As the New Orleans Hornets are a couple of minutes away from eliminating the Mavs from the 2008 playoffs it looks like this group of players has run its course. They had a shot at becoming a one shot wonder in 2006, but their window of opportunity was slammed shut by Wade, who, in the process, seemed to have shuttered their collective self-confidence as well. And they never recovered.

Now there’s talk about Avery being fired and perhaps Josh Howard being traded. Which sounds OK with me, as long it is just the beginning of a  rebuilding process that must include trading Dirk. He is the Mavs leader, but he hasn’t been too good at it, especially in the playoffs. Like some other really talented players, he’s built for the regular season, where he will lead his team to a good record. But once the playoffs start, his softness and lack of defense get badly exposed. Here’s a list of players that the Mavs should explore trading and the reasons why:

* Josh Howard: he sucked during this series and his admission of smoking pot makes him look kinda dumb. But this is not the real reason why he should be traded. As I explained before, his offensive game is based way too much on 1-on-1 plays and he disrupts the offense.

I think Kidd has a couple more years when he can contribute, and if the Mavs move quick, they might benefit from them. At times, Howard also seemed lost or unfocused on defense. Right now he’s in his prime so the Mavs should be able to get some value back.

* Dirk Nowitzki: he’s a great offensive weapon, but he’s also very very soft. He doesn’t go inside nowhere as much as he needs to. Sometimes he doesn’t realize he has a mismatch and thus he doesn’t try to take advantage of it by requesting the ball. He seems unable to set a proper pick, too often he sets the pick standing sideways, and since he doesn’t have a big frame (or big belly), defenders get around him easily. And if the pick works, he pops for a jumper instead of rolling to the basket, even if the paint is open.

On defense he doesn’t put his hands up all the time, he doesn’t rotate to help when opponents are penetrating to the basket. His rebounding numbers are inflated too, as many times the others just box out for him to take the rebound. Defensive rebounds are more a result of team-work, while good rebounders also have good offensive rebounding numbers. Well, out of the top rebounders in the NBA, Dirk has the fewest offensive rebounds at 1.2 per game. The only other player on that list with as few offensive rebounds is Jason Kidd who happens to be a G and 6 inches shorter than Dirk. Most of the other players have 3 or more offensive rebounds per game.

For a team with Dirk to really be a contender, they need a real defensive presence, a shot blocker to play with him, cause Dampier’s lame washed-up overpaid ass is not enough. A Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby type of player, someone who is not really a scorer and doesn’t need the ball much. Someone who can focus on playing D while being available for open dunks or alley oops when Dirk is doubled. Emeka Okafor or Jermaine O’Neal would also fit well with Dirk, and Jermaine might be available and cheap this summer.

By the way, I am surprised to see how many people fail to see the holes in Dirk’s game and claim he doesn’t have enough help from his teammates. While it’s true that his teammates didn’t handle their  business, Dirk was just as much a part of the problem. Including in game 5 where he shot 8-21 from the field, and took most of those shots while fading away from the basket instead of going strong. When you’re a superstar and you know calls are gonna go your way (like not even getting a foul after clearly shoving MoPete), you have to be aggressive and take it to the rim. Flopping on fade away jump shots is not the right way to get to the free throw line.

* Erick Dampier: yeah, like anyone’s gonna want his bloated contract. Too bad for the Mavs, cause he’d have no place on the roster if the Mavs got the defending/rebounding C to play with Dirk.  Guess signing players who only perform in their contract years is not a good idea (see: James, Jerome). But maybe the Mavs can pack him with Josh Howard or Dirk.

* Jerry Stackhouse: Biggest bonehead on the team. With the Mavs closing in on the Hornets at the end of  the 4th quarter of a “win or go home” game 5, he picks up his second technical and is ejected. That 1 extra point could have been the difference between Dallas losing or going to overtime. And that comes after his moronic comments about returning to play for the Mavs after a trade to the Nets cost Cuban a cool 11 million in salaries and luxury tax.

* Jason Terry: His play during the series was in fact decent, but with his contract, if the Mavs decide to try a quick rebuild, it might be a good idea to trade him while he has some value.

Hedo Turkoglu was named the Most Improved Player of the year, as I expected. According to ESPN, Byron Scott will be named Coach of the Year. My choices for COY and MVP were Phil Jackson and Chris Paul, but,  because the voters gave the MVP to Kobe (as expected), they gave the COY to Byron Scott (the Hornets had to reveice an award for their amazing season) and the DPOY to Garnett. So I guess there are no more doubts about who’s gonna get the MVP now.

Celtics @ Hawks

• The Hawks finaly used their best weapon to their advantage: their athleticism constantly frustrated the Celtics, as the Hawks were the agressor in this one
• Josh Smith rarely touched the ground, hovering above the rim on defense and finishing with 7 blocks, most of them coming in spectacular fashion.
• After their little shouting match in game 3, Pierce and Horford both underperformed. Since I already talked about Pierce, I’ll discuss Horford a little bit. He finished with just 4 points on 1-6 FG and 4 TO. But his demeanor on the court was great, as were his 13 rebounds.
• After a dunk (his only basket of the game) that capped a 10 points Hawks run, Horford flexed Zo style. I already like the kid, so if he turns out to be the next Zo, I’ll like him a whole lot more.
• Zaza Pachulia got in Garnett’s grill after getting an elbow. Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either. I mean … is Zaza Pachulia even allowed to talk to Garnett ? But his actions personified the Hawks in this game: they were not afraid of anything. They acted like they belonged instead of rolling down in front of the mighty Celtics.
• After the altercation, Horford tried to calm Zaza down and took him towards the bench while waving his hands to encourage the public to rally behind his team. He might be just a rookie, but he’s showing some leadership skills and he’s not afraid of anyone.
• Garnett didn’t help the Celtics’ cause much, missing 12 of his 21 shots. This was the biggest knock on Garnett during his career - taking too many jump shots. And it hurt his team this time, as he only made 7 of the 17 jumpers he took. He also missed a couple of layups.
• The Celtics defense was MIA. It looked like the Celtics took a page from the Pistons’ manual and expected lesser opponents to just hang their heads and wait for their merciful finishing blow. But the Hawks, just like the 76ers, gave them a big FUCK YOU. Who’d have thought ?! Best teams in the league (record wise) are the only ones to be tied after 4 games, while playing the worst (record wise) teams in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference playoffs suddenly got a lot more interesting.

I have predicted that as a result of being taunted by Al Horford at the end of game 3, Paul Pierce will try to have a monster game in game 4, and fail miserably. And, lo and behold, Pierce didn’t disappoint. He finished with 5-14 FG, 3 TO and 5 PF, and his Celtics lost. He also shot 50%  (4-8) from the FT line.

Truth be told, he started out very well, shooting efficiently (he finished 4-7 from the 3p line) and at the end he had 7 reb and 5 ast. But in a playoff game he shouldn’t let his frustration boil over and commit silly fouls that put him in foul trouble and keep him out of the game. And where was his vaunted perimeter defense ? Atlanta’s perimeter players had their way with the Celtics’ D: Joe Johnson was 14-24, Bibby 5-8, Josh Smith 8-16.

I used to like him. But watching him during this series against the Hornets, I got the feeling he’s the piece that doesn’t fit. Usually offenses orchestrated by Kidd are very fluid, with a lot of ball (and player) movement and very few 1 on 1 plays. Yet every time the ball got to Josh Howard, the offense just stopped in its tracks. Basically every single time he got the ball he stopped, took a long look at the court, then started dribbling followed by an attempt to take his opponent 1 on 1.

Not only is he disrupting the Mavs team-offense. That would be sorta OK if at least he managed to score on a large part of all those 1 on 1 actions. But his “best” shooting of the series came in game 2: 5 of 16 from the field. Overall his shooting percentage for the series is an atrocious 25.86%, and he only made 1 of the 8 three pointers he took. At least he’s been pulling down some boards (6.5 per game) and going to the line (6.25 FTA per game) and made most of them (80% FT). But his defense has been questionable as well. In retrospect, Dirk’s comments after game 4: “You have to make shots to win in this league”, might have been, at least partially, directed at Howard. Not that Dirk deserves no blame of his own, as this is his team, and he’s supposed to carry them offensively as well as defensively, at least in terms of effort if not defensive prowess.

And just when you thought things couldn’t go any worse for Howard, he managed to find a foot big enough to fit his mouth, so he openly acknowledged he smokes pot. But only during the offseason. Or at least so he says. Now, I don’t have anything against pot. I happen to think that if pot is banned, so should alcohol and tobacco. And probably a few other things, as well. I also happen to believe in free speech and in speaking out. But when you’re in the spotlight especially when you’ve been under performing, it’s usually better not to say things that could be used against you.

So after the Hornets put them out of their misery in game 5, the Mavs will have to regroup. Avery will probably be the first to go. But Cuban should not stop here. Howard should be dangled as trade bait in front of every GM in the league that has something nice to offer. Which kinda means everyone but the Knicks’ GM.  Howard put up nice stats, and he’s just in his prime. He won’t get much (if any) better than this, and this would be the best time to trade him. And the pot smoking admission shouldn’t have hurt his stock much, if any, cause most GMs come from the ranks of the NBA, so they know most of the players do in fact smoke weed.

And once you start changing the roster, why stop in the middle of the road  ? I think it might just be time to trade Dirk too. With Howard and Dirk you might get a couple of players like Jermaine O’Neal and Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace plus a couple of extra pieces. With Kidd running the show, these 2 might fit better than Josh Howard and Dirk. At least while they stay healthy. Jermaine would provide the defense Dirk can’t provide while Kidd will help him get easy baskets on offense. And the SG/SF they might get could be the 3rd piece in a team that could follow the blueprint of the Celtics: 3 stars that fit together, surrounded by cheap, but able role players.

In game 3, Horford had a couple of choice words for Pierce towards the end of the game (courtesy of Odenized):

Some Most would say that this wasn’t really smart of Horford - taunting a superstar - as he might drop 40 or even 50 on the Hawks the next game. Well, first of all, Pierce has no place in the same discussion with Lebron or Kobe. Second, according to some website who’s address I forgot, this was just Horford’s reply to something Pierce started:

Horford made a shot at the end of the game and while Pierce was laying on the court, Horford shouted down at him and shook his fingers at him. During the closing moments of game 2, when things got heated and a lil testy, Pierce predicted and said this to Horford: “Ten stacks ($10,000) we sweep your ass!”

Horford said: “My heart don’t pump kool-aid! Imma be here…..remember that! I aint going no where!”. So when you saw Horford jawing with Pierce tonight…he was saying: “F— you…pay me!! It aint over!”

And it’s gotta be true. Cause I read it on the Internet and as we all know, everything you read on the Internet is true. And cause it sounds just like the kind of crap Pierce would pull.

So in the aftermath of game 3, I think Pierce will try to have a “statement game”. I fully expect him to jack up a ton of bad shots in an attempt to put up a lot of points and end up with a horrendous FG% and a bunch of turnovers, hurting his team in the process. The Celtics are good enough to survive a really bad game by Pierce, but he might just play selfish enough to help the Hawks even the series.

If he doesn’t do that, well, color me surprised. It would mean that a lot of Garnett’s team oriented attitude rubbed off on him, and if so, for this alone Garnett should receive the MVP.

Deshawn Stevenson got himself in the spotlight with his “Lebron is overrated” comments, and in the process  prompted Barkley to call the Wizards “the dumbest team in the history of civilization”. Now that he got the spotlight firmly locked on his bearded mug, he gets to annoy everyone with his “I can’t feel my face” gesture, that in fact created a little stir, cause it’s so dumb people have a hard time understanding what it means.

So here it is from the horse’s mouse:

“I named it, but Tony Yayo does it. [I named it like this] Because you do it over your face. And I can’t feel it because I’m on fire.”

Oh, right. NOW it makes sense (insert giant eyes-rolling emoticon here). Despite his explanation, there are people who claim he stole it from WWE’s John Cena who had a similar move called “You can’t see me”.  Since I never saw that move, I suppose it really works. Or it could be because I am not following WWE. In any case, a move like that  which is called “You can’t see me” made this image pop into my brain (and now on your screen):

Not quite the brightest animal, apparently. But Deshawn’s claim that he did not borrow the move from an ostrich seems to be supported by Tony Yayo himself, who explains he invented this move while:

I had nothing better to do. I was in the house, and was playing around

Which, interestingly, is the same thing I say about masturbation: I invented it while I was in the house, with nothing to do, just playing around.

In the end, as a tribute to Cena’s “You can’t see me” move, I give you a classic clip about the value of not being seen:

I meant to say something about the David West - Dirk Nowitzki incident in the 1st game of the New Orleans - Dallas series, where David West touched Dirk on the face in a threatening manner.

Most people agree that Dirk should not allow this to happen and the least he could do would be to push West’s hand away from his face. Old school guys would have done more than that. Had that been Barkley, West would still be picking his teeth off the floor. Of course, there are others who think that Dirk did well to control his emotions and not risk a technical or an ejection. Well, an ejection to Dirk sure wouldn’t help the Mavs, but then neither does letting the Hornets know they are a bunch of pussies.

So here’s what I think. We all agree that Dirk’s been sleeping in a tub of fabric softener for way too long. That’s not to say he’s not a nice guy, but to win in the NBA sometimes you need a nasty side that he just doesn’t have. Avery Johnson should know that and should have had someone protect Dirk. Just like Oakley was Jordan’s bodyguard in Jordan’s first years in Chicago. And Dirk needs a bodyguard more than MJ did.

In the video, you can see Bass really close to Dirk and West. But the first to intervene are the refs. In fact, they are the ones taking West’s hand off Dirk’s face. Now, correct me if I’m wrong: Brandon Bass is a role player, and he’s pretty tall and athletic. If, say, Bass and West were ejected, that would hurt the Hornets more. So why the hell wasn’t Bass up in West’s grill ? Slap his hand away, give him a push, talk some crap to him, call his momma a cheap ho, whatever. Look to start something to get West (and probably yourself) ejected and help your team, or at least just have your teammate’s back. Instead you just stay there and watch ? WTF ?

One last thing: remember how Devean George cost Cuban an extra 11 million or so because of his refusal to be included in the trade ? Well, let’s just say that George could have been used to justify some of that amount. If he goes in and punks David West and gets suspended, I doubt the Mavs would be missing his 4 ppg and 25% FG much.

By a weird twist of fate, Kevin Garnett is not going to receive the MVP, despite being the best player on the best team in the league. Partially because he has 2 other All Stars next to him, partially because “yeah, but they’re in the East”. That despite the Celtics mopping the hardwood with the teams in the West, including a sweep of the Texas Triangle.

But even if he doesn’t win the MVP, he still should have some hardware to show for the impressive season he lead the Celtics to. Since he’s no longer a rookie, did not improve (from a personal stats point of view) and he’s not a coach yet, the only “consolation award” he can be given is the DPOY. Not that he doesn’t deserve it anyway, but he should win it by a landslide if the voters take all these into account.

This season’s second place is Dwight Howard, who’s still one season away from win it himself, and perhaps only 2-3 seasons away from winning the MVP. Other players receiving consideration should be Camby and Duncan, but nothing more than consideration for them. On second thought, a case can be made for Dwight winning the DPOY award THIS season. Duncan and Garnett have a defensive stopper in Bowen and Pierce  (who took up this role this season). They take the opposing team’s best scorers (most scorers are perimeter players), making the job easier for the big men behind them. Howard, on the other hand, has to cover an average defensive backcourt as well as a couple of SF not known for their defense, out of which one is playing out of position at PF.

UPDATE: Kevin Garnett was just named DPOY. As I was saying above, he won it in a landslide, as a sign that voters considered it a consolation award:

Garnett won the league award for the first time by a wide margin one day before Boston takes a 1-0 lead into Game 2 of the first-round series against Atlanta.


He had 90 of the 124 first-place votes and a total of 493 points. Marcus Camby of Denver, last year’s winner, was second with 12 first and 178 points, just edging Shane Battier of Houston, who received 11 first-place votes and 175 points.

What does this mean ?? Well, it means that Kobe got the MVP. So congratulations to Kobe for that.

So we’re finally here. The MVP. The one that really matters. Since there’s a lot to talk about here, I’m gonna divide it in 3 parts.

1) Who WILL win it.

Kobe. Don’t even ask why - it’s a lifetime achievement award. He’s gonna receive it because of the (incorrect) perception that he was somehow slighted 2 years ago, so voters don’t feel bad they voted against him in previous years. Thing is, he didn’t deserve it 2 seasons ago either. I agree Nash shouldn’t have won it, but it wasn’t Kobe’s either. But I suppose the voters felt somehow weird to give the award to someone who was barely 21 years old. And YES, I am talking about Lebron James.

But this season ? He doesn’t have the best stats: Lebron (29.23) and Chris Paul (28.39) lead the league in PER while Kobe (24.31) is only 8th. His team doesn’t have the best record: the Celtics do and were 9 games better, and the Pistons are 2nd. And if you gonna deny Garnett cause he plays with Pierce and Ray Allen, then how can you give it to Kobe, who plays with Gasol and Odom ?

It’s been getting on my nerves how people always claim Kobe had a worse supporting cast than Lebron a couple of years ago, and that is just not true. Everybody seems to forget what Odom is capable of doing. Lakers fans label him as trash in an attempt to make Kobe look better, but Odom is anything but trash. He proved it recently by putting up monster stats and playing the role of glue guy perfectly. Lebron’s best role-player was Boobie Gibson. Nuff said.

And let’s not forget that Kobe has benefited from playing for the best coach alive. Phil Jackson is underrated at this moment. He’s one of the few coaches that can run a good offensive system while also improving the team’s defense. Most coaches, even really good ones, are only strong on offense or defense, but not both. Amongst examples: Larry Brown (defense), Rick Adelman (offense), Mike D’Antoni (offense), Jeff van Gundy (defense), Nellie (offense).

2) Who SHOULD win it

If we’re using the “best player on best team provided he doesn’t have a star filled supporting cast” criteria - the one that eliminates Garnett and should also eliminate Kobe - then the obvious choice is Chris Paul. He is the one and only undisputed superstar of his team. David West may have made the All Star Game, but had he not played with Chris Paul, nobody would know his name now.

If the award was given strictly for this season, making complete abstraction of the previous seasons, there is no way Chris Paul doesn’t win it. And had the voters been able to see how he dismantled the Mavs in the first 2 games of the series, he would have probably won in a landslide.

3) Who is the best player in the league

So they say the MVP is not necessarily the best player in the league. And I keep hearing and reading how Kobe is that best player. Which is just not true. Kobe might be the best scorer, but the best scorer is not the best player. The best player in the league at this moment wears #23, not #24. His stats blow Kobe’s out of the water. He is more efficient, he involves his teammates more, he rebounds better, and this season he’s been defending better than Kobe.

Lebron was also the best player in the league during the 2005-06 season, when he put up 31.4 points on 48% FG, 7 reb, 6.6 ast, 1.6 stl and 0.8 blk. And that was a slight DROP in his stats  (except for scoring) compared to the previous season, when he put up 27.2 points on 47.2% FG, 7.4 reb, 7.2 ast, 2.2 stl and 0.6 blk. In 2006-07 he seemed to coast a little bit, but this season he’s been nothing short of amazing. His 30 points on 48.4% FG, 7.9 reb, 7.2 ast, 1.8 stl and 1.1 blk are comparable to Michael Jordan’s 32.5 points, 8 reb, 8 ast in perhaps his best overall season in 1988-89. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Stats aside, Lebron does everything a superstar should do. And then some. He makes his teammates better, this season he improved his defense by leaps and bounds, last season he was accused of coasting so this season he played out of his mind all season long. He became a leader, he keeps his emotions under control, not allowing them to negatively affect his game or the team. He’s incredibly mature, too, for 23 year old who’s a superstar.

Lebron even started to talk a little trash, which, for superstars, is a weapon. Jordan, Bird and many others knew when to say and what to say to demoralize their opponents. In last year’s playoffs Lebron whispered something to Arenas and Arenas missed 2 crucial free throws. Then during this season, after Bosh’s cousin and girlfriend (2 separate persons, just to be clear) heckled him, he went berzerk in the 4th quarter and destroyed the Raptors, after which he turned to her and said “This is your fault”. And now is on his way to making DeShawn Stevenson his biatch. Stevenson is about to become the gimp (Pulp Fiction style) that Lebron keeps locked in a box somewhere in a small storage room in his huge mansion.

Put all these together and you have the best player in the league hands down. The only thing that really stays between Lebron and a bunch of titles is his crappy team, which was assembled by his even crappier GM. Let’s just hope he will have more luck than Garnett over the first 10 years of his career.