NBA Team of the 00's

Now the that NBA finals are over, the draft has come and gone, it is time to reflect on what has happened in the last ten years. I have put together some lists. I have my All Decade 1st, 2nd , and 3rd teams. I have my All Defensive team, my All Annoying team, and then I have chosen active players that I think are locks for the Hall of Fame, as well as guys, that if they stay healthy, should get in as well. I also pick my coach of the decade, as well as the Franchise of the decade. Lets begin.

Lets start with my All Decade First Team:

PG - Jason Kidd. He was the most consistent pg of this decade. He was a triple-double machine, and he took New Jersey to the Finals, when it had no reason to be there at all. He is still playing well, and could be a welcome addition this offseason for Cleveland or Boston.

SG - Kobe Bryant. This is the most complete player of the decade. He won scoring titles, championships, and became the face of the NBA for a while. He is the guy you wanted taking the shot at the end of a game.

SF - Kevin Garnett. Garnett is the ultimate team player. He easily could have put up bigger stats, but he was the most unselfish player in the league. That was probably what kept Minnesota from winning in the playoffs, but it is also why he was able to coexist with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to win in Boston.

PF - Tim Duncan. Mr. Fundamental is one of the best to ever play his position. He played well alongside David Robinson, as well as played the pick and roll with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. He also could have put up better stats, but when they needed him, he came through.

C - Shaquille O'Neal. - He is the most dominating player for the past 15 years. He won with Kobe, Wade, and if Penny would have stayed healthy, him too. He brought the big man to a whole new level. He had fun, while being dominant, and had the best smile in basketball.

Here is the All-Decade second team

PG - Steve Nash. Any time you can win the MVP 2 years in a row, you are doing something right. He turned a down Phoenix team into a title contender. Unfortunatly, they ran into the Spurs, and Lakers, that were beating everyone.

SG - Allen Iverson. The best small man to play the game. He was fearless going to the paint, and could score on anyone. For him, he also ran into the Lakers, when the were beasts, and could not get back. Also the most selfish player of the decade.

SF - Paul Pierce. He was one of the best players on one of the worst teams of the decade. He tried to work with Antione Walker, but Walker thought he was a star. He finally got help with Garnett, and Allen, and as long as they stay together, they are threats.

PF - Dirk Nowitzki. He will go down as the best international player to ever play in the NBA. He brought outside shooting with a 7-foot frame, and now consistently averages a double double. He started a new wave of big men.

C - Yao Ming. Yao has become the dominant force Shaq once was. Yao's biggest problem is staying healthy. When he is in the lineup, Houston is a totally different team. He scores, passes, blocks shots and rebounds. He will win a championship if he stays healthy.

And finally the all decade third team

PG - Chauncey Billups. This was a difficult call. I debated between Billups and Tony Parker, but went with Billups. He was the heart and soul of the Pistons team, and has now made Denver a contender.

SG - Dwayne Wade. I don't really like his game, but he gets results. He has lost some of his explosion, but can still dominate a game when he wants to. Until Miami gets some pieces that mesh with him, he is stuck in the middle of the Eastern conference.

SF - LeBron James. When we look back in a few years, he will be the standard for the NBA. The reason, I have him so low is Garnett was the ultimate team player, and has a ring, and Paul Pierce, solid for the whole decade, with a ring. LeBron needs the ring. He will get it, along with some others. He is the face of the NBA the next decade.

PF - Chris Bosh. He quietly puts up 20 points and 12 rebounds every game. The problem is, no one outside Toronto knows it. Once he leaves Toronto in 2010, he will show the rest of the NBA what they have been missing.

C - Ben Wallace. This is a guy who understood his role, and did it perfectly. His job was to rebound and play defense. He did both. He won rebounding titles and 4 defensive players of the year. He was the anchor for Detroit.

Now to my overall Player of the Decade.

I narrowed it down to 4 players. Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Tim Duncan, and Steve Nash. Both Duncan and Nash had 2 MVPs. Shaq was the dominant force, and Kobe was the closest thing to Michael Jordan as we have seen. Taking all of that into consideration, my Player of the decade was Tim Duncan. He won championships with different players, and styles of play. He played defense, rebounded, and scored at will, especially in the playoffs. The one knock on Duncan, was the fact that he acted like he never committed a foul. Stop whining. But the man could play basketball. Mr. Fundamental is my player of the decade.

Coach of the decade.

Greg Popovich. He molded talent together better than any coach going. The only other coach I considered was Jerry Sloan. Pop changed out role players year after year, and always got the same results. His players always played hard, and if it was game 7 in San Antonio, you knew you had a fight ahead of you.

My Team of the decade.

Los Angeles Lakers. In the NBA, as well as any other sport, it is about wins and championships. Nobody had more championships than the Lakers. The Spurs were close, but fell 1 short. The good news is, both of these teams do not look like they are slowing down at all. With the additions of Richard Jefferson, and DeJuan Blair, the Spurs are set, and if the Lakers stay in tact, they are the teams to beat in the West.

Now, My All Defensive Team of the Decade.

PG - Allen Iverson
SG - Kobe Bryant
SF - Kevin Garnett
PF - Tim Duncan
C - Ben Wallace

Defensive Player of the Decade:

Ben Wallace. 4 defensive players of the year awards sums it up.

Now to My ALL Annoying Team of the Decade.

PG - Allen Iverson. "Practice. We talking about practice." All that needs to be said for the most selfish player of the decade.

SG - Kobe Bryant. You can always talk about Colorado. But what got me was, he told Jerry Buss, that it was either him or Shaq. Then after they traded Shaq, he whines that he didn't have any help. Finally, they trade for Gasol, and he is happy.

SF - Ron Artest. He did whatever he could to get into trouble. Whether he was trying to get into trouble of just dumb, he was in the news for all the wrong reasons. He now, though, seems to have turned it around.

PF - Rasheed Wallace. The only person to fined more than Rasheed over the last decade was Mark Cuban. He leads the NBA in technical fouls almost every year, and just flat whines way too much.

C - Vlade Divac. The ultimate whiner. He reinvented the flop. Enough said.



Now for my favorite part. Which of the guys that played in the 00's are Hall of Fame worthy?

I did not include guys who only played at the beginning of the 00's, like Karl Malone, Jordan, Stockton, etc. These guys are in. I focused on guys who are still playing. I came up with 7 locks, 3 maybes, and 8 guys, who if they stay healthy and improve will get in.

Here are my locks:
Shaquille O'Neal
Kobe Bryant
Tim Duncan
Jason Kidd
Allen Iverson
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki

My 3 maybes are :
Steve Nash
Paul Pierce
Ray Allen

My 8 guys looking good:
LeBron James
Yao Ming
Dwayne Wade
Carmelo Anthony
Chris Bosh
Chris Paul
Dwight Howard
Kevin Durant


Like always, if you agree or disagree, let me know at jpconner9@yahoo.com. I will respond to all emails. I hope you like it.

JOhn Conner aka J-Conn

Star Platers getting Star Treatment

This blog is not to make excuses for why Orlando is losing the series, but I have noticed it more in the series than ever before. The Magic are losing because of free throws. End of story.

My complaint is the fact that Kobe Bryant is allowed to throw elbow after elbow and continue to play, without fear of being thrown out of a game. WHY??? Because he is one of the top 5 players in the game.

The stars of the league will ALWAYS get the calls. That is understandable. But throwing elbows is something different all together. Kobe has thrown at least 6 elbows so far in this series. When a Magic player explains that to the ref, nothing happens. WHY? Because they know if they throw Kobe out of the game, they will have to answer to David Stern. Stern will not allow his star players to be throw out of a game, especially one on national television.

I am not just bashing Kobe. LeBron, D-Wade, Duncan, just to name a few, get away with it on a regular basis, and when they do get called for it, they are never ejected, they just get technical fouls. The one exception was earlier in the year, when Dwight Howard threw one blantantly. Once he learns to do it in the flow of the game, and not when everyone is looking at him, he too will join the land of the no-call.

I understand that star players can spend a lifetime at the free throw line, and I am ok with that. I just don't know why they can deliberately throw elbows and get away with it. Until someone receives a serious injury, David Stern and the NBA just don't see it.

If you agree or disagree, feel free to email me at jpconner9@yahoo.com

Take it easy,
John Conner aka J-Conn

Lakers vs. Magic Preview

I am one of the few people that are giving the Orlando Magic, not only a chance, but I think they will win the series. The Magic are on a roll, and they are about to play a team that is similiar than the one they just beat. Now the Lakers have better post players than Cleveland, but they are similiar in other aspects. Lets look at the match-ups:

PG - Derek Fisher vs. Rafer Alston

Both players are veterans that know how to win. They will not beat you with their scoring, but if you leave them open, they will hit the open shot.

EDGE - Fisher. He has shown in the past that he can and will hit the big shot if needed. Plus, he has been in the finals before.

SG - Kobe Bryant vs. Courntey Lee

This is a no contest. Although Bryant will see Mickael Pietrus alot, Kobe will get his points. The difference in this series will be if he can get his teammates involved as well.

EDGE - Bryant

SF - Trevor Ariza vs. Hedo Turkoglu

This is a match-up that Orlando should win. Hedo's scoring is very important in this series. If he averages 15 points a game, and knocks down 3 or 4 threes a game Orlando has an advantage.

EDGE - Turkoglu

PF - Pau Gasol vs. Rashard Lewis

This WILL be the best match-up of the series. Gasol will want to take Lewis down low, while Lewis will keep Gasol on the perimeter. Whichever one can play their game more, will win. I look for Lewis to have a big series.

EDGE - PUSH

C - Andrew Bynum vs. Dwight Howard

This is also a no contest. As much as I like Bynum, he is nit ready for the quickness and jumping ability of Howard. Howard will be a defensive presense not only against Bynum, but also as a help defender. If he stays out of foul trouble, he will control the boards and the defensive end for Orlando.

EDGE - Howard

Bench - Both benches can produce sparks. Lamar Odom plays starters minutes, as does Mickael Pietrus for Orlando. The X-factor for Orlando is Jameer Nelson. If he plays, and that is a big if, and can contribute at all, Orlando is in good shape. He was the leading scorer for Orlando against the Lakers this year.

EDGE - Magic

With all being said and done, I am picking the Magic to win in 6 games. I have been wrong before, and will be again, but that is what I am going with.

Good Luck, and watch the games.

John Conner aka J-Conn