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19th May, 2009 - 4:36 pm
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| Current Features |
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SCOOP DU JOUR: Western Conference Scoop For July 26th
All things Chris Paul, along with Sam Presti, Richard Jefferson, David Kahn, Shaquille O'Neal and more.
STANDING 10: LeBron's Physical Gifts Not Matched By Mental Toughness
The dominant seven-year rule of LeBron James suddenly transformed into an ordinary citizen deferentially serving in Miami-Wade County. He had chosen to go from king to underling.
MOCK DRAFT: 2010 NBA Mock Draft, Version 5.0
An interesting week of prevalent deception is nearly over and the actual picks are hours away. Hundreds of hours have been spent watching the 60 players that 30 teams hope will improve their club in the coming years.
TEAM RANKINGS: Final NBA Power Rankings For 09-10
The Cavaliers were ranked first in the regular season for the second consecutive season. Following them in the top-five were the Magic, Jazz, Celtics and Spurs, while the Lakers were a surprising 11th.
PLAYER RANKINGS: 2009-10 Individual Awards
While the MVP, DPOY and ROY voting should be easy, the All-NBA teams and the other awards are more difficult to correctly determine.
CLASSICS: Hakeem Vs. Ewing: Who Was The Better Center?
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
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<>by Brandon Hoffman
Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that the Suns should expect trade pitches for Steve Nash this summer. Stein lists the Portland Trail Blazers , Golden State Warriors , Toronto Raptors , New York Knicks and Houston Rockets as potential suitors for the 34-year-old Nash. Asked to comment on the possibility of rebuilding without the two-time MVP Nash, GM Steve Kerr maintained that the Suns would prefer to keep Nash in Phoenix: "I have no interest in trading him," Kerr told ESPN. "I've said many times that our interest is re-signing him. I think everybody knows that we would love to be able to extend his contract so that he retires a Sun." Stein's list of potential trade partners is believable since four of the five teams have gaping holes at the point guard position. But Stein's trade scenario involving Portland giving up Jerryd Bayless and/or Travis Outlaw in exchange for Nash seems a little steep, especially since Nash would only exacerbate Portland's biggest weakness: perimeter defense. Portland was first in offensive efficiency this season, but finished thirteenth in defensive efficiency, and their inability to deny penetration hurt them all season. Given Nash's defensive limitations, it's hard to imagine the defensive-minded Rockets having an interest either. Golden State and New York make sense, but only because Don Nelson couldn't care less whether his team defends, and Mike D'Antoni was very good at hiding Nash on that end of the floor. I have a hard time believing Nash will drum up much trade interest. He's clearly not the same player he was three years ago, and his skills are only going to deteriorate from this point forward.
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren't overlooking the Orlando Magic in their quest to advance to NBA Finals for the second time in three seasons. Orlando won the season series with Cleveland (2-1). Orlando is a tough matchup for the Cavs, mainly because they're one of the few teams that can prevent James from getting to the rim. James averaged 30.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 7.0 assists versus Cleveland, but shot just 43.2 percent from the field, and failed to eclipse the 38 percent mark in Cleveland's two losses. Defensively, the Cavaliers have no one who can defend Dwight Howard, and their smallish backcourt, consisting of the 6-1 Mo Williams and 6-4 Delonte West, will have a tough time disrupting Orlando's three-point shooters. Forwards Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic in three-point attempts this season, and both players stand 6-10. Neither Williams or West will be assigned to defend Lewis or Turkoglu one-on-one, but they will be forced to rotate to them from time to time, and there's always the chance that Orlando could go big and force the Cavaliers to match up. Simply put, Cleveland's weaknesses are Orlando's strengths. The Magic have dominated the Cavaliers for the past two seasons, and will enter the Conference Finals with a ton of confidence. Head Coach Stan Van Gundy wasn't shy when talking about a potential playoff meeting after the Magic defeated the Cavaliers 116-87 last month: "If we ever got into a series with Cleveland, we'd have great confidence going in," Van Gundy said after handing the Cavs their worst loss of the season. "We have played them well the last two years. We certainly think we would win against them in a series." Like the Nuggets in the West, Orlando has a legitimate shot at defeating the heavily favored Cavaliers. If Orlando can keep James out of the paint, and knock down a decent percentage of their three-point attempts, they'll win. A tall task to be sure, but it's possible.
Draft Report: Jonny Flynn Of Syracuse, by Christopher Reina
Mission Impossible? All Eyes On Danny Ainge, by Elrod Enchilada
Carmelo is Coming of Age, BallerBlogger
The Fundamentals: The Nuggets have added "inside information" on the Lakers ... LeBron says Cleveland's regular season losses to Orlando don't matter ... Boston wants to bolster their frontline ... Kiki Vandeweghe is Denver's unsung architect ... the Knicks are holding out hope for Rubio ... and Rod Thorn recounts have the Bulls ended up settling for Jordan.
Brandon Hoffman is a contributing writer for RealGM and the founder of BallerBlogger.com. Questions or comments can be sent to ballerblogger@yahoo.com. You can also follow Brandon on twitter.
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