Hey dude's what's up. I have been "in the basement" for a while and like a groundhog, I decided to "poke my head out" to see what was going on.

Well we have just reach the half-way point of the season and there are a few surprises to comment on. Rather than just doing a regular "Power Ranking" of the teams, I am going to throw out a few "awards" along with my modified rankings to see if I can generate some comments along the way. So let me start out with a few awards to get y'all all worked up.

Surprise Team of the Year - Portland Trailblazers

Many of you may say, well what about the Celtics, to that I say, okay yea, so? The Celtics are certainly impressive with their current 33-7 record, but come on, you knew that with the Big 3 already in place (Garnett, Allen and Pierce) that they were going to be very competitive, but exactly how many of you had a clue that the "Greg Oden" less Blazers were going to be on pace to win 50 games in the Western Conference. Second year pros Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are averaging a combined 36 points per game and providing the on-court leadership along with the 2-headed point guard play of Steve Blake and Jarrett Jack that Nate McMillian needed. My runner up for Surprise team would be the New Orleans Hornets who lead the Western Conference at 29-12.

Disappointing Team of the Year - Miami Heat

This is no surprise, but their play may be. Shaq should strongly consider retiring. His body just doesn't appear to be able to stand up the NBA grind anymore. So far Shaq has missed 8 games and is back on the IR once again with a hip aliment. Couple this with backup Alonzo Mourning's season/career knee injury and Pat Riley just has too big of hole to fill. I have predicted prior to the season that the Heat were a team just as capable of losing 50 as wining 50. Well as it currently stands 60 seems to be the pace of the loses for this season, as they are only 3-20 in the Eastern Conference and 1-8 within their division to go with their current 14 game losing streak. Runner up, Hmm how about Chicago Bulls who have already fired coach Scott Skiles and are limping along at 17-24 after advancing to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

MVP - LeBron James

Dude has only minor support on his own team, but still leads the league in scoring at 29 plus per game along with more than 7 rebounds and assists per game and 2 steals. No one else on the team even averages 15 points per game, yet the Cavaliers currently stand at 4^th place in the Eastern Conference. Runner up Kevin Garnett, Yao Ming.

Rookie of the Year - Kevin Durant

This appears to be a rather mediocre rookie class, what with Oden missing the entire season (which begs the question, since he didn't play this season, is Oden eligible for Rookie of the year next season?) Durant leads a rag-tag Sonic team at 19 points per game. This given the fact that he weighs about 150 pounds and has already played more games than in any of his previous years, he will soon be hitting that "Rookie Wall". Al Horford of Atlanta looks like the real deal by regularly putting up double-doubles earns an "oh by the way" mention.

Coach of the Year - Nate McMillian

Given the fact that his "expected best player" was lost soon after the draft McMillian, with the NBA's youngest team has his team poised for a great shot at the play-offs. It remains to be seen if they can keep it up the second half when the pressure as the season winds down will be immense. Runner up Phillip Jackson.

Bugeatersteve's "Fine 5"

5. Boston Celtics - still has the leagues best record at 33-7, but their schedule still has not been all that tough and the lack of strong point guard play has been a factor. Look for Ainge to try to pick up Sam Cassell to address this weakness before the trading deadline.

4. L.A. Lakers - With Kobe this team could just as easily implode as to continue humming along. How they survey Bynum's loss will be key over the next few weeks.

3. Phoenix Suns - Steve Nash has exploded the last couple of games with 37 points and 10 assists on Monday and then followed that up Wednesday with 21 and 16. Now Grant Hill (what you didn't know he's been out?) returned to action Wednesday night.

2. Dallas Mavericks - Dallas has been hot lately winning 8 of their past 9 games. Still have to question their toughness, both mental and physical as the season winds on.

1. New Orleans Hornets - They are in the middle of a stretch where they are playing nine of 11 at home, and they've won their last three games at New Orleans Arena by an average of 28.3 points. Chris Paul has recorded double-doubles in eight of his last nine games and he scored 32 in the only one he didn't. Think someone else deserves this spot. This team is getting scary good, only question is experience.

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JEH45 said:

	Down here in South Florida people are having a hard time accepting the fact that the Heat looks like a one hit wonder. Thank God the fish are biting.
	report abuse vote down vote up

January 26, 2008
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