With opening night tonight in the NBA I wanted to take some time and throw some tidbits out there that are floating around the league.

Tim Duncan just signed a 2 year 40 million dollar extension to his contract.  His current deal still has 3 years remaining on it and this new extension will keep him under contract until he’s 36 years old.  It’s refreshing to see a player stay with one team for that long.  It doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t be dealt but Timmy has brought some respect to San Antonio and deserves all the respect he gets.

Yi to start for the Bucks.  Yi Jianlian is set to start for the Bucks after apparently beating out Charlie Villanueva for the power forward position.  I look for this to be something that is done to boost Yi’s confidence because Villanueva is a proven player who can do well when healthy.  Milwaukee needs to bring excitement and starting Yi appears to do that. 

Starting point guard Randy Foye is out for at least a few weeks after his knee injury showed no signs of improvement.  He has a stress reaction on his kneecap and it is causing him some pain.  With Foye out the Twolves will look to either Marko Jaric or Sebastian Telfair to start at point guard.

The rumor floating around late yesterday about Kobe going to the Wiz for Gilbert Arenas was quickly shot down by the Wizards owner saying that he hasn’t spoken to anyone about trading Gilbert.

Lastly, Juwan Howard was recently bought out of his contract in Minnesota.  He was owed just over 14 million dollars but was very ‘unhappy’ about not being able to play with Kevin Garnett.  He has a number of team after him with the most notable being Cleveland.  The Cavs have a need for some inside strength because Anderson Varajao remains unsigned.

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I love these type of rumors.  The Bulls and Lakers have reportedly never stopped talking about a possible deal that would send Kobe Bryant to the Chicago Bulls.  I’m a Bulls fan, a big Bulls fan, but I’m not a Kobe fan.  I compare this to when my beloved Chicago Cubs signed Alfonso Soriano.  I’m not a fan of Soriano at all and I’m still not a fan of the guy but he is a Cub and I love the Cubs.  Kobe as a Bull seems weird and I can’t picture him in the red and black.

Kobe Bryant is a King in the world of basketball and the Lakers are asking for a King’s ransom in return.  Reportedly the Lakers are asking for Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah.  Luol Deng is expected to have a breakout season and was a former lottery pick.  Ben Gordon is a proven scorer and was a top 5 pick also.  Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah were lottery picks in their own rights and still very young.  The thought of trading 4 young, high draft choices for Kobe makes me sick.  Kobe Bryant is good, but he isn’t that good.

What is even funnier about the whole thing is that Kobe has a no trade clause and wouldn’t mind playing in Chicago, but he doesn’t want to play there with these 4 guys gone.  This is going to happen anywhere he goes because the Lakers aren’t stupid.  They are trying to get whatever they can for Kobe while he’s still the best player in the world.  I can’t blame them for this, but Kobe is not going to end up in a better situation than what he has in Los Angeles.

I’ll be shocked if Kobe isn’t a Laker tomorrow night when play begins.

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With the preseason quickly coming to an end, teams are finalizing rosters and players are getting hurt or coming back from injury.  Some of these injuries I know aren’t serious enough to force a player to miss an actual while others are.   The season begins on Tuesday and I’m very excited.  You never know, some of this news may effect your fantasy draft or team.

Kobe Bryant injured his wrist against the Jazz and isn’t going to be 100% going into the season.  He injured it against the Jazz in their last preseason game.  They had an additional game scheduled in San Diego but that has been cancelled due to the fires that are tormenting California as I write this.  The Lakers are going to be without Lamar Odom to start the season because he is still recovering from off season shoulder surgery.

Allan Houston is gone and Penny is staying.  Allan Houston left the Knicks after it was apparent he wouldn’t be making the team.  His knee felt fine but the Knicks had 15 players under contract already and he had missed 10 days of camp.  Penny Hardaway played 35 minutes the other night for the Heat and scored 10 points.  Penny may actually make the squad even though the recent trade for Ricky Davis will cut into his time and chances. 

Kevin Durant hurt his ankle and was on crutches after his best preseason performance.  Durant scored 21 points and had 6 boards before leaving the game.  It hasn’t been announced how long he’ll be out or even if the crutches were precautionary.

Josh Howard hurt his wrist recently but with his suspension for the first two games of the season he’ll have plenty of time to get that better.  Howard was suspended for going after Brad Miller of the Kings during a preseason game.

Amare is back!!  Amare has come back from his latest knee surgery and was excellent in his first preseason start for the Suns.  I look for him to have a monster season in Phoenix and put up some serious numbers.  Usually players coming off that second year from microfracture start to show some of their old selves.  The reports were great showing his trademark dunks and quickness around the hoop.

In case you didn’t hear:  The Miami Heat traded Antoine Walker, Mike Doleac, Wayne Simien and a conditional first round pick to the Twolves for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount.  The Heat are clearly worried that Dwyane Wade won’t be healthy for a bit and wanted more of a scoring presence than Walker.  Walker was never on Pat Riley’s fan list and was constantly mocked for being overweight there.  Walker can score but does he fit in Minnesota who are on a youth movement?  I don’t see it but I know they mainly wanted the pick here so we’ll see.  As for Blount, well Shaq is bound to get hurt and Alonzo Mourning is a miracle walking around everyday let alone playing.  I think he’s a very solid backup because of his ability to play the 4 or 5.

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I love fantasy sports and in fact, I’m trying to get www.hoopskills.com to host it’s own fantasy basketball league with prizes and everything.  In the meantime I thought I would breakdown who I think are the top 10 fantasy basketball players in the NBA.  I will follow up with my fantasy sleepers list in a few days.

10.  Kobe Bryant-  Most people say that I should have him higher on the list.  I know that, but I don’t think he’s all the way healthy and we have a lot of questions surrounding him right now.  Will he stay in LA or leave and then where does he go?  If he goes to a team that doesn’t need him to be the man then what happens.  I don’t see him going anywhere anymore because I don’t think the Lakers will get anything even close in return.  He would normally be top 5 on my list but not this year.

9.  Shawn Marion-  Same thing here.  This guy can flat out put up some big time fantasy numbers because he does so many things well.  He can score, rebound, block shots, get steals and he plays hurt.  He is the type of guy who does it all pretty well.  Sure his jumper is the ugliest thing since Sandra Bernhard but from the corner he is pretty consistent.  He is rumored to be on his way out but the Suns won’t do anything until they see how well Amare can come back from his latest scope job.

8.  Gerald Wallace-  He isn’t a sleeper anymore.  It can be argued that he doesn’t belong in the top 10 but i think he’s going to score some this season.  He is all over the floor and like Marion can do a number of things well.  Wallace doesn’t have a great team however and they need him to do everything he can.  If the guy ever got a consistent jump shot he’d be a top 10 player no question, as it sits he’s going to surprise some people this year and I’d suggest taking him early because the team that does will have a nice surprise on their hands.

7.  Steve Nash-  Given here.  He is the best player on the highest scoring team in the league.  He is complemented by good outside shooters and finishers at the basket.  He makes his teammates better and they know that if they run down the floor he will get them easy points.  20 ppg and 10 assists guys are tough to come by.  Take him early folks.

6. Dwight Howard-  Great big man and still learning how to play the game.  He’d be in his senior year of college right now but instead is a fixture in Orlando.  This kid is athletic and figuring out how to dominate games.  Should average 20 ppg, 12 rebounds and 2-4 blocks a game.  He’ll have games he gets in foul trouble early and others he wont’ score as much, then he will all of a sudden hit you with a 20 points 20 rebound game.  He has as much ability as anyone in the league and it’s only a matter of time before that comes out.

5. Dirk Nowitzki-  Best player on the Mavs.  Scores in bunches and rebounds well.  Could argue that he should be higher on the list, but it is tough to put him higher coming off the MVP season and disappointing playoff run last year.  He’s still worthy of top5 in any league.

4.  Jason Kidd-  Triple double master.  If your league rewards those then this is your guy.  He is years removed from his microfracture surgery and is feeling really good coming into this season.  He doesn’t score in bunches but he puts up stats in so many areas that he’s tough not to select as the top point fantasy point guard.

3.  Tim Duncan-  20 points 10 rebounds 3 blocks 3 assists.  This guy is one of the best fantasy players ever because of his ability to do everything well.  He is the focal point of the best team in the league. 

2.  Lebron James- 27 points 6 boards 6 assist 2 steals 1.5 blocks.  2nd best player in the NBA behind Kobe Bryant.  I’m still waiting for him to up these numbers even more.  Many people will take this guy with the top pick and there would be no problem with that.  He could easily up this to 30 a game this year.

1.  Kevin Garnett-  22 points 13 boards 4 assists 2 blocks.  The top pick for most of the leagues but that was as a Timberwolves player.  Now as a Celtic he will be surrounded by other stars in Ray Allen and Paul Pierce and his numbers will either drop or increase some.  They need him to rebound and score points and I see it happening for them.  I expect KG to be the league MVP this year and lead the Celts to the Eastern Conference Finals.

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An EA SPORTS NBA LIVE 08 videogame simulation of the entire 2007-08 NBA season predicted that the Phoenix Suns will come away winners of the 2008 NBA Finals.  Apparently they will beat the Boston Celtics.

In the NBA LIVE 08 simulation, Suns’ guard Steve Nash led the team to their first NBA championship, and was The Finals MVP. Nash took advantage of a weaker Boston backcourt to earn the MVP award.

The Celtics are a sleeper team this year because they’ve added some serious firepower in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.  Expect Garnett to put up some incredible numbers again and for Allen and Pierce to get some consistent good looks from the outside.  I personally don’t think they’ll make it that far, but I’m no supercomputer or program.

Some of the awards went to: 

• Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade-MVP and NBA scoring title with 31.6 ppg
• Chicago Bulls’ Ben Wallace-Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Seattle Supersonics’ Kevin Durant-Rookie of the Year award.
• Minnesota Timberwolves’ Randy Foye-Most Improved Player.

The complete results show below.  It is important the mention that EA is rarely correct however it is always fun to follow now.:

2007 NBA Playoffs & Results

EAST STANDINGS
Boston 49-33 0.598
New Jersey 47-35 0.573
Washington 46-36 0.561
Detroit 44-38 0.537
Cleveland 43-39 0.524
Miami 43-39 0.524
New York 41-41 0.5
Milwaukee 40-42 0.488
Chicago 39-43 0.476
Orlando 37-45 0.451
Toronto 36-46 0.439
Charlotte 35-47 0.427
Atlanta 35-47 0.427
Philadelphia 34-48 0.415
Indiana 30-52 0.366

WEST STANDINGS
Phoenix 58-24 0.707
Dallas 55-27 0.671
San Antonio 55-27 0.671
Denver 46-36 0.561
Houston 48-34 0.585
LA Lakers 45-37 0.549
Utah 42-40 0.512
Golden State 41-41 0.5
New Orleans 39-43 0.476
Sacramento 38-44 0.463
LA Clippers 36-46 0.439
Memphis 35-47 0.427
Minnesota 34-48 0.415
Seattle 31-51 0.378
Portland 30-52 0.366

Eastern Conference
First Round
(1) Boston defeats (8) Milwaukee, 4-1
(4) Detroit defeats (5) Cleveland, 4-2

(6) Miami defeats (3) Washington 4-3
(2) New Jersey defeats (7) New York, 4-3

Second Round
(1) Boston defeats (4) Detroit, 4-3
(2) New Jersey defeats (6) Miami, 4-1

Eastern Conference Finals
(1) Boston defeats (2) New Jersey, 4-2

Western Conference
First Round
(1) Phoenix Suns defeats (8) Golden State, 4-2
(5) Houston defeats (4) Denver, 4-1

(7) Utah defeats (2) Dallas, 4-3
(3) San Antonio defeats (6) LA Lakers, 4-2

Second Round
(1) Phoenix defeats (5) Houston, 4-2
(3) San Antonio defeats (7) Utah, 4-2

Western Conference Finals
(1) Phoenix defeats (3) San Antonio, 4-3

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Sure we’ve all heard the rumors for months now about Kobe leaving Los Angeles but some interesting stories have been popping up throughout the day.  Kobe cleaned out his locker…kobe said goodbye to his teammates…Kobe denies everything.  It all leads to one thing and that is where there is smoke there is fire.  Kobe Bryant is getting traded Laker fans and it is time to come to terms with it.  Don’t fight it, embrace it because now the true rebuilding can occur.  The Lakers chose Kobe over Shaq a few years ago and Shaq got his ring in Miami while the Lakers have gotten progressively worse.  If they are going to deal him, then do it now while he has a bunch of trade value.  Kobe is the best player on the planet and is one of the top 15 best players of all time as it sits right now.  If he plays until he’s 35 he’ll be among the top scorers in the history of the league.  He has value right now and that’s why they need to deal him.  They aren’t going to win a title with him and his salary handicaps the rest of the franchise though he’s worth every penny.

What can they get back?  Face the facts, the Lakers aren’t going to get true value in return.  The Wolves traded KG and got Al Jefferson back.  Al is a very good player, but he’s no Garnett.  No matter what they get it won’t be Kobe Bryant.  Apparently the Mavs are number 1 on his wish list but we’ll see about that.  The Mavs would have to trade Josh Howard, draft choices, Jason Terry and all sorts of mixtures of contracts and players to make it work.  I can’t picture Kobe in Mavs uni’s.  That seems funny.  Like Michael as a Wizard, Kobe as anything but a Laker just doesn’t seem normal.

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Indiana Basketball Coach Kelvin Sampson is at it again, only this time at another University.  Indiana announced recently that, after an internal investigation, Sampson had made some 10 improper/illegal phone calls to recruits and his staff made an additional 35 calls that were deemed improper.  As a result Sampson lost a 500k bonus, a scholarship and one of the assistants was banned from getting a raise and recruiting off campus.

My point is, this guy has had a few strikes now and yet he gets a slap on the wrist it seems to me.  The same university that let Bobby Knight drag them through the mud is doing it again.  Indiana knew about Sampsons past in Oklahoma when he got in trouble for the same stuff, but they still hired him.  They had even given him a 1 year suspension from participating in 3 way calls and he broke that. 

My favorite part is this line that he was quoted: “We had been dealing with the sanctions from May 25 to May 25. And once it was over, we were under the impression that it was over. We were confident that we had followed the rules.”  What he meant was “we were confident that everyone thought we obeyed the rules.  Give me a break.  When you cross the white line so many times it appears gray and that’s what is going on here. 

Indiana’s AD said “the amount of money Sampson won’t receive makes a “strong statement” about how much the coach was willing to cooperate.”  Do you think we are stupid?  Sampson wants his job.  If he comes out and says what really happened he’d be gone.  So he says “i didn’t know” and they tell him he’ll miss out on 500k when he’s making a ton of money anyway.  The 500k wasn’t a fine, it wasn’t even his money yet at all. 

“The rules we broke were mistakes, and we take full responsibility for what happened,” Sampson said.   Don’t make me throw up here.  Full responsibility apparently doesn’t mean full accountability.  The scholarship they lost won’t even hurt them.  They had one of the top classes in the country as it was.  The guy hurt here is the assistant.  I’ll call him the fall guy for what took place.  The head coach is responsible in all cases and he dropped the ball.  In this case he always drops the ball.  One day someone will have the courage to quit giving it to him.

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It’s here.  What is it…..COLLEGE BASKETBALL.  This is one of my favorite days of the entire year.  I had to blog on it and you can’t blame me. 

Each year teams are allowed to start practice and they get the opportunity to show off their goods for the entire fanbase.  I love it.  I was a big fan when the it was called Midnight Madness.  Teams would conduct their first practice at Midnight of the deadline day but the NCAA grew concerned over so many people traveling at such a late hour so they’ve since changed it to be allowable at a more reasonable time.

Teams go all out for these events by usually having a 3 point contest and a dunk contest.  It is a big deal for recruiting also.  Coaches like to get as many potential players in as possible to show off the arena, fanbase and style of basketball that will be played.  Some even go so far as to hire talent to emcee the event.

My favorite, ILLINOIS, is holding their first practice tonight and it is rumored about that Michael Jordan is the emcee of the event.  Jordan’s son plays for the Illini, but this rumor can’t be confirmed right now.  I can only say that even the rumor of that proves that today is a big day in college sports.  Most of the time the event is free and open to the public but Bruce Weber at Illinois decided this year that he’d try to use the opportunity for a worthy cause.  Each person attending illini madness must pay an entrance fee and in turn get a pink shirt where a portion of the proceeds go to supporting a cure for Breast Cancer.  So far nearly 20k shirts have been sold and it makes me proud.

Other universities like UCLA, Washington and Louisville have decided to go a different route and dont’ make it a big scene.  Those teams don’t really have scholarships to give out either at this time so to them they wouldn’t be really taking advantage of a clear recruiting opportunity. 

Next month the games begin and the road to the final 4 is underway.  I can’t wait…

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I love the start of NBA preseason.  Filled with hope for almost every team and the fans love to watch the new rookies that come in and try to strut their stuff.  I wanted to go over some rookies I think will have very successful campaigns this season.  This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe others will have successful careers, but this season is what I’m writing about.

5.  Acie Law-  Yes, he’s an Atlanta Hawk and that’s why he made the list.  The Hawks haven’t had a solid point guard for years and Law will get every chance to prove he’s the man.  The starter for now is Speedy Claxton and that isn’t saying much for the Hawks.  When the season starts to go downhill, and it will quickly, the Hawks will turn to Law to let him develop in a non pressure environment.  Point is, he’ll get playing time and put up some decent numbers this season.

4.  Marco Belinelli-Golden St. Warriors.  Golden St. traded Jason Richardson and that paved the road for Belinelli to come in and get playing time.  This guy was coveted by a lot of teams and we know how much Don Nelson loves tall euros that can shoot.  I see him getting some time and having the green light to shoot and score.  He’s a great fit in Golden st.’s system and will do very well this season.  I also predict him to be the sleeper of this draft and expect a great career.  We know Matt Barnes had a good season there last year and Belinelli is better.

#3…Corey Brewer Minnesota.  Twolves have a decent young nucleus and Brewer fits in nicely.  Showed he could shoot last year and his defense has never been questioned.  He has a Scottie Pippen feel to his game because of his ability to defend 3 positions and handle the ball.  He’s in a good situation because he’ll be able to play 20-30 minutes a game and he’ll fill up a stat sheet.  He is unselfish and willing to do the little things.

#2…Julian Wright-New Orleans-This is a tough guy to keep off the court.  He has a sketchy jumper but is an incredible athlete who works very hard on the court.  Fearless.  Much better passer than people think.  Same as Brewer in a lot of ways except Brewer is a little more versatile because of his shooting ability.  Julian Wright will be on the court because he brings energy to the game and will get a bunch of offensive rebounds playing with Peja and Chris Paul.  I expect him to be a serious contender for rookie of the year.  It doesn’t hurt that David West is playing ahead of him right now and he can’t seem to stay healthy.  If the door gets cracked at all, Wright will step in and not open it for anyone for years.

#1…Kevin Durant-Sonics-  No brainer here.  The Sonics are a young team with two top 5 selections and they did great with them.  Durant will play a lot and be asked to put up some numbers.  He will.  Yes, he will have games where he fouls out and gets beat on defense constantly.  Players want to go at this kid and prove he isn’t all that.  But I expect that to last for 2-3 weeks into the season and Durant will settle down.  I see him having games of 30 plus throughout the season.  I love this kid and barring injury he’s the rookie of the year in the NBA.

Disagree…Let me know.

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Sure it is a little early but practice does start in a few days and I’m really looking forward to it.  I researched some squads out there and I came up with a pretty good top 5 coming into this season.

#5…UCLA Bruins-  They are led by one of the best coaches in the country in Ben Howland and one of my personal favorite assistant coaches in Donny Daniels.  I had to give Donny some pub there.  UCLA lost Aaron Afflalo but returns nearly everyone else.  They have also picked up one of the top recruits in the country in Kevin Love.  They play in a very tough conference and will lose some games, but try to avoid them in March.

#4…Kansas Jayhawks-  Kansas lost some great players again but the cupboard is far from bare.  They return nearly all the points they may have lost when Julian Wright became a lottery pick when they signed stud recruit Cole Aldrich.  Any lineup with Sherron Collins, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur is amazing.  This team will win a lot of games but they only have 1 ball to go around.  Coach Bill Self likes to use a solid high low type offense and has the strength and depth inside to do it.  Kansas is scary.

#3…Georgetown Hoyas-  These guys don’t have the talent that Kansas has but i think they have a better coach who really plays to his teams strength.  They lost Jeff Green to the NBA draft but Roy Hibbert decided to stay for his senior season and that had to make John Thompson III very happy.  They were able to get some solid recruits in that will make an immediate difference in Austin Freeman.  This team will go inside often and if Hibbert stays out of foul trouble they will be very good in the Big East.

#2…Memphis Tigers-  This one pains me.  Memphis plays in a horrible conference and just kills teams.  They have a marginal schedule and it is all very reminiscent of when Calipari coached UMASS in years past.  I had to rate them this high because the guy can get players in and for once his team didn’t desert him for the NBA.  Oh and did I mention that they signed Derrick Rose to help at guard.  He could be the conference player of the year as a freshman and get some all american looks.  He is that good and will get every chance to prove it.  Despite their questionable schedule, Memphis has made the elite 8 the past two years and I see them their again.

#1…North Carolina Tarheels- This is one of the easiest top teams I have been involved with.  They have nearly everyone coming back including Hansbrough, Lawson and the rest of the gang.  They have depth at all positions and will run teams into the ground.  Teams will need to get Hansbrough in foul trouble and to play a physical game with them.  If they are on at all they will pound teams.  The loss of Brendan Wright does hurt a little bit but I really don’t see this team struggling.  The only team talent wise who is their equal is Kansas but Roy Williams is a better coach than Bill Self.

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