Maverick fans have to be drooling. Mark Cuban has let it be known that he would pick up the two worst contracts on the Hornets in order to get Chris Paul.

It makes the mind swirl to think of the Dallas Mavericks picking up Chris Paul to play on the same team as Dirk Nowitzki. You would have a former MVP still playing at a very high level with a future MVP candidate adding some much needed full court speed.

Chris Paul defies the laws of gravity

Dirk is still one of the top mismatch players in the league, presenting an interesting combination of size and long distance shooting ability. If you added in Chris Paul, just think of the explosiveness on the Mavericks. Chris is a penetrating point guard and they rule the NBA right now.

So why would the Hornets let this deal happen?

In a word, contracts. They have way too many dollars tied up in longer contracts.

Who would the Hornets want to get rid of so badly that they’d be willing to part with Paul? Peja Stojakovic ($13.39 million next season and $14.26 in 2010-11) would definitely be part of the deal. Chandler ($12.3 next season and $13.2 in 2010-11) probably would be included, too. Morris Peterson (due a total of $12 million over the next two seasons) or James Posey ($19.5 million over three seasons) are other possibilities.

Stojakovic’s contract ranks among the worst in the league. He’s had a very good career, but he’s an oft-injured 40-percent jump shooter these days. But he is the starting small forward for a playoff team.

source

Photo source Newscom

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The last time the Lakers went 7 – 0 to start the season it was 2001 and they finished the season with the NBA Title.

The Lakers are not playing like a championship team, but they are winning like a Championship team and for this time of the season that is good enough.

So what is their formula for success?

Hang in there and let Kobe takeover in the end.

The success formula allows them to win for now, but they have to develop into more of a team if they want to seriously make a title run.

We do have some very good stretches,” Fisher said. “It’s something we can build on. We know we have a long way to go. We’re only in November. We want to keep winning. (But) I think we’re relying on Kobe’s ability to make plays too much in the fourth quarter. … So, that’s something we’re going to have to correct.

“Teams know the ball is going to be in his hands down the stretch. We have to be able to do things so that there are other options. We have too many other guys who can make plays. It doesn’t always have to be Kobe.”

source

Photo source Newscom

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The Russian Olympic Coach says – “Jannero Pargo who?”

It has happened again. An NBA player has forsaken the world’s greatest league to take the money overseas.

Jannero Pargo of the New Orleans Hornets signed a 1 year 4 million dollar deal, thus effectively doubling his salary with the Hornets.

This is not a European Exodus; it is a worldwide exodus from the NBA as Pargo signs with Dynamo Moscow.

Dynamo also signed Bostjan Nachbar, who averaged 9.8 points for the New Jersey Nets last season.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Pargo is a six-year NBA veteran out of Arkansas. He averaged 8.1 points and 18 minutes a game as a reserve for the Hornets last season, and was the team’s fourth-leading scorer in the playoffs with 10.2 points per game.

source

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The Hornets had the Spurs in their hand. It was all but over.

It was described this way.

It’s the team of the decade against the team of the future.

It’s the king of the hill vs. the new kid on the block.

Its last year’s NBA title winners squaring off with this year’s Southwest Division title winners.

source

Turns out the old king of the hill had enough in them to pull out the series and send the Hornets home. This got them thinking. Maybe we need more.

Now they have more. The New Orleans Hornets signed the most significant free agent left in Sam Posey.

The deal is worth 25 million for 4 years.

Boston wanted to keep him.

Because of future luxury-tax concerns, Boston was apparently reluctant to offer Posey, 31, more than a two- or three-year deal starting at the league’s midlevel exception (just under $5.6 million) in spite of Posey’s considerable contributions to the Celtics’ first championship since 1986.

source

Chris Paul needed more weapons and Sam Posey will bring his timely 3 point shooting. More than that, Sam can guard a lot of different style players.

This is a great signing for New Orleans.

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Who are these guys?

Deron Williams? All everyone talks about is Chris Paul of the Hornets, or the arrival of Jason Kidd in Dallas, but Deron Williams is off to a great career with that hidden team, the Utah Jazz. Deron had 14 assists by half time. Half time!

Mehmet Okur? All everyone talks about is Shaq going to the Suns, or Dirk Nowitzki lighting it up for the Mavs, or the return of Andrew Bynum, or Pau Gasol gaining new life with the Lakers, but Mehmet has some of those European style components to his game, learned in Turkey, that make him tough to guard and he rebounds well in a crowd. Just ask Joe Dumars, he wanted to keep him a Piston, but the price was too high.

Carlos Boozer? Hey, what is he doing on the Jazz? Carlos is a 20/10 guy that weighs 266 pounds. 20 points and 10 rebound season average that is and the 266 pounds on his 6′ 9″ frame makes him tough to handle inside.

Andrei Kirilenko? He may not be a 20/10 guy, but he does everything else with steals, blocked shots, rebounds, points, and just plain excellent defense. In 2005-06 he was on the NBA all defensive team. This year he has suffered a lot of injuries and did not play most of this most recent game.

Utah played most of the game without forward Andrei Kirilenko, who was knocked out of the game with 7:04 left in the first quarter after taking a flagrant foul from Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki. Kirilenko went crashing to the floor and bruised his right hip bad enough that he was taken to the hospital for X-rays, which showed no break. source

NBA Basketball Andrei Kirilenko factoid – Became just 4th player in NBA history, and first since 1993-94, to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 4+ assists and 3+ blocks in single season (Abdul-Jabbar six times, Bob Lanier – 1973-74, David Robinson – 1993-94) source

Kyle Korver? The least heard about trade this side of Golden State picking up old timer Chris Weber. Kyle gives them the big time bench scorer they needed and had 17 points in this game.

Utah won over Dallas 116 – 110.

The Jazz went on a momentum-changing fourth-quarter run in a 116-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, coming back after blowing a 21-point lead. Utah made all 18 free throws in the fourth quarter and stayed near the top of the congested standings in the Western Conference. source

Dallas

Josh Howard scored 25 points and Nowitzki finished with 23 for Dallas, which fell to 4-4 since acquiring Jason Kidd.

Kidd finished with nine assists and 19 points — 10 of which he scored in the fourth quarter. Jason Terry scored 21 for the Mavericks.

It appears the Jason Kidd experiment will take a little time to get going.

Anyway, Utah is fighting for their life in the tough Western Conference.

Back to Utah

“It was a playoff atmosphere,” Boozer said. “You had people diving for loose balls, scrapping for rebounds. That’s what the playoffs are about. That’s what the last 20 games are going to be like as we try to position ourselves for the playoffs.”

So who is Utah and why aren’t the New Orleans Hornets called the Jazz? Hmm, that does seem a bit strange.

Utah is the hidden team loaded with talent and a good record. Look out Western Conference!

NBA Basketball Fan Question Were you aware of how good the Jazz are looking?

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How can this be?

It is a reach even for 7′ 6″ Yao Ming to win 11 in a row.

Tracy McGrady playing consistently good?

Houston even trades two players away, do not suit up the guy they get and still keep winning!

How can this be?

Well, admittedly, most of the teams they beat were pretty bad teams, but they did just knock off Chris Paul and the Hornets (sounds like a 60’s rock group) and there were a couple of close scrapes with the Cleveland PreWallace LeBrons led by Cavalier LeBron James, which the Rockets managed to pull out.

Still… They are winning!

And get this, they have not lost in February and finish the month with games against the Big Ben-less Bulls, the Wizards minus Agent Zero, and the Pau-less Grizzlies (get it, paw-less Grizzlies, ok, bad joke).

Sounds like 3 more wins and an undefeated month to me.

Side Note: Your intrepid author was pretty harsh on Houston a while back and is currently flogging himself.

It seems the Rockets are worthy.

When both Yao and T-Mac are on, they are pretty hard to beat. In fact, they will kill you from inside and out.

But there is a new element developing and we will have to see if it stays when they play the better clubs.

The Rockets have held eight of their last nine opponents under 90 points. source

Coach Rick Adelman is trying to get this team to take small steps towards being a top team. Right now they are in a dog fight to just make the playoffs.

“I told the team, ‘You put yourself in position to make a move,’ ” coach Rick Adelman said. “It’s our season to make what we want to make of it. Are we going to take advantage of what we’ve done to get to this point? We’ve gotten back into the whole thing. Or are we going to go up and down?” source

Hard to complain right now. Winning can breed a certain level of confidence that will improve your play once the big boys come into town.

Learning to defend your home court is almost essential.

These are the lessons the Rockets learn as they feed off of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Do the Rockets make the playoffs?

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Maurice Brooks writes for NBA.com and has an ongoing article keeping track of his Top Ten nominations for NBA MVP.

It is called Race to the MVP Weekly Leaders.

Let’s take a look at Maurice’s list with your intrepid author’s comments in italics.

LeBron says – It is all about team (yeah, right)

1. LeBron – Last Week’s Rank – 1
The Cavs are six games below .500 without James in the lineup and 13 games above it when he plays. This past week I received a large amount of e-mails pointing out that he is in the East. Do you really think his stats would be any worse if he were in the West? As well as he has balled this season, he has been even better lately, averaging nearly 33 points, nine boards and six assists over his past six games.

You will get no argument from me. LeBron is bringing it right now and his team is winning.

2. Chris Paul

Wow, Maurice goes out of his way to rake Deron Williams over the coals, but the Hornets are hot right now and that helps.

3. Kobe Bryant

Maurice seems to think Pau Gasol will reduce Kobe’s chance to win the MVP, but your gallivanting author thinks it will increase his chances. Pau will be a number two star that will keep the winning coming, especially when they get Bynum back.

4. Steve Nash – I know there are a bunch of fans checking out R2MVP right now and wondering how come this guy is always in the top five. We’ll start with the fact that he is a great teammate, shoots over 50 percent from the floor and over 90 percent from the line, leads the league in assists and is the best player on the best team in the West and go from there.

Nash is unbelievable, but it is how he incorporates Shaq that will make the difference.

5. Dwight Howard

Maurice kids Dwight a bit and he is an emerging star, but this ranking just seems too high.

6. Allen Iverson

The only person that plays less D is Melo.

7. Paul Pierce

An unrecognized star for years, there is still the question of how well he will play number two star to Kevin Garnett.

8. Dirk Nowitzki

Wait a minute, this guy plays less D than AI.

9. Baron Davis

Love watching this guy play, but then Stephon Marbury amazes me too.

10. Kevin Garnett

This guy has to be in the top five. Come on.

Love Maurice’s column, but does he have to get down on Rasheed Wallace being picked for the All Star game? Rasheed has his ups and downs, but the Pistons are nothing without him. He routinely shuts down opposing centers and power forwards and scores his share in the Pistons balanced scoring offense.

Defense needs to be included in the MVP award and sadly is not.

Where is Tim Duncan?

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who is missing from your Top Ten?

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He is at it again.

Johnny Ludden, Yahoo! Sports has come out with his Power Rankings of the NBA.

Let’s check out some of his top teams with your intrepid author’s comments in italics.

PARADE PLANNERS

1. (2) Boston Celtics – In less than a week, the Celtics were linked to Damon Stoudamire, Sam Cassell and Gary Payton. At this rate Bob Cousy will be back in uniform by mid-February.

Rajon Rondo a key to the Celtics

The Celtics put together a little win streak after their little losing streak. The injury to Rajon Rondo showed a weakness in the formerly impenetrable armor of the Celtics.

Rajon Rondo, who has missed the Celtics’ last two games and three of the last four with a combination of back and right hamstring woes, went through practice yesterday and thinks he’ll be ready to play this afternoon against the Knicks. His coach isn’t so sure. source

The Boston Celtics and GM Danny Ainge will most certainly be looking for point guard talent.

The player mentioned most often is Damon Stoudamire. Damon has been a shoot first player in the past and would not fit in well with the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, all of whom need the ball on offense.

There is also accusations of a little too much bonging going on.

2. (7) New Orleans Hornets – The Hornets played in front of an announced crowd of 9,882 last week against Seattle, leading Chris Paul to shout to Kevin Durant: “First one to Oklahoma City wins!”

Chris Paul is awesome and the Hornets continue to be one of the surprise teams in the NBA. Hard to believe at this point they could survive the playoffs without more experience.

3. (5) Phoenix Suns – Let’s get this straight: Steve Kerr and Mike D’Antoni reportedly are at odds; Amare Stoudemire is miffed over his shot count; Shawn Marion wants to be traded; Boris Diaw forgot how to play; Grant Hill just had an appendectomy; Steve Nash claims the Suns haven’t had “that same joy” as previous seasons; and Phoenix continues to lead the Western Conference? Maybe there’s still hope for the Knicks, after all.

Face it, the Suns are loaded and play a style that few teams can stop. The missing piece is a center.

4. LA Lakers

Probably headed downward in the rankings until Andrew Bynum returns. Although Kobe may have something to say about that.

5. Dallas Mavericks

Love to watch this team play. They leave it all out on the floor in a race to see who shoots first. When they drafted Maurice Agar from Michigan State University, they announced they got him for defense. Still trying to figure out who Mo ever guarded. So is Tom Izzo. My friend, Ron B, points out that compared to the Mavericks; Mo is a defensive wizard.

6. Detroit Pistons

Another team lacking a post defensive presence. When Rasheed Wallace wants to shine, the Pistons are unbeatable.

7. San Antonio Spurs

Because of Tim Duncan, a Center, you can’t count out the Spurs come playoff time.

8. Portland Trailblazers

Think what this team becomes with the defensive presence of Greg Oden. Unfortunately that happens next year.

9. Golden State Warriors

The mini version of Phoenix starring Baron Davis.

10. Denver Nuggets

Plagued with injuries and lacking defense. What will happen to this George Karl team?

Teams poised to move up:

Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James,

Orlando Magic with Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and a big victory over my Pistons

NBA Basketball Fan Question Did your team make the rankings?

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The return of James, your basketball author. Now the good and the bad. The good is that my most excellent boss and coworkers filled in quite nicely and that is most appreciated.The bad is that James is diagnosed with Cancer and undergoing chemotherapy. Fear not, they say the cancer is one that is curable, so let us move forward with our dreams of basketball!

John Schuhmann gives you the NBA.com power rankings with emphasis on the top 5.

1. San Antonio – last week number 3.

source

Author’s take – hard to argue. Best half court D and Tim D on O. Both recipes for playoff victory.

2. Boston – last week number 1. Unbeaten at home. Great D.

Author’s take – Boston deserves this ranking, but it is a long season and this group is still new together. Ask me again in February.

3. Phoenix – last week number 2. Grant Hill had an awesome game against the Knicks.

Author’s take – Grant gives them another weapon, like they needed one. Steve Nash is a premier player, but does the Phoenix all offense style get you past San Antonio?

4. Orlando – last week number 4. Dwight Howard is putting up MVP numbers.

Author’s take – who would have believed this team would be this good. Still Dwight is young and the playoffs are typically won by teams that have been there.

5. Utah – last week number 5. They beat the Lakers without Boozer or Okur.

Author’s take – A big team with a great young point guard. Hard to argue here.

The Pistons, Hornets, and Mavs come next with Chris Paul lighting it up for the Hornets.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Who is your number 1 team?

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