By Derek Lewis
Midseason Report Card
Salutations from the Association aka NBA aka David Stern’s party bus of owners aka LeBron’s world of unnecessary quotes that have already been taken back. Sorry, I got carried away there. Anyway, remember us? I know you have been watching all this mediocre football, but you are missing a tremendous basketball season. Between Blake Griffin averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds as a rookie to Kevin Love giving us our first 30 point 30 rebound game since Moses Malone to the Spurs and Celtics (the old timers) showing they have plenty left in the tank, you have already missed so much. I can see your tears and I am here to stop them by catching you up with my midseason report card for each team. Yes, we are going Oprah on the NBA. You get grade! You get grade! Everyone gets a grade! You get the picture. Let’s start at the bottom shall we.
Cleveland Cavaliers (8-37): There were two ways to go after losing LeBron either suck it up and prove you weren’t just LeBron’s flunkies or play like you have been up all night crying and eating ice cream over LeBron’s departure ( I am looking at you Mo Williams). The Cavs chose the latter. They have had some key injuries including Antawn Jamison. However since the Cavaliers gave up a quarter and a half into the epic unepic return of LeBron to Cleveland, the Cavaliers have been extra putrid including a 55 point (not a typo) beat down in Tinseltown by the Lakers. Oh and did I mention, they have lost 18 straight games. Anyway here the grades:
Players: F (Horrible team and no trade assets, Remember the days when J.J Hickson could get you Amar’e Stoudemire.)
Coaching: F (I see a long stint back to the studio in Bryon Scott’s future.)
Intangibles: F (We always knew this bunch had no heart, but they love reminding us.)
Overall grade: F (Well at least Cleveland’s nice….oh wait)
Minnesota Timberwolves (10-34): Minnesota figured out the hard way in the 2009-2010 season that overdrafting point guards doesn’t win games. So their new plan for this season was to overdraft small forwards. KAHNNN!!!!!!!!! All joking aside, Minnesota’s President of Basketball Operations David Kahn hit on two big moves in most improved candidates Michael Beasley who he got from Miami for a 2nd rounder and 2nd overall pick bust turned manna from heaven savior Darko Milicic acquired through free agency. Add that to Mr. 20/20 himself Kevin Love and you’ve got no improvement whatsoever. Hey at least Kahn finally proved he was smarter than everyone else…kinda.
Players: C (Frontcourt is very talented, but Luke Ridnour starts at point guard. Enough said.)
Coaching: F (Bryon Scott and Kurt Rambis both rumored to be Phil Jackson’s air apparent at one time. Somewhere, Laker fans are rejoicing.)
Intagibles: D (They lose 4th quarter leads like LeBron soundbites lose credibility, but Kahn did say they all eat breakfast and lunch together after practices for the first time. It’s a start.)
Overall grade: D (The Timberpups play every team tough until 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. At that point, all I can say is they play every team.)
Sacramento Kings (10-33): Does it surprise you that a team that needs a halfcourt buzzer beater to win a game has only found a way to win 9 other times? Me either. The man behind that game winner Tyreke Evans aka Reke of the Week has regressed. DeMarcus Cousins is nice on the court, but not in the sense that he will get along with anyone. On the bright side, Pooh Jeter has been a revelation for them. Although, revelations brings the apocalypse and something named pooh is bound to start that.
Players: F (Your star player regresses. Your lottery pick hates the world. Aside from that, the future is very bright.)
Coaching: F (Someone wake up Paul Westphal and tell him he is actually the head coach of this basketball team, or at least alert him it’s not the 90’s anymore.
Intangibles: F (I’m not sure they can spell intangibles.)
Overall: F (I ran out of ways to say DeMarcus Cousins is very angry. Oh! No, I didn’t.)
New Jersey Nets (13-32): What do you get when you multiply the continuing thought that unless your name is Brooke Lopez you could be traded at anytime by the NBA’s head coaching version of Bill Parcells (Avery Johnson) then subtract LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony? It all equals a very dysfunctional bad team. There are two guys that are happy in New Jersey, Troy Murphy because he will be traded or bought out very soon and Travis Outlaw because he is getting tremendously overpaid since the Nets whiffed on LeBron. I expect Russian Nets Owner Mikhail Prokhorov to start making management, coaches, and players “disappear” pretty soon.
Players: C (Young promising tradable assets and then Travis Outlaw, Jordan Farmer, and Sasha Vuvajic, now the Nets just need a trade.)
Coaching: D (Wait, you’re telling me this generation of young coddled NBA stars doesn’t respond to military authoritarian style coaching. Shocking!)
Intangibles: F (The players on the court are either young or overpaid or both. It doesn’t make for a staple of guys willing to do the dirty work.)
Overall: F (It’s bad when the analyst has to guess what direction a team’s going in. It’s worse when it looks like management is doing the same thing.)
Toronto Raptors (13-32): After losing the first player in NBA history to double as both star player and mascot (Chris Bosh), the Raptors have proven two things. They can upset a team that underestimates them wins over Boston and Oklahoma City prove that, and they aren’t as bad as the Cavaliers already claiming the 3 game series win 2-0 so far. All this means two things for the second half of the season that Raptor fans to look forward too, DeMar DeRozan highlight reels and an April 6 matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Other than that, there’s still a team in Canada?
Players: F+ (The plus comes because DeMar DeRozan dunks the ball really hard and is having a career year. Well, mostly because he dunks the ball really hard.)
Coaching: F (This is not the head coach of the Raptors first season and I don’t know his name. There’s a reason for that and it has nothing to do with me.)
Intangibles: F (How do you say they stink in Canadian?)
Overall: F (In Canada, everything is opposite which would explain their play right now. Canada jokes are fun.)
Washington Wizards (13-31): Big year for the Wizards, they got the first pick in the draft which they used to draft John Wall, but he has missed 16 games due to injury. On the bright side, they got rid of Gilbert Arenas’ bad contract, but they got Rashard Lewis’ bad contract that’s only slightly better. I beginning to think there is a dark cloud over Washington D.C. sports.
Players: C (When on the court, John Wall has been spectacular and Andray Blatche is continuing to come into his own in the post. Now if only, JaVale McGee would join the party. I think his mother might have more desire then he does.)
Coaching: F (You couldn’t have thought I was going to pass the guy who couldn’t win with Kevin Garnett and taught the Detroit Pistons how to unlearn defense.)
Intangibles: F (Bad health, but ok chemistry. Still, too young to understand intangibles wins games.
Overall: D (There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Soon, they will show everybody that they are in D.C. and not somewhere in the state of Washington. I just blew a couple of people’s minds.)
Detroit Pistons (17-28): What’s more amazing? Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva get paid a lot of money to average 24.7 points combined or Tracy McGrady has appeared in all 47 games this year. The Pistons are bursting with misplaced talent like 2004. Unlike 2004, the misplaced talent is also mismatched on this Pistons team and devoid of any true big men.
` Players: F (No one except Rodney Stuckey is averaging over 15 points a game and Stuckey is just over the mark at 15.3)
Coaching: D (I’m somewhat impressed this team hasn’t lost more. You might be puzzled with this statement, but you are not the one looking at these stats.)
Intangibles: F (Not scoring is fine if you excel in other areas. They don’t. No one is averaging over 5 rebounds or assists excluding Greg Monroe (averaging 6 rebs.). I told you that you weren’t looking at these stats.
Overall: D (I am not sure what kind of voodoo got them 17 wins, but I would like to move on now.)
LA Clippers (17-27): Just call Blake Griffin the defibrillator. He has revived interest in the Clippers, Baron Davis’ interest in basketball, and Vinny Del Negro’s interest in keeping his job. Griffin could be the first rookie since Shaq to average 22 points and 12 rebounds and the first rookie since Tim Duncan to average at least 20 points 10 rebounds, be named an NBA All-Star, and win Rookie of the Year. Eric Gordon is having a breakout season as well averaging 24 points and DeAndre Jordan is becoming a player. Now if only Baron Davis didn’t decide to hate Vinny Del Negro for the first two months of the season, they might have a more realistic shot at the playoffs.
Players: C (Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin developing fast. Now, Baron Davis has joined the party. If Chris Kaman could get healthy and fit a lesser role, things might get interesting.)
Coaching: C (Can I really blame Del Negro that Baron Davis had a vendetta against Italian-Americans?)
Intangibles: D (I can forgive the underachieving. I can’t forgive crazy racist owners who heckle their own players. Yes Baron, there is a whole lot of lollygagging with this guy.)
Overall: C (Their play over the last month warrants I elevate their grade. Besides, the NBA is so much better when Baron Davis is actively involved and giving us sound bites.)
Milwaukee Bucks (17-26): I feel like I should copy and paste the Pacers description here minus the 6 game losing streak and then add, they have been without Brandon Jennings for 16 games. Of course, they beat the Lakers in Staples without him anyway so who needs them. What is it with Midwest teams and scrappy play and surly coaches anyway?
Players: D (Brandon Jennings is hurt and needs some more passing drills. Andrew Bogut is healthy but has not turned the corner. John Salmons needs to be traded again apparently. At least, Corey Maggette isn’t the black hole of the perimeter this year. Earl Boykins is. The Bucks offense can’t function unless the point guard is taking an array of bad shots.)
Coaching: C (Some think Scott Skiles message is wearing off in Milwaukee. I think not having your best player makes any message wear off.)
Intangibles: B (The 11th commandment is no Scott Skiles/Jim O’Brien team shall be without intangibles and 6 big men to perform these intangibles.
Overall: C (When you are missing the reason you made the playoffs last year for an extended period of time and you haven’t turned into the Cavaliers yet, there is hope.)
Indiana Pacers (16-25): Raise your hand if you had the Pacers contending for a playoff spot and beating the likes of the Lakers, Mavericks, Heat, Nuggets, and New Orleans. If your raising your hand, please go get yourself checked out being a pathological liar can’t be healthy. They have hit hard times of late losing six straight, but the way they started the season off as the little engine that could was very impressive.
Players: C (Roy Hibbert developing into a real center added to Darren Collison and Danny Phantom’s (Danny Granger) games could form a solid trio for the future.)
Coaching: D (Someone tell Jim O’Brien taunting Roy Hibbert in the newspaper won’t make him any better. There’s a difference between tough love and being Avery Johnson.
*Jim O’Brien has been fired since the completion of this article
Intagibles: B ( When you have Psycho T (Tyler Hansbrough) McBob (Josh McRoberts, T.J. Ford, Mike Dunleavy, James Posey, and Jeff Foster , you have intangibles. Heck, all you have is intangibles.)
Overall: C (The Pacers might flame out, but they were shockingly impressive over the first half of the season so for now a C seems fitting.)
Charlotte Bobcats (18-25): I’m not sure what to make fun of, the Larry Brown situation or the fact that there are 4 non-playoff teams in the West with better records then the 8th seed in the East. Since the free Raymond Felton movement was going so well in New York, Bobcats Owner Michael Jordan decided to free the rest of the team and fire Larry Brown for players coach Paul Silas. The team has fought back into playoff contention and Captain Jack (Stephen Jackson) has been taken off the trade block. I’m sure he is ecstatic about staying on the 8th seed in the East and not moving to the 3rd seed in the West.
Players: C (I’m sure you want to hear about former Longhorn D.J. Augustin’s breakout season averaging 15 points and 6.4 assists. There you go)
Coaching: F (Larry Brown was the coach more than half of the first part of the season. What else would you have me do?)
Intagibles: B (I bumped this up because MJ had the presence of mind to end his players misery. Larry Brown whips intangibles out of his players. Paul Silas just asks really nicely. It turns out asking really nicely works.)
Overall: C (They can’t really trend up. They can’t really trend down. This team is like the epitome of average in the East.)
Golden State Warriors (19-25): Keith Smart took the head coaching reigns from Don Nelson and now the Warriors at least think about defense. Now, management just needs to give them the personnel to play defense which starts by moving Andris Biedrins monster contract that he didn’t deserve or going back in time and using the money that signed David Lee to do something smart with. On the sunny side, Monta Ellis is taking better more efficient shots. Stephen Curry’s filling it up and lottery pick Ekpe Udoh is finally back healthy. By the way, add Dorell Wright to list off players “freed from the shackles” that was playing with Dwayne Wade. He is having a career year averaging 16 points a game. I really don’t know what to make of Miami Firesale Syndrome, but right now it’s a good sickness to be burdened with.
Players: C (A wealth of perimeter players including possible all-star Monta Ellis, but no big men to fortify the paint. Yeah that’s right David Lee, I said NO BIG MEN!)
Coaching: C (Player’s coach Keith Smart has this team trending in the right direction. It’s not his fault Biedrins blocks less than then one shot a game as well as not defending the post.)
Intangibles: D (Intangibles? They’re giving up 108 points a game. What intangibles?)
Overall: C (If you are in California and your team name isn’t the Kings, things are looking up for you.)
Philadelphia 76’ers (19-25): Doug Collins, the master building block coach, has done it again. He couldn’t win it all with Michael Jordan, but he set the stage for Phil. He couldn’t win with the Wizards. Well, he couldn’t win with the Wizards, but we can’t hold that against him. Collins is just good enough to take your team out of the gutter but just bad enough to keep you away from winning a championship. Every future championship team has had a Doug Collins. In other news, Elton Brand is a shell of himself and Evan Turner is starting to play better but not that much better. How is this team in the playoffs? Oh that’s right the East.
Players: F (Remember what I told you about the Pistons? This team is worse than that.)
Coaching: B (I was mildly impressed with the coaching job in Detroit. I have no words to describe the job being done in Philly.)
Intangibles: B (This team must play really hard because there is no reason they should be in the playoffs.)
Overall: C (Below average team, but they have a playoff spot right now. I don’t want to do it, but I must. They get a C.)
Houston Rockets (21-25): At this point, saying if Yao Ming is healthy the Rockets could win it all is like saying if Kurt Cobain hadn’t killed himself Nirvana would be one of the greatest bands of all time. Some things are just not meant to be. Still, the Rockets are still within striking distance of the playoffs with Aaron Brooks missing major time. Luis Scola continues to be underrated averaging just over 19 points and 8 rebounds and Kevin Martin averaging 23 points continues to be the worst player any team could trade for.
Players: C (The team has a lot of talent. Unfortunately, it keeps getting injured.)
Coaching: B (Rick Adelman has done one heck of job recovering from that atrocious 3-10 start and he is done it without his best and second best player for a combined total of 65 games.)
Intagibles: C (They can’t finish games, but they will battle you for 48 minutes and force you to make plays to beat them.
Overall: C (Don’t feel too bad for them. They are probably going to trick your team into giving them championship caliber pieces for Kevin Martin. Dallas you’ve be warned.)
Phoenix Suns (20-23): They didn’t resign Amar’e Stoudemire. Steve Kerr jumped ship like it was on fire. They traded their biggest free agent pickup Hedo Turkoglu and second leading scorer Jason Richardson for Vince Carter who has one year left on his deal and some pieces. But, they aren’t in rebuilding mode. Please fire up the free Steve Nash chants and posters for when they come to your city.
Players: C (Strictly living off Steve Nash and Grant Hill reputations right now. I should fail just based on the fact they thought Hakim Warrick could give them what Amar’e did.)
Coaching: C (They’ve gone back to not playing defense, but Alvin Gentry was never a defensive minded coach. There’s just a big difference between saying let’s not play defense and get a whole bunch of shots and lets maybe play a little defense kinda sorta possibly.)
Intangibles: B (Grant Hill is Mr. Intagibles along with Dudley Do Right (Jared Dudley, the Lesser Lopez (Robin Lopez) and Drago (Goran Dragic). Intangibles are what they do.
Overall: C (Trending up? Trending down? Does it really matter Vince Carter’s on the team and he has already given up.)
Memphis Grizzlies (22-23): Memphis is officially bizzaro basketball world. O.J. Mayo is on the bench. Zach Randolph is their MVP candidate. Rudy Gay is a max contract guy. To top it all off, the Juiceman (O.J. Mayo) is juicing. Aside from that, it’s mediocre business as usual for the Grizzlies. They have enough talent to make the playoffs but won’t, but it’s not like the lottery will help them. Their last lottery pick to pan out was Mike Conley junior from the 2007 draft and he just panned out this year.
Players: B (Rudy Gay can’t live up to that contract, but is an All-Star candidate, and Zach Randolph is averaging 20.1 points and 13.1 rebounds. Seriously did anyone know that?)
Coaching: D (It takes one heck of coach to keep this team out of the playoffs, one heck of a coach indeed.)
Intangibles: D (O.J. Mayo is juicing. I don’t have to explain this grade. I don’t.)
Overall: C (This team’s ability to be average severely annoys me if you can’t tell.)
New York Knicks (23-21): Amar’e Stoudemire has improved his scoring, his leadership, and his maturity. He has made basketball relevant in New York again, but let’s give some credit to Raymond Felton. Yeah, he isn’t Steve Nash, but he isn’t Steve Francis or Stephon Marbury either. His scoring and assists numbers are up. Yeah, they aren’t a championship contender, but at least Spike Lee isn’t the most interesting person to watch when you’re watching a Knicks game anymore. Who are we kidding? Spike Lee will always be the most interesting person to watch at a Knicks game. Just ask Reggie.
Players: B ( This team has some serious talent but missing a legit center to play with Amar’e and Carmelo if for some reason you think the Knicks need more offense.)
Coaching: B ( Mike D’Antoni’s seven seconds or less offense is so prominent now that my friend made it a house rule to shoot within seven seconds of the shot clock with the Knicks on NBA 2K11. When I asked why, he said because it’s fun.)
Intangibles: C (How do you think you get all those shots up? You play matador defense on the other end.)
Overall: B (Reviving basketball in the Mecca of sports is a big deal. Learning to play defense would be a bigger deal, but hey who’s counting.)
Portland Trailblazers (25-21): Kevin Pritchard built the Trailblazers franchise a perennial playoff team. After the heavy lifting was done to revive the franchise, Pritchard was fired. They might want to look into rehiring him. Greg Oden is hurt again. Brandon Roy is hurt again. Marcus Camby is hurt again. Luckily for them, LaMarcus Aldridge is having a breakout potential All-Star season averaging 21 points and 9 rebounds and Wesley Matthew is managing to justify his contract averaging 16.1 points, or the Jailblazer days would be looking pretty nice right now.
Players: B (Almost anyone who was supposed to be leading this team is hurt. I like Matthews, Aldridge and Miller, but facts are facts.)
Coaching: A (When told that the organization was evaluating head coach Nate McMillan’s performance, McMillan replied that he was evaluating the organizations performance. McMillan is winning these evaluations.)
Intangibles: C (Unfortunately injuries are an intangible.)
Overall: B (I keep waiting for this team to fall out of the playoffs. I have been waiting for awhile now.)
Denver Nuggets (26-18): Quietly George Karl has done a tremendous coaching job in Denver. Injuries abound between top players Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin not to mention all the Melo-drama (Yes, I realize I am the billionth person to use that). Aside from signing Al Harrington who they are already trying to unload and all those tattoos, the Nuggets have a lot to be proud of this year. Now if only, they could end all this Carmelo Anthony speculation. If only there was a team in the New York area willing to be fleeced for their young talent , give up draft picks, find a third team to even the deal, and set their organization back several years to get Melo. Wait, your telling me theirs two!
Players: B (A lot of injuries and not a lot of Melo for the first half of the season without Arron Afflalo’s improvement this might have been a C.)
Coaching: B (You can’t say enough about George Karl’s perseverance. You just can’t.)
Intangibles: D (How many distractions can one team find?)
Overall: B (Who knows what direction this team is going in, but for some reason they aren’t going down. At least they aren’t going down yet.)
Utah Jazz (27-18): They upgrade from Carlos Boozer to Al Jefferson. Paul Millsap is making up for any void Boozer might have left. Deron Williams is still a top point guard if not the top point guard in the league. This team could be a contender if they hadn’t given the Chicago Bulls all their mediocre guards and let whoever is running the Trailblazers into the ground over in Portland take their only non-mediocre guard in Wesley Matthews. This is how management continues to waste Deron Williams’ prime.
Players: B (Talent roster except for the whole no shooting guard thing. It puzzles me that they refuse to fix this problem every year.)
Coaching: B (Jerry Sloan has no coach of the year award. Although that’s a travesty, he won’t be getting one this year, but props to him for showing yelling angrily at your players still works.)
Intangibles: A (Intangibles will never be the reason a Jerry Sloan coached team is losing. I repeat NEVER!)
Overall: B (Are you as surprised as I am that I couldn’t find a Mormon joke to squeeze in here? Me too.)
Oklahoma City Thunder (28-16): This team has forgotten completely how to play defense. Kevin Durant looked a little worn down for the first half of the season from carrying the Thunder and Team U.S.A. Yet, they are still 5 games better than last year’s pace. Russell Westbrook has turned the corner to All-Star level guard. All this success makes you wonder what they could do if they had an actual big man doesn’t it.
Players: B (They have one of the most electric one-two punches in the league, but that’s not enough to make me ignore the glaring hole they have inside.)
Coaching: C (One of the main reasons I liked Coach Scott Brooks was because he had the young guns playing defense. What am I suppose to think now Coach Brooks?)
Intangibles: B (The main reason they don’t have a legit big man is because they refuse to give up their intangible guys. It really hurts me to give them this grade. It makes me cry.)
` Overall: B (If they figure out how to play defense again, I don’t want to think about what could happen.)
Orlando Magic (29-16): I normally don’t endorse hitting the panic button in December and making a big trade, but when the trade gets rid of Vince Carter, I’ll make an exception. Orlando swapped Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, and Mickael Pietrus for Jason Richardson, Earl Clark, and Hedo Turkoglu. Then, they traded Rashard Lewis to Washington for Gilbert Arenas in a strange move to get another guard that they didn’t need. The trades upgraded the offense to a silly level. Now, Coach Stan Van Gundy just has to yell at Assistant Coach Patrick Ewing until the team starts playing defense. Everything is Patrick’s fault.
Players: A (Before they played the Spurs, I thought they had a lot of firepower. After they played the Spurs, I decided they had the most offensive firepower in the league.)
Coaching: B (Stan Van is starting to get the defense going in the right direction, but it’s not quite there yet.)
Intangibles: B (This might be an A if Gilbert hadn’t tried to shoot up the locker room in Washington. I just couldn’t pull the trigger on the A. You see what I did there.)
Overall: B (The first half was rather uninspiring for the Magic. Still, they could very well be there at the end if the defense comes up a bit.)
Atlanta Hawks (29-16): I wish someone would tell Atlanta that they have the ceiling. They made zero moves to get better after getting torched by the Orlando Magic in conference semifinals except to fire their head coach and bring in Larry Drew. That move brought them the same position they have always had the fourth best team in the East. Someone tell me how teams get bored with winning, but don’t get bored with mediocrity or slightly above mediocrity?
Players: B (Joe Johnson was hurt early in the year. Strange, I really couldn’t tell the difference.)
Coaching: C (If Larry Drew was trying to improve an aspect of the team, he failed.)
Intangibles: B (Josh Smith continues to improve defensively if that’s possible)
Overall: B (Slightly above mediocrity. This is what you wanted right, Atlanta. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED!!!)
New Orleans Hornets (30-16): I am not sure what’s scarier Chris Paul’s game or Chris Paul’s humongous knee brace. Well, I know which one scares me more and which one scare Hornets fans more. Chris Paul continues to bring a knife to gun fight and continues to make the knife shoot bullets. Also what’s with teams and not giving their All-Star point guards a reliable shooting guard? Marco Belinell? Seriously?
Players: B (Chris Paul and his band offensively challenged friends and David West. )
Coaching: A (Monty Williams is a Coach of the Year candidate. If you watch, the Hornets play defense. You will know why.)
Intangibles: A (David West’s anger is an intangible and its brings the grade way up.)
Overall: B (They could have had an A if not for that stretch they forgot how to play basketball. It wasn’t very fun to watch.)
Dallas Mavericks (29-15): I was trying to convince anyone that would listen that the Mavericks were a poorly constructed team and Tyson Chandler would be hurt by this point in the season. Who knew it would be Caron Butler that would suffer the potential season ending injury? Dirk Nowitzki has missed some significant time and yet Dallas stay third best in the West. How you ask? Well, Chandler is the heart and soul of the team. Jason Terry is “the closer.” Lastly, Dallas confuses teams with a zone. Anyone who thought any of this would happen is delusional or from Dallas or both.
Players: B (Butler has missed time, but Dirk’s MVP like season keeps the grade afloat.)
Coaching: A (Rick Carlisle knows zones confuse people. That’s all I’m going to say.)
Intangibles: B (Tyson Chandler brought the grade to an A, but then Dallas management insulted my intelligence by saying Sasha Pavlovic and Peja Stojakavic could fill the Caron Butler toughness and secondary scorer role. I think not.)
Overall: A (Their championship hopes might have taken a hit, but you can’t deny the Mavs had a more then solid first half of the season weathering a lot of adversity.)
Chicago Bulls (31-14): I always get mad that no one mentions this so I am going to lead with it. Derrick Roses’ turnovers are up. Unfortunately for opponents, his scoring is up too. I’m not sure what’s more amazing that Derrick Rose keeps winning games with Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah missing a considerable amount of games or that he keeps winning games with Keith Bogans starting at shooting guard. Keith Bogans was the Spurs third string shooting guard last season. He starts for these people and they have won 31 games. Rant over.
Players: B (Two things keep this from being an A. Bulls management subscribe to the All-Star point guard-no shooting guard quandary and injuries to key big men Boozer and Noah.)
Coaching: A (Long-time assistants turned first year coaches are making a name for themselves this year. Tom Thibodeau leads the charge, and he does so with defense.)
Intangibles: A (They are young and willing to do a lot of dirty work. I am confident one day some of that dirty work will be swung in a trade for a shooting guard. Yes, I am going to continue to harp on this.)
Overall: A ( Everyone expected the Bulls to be the fourth seed in the East. They are the 3rd, and they haven’t even been healthy yet.)
Miami Heat (31-13): I could either grade this team based on the hype or based on the facts. Since I’m not ESPN, I’ll go with facts, but just this one time. LeBron James and Dwayne Wade still haven’t figured out who the closer will be. Miami Heat fans still haven’t figured out Chris Bosh is overrated. Yet, Miami at full strength can dismantle an opponent within seconds of the tip. LeBron’s stats are a little down, but no less MVP worthy. Same can be said for D-Wade. Now they just need a supporting cast. For those scoring at home, it is impossible for the Heat to win 70 games now. Better luck next year kids.
Players: B (How can I give this team a B? Watch this team play a focused opponent with a legitimate post threat and you will realize something is missing.)
Coaching: C (Coach Eric Spoelstra’s hasn’t even put in an offense yet. His master plan is whoever makes the play or gets the rebound on defense gets to do whatever he wants on offense. What’s going to happen when Joel Anthony starts thinking this rule should apply to him?)
Intangibles: A (The team is playing better defense than I thought and no locker room distractions. Unless, you count LeBron continually putting his foot in his mouth a distraction.)
Overall: A (They set a record for consecutive wins on the road. I can’t really argue with that.)
Los Angeles Lakers (33-13): If a four game losing streak in the midst of a 33-13 start means the sky is falling down. More teams would like to have their world shaken. Andrew Bynum is finally back after choosing going to Africa to watch the World Cup over getting surgery. Pau Gasol played out of his mind until his body caught up to him and Kobe was well Kobe. The Lakers are still the team to beat, but one has to wonder if this team has the chops to win a series on the road. The only time they have had to try against Boston in 2008 didn’t end so well.
Players: A (Even without Andrew Bynum, the Lakers go two deep at every position except center and they have Kobe. That always helps the grade.)
Coaching: A (Phil’s up to his usual mind games already calling out the Miami Heat, Eric Spoelstra, Stan Van Gundy, Kobe, and the NBA Logo Jerry West in one half of the season. What craziness will be in store for Phillip’s last half of the season ever.
Intangibles: C (Call me old fashion but not giving a crap for the entire first half of the season brings down your intangible rating. There is a difference between coasting and playing horrific basketball. Ask Kobe.)
Overall: A (Even through all the drama, the Lakers are still right where they need to be. Well, the Spurs are probably where the Lakers need to be, but they are close enough at the 2 seed in the West.)
Boston Celtics (34-10): Remember how Boston cruised through the regular season last year. They didn’t really seem to care. Boston season ticket holders were treated to crappy regular season home games right down to the last regular season game. Then, they turned on for the playoffs, eliminated 2 of the top 3 seeds in their conference, and were possibly a Kendrick Perkins injury away from winning it all. Well, that team doesn’t exist anymore. This team is looking to kill teams every night with stifling defense. Rajon Rondo is having one of the best years assist wise ever. Ray Allen has found the fountain of youth, and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett continue to run their mouths. Okay, okay, they also are playing good All-Star caliber basketball.
Players: A (One of the deepest teams in the league. No holes anywhere and they beat you over the head with it every night.)
Coaching: A (When you talk about Boston’s success, you never hear Doc River’s name come up much. You should.)
Intangibles: A (Either you have good intangibles or Kevin Garnett eats your soul. Those are your only two options. Ask Big Baby Davis.)
Overall: A (You really couldn’t ask to much more out of this Boston team except to be healthier which makes this first half run even more impressive.)
San Antonio Spurs (38-7): No one really talks about them. ESPN has embargoed on First Take and SportsNation discussions about them. They were declared dead as far as contending for a championship even by me. Yet, here they are on pace to win 70 games this season. I doubt that happens, but you have to appreciate the level of basketball the Spurs are playing. They have done it with offense at times and defense at other times. Richard Jefferson has improved greatly. Tony Parker is healthy and playing like it. Tim Duncan’s minutes are down and Manu Ginobili is having an MVP type year. All while, players like Tracy Morgan (Gary Neal), DeJaun Blair, and George Hill get minutes, time, and shots to develop. You couldn’t really ask for much more.
Players: A (This team not only rolls two deep at every position, but small forward. They have been fairly healthy.)
Coaching: A (Coach Gregg Popovich adjust the offense to keep Duncan’s minutes down and allow the Spurs to keep winning. It not only leads to the best record in the league but the best offense in the league. It was the genius move of the season so far.)
Intangibles: A (Everyone thinks the team is boring. Intangibles is probably the main reason why.)
Overall: A+ (You could think I am bias for the Spurs an A+, or use the logic that they are on pace for 70 wins. You tend to get a plus for that.)
Half of the Season Awards: We are more the half of the way through so who are the leaders in the clubhouse for the awards so far.
MVP: Derrick Rose (I have three criteria for MVP. You have to be the best player on a 50 win team with the least amount of talent. Derrick Rose fits the criteria so far. In fact, he is the only player who fits the criteria.
Most Improved Player: Kevin Love (We have to give the man something for continually pulling down boards and hoisting up shots while playing for Timberwolves. Interesting enough, teammates Michael Beasley and Darko Milicic are also in consideration for the award.)
Rookie of the Year: Blake Griffin (I don’t have to justify this pick with words. I just don’t. Like I said weeks ago, any rookie who wants to win rookie of the year has to shoot Blake Griffin than average 50 point for the rest of the season. Shooting him isn’t enough. You have to do both.
Six Man of the Year: Glen “Big Baby” Davis (He has filled so many different roles for the Celtics this year. Whether it’s filling in for an injured Kevin Garnett or just coming off the bench like normal, Davis is having a special year.
Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler (The real winner will be Dwight Howard and he deserves it as usual, but you really can’t say enough for how Chandler has transformed the defense in Dallas.)
Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich (He only completely changed the offense to more suit the regular season to preserve Tim Duncan’s minutes while incorporating Richard Jefferson a little bit more. That ladies and gentleman is called the trifecta.)
*Records in parenthesis as off Friday, January 28, 2011.
