Erick Blasco

And Sasha Pavolic can't pass what else is new.

Ohhhhhhhh, Reggie Miller is calling this game? Fail.

I am!

These questions are like a giant chicken just waiting to be plucked.

He's better than Chris Paul and Deron Williams defensively. He's really improving exponentially.

Oh, that's why the Jazz are down double figures. Okur can't show and recover, Jefferson is completely late on a rotation, and Kris Humphries dunks. Same old poor Jazz interior defense.

D-Will needs to improve his shooting some more. He curled and got wide open for a three, but missed it.

Deron hits a s/r three then blows up a series of screen/rolls causing Jordan Farmar to dribble for 20 seconds before throwing a bad pass that was intercepted by C.J. Miles. How are the Jazz losing by double digits to the Nets?

MVP: LeBron James Coach of the Year: Doc Rivers Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard (with strong consideration to Luol Deng) Most Improved Player: Wilson Chandler 6th Man: Glen Davis Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin Most Disappointing Player: O.J. Mayo Most Disappointing Team: Cleveland Cavs Who would have thought they'd be this gutless? Milwaukee is a close second Most Surprising Player: DeShawn Stevenson Most Surprising Team: Dallas Mavericks (when they were healthy) All-NBA First Team C: Dwight Howard PF: Dirk Nowitzki SF: LeBron James SG: Kobe Bryant PG: Deron Williams Finals Guess: Lakers over Celtics in 7

Oh I agree with you, he's a talented and willing passer. He just doesn't know how to run an offense.

Let's not damper a good post by saying things like Russell Westbrook knows how to run an offense. Here's Westbrook's mindset. Is Kevin Durant wide open coming off a wing brush screen or down screen? If yes throw him the ball. If not, gotta go launch myself at the basket, maybe after a screen. This isn't to say he's selfish, or doesn't pass, or is Allen Iverson reincarnate, but he isn't exactly a point guard. Westbrook is a very talented ball-dominant shooting guard playing the point but his limits in running an offense hold the Thunder back. He's not as advanced as say a Brandon Jennings or a Derrick Rose or even an Aaron Brooks. Which actually underscores your point even more in that there ARE so many well-rounded point guards that can run an offense.

When a big player tips it a small player, the big guy gets the board. When a small player tips it to a big player, the big guy gets the board.

Perhaps, but he has many dimensions to that one dimension.

I read the story of a guy who cooked the books so Nick Van Exel could get 22 assists in a game against the Grizzlies. Some places cook books so that their players would get beneficial statistical treatment on the road.

1) How satisfied were you with your finish in the member march madness tournament? 2) Why do you think the Milwaukee Bucks have struggled so much this season? 3) Rank the following Kahn's: Gengis Khan. Sasha Kaun, Shaka Khan, David Khan, the Khan that Captian Kirk is screaming at in Star Trek? 4) Favorite non-animated sitcom? 5) Favorite and least favorite songs with at least 2 L's in the title? 6) Giant Alligator vs. Sharktopus. Who wins? 7) Rank these Classical Composers: Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Brahms, Bach 8) Rank these Wayne's: Lil' Wayne, I Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Wayne Gretzky, Reggie Wayne, or Pauline Wayne 9) Favorite board game? 10) Least favorite rock band?

Bah, it's supposed to be, "I don't always vote for All-Stars...but when I do, I prefer Rudy Gay. Anyway, since this has turned into a Rudy Gay vs. Blake Griffin thread, Gay usually scores strictly via isolating and jumping over his opponent. He's an average player in nearly every other aspect. Griffin's a more versatile scorer, is probably already a better passer, is a worse defender, and a much better rebounder. I wouldn't put in Griffin over Dirk, Durant, and Melo, and I've been enthralled with Lamar Odom's play this season (best player on the Lakers for the 2010 portion of the 2010-2011 season), so they'd get my votes, but Griffin over Gay is a no-brainer. Gay's good but he's just not that great.

Which is a problem with statistical analysis, even advanced statistical analysis. There's no guarantee (outside of points and shooting percentages anyway) that stats are recorded correctly.

There needs to be more than one to compensate for scorer's error, though I don't doubt his assists are padded. The Thunder breakdown I saw had Westbrook get comped for two assists he clearly didn't deserve though. I guess padding numbers are all the rage nowadays.

Brush up a bit on psychology and the human condition and then reenter this thread.

Could be worse, it could be Antawn Jamison

Randolph's had months of practice to prove himself and hasn't done so. Shawne Williams earned playing time in practice and has made the most of his introduction to the rotation. That's where playing time is first earned. Stoudemire is in phenomenal shape. He can survive a short term run of 40 minutes per game, and there are always stretch bigs the Knicks can pick off the scrap heap over Randolph.

Swish, #24, 12 players make the All-Star Game in each conference. Usually that's five guards, five forwards, and two centers. Who are your four other guards if Monta Ellis is an All-Star, and who are you leaving out? Since I know the answer will be the San Antonio guards, let's do a little regressing to 36 minutes. Parker: 18.7 PPG, 3.5 REB, 7.6 AST, 2.7 TO, 51% FG. Ginobili: 21.6 PPG, 4.5 REB, 5.3 AST, 2.8 TO, 45% FG Ellis: 22.6 PPG, 2.9 REB, 4.9 AST, 2.9 TO, 47 % FG Ellis scores more but gets fewer boards, fewer assists, turns it over more, shoots better than Ginobili but worse than Parker, plays worse defense than both of them, and is on a team that's 17.5 games worse than San Antonio's. So now the Spurs guards have to be in. Again who are you leaving out? Kobe? Deron Williams? Chris Paul? Russell Westbrook? Steve Nash? If you're just looking at scoring to neutralize the Spurs guards vs. Parker, fine, Kevin Martin is putting up 26.6 PPG per 36 minutes. If Ellis gets in, Martin should get in ahead of him. Also keep in mind the boost in pace Golden State and Houston play at compared to San Antonio.

According to this I don't have a brother...

Lamar: Hey Ron, do you think Pau could've rolled with us growing up? Ron: Maaaaaaan, Pau would've been eaten alive in Queensbridge.

He's actually been pretty explosive this year, but in the Western Conference you either have to be great on both sides of the ball and generating wins to be in the discussion. Bryant, Williams, Paul, Parker, Ginobili, Westbrook, these guys are near locks. If he's battling with another sub-500 guard, how does he match up with Steve Nash. These guards in the Western Conference are crazy good. There's no room for a second-tier player like Ellis.