ESPN's NBA Rankings Part 2

Wade and James in a Miami Heat game

Two-time reigning scoring champion Kevin Durant was ranked at #6 with a rating of 9.62. Durant can be a little aggrieved with this spot due to his crazy scoring ability and out-right skill, fair enough the guy might not be able to play defense as well as Bryant but he isn't in the team on his defensive merits. People may argue that Durant deserves the #1 spot or at least #2 but for now he will have to make do with #6, maybe another scoring title can get him to the heady heights of #5 next time.

At #5 is a player many though would be occupying the #2 or #3 slot, me included. 2011 NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki took his Dallas team all the way to a championship last year with an above average backing crew. Nowitzki swept the Lakers, beat Durant and his team of upstarts, then shut down Miami's big three (2 of which we are yet to see). If this doesn't give reason for a player to be at #2 at least then I am not entirely sure what does. He averaged 23 PPG at over 50% shooting and has an unstoppable one-legged fade-away.

#4 is an awful choice, don't get me wrong Chris Paul is a premier player but he is not better than the 3 maybe 4 previous players mentioned. When Paul is healthy he can win games single-handedly but the players previously can do that and with more success. Paul has never made the Conference Finals and has always had a relatively good team to do it with. His argument for 4th cannot be sustained unless the Hornets make the West Finals at a minimum.

The remaining 3 players could all have possibly tied for first place. Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard and LeBron James. Wade was ranked 3rd with a rating of 9.72. There can be no argument to say that these 3 players are not the 3 most dominant players in the NBA. People will say, Howard cannot shoot FT's, Wade cannot shoot the 3 as well as many would like and of course LeBron James doesn't turn up in the 4th Quarter (or any derivative of that) but that does not take away the fact that all average over 22 PPG and all above 5 PG in another category with LeBron averaging 26, 7 and 7.

James is a player who received a lot of hate for moving to Miami and people love to hate him, but love him or hate him he is the best player in the league and will be for the next 3-4 years.

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.

England Selection Problems

Selections for international friendlies often spark headaches amongst puzzled football fans. With England's friendly with the world's 2nd best team, Holland on Wednesday night, Mr. Capello issued his squad.

First of all without even getting into the argument of what player should be picked and why and vice-versa, why oh why did the FA decide that the best date for a friendly was 3 days before the start of the Premier League season. It is beyond ridiculous and it will give managers such as Arsene Wenger and Sir. Alex all the more reason to impose minute limits on players and therefore making a mockery of the game.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the inclusion of Manchester United youngster Danny Welbeck, although he did play well in patches for Sunderland last season he is nowhere near England quality. If Capello was looking to include a young striker then he should have looked no further than Daniel Sturridge who was a revelation at Bolton during the back-end of last season, scoring 8 goals in 12 games. Another surprise was that Tottenham full-back Kyle Walker was included as he has only appeared 3 times for Spurs. Although both Walker and Welbeck are promising young players Holland coach Bert van Marwijk has more quality players at his disposal, for example Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder. He has included young Georginio Wijnaldum of , Feyenoord who could win his first cap, I have bought him on every single Football Manager game since 2006 and he is brilliant not to say that is anything to go by.

Danny Welbeck in action for the Under 21's

Capello's reign as England manager has not been the smoothest at all. Since last summer when England failed and he selected Emile Heskey over Darren Bent many fans have been calling for his head. A player whose head has been called for many a time, would have been in my squad had I been England manager. Joey Barton, amid all his history and current contract issues last season he was brilliant and more than earned his spot ahead of players who had poor season like Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick. Barton has only played once for England and this should have been his second cap. Another player who has not been recognised by Capello is Kevin Nolan now of West Ham. Having scored 30 goals in the last 2 seasons from midfield, surely he would have been a shoe in to gain his 1st cap, but the likes of Barry and Carrick were selected. Capello branded Barton 'too dangerous', it is obvious why he made those comments but Barton seems (note I used the word 'seems' as I don't want to tempt fate) to have moved on and matured over the last season, maybe he could give lessons to a certain Mr. Balotelli. http://bbc.in/qjBeju

As for players being removed from squads and having minute caps, this friendly will have more than any other and even then, there are usually mass substituions to please each manager. Arsene Wenger has said that Jack Wilshere 'can be picked but he will not play', this is understandable as Wilshere picked up a knock against DC United in pre-season, this begs the question, why select him? Barton or Nolan amongst others could have been picked and featured in the game. As for Manchester United players of which there are 4 and 3 probable starters, Sir Alex Ferguson will not allow Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Young to play the full game, they will be hauled off among many others, like John Terry, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole.

After the European Championships in 2012 another selection will have to be made, that of a new manager. Personally I believe Stuart Pearce has done a good job with the Under 21's and deserves a chance, the usual names will be thrown in like, Harry Redknapp and Steve Bruce but Pearce will remain a front runner in my opinion. As for Wednesday only time will tell how England will fare against a side of Holland's quality.

Liverpool Quickly Becoming A Force Again

This seasons transfer window has only been officially open for 9 days and there has already been a number of big transfers in the Premier League, with Liverpool leading the charge in order to rebuild their squad.

Since the return of Kenny Dalglish at the start of January Liverpool have looked a completely different side to the one that was playing in the months prior. New addition Raul Meireles struggled under Roy Hodgson but really showed his true quality under Dalglish as he scored 5 goals in 6 games at the start of Dalglish's tenure. Losing a world class striker like Fernando Torres would hurt any team but due to Torres' influence and the percentage of the teams goals he scored it hurt Liverpool a lot. They needed a replacement imminently, Luis Suarez a young yet potential packed player from Ajax signed for £22.5 million and became the clubs record signing. Then merely an hour and a half later Andy Carroll who had had a good start to the season at Newcastle joined for a staggering £35 million eclipsing the fee paid for Suarez. Liverpool rescued their season securing 6th place having been 19th after nearly 10 games of the season.

Jordan Henderson with Director of Football Damien Comolli

As they look to the future and on trying to build on a very successful second half of the season, money will have to be spent in the summer transfer window. They have quickly jumped out of the gates snapping up two players who have proved they can play at high levels in the Premier League; Jordan Henderson from Sunderland and Charlie Adam from Blackpool. Many say that they overpaid again for Henderson after overpaying for Carroll, they forked out £20 million for the 20 year-old England international. However Henderson has a very very bright future ahead of him and I am sure he will become an integral part of both his club and the England set up in the not so distant future. Charlie Adam then eventually signed for an undisclosed fee that is believed to be somewhere in the region of £7.5 million, a bargain? Most definitely after the season he had last year scoring 12 goals and being nominated for the PFA Players' Player of the Year.

Manager Kenny Dalglish has promised more signings and they have been chasing England Winger Stewart Downing but Aston Villa are demanding £20 million which could prove to be a stumbling block for the Reds. Another player linked with a move to Merseyside is Wigan's Charles N'Zogbia. A player that has been heavily linked with a number of Premier League clubs is 23 year old attacker Juan Manuel Mata from Valencia, with both Manchester sides also chasing him, Liverpool will have to overcome a £25-30 million asking price for the Spanish player.

Liverpool could well be a safe bet for 4th place next year if the sinking ship of Arsenal loses 2 world class players in Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas. Spurs have also said they need to sell before they buy. A striker is  atop their list and typically strikers cost more than everyone else, which maybe opens the door for clubs to swoop for Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

With Dalglish at the helm and an abundance of top quality players at his disposal Liverpool may well be climbing back to the heady heights of the top of the Premier League very soon.

Harry Potter Signals The End Of An Era

July 15th signals the end of an era, as Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released across the world.

It will have been 14 years and 16 days since the release of J.K Rowlings first novel (The Philosopher's Stone) and £9.2 billion has been amassed along the way along with countless awards for both the movies and novels. Author Joanne Rowling was listed as having a $1 billion fortune when Forbes latest billionaires list was published and in October 2010 she was named as 'The Most Influential Woman In Great Britain', 15 years ago only her friends and family would know who she is and now she has sold over 400 million copies of her Harry Potter books and had an effect on many peoples lives, including mine.

Harry, Ron and Hermione aged 11 in The Philosopher's Stone

I have grown up around the progression of Harry Potter, books being released, acting becoming better and SFX massively advancing. My experiences of growing up around it will be nothing compared to those of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint (Harry, Hermione and Ron for those who have lived in a cave for 14 years). All three started filming for the first film when they were just aged 11, the screen has seen them grow from innocent young children into young adults with more to tell about their lives than most people. Collectively they have picked up 15 awards, £85 million and the admiration of the world.

Many famous lines have come from the Harry Potter films and people all over the world reciting them in conversation, but perhaps the most recognisable of all is the most nostalgic. 'You're a wizard Harry.' The moment when Harry realises he is magical and the journey of the viewer begin. Since that point of magic Harry Potter has gone on to be the highest grossing film series of all time by totalling £3.93 billion at an average of £562 million a film and with Part 2 of the Deathly Hallows arriving soon, both of those figures will sky-rocket as I believe it will be the highest grossing of the series, which interestingly is The Philosopher's Stone.


Even though the series will have been concluded the franchise will not stop there, as with the Lord of the Rings and more notably Star Wars which was originally released in 1977 it will stay fresh and continue to sell merchandise to great effect due to the massive effect it has had across the world. Harry Potter World at Universal Studios will still attract as many customers as it does at the moment because so much money and time would have not gone into it if people would not visit it when the film series is over.


On July 15th 2011 we will continue our adventure with our heroes still trying to destroy Voldemort's horcruxes. It all ends where it first started, in the beauty of Hogwarts Castle and its grounds. With what promises to be an epic battle and struggle to overcome the darkness Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will provide an apt ending to a near perfect series of novels and films. On July 15th 2011 we will end our journey and forever remember the Harry Potter novels, films, games and all manner of merchandise as one of the best selling most influential ever to grace this earth.

Mavericks 1 Win Away From Glory

After the first 4 games the 2011 NBA Finals was tied at 2-2. Dirk Nowitzki - arguably the MVP of this years finals so far - came through a bout of flu to pull the Mavs square in Game 4. And last night Dirk had his supporting cast on hand as they battled offense against offense and came out on top 112-103.

Nowitzki scored 29 to lead everybody yet again. On hand to give the Mavs an extra push over this checkpoint line were J.J Barea, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd who collectively shot 10-15 from behind the 3 point line. Although Miami did play well offensively and shot 53% from the field they just could not execute down the stretch missing 4 of their last 5 shot and committing 3 turnovers over a 2:44 period. Miami turned the ball over 18 times compared to Dallas' 11 and although there was not much separation anywhere else on the Box Score, Dallas' 13 3-pointers proved to be the difference.

Mid-way through the 2nd Quarter Dwyane Wade has hurt after being fouled by the Mavericks Brian Cardinal. He would leave the game twice for treatment and return both times to good effect. Top scoring for Miami with 23 points and shooting 10 for 12 at the free throw line. With Wade off the floor LeBron James needed to take up the reins and dominate the game and despite having a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) he was yet again not his dominant self bringing into question his proficiency when the game is in the line.

With 33 seconds remaining and the shot-clock winding down, Dallas found themselves up by 4 but needing another basket to put the game to bed, Enter Jason 'Jet' Terry, he was left with nowhere to go and heaved up a miracle from way deep. 20433 people inside the American Airlines Center were holding there breath. The ball hit nothing but the bottom of the net and Jason Terry started up the jet engines as he wheeled away to the Mavericks bench knowing he had just hit the dagger that showed Miami they were ready to win the championship and gain revenge for 2006.

With both teams now heading back down to Miami, Dallas only needs to win one of 2 games to be crowned champions. Do not count out the Miami Heat yet, the reason they acquired James and Bosh to accompany Wade was to win titles, they will not go down without one almighty fight. Sunday night 8pm ET will see Game 6 and the Miami Heat fighting for their season and the Dallas Mavericks fighting to make history. Expect a classic, and expect a certain Mr. James to finally show up and show his worth.

Game 1 & 2 NBA Finals

The First 2 games of the 2011 NBA Finals were split, the Miami Heat won Game 1 and the Dallas Mavericks Game 2. In both teams wins, they used their trademark assets to great effect. Miami's suffocating defense won them Game 1. Dallas' fighting spirit and Number 41, won them the second.


Dallas' Shawn Marion said: "You hold a team to 38 percent shooting and 92 points, for us, that's usually a victory,"


In game 1 neither team shot the ball well, Miami shot 38% FG and won by 8. Dallas was held to 37%. A credit to Miami's defense when they can win a game whilst shooting a meagre 38%. Former Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh got off to a good start scoring 6 of Miami's first 8 points and it wasn't until 14 minutes had passed with the score at 20-18 (DAL) that a 'non-big 3' Miami player scored when Mike Miller drilled a 3 to put them back up by 1. With 13 points at the half Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Bosh were leading all scorers.
Another big factor to Miami's win was that they out-rebounded Dallas by 10. Although both teams had 30 Defensive rebounds. Miami had 16 offensive compared to Dallas' 6. Giving the Heat 10 shot-clock resets and much more momentum especially with a loud, passionate Miami crowd on hand.


In the 2nd Half Dwyane Wade took over the ball game scoring 15 of his 22 points. Dirk Nowitzki tried to keep his team close throughout shooting 12-12 from the free-throw line and finishing with 27 points, leading all scorers. Miami's three-headed monster proved too much for the Mavs. LeBron was fed by with for an alley-oop pass with just under a minute to go that provided a fitting exclamation point as Miami proved they have awesome offense to go with their defense that helped them through game one. The Mav's fell behind in a play-off series for the first time this year.


Thursday night at the American Airlines Arena, Miami saw Game 2 of the Finals. Question marks were raised over Nowitzki's head as to how he would perform, due to the torn tendon in his left finger. By the end of the night, there were no question marks. Nowitzki had 24 and a game winner to cap a brilliant comeback from Dallas. "Dirk knew it was coming to him," teammate Jason Terry said. "He does what he always does. He comes through in a big way." They were down by 12, then D.Wade nailed a corner 3 which sparked a celebration with LeBron James. They seemed confident of the win, so did all in attendance apart from the team wearing blue, they would have nothing of it. Miami's defense was nowhere to be seen down the stretch with Nowitzki scoring Dallas' final 9 points. So many times over his career Nowitzki has come up clutch for the Mavs, but this may be the most important yet. Going down 2-0 and facing a confident Heat side is the stuff of nightmares. for the Heat now they need to win one of the next 3 games in Dallas for the series to head back to Florida.

Wade had his best play-off game this year scoring 36 (13-20) but it was to be in a losing effort. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra will be looking for the same kind of output in the remainder of the series. How long that will be is too hard to judge. We are where we were before any baskets had been made. Miami has undoubtedly the better roster, but Dallas has strength in depth and a man that can seemingly make any basket when the going gets tough.

Sunday night 8pm ET sees Game 3 and a chance for one team to get another edge in this back and forth contest. I predict Miami in 7. LeBron James will take the finals MVP, however do not be surprised at all if I a way off with this prediction.


Were in it for the long haul!

Rockstar Games - Top Of The Charts

Are Rockstar Games the most consistent game developer out there? Some of you may believe EA or Treyarch bring out the best games, but can it be argued that Rockstar games have not released a bad game?

Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption and now L.A Noire. For many of you, your favourite game may have just been mentioned. All of these games have an open world, free roaming settings in their games, which gives the player a sense of being there and more control over their player, be it John Marsden from Red Dead or CJ from GTA: San Andreas.

They are not however free from controversy. All of the GTA games have caused controversy at some point or another, but it is nothing compared to what came about when the game Manhunt was released. The game was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17, on the 27th of February, 2004. The game was subsequently dropped by GAME and Dixons. As well as being removed from these stores, it is completely banned in many countries, including Germany, Ireland and New Zealand.

Controversy aside, Rockstar's figures do not lie. GTA is considered by many as the best franchise in the gaming industry, with its sense of freedom and 'no-good attitude'. It has generated perfect or near perfect reviews and scores on almost all of the games, and has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. The GTA series was started in 1997 and has continued to grow ever since that day. In my opinion the best installment is San Andreas. IGN has San Andreas at the top of their 'Greatest Ever PS2 Games' http://bit.ly/mwtNaq. I may have to disagree with them there as I believe NFS Underground 2 is. Rockstar though are not satisfied with bringing out a few top level games and have just released L.A Noire.

Based in post-war LA, which is a perfect recreation of the real-life post-war LA. It has the same recognisable HUD as its predecessors and the same feel to it. Some aspects have been changed though as you control a Cop and not a Serbian War Veteran as in GTA IV. You cannot simply wreak havoc and get police chases because, well, you are the police. Civilians will always jump out the way of your car as well so running them over is out of the question. The Xbox 360 version recieved a 91.3% rating by GameRankings, which is obviously a good score.

I believe the reason why Rockstar always deliver great games is because they do not have the contract to release a game every year as with Call of Duty and many sports games. They have all the time they want to create a perfect game and have done on many occasions. With L.A Noire set in a 'real-life' L.A, Rockstar have gone the extra mile in bringing what is great about their games into action. Making them perfect. What the future holds i do not know, maybe another GTA game. Lets hope so because it is guaranteed to be a hit.

Last Weekend of the Premier League

With only 1 team relegated (West Ham), that means there are another 2 up for grabs. Blackpool seem to be doing there best to take one of those places after having an amazing start to the season. Wolves are extremely erratic, having beaten Chelsea and Liverpool this season, they cannot seem to string wins together. Charles N'Zogbia is single-handedly helping Wigan, Birmingham and Blackburn have just been sucked into the battle although they have a good squad of players.

Blackpool, Wigan and Birmingham are all on 39 points whilst Wolves and Blackburn are one 40. With Blackpool away at the Champions Man United I fear for them and their mercurial manager Ian Holloway. Birmingham face Spurs whilst Wigan go to Stoke. Many possible outcomes are available but I believe Birmingham's stay in the top league may be over. As I previously mentioned Charles N'Zogbia is saving Wigan on his own and if he plays well against a downhearted Stoke Wigan may well stay up.

At the top Man United will be presented with the trophy at the end of their game vs Blackpool. Chelsea are virtually guaranteed 2nd. Arsenal need Man City to drop points at Bolton if they are to reclaim 3rd having been in the title hunt not too long ago. A massively rejuvenated Liverpool squad can benefit if Spurs drop points and take 5th having been 18th earlier in the season. As for the Golden Boot, Berbatov and Tevez top the charts with 20 each whilst Darren Bent and Robin Van Persie are on 17. Tevez looks to be the player who will win it as Berbatov may not start again for the Champions.

DJ Campbell of Blackpool said, "I'm trying to let the lads know it's not a nice feeling to be relegated". Whether this will fire up his team remains to be seen. By 4pm on Sunday they will need to be or it would have been a short stay in the Premier League.

End Of The Road For This Bunch Of Lakers?

They struggled to overcome the Hornets, eventually winning 4-2. Then got cleaned up by an inspired Dallas Mavericks squad. Are this group of Lakers finished?

Dallas looked more like the 2-time defending Champions and before the play-offs they were being written off completely. Dirk Nowitzki and his Mavericks kept the Lakers under 95 points in all 4 games. Showing that not only was their defense top notch, but the Lakers offense was second pushing on to third rate. The 36 point blow-out in Game 4 to complete the sweep was the story of the series. Dallas were immense and the Lakers awful.

After Game 4, former MVP Kobe Bryant was asked. "How shocked are you at being swept?". He replied with all that was needed a simple 'Very', with a look of a defeated man on his face. In stark contrast to the Lakers and Mr. Bryant. Jason Terry of the Mavericks said. "We're locked in and all have the same goal". The unity and good performances was what won it for them and as if to prove that the Mavericks
bench scored 86 points in Game 4. The final score Dallas 122- 86 Lakers. Yes the Mav's bench matched the output of the Lakers whole team!

Speculation that Laker coach Phil Jackson will retire at the end of the season may have dispirited the Lakers, but to be the 2 time defending champs and getting swept in the Conference Semis is embarrassing. What was also embarrassing was how they lost their discipline, when they knew that it was all over. Lamar Odom was ejected for rasing his elbow to Dirk Nowitzki and Andrew Bynum was ejected for an awful foul on JJ Barea. Barea was inspired throughout the series and it was not the first time a quick, energetic PG had terrorised the Lakers this year. Chris PAul of the New Orleans Hornets. was causing major problems but did not have enough of a backup cast to bring his team past the Lakers. Barea however not being the starting PG evidently did have the players around him to cause major problems to the Lakers.

Without the 11 time champion coach Jackson and with Kobe advancing in years will the Lakers crumble? The uprising of the Clippers and Blake Griffin will also disturb the Lakers camp and fans. Dallas however will be looking forward to the Conference Finals, having slaughtered the Lakers, they will feel they can beat anybody now.

Miami vs Dallas in the Finals. Miami to win.