Where’s the love for Dwayne Wade? One vote? Really? Wade, with the right supporting cast, is just as effective as Lebron is. I am absolutely baffled at everyone groveling at the feet of this media and self-pronounced King when he hasn’t won anything. Wade showed that he could get it done in crunch time, hence the championship jewelry to show for it. I mean, sure, Lebron is talented. No one can take that away from him. He just doesn’t have that killer instinct that other players like Kobe and Wade have. He just doesn’t.

When Wade gets hot, you could see it. Take for example his game against the Celtics in the playoffs last spring where he was torching the net. He looked at his hand and proclaimed that it was hot! When Kobe gets hot, you can just see the reckless abandoned look in his eyes. He knows that he is going to score and no one can stop him.

People will think I am spouting blasphemy here, but Dwyane Wade is every bit as good as Lebron James. Both of these guys are born bread scorers and distributors. I think they will play well off of each other this coming year. Chris Bosh will probably be averaging 25+ points a game because of the open and easy buckets he will get from the defense scrambling trying to contain James and Wade. All I’m saying is stop proclaiming James to be the godsend of modern basketball and take a closer look at the teammate he has who has already been to the mountaintop of basketball glory.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

Defense is the epitome of a successful team. Without it, a team does not win, simply put. Usually there is an anchor on any great defensive team, and usually it is a big man. The Magic have the ball devouring Dwight Howard. The Spurs have the lane-clogging, shot-altering Tim Duncan.

However, there has been a new trend of shifty little men disrupting passing lanes and playing great defense using their lateral quickness. Players that have shaped the mold for their teams include Chris Paul of the Hornets and Rajon Rondo of the Celtics. These guys disrupt an offense to the point of the play bankruptcy.

Dwight Howard has won the defensive player of the year award in back-to-back seasons. He is the first player in league history to lead the league in rebounds and blocked shots in the same season twice. Better yet, he has done it in back-to-back seasons. The question is, can he do it again? There is no slowing down for this guy. I think he will win it again this year unless Andrew Bogut of the Bucks can duplicate what Howard has done. He had a solid year last year until his horrific elbow injury sidelined him for the season. Josh Smith will always be a contender to win the award, but until proven otherwise, this is Howard’s to lose right now. He is a defensive juggernaut.

Up next is my pick for the most improved player. Stay tuned.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

Throughout the coming days, I will take a look at the upcoming 2010-2011 NBA season. Among the topics being covered include individual awards such as rookie of the year, sixth man of the year, defensive player of the year, most improved player, and most valuable player. Following these awards, I will try my hand at some teams that are poised to surprise some people as well as predict the eight playoff spots for each conference. Finally, I will assess the conference champions and delve into the NBA champion, which seems to be a two team race for the crown at this point, or so everyone says.

Up first is the always unpredictable rookie of the year. Blake Griffin, DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Wesley Johnson, Derrick Favors, Evan Turner… One could go insane trying to predict who will actually win it. A lot of experts like Griffin, who was last year’s number one pick, but he has to stay healthy first. He doesn’t have the easiest competition either. John Wall is the sexy pick, but I think Evan Turner is an excellent pro prospect. It will be interesting to see how he will play alongside near replica Andre Iguodala in Philly. There is always the wild cards in Cousins, Johnson, and Favors to consider as well.

I want to say Evan Turner will win the ROY, but the team he was drafted by is preventing me from doing so. Unless new coach Doug Collins plays Turner and Iguodala at the same time, it will be tough for both players to get 40+ minutes. I am going to go with Blake Griffin. He will do all he can to revive the Clippers. He’s such a physical specimen. He is poised to play well after sitting out all of last year. Let’s just hope he can stay healthy or we will be seeing a Greg Oden-esque career.

Stay tuned for my pick for the defensive player of the year.

By Josh Delp of the Sports Fan Blog Network

Cleveland fans, I understand the agony you are going through right now. For a city longing for a title, LeBron James was your last hope for quite some time. And now, after deciding about a week ago to go to the Miami Heat, that title seems far away. Not only that, but the city feels betrayed by James, who grew up in Ohio. But sorry Cleveland: LeBron James owes you nothing.

Before James came into the league, the Cavaliers could not even win 20 games. A few years later, they found themselves in the NBA Finals. And just this past season, Cleveland had the best regular-season record in the NBA. Basketball became relevant in Cleveland for once, and James provided Cavaliers fans with many great memories. But now, Cleveland fans will remember James as an all-time great who turned his back on the state where he grew up in.

In his heart, LeBron James wanted to stay in Cleveland. During the season, he wanted Amare Stoudemire to come. After the season, he tried to recruit Chris Bosh to come to Cleveland with him. Clearly James wanted to stay in Cleveland, and more importantly, win in Cleveland. Owner Dan Gilbert had seven years to properly put a good supporting cast around LeBron. It is telling that Cleveland had the best regular-season record this past season, but did not have a single all-star outside of James.

All LeBron wanted to do was win, and this was his best opportunity. If he stayed in Cleveland, there is no guarantee he would have won a title under his current contract. Someone so good would have probably won eventually, but at what price? Nobody knows if Cleveland would have ever given him a proper sidekick. As Dwayne Wade said on ESPN, nobody wins a title alone. Michael Jordan hit Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal had each other, etc. If LeBron James wanted to leave Cleveland to go completely corporate and go for the fame, he would have chosen New York.

Due to no tax in Miami on his contract, James is not really leaving any money on the table. But you cannot blame a player for wanting to win. Yes, he should have gone about making his announcement differently. But for someone that gave so much to a city for seven years, and not be appreciated is ridiculous. He filled up that arena every night, and that should not be forgotten. Fans always rag on players for not wanting to win. But now when someone tries to win, there is a backlash. James will get the rightful titles that he deserves, whether everyone likes it or not. And Cleveland, suck it up, because James gave everything to your city for seven years that a human being possibly could have. He owes you nothing.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have re-signed star forward Kevin Durant, to a maximum contract extension for five years. Despite the collective bargaining agreement expiring soon, the Thunder wanted to lock up their star. Durant is happy in Oklahoma City, and they are happy to have him. He is an extremely likeable player, and hopefully Oklahoma City can build a contender around him.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics come into Los Angeles, looking to capture the NBA Championship. Just two years ago, Boston was able to do it against the Lakers. And last year, the Lakers reigned supreme over the Magic to become NBA Champions. But this year, Los Angeles finds themselves in a 2-0 hole.

If the Lakers lose, it has other consequences. After the game five loss, Kobe Bryant looked like the old Kobe Bryant. The one who was very selfish and looked like he was unhappy with his teammates. While he played great and nobody else did, when has LeBron James vocally been displeased with his teammates?

The Lakers need to win tonight to stay alive. But they also need to win if they want to avoid an off-season of misery.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Thanks to Ray Allen and late magic from Rajon Rondo, The Boston Celtics have tied up the NBA Finals at one game a piece.
Ray Allen owned the first half getting 27 out of his team leading 32 points for the game. Out of Allen’s 32 points were eight three-pointers, he was 8-11 on three point attempts. Allen’s eight three-pointers in the game was a NBA record for most three’s in a game.
The big story of the game was Rondo. Rondo only scored six points in the first half, but he did rack up eight assists. In the second half Rondo scored 13 points, and four more assists which gave him his second triple-double of the post-season. He finished the night with 19 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, and two steals.
With the performance by Allen and Rondo combined with poor shooting from Kobe Bryant who was only 8-20 shooting, The Celtics who commanded most of the game (except for a rough patch in the end of the 3rd quarter when the Lakers tied the game up), should look for more of the same to win the series. (NBA.com)
By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network

As we head into tonight’s Game 1 of the NBA finals, there are many storylines that the media has decided to focus on. The historic rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers, the rejuvenation of the Celtics’ aging core, and Rajon Rondo’s emergence as one of the NBA’s top point guards have all been topics of discussion this week.

One other topic that deserves mention is Kobe Bryant’s legacy. If the Lakers win this series, Kobe Bryant will have 5 championship rings, which would make him the leader among active NBA players, and tie him with fellow Laker great Magic Johnson. At this point,there is no doubt that Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. At the same time, however, there is some debate as to where he stands amongst the best guards of all time: Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and of course, Michael Jordan, could all be considered to be better players than Kobe.

Many of Kobe’s detractors point out that Kobe Bryant was not the best player on three of his championship teams. These same detractors will also point out that after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure to Miami, the Lakers struggled to achieve a winning record for three seasons of Kobe’s prime. All of these are valid points, but it is still impossible to discount everything Kobe Bryant has achieved. Kobe’s longevity and consistency is incredible, and it is now time to evaluate Kobe’s place amongst the best players in NBA history.

After Michael Jordan won his last NBA title in 1998, a new generation of players emerged who hoped to take his place. Although there were quite a few disappointing players who were supposed to be the next Jordan (Vince Carter) there are three players who followed Jordan who were clearly superior to their peers. Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant are all among the top 20 players of all time, but now there is a new debate: Duncan or Bryant.

If the Lakers are able to win this NBA finals, then the debate becomes more complicated. Duncan’s supporters will point out that he has also won 4 NBA titles, and that Duncan was the best player on all of those teams. These are all valid point, but if Kobe Bryant can win yet another title as the best player on his team, then the discussion needs to be held: who is better, Kobe or Duncan?

by Nathan Eagan at the Sports Fan Blog Network

As I’m sure you know if you’ve seen a TV in the past week, the upcoming NBA finals are a rematch of the 2008 edition, with Kobe Bryant gunning for his 5th ring and revenge for his team’s 2008 defeat. While these storylines have been beaten to death by the media, here are 3 key “x-factors” that will make a big difference in the upcoming series.

1. Rasheed Wallace- That’s right. This season’s posterboy for out-of-shape, overpaid NBA players will likely be one of the biggest keys to this series. Lost in all of the criticism directed at Wallace (which he has deserved) is the fact that Wallace has long been one of the top post defenders in the NBA. Wallace possesses the rare combination of defensive intelligence and physical length, and both of these traits will be needed when he goes against Pau Gasol, one of the NBA’s most talented and efficient power forwards. If Wallace is able to effectively battle Gasol, expect to see a Celtics victory.

2. Nate Robinson- Long dismissed as a 5′8 novelty who could only dunk, Robinson reminded NBA fans that he actually possesses rare offensive ability. Unfortunately for Robinson, he often offsets that ability by taking too many shots and turning the ball over. When Robinson is in control of his game, however, he is a dynamic scorer and he, along with Rajon Rondo, could give the Lakers’ backcourt trouble.

3. Derek Fisher- To many fans, Derek Fisher is the anonymous point guard whose job consists of dribbling the ball upcourt and then giving it to Kobe Bryant. While that might largely be true, Fisher’s ability to hit big shots can not be discounted. Fisher frequently finds himself open because of other teams’ tendencies to collapse on Kobe Bryant, and his ability to knock down open threes could decide at least one game in this series.

by Nathan Eagan at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals was the worst nightmare for Phoenix Suns fans. It added another playoff series lost to the last ten years or so. And more importantly, this could have been their last chance.

Many looked disappointed that the Suns fell short yet again. But, Amare Stoudemire looked more relieved than disappointed. Like many others in the upcoming free agent class, Stoudemire is looking forward to cashing in and making millions of dollars, while choosing a destination. If he leaves, there goes any glimpse of hope of Steve Nash winning a title for the Suns.

Without Amare, it would not leave the Suns with too much. Aside from Nash, they would still have many solid, nice, complimentary players. But they could kiss any hope of coming close to the NBA Finals goodbye.

by David at the Sports Fan Blog Network