Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Le

What's the Point?: High-Scoring Golden State Still in Need of a Floor Leader

Chris Le — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:03:19 -0400

A few weeks back in his weekly podcast, ESPN’s Bill Simmons was awestruck when he looked at the Golden State Warriors roster. It boasts, as Simmons claimed, seven players who could score 35 or more points in a given game.

An intriguing statistic, no doubt, but I was incredulous as to whether a team, even the second most prolific team in the league at 108.6 points per game, could possess such a number of eruptive scoring potential. I had to look it up. And, sure enough, my skepticism was unwarranted, and Simmons was right.

The Warriors have at their disposal seven players who could detonate for 35 points on any particular night: Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Morrow, Corey Maggette, Kelenna Azubuike, Stephen Curry, and Anthony Randolph.

The inclusion of Azubuike, having never before scored 35, may be a reach, but with a career high of 33-points and an improving game that raised his scoring average to 14.4 from 8.5 in 2009, it’s only a moderate stretch.

And the listing of Stephen Curry and Anthony Randolph are a bit presumptuous, I realize. But Curry is the purest shooter to come out of college in recent years, and fused with Don Nelson’s offensive philosophy he is bound for multiple 35-plus nights (of course, offset by a few clunkers; inconsistency is expected with all rookies).

There may be a few hiccups here and there, but it will be a successful marriage. Then there’s Randolph who, in his young career, has a personal best of just 24-points.

But his stellar Summer League performance (26.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 3.0 blocks per game, .609 shooting, and one 42-point outburst against the Chicago Bulls) is a welcome indication of his realized potential, and it should result in a blossoming season. A godsend, as the Warriors are in dire need of an offensive threat in the post.

So count ‘em up. That’s seven deadly scorers. Seven players opponents must body up and defend at all times—an unrelenting wave of points. That’s more weapons than the Phoenix Suns, the highest scoring team in the league; and that’s a larger arsenal than the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s most well-rounded offensive team.

The Warrior’s roster, overflowing with firepower, is a match up nightmare.

But oftentimes objects with a surfeit of power are highly unstable—unless there is a stabilizer. In basketball, this usually comes in the form of a point guard who can evenly distribute the ball and run an offense either on the fast break or, preferably, in the half-court.

The Warriors lack just this. A missing point guard, along with an absent defensive philosophy, is their tragic flaw. They got 4.3 liters, eight-cylinders, and 550 horses under the hood, all ready to burn rubber, but no driver.

All the force in the world is useless, sometimes self-destructive, without harness and direction. The Warriors almost always implode for this very reason.

Here’s their projected point guard rotation:

Monta Ellis
Stephen Curry
Speedy Claxton
Acie Law
C.J. Watson (if he re-signs)

Yikes.

All of us in the Bay Area love Monta Ellis, even after the moped debacle. But he’s a pure scorer, not a distributor. His bread and butter is the mid-range game and he possesses a preternatural feel for finishing at the hoop.

But it’s not in his DNA to run an offense. Monta is of the Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas ilk, who prefer to score and are more effective when geared toward doing just that. Ellis isn’t the prototypical half-court orchestrator needed to succeed in the slow-paced game of the NBA Playoffs.

His game lends well to the pick-and-roll, but the Warriors lack of a jump-shooting big man, which nullifies Ellis’ effectiveness in these situations. And while he’s better on the break than he is in the setup offense, he lacks the court vision and passing ability to create for teammates on the fly.

Forcing him to fit that mold, however, isn’t the solution; in fact, it would be counterproductive. Monta is a two-guard and that’s where he should play. Asking him to be like Steve Nash would devalue his true worth as a scorer. But, unfortunately, what the Warriors need is a Steve Nash-type player.

Ditto for Stephen Curry. Having played only one season at the helm of the Davidson squad, Curry is just learning the position and will likely be a shoot-first player, albeit a potentially game-changing one, his entire career.

But I don’t know what I’m more wary of in Curry’s rookie season: his shooting percentage or his assist-to-turnover ratio. My guess is both.

Speedy Claxton, Acie Law, and C.J. Watson are all serviceable players but should justifiably be relegated to the bench. They are mere role players with expiring contracts soon to be dumped. There’s no savior in this bunch.

The funny thing is, however, the Warriors best point guard isn’t even a point guard. Instead, their most adept floor general is Stephen Jackson. With his strong handles and keen sense of court space and player positioning, Captain Jack is Golden State’s most conventional point, but not so conventional in that he’s a 6’8” small forward.

He’s an amalgamation of the two positions, a point-forward, a hybrid position perfected by Scottie Pippen and most recently practiced by Hedo Turkoglu and, to a lesser extend, Lamar Odom. Jackson’s ability to create for himself and others—a unique skill set for a man his size—is unequaled by anyone on the Golden State roster.

But can he, at 31, carry the load of defending the opponent’s best offensive player and lead the offense? Is Stephen Jackson the answer? Is Monta Ellis? Or Stephen Curry, or Speedy Claxton?

Whoever it is, I have little doubt the he can perform well enough that the Warriors once again find themselves as the eighth seed in the West. But clawing into the playoffs is different from advancing in the playoffs. If the Warriors want to play deep in the postseason, they’ll need a true quarterback at the one position.

Otherwise, there’s no point.

Best Pure Scorer in the NBA

Chris Le — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:17:19 -0400

Call him dumb. Call him hilarious. Call him loud-mouthed and nonsensical. But there’s no denying Charles Barkley is provocative—perhaps the most clamorous figure in basketball today.

And Sir Charles didn’t disappoint last week when he dropped, almost on schedule, another eye-opening line when he called Carmelo Anthony the best pure scorer in the league.

Initially, there was some head-shaking on my part, thinking Barkley was merely caught up in the moment of Melo’s magnificent series against the Dallas Mavericks, in which he averaged 27.0 easy points per game, hitting one clutch shot after another.

But following a period of digestion, and the eventual pondering of the phrase “Best Pure Scorer” itself, the whole thing confused me, even more so than when I first contemplated the topic.

Amid all my bewilderment, only one conclusion was deduced: I cannot say whether or not Melo is the purest because I don’t know what purity consists of.

The idea of the “Best Pure Scorer” is an interesting one. It’s a title we fans imprudently toss around in arguments amongst friends to boast our favorite players without knowing what it really means.

Its understanding is and always has been implied, but the phrase has gone unspecified for as long as I can remember, with no universally agreed-upon definition. And it seemed strange that during all my years as a basketball fan, I have yet to hear an acceptable explanation of it.

The same goes for the label of “Best Pure Shooter.” I’ve come across experts who say Ray Allen is as unadulterated a shooter there is, while Steve Nash, though statistically just as deadly from behind the arc, is merely a player with perfect mechanics; he does not qualify as being pure—for reasons that are beyond my understanding.

I thought to myself, aren’t purity and technique one in the same? What truly separates the Ray Allens from the Steve Nashs?

This same confusion extends to the ambiguity of Pure Scorers. Though they amass a similar number of points per game, what truly sets apart Kobe Bryant from LeBron James? Or how about Brandon Roy from a Chris Paul? Is there even a difference between them? These are the questions I set out to answer.

As I contemplated the concept this past week, wasting a lot of productive work time at my day job in the process, I came up with five defining characteristics, without which a designated scorer cannot be considered pure:

Skill

Sounds simple and obvious enough, right? But this is where mechanics—or, for a player with an unconventional release (e.g. Kevin Martin), a consistent, repetitive stroke—comes into play. It’s the ability to adjust a shot under myriad situations: mid air, double clutching, fading away, or floating towards the hoop.

A true scorer knows when, where, and most importantly how to tweak his release given the circumstances. And this is why someone like Shaq cannot be considered a genuine scorer, despite having averaged nearly 30 points a game in his prime. His m.o. is overwhelming power and physicality, rather than polished technique.

That’s not to say Shaq is some unrefined brute who is all brawn and no brain. It’s just that his game is more synonymous with strength.

I don’t know if it’s the fact that I’m a short, frail Asian guy, but I’m more keen on viewing the act of scoring as a skill developed through years of disciplined study and practice. Scoring by way of sheer force seems cheap by comparison.

Well-roundedness

A pure scorer should be a Swiss Army Knife of offensive weapons, fully equipped with a sweet jumper, nice slashing ability, and serviceable post skills. A one-dimensional player cannot and should not be seriously considered. That’s why a prolific point maker like Tony Parker does not qualify.

There may not be a better threat in the paint, nor a craftier mid-air contortionist, but his jump shot—while improved—barely qualifies as reliable. He can be schemed and he can be defended.

This brings up something I’ve been thinking about for a while now: Scoring seems to be synonymous with shooting more than, say, a player’s ability to drive and finish at the hoop or post skill or any other mode of point accretion for that matter. Pure scorers need possess a deadly jumper before any other tool.

That’s why Melo—whose penetrating capability and back to the basket scoring is solid, but far behind his J in development—is considered pure, and Parker—whose offensive skills are inversely proportional to Melo’s—isn’t so much.

Consistency

This is the dividing line between a lucid scorer and the proverbial streaky shooter. No one questions the eruptive capabilities of Ben Gordon. You’d be an idiot to do so, and all anyone has do to prove you wrong is replay the first round series between the Bulls and Celtics.

When Ben Gordon is “on,” like he was in game two, he can make the net swish like water and drop 40 points as if it were a day at the spa. But for every game in which he makes the hoop look like the singularity of a black hole, he registers a dud. He’s unreliable.

Or to be more specific, as I heard one analyst describe Gordon: He hits the shots he has no business making, and he misses the ones he should. This is why Gordon is not Pure … that is, unless he’s on fire.

Consistency is also what distinguishes skill from luck. It explains how we consider a double clutch shot or a reverse layup through traffic done by Kobe to be the result of prowess and a credit to his basketball genius; and the same move performed by, say, Roger Mason is seen as blind luck.

A player of Kobe’s status has earned the right with sustained brilliance to have his every shot be considered skill.

Efficiency

Anyone can jack up 35 shots and score 25 points—just ask anyone on the Warriors. But a true scorer makes the most of his possessions; he is a thinker on the court, observing all five defenders, performing calculations in his head, and planning the highest percentage shot.

Effortlessness

Perhaps the key ingredient in this whole equation. Ease of scoring is what comes to mind first when I think of purity. The ability to put the ball in the hoop must seem natural, innate. It can’t be ugly and plodding like a Ron Artest drive to the hoop, or as hideous as Shawn Marion’s release.

Purity, by definition, is crystalline, and with that a certain degree of beauty is implied. Aesthetics is heavily weighed. A pure scorer must look like a ballet dancer on the court: graceful, light, but at the same time not without a sense of strength. There is an artistry involved here.

George Gervin immediately comes to mind. From his sweet pull-up mid-range jumper to his gorgeous finger rolls, there probably wasn’t a smoother player to enter the league. Ever. The man should’ve had his jersey made out of silk. He’s what I consider pure.

After deriving these five traits, it was time to make a list. I easily whittled it down to six, because in all seriousness, while a lot of players have high averages, there aren’t many pure scorers in the league. First, let’s see who missed the cut.

Tony Parker — TP is prolific no doubt, and some of the moves he does in the lane on men twice his size is flat out amazing. But his offensive arsenal is anemic compared to the others on the list. The fact that he lacks a legitimately jump shot holds him back from achieving purity.

Dirk Nowitzki — Dirk meets all of my requirements, except consistency. There are times when I see him play and think, There’s no way to guard this man. He’s such a great shooter with such a high-arching shot—and to top it off he’s 7-feet tall—there’s nothing to stop him from scoring 30 points a night.

But then there are games where he’s not even the second-best player on his own team. Dirk has developed a nasty tendency to disappear, so there was no way I could put him on the list.

LeBron James — Okay, before you start spitting at your computer screen, hear me out. The title of “Purest Scorer” suggests an inborn proclivity to score. The desire to make it rain on an opponent has to be coursing through the veins.

But LeBron, by nature, is a passer; and he’s such a physical freak he is able to score 30 points while still being unselfish. In any given situation, his first instinct is to make the best play, even if it means passing the ball.

But a scorer needs to lack a certain consciousness, a mental “flaw” that urges him to shoot despite being double-covered and seeing a wide open teammate in the corner. LeBron, for better or worse, will always make the play to pass.

This alone almost disqualifies The King. But then you also see that his scoring is mainly predicated on strength, overpowering opponents on his way to the basket. His jumper is still inconsistent, due to minor mechanical issues.

I just don’t see him as a pure scorer. To me, LeBron is more of an unstoppable force of nature that cannot be denied in the lane.

Now the list:

6. Brandon Roy – They don’t call him the Natural for nothing. There’s a smoothness to Roy’s game that is oh so pretty. I’d say it’s akin to watching Morgan Freeman act: simultaneously methodical and languid in delivery, making it everything seemingly effortless.

You watch Roy play and you honestly think you can do the same—until you actually attempt replicate him on the court and fall flat on your face. Have you ever tried driving towards the hoop at full speed, only to stop on a dime, and square up for a pull-up jumper?

It’s one of the toughest maneuvers to execute in basketball, and Roy makes it seem like he was doing it since exiting the womb.

5. Paul Pierce — He can’t really jump out of the gym, nor does he regularly blow by defenders with his average first step. Not to mention he’s tied with Rasheed Wallace as the scruffiest looking player in the league: with an unimpressive, undefined physique and random patches of hair all over his face, he looks like a homeless bum plucked directly from a freeway underpass.

But I digress. Bluntly stated, Pierce is physically the least gifted of the six listed. But I’m hard pressed to find a scorer who does more with what he has. Pierce is smooth in his motion and possesses a pretty (albeit slow) release, but above all else he’s exceedingly cerebral on the court—and he’s an absolute scholar at the top of the key in a one-on-one situation.

He’ll outthink anyone, setting up opponents for his next move as if it were a game of chess and he a grandmaster. No one will mistake him for LeBron, but he’s almost as hard to stop.

4. Dwyane Wade — This years league leading scorer comes in at number four? Like LeBron, Wade is as productive a scorer as anyone on earth, but he earns every point he gets. He can score any which way, but he’s predominantly a slasher who does the majority of his damage at and above the rim, and he pays the price taking hard fall after hard fall.

The next three on this list seemingly get their points rolling out of bed. I see the skill and concentration with Wade, but I don’t quite see the effortlessness. I’ll give him this though: there’s no better maker of circus shots in the NBA.

3. Kevin Durant — Entering the league, Durant was 6’10” and 215 pounds of straight up bone. He couldn’t bench 185 pounds once during his pre-draft workouts. Pound-for-pound I’m probably stronger than this dude.

But Durant makes up for his lack of physical strength with an uncanny offensive awareness that the league only sees once in a generation. And talk about easy. With one of the quickest triggers in the game, a nonchalant flick of the wrist, the ball swiftly leaves his fingertips and travels 25 feet towards the bottom of the net.

It’s one of the sweetest shots I’ve ever seen. And his lankiness and athleticism combine to produce an oddly graceful style of play that conjures up memories of George Gervin, the Iceman himself, but with infinitely more range.

The league better watch out because Durant is upping his basketball IQ at a rapid pace, as evidenced by his improved efficiency just after one year (from .430 to .476, and .288 to .422). I wouldn’t be surprised if he tops this list in a season or two.

2. Carmelo Anthony — His rebounding and defense may leave some wanting more, but the dude can score the rock with the best of them. Whether on the block, beyond the arc, or in no-man’s land of the mid-range; and you can have Shane Battier or Kobe bodying him up, it doesn’t matter—Carmelo is getting his.

He possesses at his disposal the most natural feel for the offensive game, and he’s so efficient with his movement that if you didn’t know better, you’d call him lazy. It’s innate with Carmelo. He knows the quickest and easiest path to gathering points seemingly without cognition. Even in high school, his scoring was already developed to a professional level. Melo was born to shoot a basketball, and there really isn’t much else to say.

1. Kobe Bryant – I hate to say it, because I despise nothing more than complimenting the Black Mamba, but Kobe Bryant is the most complete offensive player I’ve ever seen. That’s not to say he’s the most dangerous or most prolific point maker of all-time, but more so that his offensive repertoire has no holes.

He’s technically flawless—a living textbook of basketball execution with fluidity and ever perfect mechanics, no matter the position. And I don’t think he gets enough credit for his creativity. I

t’s particularly awe-inspiring when he’s “stuck” after picking up his dribble following an unsuccessful pump-fake. He’ll spin on his pivot foot at a dizzying pace, exploring every conceivable out before making what usually is the correct scoring option. All you can do as a spectator—and as a defender—is shake your head in disbelief, and give credit where it’s due.

If you saw Kobe: Doin’ Work this past weekend, you begin to realize that on top of his overflowing natural ability he is a true student of the game. Kobe is the highest confluence of basketball’s mental and physical aspects, and I’m sure I’ll get little resistance when I say there’s no better pure scorer in the league today.

Playoff Basketball, I've Missed You.

Chris Le — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:35:31 -0400

Nothing passes the time quite like nostalgia.

I can stare at my screensaver, a slide show of all the pictures on my computer, for hours on end, and I’ll reminisce about the events of each image, smiling all the while. 75 of my top 100 songs—if I were to make such a list—would be ranked, not because of their enjoyable melodies or head-bobbing beats, but because they are inextricably linked to particular moments of my life; the song that softly played during my first kiss, a tune that evokes memories of my first college trip to Vegas, that R&B joint that still to this day serves as a painful reminder of how I let that one girl get away … I can go on for hours with this.

And my longing for fonder times applies to all aspects of my life, especially to the realm of sports. I’m old school through and through. With boxing—the most ancient of all athletic contests—I’m an ardent advocate of 15 rounds, one champ per division, same day weigh-ins, and the abolition of the junior/super weight classes. Call me a sadist, but that is how boxing should be, like it was in the golden age of the sport.

When it comes to football, I’m all for horse-collar tackles and (slightly) late hits on quarterbacks. I say enough of this protection by referees; it’s a contact sport, and the quarterback should be as much a viable target as any other position. And if it’s legal to drag down a ball carrier by his dreadlocks, then horse-collar tackles should be kosher as well.

For basketball, I’m an avid supporter of dunks (no thanks to the player formerly known as Lew Alcindor), hand-checking, and of course, the good, old fashioned playoff foul.

That’s why, after one-and-a-quarter rounds of playoff basketball, you see nothing on my face but an ear-to-ear smile. Like Ahmad, these first few games have me thinking of “Back in the Day,” when flagrant two’s were run-of-the-mill whistle calls, almost brushed off as a natural consequence of a physical game played by gigantic, brooding men.

Not since the early 90s have I seen such deliberately physical play. We got a small taste of it in the ’07 playoffs when Robert Horry sent Steve Nash crashing into the announcers table like a rag doll. But not much else — until this year.

Here’s a list of the action so far:

Dwight Howard sideswipes Samuel Dalembert’s head with an elbow. Howard is known as a player with a child-like demeanor, but lacking the requisite killer instinct to be great, and that’s what makes this one so surprising. It was a pretty vicious blow—and don’t let Dalembert’s relatively nondescript reaction fool you into thinking otherwise—that occurred after the play was done. The suspension was well deserved, but I wouldn’t mind see more ‘bows from Dwight in the future. Imagine how dominant he’d be if players actually feared him. He’d be like Mike Tyson before Robin Givens and Buster Douglas stole his dignity.

Rajon Rondo clotheslines Brad Miller. This one, I thought, was special, coming straight from the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons’ playbook. How this was not a flagrant two is beyond me; how Rondo wasn’t penalized post-game is even more perplexing. The fact that Rondo didn’t follow through with the arm swing shouldn’t matter. His aim was nowhere near the ball, plus it was pretty much a fishhook (which is illegal even in mixed martial arts), and he proceeds to drag Miller down … by the chin. Bravo, Rajon. Bravo.

Oh, an encore? Rondo pulls Kirk Hinrich into the scorer’s table. Not only is Rondo maturing into a top-five point guard, he’s developing into one helluva filthy player who isn’t afraid to show his claws. Though not particularly heinous, the move was blatant and unnecessary—yet Rondo goes undisciplined once again. Geez, just because he’s small doesn’t mean he should be able to get away with murder. It’s like when a kid punches and kicks you with all his might, thinking it’s okay because he’s little. Fuck that. Kids like this need to an ass whooping.

Sasha Vujacic spikes Shane Battier’s face like a volleyball. My man crush on Battier aside, this one isn’t too bad, despite the horrendous result. The blow left Battier looking like a maxi pad, bloodied worse than Ricky Hatton after being blasted by Manny Pacquiao. However, Vujacic was merely trying to tap the ball out into the backcourt, and the hit was clearly incidental. Still, it at least warranted a foul call.

Which one is Dirk?

Kenyon Martin throws Dirk Nowitzki to the ground. Eh, whatever. I’ve grown to expect such things to happen to Dirk, the softest player in the league, who seems to suffer at least five similar embarrassments a year.

Rafer Alston slaps Eddie House on the back of the head. This is by far my favorite incident of the playoffs. It was utterly stupid of Alston and he’ll justifiably be suspended, but it was too silly not to be hilarious. It was the type of back-of-the-head slap that a father does to admonish his son’s idiocy.

Kobe Bryant elbows Ron Artest, possibly in the throat. It’s cliche to label a physical, borderline dirty play as “playoff basketball,” but it applies here. This was just playoff basketball. There’s no better description for what transpired. It was two hard nosed players fighting for a rebound. Case closed. Elbows like this occur in every game, even in the regular season. The retroactive flagrant one is not deserved. Wow. I can’t believe I’m defending Kobe.

Derek Fisher lays out Luis Scola with a shoulder brush. Call it sending a message or a dirty play, I say it’s both. And it definitely brings back memories of better day.

On Boxing Coverage and Pacquiao-Hatton

Chris Le — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:40:03 -0400

There’s an old adage in boxing that says: You’re only as good as your last fight. Meaning, the perception of any particular fighter is determined by his most recent result. It’s the ultimate “What have you done for me lately?” criteria. And really, with current sports fans’ obsession with the now, and our tendency to be captives of the moment, this axiom is applicable to all sports.

In this sense, we have the memory of a newborn baby. It happens, without failure, before every postseason. A once-hot team that takes a mid-season turn for the worse, but still manages to stumble into the playoffs, are brushed aside—until they go on a tear, at which point everyone flip-flops again, jumping right back onto their bandwagon (the Arizona Cardinals, anyone?).

The sport of boxing, however, finds itself a unique situation. It’s changed a bit since the proverb’s advent, since the golden age when fights were aired on network television. Changed in the sense that it’s, uh, dying.

The casual fan no longer pays attention to the sport’s non-premier matchups, reserving their attention those fights previewed on ESPN; and, as we all know, ESPN only covers the bouts that fall into the “Fight of the Year” category. When was the last time you saw Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt profile a “Boxing After Dark” matchup?

So the saying needs to be modified a bit. It should now read: In the public eye, you’re only as good as your last mega Pay-Per-View fight that was showcased on SportsCenter.

Taking this into account, the general public probably views tomorrow’s fight as being between the Manny Pacquiao who destroyed Oscar De La Hoya, and the Ricky Hatton who was battered by Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In reality, however, only half of this equation is true. The Manny Pacquiao that enters the ring will be the pound-for-pound king of boxing, the one that humiliated the Golden Boy into retirement. This much is true. But he’ll be facing a new-look Ricky Hatton. If anyone expects the plodding, head-first brawler that was dissected by Mayweather, they’ll be sorely mistaken.

No, the Hatton we’ll see will resemble the one who stopped Paul Malignaggi back in November. (I bet you didn’t know Hatton fought since his loss to Mayweather. In fact, he’s had two bouts: the Malignaggi victory and a decision over Juan Lazcano. Thanks for keeping us informed, ESPN!)

Hatton’s move to bring in the audacious Floyd Mayweather Sr. to head his training camp is a good career move. As senile as Mayweather Sr. comes off at times, and he does to great extent, particularly when he rhymes like a wannabe Muhammad Ali, he’s a decent enough trainer—at least for Hatton.

If anything, he’ll instill in Ricky basic defensive maneuvers (like ANY semblence of head movement, parrying, and blocking punches with his gloves and arms as opposed to his face, all of which were absent in his previous career) which will benefit him, particularly against someone like Pacquiao who likes to mix things up and doesn’t shy away from a brawl.

But in the end, it won’t make that much of a difference. It will merely delay the inevitable. Instead of being blitzed out in the first few rounds from a barrage of head-snapping blows, Hatton will have a moment or two of his own...until the the mid to late round when he’ll be stopped from a barrage of head-snapping blows. There’s no one on the planet that can handle Pac-Man, and that includes the Hitman.

My prediction: Pacquiao by late round stoppage

Chris Paul: Where Have You Gone?

Chris Le — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:20:27 -0400

Entering the first round of the playoffs, my faith in Chris Paul and the Hornets was as steadfast as anyone’s outside the greater New Orleans area.

His game, at least to my eye, had no glaring weakness. If I were to nitpick, I’d point out that he sometimes unsuccessfully gambles on steals, and he’s far from being a lock down defender or dead eye shooter, but he’s respectable in both categories.

Then there was his will to win and his sense of the moment—knowing when and how to squeeze the remaining life out of an opponent—which were on par with the Kobe Bryant’s and Dwyane Wade’s of the world. From this,

I predicted the Hornets would not only beat the Nuggets, who I believed to be as weak a second seed in years, but advance all the way to the Western Conference Finals.

What a difference a series makes.

No, CP3—thumbs down.

The vintage Chris Paul play making I’ve come to enjoy and expect had disappeared. His Mensa-level basketball IQ and floor generalship are now producing poor shot selection and more turnovers than I can count.

Even with half of the Hornets squad at less than 100 percent, this was an epic, disappointing shock, the likes of which are customarily reserved only for M. Night Shayamalan films.

After the first few games, it was apparent the Nuggets were the better, more athletic team. Things were not looking good, but I still had faith that CP3 would pick up his team by the shorts and make this a competitive series.

Then Game Five happened.

Wow. The 58-point margin is bad enough, but when taking into consideration this was in New Orleans in a potentially series-tying game, the resonance of this loss is magnified tenfold.

It goes from the biggest home loss in NBA history to an emotionally scarring, possible franchise changing defeat; the type of beating that makes it hard to look in the mirror, but at the same time demands soul searching. The Hornets waved their arms in the air, said "No mas!", and accepted their ass-whooping, concluding that there was no point in putting in the effort, not even to save face.

They gave up. But most appallingly, Chris Paul gave up. I never thought I’d live to see the day. It was almost unfathomable.

This is the player whose skill is unsurpassed at the point guard position, whose will I thought to be indomitable. Chris Paul was bulletproof.

From his high school days when, with a heavy heart, he honored the memory of his recently passed grandfather by scoring 61 points—one for every year of grandpa’s life.

From his years of carrying Wake Forest into the NCAA Tournament and towards the Sweet Sixteen.

And to his first few seasons in the NBA in which he, like he always had, played beyond his years.

This was the Chris Paul I came to know. But he was absent against the Nuggets. His ego, a must for any superstar in this league, was deflated by the physicality of the Denver defense, and he was overcome by the frustration.

Not since the ‘07 Mavericks, when then league MVP Dirk Nowitzki was upset by the Warriors, has an elite level player been so torn down from his pedestal.

If Paul is able to weather the physical and mental breakdown that was this series, he’ll be impenetrable. I just hope he can.

NBA Playoff Predictions

Chris Le — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:21:30 -0400

I love the NBA Playoffs.

Maybe more than any other season of sports. More than March Madness. More than Sunday at Augusta. More than the NFL’s championship Sunday. And definitely more than the BCS bowl season, which fails to crown a true champion.

The only possible exception may be a highly-anticipated fight between the two top fighters of a particular division that lives up to the hype. But, with the politics of boxing and the sport’s dearth of talent, these are few and far between.

Yup, I’m sure of it: nothing provides consistent entertainment and drama like the NBA Playoffs.

But I don’t know how I feel about this particular postseason.

The opening rounds look to be incredibly intriguing. But for a bad reason: Most of the teams are tragically flawed.

Compared to seasons past, it’s a weak field, with almost every team sustaining key injuries. Manu Ginobili, Kevin Garnett, and Tracy McGrady will be in street clothes for the entire playoffs, while the likes of Tyson Chandler and Hedo Turkoglu hobble into their respective series.

Some, like the Bulls and Trailblazers, are incredibly inexperienced. Derrick Rose is a rookie. It’s expecting a lot if you think he can lead his team past the defending champs.

And Brandon Roy is a stud, a bona fide star who is a killer in the clutch. But this is also his first trip to the big dance. You can’t possibly expect him to have any success, especially with Ron Artest and Shane Battier all over him. Right?

You could clump the Rockets, with their lack of postseason results, and the Magic in this group as well. But at the same time, you can’t discount their collection of talent either. These young teams are stacked. So you have to ask yourself, “When does energy and athleticism begin to beat out savvy?”

Other teams (the Spurs and Mavs) are seasoned, but on old legs. No team looks as old as the Spurs do heading into the first round. Check that, no team is older than the Spurs. They’re dinosaurs, and the mileage from all those long postseason runs—and short offseasons—are beginning to show.

But who’s willing to bet their 401k that Tim Duncan and Co. are completely done? Even though all signs point to their window being shut, I wouldn’t take that bet.

There are a lot of unknowns in these first few games, more so than in any other year. It should all make for some wild finishes.

However, the undeniable supremacy of the Lakers and Cavs has rendered these initial matchups pointless, robbing fans of any true drama—until the Finals. But if everything goes according to plan, I think we’re in for an epic showdown between the two preeminent players of this generation. That would make up for the predictability of the opening rounds.

First Round

Western Conference

Lakers in five over Jazz
Hornets in six over Nuggets
Mavericks in six over Spurs
Rockets in six over Trailblazers

Eastern Conference

Cavaliers in four over Pistons
Celtics in five over Bulls
Magic in seven over 76ers
Hawks in seven over Heat

Second Round

Western Conference

Lakers in six over Rockets
Hornets in six over Mavericks

Eastern Conference

Cavaliers in five over Hawks
Celtics in six over Magic

Conference Finals

Western Conference

Lakers in six over Hornets

Eastern Conference

Cavaliers in six over Celtics

NBA Finals

Lakers in seven over Cavaliers

My NBA End-of-Season Awards

Chris Le — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:43:04 -0400

Each year before the NBA heads into its Playoffs, I like to sit down and think of a storyline that defined the regular season. I try to distill a solitary episode that shaped the year in basketball.

This season, I could have chosen a number of things: the Allen Iverson-Chauncey Billups trade; the Mo Williams acquisition; the parity in both conferences, aside from the Lakers and Cavs (with five days left in the regular season, there still isn’t a set postseason series); or the ever-present injuries (to the likes of Manu Ginobili, Tracy McGrady, Andrew Bynum, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Kevin Garnett, and the list goes on) that affected many teams' fortunes.

But ironically enough, I have come to the conclusion that this year’s defining moment didn’t even occur during the season. It happened three months before the first tip-off.

Above anything else, more than the trades or the injuries, what went down at the Beijing Olympics with Team USA made this season what it is.

Every single member of that grou[ is better for having played in the Games; their subsequent terrific seasons all had the Olympics as a starting point.

Dwyane Wade’s Mickey Rourke-like resurrection began in the Games; seeing the energy with which he played and the burst in his every step, you just knew Wade was back in full effect.

Dwight Howard, who was relegated to being strictly a rebounder and defender, realized he had more to learn and transformed into a more well-rounded beast.

And Kobe Bryant, to his credit, became less of an a-hole.

But most telling of all, perhaps, was that LeBron James learned from Kobe what it takes to be truly great.

Which is in large part why, if I alone had the power, would give out the end-of-season awards like this:

Most Valuable Player: LeBron James

Honestly, he’s had it in the bag for a while now. It’s been evident from the onset of the season that King James is on a mission to make it clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the best player in the league.

Yes, he has raised his field goal, three-point, and free-throw percentages from last year, but the true elevation of his game has been seen on the defensive end.

Unlike in years past, James is now a consistently dependable on-ball deterrent, and he remains a lethal help-side defender and has perfected the come-from-behind swat that Tayshaun Prince made famous. He's the motor of the best defense in the league.

To sum things up, Wade has been the most dynamic player of the year, and Kobe the most skilled, but LeBron is the most valuable.

The 2009 season will be looked back upon as his.

Ballot:

1. LeBron James

2. Dwyane Wade

3. Kobe Bryant

4. Dwight Howard

5. Chauncey Billups

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard

Here’s another benefactor of Team USA participation.

Coach K, a master at teaching team defense, wanted Howard to do two things and two things only: rebound and block shots. And he proved he can do those.

"D12" leads the league in blocks (2.9) and is second in defensive rebounds (9.6) and plays on the third-best defensive team in the NBA.

Dwyane Wade will rightfully receive some first-place votes, seeing how he’s been a complete menace in the passing lanes, amassing 173 steals and an astounding 105 blocks (not bad for someone who’s only 6’4”). But as much as he’s done, he’s still not a defensive anchor like Howard, who’s an absolute eraser in the paint.

Ballot:

1. Dwight Howard

2. Dwyane Wade

3. LeBron James

4. Ron Artest

5. Kevin Garnett

Rookie of the Year: Derrick Rose

This is the easiest pick of the bunch.

Rose is well on his way to mastering the most difficult position in the game, and he’s doing it on a Playoff-bound team that has improved massively from its 22-in '08 campaign. He has the look of a seasoned veteran, brushing aside any pressure of living up to being the No. 1 overall draft pick.

In any case, he’s exceeding all expectations.

It’s a big gap between first and second here, but Russell Westbrook has clearly shocked some people with his athleticism and all-around ability. Brook Lopez is also proving to be a steal as the 10th pick and a possible franchise center for the Nets.

Ballot:

1. Derrick Rose

2. Russell Westbrook

3. Brook Lopez

4. O.J. Mayo

5. Kevin Love

Most Improved Player: Devin Harris

I’m finding that, year-in and year-out, the MIP award is the most competitive category.

Kevin Durant has matured into possibly the most effortless scorer in the league; a flick of his wrist from deep, and the ball swishes the net. But a sophomore leap is expected, and this award in particular is very much an acknowledgment of exceeded expectations.

Devin Harris is a legitimate star in this league and has a lot of people in Dallas regretting the Kidd trade.

Now, who saw that one coming?

Exactly. Consider the expectations exceeded.

Ballot:

1. Devin Harris

2. Kevin Durant

3. Danny Granger

4. Paul Millsap

5. Nene

Sixth Man of the Year: Jason Terry

He’s been the Mavs’ best and most consistent player all season long, providing a potent offensive punch in the second unit.

He leads all supersubs with 19.6 points per game and 160 three-pointers made, and like all great sixth men, Terry may not start games, but he finishes them.

Mark Cuban and his Mavs wouldn’t be where they are without him.

Ballot:

1. Jason Terry

2. J.R. Smith

3. Nate Robinson

4. Travis Outlaw

5. Leandro Barbosa

Coach of the Year: Mike Brown, Cavaliers

It’s not just the fact that the Cavs have the best record in the NBA; it’s how they went about achieving it that makes Brown’s coaching performance most impressive.

Cleveland withstood the part-time losses of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West, and Ben Wallace, all of whom are starters. The Cavs have played with a fully healthy squad for only a small chunk of the season, and that’s scary news for everyone else, because they’re only getting better from here.

And this isn’t even mentioning the seamless integration of Mo Williams.

And once again, the Cavs are one of best defensive teams in the league. Credit this all to Brown’s tutelage—and, I suppose, to some guy named LeBron.

Ballot:

1. Mike Brown, Cavs

2. George Karl, Nuggets

3. Stan Van Gundy, Magic

4. Rick Adelman, Rockets

5. Gregg Popovich, Spurs

All-NBA First Team

G Dwyane Wade
G Kobe Bryant
F LeBron James
F Tim Duncan
C Dwight Howard

All-Defense First Team

G Chris Paul
G Dwyane Wade
F Ron Artest
F LeBron James
C Dwight Howard

NBA MVP Power Rankings

Chris Le — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 20:10:05 -0500

With just under half the season done, we have a decent picture of how teams and players are shaping up. For sure, the NBA season is long, and its second half–when seeding battles and playoff pushes provide nice drama–can bring about drastic changes no one can foresee (injuries, trades, scandals, slumps). But, broadly speaking, the first 41 games give a rough estimate of how things might pan out near regular season’s end.

The preseason favorites (Lakers and Celtics) are still near the top, certain squads have risen as legit title contenders (Cavs, Magic, Spurs, and…Denver?), other underwhelm (Raptors, 76ers), and some teams we thought would suck, well…they suck (Thunder, Kings).

The same goes for player evaluations. The best are still the best. Fools like Danny Granger, Paul Millsap, Devin Harris, and Jameer Nelson get better (or, at least, they boast improved statistics). And others aren’t quite as good, uh hum, Steve Nash and Baron Davis.

The playoff picture is still a bit hazy at this time of the year, but things are slowly coming into focus. Most importantly, though, especially to nerds like me who love to rank everything, we have sufficient data to realistically begin debating the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Here’s how I see it at the half-way mark:

1. LeBron James – The game has never looked easier for the preseason favorite, who is making each possession his very own dunk showcase.

The effortlessness with which LeBron is driving—and finishing—is reminiscent of Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth smashing to right field baseballs fruitlessly lobbed down the middle of the strike zone. Of Jim Brown running over and around hapless defenders half his size. Of Joe Louis knocking out “bums” every month. LeBron is at that level of good.

In his sixth year, James’ game–and his team–is of the championship caliber we all expected it to be since he was drafted in 2003. But of all his gaudy stats, the most telling may be his 36 minutes played per game—by far the lowest of his career in which he averages 40.8. Cleveland is blowing teams out at a league-leading clip of 12.4, so James is sitting out most fourth quarters.

Watch out in the playoffs. No one can touch The King right now. And with his Cavs playing so well, especially on the defensive end (an area where James has seriously picked up his game), LeBron is, at the moment, the runaway favorite for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

(The gap between number one and everyone else is significant. And with the way LeBron is playing, it’s widening.)

2. Dwyane Wade – D-Wade is playing out of his mind. Arguably better than anyone in the league. He’s scoring—and shooting—more than ever, leading the league in points (29.0) and shot attempts per game (21.8). He’s playing like it’s the 2006 playoffs, when he carried his team to the title.

Wade will have to shoulder this 2009 squad, too, if he wants to even make it out of the first round because the rest of the Heat isn’t very formidable. Coming into the season, with three rookies serving as head coach (Erik Spoelstra), starting point guard (Mario Chalmers), and second scoring option (Michael Beasley), I had very low expectations for Miami. I was anticipating seeing, at season’s end, the Heat in the bottom third of the Eastern Conference rankings.

But the fact that Wade is overcoming, really, a dismal situation which lesser players would crumble under, is proof of how boundless his skill and competitiveness are. In any other year, Wade would be a slam dunk pick for MVP.

3. Kobe Bryant – The defending MVP has probably exerted himself on the court, maybe, 25 times this season. Or so it seems. That’s how well-rounded and dominant the Lakers have been so far. And yet, Kobe is still dropping 27 points (good enough for third in the NBA), 5.2 boards, and 4.6 dimes in just under 36 minutes—that just shows how good he is.

No other guard (besides Chris Paul and the man just above) plays as efficiently and, without question, no one in the game is as smooth. The Lakers’ defense may have dipped as of late, allowing a middle-of-the-pack 98.9 points a game, but that’s forgivable (for now) seeing how they lead the league in total scoring (107.8). As things stand, the Lakers are undeniably a top three team, and all the success they enjoy begins and ends with Kobe.

4. Dwight Howard – It’s tough for me to say this, but Howard is slowly eclipsing my boy Tim Duncan as the best big man in the game. The front-runner for defensive player of the year, Howard leads the Association in blocks (by far with 3.3 a night), is second in defensive rebounds (9.3), and anchors a Magic squad that ranks third in both opponent field goal percentage (42.8) and points per game (93.3). And he’s doing all this without any help in the interior.

Offensively, D12’s numbers overall are down a bit, and he still is a turnover machine who doesn’t consistently pass well out of the post. But his true imprint on the game is seen in the attention he receives down low. Since opposing teams are doubling, even tripling Howard, his teammates are getting wide open looks—and they are capitalizing.

The Magic are second in the league in three-pointers made (10.4) and second in three-point percentage (40.1). Who would’ve thought, at this time, the Magic would have the third best record in the NBA? Not me. And if you say you did, you’re lying.

5. Chris Paul – Chris Paul is shaping up to be the perfect point guard. I honestly have trouble finding a flaw in his game. With the exception of Kobe, I can’t say this about anyone else. So it kills me to rank CP3 this low. It’s just the Hornets’ underwhelming performance so far. When results don’t quite meet expectations, you shouldn’t be rewarded, right?

But don’t blame Paul for New Orleans’ slower than expected start. Now more than ever, I believe the Hornets would be a sub .500 team without Paul. Peja Stojakovic, hampered by injuries, is shooting an abysmal .393 from the field and scoring 12.5 a night, the lowest output since his second year in the league. Tyson Chandler has regressed to his former Chicago Bull-self, seeing remarkable drops in points (9 from 11.8) and rebounds (8.1 from 11.8). Credit Paul’s sheer will to win for the Hornets’ 24-12 record.

6. Tim Duncan — Timmy is where he and his Spurs have been his entire career: under the radar. Expectations were low, with Manu Ginobili beginning the season on the bench and Tony Parker tweaking his right ankle six games in. Experts and the less faithful were beginning to shovel dirt on the Spurs, all but pronouncing them dead.

But Duncan proved his leadership by rallying a completely new-look team and going 6-2 with Ginobili and Parker in street clothes. The rest of the league blew their chance at put them away. Now the Spurs boast the third-best record in the Western Conference and once again figure to be championship contenders. As always, Duncan is the reason why.

7. Chauncey Billups — The Nuggets began the season 1-3. They the trade Allen Iverson for Billups and proceed to go 25-10, currently holding the third best record in the West. Yes, you read it correctly–the third best record in the West. This is no coincidence. Billups has provided much needed leadership and infused defense (if only just a little) to a talented, but once lost Nuggets team.

Who would ever think Denver would be fifth in the league in opponent field goal percentage (44.16)? Billups, averaging a career high 18.8, has given the Nuggets some mental toughness, and it’s rubbing off on his teammates.

tie. 8. Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett — I have a hard time, especially this year, deciding who is the more valuable of the two. KG still plays DPOY level defense and commands everyone on the team. But at the same time, Pierce’s playmaking and clutch scoring may very well be just as important. In the end, the Celtics wouldn’t be close to 32-9 without either of them. I’ll cheat and call it a tie. But if you held a gun to my forehead and forced me to choose, I’d blurt out Garnett.

10. Brandon Roy – I recently read a description that fits Brandon Roy perfectly: imagine Tim Duncan as a 6’6” perimeter player. This is a compliment, trust. And it fits Roy to a T. Like Duncan, smooth and subtle is Brandon’s game, but disregard its lethality at your peril. Don’t think he’s particularly fast? Pressure his dribble as he blows by with understate quickness.

Don’t think he can throw it down? You won’t see any 360 windmills from him, but Roy’s not afraid to make a poster of anyone. He is a menacing killer wrapped up in a stoic’s body. Questions of whether Roy would ever be a “superstar” or be an elite level player have gone from whispers to straight up silence.

Not So Hollywood Ending: Pete Caroll Not Pleased with Mark Sanchez

Chris Le — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:15:19 -0500

Gritting his teeth while halfheartedly saying goodbye to his former starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, Pete Carroll sounded like a little kid who didn’t get his way. It was the oddest sight, too. Borderline embarrassing even. I almost didn’t believe it was Pete. Usually calm and classy, it was the first time, outside of the sidelines, I’ve ever seen the USC head coach peeved.

But can you blame him?

USC is already facing a laundry list of changes in a daunting 2009 season.

Firstly, the schedule will be tougher. They essentially playing the same teams they faced in 2008; but this time, they’ll be on the road for the big ones (at Ohio State, at Cal, at Notre Dame, at Oregon, at Arizona State).

And coach Carroll will face this gauntlet without longtime offensive coordinator and quarterback coach (not to mention big-time recruiter) Steve Sarkisian, who is now running the show at Washington. He will be sorely missed in Pasadena.

But most worst of all, the vaunted defense that wrecked havoc on the Pac 10 will be overhauled and might be the team’s weakness in the upcoming year. USC, of course, doesn’t rebuild, but reloads—or so they say. All those blue chip recruits haven’t really panned out. When does talent turn into results? Only time will tell.

Now, thanks to Sanchez’ departure, they’ll have to integrate a new starting quarterback. The most coveted position in college football will belong to either Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain, sophomore Aaron Corp, senior Garrett Green, or highly touted incoming freshman Matt Barkley.

Many message board nerds like myself have this vision of Barkley arriving to campus, immediately winning the starting spot and leading USC to the title.

I’ll be the first to say that Barkley has all the tools of a Heisman winning quarterback–even more so than anyone on the current roster. He’s the best quarterback prospect I’ve seen in years. But he won’t see any meaningful playing time next year. The learning curve is too steep, and, even though Barkley will enroll early, the playbook is massive and intricate. He’ll need more than one semester to catch up.

Plus, while the arm strength, accuracy, and touch are already there, I question Barkley’s decision making when under pressure. Just check out his 23-18 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his senior season at Mater Dei high school.

The starting spot will either go to Mustain or Corp. Mustain is the more polished passer; Corp is the better athlete who can make plays with his feet. At this point, I have no idea who’ll win out. Early in the 2008 season, Corp beat out Mustain for the backup job, only to see Mustain takeover halfway through the year. But if you held a gun to my head, I’d go with Mustain.

USC To Wear Homes Jerseys Against UCLA

Chris Le — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:38:00 -0500

By Chris Le

USC Coach Pete Carroll, the coolest coach in college football, just got a little bit cooler.

Carroll announced on Monday that the Trojans will wear their home, cardinal red jerseys against UCLA this Saturday at the Rose Bowl. This is in violation of the NCAA rule which mandates visiting teams must wear white jerseys. As a result the Trojans will sacrifice one timeout.

It is an homage, Carroll says, to the days when USC and UCLA shared the Coliseum. The last time both squads wore their home colors was in 1982. Carroll wanted to bring back this tradition earlier in his stint with USC, but thought again.

The fact that UCLA (3-5) has been horrible this season, I’m sure, helped convince Carroll to pull the trigger this year. Shortly after Carroll’s announcement of the resurrected custom, many thought it was a slight to the Bruins, a show of confidence that the Trojans won’t need a timeout against their hated rival.

UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel quickly brushed off these assumptions and even shared excitement for Carroll’s idea. It is reported that UCLA, in a nod of sportsmanship to offset USC’s disadvantage, will immediately call a timeout to start the game.

Less than 10 miles separates the USC and UCLA campuses, so it pretty much is a home game for both sides. If the Bruins were hoping for their home crowd to be their 12th man on defense, they should think otherwise. UCLA’s marketing director Scott Mitchell says USC was given 25,000 tickets for the game, twice the usual amount given for this rivalry game.

With the home jersey tradition now intact, it’s unfortunate that the customary competition won’t be there. The Bruins, who hover near the bottom of most Pac-10 offensive statistics, won’t find much daylight against a Trojans squad that leads the nation in points allowed (a stingy 7.8 per game) and total defense (210.5 yards per game). UCLA will look every bit the 32.5 point underdog and will be outclassed in all facets of the game.

Al-Farouq Aminu Leads The Top Five Freshman In College Basketball

Chris Le — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:21:27 -0500

By Chris Le

College recruiters have been spoiled the past two years. I’m talking Paris Hilton, My Super Sweet 16 spoiled.

In 2007 college basketball witnessed the dominance of Kevin Durant, Greg Oden and Mike Conley, both of whom may be question marks now in the NBA, but played like the next coming of Bill Russell and Chris Paul in college.

That first year corps—which also included Thaddeus Young, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson, and Brook Lopez—looked like it wouldn’t be topped…until the very next year.

The 2008 season welcomed an even deeper and more productive freshman class of Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, and Kevin Love (all one-and-dones), and budding superstars Blake Griffin, Austin Daye and Kyle Singler.

Compared to the past two classes, this year—like the economy—is experiencing a recession. Don’t expect the incoming crop to feature any All-American candidates, let alone the Player of the Year. Even the number of proverbial unpolished physical freaks (e.g. Anthony Randolph, Brandon Wright) is low, as only a handful of prospects are validly considered NBA-ready, or even look to possess the potential.

Granted, it might be a little unfair to compare any freshman class to the previous two. And it’s not to say that they’ll lack production. It’s just that these frosh are a little underwhelming.

–

Al-Farouq Aminu, SF/PF, Wake Forest – My favorite to win Freshman of the Year honors. I love this kid’s versatility.

At 6’9”, 215 (with a 7’2” wingspan and upside to spare), Aminu will be all over the court. He can score from deep, off the dribble, or in traffic—and he does it all smoothly and efficiently.

I’ve been impressed since the second I saw him dominate against national powerhouse Helen Cox, outshining then top-ranked senior in the country, Greg Monroe. Aminu heads possibly the nation’s top recruiting class and should make Wake Forest a serious player in the ACC. Needs to improve his strength and defensive consistency. Video Evidence. NBA Comparison: A more athletic Luol Deng.

Jrue Holiday, PG/SG, UCLA – The most polished and ready to contribute freshmen in the country.

His basketball IQ is as high as you’ll find in an 18-year-old. His offensive skills are highly developed and he can score in a myriad of ways, whether it is driving to the rack or pulling up, but he truly excels in the open court. Not sure about his point abilities, but with All-American floor general Darren Collison still running the offense, Holiday won’t have to worry about that. Video Evidence. NBA Comparison: Poor man’s Dwyane Wade.

Demar DeRozan, SG, USC – No O.J. Mayo? Not a problem. Meet Demar DeRozan, the most explosive player to come out of high school in years.

His hops are on par with that of the best NBAers. This kid from Compton can straight up jump out of the gym. Of course, having relied on his springs and quickness his whole life, he needs to improve his perimeter game and his left-hand handles. But he’ll be a dominant force right away just with his freakish athleticism. Figures to be a top-5 draft pick. Video Evidence. NBA Comparison: Vince Carter.

Tyreke Evans, SG, Memphis – Evans, touted as the top player in his class since he was in junior high, has the requisite swagger and lack of conscience needed in a go-to scorer.

And if Evans is anything, he’s a scorer—probably the best in this group of freshman. Possessing top-notch body awareness, NBA-range and an extremely natural yet cerebral feel for the game, Evans makes for amazing scoring exhibitions and makes it look sickeningly easy.

He won’t offset the loss of Derek Rose and Christopher Douglas-Roberts, but cushions the blow. Not as extraordinary on the defensive end and he won’t be as effective if he’s forced to play the point guard position. Video Evidence. NBA comparison: A smaller Tracy McGrady.

BJ Mullens, C, Ohio State – The Buckeyes tried to replace Oden with Kosta Koufos in 2008.

That didn’t pan out as expected, but they’re getting closer with Mullens, who does just about everything well. He’s a legit seven-footer who can run the court, shoot, and finish around the rim. That’s why he’s Rivals.com’s no. 1 prospect.

Mullen’s potential, perhaps more than any other freshman, is through the roof. Needs to develop a mean streak, and though he’s enormously well rounded, he’s not exceptional at any one aspect. Video Evidence. NBA Comparison: A more athletic Andrew Bogut.

I’m not so excited about…

Greg Monroe, PF/C, Georgetown – Ranked the 8^th best prospect in the nation by both Rivals.com and Scouts.com.

At 6’11", 254-pounds, he’s got the frame and strength to be a handful in the paint, especially as a rebounder.

In high school, though, he wasn’t very keen of the low-block, almost shying away from it. When I saw him play, with his team down, he lacked intensity, and didn’t demand the ball in crunch time. His face up game and handles are nice, but he’s not exceptionally fast or athletic. I expect Monroe to struggle a bit. Video Evidence. NBA Comparison: Stronger, but less athletic LaMarcus Aldridge.

USC’s Success on the Recruiting Trail Hurting their BCS Chances

Chris Le — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:39:15 -0500

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports wrote an interesting piece arguing that Pete Carroll’s utter dominance in the recruiting game, particularly on the West Coast (Pac-10 country), is coming back to haunt his Trojans in the BCS rankings.

It sounds backwards at first. But Wetzel might be on to something here.

With one top-signing class after another, it’s evident that Carroll has his pick of any recruit, not just in talent-rich southern California, but in the entire country. And from their perspective, considering what the program offers, it’s difficult to turn down a scholarship from USC.

Here’s what the rest of the Pac-10 has to compete against: an NFL factory that has the glitz, glamour, and media coverage of a professional team, excellent academics, elite facilities, perfect weather, and the coolest head coach in the land.

Ask anyone who has or is currently being courted by Southern Cal, and they’ll all say the same thing: it’s hard as hell not to like Coach Carroll. Parents can’t help but be caught up in his charm and good looks; and recruits love his ability to be laid back, yet still be all about winning at the highest level.

And despite already having a roster loaded with NFL prospects—some positions run three or four deep—he somehow convinces recruits into thinking they have a shot at playing right away as true freshmen. It’s just the magic of Pete Carroll and the prestige of the empire that is USC football.

But with Coach Carroll bogarting all of the four and five-star recruits, is he partially to blame for the decline of the Pac-10? Had some of USC’s talent gone elsewhere, would the conference fair better against the SEC or Big 12 or even the Mountain West?

Imagine if All-American safety Taylor Mays decided to stay close to home and join the Huskies instead of the Trojans. The combination of Mays and Jake Locker, two foundations for each side of the ball, wouldn’t be too shabby. Washington’s secondary wouldn’t be so atrocious and perhaps Tyrone Willingham wouldn’t be out of a job at the end of the season (The latter might be overdoing it, but you never know).

Or if RB Allen Bradford and Marcy Tyler—who was thinking of going to his father’s alma mater before ultimately going with USC—chose to attend UCLA. Not a bad running back tandem, right?

Or if OL Kristofer O’Dowd and DE Everson Griffen, two of the highest rated prospects to ever come out of the Grand Canyon State, signed with Arizona or Arizona State. I’m sure ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter, who moonlights as a sack dummy during games, wouldn’t mind having O’Dowd anchor the O-line.

Or if RB C.J. Gable matriculated to Cal. The Bears were major players in the Gable sweepstakes and had him seemingly within their grasps—until Carroll did his voodoo that he does and adding Gable to a class that already featured Stafon Johnson, Emmanuel Moody, and Stanley Havili. The thought of C.J. Gable and Jahvid Best in the backfield is like, well, looking at the current USC backfield of Joe McKnight (LSU fans are still pissed that he’s a Trojan) and Johnson.

Or if All-Conference safety Kevin Ellison wanted to play with his brother, Keith, at Oregon State.

The list goes on and on.

If Carroll wasn’t so selfish, maybe the Pac-10 wouldn’t be so weak, and (since we know the Trojans can never go undefeated, always tripping up somewhere during the season against a vastly inferior opponent) USC’s strength of schedule would be strong enough to compete with Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, and Florida.

But, like with any “what if” scenario ever presented, there’s a flip side to that coin. Pete Carroll’s players are only as good as they are because of the culture of competition fostered within their program.

Fear of losing your starting spot (or better yet, actually losing it) is major motivation—just ask former first string D-linemen Averell Spicer and Everson Griffen. That vital competition would lose some of its edge or be completely gone if there wasn’t a hoard of talent around.

Would USC be as awe-inspiring and dominant without their stockpile of blue chip players?

Maybe they would. And perhaps the rest of the Pac-10, if they had their chance with elite recruits, would still stink.

But either way Pete Carroll will still continue to sign every damn five-star prospect he can find.

NBA Postseason Awards

Chris Le — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:26:53 -0400

Usually, by this time of year, most of the playoff seedings have been finalized and the topic of discussion becomes the postseason awards. As you know, however, this hasn’t been the typical NBA season, and the debate over the game’s best rookie, coach, sixth man, etc. has been overshadowed by this marvelous finish to the regular season.

So with just over a week left, still amid a fiercely contested race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference, I thought it’d be prudent to hand out some hardware—even if it isn’t the most prevalent subject on people’s minds.

Most Valuable Player—Chris Paul

I’ve gone through this with much depth in a previous article. But here’s the gist: the Hornets have the best record in the West, despite have the league’s worst bench—30th in points per game (24.3) and 29th in efficiency (25.8). No one has done more with less this year. And whether it is stats, team success or leadership, Paul has all three in spades.

Ballot: 1. Chris Paul 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Kevin Garnett 4. LeBron James

Coach of the Year—Byron Scott

It’s got to be down to Scott or Doc Rivers, who coach the top teams in their respective conferences, with Phil Jackson not too far behind. Some pundits picked the Celtics, now equipped with three legitimate stars, to win the East. Can’t say the same about the Hornets.

And by virtue of the fact that no one saw New Orleans coming, I have to give it to Scott. I still can’t understand how they have the best record in the West. Well, there’s Paul playing out of his mind. But while CP3 deserves a lot of credit, the rest most certainly goes to Scott.

Ballot: 1. Byron Scott 2. Doc Rivers 3. Phil Jackson 4. Stan Van Gundy

Rookie of the Year—Kevin Durant

Another two-man race, this between Seattle’s quick-firing Durant and Al Horford, who has been a near double-double machine on a playoff contender. But as poorly and disappointing (and I use both terms very loosely) as Durant was in the beginning of the season, the growth he has shown in the second half has been a substantial.

Factoring in everything—the reality that he’s the only threat on a bottom feeding team, the pressure of the hype, and the mid-season maturity, all as a 19-year-old—one begins to realize it’s Durant pretty comfortably.

Ballot: 1. Kevin Durant 2. Al Horford 3. Al Thornton 4. Luis Scola

Defensive Player of the Year—Kevin Garnett

Hard to ignore the stats of Marcus Camby (3.6 blocks, 10.3 defensive rebounds, 1.1 steals) and Dwight Howard (2.2 blocks, 10.9 defensive rebounds). But it’s equally hard to disregard how mediocre to awful their teams are defensively as a whole. Unlike Camby and Howard, whose defensive contributions have been mainly singular, Kevin Garnett has turned a traditionally soft bunch into the stingiest defense in the NBA. Not only has it been Garnett’s individual play, but the mindset he instilled in his teammates the moment he set foot in Boston.

Ballot: 1. Kevin Garnett 2. Marcus Camby 3. Dwight Howard 4. Shane Battier

Sixth Man of the Year—Manu Ginobili

Easiest pick of the bunch. Some say he’s really a starter, but with more appearances as a sub than as a starter, he fits the criteria.

And forget the sixth man award, Manu should justifiably garner some (probably just a little) MVP attention. Everything the Spurs does still revolves around Tim Duncan, but this year Ginobili has been their go-to scorer, and the lift he gives them off the bench has been vital to their success—particularly with Father Time catching up to Robert Horry, Michael Finley and, to a lesser extent, Bruce Bowen.

Additionally, there was a one month period earlier in the season when Manu was dropping 35 point games like nothing, looking like the best player on the planet (i.e. as good as Kobe and LeBron).

Ballot: 1. Manu Ginobili 2. Leandro Barbosa 3. Luis Scola 4. Ben Gordon

Most Improved Player—Hedo Turkoglu

Over the years, this category has become the most difficult to decide, usually because of a packed field—and this is great for the NBA. There’s isn’t anything like watching so many players blossom, especially into possible super-stardom, and knowing that the league has a bright future. But I digress.

I’m reluctant, like others out there I think, to give the award to players who have already established themselves as stars. In a way, I view it as a coming-out or a I-didn’t-think-you’d-be-this-good prize. So Dwight Howard, Monta Ellis and Chris Paul are out of the running.

Rudy Gay has seen the greatest statistical jump, but plays on a horrible team. Rajon Rondo has been key to the Celtics’ success, but he’s playing behind three All-Stars. Turkoglu, on the other hand, is having career highs in points (19.7), rebounds (5.9), assists (4.9) and field goal percentage (.454), all while being the second best player on a post season contender.

Ballot: 1. Hedo Turkoglu 2. Rudy Gay 3. LaMarcus Aldridge 4. Rajon Rondo

All-NBA First Team

G Chris Paul

G Kobe Bryant

F LeBron James

F Kevin Garnett

C Amare Stoudemire

All-NBA Second Team

G Deron Williams

G Steve Nash (Thought about swapping him with Ginobili for a second)

F Paul Pierce

F Tim Duncan

C Dwight Howard

All-NBA Defense

G Kobe Bryant

F Shane Battier

F Kevin Garnett

F Tim Duncan

C Marcus Camby

The Greatest Fighters of All-Time, Part Two

Chris Le — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:11:59 -0400

The other day, I began to compile a list of the best fighters ever. My inspiration came from Floyd Mayweather and his ridiculous boasts of being the GOAT, when in fact he’d be lucky to crack the top 40.

Judging solely on in-ring performances and physical talent, it is perhaps true that the current welterweight and junior middleweight champion of the world is as good as anyone in history, but he has yet to consistently prove it against elite-level opposition. The men on this list have.

Continued…

5. Roberto Duran, 104-16 (69 KOs)—“Manos de Piedra,” or “Hands of Stone,” was the epitome of machismo, possessing a stubbornness and fury few have ever witnessed in boxing. His tenaciously aggressive style often overshadowed his magnificent skill as a technician; he had very little flaws, if any.

If inclined, he could box an opponent’s ears off from the outside for a full 15 rounds, but what Duran loved more than anything was a toe-to-toe slugfest. Don’t be mistaken though, Duran brawled like a Tasmanian devil, but not at the expense of technique—his defense, particularly on the inside, was subtle yet masterful, even when it didn’t always appear so.

In one of the most talent-rich eras in boxing history, a period that featured Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler in their primes, Duran was pound-for-pound the best of them all. And he was a bona fide badass, who took pleasure in dishing out sustained beatings. You didn’t want to mess with a man like him.

Notable Victories: W15 Sugar Ray Leonard, KO 11 Esteban DeJesus, KO 13 Ken Buchanan, KO 8 Davey Moore, W 12 Iran Barkley

4. Henry Armstrong, 150-21-9 (100 KOs)—Mayweather claims that he has never been tired in his 38 professional bouts. That’s easy when you throw one punch at a time. If you want to see a real display of endurance, check out the incomparable Henry Armstrong, who tirelessly threw punches from impossible angles, methodically breaking down his opponents for as long as it took.

This whirlwind approach to boxing was enough for him to dominate a long list of fellow Hall of Famers and allowed for him to be the only man to hold three world titles in the same number of weight classes at the same time. Yes, you read correctly. From 1937 to 1939, “Homicide Hank” held the featherweight (126 pounds), lightweight (135 pounds) and welterweight (147 pounds) championship belts simultaneously, and this was in an era of one belt per division and no junior/superweight divisions.

Armstrong has legitimate claims to being in the top three greatest ever in each of the weight classes in which he held titles. I can’t think of another fighter that can say the same.

Notable Victories: W 15 Barney Ross, W 15 Lou Ambers, W 10 Midget Wolgast, W 10 Baby Arizmendi, KO 3 Chalky Wright

3. Sam Langford, 164-35-33 (115 KOs with 48 no-decisions and three no-contests)Notable Victories: KO 2— “The Boston Tar Baby” is the only fighter in this top 10 to never have won a world title — an insignificant detail in my eyes, as Langford did not need a title to prove that he was the best in the world.

It should not be held against him that belt-holders at the time refused to face him out of fear and more specifically, because of the color of his skin. Though Langford deserved a shot at the title, he defeated enough quality foes to be the third greatest fighter in my estimation. Having fought from lightweight (135 pounds) to heavyweight (unlimited), Langford beat and knocked out nearly anyone and everyone he could get to step in the ring with him.

It was almost unfair how impossibly crafty and intelligent he was. And whether they were smaller and quicker or bigger and stronger, Sam, a natural 175-pounder, probably could have beaten any fighter in the world on any given day. He was simply way too good for his time.

Notable Victories: Tiger Flowers, W 15 Joe Gans, W 15 Joe Jeannette, KO 5 Philadelphia Jack O’Brien, KO 13 Sam McVea, KO 14 Harry Wills

2. Harry Greb, 115-8-3 (51 KOs with 183 no-decisions)—Short, stumpy and wholly unorthodox with a swarming, non-stop style (think Henry Armstrong) but without an inkling of power, it’s hard to imagine that Greb is the greatest middleweight ever. Nevertheless, he made up for his deficiencies with an iron chin, unfeasible quickness, Herculean stamina and a propensity to be dirty as all hell.

Nicknamed “The Human Windmill” for his prolific activity, he wasn’t shy about using his head, thumbs or elbows to gain an advantage. This was all enough for Greb, a 160-pounder, to beat some of the best welterweights, middleweights, light heavyweights and heavyweights of his day. No one, outside of possibly the two men who sandwich Greb on this list, has faced such an abundance of great fighters with such frequency. And to think, Greb accomplished all this while blind in one eye from 1921 on. Imagine what he could’ve done with two good eyes.

Notable Victories: W 15 Gene Tunney, W 15 Tommy Loughran, W 15 Mickey Walker, KO 1 Gunboat Smith, W 15 Johnny Wilson

1. Ray Robinson, 175-19-6 (109 KOs with 2 no-contests)—The true “Sugar” of boxing, Robinson raised and set the bar of pugilistic excellence that few have ever approached. With knockout power in either fist, the hand speed to match, beautiful balance and the footwork of Fred Astaire, it is no hyperbole to say that he was the closest this world has come to seeing a perfect fighter.

Even better than his physical prowess though, was his thirst for a fight. In the ring, he didn’t run or play defensive (even when he had the skill and reflexes to do so); his iron chin and willingness to duke it out made him a fight fan’s dream. In his prime, he was near impossible to beat, compiling a 128-1-2 record at the height of his ability, with the one loss being against his chief adversary, Jake LaMotta who outweighed Robinson by 15 pounds—Ray subsequently beat LaMotta in their next five meetings.

At 160 pounds, though slightly over the hill, he was still able to dominate at a time when the middleweight division was overflowing with talent. In all, no fighter has beaten more Hall of Famers, and it’s a tribute to his greatness that even Muhammad Ali admitted that Robinson was pound-for-pound the greatest fighter to ever live.

Notable Victories: KO 13 Jake LaMotta, KO 5 Gene Fullmer, W 15 Carmen Basilio, W 15 Kid Gavilan, W 15 Tommy Bell, KO 10 Randy Turpin

Why Chris Paul Is the NBA's MVP

Chris Le — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:27:25 -0400

In what has possibly been the first March when the NBA has trumped college basketball, the hotly contested race for a Western Conference playoff spot has only been matched by the equally murky debate over this season’s most valuable player.

I’ve gone back and forth from one player to another throughout the months after the All-Star break, and with just over two weeks left in the season the choice isn’t any easier. The field, however, as I’ve concluded, has been whittled down to four contenders: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Chris Paul.

Now, KG has restored legitimacy to the Boston Celtics in less than a year—an almost unfathomable notion a couple seasons ago—completely transforming everyone on their roster. His intensity, particularly on defense (the main reason for the Celtics’ success), has been infectious even to teammates who aren’t especially known for their defensive prowess (i.e. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce). That’s why the Celtics continued to win when Garnett was sidelined with an abdominal injury. However, also during that stretch where KG was out of commission, his MVP campaign lost some steam while other contenders seriously picked up their games—like LeBron James.

Since the All-Star break, LBJ has put up Oscar Robertson type numbers. He has been so insane this year that spectators now expect him to post 30-8-8 every time out. If he doesn’t, it’s almost considered a mediocre game. That’s how amazing he has been. And that’s not even mentioning his defensive improvements, though still sporadic, and the fact that he’s been the best clutch player in the league this season. Despite his otherworldly statistics, however, I begrudgingly still can’t shake the .554 winning percentage (record of 41-33), in the lowly Eastern Conference no less. I realize his supporting cast sucks (even the new one after the trade) and LeBron having the Cavs playing this well is in itself a mammoth achievement, I can’t—with a clear conscience—give the MVP to a player whose team didn’t even win its own division. I didn’t think Kobe deserved it a couple years ago when he, while scoring a million points a game, had a horrendous Lakers team hovering around .500; same logic hear.

So, with KG’s injury-induced loss of steam in his argument and LeBron’s lack of team success, it’s a two man race between Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, both of whom have been consistently excellent on winning squads.

The way it began, with his trade demands and largely negative attitude, who would’ve thought this would be Kobe’s best overall season? With his game-changing scoring ability and clutch play, Kobe is undeniably the game’s top talent and its most feared player—he has been for years. But he’s never combined those attributes with genuine leadership and a winning record until this season. You can say the Lakers are near the top of the Western Conference standings because their bench is improved so significantly and because of the Pau Gasol theft, but you have to largely credit Kobe for Los Angeles’ turnaround. You have to pay tribute to his growth as a leader and trust in his teammates, without which they and the newly acquired Gasol would not have matured and flourished as quickly as they have. That was why, for months, it was entrenched in my mind that this was Kobe’s year. I all but had him penned-in for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

But the more I thought about it, it became progressively more difficult denying Chris Paul.

His stats (21.5 points, a league-leading 11.4 assists and 2.7 steals) are exceedingly impressive yet still belie his true value as a player. That’s entering Tim Duncan territory when extraordinary numbers don’t fully encapsulate how impacting a player is. He routinely dominates the floor, regularly slicing up top defenses and at times scoring at will. When was the last time the NBA’s top assist man was also a top-20 scorer? From the looks of it, the last was Magic Johnson over twenty years ago in 1987 when he posted 23.9 points and 12.2 assists a night. Not bad company.

You’d be hard pressed to find a floor general who runs his offense better than CP3 (and yes, that includes Deron Williams and Steve Nash). You can also argue that Paul’s season has been better than Nash’s two previous MVP campaigns. He may not quite have Nash’s repertoire of passes and ambidextrousness, but his greater ability to create his own shots and those of his teammates has led to a better assist to turnover ratio (4.65 to 1 against Nash’s 3.03 to 1). It’s no coincidence that Tyson Chandler and David West are having career years. And let’s not forget that Paul is a defensive stalwart compared to Nash, particularly in the passing lanes.

In the end, in only his third year, Paul is the unquestioned leader of the (for now) top team in the West and is completely fearless on the court. His teammates feed off of him like KG, he’s posting crazy stats like LeBron, and he’s winning and leading like Kobe. In my book, there’s no other choice.

My ballot:

1. Chris Paul

2. Kobe Bryant

3. Kevin Garnett

4. LeBron James