November and December... averaging 16 points a game on 39% shooting, but he's returned to the star (not superstar, but star) that he's been in the past few years since January 1 averaging nearly 26 ppg... can't complain... elsewhere, the roster is typically underwhelming... the center position behind Al Horford has been mismanaged by Larry Drew in that Zaza Pachulia (the team's only semi-productive backup in the front court) has given way at times to Jason Collins, Josh Powell, and even Etan Thomas... it's inexplicable to play Collins against anyone but Dwight Howard or Shaq, Josh Powell isn't an NBA player, and Etan Thomas is past the point of age where he can produce... simple as that... the backup small forward spot is still vastly below average with no end in sight, and the point guard situation will make your head spin.... Jeff Teague, while routinely out-performing Mike Bibby in every aspect of the game that doesn't involve jump shooting, catches DNP's regularly, and isn't being allowed to progress even in a backup role... and the aforementioned Bibby is a non-contributor if the jumpshot is going in.... What am I saying? The problems are still the problems... and until the ownership will either a) spend more money, or b) spend money more efficiently.... it's not going to change overall... the Horford/Johnson/Smith/Marvin nucleus (by payroll and otherwise) isn't going to win the NBA title... best case scenario? The Spirit Group realizes this, packages Jamal Crawford's extremely valuable expiring deal into assets instead of letting him walk for free, hits on a low 1st-round pick for the first time since Jason Terry, and improves next year... worst case? They let Crawford go for nothing, play 2011-12 with Jordan Crawford in that role, don't invest in Teague, and markedly decline... but hey... it could be 2004 again, folks... and Billy Knight isn't your GM anymore... things are looking...up?... yeah....



4. Where will Carmelo land? I have no idea, and if someone tells you they do, they don't know.... the most recent, juicy rumor has him possibly headed to the Lakers in a package for Andrew Bynum... Pretty crazy on the surface... LA gets out from Bynum (who I'm philosophically against), but adds a wing who can't defend, and inserts a bigger problem sharing the ball with Kobe... Denver would snatch decent value for Melo, but again, I don't think Bynum will ever stay healthy long enough to hit his lofty ceiling.... other reports have Melo primed for NY via a 3-way with Minnesota, but the deal makes no sense for the Wolves, and it screams of NY media hype.... in the end, if Denver thinks they have ANY chance to re-sign him? They aren't making the move unless they get full value... and that's a rare occurrence...



5. How much better is the West than the East? It's laughable... listen to this... I believe that THIRTEEN (13!) West teams are better than any of the 7 through 15 teams in the East... the first 5 teams out of the playoffs in the West as of print (Memphis, Phoenix, Houston, Golden State, and LA Clippers) would all beat #7 Philadelphia in a 7-game series right now in my opinion... that's damning... at any rate, the East does sport more title contenders (4 to 2) from the earlier list, which is a small concession, but the depth of talent in the West (just check out the all-star snubs alone) signifies the gap...

So there it is... it's been one of the most fascinating/entertaining seasons in my NBA memory, and I look for it to continue... oh yeah, I didn't make a pick in question #1... let me do that here... with a gun to my head, Boston is the team to beat now that Perkins is back and healthy... done and done...