Make that 20 for the Spurs

You have to be a true NBA fan to appreciate the brand of basketball the Spurs are displaying right now. Playing the game the way it should be played. Teamwork, ball-movement, unselfishness, are a few of the ways in which the San Antonio Spurs have marched their way to their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs. This brand of basketball could only be played by the Spurs and I'll explain why...In a league that is marketed by each teams superstars, the players become somewhat selfish in their ways, and enjoy the spotlight. The Spurs superstars Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan are absolutely the most unselfish superstars the NBA has in their league today. None of these players care about individual accolades, but just have the will to win. Manu Ginobli could start for any team in the league, but comes off the bench because its what is best for the team. If you watch the Spurs carefully, you will notice that 75% of the time they are taking uncontested jumpshots. Behind the mastermind of the NBA Coach of the year Greg Popovich, the Spurs have moved the ball better then any team in the league, and will always make the extra pass to find the open man. They have also made some amazing acquisitions during the course of the year by picking up Stephen Jackson, and Boris Diaw in separate trades. In Game 2, The Oklahoma City Thunder looked confused, and a step behind in trying to figure out how to defend the Spurs pick and roll game. Tony Parker made 16 of 21 shots en route to scoring his playoff high 34 and also passed out eight assists, winning his duel with fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook. As the series shifts to Oklahoma City for Games 3 and 4, the challenge becomes daunting for the Thunder. They must win four of five over a team that hasn’t lost since April 11. Its a lot to ask, but if anyone can do it, you can probably count on the NBA's 3-time scoring champ Kevin Durant.

the new blake griffin kia commercial isnt as good as last years...

Overrated

Unlike many, I am not completely sold on Jeremy Lin (yet). His assist/turnover ratio is way too high, he shoots too much for a point guard, and we haven’t seen what he can do with Amare and Melo in the lineup. That being said, his sample size is too small for me to make a final decision on how good he is/will be. However, I’ve seen enough of the following three players to boldly state that they are overrated. Enjoy.  

 Carlos Boozer - This guy has made a career off of other players (Lebron in Cleveland, Williams in Utah, Rose in Chicago), and still really has nothing to show for it (other than a shitload of money). I honestly thought if he stayed in Cleveland with Lebron they might have won a title. He had the potential to be a fundamental badass - I'm thinking a really good version of Kenyon Martin - but turned out to be slightly better than Drew Gooden, not as good as Chris Bosh, and actually kind of a pussy. 

Deron Williams - I know I just said that he made Boozer better than he actually is, but I still have to put Williams on this list. Even when Boozer left Utah for Chicago, DWill still had a solid squad and a Hall of Fame coach in Jerry Sloan. He completely destroyed that situation, caused Sloan to retire, and then got traded to the Nets. The Nets are in last place in their division right now and Williams will not/can not get them out. Put Chris Paul in the same position (like he was last year with the Hornets...) and he's going to lead his team to the playoffs and make everyone around him a better player. Paul and Williams shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence.

Dwight Howard - I have to laugh when I hear how good of a defender "Superman" is. Watch him on defense for an entire game and tell me one thing he does other than block shots, which he only does 3.1 times per game. Is grabbing a defensive rebound really considered defense? While he does put up some impressive numbers, aside from Bynum, there aren't any decent centers in the league. Howard is a softer version of Kevin Willis, and the only big man to win a dunk contest with a layup (not to mention he's a bad teammate and an even worse free throw shooter).

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts!

The Hornets Get Stung

First of all welcome back to the NBA Outsider Perspective Blog...But hey there has been so much action in the League these past couple days lets get right to it. Phil Jackson AKA the Zen Master himself said this would happen to the Hornets last November! For those of you that don't know the history, The New Orleans Hornets were forced to sell the franchise due to financial troubles, and so The NBA’s Board of Governors approved an agreement between the owner of the Hornets and the league that allowed the NBA to run the team until a new owner could be found. Back to the Zen Master, one year ago when the NBA took over the franchise, Phil Jackson stated in an interview and I quote..."Who's going to trade who to whom? Who's going to pull the button on trading player or when Chris [Paul] says he has to be traded? How's that going to go? I don't know. Somebody's going to have to make a very nonjudgmental decision on that part that's not going to irritate anybody else in this league...I don't know how they're going to do that." And wow was he correct...There was a 3-team deal that was supposed to down last night sending Chris Paul to the Lakers, Lamar Odom, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and Goran Dragic to the Hornets, and Paul Gasol to the Rockets. David Stern put a stop to the trade, shell-shocking all three teams and all players involved. He claims the trade was stopped for "basketball reasons", but many speculate that other owners told Stern not to approve the deal. They think Stern forced them to make a Labor Agreement they didn't want, so he owed them this one. There's no doubt he's gonna have to speak to the media on this issue. The real question is why would Stern do this to a low market team like the Hornets? Their star player Chris Paul is in his last year of his contract, and says he will not sign with them next year, forcing them to make business decisions before he departs. They make an outstanding trade, just for it to get shut down by the league. Now where does that leave all the players that were involved? Lakers players Gasol and Odom have to go back to a team that they know just kicked them out the door?? Hows that gonna sit? This just looks really bad for the league at the end of the day, but on the good side we are talking about the NBA again...Rumor has it that David Stern maybe out the door as Commissioner in the near future... #NBAISBACK and so is the NBA Outsider Perspective!

On to the next one.....

In Jay Z-s best terminology, this summer has been defined as "on to the next one". On to the next challenge, on to the next team. So much hype as gone into the summer of 2010 free agency. Its all we heard about during the season, and all we have been talking about since the day after the Lakers won their title. So did it live up to the hype?? Well it started out a bit uneventful with a majority of the big names signing with their current teams. Joe Johnson back with Atlanta, Dirk Nowitzki back with Dallas, and Pierce and Allen back with the Celtics. Then Amare made his move to NYC to attempt to resurrect the lost Knicks. The Knicks need a few more pieces to that puzzle, but scoring Amare Staudemire is a damn good start. But we all knew the hype wasn't about all those guys...It was mainly about where Lebron would land, and where would Bosh go. We knew that Dwayne Wade wanted to be back in south beach with the heat, so when he entertained the thought of going back to Chicago, we all didn't look to far into that. Lebron claimed that Cleveland had the best chance to retain him, but we all saw the frustration in his eyes as the Cavs got booted from the playoffs. How did the Heat pull off the move of the decade? How did they land the three top free agents of 2010? Any team in the league would have been satisfied with just one of them! But somehow Pat Riley orchestrated the unthinkable and pulled James and Bosh out of Cleveland and Toronto, and got them to take slight pay-cuts to join D-Wade in Miami. Yes of course they will be a force to reckon with. But did Lebron James make the right decision? In Professional sports today, we are very hooked on the term "Legacy". What will people think about you when its all said and done. The NBA has always based players legacy's on how many championships a player won. Did we make such a big deal about Legacy, that we forgot to focus on the other aspect; "Loyalty"? If there wasn't such a big deal about Legacy and Championships, then Lebron would have never left Cleveland. We can't blame Lebron for doing what he did. He has given himself the best surrounding cast to make a run at multiple championships. That is the reason the NBA has "Free-Agency". Gives players the option to play where they would like to play. We are always blaming players for chasing the money, well in this case, Lebron, Wade and Bosh are chasing Rings.....Can't hate them for that...So its "On to the next one"....As for Knick fans, that means chasing Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul summer 2011!

Game 7

The Lakers and the Celtics have once again given us an epic series to watch, and Kobe Bryant has proven to us again and again why he is the best player in the league. Even if the Lakers lose tomorrow, Kobe should still be given the Finals MVP award. The award doesn't read MVP of the winning team....it reads MVP...and that is Kobe! Seriously, if the Celtics win, they really haven't had a consistant player all series that could easily be the MVP. Ray Allen had one game, Pierce had a couple games, and Rondo had a couple games. Kobe has dominated everygame. The injury to Kendrick Perkins is so crucial in game 7. So far, he has had great success in pushing Pau Gasol away from the basket making him have a difficult time to be a huge impact. Rasheed Wallace is decent defender, but nothing compared to Perkins. Also Perkins hits the offensive boards, so for the C's to have a chance, Sheed and Big Baby are gonna have to step it up. It was good to see Ron Artest show up last night and shoot the ball with some confidence, because if they lose, its on him. Where was Rondo last night? The C's need to get their floor general back involved in the game. They need to Rebound and push the ball to get some easy transition baskets to make life a little easier on themselves. Also the bench for LA really played some ball last night. Home court advantage in my mind has to do with the bench players. The bench players from each team have had their great games on their home courts, so look for the Lakers bench to dominate once again in game 7. Well...Game 7...Lakers by 5....Kobe Bryant Finlas MVP....

NBA FINALS

We are finally here...If your a basketball fan, then you have to appreciate what Kobe Bryant brings to the court every night. It is just simply remarkable to watch this guy playing in his prime. You know the ball is going to him, you know hes gonna take a dribble and pump fake....yet he still makes shot after shot after shot in everybodys face. When he's on, theres' no stopping him, and I don't believe he will let the Celtics beat him again in the Finals. Im not saying it will be easy, but expect Kobe to get his fifth ring this year. What will be the key matchup this series? I'm gonna go with Gasol vs Garnett. The C's beasted the Lakers in the post in 08' in route to their title, so watch for Gasol to try and redeem himself. He has been titled as a "soft" player for his career, but not he has his chance to prove everyone wrong. Who's bench is gonna step up the most? The Celtics have an advantage there, with Rasheed, Tony Allen, Nate Rob, and big baby, but I do think that Lamar Odom once again if he decides to show up could be a tough matchup for Boston. Predictions : Lakers win game one by 6