Lebron James Wins NBA MVP Award

April 30, 2010 – Dr. Anklesnap

For the second consecutive season, Lebron James will be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. While an official announcement has yet to be made by the NBA on their website. Our boys over at Waiting for Next Year, a Cleveland Cavaliers centric blog, have been informed of the pending announcement.

I know, I know, it’s not official till it’s official right?

Maybe. But in this case i’m a believer. Or a ‘Witness’ as the case may be.

I haven’t seen any player have such a dominant season in the NBA since Michael Jordan hung ‘em up. Not only did Lebron lead his Cavaliers to the best record in the NBA this season, but he also dominanted almost every statistical category possible in the process. This season he averaged a massive 29.7 points, 7.3 boards, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1 block per game. Simply mind blowing stats really.

Congrats Lebron, you deserve it my man.

Grant Hill’s Huge Block on Jerryd Bayless

April 30, 2010 – Dr. Browntorious

Grant Hill has been solid again this year for the Phoenix Suns. He’s a jack of all trades and does just about everything and anything they need on both ends of the floor. In this tough, physical series with Portland in Round 1 that need has been defense. He’s been everywhere racking up steals and blocks for the Suns. Check out this denial of Jerryd Bayless from last night’s series close out game against the Blazers. Not only does this block give me flashback’s to the old Piston’s version of Grant Hill, but it also reminds me of something that should be in a Sprite commercial (Grant’s old sponsor) from back in the day:

Which NBA Players Sell The Most Jerseys?

April 30, 2010 – Allen Moll

Back in January we showed you which NBA teams have the largest following on Facebook and Twitter. Combining both, the LA Lakers had more than 2 million followers on the now well known social media sites, besting the 2nd place Orlando Magic by more than 1 million people. So it should come to no surprise that during the ’09-’10 season, the Lakers also led the NBA in overall team merchandise sales and had the highest selling individual jersey: Kobe Bryant’s # 24.

Here is a list of the Top Ten Most Popular in team merchandise sales:

LA Lakers
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Chicago Bulls
NY Knicks
Denver Nuggets
Orlando Magic
Miami Heat
San Antonio Spurs
Phoenix Suns

The Lakers once again remain in high demand, since they have ranked #1 for 7 of the last 8 seasons. The Celtics also are in the runner up spot for the 2nd consecutive year, while the Cavaliers continue to climb the rankings and are a very close 3rd behind Boston. Of course, that could change if Lebron James goes elsewhere in free agency. Amazingly, even though the NY Knicks had another disappointing season, they held on to the #5 spot. It just goes to show you the power of the “Big Apple” as far as marketing. Are you listening Lebron, Wade, and Co?

Here are the Top 15 Most Popular Individual Jerseys:

Kobe Bryant
Lebron James
Kevin Garnett
Derrick Rose
Dwight Howard
Dwyane Wade
Chris Paul
Paul Pierce
Kevin Durant
Carmelo Anthony
Nate Robinson
David Lee
Brandon Roy
Pau Gasol

So even though Lebron James is wildly popular, he still cannot surpass Kobe in jersey sales. Surprisingly KG still ranks 3rd, even though he is clearly not the same player of years past. I guess either you love him or hate him, but you still buy his jersey. Chris Paul is wildly popular even though he plays in a small market like New Orleans. It’s good to see this year’s scoring champ, Kevin Durant, cracking the Top 10. In another example of the power of New York, David Lee and Nate Robinson, even though he finished the year in Boston, both finished in the Top 15. If you count Nate as a member of the Celtics, they are the only NBA team with 3 players in the Top 11 jerseys. I’m a bit surprised that Iverson in his return to Philly is a no show. It’s also a bit surprising that Phoenix ranked #10 in overall merchandise, yet Nash or Stoudemire didn’t make the Top 14. One trend to watch will be whichever superstar goes to the Knicks will surely make it on this list for next year.

Via: NBA.com

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

Lakers Guard Sasha Vujacic As “The Machine”

April 29, 2010 – Allen Moll

I jokingly suggest that one of the reasons that the LA Lakers are in a dogfight against the upstart OKC Thunder in the 1st Round of the Western Conference Playoffs, might be because they are without Kobe Bryant’s primary back-up at the shooting guard position, Sasha Vujacic. The 5th year international sharpshooter has been absent from all of the guerilla warfare his teammates are encountering against a young Thunder squad who are giving the defending champs all they can handle in an attempt to make it out of the first round.

Vujacic has been away from the team, still nursing a severely sprained ankle he injured in the club’s regular season finale against the LA Clippers, leaving the Lakers dependent on the dunkmaster general, Shannon Brown as the Black Mamba’s lone back-up. Hailing from his native Yugoslavia, Sasha has garnered quite a bit of notoriety, not for his on-court production of 2.8 ppg, but more for his stunningly good looks and flowing black hair, which drives the ladies crazy at home games at the Staples Center.

Vujacic has become such a fan favorite that one of the Lakers’ largest fan sites, Lakers-fans.com pieced together quite the hilarious parody of the former 1st round pick, which serves as a sort of the Lakers’ 2010 NBA Playoffs anthem and features cheesy music with a catchy hook of “Slamma , Jamma, Bing, Bong“, lovely ladies fawning over Sasha, and Kobe Bryant giving Vujacic his nickname of “The Machine.” It’s definitely funny stuff, but suffers from a bit of bad timing since Vujacic got hurt right as the video came out.

Check out Sasha Vujacic as “The Machine”:

The 2010 NBA “Worst of the Worst” Awards

April 29, 2010 – R.S. De France

Under-Achieving Player of the Year

Nominations

Hedo Turkoglu (Raptors)12.4 ppg, but 16.8 ppg last season.
Richard Jefferson (Spurs) 12.3 ppg, but 19.6 ppg last season with the Milwaukee Bucks. And he scored 22.6 ppg in ’07-’08 for the New Jersey Nets.

WINNER: Both players were touted as crucial additions, supposedly making both worthy playoff teams. Although when we talk about the Spurs, the expectations were that maybe the can pull out one more championship run. Due to Jefferson picking his scoring average up over the last few weeks and the Turkoglu’s Toronto Raptors missing the playoffs, the award goes to HEDO TURKOGLU.

Worst Performance

Nominations

Saturday, March 6^th, the New York Knicks lost 113-93 to the NJ Nets while going 0/18 from 3-point range
The Los Angeles Lakers’ 91-75 loss to the Thunder, the Lakers lowest scoring output in years. Date?
January 24^th, the Knicks lost 128-78 to the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Jason Kidd.

WINNER: Yes, the Laker loss was bad and losing by 50 was horrific and historic, but I’m going to go with the other play by THE NEW YORK KNICKS. How can any team go 0/18 from the three-point line? How can any team lose by 20 to the 09-‘10 New Jersey Nets, a team with one of the worst records of all-time?

Worst Team

Nominees

Golden State Warriors

Indiana Pacers

New Jersey Nets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Winner

The NEW JERSEY NETS, who were on their way to possibly tying the 1972-1973 76ers all-time worst record of 9-73. Yet, the 76ers still hold that record as the ’09-‘10 Nets finished 12-70.

There really are not any great highlights of how bad the New Jersey Nets were in 2009-2010 (yet), but here’s a glimpse of their apathy in a Sports Center’s Not Top Ten:

Under-Achieving Team of the Year

Nominees

Washington Wizards—at the beginning of the season, the additions of Randy Foye and Mike Miller had people talking about a run to the playoffs (some even predicted a deep-run).
Los Angeles Clippers—this team under-achieved in the ’09 season, just like last season. Just like each season since they got to the second-round of the playoffs in ‘05-’06[1]. Baron Davis vowed that the team would improve, but the season was devastated in some part by three factors: the season-ending injury to rookie Blake Griffin, the trade of Marcus Camby, and the eventual firing of Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy.
The Philadelphia 76ers—although this team has been a competitive playoff team for the last two seasons, they were absolutely horrible this season. Last season, the 76ers took two games from the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic in the first round.
The Toronto Raptors, who were decent last season, were supposed to be better with the addition of Hedo Turkoglu. Despite taking a while to get it going, the Raptors made a run for the last playoff spot this season.

WINNER: To give full disclosure, personal opinion weighs heavily here, because before the season I already thought that Washington and the Clippers were going to be big busts. So, those were not big surprises to me. I would almost go with the Raptors because I expected them to make the playoffs, but I have to say the most under-achieving team of the year was the PHILADELPHIA 76ERS. For the last two seasons, the 76ers were a forty-win team that made the playoffs. Last season, they took 2 playoff games from the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic. A healthy Elton Brand (76 games) and the “ghost” of Allen Iverson were not enough to keep this team from seriously free-falling. This season they only won 27 games, and they missed the playoffs by a wide margin.

Worst Off-Court Performance

Nominations

Javaris Crittenton—allegedly brought a gun to the team locker room after being threatened by Gilbert “Doc Holiday” Arenas.
Allen Iverson—lasted only three games with the Memphis Grizzlies before returning to the Philadelphia 76’ers only to play __ games. His daughter has been seriously ill, which has caused him to miss a lot of time. Before the conclusion of the 76er’s season, Iverson was released by the team.
Gilbert Arenas—over a dispute related to a gambling debt Arenas allegedly owed to Crittenton, Arenas brought several guns into the team locker room. He then asked Crittenton to choose one for Arenas to shoot him in the knee caps with.
Shaquille O’Neil—who is rumored to have had an on-going affair with Gilbert Arenas’ now ex-fiance.

Winner

GILBERT ARENAS, who is suspended for the season and may or may not play for the Washington Wizards, again.

Gilbert Arenas gun incident:

Arenas’ punishment:

Also, if you have not already read Karl Malone’s piece on the Gilbert Arenas’ incident, it is probably the best piece of writing on the subject that I’ve read all year. Enjoy:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/basketball/nba/01/05/karl.malone.arenas/index.html

To be continued next week with the R.S.D.’s for the Best of the season…

[1] The 2005-2006 Los Angeles Clippers recorded the most wins ever in Los Angeles with 47. In fact, it is only second to the Buffalo Clippers team record of 49 wins.

R.S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. One of his life-long pursuits has been writing and covering anything related to sports, specifically the NBA. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.

CJ Leslie Commits To Play at NC State Next Season

April 29, 2010 – Allen Moll

Until yesterday, CJ Leslie, as the highest rated uncommitted player left in the 2010 HS Recruiting Class, held the power to transform the collegiate landscape by lending his immense talents as a ball player to three schools, namely Kentucky, UConn, and NC State. In a decision which was to be announced on Friday at a press conference, Leslie apparently just couldn’t wait, and officially declared himself to play for coach Sydney Lowe(for the 2nd time) at NC State for the ’10-’11 season.

NC State was considered having the 3rd best chance of landing the talented 6’9 205 lb forward, especially after Leslie originally committed to play for his hometown collegiate team, but re-opened his recruitment after a number of top tier schools expressed interest in arguably the most athletic player in the class, during his senior season at Word of God Christian Academy, in North Carolina. Kentucky figured to be the front-runner for his services since Leslie’s former teammate at Word of God last season, John Wall, along with coach Calipari were putting on the full court press to add Leslie to an already stellar 2010 recruiting class. UConn also stood a decent chance of landing the #11 rated player in the ’10 class especially since he just made an official visit to the campus at Stoors last week. Leslie’s choosing NC State probably puts Kentucky in the lead for the last remaining unsigned Top 10 player, PF Terrence Jones, who is expected to declare on Friday.

Leslie has been compared favorably as a slightly shorter Kevin Garnett clone, with better handles, but is every bit as athletic, and is widely considered one of the most entertaining above the rim players in the class. In spite of his immense talents, which he showcased in both the McDonalds All American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, Leslie ranks as only the 5th best PF in the class because of a slight frame, which projects as a SF at the next level, and because of a supposed lack of desire and lack of maturity by some scouts. With that being said, Leslie could very well be an immediate game changer at the collegiate level as a freshman, and is a likely one-and-done player.

In the end, Leslie chose to play his college ball closest to home at State, and because of the special relationship he formed with current head coach Sidney Lowe during his sometimes chaotic recruitment. Along with Calipari at Kentucky, Lowe has also had a history of sending a number of talented players to the NBA as well, like most recently Cleveland’s JJ Hickson, and because Lowe was a great NCAA and NBA player in his own right.

Of course having some of his “boys” coming with him to the Wolfpack next season won’t hurt either, like the Top 40 rated Ryan Harrow, who is one of the top point guards in the entire class. Harrow is also a high flyer and has been known to pull off some sweet off the glass dunks of his own. Also underrated, TaShawn Mabry, who is also a friend from the state of North Carolina has decided to commit to the Wolfpack. Another Top 40 rated player, Lorenzo Brown also has committed to NC State earlier this year, and should form a talented core group of freshmen around returning leading scorer and rebounder from last season, Tracy Smith, who could make some serious noise in the ACC next season.

After a disappointing 5-11 mark in the conference last season and a very potent but young incoming recruiting class, Leslie has already made some bold predictions for the ’10-’11 season. He can foresee possessing a Top 5 rated recruiting class, a Top 5 pre-season ranking, an ACC Tournament crown, and a Final Four appearance. Don’t set your sites too low CJ!

Check out Leslie’s awesome 180 Windmill at the Jordan Brand Classic:

Calipari Bests Pitino, Gets Commit From Marquis Teague For 2011

April 28, 2010 – Allen Moll

How does he do it? It there any doubt that John Calipari at Kentucky is hands down, the best recruiter in college basketball? If anyone needs further evidence, exhibit A and B should be his recent commitment from the #1 rated point guard(#2 overall), Marquis Teague, and #1 overall player in the entire 2011 class, Michael Gilchrist, within a week of each-other.

In the highly publicized recruiting battle for Teague between in-state Kentucky powerhouse programs and coaches, pitting Kentucky’s Calipari and Louisville’s Rick Pitino, once again Big Blue won out. After giving a loose verbal commitment to Louisville prior to his junior year at Pike HS, in Indianapolis, and due to Calipari’s constant calls and visits, Teague ultimately decided that the University of Kentucky should be his destination because of Cal’s recent history of producing NBA ready point guards. The evidence is overwhelming, from Derrick Rose, to Tyreke Evans, John Wall, 2010′s Brandon Knight and now Marquis Teague.

What makes the story even more interesting is the lengths of which Pitino had gone to try and keep Teague with Louisville. After all, both the player, coach, and university had some pretty deep ties leading up to Teague’s announcement. Rick Pitino coached Marquis’s father years ago at Boston College and the school had even hired an assistant coach from Marquis’ high school squad to serve as a “special assistant” on the Louisville staff.

One question is, how will Teague fit in on a already loaded, Top 5 recruiting class for 2010 which will already be entrenched a year prior to his arrival in 2011, which features the #1 point guard in the class, in Brandon Knight? Unless Knight is a one-and-done player in the mold of Wall, Evans, and Rose before him, there could be a logjam in the Wildcats back-court over the next few seasons. I guess it’s a good problem to have, but could Kentucky see a few players transfer between now and then over playing time? On the other hand, Calipari has been the master of not only recruiting, but getting multiple players at the same position to not only co-exist, but thrive on the college hardwood. Look no farther than this past season when both John Wall and Eric Bledsoe, both of whom were regarded as Top 5 point guards in the class, helped carry the Wildcats to an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Calipari’s reloaded 2010 recruiting class features the aforementioned Knight, international superstar big man Enes Kantner, and recently committed sharpshooter Doron Lamb and Top 20 player Stacey Poole. But the class may not be a finished product yet, since Cal is reportedly heavily courting the highly athletic Terrence Jones and Kevin Garnett clone, CJ Leslie, who plays above the rim more than any other player in the class, both of which are still undecided.

Could next year’s Wildcats be even better than the Wall, Cousins, and Bledsoe led team this year? With Gilchrist and now Teague in the fold for the following season, and early word of Calipari being close to getting commitments to a number of 2012′s Top 10 players, could we be looking at a Kentucky dynasty in college hoops?

Check out a great Marquis Teague Highlight mix from AAU league action:

Tracy McGrady Hints At Retirement

April 28, 2010 – Allen Moll

Could it be? Could we have seen the last of Tracy McGrady on the NBA hardwood? It’s a real possibility since some recent comments by some very reputable news sources and McGrady himself, may have him leaning towards retirement if he cannot return to his old self. At the very least he seems dead set on another after round of extensive rehab and conditioning this Summer, in hopes of landing with another club in 2011.

After an impressive debut as a member of the New York Knicks on February 20th. where he dazzled the Madison Square Garden faithful with a stat-line of 26 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal, Tracy’s all-around production slid to season ending numbers of 9.4 ppg, 3.9 ast, 3.7 rebs, while shooting only 24% from three. He was especially horrific in the season’s final month of April where he played in only 4 of 8 games and averaged a paltry 4 ppg.

Those numbers on any team, good or bad, would result in diminished playing time as one of a coach’s last remaining role players coming off the bench. Not exactly the type of production we are used to seeing out of the former 7 time All-Star and 2 time scoring champion. And judging by McGrady’s recent comments, McGrady is not exactly keen on the idea of being a role player for some team next year or beyond.

Via ESPN:

“If it don’t happen this summer, I’ll ride off into the sunset.” “If I could go through another off-season of working my [butt] off, and I don’t feel I’m getting any better, I can’t see myself coming back playing the way I’m playing right now. I just don’t see it happening.”

No doubt, it’s a sad story. But in my opinion, McGrady is just plain delusional. He is now just another name on a long list of fading superstars who can’t seem to know when it’s time to turn the lights out on a great career. He’s basically giving himself an ultimatum to either return to All-Star form or call it quits, which appears to be a losing proposition considering that he’s played in only 65 games over the past 2 seasons. Players like Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal are the only players who come to mind in recent memory who are still enjoying great careers after accepting a supporting role due to injuries or just plain old……………….getting old.

McGrady doesn’t fit either mold, since at age 31 he isn’t ancient but seems unwilling to accept a lesser role than as a star player. Could he be a viable option on either a young and up-and-coming team in need of some veteran leadership off the bench or as a spot contributor on a championship caliber team? Certainly, but apparently his ego won’t allow it to become a reality.

Although younger, Amare Stoudemire was in a similar situation but worked his butt off from some pretty career threatening injuries to once again become a dominant player in this league. The problem is players like T-Mac, who have basically walked on water after making millions upon millions of dollars for a long period of time tend to lose their drive and desire and become rather comfortable. They then have to search within themselves for the things that got them to basketball’s highest level, except sometimes after so much time coasting, sometimes they find it’s no longer there.

What’s in McGrady’s heart is what matters. His latest comments on his blog, after a week off and watching the NBA Playoffs, T-Mac seems rejuvinated and gives us yet another sense of his future plans and where he may wind up:

Via T-Mac.com:

“……….now its time for a small break to rest up before I get back to rehab and training. I’m going to work hard all summer long getting ready for next season. I saw a report this morning that I was going to retire, and let me set record straight, I am not retiring. I’ve got more game in me, and you’ll see it on the court next year. Thanks to all my fans for all your support. No matter where I end up next season, I’ll be ready!”

As you can clearly see, he’s set on making a return to his old form for next season. Rumor is that he has hired Tiger Woods’ former trainer, when he had a serious knee injury a few years back. He also has been quoted as saying that he would like to re-unite with family next season, likely referring to cousin Vince Carter in Orlando. In the end, it’s ultimately up to Tracy if he can be on the level with himself if he comes back at all next season.

The Hoop Doctors Podcast: Episode 009

April 28, 2010 – THD Podcast

This week in THD podcast, Kevin Burke is in full blown playoff analysis mode, breaking down the starts to the opening rounds of the 2010 NBA Playoffs….

If you often find yourself too busy to watch The Hoop Doctors Podcasts, get them on the go for your iPhone or iPod! Subscribe to our Podcasts in the iTunes Directory, free of charge. Also, if you have any questions you’d like answered by Kevin or any other member of The Hoop Doctors team, feel free to email them to admin@thehoopdoctors.com and we will be sure to select the best of the best to have answered by Kevin On-Air next week or in a future episode.

Worst Foul Call in the History of the NBA?

April 27, 2010 – Dr. Anklesnap

I’ve been watching NBA basketball a long time. Without aging myself too much up in here, i’ll just say a very very long time. I have never, in all the years of watching this sport at any level, seen a foul call this obviously absurd. I’ve got a lot of respect for Joey Crawford, but clearly ‘the human factor’ was present on this play. Joey just messed up, plain and simple. By no means did this poor call affect the outcome though which is a positive: