Ultimate All-star Showdown: MVP vs SMC

Over the weekend, the MVP Sports Foundation made the unthinkable happen by bringing over a star-studded line-up for two exhibition games at the newly-christened Smart-Araneta Coliseum. It's been covered on ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, CNNSI, etc. primarily because of the amount of talent that came over. The Drew League in LA has seen stars drop in one-at-a-time, and the same things have happened in numerous Pro-Am leagues and Charity events, but never has a game seen a set of players with some many individual accolades:



2 League MVPs, 2 Scoring Champions, 3 Rookies of the Year, 2 5-time NBA Champions... and the list goes on!



Rave reviews of the basketball scene from fellow players, authors such as Rafe Bartholomew and countless sports company execs, not to mention a big pay day could have them hop on the next flight over to Manila. Also, now that there has been a precedent, making it happen a second time around probably wouldn't be as difficult.



Just to spark some thought into this, what if the San Miguel Corporation, a rival of the MVP group, would bring over a set of all-stars on their own. Who would they bring? And perhaps the better question, who would win in a Smart vs SMC battle?

1. Lebron James - Easy pick. LeBron vs. Kobe should happen. Why not in Manila?

2. Dwight Howard - Adidas needs Dwight here because D-Rose was with Smart.

3. Carmelo Anthony - Melo is the only one who could score with the ease of KD.

4. Rajon Rondo - Matches up with CP3 - assists, steals, boards

5. Steph Curry - Steph vs. Reke for the best scoring combo guard position.

6. Jodie Meeks - Meeks vs. the Beard shooting 3s while spotting in the corners

7. Andre Miller - the only other slow PG who Sol Mercado will again try to take advantage of

8. Darrell Arthur - young 3/4 with great athleticism to match up with Derrick Williams

9. Kyrie Irving - will probably be burned if he ends up matching up w/ Rose/CP3/Evans.

Clearly, advantage to this team is the Dwight vs. McGee match up. But to make things even, this team will clearly have a weaker back court opposed to the Rose-Paul-Evans-Fisher combination.

So who do you think will take this match up?

It's the best time of the year and I'm back!

It's playoff time already.. and I've been so busy that I only start sharing my thoughts and it's already the 2nd Round. What is up with that?!

Anyway, just some thoughts on a couple of things before I get into the 2nd Round of the Playoffs.

1. Fantasy Basketball

I won 2 leagues this year. Better than my previous seasons, and considering I have less leagues too. So, a hgiher percentage probably comes from being able to manage each team better since I had 4 to 6 teams in previous years. Now, for the Fantasy All-NBA First Team:

PG - Dwyane Wade
SG - Kevin Durant
SF - LeBron James
PF - Chris Bosh
C - Andrew Bogut (Surprised? He was more efficient and delivered somewhat similar numbers.)

2. NBA Awards

The list of the regular season awards have been released and I pretty much agree with everything except ROY. Brandon Jennings should've gotten the award simply for winning, considering there are only 2 lottery picks on the Bucks (Bogut and Jennings), compared to Tyreke's Kings (Thompson, Evans, Hawes). But as a recap, here are the awards:

MVP: LeBron James
DPOY: Dwight Howard
MIP: Aaron Brooks
COY: Scott Brooks
6MOY: Jamal Crawford
ROY: Tyreke Evans

3. All NBA Teams

Here are my predictions for the All-NBA Teams. For those asking, I do value winning.

1st Team: Wade, Bryant, James, Durant, Howard
2nd Team: Nash, D. Williams, Nowitzki, Stoudamire, Gasol
3rd Team: Rondo, J. Johnson, Anthony, G.Wallace, Bogut

D 1st Team: Rondo, Bryant, James, J. Smith, Howard
D 2nd Team: Kidd, Billups, Duncan, Hoford, Bogut

R 1st Team: Curry, Jennings, Evans, Collison, Blair

4. Playoffs 2nd Round

East
1. Cleveland v. 4. Boston

I, like many a basketball fan, hope that The Truth, KG, Ray and Rondo can muster up enough fight to make this competitive. We know their veterans smarts and championship swagger can push the Cavs every game, but the question is if it can actually translate to wins. And as for LeBron's elbow, the Celts will hammer that thing so that he'll feel it, but he's strong enough to survive for this round. Maybe we'll see how much it hurts next round.. Cavs in 6.

2. Orlando v. 3. Atlanta

Maybe the best thing that happened to the Hawks is that they hit 7 games with the Bucks. It's been a week since the Magic have played, and maybe they cooled off considering they were playing so well even if Howard wasn't scoring. Plus, the Hawks got Crawford on track. They might stretch Orlando, but I still think that we'll be seeing a rematch... Magic in 7.

West
1. LA Lakers v. 5. Utah

For some strange reason, everybody thinks that the Lakers are more vulnerable this year as the hunger isn't a strong any more. This I think is sort of true, especially on the support guys (Brown, Farmar, etc.), but Kobe, Gasol and Fisher still have it. Unfortunately for Utah though, they're missing a lot of players and Deron and Boozer are dinged up some way. The Lakers will beat down on the Jazz and eventually squeeze out in the series... Lakers in 6.

3. Phoenix v. 7. San Antonio

As a Suns fan, it would only be appropriate that the road to the championship would go through the Spurs (and eventually, if ever, LA). These two teams have been contrasts of each other ever since Charles Barkley and company shot themselves over David Robinson in 1993. For the previous match-ups t's been Offense vs Defense, Flash/Fancy vs Fundamental. This year though, the Suns have improved their defense and the Spurs have more scoring. Pretty interesting ain't it? So, as a fan, I will not jinx the series by making a prediction... 7 games.

All-Star Starters Revealed: We Did Not Do Our Jobs!

You see that picture everybody? Yes, folks. We did not do our job voting for somebody else and this is what we got. Allen Iverson being the first person to be ever seen in the new (and sweet-looking) all-star threads.

It honestly seems similar to the Philippine elections. We have to vote for somebody but there's no one person that stands out, so all the bad people in the world get to elect their bid into power. Aside from Wade, there isn't any real stand-out all-star guard in the East anymore. Alas, we all couldn't unite to find that guard that could oust Iverson. Now, our crime will stare us in the face on Feb. 14 (Feb. 15 Manila time) when the all-star starters get introduced in Dallas. Thankfully, the game is in the West and Iverson will be part of the "visiting" team.

So, for those who haven't read the internet, the following people will be the starters:

East: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudamire

We can't do anything about the stars joining the teams now. It's all in the experts hands, but I have my opinions as to who should be there in Cowboys stadium in front of 80,000 people. Unfortunately, we must follow the traditional 1 center, 2 forwards, 2 guards and 2 utility slots. So here goes!

East:
Joe Johnson (ATL) - Joe is the #1 guy on the East's #3 team. That should speak for itself.
Mo Williams (CLE) - It's sad he's injured, but he should get redemption from the almost-snub last year.
Chris Bosh (TOR) - He's the top 20-10 guy in the NBA right now, enough said.
Paul Pierce (BOS) - Pierce has been the East's best closer this year. Truth be told.
David Lee (NYK) - He's taken the ball D'Antoni gave him and double-doubled with it.
Rajon Rondo (BOS) - Pierce has closed games, but Rondo's been keeping them in games all season.
Gerald Wallace (CHA) - Crash has been with the 'Cats since Day One and should be the first one in an all-star game.

West:
Chris Paul (NOH) - CP3 is the top PG in the NBA in spite of the in juries this season.
Brandon Roy (POR) - Probably the unluckiest star here as his bigs are all down with something.
Dirk Nowitzki (DAL) - Best Non-American player ever? Top 3 at the very least.
Kevin Durant (OKC) - We all knew it was coming. But he has finally arrived.
Pau Gasol (LAC) - The big man getting close to 20-10 on the best team deserves a slot.
Zach Randolph (MEM) - Personally, I hate him. But the Griz are winning because of him.
Chauncey Billups (DEN) - The Nuggets, especially Melo wouldn't be West Elite without him.

I agree with people that say that winning is a major part of being an all-star. True enough, most playoff teams (as of the moment) have at least one all-star. Only Chicago and Utah being missed out on. Some teams with good records do have a shortage of all-stars such as Dallas, but that's just because more members of the team are producing while lower teams such as Phoenix were lucky to have 2 all-stars. Luckily for Stoudamire, David Spade helped and he was voted in.

Snubs:
Chris Kaman (LAC) - You're a Clipper. That should be reason enough already. Being the #1 team in LA matters because of the record. That's why Pau gets the nod over him.
Deron Williams (UTA) - As much as I love D-Will, he's been hurt a lot this year, and Denver's better record pushes Billups ahead of him.
Josh Smith (ATL) - blame Allen Iverson
Jamal Crawford (ATL) - blame Allen Iverson
Derrick Rose (CHI) - blame Allen Iverson
Stephen Jackson (CHA) - blame Allen Iverson

Fantasy NBA Players of the Week 10

Just because I wasn't able to fix my line-up and put David Lee in, I lost a week 2-7. Makes me wonder if I should keep him for the keeper league. But since he's an unrestricted free agent, I have to wait and see...

Now, the fantasy world seems to be normalizing based on pre-season predictions... This week's mythical 5!


The Director
Chris Paul (NOH) - 20.7 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 9.3 APG, 2.7 SPG, 1.0 BPG [3]
CP3 is back in his place as the NBA's best PG. But, his assists are down compared to when he came back from injury. This is probably because West and Okafor are contributing more to the Hornets cause. The block is a bonus and the steals are where you want them to be.


The Skywalker
Kobe Bryant (LAL) - 2.3 3FGM, 33.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 6.5 APG [4]

The Black Mamba just killed the Kings for the second game in a row. He's been playing at an MVP pace this year and with Gasol going down to the hamstring, we can expect Kobe to be looking to shoot again.


The Triggerman

LeBron James (CLE) - 29.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 7.3 APG, 2.3 SPG, 1.5 BPG [5]

The King was the best player in fantasy basketball this week with monster 5-cat averages over 4 games. The statement being made in the 48-point explosion in Atlanta. We know he can do this every night if he wanted to, but he's saving energy for the chase for the homecourt advantage and playoffs this early. Yes, this early, especially since Boston and Orlando are right up there in the East.


Captain Lionheart
Chris Bosh (TOR) - 26.7 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.3 BPG [3]

CB4 has finally restored his 20-10 averages after a funk he went through last week. With Hedo going down to injury and Calderon still not back, Bosh will be forced to have these numbers for at least this week.


Tower of Power
Nene (DEN) - 23.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 3.3 APG, 3.3 SPG, 1.0 BPG [1]

Nene is clearly benefiting from Melo and Ms. Big Shot going down to injury. He has to establish himself as Denver's 3rd option, and seems to be doing so very well. When those 2 come back, we'll see if Nene can keep this pace up.

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 9

For this week, it was this first time this year that I was in such a hole that I benched my entire team to just try and win turnovers. It's a ploy you almost never want to go through with but sometimes, deep, deep holes leave you with no choice...

This week, the multiple positions eligibility will help me cheat with the top 5 players in the league...

The Director
Dwyane Wade (MIA) - 28.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 3.0 SPG, 1.3 BPG [2]

Cheat #1. Wade is given PG elibigility, so I'll place him here since he ranks behind Kobe in this week's show. Flash is showing his 5-cat prowess once again, and when asked about it in an interview, he said he was playing better because he slowed down. This means he's picking his spots more and better percentages can be expected as well.


The Skywalker
Kobe Bryant (LAL) - 1.7 3FGM, 37.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 6.0 APG,2.7 SPG [3]

If anybody was able to see the Sacramento game the other day, Kobe killed the Kings in 2OT with 2 3s that sent the young Kings packing. He ate Tyreke Evans for dinner too. Kobe, now with Artest gone, can be expected to jack most of the Lakers' 3 attempts now, so be wary of the risks coming.



The Triggerman
Brandon Roy (POR) - 2.0 3FGM, 32.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.5 SPG [1]

Brandon Roy was fantasy basketball's best player this week, and sadly for him, he had to be. The Blazers are so injured right now, it's not even funny. Their coach was injured a few weeks back because he had to complete the 10 people on-court during practice. So, with that many players, we can expect Roy to have to produce at this level to stay afloat in the West.


Captain Lionheart
Zach Randolph (MEM) - .650 FG%, 30.0 PPG, 16.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 SPG [1]

Now, Z-BO is one of the players I hate most in the NBA, not just real basketball or fantasy. I just really don't like the guy. He's a pit for your offense, but apparently, he can put up numbers - and has been for the last few weeks now.


Tower of Power
Al Horford (ATL) - .658 FG%, 19.7 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, 2.3 BPG [1]

J-Smooth gets most of the props for the Atlanta's improvement this year, but Horford has been steadily improving his game too. For the most part, gone are the single-digit scoring games and the bad percentages. He's confident and settling down in the fact that he is their #1 big guy, and he hopes to become a bigger presence to get guys off Joe Johnson.

NBA Christmas Preview

This year's NBA schedule will feature 5 games, which more or less were desgined to give some family entertainment during the "best time of the year." These 5 games all have interesting backstories behind them and aims to capture even those non-basketball fans because of the hype and telenovela like stories being built up.

The NBA made this schedule even before the season started. Let's see if they got their gut-feels right...

Miami vs New York

This game is simply all about one man. Dwyane Wade is on the free agent market next year, and is probably the 2nd target of the New York Knicks after LeBron James. HE provides the struggling Knicks franchise with a superstar big enough to handle the bright lights of the big city. Hell, even Jay-Z made a comment about Wade in New York...


Boston vs Orlando

Everybody was saying last year that D12 and the Magic were only able to get through the Celtics was because they were missing Garnett and the defensive tenacity he brings to the floor. This year, we get to see it. In the Finals, Paul Pierce even mentioned that he thought that the Magic was a "poodle" compared to the "rotweiler." Unfortunately for the Truth, he'll be observing this Christmas day game as he was diagnosed to miss the next 2 weeks with a knee injury.


Cleveland vs Los Angeles Lakers

With the help of these dudes, Nike has been building up this match since the playoffs started last year. They were hoping it would happen in the Finals, but we all ended up waiting another half year to see it. Individually, I think we cannot contest that Kobe and LeBron are the 2 best players in the league, and they hope to lead their star-studded teams in clash in Hollywood. Just enough of a bright lights, big stage, right time set-up for a primetime, national television broadcast. The Mamba vs the King.

LA Clippers vs Phoenix Suns


Initially, I was supposed to label this match-up as a battle of "failure of the 2009 season" with both teams having stocked line-ups, stubborn coaches and too little wins to get into the playoffs. Then I remembered the crazy stuff their 2 starting point guards do during their free time. Yes folks, that's Steve "Two Time" (MVP, not Tiger Woods two-time) Nash and Baron "Boom Dizzle" Davis. If you can find a clip of it online, these 2 made a video in the style of Will Ferrel's and C. THomas Reiley's Stepbrothers, hence the stupid outfits... Now, on the basketball side of it, The Suns are resurgent and now seem to be contenders in spite of their recent struggles, and the Clippers seem to be getting there. The added bonus of Blake Griffin was supposed to be highlighted here as well, but a broken kneecap has said no.


Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trailblazers

Here's is where the league was bitten in the ass by the injury bug. Oden, Roy, Outlaw, Batum, Pryzbilla, Billups and Martin might all miss the game due to one injury or another. It was supposed to be a battle for supremacy of the US Northwest, and instead it will be Carmelo Anthony vs LaMarcus Aldrigde. Sort of an anti-climactic way to end the night...

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 5

So what happens when I praise a player for his stellar play, the dude goes down... Kevin Martin, CP3 and most recently, Elton Brand. Dammit! Haha

For the fist time this season though, I was able to post 3 wins of 5-3-1, 6-3 and 7-2. Looks like either my fantasy teams are getting healthy and hot or my opponents have all been hit by the injury bug as well. At the rate the NBA is going though, it's more likely that it's the injuries. I think every NBA team has had a decent fantasy-relevant player miss games this year. I'll look into this in a related post.

Now, the players of the week...

The Director
Steve Nash (PHX) - 1.3 3FGM, 13.3 PPG, 14.3 APG 1.0 SPG [2]

It's been frustrating how the Suns have actually been blowing people out of the water as Nash is getting less minutes to pile on the stats. But even with the decreased minutes, the assists have actually stayed the same. It's just that the points and 3's have gone down. Any week that Nash posts a steal per game, that's a bonus.

The Skywalker
Kobe Bryant (LAL) - 2.3 3FGM, 28.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 SPG [2]

Kobe also shows up on this list for the second time because of his consistent play. Known to have a groin injury, he can actually play consistently since he does not have to carry the team every game. Thus, the numbers keep on coming. 3.3 SPG isn't a bad help either.

The Triggerman
Kevin Durant (OKC) - 28.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.3 BPG [1]

Finally! I've been waiting for 4 weeks to finally have this guy perform well enough to be on the list. The scoring and the rebounds are very much expected of him in the team. It's his high potential for D that finally puts him up here. 3.3 combined Steals and Blocks per game is great from the offensive machine.

Captain Lionheart
Gerald Wallace (CHA) - 25.3 PPG, 13.7 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 1.0 BPG [1]

Crash seems t be the only one among the Bobcats who ha remained unaffected by the Capt. Jack trade from Golden State. Aside from him, the rest of the Bobcats fantasy value has tanked - Felton, Diaw, Augustin, etc. Damn you Larry Brown!

Tower of Power
Marcus Camby (LAC) - 12.0 PPG, 15.5 RPG, 2.5 SPG, 3.0 BPG [1]

The resurrection! Camby again proves that WHEN HEALTHY, he is one of the biggest stats stuffers there is. Defense is what Camby is known for and he did it for 4 games this week. I just wonder how this will figure in when Griffin returns.


Here's a list of who's been able to appear multiple times on the list this year:
3 - LeBron James
2 - Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Chris Bosh

Fantasy NBA: Players of the Week 4

I got my first convincing win (7-2). My two other leagues are pretty competitive, as I sported 4-5 and 5-3-1 records. As with all leagues, the manager who is able to take advantage of injuries and suspensions with timely pick-ups and drops will succeed more often than not. Normally, that's the case... For my league though, it was a messed up pick that somehow made it's way into the starting 5...

The Director
Louis Williams (PHI) - .929 FT%, 2.3 3PM, 24.0 PPG, 5.3 APG, 2.3 SPG

Williams surprises this week with a signifcant bump up in scoring and steals. With the their shortage of big men due to Speights' injury, the Sixers are playing a fast pace with their already energized offense.

The Skywalker
Kobe Bryant (LAL) - .941 FT%, 29.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 6.7 APG

The return of Pau Gasol was actually beneficial for Kobe. Not that his numbers increased, but that the Lakers not leaning on him allowed him to play through the groin injury. Also, with the number of free throws he shoots, 94% will already carry you through the week. His 0.3 3's are a downer though.

The Triggerman
LeBron James (CLE) - 1.8 3FM, 34.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 9.3 APG

Delonte West has now been put into the doghouse, and seemingly will no longer get consistent minutes. Thus, LeBron has had to take on more playmaking duties, thus the increase in assists. However, the turnovers are also getting higher.

Captain Lionheart
Elton Brand (PHI) - 19.7 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2.7 SPG, 3.7 BPG

Speights, please do not come back! In one of my leagues, where yahoo disconnected me from the draft and I ended up with Elton Brand from the big board. I dear hope that Speights does not come back if Brand keeps on pace like his injury-free Clippers self.

Tower of Power
Brook Lopez (NJN) - 18.3 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 2.0 APG, 4.0 BPG

There have been only 3 good points for the Nets this year - Brook Lopez, Chris Douglas-Roberts and that they were able to ditch VC's contract. Sideshow Bob's twin brother is bringing it consistently and they're hoping he, Harris and Jay-Z could lure LeBron to Brooklyn.