2012 NBA Finals

Last night not only gave the Thunder their opponents in this year’s NBA Finals, it also gave us one of the best Game 7’s ever. Miami and Boston slugged it out for 27 quarters but 28 was just one too many for the experienced Boston Celtics squad.

LeBron James showed what he is really capable of

Miami took a 2-0 series lead and it all seemed comfortable but most notably Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo were not finished, winning the next 3 games taking a 3-2 series lead and looking to close out the Heat in Boston. Miami and LeBron James however were not finished either. In Game 6 LeBron put up numbers that had only been done once before in a play-off game, this was by none other than Wilt Chamberlain. LeBron posted 45 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, a game like this only deserved a game 7 to finally decide such a brilliant series.

The Eastern Conference Finals Champions for 2012 would be decided in Miami. Boston came straight out the gate taking an early lead with Rondo piling up the assists; he had 10 by the half. Shane Battier was doing his best to give some help to James and Wade. He hit three 3’s early to keep Miami in touching distance as they had problems turning over the ball.

Miami’s missing link however was going to really show his worth when it was needed. Chris Bosh who had missed some games with an abdominal injury really came back on the scene hitting a career best three 3 pointers on his way to 19 points and 8 rebounds.

It was all tied up at 73 after 3 quarters and it all came down to the final 12 minutes of the 2012 Eastern Conference playoffs. These final 12 minutes would prove too much for Boston. James, Wade and Bosh scored all 28 for the Heat in the 4ht quarter. James hit a massive 3 from way downtown with the shot clock running out that seemed to deflate the Celtics and prove somewhat of a dagger. Wade then hit an almost impossible shot after he was hit, on one foot fading away, he would make the free-throw and this would really stick the knife into the heart of the Celtics. The game petered out into a 101-88 win for the Heat as they advance.

It may be the last time we see Boston’s big three play together and Doc Rivers pulled them out of the game with under a minute to go so they could receive a standing ovation from the fans in South Beach.

Miami it is who go to the finals with another big three of Durant, Westbrook and Harden waiting for them in Oklahoma on Tuesday night. Much has been said about James’ play when he is needed most but he certainly showed he can do it when his season is on the line. Will he take the final step that has previously eluded him and claim his first championship, or will Kevin Durant pick up his on the first time of asking. Be it 4, 5, 6, or 7 games we will have a winner and I am sure the 2012 NBA Finals will not disappoint

2012 NBA Allstar Game

So the 2012 NBA Allstar weekend is approaching us. This will give teams a few days to set themselves end of season goals and more importantly most players a few nights of well earned rest. I realise I have not written a blog post in a long time, even though I have said before that I would try and post more regularly. Here is a post nonetheless.

Where the 2012 Allstar Game will be held

Miami (23-7) were tipped by many to go one step further than last year and win the Championship and although they have had a few minor blips and numerous injuries they are half a game back of the Bulls (24-7) a top the East. LeBron James is on the way to what could be another MVP trophy but this time he looks like taking his team to glory as well. The aging Celtics seem to have run out of steam and sit 7^th in the East, although they are still on course to make the play-offs they have had a very back and forth season and their age is starting to show. Languishing nearer the bottom of the East are the Raptors (those of you who have read these before will know that is who I support) and with a pretty poor record of 9-22 they have looked much improved since the addition of new head coach Dwane Casey. Finally in the East a Charlotte side that nobody predicted to do well are still turning out despite having lost 16 straight and have only picked up 3 wins along the way.

Over in the Western Conference the OKC Thunder (22-7) is leading the pack into the Allstar break. While below them there has been a lot of jockeying for position. The San Antonio Spurs (21-9) are on a 9 game winning streak and have got themselves up to 2^nd. Last year’s Champions Dallas (19-11) are in 4^th place and are splitting the two L.A sides with the upstart Clippers in 3^rd and Kobe’s unpredictable Lakers’ 2 spots below. Although they are only 5 games back of the number 1 seed, this Lakers’ side have not been anywhere near that of the last few years. As before they could get help from other players it seems this year they are 100% relying on Bryant to get the W’s. Veteran PG 2 time MVP, Allstar, future hall of famer Steve Nash has been having another brilliant season. Leading the league in assists and the only man averaging above 10 has been selected for the Allstar game as a reserve. Although many disputed this due to Phoenix’s poor record 12-18 there is no doubt in my mind that he deserves to be on that team this year.

From this position I predict that Miami will win the Championship overcoming Oklahoma City in the Finals. It was only a matter of time until LeBron won a ring and only a shorter matter of time that it would be going with him to South Beach.

I suppose I should write about the Allstar Game as that is the title of the post. Rose, Wade, Antony, James and Howard will start for the East. They are best 5 players of their positions in the East so it only makes sense. For the West, Paul, Bryant, Durant, Griffin and Bynum will look to try to put on a show in Orlando. Many people could have probably predicted those 10 players would be starting the game when the ballots first opened up. With Paul and Griffin representing the Clippers Lob City will be moving to Florida on 26^th February. The West came out on top 148-143 with Kobe Bryant taking the MVP for the night.

In the other events on Allstar Weekend, James Jones will be looking to defend his 3 point title against Kevin Love and Joe Johnson most notably. Blake Griffin will not be coming back for another go at the Slam Dunk challenge, instead T-Wolves rookie Derrick Williams, Pacers Paul George, New York rookie Iman Shumpert and Rockets forward Chase Budinger will be looking to light up the Amway Centre.

It promises to be a brilliant weekend and run in to the play offs that could end up anywhere. There will be another post after the Allstar game to round up the ins and outs.

ESPN's NBA Rankings Part 1

ESPN asked 91 experts to rate each player on a 0-to-10 scale, in terms of the current quality of each player and over the past month they have been releasing the results from 500-1.

Unfortunately bringing up the rear in 500th place was PF Lovay Allen who was drafted in this years draft at a fairly respectable 50 by the 76ers. Allen was given a dreadful rating of 1.22/10 which must be close to my rating. The worrying thing as a Raptors fan was that 3 players were ranked in the 401-500 bracket with our highest ranked player Andrea Bargnani coming in at 81, which is harsh in my opinion.

On October 7th the rankings broke into the Top 50 and this is when it started becoming contentious. One of my biggest issues with these early Top 50 rankings was that Steph Curry was ranked 3, yes a whole 3 places above his Golden State team-mate Monta Ellis. Ellis averages more points, rebounds and assists than Curry and the big argument as to why Ellis was ranked so low was his FG% which is only .29 worse than Curry. Ellis can change and win games on his own but I'm not sure I could say the same about Curry.

Kobe Bryant

The main reason I am writing this is to talk about the Top 10, 15 players and their spots.

Blake Griffin came in at #10 he was undoubtedly the Rookie of the Year but to place him higher than Carmelo Anthony #12 and Amare Stoudemire #13 is purely due to him being over-hyped. He is not better than either of them, full stop.

Number 14, Steve Nash, shoe-in Hall of Famer, one of the best PG's ever ranked 5 spots lower than Deron Williams who has been majorly over-rated in my opinion. Nash lead the league in assists, made 90% of his FT's and lead his pretty awful Suns 6 games away from the West playoffs, on the flip-side Williams was traded to New Jersey from Utah both of whose teams finished with a worse record and with arguably better rosters.

Number 8 was a brilliant choice. Derrick Rose, reigning MVP due to his performance last season, yet after thinking the 7 players ahead of him are all better than him and the 492 players behind him are worse. After taking the Bulls to the East Finals and averaging 25 PPG and 7.7 APG he deserved MVP, he may not win it again but he will not be seen as the 8th best player in the league for much longer.

Wherever Kobe Bryant was ranked unless it was the #1 slot, there would be controversy. If you haven't guessed by now he came in a #7. Maybe he deserved #6 but anything higher wouldn't be correct. On the simple logic that the players ahead of him are better. If this were any season before this up until about 7-8 years ago he would have been 1,2,3 or 4 but he is ageing and players like Rose and #6 Kevin Durant are peaking. There is no doubt that he is an amazing player who has achieved amazing feats over his career and he will be remembered for winning Championships and not being ranked 7th on ESPN's Rankings.

The remaining players which I have written about will be posted on Friday.