FIVEmag NBA basketball blog » NBA playoffs

MVP Race

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:43:55 +0000

The big question entering this year in terms of the MVP is would LeBron’s decision to team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh hurt his chances at winning a third consecutive MVP award. It seemed obvious that it would definitely hurt his chances if he had the ball in his hands less and had to share the court with two other All Stars in their primes. Kevin Garnett’s numbers dropped when he teamed up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in Boston. But LeBron has only seen a very small drop off in his numbers and is very much in the race for the 2010-2011 MVP. James has been consistent throughout the whole year and the best player on the Miami Heat. Compared to last year, he is scoring 3.5 fewer points per game and has 1.5 less assists per game. He is currently averaging 26.1 points, 7.1 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per contest, which are very close to his career numbers. James has still shown his ability to carry a team by himself evident in a few games this season. James has three triple doubles this year and had a 51-point outburst against the Magic. James continues to show his all-around game by being 3rd in the league in scoring, 13th in the league in assists, and leading the league in PER (player efficiency rating). However, there is great competition for the award around the league. The other candidates are Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant.

Derrick Rose is arguably the leading candidate for the MVP right now by leading the Bulls to the best record in the Eastern Conference as of last night’s win against the Wizards even with Carlos Boozer missing 21 games and Joakim Noah missing 31 games with injuries. Rose is having a career year averaging 24.7 points, 7.9 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game. He has improved his jump shot drastically since entering the league and that shows through his increased 3-point percentage even with 3.5 more attempts per game. Rose is the only player in the league to be top 10 in the league in both scoring and assists. He is the leader of the Bulls team in only his third year in the league and has put them in position to get the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Even the greatest basketball player of all time and the person who brought six championships to Chicago endorsed Derrick Rose as MVP. Michael Jordan was quoted as saying, “MVP of the season. He deserves it. He’s playing that well. Without a doubt. And if he doesn’t get it, now he’ll see how I felt a lot of years.”

Dirk Nowitzki is another player who is in the mix for the MVP. Nowitzki is having one of his best and most efficient seasons during his 13-year NBA career. He is also leading the Mavericks to one of the best records in the NBA and are currently 3rd place in the Western Conference with a record of 47-20. Nowitzki is shooting great percentages from the field (52.8%), three-point (42.6%), and free throw (88%) and is currently 9th in the league in player efficiency rating. The importance of Nowitzki to the second best team in the West was on display when he went down with an injury for 9 games. The team went 2-7 without their star in the lineup and has gone 45-13 with him in the lineup. Nowitzki will definitely be in the thick of the MVP race as the season winds down. The balance and depth that the Mavericks have as a team may end up hurting Nowitzki’s chances to win a second MVP.

Dwight Howard is the centerpiece for the Magic and is a force both offensively and defensively. Howard is having his best year offensively as a pro and is currently 10th in the league in scoring with 23 points per game. Howard just recently became the fifth youngest (25 years and 95 days) player to pass 10,000 career points and is in very good company. The only players to reach that milestone faster were LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Tracy McGrady. He has continued to be his usual self on the defensive end, being 2nd in the league in both rebounding and blocked shots. Even though Orlando drastically changed their roster in mid-December, Howard has been the one constant while leading the Magic to fourth place in the East. He is having a career year offensively and it looks like his off-season work with Hakeem Olajuwon is really paying dividends.

Kobe Bryant seems to always be in the conversation for the MVP award. It is shocking for one of the best players to play the game with five championships to his name has only won one MVP award. Bryant has been in the top five in MVP voting for the past five seasons and it looks like that trend will continue for another year. He has led the Lakers to a 48-20 record and a more impressive 10-1 record since the All Star break after losing three straight heading into the break. Bryant leads the team in scoring (6th in the league at 24.8 ppg) and assists (4.8 apg). Bryant seems to have his team playing their best at the right time of the year and has put himself in the MVP race yet again.

Kevin Durant has improved every year he has been in the league and is now a superstar at the young age of 22. Durant became the youngest player in league history to win a scoring title and then led Team USA to the FIBA World Championship this past summer in Turkey. Now he is leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to their best year in their short history and are currently sitting at fourth in the Western Conference while leading the Northwest Division. Durant is again the leading scorer in the league at 28.0 points per game while also grabbing 7.2 rebounds per game. There are a number of strong candidates this year for the MVP and the last 15 games of the season could help sway the voters. Rose arguably has a slight lead because of the success of the Chicago Bulls and Rose’s impressive numbers. But can LeBron James become only the third player ever to win three MVP awards in a row?

Miami Heat Struggles

admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:46:38 +0000

The Heatles, a nickname created by Lebron James for the Miami Heat because of the team’s ability to attract sellout crowds while playing on the road, have now lost five games in a row and the schedule does not get easier from here. There have been tears and the inability to knock down big shots at the end of the games. The Heat have seen their struggles against the league’s elite and in close games continue. Miami is an abysmal 1-9 against the top 5 teams in the league (Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, Mavericks) with a match-up against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on March 10th. The Heat are also 14-19 in games against teams that have a record above .500 while they are 5-13 in games decided by 5 or fewer points. The struggles the Heat have run into recently are getting to the point where players are supposedly in tears after the loss to the Chicago Bulls. This is the same team that won 21 of 22 games in November and December and we thought that they had figured it out after their 9-8 start.

Now the Heat are in the midst of a five game losing streak and have fallen to third place in the Eastern Conference and the schedule does not get any easier from here. The next six games the Heat will play teams that would all be in the playoffs if the season were to end today. Miami will play the Lakers, Grizzlies, Spurs, Thunder, Hawks, and Nuggets in the next six games. However, five of these six games will be played at home but this definitely seems to be the hardest part of their schedule seemingly coming at the worst time. The Heat have really struggled since the All Star break, especially at closing out games. In four of their six losses since the break, Miami has had double-digit and fourth quarter leads in four of them. The team has not been able to close out games and have looked very strong early on in games but confused later in games. There have also been inconsistent efforts from Wade and Bosh during this slide. For this team to be successful, the big three need to be consistent since the supporting cast is not very strong (James, Wade, and Bosh combine to score 69% of the team’s points). Wade and Bosh have been very inconsistent lately. Bosh had one of the worst games of his career against the Bulls by shooting 1-18 from the floor and scoring only 7 points. Wade has struggled a little with his shot recently and went 5-15 from the floor against the New York Knicks. The lack of depth outside the big three has hurt the Heat recently considering they have not gotten consistent play out of Wade and Bosh since the All Star break. The team has elite wing scorers and a very good power forward but lacks a strong post presence and a true point guard.

During this five game losing streak, Miami squandered a 24-point lead to the Orlando Magic and followed that up with an embarrassing 30-point defeat at the hands of the NBA best San Antonio Spurs. The game against the Spurs was pretty much over after the first quarter where the Spurs had built a 24-point lead and the Heat only managed to score 12 points. Two days later, the Heat hosted the Chicago Bulls and suffered a heartbreaking one-point loss with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both missing potential game winning shots at the end of the game. Last night, Miami lost to the Portland Trail Blazers and became only the 12th team in NBA history to have a 12-game winning streak and a 5-game losing streak in the same season. The worst part about this losing streak is that four of the five losses have come at home and makes the team 2-6 since the All Star break. The Heat have been a central focal point around the league since James decided to bring his talents to South Beach. The Heat have embraced it and have enjoyed some of their many nicknames such as The Miami Thrice, The Superfriends, The Three Kings, The Heatles, and Bad Boys III. This adds to the focus that the media and every NBA fan puts on the Heat. The team will always be under the microscope of intense scrutiny and should be able to turn it around, especially when you have 2 of the 5 best basketball players in the world on the same team. There is still no doubt that the Heat is a very fun team to watch!

Second Half Preview

admin — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:07:16 +0000

February 25th: With All-Star weekend behind us now, we can look forward to the new look New York Knicks, the playoff push and of course the playoffs. There are a few very interesting storylines entering the second half of the season. One storyline will be the race for the Eastern Conference number 1 seed in the playoffs. The Heat and Celtics are tied percentage points wise and the Bulls are only 2 games back after their big win against the Heat on February 24th. The Bulls will be glad to see the return of Joakim Noah, who missed 31 games with a thumb injury, to the court and see their frontcourt at full strength again. The Bulls have the most games (28 games) left on their schedule of these three teams but also face the easiest schedule with their remaining opponents combining to have a 0.458 winning percentage. The Heat have the fewest games remaining but have the most difficult schedule of the three with their remaining opponents combining to have a 0.512 winning percentage. However, the Heat do have the most home games (15 games) left on their schedule where they are 21-5 so far this year. The Boston Celtics have the fewest home games (11 games) left of the three teams and their remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of 0.475. The schedules do not seem to favor any of these three teams so this should make for a very interesting race all the way to the end of the season. For the remaining schedule, Miami will play Chicago twice and Boston once while Chicago will play Boston only once. There are very important matchups for each of these teams within the last two weeks of the season where Boston will take on both Chicago and Miami. These three teams are the class of the East and home court will be a huge factor in the playoffs considering each of their home records (Chicago: 26-4, Boston: 25-5, Miami: 21-5).

Another storyline that will be very interesting to follow in the second half will be the new look New York Knicks with their trio of Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and the seemingly forgotten Chauncey Billups as well as the affect of the other trades. The team gutted the roster to land a second superstar in Anthony to play alongside Stoudemire. How well will these two players play alongside each other and how will D’Antoni divvy up the minutes to a team with little depth, especially in the frontcourt? The team will definitely be able to score with the addition of one of the elite scorers in the league but the defense is sure to drop off a little with the lack of size and the trading of Chandler for Anthony on the defensive end. The Knicks have built a very strong core to their team and it will be interesting to see how much of an effect it will have on the team this year. The lack of depth and with only 28 games left in the season, can the Knicks find their offensive rhythm fast enough or will the team endure some growing pains like the Miami Heat early in the season? The other trades that will be followed the most are the Nets acquisition of Deron Williams and the Celtics flurry of trades. With the Nets, the main question will be if the Nets can prove to Williams that it is worth resigning with New Jersey as they move to Brooklyn in 2012. As for the Celtics, the alteration of a roster that got them to the NBA Finals a season earlier will be watched very closely especially for a team that has seen such great success in the past three years. Will the change in their frontcourt hurt their championship chances if they meet up with the Lakers or Magic in the playoffs? Perkins has missed 43 games so far this year and the Celtics have the second best record in the league at 41-15. We will see how these trades play out through the rest of the season.

The final storyline is, of course, if the Lakers will three-peat. Each conference has three or four very good teams who are considered very serious contenders for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The Eastern Conference has already been discussed with the top three teams of Boston, Miami, and Chicago while Orlando is a little bit behind those teams looking in. On the other side in the Western Conference, the top three teams of the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Los Angeles Lakers are all legitimate title contenders and now the Oklahoma City Thunder have thrown themselves right in the mix with those three with their trade deadline acquisitions. The Spurs have been very consistent throughout the whole year and have their own big three with Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan. Tim Duncan has been putting up career low numbers but also career low minutes so Gregg Popovich is trying to keep Duncan as fresh as possible for the playoffs. But a healthy Ginobli, Parker, a rejuvenated Richard Jefferson, and Sixth Man of the Year candidate in George Hill the Spurs have raced out to the best record in the league and a six game lead in the West. The Mavericks have been very good with Nowitzki healthy and really only had a bad stretch when Nowitzki was hurt and Caron Butler had a season ending injury in late December and into mid-January. The Lakers are the defending champions with two-time Finals MVP winner Kobe Bryant still performing at a very high level and running this team. The team is pretty much the same team that won the 2010 NBA Championship and are still the champions until someone knocks them off. Then there is the Oklahoma City Thunder who is a very young team with the leagues leading scorer Kevin Durant and fellow All Star Russell Westbrook leading the way. The new acquisitions of Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammad should help the Thunder chase down the Western Conference Title and an NBA championship. A year ago in the playoffs, the Thunder gave the Lakers their biggest scare in the Western Conference as the 8 seed and was the most of the team’s first experience in the playoffs. The team has a year of playoff experience under its belt and may be ready to make a run in the playoffs. This should prove to be a great second half of the season and playoffs with a number of interesting storylines to follow.

Here are highlights from the first half of the season:

NBA Trade Deadline

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:32:37 +0000

The NBA trade deadline is now behind us after a flurry of moves in the past 72 hours. This year’s trade deadline was very busy and everybody seemed to wait for the Carmelo Anthony deal to be completed before making moves of their own.

The main storyline of this trading deadline will undoubtedly be the Anthony trade but the Nets quickly responded to their neighbors in New York with a blockbuster trade of their own. The Nets didn’t quit their search for a face to the franchise after losing out on Carmelo Anthony. The Nets responded by trading for Deron Williams, who was called the best point guard in the league by Nets GM Billy King. This move is arguably better than the Knicks trade for Anthony because point guard is a more important position in today’s game and the Nets gave up less than they would have for Anthony. The Nets traded away Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, two 2011 first round draft picks and $3 million in cash for the point guard. Williams made his second All-Star appearance this year and is averaging 21.3 points (16th in the league) and 9.7 assists (3rd in the NBA) per game. The point guard had come under some heat after Jerry Sloan retired from the Jazz after 23 years. His retirement happened a day after Deron Williams had gotten in a heated argument with Sloan during the halftime of the February 9th game against the Bulls. Another reason for the trade could have been watching the Carmelo Anthony drama unfold this year. Williams could become a free in the summer of 2012 and could just walk away via free agency while the team receives nothing in return. The big question now for the Nets regarding this trade, is will they be able to re-sign Williams before the summer of 2012? The Nets need to build a better supporting cast around Williams to get him to stay and if they can’t then this trade will be seen as a failure.

There were still a number of other trades even though these two blockbuster trades will capture most of the headlines. The surprisingly active team at the deadline was the Boston Celtics, the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics and GM Danny Ainge decided to shake up their roster after losing in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last season and being in first place of the Eastern Conference at the All Star break. The team dealt Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. The Celtics also traded Luke Harangody, Semih Erden, and Marquis Daniels in two separate trades for two second-round picks. However, the trade of Perkins means that the Celtics will now depend on Kristic and the O’Neal’s (Jermaine and Shaq) as their centers. The frontline of the Celtics seemed to be the biggest advantage the team had over the Bulls and the Heat but Boston did need some depth at the wing position with the injury to Marquis Daniels and acquiring the 24-year old Green solves that problem. The deep frontline that the Celtics had before these trades would also help them against the strong frontlines of the Magic and Lakers if they met in the playoffs.

The Thunder on the other hand did a great job of bolstering their frontline with the addition of Perkins as well as their trade with the Charlotte Bobcats for Nazr Mohammad. The Thunder acquired Mohammad from Charlotte for Morris Peterson and DJ White, two players who are not an important part to the Thunder’s rotation. The Thunder are positioning themselves well in the West by adding to their frontcourt and have really come out of the trade deadline as the big winners. The Thunder, before the trades, was the youngest team in the league and has been gathering these assets through the years of their rebuilding. Now the team has traded some of these assets to help the team win now.

One of the other big moves at the deadline was the Trail Blazers acquiring Gerald Wallace from the Bobcats for Joel Przybilla, Dante Cunningham, Sean Marks, and two first round picks. The acquisition of Wallace helps the Blazers to bolster their wing rotation with the questionable health of Brandon Roy. The team needed more quality depth and accomplished that by getting Wallace. Some of the other trade deadline headlines are Shane Battier returning to Memphis with the Grizzlies giving up on the Hasheem Thabeet (No. 2 pick in the 2009 draft) project as well as Demare Carroll (also a first round pick in 2009) and a future first round pick. Another deal was for Kirk Hinrich that involved the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards. The Hawks acquired Kirk Hinrich from the Wizards for Mike Bibby, a first round pick and two other players. The Clippers also made a move that creates more financial flexibility for this summer’s free agent market by trading away Baron Davis to the Cavaliers for Mo Williams, Jamario Moon, and a first round pick. This was a move that was designed to get Baron Davis’ contract off of their books. Not sure if Baron Davis will be too excited to leave Los Angeles and Blake Griffin to play for the league’s worst 10-47 Cleveland Cavaliers. The deadline has now passed and only time will tell how all the different moves will work for their respective teams.

Carmelo Anthony – New York Knicks

admin — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:06:01 +0000

After months of rumors and speculation, Carmelo Anthony got what he wanted: a trade to his hometown New York Knicks. The 12 player trade between New York, Denver and Minnesota brought Anthony, who had been asking for a trade since the offseason and saying New York was his desired destination, to Broadway to team up with Eastern All-Star starter Amare Stoudemire. In one of the largest trades in NBA history the Knicks received Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter, Renaldo Balkman, and Minnesota’s Corey Brewer. The Nuggets acquired Timofey Mozgov, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Kosta Koufos, New York’s first round pick in 2014, Golden State’s second round picks in 2012 and 2013 (which the Knicks own) and $3 million in cash. The final team involved in the trade, the Minnesota Timberwolves, received Anthony Randolph, Eddy Curry (and his expiring contract) and $3 million in cash from New York.

The Knicks paid a high price to acquire the four-time All-Star Anthony by trading 3 of 5 starters and a key part of the supporting cast in Wilson Chandler. But the Knicks were able to land the second superstar they have wanted for so long and now New York is on its way back to the top of the East with the core of Anthony and Stoudemire to build around. Anthony will now be bringing his career average of 24.8 points per game to the Madison Square Garden as well as his 29.9 points per game in games against the Knicks. Now that the Knicks have their core of two stars, the speculation will continue to rise about whether they can land a third in the summer of 2012 when Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Dwight Howard could become free agents.

Repeat 2010?

Max — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:55:41 +0000

It’s only natural that after winning a title a team looks forward to defending the crown. So are the 2009 NBA champions L.A. Lakers the favorites for next season?

Of course plenty can happen until the beginning of the season. Trades, free agent signings and injuries will continually change the NBA landscape. But the Lakers’ chances of becoming the first NBA team to repeat their title since 2002 actually don’t appear too bad.

The roster is relatively young still. Derek Fisher may turn 35 in August and showed his age in this season (Playoffs 2009: 28.4 3pt%). But the point guard could take over more and more the Steve Kerr role as designated three-point shooter. And while Jordan Farmar took a step backward this season (from 9.1 points in 2007-08 to 6.4 points in 2008-09), the 22-year-old will likely improve in the summer and better understand the triangle offense. Then there is Kobe Bryant – who is the only other player on the other side of 30 on the roster back from last season. But he will undoubtedly keep his body in top form and will not just sit back relaxed. And now Ron Artest has come into the picture filling in for the departed Trevor Ariza, who turned into a defensive stopper with three-point potential. But Artest can more than fill that role. The question is how he and Kobe will get along.

That leaves problem child Lamar Odom. The free agent has said he wants to stay with the Lakers. Odom playing more of a power forward position will take away some of the ball-handling responsibilities from Fisher and Farmer. And Odom’s versatility is enormously important for L.A.’s system. But now that Ariza is gone and Artest accepted less money than he could have received elsewhere, Lakers owner Jerry Buss has some room to reach into his pockets even though any additional salary he takes on will count against the luxury tax since the Lakers are over the salary cap.

All in all, the Lakers should have the same rotation – with Artest in for Ariza – and have to go into the season as at least the favorite in the Western Conference. And the team will only get better with the added experience they have gained from the 2009 championship run. In addition, head coach Phil Jackson is an expert when it comes to motivating championship teams.

Kobe Bryant – Game Face

Max — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:53:43 +0000

There was plenty of talk during the broadcasts of the NBA Finals about how much Kobe Bryant really wanted this title. And even more was written about it in the press and blogs. Wow, what a big surprise!

The “Black Mamba” was so focused and worked so hard that he even came up with a new facial expression never really seen before on him. Many columnists called his new look his “Game Face”.

The Lakers star sort of combined a snarl and a growl with his bottom teeth showing – looking quite dangerous. Yeah, that helped a bit in winning the title.

Mr. Anti-Social

Max — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:50:57 +0000

Dahntay Jones is a top notch defender – at least when he’s not endangering the health of others.

Bill Laimbeer, Xavier McDaniel, Dennis Rodman, Anthony Mason, Bruce Bowen and Ron Artest all made their place in the NBA as defensive specialists. And now Dahntay Jones of the Denver Nuggets has joined the party – though especially anti-socially!

It doesn’t matter if the opponent is choked (McDaniel), kicked (Bowen) or pushed in the back with both hands (Jones). Every era seems to have the exemplary figure who fits the motto “I can’t do much on offense but I sure can foul”.

Dahntay Jones is just the latest of a group of so-called basketball players who justify their place on the court with actions which endanger the health of others. The ploy is to strike fear into their more-talented opponents and get into their heads.

Here are two examples of sequences from Dahntay Jones’ during the Western Conference Finals against the L.A. Lakers. As the primary defender of Kobe Bryant, Jones stuck out a leg as the Black Mamba wanted to sprint in and grab a rebound. And once again he held out his leg. Even the blindest of soccer referees would have shown Jones the red card. But the NBA referees did not even blow their whistle in Game Four. The league however did call the action a flagrant foul afterwards – just like in Game Three. The men in gray also looked past Jones’ two-handed push of Bryant, who was already in the air. Again, it was up to the league office to rule – thanks to video footage – the Jones attack as an unsportsmanlike foul.

The thing is, the fine defender Jones doesn’t need to use backyard tactics as he slowly nears becoming one of the sickest minds in the NBA. Jones has above-average athleticism and is one of the most physical shooting guards in the league. “People now see what kind of mental strength and toughness Dahntay has,” said Mike Fratello, the television expert and Jones’s former coach at Memphis. “These Nuggets have changed. They are concentrated and defend hard. That was not the case earlier. Coach George Karl values defense and Dahntay is an important part of this concept.”

Jones agrees. “I am a fighter and my opponents do not like the body contact. If I let the other guy score on me then I don’t have a job any more. I know what the coach expects of me,” said Jones.

That may be true. But George Karl surely doesn’t want his best defender to become an anti-social thug.

Kobe Bryant – The most hated player

Max — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:48:43 +0000

The Lakers are the champions – and once again here come the comparisons. You can think what you want about the Kobe vs. MJ discussion. But one thing is certain from both sides of the argument – MJ was loved and Kobe is hated. Even fanatical Kobe supporters have to admit being laughed at more often when they say “I like Kobe” than if they pledge their allegiance to LeBron James or Dwyane Wade. And we don’t even need to start with talk about Michael Jordan.

But why is that so? Don’t bring up the whole room “service” ordeal in Colorado. Kobe was hated years before that. That just added fuel to a fire which was already burning. And forget about the ole argument that the best of the best are always hated because they killed all title dreams of others. Kobe is not even loved in his own city. I recently met people from Los Angeles who did not go to the Lakers championship parade because they couldn’t stand No. 24. And seriously now: when was the last time you came across a Bulls fan who thought Michael Jordan was shit?

Kobe Bryant is the most hated player in the league. Yeah, yeah, I know about his jersey sales. But the American flag is also sometimes bought in order to burn it. There are always “I hate Kobe” threads in basketball forums. And among 10 basketball fans, five of them at least are Kobe haters.

I can understand why his teammates don’t like him. Imagine you are 17 years old and you go to your first job, for example as a salesperson at a national chain electronics store. Nobody expects too much from you. You are basically a member of the cheap labor force. Besides, you’re the youngest who ever worked there. So everyone expects that you need some time to get used to things. And actually most people believe you will fail. You continually hear: “It would have been better if you had stayed in school.” Imagine if after one month you told the boss that you know that you’re only 17 years old but you will still one day not only be the best salesperson in the store but in the whole store chain. In front of the team, you promise that you will stay late every night to know more about every product than everyone else in the place. You will go through the aisles millions of times so that you are smarter and faster and things come automatically for you in the future. Actually everyone should do that – is what you say, inviting the older, more experienced colleagues to do overtime hours with you. You want to bring the company to a new level – to the highest. You are just one month out of school. And even your parents had to sign your contract. (data and words according to Roland Lazenby)

How do you think your fellow employees would react if you did that? Kobe did that and has accomplished what he set out to do! With loads of hard work, he became the best in the store and the best in the chain. Forget about hate or love. He has at least earned our respect.

Iverson: The Answer for whose question?

admin — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:14:11 +0000

After being released by the Pistons before the Playoffs and even talking about retiring, the basketball world is asking itself: Where will the road take Allen Iverson?

There is one thing you have to say about Allen Iverson. The man known as The Answer never shied away from anyone or anything in his 13 years in the NBA. Iverson remained true to himself whether it was the way he lived his life or his idea of basketball. Whether or not his way was the right one is anyone’s guess – even if it’s leading him to a dead end.

Since 2001, I have spoken with Allen Iverson four times. He was always honest, speaking openly about the game, the world and his role within it. Unfortunately though, he has been unable to accomplish a number of things he had planned. In Los Angeles, I asked the then 28-year-old if he thought that he would have to change his game in the future. He was after all nearing 30 years old – an age when many guards start losing their quickness. And it’s a dangerous time, especially for shooting guards like Iverson who live off their athleticism. A.I. knew that he would one day not be able to play like he did when he was 22. He mentioned that he wanted to play like John Stockton, as smart and clever as the former Utah Jazz playmaker who was elected into the Hall of Fame this year. On June 7, Allen Iverson will turn 34 years old. And there is none of Stockton in Iverson’s game.

The 2K9 Allen Iverson plays just like the 2K1 Allen Iverson. For the Nuggets in 2008, he averaged 26.4 points, 7.1 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 45.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from three-point range. In 2001 those numbers were 31.1 points, 4.6 assists, 2.5 steals, 42.0 FG% and 32.0 3P%. Oh, and Iverson was named MVP while his Sixers lost in the Finals against the ShaKobe Lakers. Last season though, Iverson and the Nuggets were bounced in the first round of the playoffs, getting swept 4-0 against Kobe’s Lakers.

Iverson was not allowed to be Iverson in Detroit. The Pistons run a system relying on quick ball movement and a team-first attitude without a real star. None of that was a good fit for A.I. His scoring average of 17.5 points was hardly a sign that the league’s four-time top scorer had suddenly lost his ability to score the ball. Detroit and Iverson was more the result of a forced marriage. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Iverson will ever win another MVP award or be as dominating as he was nine years ago. Allen Iverson could, however, still lead the NBA in scoring in the right system.

Allen Iverson’s problem though is that he would only accept a leading man role. He would never be one of five equal starters or even a high-scoring Sixth Man. He was always the guy who was in control of things – whether that meant being a high school quarterback, the rookie who took all the shots in Philadelphia or the MVP of an NBA Finals team. Allen Iverson is unshakable in his belief that he must have the ball in his hands for his team to win. And that has made Iverson a free agent. Yeah, the guy who hasn’t averaged fewer than 26.3 points per game in a season since 1999 is worth about as much as stock in General Motors.

If you look around the 30 NBA teams, it will take a while to find a franchise where The Answer would prove to be a feasible solution. None of the playoff teams would be an option since they have a certain hierarchy already in place and at least one star who defines their team. Things are similar with the lottery teams from the Western Conference. Most of them have talented young stars and are building strong squads. The only team where Allen Iverson would make sense in the Eastern Conference are the Charlotte Bobcats – a team which would close the circle of Iverson’s career.

The Bobcats’ coach is Larry Brown, the coach with whom Iverson went to the Finals in 2001. And Brown still raves about Iverson to this day. If anybody would know how to build A.I. successfully into a team, it’s Brown. And Charlotte’s roster seems like a perfect fit for Iverson. There is nobody in Charlotte’s guard positions who can score like The Answer. In fact, the whole team seems to have limited scoring punch with Gerald Wallace the top scorer with 16.6 points. But there are three players with playmaking abilities in point guards Raymond Felton (6.7 assists) and D.J. Augustine (3.5) and power forward Boris Diaw (4.9). Defensively, there is Wallace along with shot blockers Emeka Okafor and DeSagana Diop – two big men who have little offensive game other than the dunk.

The remaining question is the financial one. Charlotte will remain under the salary cap next season so they would have room for Iverson. Robert Johnson also needs to think about how he can fill the 20,200-seat Time Warner Cable Arena. During the 2007-08 season, the Bobcats averaged 14,717 fans for their home games. This season it was only 14,526, setting a new all-time low record in their five-year history.

So, Allen Iverson would make a lot of sense for Charlotte – but really for no other team. Let’s hope that Bobcats manager Michael Jordan pulls the right strings. Iverson may have his faults but the NBA would not be the same without him. And somehow I have the feeling that A.I. and Larry Brown would love to prove themselves to the league one more time.

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