NBA Recap,Wednesday, Dec 1st:

Didn't have a chance to catch all twelve games on Wednesday night? We got you covered!

Hawks edge Grizz for their 4th straight, and they do so without All-Star, Joe Johnson, who will undergo surgery (right, shooting elbow) on Thursday to remove loose objects. Horford leads the way for Atlanta with 20, five other Hawks reached double figures. Rudy Gay had 23 and Mike Conely added 22, in the loss. Memphis loses for just the 2nd time in six games, Atlanta sweeps the season series at 2-0.

The Thunder need triple OT to beat the Nets, 123-120 in NJ. Russell Westbrook explodes for 38 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, Westbrook also scored all 13 of the Thunder's overtime points. Apparently Russ read my point guard power rankings and is none too happy with ranking #2, behind Derrick Rose, point taken. Jeff Green had 37 as the Thunder do it without Kevin Durant (sprained knee). Brook Lopez notched 28 points and 10 boards, Jordan Farmar had a career high 28 points and a career high 52 minutes, in the loss. Devin Harris did not play (knee strain) and is day-to-day.

The Raptors knock of the Wiz, 127-108, John Wall returned after missing two games and Gilbert Arenas vanished, shooting 1-10 from the floor and finishing with just 7 points. Wall had 19 points and 9 assists, in the loss. The Wiz face Portland, Phoenix and the Lakers in their next three. DeMar DeRozan had 20 to lead all scorers, Sonny Weems and Andre Bargnani each added 18, there were seven Raptors in all to reach double figures in the route.

Boston Drops Portland by four, 99-95, at the TD Garden. Paul Pierce led all scorers with 28 points, while KG added 17 and Glen "Big Baby" Davis had 16. Wesley Matthews was Portland's high man with 23, Andrew Miller had 20 and Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge both had 18 in the loss. Boston wins It's fifth straight, while on the flip side of that, the Blazers lose their fifth straight.

Pistons at Heat, Miami (11-8) rolls past the Pistons by 25, to win 97-72. Detroit is hardly a worthy opponent, but, I'm sure it will do for the Heat, who have struggled this season. Lebron James led the way with 18, Bosh and Wade helped out with 16 apiece. Detroit continues to have their problems on both ends of the floor, Rookie, Greg Monroe had 15 and Charlie Villanueva added 10 to be the only two Pistons in double figures. Detroit is 6-13 on the season and will probably land somewhere in the lottery for next season.

Orlando storms into Chicago to defeat the Bulls, 107-78. The Magic (14-4), led by Jameer Nelson (24) and Vince Carter (22) looked to embarrass the Bulls on their homecourt, and succeeded. Brandon Bass had 17 and Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis both struck for 13, to round out all Magic players in double figures. Noah had 16, Derrick Rose had 15 and Taj Gibson finished with 10, in the loss. Carlos Boozer made his highly anticipated Chicago debut, but, only managed to score 5 point in 21 minutes of play. Tail of the tape is that Orlando has now won five straight and did so by outrebounding the Bulls, 44-21.

The Hornets stung the Bobcats, 89-73. David West led the way with 22, Chris Paul turned in 9 and 14  assists, while Emeka Okafor grabbed a double-double with 14 and 13. The Hornets (13-5) look to have a good thing going, but, could meet some tough times against division foes such as Dallas and San Antonio. Gerald Wallace had 18, Dj Augustin and Boris Diaw both supplied 13 and Stephen Jackson (suspension) didn't play during the loss.

Dallas (14-4) kept their strong start alive by beating Minnesota (4-14), 100-86. Shawn Marion led the way for the Mavs with 16, Jason Terry had 12, Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler both chipped in with 10. Michael Beasley had 16, while Kevin Love and Darko Milicic both connected for 10, in the loss.

Houston stuns the Lakers, 109-99, behind Kevin Martin's 22 points. Shane Battier had 17 and Luis Scola supplied 14 in their payback victory over LA. Houston has struggled with Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks both suffering early injuries, my projected "second best team in the West" has not done so hot thus far. Maybe this is the big win they needed to right the ship. The Lakers (13-6) were led by Kobe Bryant's 27 and Lamar Odom's 25, although it wasn't enough to get the W.

Denver bests the Bucks, 105-94, behind 24 from Nene, JR Smith also kicked in 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win. John Salmons scored 21 for the Bucks and Corey Maggette added 17, in the loss.

The Jazz trump the Pacers, 110-88, led by 24 points and 16 assists from Deron Williams, Kirilenko had 18, Al Jefferson added 17 and Paul Millsap finished the night with 16. With the parting of ways with Carlos Boozer, this has really become Deron's team, and he's really taken to the task nicely. He looks primed for an all star appearance, as well as a playoff birth. The Pacers had five players in double figures, led by Darren Collison, with 16. The Pacers are 9-8 and need to really put a stamp on their season before it is too late.

LA: The Clippers shock the world and grab a W against the Spurs. The Clippers (4-15) have been, well... The Clippers this season and, the Spurs (15-3) have been the Spurs. The Clippers looked pretty good, maybe all they needed was a little Baron Davis, he finished with 7 points but, really controlled the court with 10 assists. Blake Griffin had a huge night with 31 points and 13 rebounds and Eric Gordon chipped in 21. The Spurs were led by George Hill, who had 17 and Manu Ginobili who had 15. Tim Duncan was a non-factor and Tony Parker goes into hibernation, just one day after i ranked him inside the top 10 of the PG rankings, and the Spurs lose.

2010/11 NBA Power Rankings, PG Edition:

As i search the net each day, looking through blogs and articles from a vast population of sports writers and bloggers, i always find opinions on NBA power rankings and overall lists of top teams. The elite players from these teams, Kobe, Lebron, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, and the list goes on, always generate a lot of chatter and get tons of face time on these blogs and articles, so basically, i thought, what if somebody did these power rankings, but, instead of doing power rankings for all 30 NBA teams, somebody did power rankings based solely on the players at their respective positions. So, I've decided to start a power rankings system for point guards and possibly extend that to each position. I'll do this on a bye-weekly basis. Here is your top 10.

#1- Derrick Rose: 26.6 ppg, .468 FG%, 8.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.0 steals per contest.  Rose has been absolutely on fire this season. Upping his point per game by 7.2 from his career total of 19.4. Rose has also seen increases in his assists and rebounds. The Memphis product, has led the Bulls to an early division lead in the Central, at 9-6, without the newly acquired Carlos Boozer. Rose has notched double-doubles four times this season and has also reached at least 30 points on six occasions. The numbers don't lie, folks, D-Rose is the man right now and you can take that to the bank!

#2- Russell Westbrook: 23.8 ppg, .447 FG%, 8.6 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per contest. Westbrook has helped lead the young Thunder to a 12-6 record this season, trailing only Utah in the Northwest, by a game and a half. Westbrook has upped his career ppg by 7.3, is a great defender and is also a tough matchup for opposing PG's, the former Bruin has great size and strength for a point guard without lacking speed and quickness on offense. Westbrook has great upside and is knocking on the door for the #1 spot.

#3- Deron Williams:  21.9 ppg, .464 FG%, 9.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest. D-Will is as advertised, big (6'3), strong (210lbs) and possesses an unmatched ability to control the flow of every game. He may not get to the rack as fast as D-Rose or Rajon Rondo, but, he does possess a complete game. He, Steve Nash and Chris Paul are probably the 3 most complete point guards in the game right now, and Deron is leader of the pack. His team is leading the Northwest division at 14-5, he's almost at 10 dimes per game and he averages over 20 ppg. He's really getting it done and Utah's success has him to thank.

#4- Chris Paul: 16.5 ppg, .490 FG%, 10.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds and (league leading) 2.9 steals per contest. CP3 looks to be almost back to form, he's putting up pretty good numbers, we wish he'd score a bit more, but, everything else looks like it's there. I'm assuming he'll be right around 20 ppg before the season ends, and if healthy, he'll probably top this list. His Hornets are 12-5, which puts them 3 games behind the Spurs in the Southwest division, they should contend with Dallas and San Antonio for the entire season.

#5- Rajon Rondo: 11.5 ppg, .511 FG%, (league leading) 14.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest. Rondo may find himself out of the top 5 if he can't find a way to do more damage in the scoring collum, he's a great athlete, but, his jump shot isn't coming along and he still seems to rely on the "Big Three" too often. Where is the Rondo that took the league by storm during the 2009/10 playoffs? I'm in the process of faxing a picture of Rondo's scoring ability to every post office in the country, if anyone has seen it, please contact Doc Rovers immediately, because he'll need it for Boston to make a repeat appearance in the 2010/11 finals.

#6- Monta Ellis: 24.2 ppg, .476 FG%, 4.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per contest. Ellis has been a scoring machine for the 8-10 Warriors, eclipsing the 40 point mark 3 times already this season. We'd love to see him dish a bit more, but, playing in a two point guard set with fellow Warrior, Stephen Curry, who averages 5.9 dimes per matchup could be the reason that Ellis is only hovering around 5 per contest. I'm more concerned with watching the damage Monta can cause while driving, he is one of the most explosive players to play the point guard position and is an elite scorer on most nights.

#7- Steve Nash: 18.9 ppg, .490 FG%, 9.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and about a steal per contest. Let me start by saying sorry to all of the Nash loyalists out there, i understand that it is hard to see Nash outside of the top 5, and believe me when i say that it sort of pains me to stick him here, but, i feel that i have to be true to my opinion and not place Nash inside the top 5 at this point. While he (Nash) is a great talent and probably the best PG of the last decade,  the Suns (8-9) are under .500 and they're competing with the best team in the league (LA) for the Pacific division, and things won't get any easier for Nash and company unless they can find a way to work this smaller unit, without Amare Stoudemire.

#8- Raymond Felton: 18.2 ppg, .471 FG%, 8.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2 steals per contest. I'm jumping on the Felton bandwagon right now and I'm riding that thing all the way to the Knicks first playoff appearance since 2004. Felton is on my radar for most improved player of the year. His last years numbers go something like this: 12.1 ppg, .459 FG%, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per contest. That means he has improved in every possible way thus far. He's a great defender, shoots 36% from deep and really has the Knicks clicking.

#9- Tony Parker: 17.5 ppg, .513 FG%, 7.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. TP has been working the helm nicely for the NBA leading Spurs (15-2) and he seems to be at the top of his game. As long as Parker stays healthy and the Spurs start winning, expect to see Parker in the top 10. He's scored over 20 nine different times and, yes, he's done what even Tiger Woods couldn't.. He's done all of these great things in the midst of a cheating scandal (sorry Tony).

#10- Stephen Curry: 20.8 ppg, .479 FG%, 5.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. Curry has been what many thought Curry would become, early into the 2010/11 season. I'll be the first to admit that i was a skeptic, i recall seeing Curry ranked inside the top 10 during a fantasy basketball draft and i thought that there was no good reason for it. He has played beyond my expectations and really could make a convincing argument for the top 5 if he becomes more of an assist guy and the Warriors start collecting some wins. Playing side-by-side with Ellis probably effects his assist numbers, but, probably also helps them in some sense.

Close but no cigar: John Wall, Brandon Jennings, Gilbert Arenas, Devin Harris, Tyreke Evans, Rodney Stuckey, Mike Conley and Jameer Nelson.

NBA Tid-Bits, Tuesday, Nov 23rd:

Tuesday night saw six matchups, including two that were decided in OT.

The Pacers downed the Cavs, 100-89, to win their second game in a row, their previous win came against the Heat. Indana is now 7-6, which puts them a half game behind Chicago in the Central division. Cleveland, now 5-8, have dropped their last three games and really seem to be in trouble. Darren Collinson has now been back for two games and the Pacers have won both. He played limited minutes (22) vs. Miami on Monday, but, saw 34 minutes against the Cavs and took full advantage of the playing time. He was 5-11 from the field, including a 3 and added 7-8 from the line to end with 18 points for the evening. Danny Granger led all scorers with 24, Brandon Rush had 16 and Mike Dunleavy chipped in 10 as the Pacers rolled. Indiana should continue to get solid play from Granger and Collinson, with the added support of their role players, Dunleavy, Rush, Hibbert, McRoberts and Hansbrough, they should be a pretty tough division foe for the Bulls down the stretch.

The Nets (5-9) knocked off the the fading Hawks (8-7) in overtime to defend their home floor, on Tuesday night. New Jersey, led by Brook Lopez and Devin Harris really needed this game, not so much for their playoff hopes, because let's face it, playoff hopes are a pipe dream for this team, but, because Lopez has been struggling and really had a huge performance against the Hawks, who are supposed to be a contender in the East. Lopez led all scorers with 32, on 12-19 shooting from the field, he also pulled in 9 boards, with only 1 turnover. Devin Harris chipped in 27, on 9-17 from the field, including three 3-pointers. Other players in double figures for the Nets were Kris Humphries (12) and Anthony Morrow (13). Atlanta is really starting to fall quickly, after starting the season 6-0, they have now lost 7 of their last 9 games, to fall backwards, almost to .500 on the season. Atlanta only attempted 13 free throws, compared to the Nets 33. Jamal Crawford led the way for the Hawks off the bench with 21, including 3-3 from three-point-land in the Loss, Horford and Joe Johnson combined for 30, while Josh Smith added 20. Atlanta had better figure out a way to end this slide and get back on track because, Orlando and Miami are already thinking about April. The Hawks will catch a bit of a break over the next five games, with the Wizards, Sixers and Grizz at home, Knicks and Raptors on the road. Then the fun begins with Orlando and Miami on the road.

The next overtime game was The Wizards vs. the Sixers, two young teams, trying to find their way in the ever-maturing, Eastern Conference. The Wiz, led by the ever impressive, John Wall and a growing JaVale McGee were able to withstand nine lead changes and three ties to escape Philly and a powerful performance from Andre Iguodala. Iggy, who has had his share of troubles this season, almost notched a triple-double, clocking 23 points, 11 rebounds and 8 dimes to, hopefully, break out of his early season slump. Elton Brand chipped in 19, which looks like something we should start getting used to, and five other Sixers reached double figures, Young (15), Speights (16), Nocioni (11), Holiday (10) and Turner (11). Philly has a young team, with plenty of talent, if Iggy and Brand can take control of this team and bring these younger guys to the next level, they could sneak an 8th seed and maybe give some teams trouble in the playoffs. John Wall was back and led all scorers with 25 off of the bench, including three free throws to send this thing into overtime. McGee had 24 points, 18 boards and 4 rejections, including a huge pass and slam from John Wall for the bucket, plus a free throw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMGyKnR8OXg, that sent Brand packing with 3:32 to go in the 4th.  Arenas and Blatche both had 17 and Nick Young added 19 to round out all Wizards in double figures.

The Knicks topped the Bobcats 110-107 for their 4th straight victory. They seem to be meshing well, and i give a lot of the credit to Raymond Felton, Felton has emerged as top point guard this season and has finally seemed to find his way in the NBA. Felton, who had 16 points and 9 assists is averaging just under 18 ppg with 8 assists on the season, add in the fact that this kid sees the floor well and is a hard-nosed defender and you can see why he has been a breath of fresh air for Knick's fans. The five year guard out of UNC has really done a great job at connecting with the Knicks big gun, Amare Stoudemire, and has also done a great job at fitting, coach Mike D'Antoni's system of basketball. Felton and Gallinari hit four free throws in the last 15 seconds to seal the win for NY. Tony Douglas led all Knicks, with 22 points off the bench. The Knicks look good and they're starting to find that oh so important, team chemistry. Charlotte (5-10) is having trouble this season and will be vying for a playoff spot in a crowded Southeast division. Things aren't looking to get any easier for the Bobcats, as this should prove to be a long season. They'll be competing with Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Washington, in what is quickly becoming one of the toughest divisions in basketball. Felton's replacement in Charlotte, D.J. Augustin, has stepped it up this season, he had 24  points and 7 dimes, to lead all scorers in the game, Gerald Wallace had 20 and Stephen Jackson chipped in 18 in the loss.

Dallas downs the Pistons, 88-84. Dirk Nowitzki pours in a season high 42 points and pulls down 12 rebounds in the win. Jason Kidd played his 1,200th game, Richard "Rip" Hamilton also reached a milestone, playing his 800th game. Kidd would finish the game with 7 points, 11 assists and 4 rebounds, Jason Terry had 16 and Caron Butler added 11. The Pistons had 4 players in double figures, Prince and Stuckey each had 19, while Maxiell and Gordan kicked in 10 apiece. Detroit (5-10) appears to be the early candidate for bottom-feeder of the Central division, while we're still trying to get a fix on Dallas. They have a superstar in Dirk and great role players in Terry, Kidd, Marion and Butler, now we'll have to wait and see if they can make it work.

Lakers/Bulls recap:

The Lakers win, 98-91 behind Shannon Brown and Lamar Odom who each had 21 in the contest, Brown's stock couldn't be higher at this point and Odom has been a solid mismatch scorer for the past few seasons. Kobe chipped in 20, while Gasol had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Derrick Rose led the way for Chicago, with 30 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds, Noah had 19 points, 13 boards and 3 blocked shots, Taj Gibson had 16 and 12 rebounds, while Luol Deng pitched in 13 points to round out all Bulls in double figures.

Millsap Snubbed?

The 2010/11 all-star ballot was released this week and the NBA is already catching fire for leaving a certain player's name off of the bid. This seems to happen every season and most of the time there is an easy explanation for why guys get "snubbed". Most of the time, these "snubs" happen because there are FAR too many players who are worthy of this honor, and let's face it, there are 30 teams in the NBA, there are five starters on each team and many of these teams have a productive player coming off the bench (the 6th man). Do the math, that makes over one-hundred-and-fifty players, vying for a seat at this glorious event, each season. With all of these possible suitors scrambling to claim a piece of the pie, someone who deserves the chance is bound to be left hanging. Right? Well, in this case, i believe the NBA should be ashamed. Paul Millsap has been an absolute nightmare off of the bench this season, he has 20.8 ppg, on 57.5% shooting from the field, while pulling in 9.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and more than a steal per contest and he's playing 37+ minutes per game. These are all career highs for Millsap, and let's not forget the 46 points he dumped on Lebron and company, to beat the Heat in OT, Millsap also tipped in a put-back to force the OT and ended OT on a pair of free throws. Further more, Millsap has been completely modest about the whole thing, he hasn't complained, he's just taken his lumps in stride and continued to do his job. That speaks a lot about the character of a guy. Think back to the off-season, when Boozer went to Chicago, there were a lot of people left wondering what the Jazz would do to replace him. I honestly thought it was a great move, let Boozer, his injuries and his bloated contract head to Chicago because, the Jazz have this 25 year old kid named Paul Millsap, who has already proved to be a beast when given PT. Then, instead of inserting Millsap into their starting lineup as the premiere inside presence, they sign Al Jefferson and Millsap becomes their 6th man. Millsap says fine, takes his lumps and does his job. This is the kind of player we should have on the ballot every single year. Plays hard, has the numbers, keeps his mouth closed, does his job and performs at the highest level.

Here are some forwards who have been far less productive, yet, they're named to the ballot and Millsap isn't.
Carlos Boozer
Boris Diaw
Antawn Jamison
Linas Kleiza
Rashard Lewis
Corey Maggette
Troy Murphy
Thaddeus Young..

We can all do our part by voting at NBA.com and writing in Millsap as your not-ballot vote. Each voter gets one non-ballot player to write in, you can vote once per day, and i plan to vote Millsap every day until they name the roster.

 

20,000 for Pierce:

Paul Pierce has reached his 20,00th career NBA point, on Wednesday night, in Boston. This is a great acheivement, and it was nice to see a player, such a Pierce, reach this feat, and to do it with only one team (The Celtics), on his homecourt, in front of 18,624 Celtics fans, who have cheered for Pierce since entering the league in 1998. This really is a special and rare thing to see in sports, today. Not many players reach the milestone of 20,000, and to do so with just one team, it really is rare. You don't even have to be a Boston, or Paul Pierce fan to enjoy this accomplishment. It's a great thing, and it's good for the sport. Pierce is in his 13th season (all with Boston) and has been one of the best Celtics players of all time, in my opinion. Pierce became the 37th NBA player to reach the 20,000 point mark and just the 3rd Celtic to do so. Pierce joins John Havlicek (26,395) and Larry Bird (21,791) and really seals his identity with the Boston Celtics franchise.

"Five years ago, I never would have dreamed I would have been scoring my 20,000th point in a Celtics jersey"-Pierce

Pierce's 20,00th point came on the first of two free throws, with 15.5 seconds left in OT, as the Celtics defeated the Bucks, in Boston on Wednesday night. http://www.nba.com/video/games/celtics/2010/11/03/0021000058_mil_bos_recap.nba/?ls=iref:nbahpt1. Congrats, Paul Pierce! Pierce may have locked in his HOF votes already. I believe he's a dead lock for the HOF if he is able to lead the Celtics to another NBA championship, but, the door is closing fast, Boston is not getting any younger and neither is Pierce. Racking up 20,000 points in a Celtics jersey should really add ammo to Pierce's HOF arguement, when the time comes.  

Factors for Pierce making the HOF:
20,000 points:

8-Time all star:

Has lead the Celtics to the playoffs from 2001-02-Present:

Has lead the Celtics to an NBA title in 2008 (maybe another yet to come):

Played his entire career for one of the most celebrated franchises in sports:

Career averages of 22.5 ppg, 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting .445 from the field and, .370 from 3-point-land and .802 from the line:

889 career games and counting.

Trading Josh Smith?

So, Al Horford gets a contract extension from the Hawks on Monday, netting the former Florida standout, $60 million (5 years) and now, Josh Smith is popping up in trade rumors. Who knows if the Hawks really want to deal Smith, or if they're even entertaining the idea of trading him, but, the question that remains is, can they afford to keep him? As of right now, the Atlanta Hawks have some large contracts floating around, Joe Johnson ($18.5 million in 2011-12), Josh Smith ($12.5 million in 2011-12), Marvin Williams ($8 million in 2011-12) and toss in the $12 million that Horford is owed through 2011-12 and, we have an issue. Smith seems to be the guy that could be left out in the cold here. The problem for Rick Sund and company will be, do they really wanna deal Josh Smith? Here are some things that Rick Sund is mulling over right now. Smith has averaged 2.4 blocks per game for his career, 3rd in the league last season, behind only Dwight Howard and Andrew Bogut, infact, Smith was the only player to finish in the top 15 in blocks per game, who doesn't play the center position.

He is clearly their best defender inside, the Hawks enforcer, if you will. He is the guy who discourages guards from setting up shop in the lane, these type of players are hard to replace, he's a highlight reel waiting to happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXdfH5BslOg, this is one of the most athletic players in basketball, today, if you ask me. He averages over a steal per contest, is a potential double-double guy (points and rebounds), hustles and has really started to get away from bad habits. Many people may not recall that there was a time where Josh Smith thought he was a 3-point shooter, seriously. He was taking far too many three's, for a player of his archetype. This guy is a shot-blocker, dunker, slasher, garbage-time-guy. He does the dirty work and makes this team better.

Josh Smith's 3-Point shooting by the numbers:
2005-06- 34-110, .309%
2006-07- 38-152, .250%
2007-08- 25-99, .253%
2008-09- 26-87, .299%
2009-10- 0-7, .000% (but, at least he only shot 7 all season)

I just won't understand what the Hawks are thinking if they part ways with Smith, they have Horford, don't get me wrong, i love Horford, great rebounder, good shot blocker and he has more offensive upside than Smith, they have an aging Mike Bibby, he's good for another season, MAYBE. Another guy i love is Joe Johnson, but, he's on the wrong side of 30 with a huge contract, that never translates into good things for a team, Marvin Williams is athletic and has a lot of upside, Zaza can play great ball at times, horrible attitude, but, he can do his job on most nights. The one thing that none of these guys have, outside of Marvin Williams, is athleticism. If the Hawks lose Smith, they lose most of their interior defense and a great hustle player. Atlanta went 53-29 last season (3rd best in the east), they play in the toughest division in the east, hands down, they will play Orlando, Miami and Charlotte (all playoff teams from last season), 4 times each to fight for the Southeast division, and guess what? The Southwest didn't get any less tough, they added Lebron and Chris Bosh. The last thing Atlanta should do is get less athletic. It doesn't make sense, part ways with somebody else, do whatever you can. Just keep Smith! That is their best bet.

Rondo/Gasol Named Players of the Week:

Today, the league named Boston Celtics guard, Rajon Rondo, and Los Angeles Lakers center, Pau Gasol, Eastern and Western Conference players of the week, respectively, for their play Tuesday, Oct 26, through Sunday, Oct 31.

Two players on contending teams who have really gotten off to nice starts this season. The Lakers have started off 3-0, with Gasol averaging 25.3 ppg, on .525 shooting from the field, 10.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per contest.

The big man from Spain, who is sometimes criticized for being soft, has been in true form through these first 3 games. He started hot at home, where the Rockets had no answer for the Spaniard, as he poured in 29 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Houston really couldn't come up with an answer for the 7-footer, and ultimately lost the game. He continued his great play with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists, in Phoenix, to help nix Steve Nash and the struggling Suns. His finished the week of play with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists, to trump the Warriors, 107-83, at home.

Gasol is really starting to put his name on this basketball team, and Kobe doesn't really seem to mind the help. I actually have to give the "Black Mamba" a ton of credit on this one. We may be seeing the first time that Kobe has actually opened up the door and truly welcomed in another superstar player. This really shows Kobe's maturity and will to win. Gasol will help this team win more rings, and is more than capable to carry his share of the load. Pau does look to lack toughness at times, but, he seems to really have that look in his eyes, so far, and i think you have to believe that LA is the team to beat.

On the other end of this award, we have the scrappy Rajon Rondo, a Kentucky product, the 4 year pro has really started to become the face of the Boston Celtics and looks like he'll be a nice replacement when Paul Pierce retires, and with good reason. He is an absolute athletic nightmare for opposing teams. Although, he still lacks a reliable jumper and isn't a threat from deep, his defensive genius and crafty ball-handling make him a constant headache for coaches and opposing players, alike. Let's face it, trying to emerge from behind the shadows of Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett is no easy task. You're talking three possible HOFer's who still have a little hop in their step, but, it's becoming more and more clear that the Celtics are, infact, Rondo's team. Rondo's week started with a great win at home against Dwyane Wade and the "new look" Miami Heat, Rondo scored just 4 points but had 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a whopping, 17 assists. He went on to have 18 points, 9 assists and 3 steals as Boston fell to the Lebron-less Cavs, in Cleveland. Two nights later the Celtic's bounced back, defeating the Knicks, 105-101, in Boston, Rondo had 10 points, 7 rebounds and a career high, 24 assists. I believe that Boston will be a top 3 playoff seed, in the East and have a strong chance of making another finals appearance, behind the play of their all star guard.