All-NBA Teams for 2012

Building on the NBA awards theme this week, here are NBA Wired's All-NBA selections. Team results are deemphasized; each player's sustained level of play and health weigh heavily.

CP3 and RW get the All-NBA nod this season.

All-NBA First Team

Chris Paul
Russell Westbrook
LeBron James
Kevin Durant
Dwight Howard

James and Durant were no-brainers. Westbrook's career-best season and superior health allowed him to leapfrog a pair of legendary shooting guards, and CP3 reestablished himself as the league's top point guard. Howard had the worst season of his prime thus far, but he's still the best center in the game. It's hard to ignore 20.6 points and a league-high 14.5 rebounds per game.

All-NBA Second Team

Dwyane Wade
Kobe Bryant
Kevin Love
LaMarcus Aldridge
Andrew Bynum

Bryant had one of the greatest "16th seasons" in NBA history, but it was also one of his least efficient years. Wade's play was up and down, and he missed too many games. Thus, Wade and Bryant were knocked off the first team by Westbrook and Paul. Aldridge proved the second half of last season was no fluke, and Bynum proved he is an All-Star when his knees hold up. Love's 26 points and 13.3 rebounds on an improved Minnesota team were good enough to edge out last year's Finals MVP and this year's dunk machine.

Nash and Williams were stuck in bad situations this year.

All-NBA Third Team

Deron Williams
Steve Nash
Dirk Nowitzki
Blake Griffin
Kevin Garnett

Williams and Nash faced similar situations this year; Williams had no frontcourt to work with, and Nash had too little talent to compete against the talented Western Conference. After a sluggish start, Nowitzki improved and took on his usual load for Dallas. While Griffin didn't improve as much as he could have from last season, he did develop chemistry with Paul and had a solid season. KG's move to center allowed him to post his best scoring numbers in years, and he summoned the energy and passion to anchor a great defense in Boston.

NBA Regular Season Awards for 2012

As the NBA playoffs approach, it is time to give out the 2012 regular season awards. The season provided some fantastic highlights, including a high-octane start by the Miami Heat, a riveting slam dunk contest, and the legendarily hilarious Charlotte Bobcats. Corey Maggette would have won the iMVP (ironic Most Valuable Player) award for shooting 37 percent and blocking one shot all season, but he did too much right by his team missing 32 games. Next time, Corey.

Here are NBA Wired's regular season award winners:

Most Valuable Player

LeBron James is seeking his third MVP award.

It was a three-way race between LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul. In the end, James takes it for being the best player in basketball and leading Miami to a 13-1 record when the team's other offensive anchor, Dwyane Wade, sits out. Wade also saw a decline in minutes played, meaning James had to do more work on both ends.

Kevin Durant's frontcourt scoring and defensive rebounding are incredibly valuable, but Durantula's right-hand man, an improved Russell Westbrook, was healthy all year. CP3 lifting L.A. after the team struggled without Chauncey Billups made Paul a legitimate contender. He's arguably the second-best player in the league after James.

LeBron James

Defensive Player of the Year

Dwight Howard can usually sleepwalk his way to this award. Howard's late-season injury combined with Orlando's slip to defensive mediocrity (and perhaps some voter fatigue as well; I don't claim to be immune) opens the door for other star defenders.

Tyson Chandler and Kevin Garnett are the favorites. Andre Iguodala and Luol Deng are also contenders, and their plus/minus stats- specifically RAPM (regularized adjusted plus/minus)- give them legitimacy. However, those stats paint a positive picture for Tyson and KG, too. Both centers- yes Garnet plays center now- are elite defensive rebounders and shot-changers who also defend their position well. Garnett slowed the likes of Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, while Chandler locked down Howard a few times.

Boston has the NBA's second-best defense thanks to KG, while New York has the fifth-best defense despite playing Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony at the forward positions. Garnett may be the best per-minute defender in the league, but Chandler bridges the gap playing more minutes in more games. Tyson gets the edge based on playing with worse teammates, but KG is deserving as well.

Tyson Chandler

Sixth Man of the Year

James Harden

James Harden would be one of the top-25 starters in the league. He's one of the league's best pick-n-roll guards, able to make cross-court passes, drive to the rim to draw fouls, and shoot 3's off the dribble. His 66 percent True Shooting Percentage ranks second in the league, remarkable considering he's a perimeter player. His production was instrumental in OKC's dominant season, and his beard was instrumental in cushioning the destructive 'bow of World Peace.

James Harden

Rookie of the Year

Kyrie Irving helped the Cavs overachieve this year. He averaged 18.8 points and 5.5 assists per game on excellent percentages, and he showed a combination of poise, skill, and underrated athleticism that allowed him to get anywhere he wanted on the court.

Iman Shumpert and Ricky Rubio displayed great play and potential as rookies, too.

Kyrie Irving

Most Improved Player

Andrew Bynum and Greg Monroe

Jeremy Lin would have been a lock had it not been for his regular season-ending injury. Andrew Bynum, Nikola Pekovic, Greg Monroe, and Avery Bradley are solid choices: Bynum's knees stayed healthy, Bradley turned into a defensive star by season's end, Pekovic became a forcible presence inside, and Monroe matured as a lead player.

Bynum edges out Monroe based on his transition into a big minutes/big responsibility player on the Lakers following the Lamar Odom trade.

Andrew Bynum

Coach of the Year

Tom Thibodeau, Frank Vogel, Doug Collins, and Gregg Popovich are all deserving candidates. Thibodeau lost his star, Derrick Rose, for nearly half the season, yet Chicago played well and even improved on a few facets from last year. Collins was an early-season favorite, but Philly's play declined throughout the season.

Tom Thibodeau

Gauging L.A.'s Chances in May

It's been years since a writer had to clarify which L.A. team is the subject of an article with the above title. Unfortunately, the Clippers aren't laughable anymore, but they also aren't getting this article's attention. It's the Lakers. Even in a successful Clipper season- it's always the Lakers.

"What I'm saying is...I...want...shots."

The Lakers likely finalized their roster with deadline trades that netted them Ramon Sessions and future cap space in the form of Jordan Hill. The team's chances come playoff time will rest in the hands of Sessions, Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Kobe Bryant, as well as their double agents on competing contenders- Lamar Odom on Dallas and Derek Fisher on OKC (neither of whom are doing a good job of hiding that their missions are to cripple their current teams).

Even with the Sessions acquisition, L.A. is an old team in a condensed season, with a new coach who has broken away from the triangle offense in favor of a Kobe-centric offense that has seen the aging Mamba strike far too many times for his own good this season. How many more strikes does Kobe have left? The 40-point streaks are a testament to his skills and hard work, but I'm sure Laker fans would have been okay with surrendering a few regular season games for an invigorated Bryant late in the season.

Some of Bryant's stats have been trending downward: he's shooting below 42 percent since the start of February, and his assists have decreased since that point as well (5.4 to 4.1). Getting used to the presence of a point guard who can actually set Kobe and the others up is a point in L.A.'s favor, as hopefully, Kobe doesn't need to carry such a ball-handling/creating load for the team.

The Lakers are ranked 15th in offensive rating and are a horrendous shooting team (31.4 percent from 3-point range, 27th in the league), but they have efficient big men who will cause mismatches in the postseason. Bynum's career year- he's averaging 18.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game with a true shooting percentage of 61.4- is more impressive when you think about the lack of spacing L.A. provides him. If he can continue to handle his fair share of the scoring load, L.A. can be dangerous. Outside of Dwight Howard, there probably isn't a better low-post scoring center in the league today. Sessions and Bryant need to deliver him the rock.

Defensively, the Lakers rank 11th in the league right now and do a surprisingly good job of defending the 3-point line (4th in percentage against) despite having older wing players. Will that defense carry over into the playoffs? Last year, Dallas destroyed L.A. with the 3-ball by moving the ball faster than L.A.'s older legs.

The Lakers have a sturdy defense based around the length of Bynum/Gasol, and they'll have a steady offense if they can properly incorporate Sessions into the mix. An inspired surprise performance by a role player- perhaps rookie Andrew Goudelock- would definitely help in May.

More than likely, if L.A. is going to make the NBA Finals, they'll have to get through the Thunder. Defending the Kevin Durant/Russell Westbrook/James Harden/James Harden's beard quartet appears a daunting task for an aging team, but Gasol/Bynum is a great counter, especially against a talented but underwhelming OKC frontcourt.

South Beach Case Study: Miami Before the Stretch Run

Despite receiving less media attention this season, the Miami Heat get more and more intriguing from a historical perspective.  

Last year, I wrote a series of posts on the South Beach Case Study (SBCS), aka, the first-of-its-kind experiment that is the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.  Never have three stars come together in the middle of their primes in hopes of winning a title.  Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce were grizzled vets with playoff scars.  Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain were the same way nearly 40 years before Boston's trio connected.

Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.  

What, if any, transformation has Miami undergone since last season?   

Last year, Miami won 58 regular season games and led the league in SRS (6.58), then blasted through the Eastern Conference before falling to Dallas in the NBA Finals.  Their success was mainly tied to James, Wade and Bosh doing incredible amounts of heavy lifting on both ends of the floor.  Considering the team had no depth, no point guard or center, and injuries to their best peripheral players, Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem, the fact that the three amigos were able to lift Miami to rank third in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating is a testament to their high-end talent.

Currently, Miami sits at 34-11 (Second in SRS at 8), which would be good for a 62-win pace in a traditional, non-screwed up regular season.  Rookie Norris Cole, an improved Mario Chalmers, veteran Shane Battier, and healthy Miller and Haslem have contributed to the improvement, as has a more open offense that isn't predicated on star monopolization of the ball.  The team ranks second in offensive rating and sixth in defensive rating, although they haven't been defending the 3-point shot quite as well this year (36.5 percent this year vs. 34.5 percent last year).

What's scary for the rest of the NBA is how Dwyane Wade has seen a significant decrease in his minutes and raw box score production.  In 2011, Wade averaged 25.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 37.2 minutes per game.  In 2012, he has averaged 22.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 32.9 minutes per game.  On a per-minute basis, Wade is actually more productive in most categories this season.

That Miami has been able to deliver an even stronger regular season than last year despite Wade doing less heavy lifting indicates the team is now much more than just a talented group of individuals- they are gelling as a team.  Being able to reserve energy stores for the playoffs is good for the 30-year-old Wade, and it should be able to extend his career longer, too.

What happens when Wade starts playing 38-40 minutes per game in the playoffs?  How does it change Miami?  Perhaps they are concealing an even higher gear?  

Miami is still a donut team- no, that's not a nod to Eddy Curry.  But the most dangerous current contenders are led by perimeter-oriented players, and that bodes well for a perimeter corps that shut down Jeremy Lin a few weeks ago and Derrick Rose in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

The Heat are in the stretch run now.  Come this postseason, we'll be able to observe the full potential of this core, and more SBCS questions should be answered.  

Denver Nuggets: Going High Speed in Thin Air

The Denver Nuggets traded their star player, Carmelo Anthony, to the Knicks for half of New York's roster last season.  Normally, large roster turnover plus small sample size equals poor results.  However, Denver's offense for the last half of 2011 was ridiculous, as their abundance of versatile players developed immediate chemistry.

The lockout was unkind to the Nuggets, with Kenyon Martin, Wilson Chandler, J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton going to either different teams or hemispheres; hence, the depth entering the 2012 season declined, the Andre Miller addition notwithstanding.  

Denver still has a lot of firepower.  

The offensive potency, however, has remained relatively high.  As of today, Denver was ranked sixth in team offensive rating.  Their 18-15 record belies their true standing in the NBA considering their SRS rating is a well-above average 3.62, good for eighth in the league.  And that's with Nene Hilario and Danilo Gallinari missing some time.  

Denver's early 2012 success has been spurred by Gallo and Ty Lawson, a duo I talked about over the summer when I evaluated the league's top young duos.  Lawson's 15.4 points, 6.1 assists, and mere 2.3 turnovers per game powers Denver, and his speed from foul line to foul line weaponizes Denver's young talent and running bigs, which is why the team is ranked first in pace.  Gallinari leads the team with 17 points per game on nearly 60 percent True Shooting despite knocking down 3's at a disappointing 31 percent clip.  Thirty-one percent- coming from a forward whom Mike D'Antoni called the greatest shooter he ever coached.  At least, before Steve "Novocaine" Novak came into the picture.  

Consider- Denver's offense is clicking right now even with pedestrian offensive rebounding and turnover numbers.  They are efficient because they draw fouls, take many 3's, and hit their 2-point shots, a fact I'd reckon comes from their quick pace and ability to get good shots when the defense is in transition jeopardy.  

What happens when they start hitting their 3's at even a league-average rate?

Denver is perhaps the most well-put together offensive squad in the league.  No ball-stoppers or selfish gunners or "diminishing returns" scenarios; the unselfish duo of Lawson and Gallinari leads them.  They fit.  And the West would be wise to take note, because in a season like this that rewards youth and instant cohesion in the regular season, Denver may take a top-four spot heading into the playoffs.  Old squads (Dallas, L.A., San Antonio for example) plus thin Denver air gives the Nuggets a shot to be legend killers and second-round entrants this season.                    

Looks Like We Made It...

Dear NBA,

Welcome back.

F*** you.

You better be worth it this season.

I'm not going to one game this year.

Don't pull this crap ever again.

Let's go Knicks, Nets, and Lakers!

And so help you God if this is a tease of some kind...

Best Regards,
James


P.S.  League Pass should be free.

NBA Lockout Affects 2012 Season

It's official.  The first two weeks of the NBA season have been cancelled.  The owners and players still haven't come to an agreement.  

What do you think?  Who is at fault?  Does it matter who is at fault at this point?  Do you think more games will be cancelled?  

More to come later...