NBA All-Star Weekend Review

We were lucky to get the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend.  Back in 1999, the NBA lockout guaranteed there'd be no All-Star game, and so, the league was forced to play out a rushed season without showcasing its talent through dunk contests and rookie-sophomore games and a superstar-laden exhibition.  

They were fortunate this year.  The 1999 lockout harmed the league's popularity, and it took nearly a decade to recoup some of the losses and find the next Michael Jordan.  Sadly, 2012 will still always be remembered as a lockout year, but hopefully not as forgettable as the '99 season.  

My thoughts on All-Star Weekend:

Kevin Durant captured the All-Star Game MVP.  

• It's John Wall, and not LeBron James, who should compete in the dunk contest.  Wall has the swag (Doouuggie!!!), the vertical, and the creativity to put on a show.  His behind-the-back jam at the end of the Rising Stars game necessitates his entry into the Saturday night main event next year. 

•  All I keep hearing is that the injection Andrew Bynum took to his knee was part of the maintenance every 7-footer requires.  Are the doctors sure 7-footers need this?  Are they sure they don't mean...the Tin Man?   

• Shaq didn't play Jeremy Lin enough minutes.  The Diesel, a master marketer by his own account, should have put Linsanity on display for a few more minutes with the whole NBA world watching. At least O'Neal had some words of wisdom for Lin. 

• This dunk contest outdid every other dunk contest of the post-VC/J-Rich era.  I'm not saying we found the next Vince Carter or Jason Richardson, but this year's contest had the right blend of pure dunking and fun gimmicks.  Gimmick dunks get tired and played out; this dunk contest resuscitated my enjoyment of the event.

• Paul George's glow-in-the-dark dunk deserves placement amongst the legendary dunks of the modern era.  It took VC's flawless 360 windmill from 2000 and built upon it creatively.  In terms of pure aesthetic execution of the dunk, Carter can't be beat.  But doing it in the dark- and on the first try no less- required an amazing amount of concentration.

• Dwight Howard should have taken more 3's during the All-Star game.  Wasted possessions are awesome.    

• I love when All-Star games come down to the wire.  Just wish Deron Williams could have hit that 3.  And I bet LeBron James wishes that more than anybody...  

Top-10 MVP Candidates at the All-Star Break

With the league's premier ballers playing in this weekend's All-Star Game, it feels like a good time to begin thinking about MVP candidates.  While there is no clear-cut frontrunner, a few players have risen above the pack.

Derrick Rose was a deserving MVP last year.  

My definition of the MVP, which I thought about last year, is...

"An NBA MVP needs to have the perfect blend of being a great player, having a great supporting cast that allows the player to flourish by allowing him to carry the maximum possible weight for the team, have that supporting cast give enough help to maximize the results of his efforts (and have those results look good relative to the league's other teams), and not have a similarly talented base, or Constant, on his team.  It's incredibly difficult to win titles this way.  MVP winners usually aren't on title teams. It takes one hell of a blend to accomplish that dish."


So let's be clear: An MVP isn't necessarily the best player (LeBron James), the best story (Jeremy Lin), or the guy on the best team (James or Kevin Durant).


For now, my rankings are as follows:


1.)  Kevin Durant-  He's the Constant on the West's best.  OKC has the second-best offense in the league, which is based on a perimeter-oriented attack led by KD, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.  The Bearded One and RW handle a lot of the playmaking duties, but without Durant's scoring, OKC's offense would be incredibly predictable, as they wouldn't be able to start an attack inside the 3-point line.  Durant is also the team's best defensive rebounder with a 20.6 rebound rate.    

2.)  LeBron James-  He is the best player in the league, and he's on the best team in the league.  The only reason why I can't put him above Durant right now is because he is flanked by an all-star backcourt player AND an all-star frontcourt player.  Dwyane Wade might not be having his best statistical season, but he's still proven to be an offensive anchor.  Wade's missed games do give me pause, however, as LBJ was incredibly valuable with Wade out.  It's very close between James and Durant.

3.)  Kobe Bryant-  He just keeps plugging away.  The Laker perimeter squad sans Bryant is arguably the worst perimeter corps in the league.  Bryant needs to carry such an offensive load, from bringing the ball up to spreading the floor to creating shots for himself/others to volume scoring.  Without him, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol would never even see the ball (ironic, isn't it?).

4.)  Chris Paul-  CP3 is after the Mamba mainly because his team has such depth at the point guard position.  I mean they lost Paul's backup to injury, and they still have Mo Williams coming in to spell him.  Still, Paul is playing like the best PG in the league.

5.)  Dwight Howard-  Dwight is a weak candidate right now.  Aside from the turmoil he is partially responsible for in Orlando, it seems he has also regressed in the scoring department (less volume and less efficiency compared to last year) and on D.  Howard usually has the Magic in the top five on D, but Orlando is closer to the league average this year.

Parker and Westbrook are having monster seasons.

6.)  Tony Parker-  San Antonio is first in their division and boasts a stellar SRS rating of 5.01, good for sixth in the league.  Parker has catalyzed S.A.'s offense without backcourt mate Manu Ginobili, an impressive feat in my book.

7.)  Russell Westbrook-  In the past, Westbrook has been Rondo-lite in his ability to hurt his team's offense as much as he helped his team's offense.  But the alpha-athlete of the NBA has the Thunder rolling at a frenetic pace and is playing better than ever.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him climb in the rankings.  

8.)  Derrick Rose-  Barring additional injuries, the other alpha-athlete will likely leapfrog the two point guards in front of him.  He has missed some time this year, and his team has done all right without him.  Personally, I do still think that over the long haul, Chicago would be incredibly screwed without Rose since he probably has the greatest offensive load of any perimeter player except maybe Kobe Bryant and Tony Parker.

9.)  Dwyane Wade-  He lands at number nine simply because of injury, decreased minutes, and the fact that he plays with somebody who plays his role (perimeter offensive attacker/creator) better than he does.  Still, Wade is arguably the second-best player in the league, and he's on the best team in the NBA.

10.)  Dirk Nowitzki-  After a sluggish start, Dirk seems back on track.  Despite Dallas having a lot of depth, Dirk is still by far the only player on the team who can be called an anchor.  Despite Tyson Chandler's departure, Nowitzki has his team in a solid position out West.

On the outside:

Blake Griffin - He's arguably the best PF in the league.  Plus he did this.  

Jeremy Lin-  I love Lin, but he isn't on my list yet because he hasn't been playing major minutes for that long.

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.