| 09 January 2011
1) With two months of the season in the books, who is your All-NBA First Team (two guards, two forwards, one center) and why?
Don: NBA First team...
Derek Rose - Thus far, for my money the best point in the game. In contention for MVP.
Kobe Bryant - For all the hemming and hawing from supposed experts, Kobe's putting up his career averages despite playing fewer minutes than he has since his second year. If anyone's counting, that's 14 years ago.LeBron James - LBJ's doing what he has always done: that is, playing excellent basketball and putting his foot in his mouth.
Amare Stoudemire - Who'da thunk the Knickerbockers would be this good? And that's largely on Amare.
Dwight Howard - Armed with more weapons than perhaps ever before, the Magic are going about business oh-so-quietly, lead by Dwight - who's putting up DPoY/MVP type numbers yet again.
Rob:
G - I figure the only way I'm going to keep up my record of mentioning the Celtics every week is pick Rajon Rondo here. Despite his injury worries, Rondo continues to take his game to new levels. The addition of the mid-range jumper spells trouble for the rest of the league. The Celtics continue to be hot and Rondo is the QB running the show.
SG - The Lakers are struggling right now, but that isn't the fault of Kobe Bryant. He continues to put up great numbers and is still the gold standard for this position.
SF - LBJ continues to dominate. Fortunately for Celtics fans, he can't handle The Truth in the playoffs....
PF - Dirk Nowitzki is still making it happen for the Mavs. Amare is not far behind here.
C - Dwight Howard is not letting up yet. He is the best C in the league right now by a very large margin.
2) Rumours abound that the Suns are contemplating trading Steve Nash, perhaps to the Knicks. Should Phoenix ship Nash out of town and should New York make an effort to get him, or are they better off continuing their efforts to woe Carmelo Anthony?
Don: New York make an effort to get him, or are they better off continuing their efforts to woe Carmelo Anthony?
Get Nash, and the chances of persuading Melo to come as a free agent increase tenfold. Getting him there via trade is looking very unlikely. New Yawk simply don't have the pieces to interest Denver.
Rob: Nash makes your team better. If your the Knicks and you have the opportunity to add him to your roster right now he will add an important piece of the puzzle. I don't see this as an either/or scenario.
3) Which division is the League's best currently?
Don: I have to go with the Southwest at the moment. The Atlantic's close - with Philly playing some inspired basketball of late... but a division where Memphis is your worst team? With San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans and Houston... Memphis is going to have a tough time of making the playoffs. And they're a good team!
Rob: I'm liking the Northwest a lot so far, but the division is probably the most competitive rather than the best. The presence of the Spurs and the Mavs in the Southwest along with NOH, Houston and Memphis makes this the standout division.
4) Game of the week – pick the winner – Wed, Jan 12th – Orlando @ New Orleans.
Don: This game has become bit of a no-brainer. NOLA are falling off the planet, and Orlando's star is in ascension. The Magic by double digits.
Rob: Magic by plenty.
