The Dish 2/10/12

Happy Friday to all. The All Star Game rosters have been announced and I’ll get to that later. But let’s start with this…

#Linsanity

Can we cool on this kid? Has he had 3 great performances? Yes, has he breathed life into the New York Knicks? Yes. Does he have talent? Again, Yes. But let’s see how he does tonight (vs the Lakers) and in back to back or 3 games in 4 nights. If he can stay constant and score 15 points and drop 7 assists, i will say yes he deserves the hype or at least credit that he isn’t anything more than a good backup PG. The thing I love about his game is how he attacks the rim. Even if he doesn’t shoot the ball when going to the rim, he dishes it off to the open guy.

If he can be the drive and kick PG when Melo and Amare comeback the Knicks may have found their PG for this team. But again let’s wait to see how he does when he gets worn down from the schedule

Now let’s go over the All Star game rosters. I love All Star weekend. I think the NBA All Star game is by far the best All Star game out there.
EAST
Starters
Derrick Rose- Chicago
Dwayne Wade- Miami
LeBron James- Miami
Carmelo Anthony- New York
Dwight Howard- Orlando

Reserves
Chris Bosh- Miami
Luol Deng- Chicago
Andre Iguodala- Philadephia
Joe Johnson- Atlanta
Paul Pierce- Boston
Deron Williams- New Jersey
Roy Hibbert- Indiana

My first thoughts why Chris Bosh? People have issues with Hibbert, at least Hibbert is an impact player on his team. I would also argue Melo doesn’t belong but the fans voted him in (that’s another thing that bothers me, I hate fan votes for anything). I know subtracting Bosh for Rondo would be weird to have 3 PG’s on the rosters but Rondo deserves it over Bosh in every way. Plus Rondo means more to his team than Bosh does.

WEST
Starters
Chris Paul- LA Clippers
Kobe Bryant- LA Lakers
Kevin Durant- Oklahoma City
Blake Griffin- LA Clippers
Andrew Bynum- LA Lakers

Reserves
Kevin Love- Minnesota
Steve Nash- Phoenix
Russell Westbrook- Oklahoma City
Marc Gasol- Memphis
Tony Parker- San Antonio
Dirk Nowitzki- Dallas
LaMarcus Aldridge- Portland

First off, when will people understand Kevin Love is the best PF in the NBA. For my readers you saw that I already wrote about this. Bill Simmons is starting to think the same thing… I think he just may be a Dish reader. Kevin Love isn’t flashy, Blake is, that’s the only reason why people would possibly take Blake over Love.  Finally Tim Duncan’s corpse is off the AS game. He should have been last year and possibly the year before but it’s about time.  It’s Dirk’s time now to bow out. Heck he even agrees. This week he said he didn’t deserve it, which he doesn’t. Utah’s Paul Millsap deserves it over him.

The Dish’s Top 10

10.  Orlando Magic- 16-10
As good as Dwight Howard is playing, I just don’t think the rest of his team is any good. Other than Jason Richardson, they don’t have a decent starter on the team.

9. Denver Nuggets- 15-12
They have fallen back to earth. With an impending signing of Wilson Chandler could bolster this team back to their previous level

8. Atlanta Hawks- 17-9
Their still winning  but I don’t know about their bigs depth without Horford. And if any of their guards get injured they will hurt big time

7. Los Angeles Lakers- 15-11
Their finally out of the 10 spot. The Boston win was huge, it showed Pau could be a factor again.

6. San Antonio Spurs- 18-9
With Ginobli coming back against the Nets, Are the Spurs just having a similar year to last year. Good Regular season team, not legit playoff contenders?

5. Philadelphia 76ers 18-8
Iggy is an All Star and he has played like one all year. But let’s not forget this team’s depth.

4. Indiana Pacers- 17-8
With Roy Hibbert being named an AS this team might get some national attention.

3. Oklahoma City 20-6
I’m not convinced they can win a playoff series if the opposing team slows the game down and pounds on their bigs.

2. Miami Heat- 19-7
Question is are they ready for everyone’s best shot? The heat are good, but a very flawed team.

1. Chicago Bulls- 22-6
Sporting the league’s best record again this year is showing Chicago is for real.

Why I left the Clippers out. Well with the Chauncey Billups injury they will start losing games. They didn’t have a legit SG before Billups but he was crafty enough to be efficient for them. Now I think they will struggle.

The Dish 2-3-12

All Star Starters Reboot

It’s a little later than usual but at least it wasn’t two weeks between posts this week. The all star game starters have been announced and I have to say I can’t argue with any of the starters besides Blake Griffin. Why you ask? Because there is a player who is better and having a better year.  His name? Kevin Love. Yes K. Love is having a better year and he is one of the main reasons why his team doesn’t suck and is fun to watch (same can be said for Blake too). Love is averaging 25 ppg and 13.6 rpg while Blake averages 21 ppg and 10 rpg. The reason why fans have voted Blake in, is because they like shiny things. Blake has monster dunks. Love will just get the board make a beautiful outlet pass and let someone else finish the break. I’m not saying Griffin doesn’t deserve the AS game start, he does I just think Love is the better player and deserves it more, in my opinion.

Dunks on Dunks on Dunks

That being said lets move on to this week’s two monster dunks. First off on Sunday Lebron James literally jumps over John Lucas the third (seen below).

This is a monstrous dunk, but Blake’s was better (above). Why you ask? Well he takes the contact from Perkins and then throws the ball through the hoop. And for those saying that isn’t a dunk please get real, it is. Heck it maybe harder to do than dunk.  But the thing I have read or heard is, (either of these) “this dunk is the greatest ever”. Please stop with that talk. Below is the best in game dunk ever.

That’s right, Vince Carter over a 7 footer in the Olympics is far superior than any dunk ever dunked. Plus his celebration is great too. He almost punches Kevin Garnett right in the face. Which I think maybe the best part of the play. Fun fact, since that dunk VC hasn’t gave a shit since.

#FreeSteveNash

Yes I am on this bandwagon. I firmly believe the Suns need to trade Nash so he has a chance at winning a title. Reward the guy for being loyal to you and get him out of that god awful situation. New York would be the perfect fit for him but there is no way they could get him. The next best situation is Portland. They have the tools to win now. I love Ray Felton for that team but Nash is an upgrade and he makes that team way more dangerous because he is the master of the uptempo offense.
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=72uolvp

There is a link to my proposed trade, Why wouldn’t either team do this? Blazer fans love Batum but they honestly loved Andre Miller too, so it doesn’t take much for them to like a player. It’s gives Phoenix some depth and a young PG if they decide not to resign Felton. With Nash I think Portland could make a serious run at the finals THIS year.

The Dish’s Top 10

10. LA Lakers  14-9
Yup I still have them as #10. I think they could be better than 10 but they play too inconsistent to be ranked Higher.

9. LA Clippers 13-7
Lob City finally makes an appearance on the Top 10. They have played the least amount of games in the NBA so far. But they have beat OKC twice, you gotta respect that. Plus getting Kenyon Martin will help this team immensely

8. San Antonio Spurs 15-9
With Ginobli still out the Spurs still win. Popovich is showing why he is one of the best coaches.

7. Denver Niuggets 15-8
They are starting to come back to earth. Rumors are they will match an offer to Wilson Chandler when he comes back from China. If so they just got even more dangerous.

6. Atlanta Hawks 16-7
People, myself included are still waiting for Atlanta to start losing a ton of games without Horford. So far they haven’t. If they continue this trend for the rest of the season, does that make Horford available and they keep Josh Smith?

5. Phildelphia 76ers 16-7
A nice win over a banged up Chicago team then turn around and get destroyed by Miami to get put back into place. I think Philly can beat any team besides Miami in a seven game series in the East. Problem is Miami will most likely be a matchup they face.

4. Indiana Pacers 16-6
Every week I mention how much I love this team and every week they seem to be getting better. So I have to say it again I love this team.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder 18-4
Yes, they have the league’s best record and I still think they win the West but they can be beat by the likes of a team with a strong front court (e.i. Lakers and Clippers)

2. Miami Heat 17-6
Still #2 even though they beat the Bulls. Miami is getting there. They are still too inconsistent in late game situations.

1. Chicago Bulls 19-6
Even with Loul Deng and Rip Hamilton out the Bulls got a big win against the Knicks on Thursday. They are the NBA’s deepest team.