Lebron leads Cavs to Eighth Straight Win

Fueled by Lebron's 31 points, the Cleveland Cavaliers are showing that they are the real deal this year. The season is still early, but LeBron James has already solidified his spot as the MVP front-runner. Through 11 games, he is averaging 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, more in each category than last year. His field goal percent and steals are also up this year. The Cavs have a legitimate shot at the NBA championship this year. They should be able to cruise into the new year either first or second in the East as their schedule isn't too hard.

In other news, LeBron has been thinking about free agency. He is not hesitant to leave the Cavaliers if he could be on a team with a good shot at the NBA title. However, James is fully satisfied with the moves Cleveland has made with the roster, and loves being in Cleveland.

MVP Top 3:

1. LeBron James - He has led his team to a 9-2 start.

2. Dwight Howard - The Magic have won four straight and he's averaging 21/14.

3. Kobe Bryant - He has led his team to the best record in the league.

LeBron Delivers

A new season has started and LeBron James is poised to take down the MVP this year. Despite outperforming Kobe in almost all of the major statistical categories last year, he was robbed of his MVP award because his team failed to win enough games. This year, things are different. With an 8-2 record and winners of seven straight, the Cavaliers have more offensive firepower than last year. The addition of Mo Williams will force teams to spread the defense more and allow LeBron more space. My early season MVP rankings are as follows:

1. LeBron James - He is leading league in scoring and is in top 25 for rebounds, assists and steals. Most importantly, his team is winning.

2. Kobe Bryant - The Lakers are the team to beat this year, and Kobe has led them to a nice 7-1 start.

3. Dwight Howard - Superman got his first triple double this week, and is averaging 24/15/4 (pts/reb/blk).

4. Chris Paul - He leads the league in assists, steals, and efficiency.

5. Joe Johnson - This will likely be Johnson's last appearance in the top five. The Hawks got off to a nice 6-3 with help from his 25 points a game.

Roland Rating

I came across the NBA Roland Rating today while browsing NBA material and realized how awesome Lebron really is.

From 82games.com, "These ratings represent a player's value to a particular team and are not intended to be an accurate gauge of the ability and talent of the player away from the specific team."

The top:

CLE James 76% 33.5 13.7 +19.8 +3.5 -12.5 +16.0 +18.3
DAL Nowitzki 74% 28.2 15.9 +12.3 +9.0 -7.6 +16.6 +14.0
LAL Bryant 80% 27.2 12.5 +14.7 +9.3 -2.9 +12.2 +13.7
BOS Garnett 60% 27.7 12.1 +15.6 +14.4 +4.0 +10.4 +13.5
NOH Paul 75% 31.8 16.7 +15.2 +8.0 -3.0 +11.0 +13.5
ORL Howard 79% 26.3 12.5 +13.8 +7.4 -5.2 +12.6 +13.3
SAS Ginobili 60% 27.6 12.7 +14.9 +7.8 -0.9 +8.7 +12.4
DET Billups 65% 26.7 13.5 +13.2 +10.8 +0.9 +9.9 +11.8
PHO Nash 70% 24.5 17.6 + 6.9 +10.7 -8.1 +18.8 +11.7
TOR Bosh 57% 27.2 15.7 +11.5 +8.0 -3.3 +11.3 +11.4

Notice how James is +4.3 higher than second, and second isn't even close to that much higher than tenth?

Cleveland needs to go 10-1 to win 50 games and secure Lebron the MVP. Lakers are still tied for first in the West, and them winning without Gasol is not helping my case either. Kobe shot 11-30 from the field on Monday vs. the Warriors. For being a better shooter than Lebron, his FG% does not reflect that. It just shows you how much better Lebron is getting to the basket and finishing. Once Lebron learns how to shoot, he will win the MVP award every year until he's 35. You heard it here first.

King James King of Cleveland; Kobe Stinks

When you ask yourself, "Who is a better basketball player?", one of the first things that comes to mind is how he ranks on his repsective team's all-time scoring list. The answer to this question should give you a little insight on how the MVP voting will be this year: Lebron, 1; Kobe, 4 (Paul, Garnett). Lebron had 29/12/5 in the win over a solid Raptors team. He took over the game in the second half, scoring 23 points to lead the Cavs to a 90-83 victory. Cleveland either needs to go 10-2 or have the Lakers not come first in the West, and the true MVP will be crowned.

The Lakers beat the lowly Sonics but Kobe didn't really do much in that game.

As a special treat, here are the true* NBA power rankings (* The NBA.com power rankings are basically a 'Who's Hot' list, placing the most emphasis on the last 20 games for each team. My rankings will take into account strength of schedule, health of the team, and a whole bunch of other factors that make this the best power rankings on the net):

1. Celtics - When you can complete the Texas Sweep (win 3 consecutice games at Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio) with an injured All-Star, you are deemed worthy of topping my rankings.

2. Pistons - "But they are in the Eastern Conference!"... Blah blah blah; they are 19-8 vs. the West (.703, better than any WC team vs. the league) and have the coolest player in the league in Rasheed Wallace.

3. Lakers - As much as I hate the Lakers and everyting about Kobe Bryant, they are the team to beat in the West. They have had an easy schedule of late, but continue to win without Bynum and Gasol.

4. Suns - Yeah I know, you probably thing I'm a homer and just putting them up here because of their 6 game winning steak. You are wrong. How can you go wrong with two former MVPs, seriously. Their team is built to go deep this year. The adjustment period of the trade is over, and they're not about to roll over, yet.

5. Hornets - They've been within 1 game of first since the All-Star Game. Led by a potential MVP, they will play in one of the toughest second round matches in recent memory.

6. Rockets - They won on the road vs. the Warriors last night. I had a tough time putting them ahead of the Spurs, Jazz, and Mavericks for the fourth spot in the West, but I think if they can secure homecourt in the first round, they can finally advance past it.

7. Spurs - I hate the Spurs the most out of any team in professional sports (sans the Yankees) and I feel dirty placing them high. But I think that the dirty play of Bruce Bowen and Ginobili will give them a good shot at a top 4 seed, and if they play the Rockets in round one, they matchup is basically a toss-up.

8. Cavaliers - Even though they may have a worse record than the top 9 teams in the West and play most of their games vs. EC teams, they have a better chance of winning the title for two reasons: The EC playoffs shouldn't be tough except for the Celtics (they can beat the Pistons (see 2007 ECF)); Lebron James is a God.

9. Magic - They have the defensive player of the year. 'Nuff Said.

10. Jazz - They are my second most hated team in the NBA dating back to the Malone Era. But the Mavericks have been playing like a D-League team of late, and the rest of the East is terrible, so they are here by default.

The final West spot is probably going to come down to the Warriors and the Nuggets. It's going to be sad if the Nuggets miss the playoffs with a +.600 record, and the Atlanta Hawks (who?) make it with their awesome sub-.450 record.

The NBA should seriously consider doing something about this unbalance of talent. My awesome idea is to disallow any sub-.500 team from making the playoffs, provided there is a +.500 team in the other conference not in the playoffs. Example: The Sixers are the 7th seed with a .493 winning percentage right now. The Nuggets are 9th in the West with a +.500 record, so they take the Sixers spot. Same goes for the Hawks (who?) and the TrailBlazers. Then, the East could place the two West teams where they belong in the seeding according to their records. David Stern, I am a genius.

Lebron slows down the Pistons

In a rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, Lebron's Cavs handily defeated the Pistons 89-73. James had another solid night, putting up 30/7/6 without turning the ball over once.

In the West, the Rockets had their streak snapped on Tuesday by the best team in the NBA, the Celtics, and continued their losing "streak" on Wednesday vs. the Hornets. I still believe that if the Lakers finish first in the West, Kobe is a shoe-in for MVP. They are currently tied with the Hornets for top spot, but the 7th place Mavericks are a mere 2.5 games back.

Pheonix has finally settled in with Shaq, with the longest current winning steak at 6games. I picked them finish 1st in the West right after I heard that Shaq was traded to the Suns. They have a tough next three games (Houston, @Detroit, @Boston), but if they can take 2 of 3 there, I'll be happy. The Lakers will obviously lose to Utah tomorrow because Utah doesn't lose at home. Then when Pheonix beats Houston on Saturday, they will be tied with the Lakers (and Houston if they beat Golden State on Friday) for top spot in the West, somewhere they have not been for a while.

Lakers can't win without Gasol

Gasol sprained his ankle early in the Lakers-Hornets game on Friday night, and consequently, Kobe's lakers could not hold off the Hornets, losing 108-98. Kobe had 36/9/3 in the loss. The Lakers are now tied for first in the West with the red hot Rockets, who have won 21 straight.

I have a feeling that if the Lakers get the top spot in the West, Kobe will be wrongfully chosen as the MVP, and if they finish in the top 4, it will depend on how the Cavs finish the season. If the Lakers finish 5th or lower (quite possible since Dallas, the 7th seed, is only 3 games back of first), Lebron should be unanimously selected as the MVP.

I won't be updating this until Sunday due to excessive drinking, when the Cavs beat the Bobcats, and the Lakers fall to the Rockets.



Where 21 in a row happens.

Cavs fall to the Wizards

The last two days the Cavs had back to back games and lost both. Lebron James missed a buzzer-beater with no time remaining against the Wizards on Thursday night. Despite averaging 33/10.5/9 the last two games, the Cavs have fallen five games back of the Magic for the third spot in the East. They will probably need to win 15 of their last 18 to have a 50 win season, and any chance of James being the MVP.

Meanwhile, the Western Conference is shaping up to be one of the tightest races of all time. The top 7 teams are within 3.5 games of each other, and Golden State and Denver are fighting for that last playoff spot. Houston is playing some amazing basketball of late, and after they beat the lowly Bobcats on Friday, they will have a chance to win their 22nd game in a row against the Lakers on Sunday, simultaneously taking over the top spot in the West.

Just for fun, I'm going to predict the final standings and playoffs right now, to see how accurate I can be.

Eastern Conference:

1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Orlando
4. Cleveland
5. Toronto
6. Washington
7. Philadelphia
8. Chicago

Western Conference:

1. Los Angeles
2. San Antonio
3. Houston
4. Utah
5. New Orleans
6. Pheonix
7. Dallas
8. Denver

Playoffs:

(1) Boston in 4
(2) Detroit in 5
(3) Orlando in 5
(4) Cleveland in 6

(1) Los Angeles in 5
(2) Spurs in 7
(6) Pheonix in 6
(5) New Orleans in 7

(1) Boston in 7
(2) Detroit in 5

(6) Pheonix in 7 in the best playoff series in the history of the NBA
(5) New Orleans in 7

(1) Boston in 7
(6) Pheonix in 7

(6) Pheonix in 7

It is no coincidence that my favourite teams also happen to be doing very this year. I really don't care who wins out of the East unless it is the Magic. In the West I'm liking the way the Suns have played this past week, and think this is their year to win it all. I'd also like to point out that I absolutely despise the Spurs, and hope they never win a championship again (well, at least until Manu Whine-obili retires).

The NBA - Where Bad MVP Voting - happens.