10 Things

10) Lost in Translation - After starting off their 7-game Grammy road trip with 4 straight wins (including one over Boston), the Lakers dropped the last 3 games. After their first lost to Orlando, everything seemed to snowball from there. Dropping games to the Bobcats and yes...the Clevland LeBron-less, all-time-losing-streak record-holding Cavaliers. The Lakers should be more than a little worried and maybe give that Carmelo trade a little more consideration. However, on the bright side, Ron Artest doesn't seem to mind too much.

9) All-Star Weekend - With the All-Star events happening this weekend, the NBA has reached it's breaking point in the season. Trades and Justin Bieber should be all the rave this weekend. My predictions are that...DeMar DeRozan is going to win the dunk contest, Ray Allen's going to win the 3-Point Shootout, and Justin Bieber's going to ball.

8) What's in a Name? - What do DeMarcus Cousins and LaMarcus Aldridge have in common other than their similar first names? They've both been playing excellent basketball. LaMarcus Aldridge has carried the injury-prone Trail Blazers to not only hold onto a spot in the playoffs, but the 5th seed. Aldridge has been averaging 29.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG for the month of February (as of February 16th). DeMarcus hasn't been scoring as much as LaMarcus, but he's been doing a much better job of rebounding. Since January 28th, Cousins has been averaging 19.3 PPG and 11.5 RPG. Even though Cousins isn't scoring as much as LaMarcus, you have to remember that it's only his first year in the league and if he continues to improve at this rate, the Kings should be a team to watch in the upcoming years.

7) Bear Minimum - The Memphis Grizzlies have won their last 4 games heading into the break, and are looking to secure a spot in the playoffs. With the Jazz out of tune, they could potentially be that 8th team in the West. Zeebo has been doing magical things this season and statistically, I believe that he's playing better than he did during his All-Star season last season. Zach Randolph is averaging 20.1 PPG and 13.2 RPG. But...the Grizzlies take a serious blow with the loss of Rudy Gay. Gay is expected to be out for at least 4 weeks with a shoulder injury. Back to work for Zeebo.

6) Golden Opportunity - Golden State is back in the running for a shot at the playoffs. With Monta Ellis focused and locked in, the Warriors have won their last 3 games and 7 of their last 9. Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis. There hasn't been a more dangerous backcourt duo thusfar this season. The tangent of Curry and Ellis have averaged a (combined) jaw-dropping 43.7 PPG and 11.5 APG. If Golden State continues to play at a high level, they could be back in the playoffs for the first time since their magical '06-'07 season where they pulled off arguably the greatest upset in NBA history.

5) Looking for a Tune-Up - The Utah Jazz have lost their last 4 games heading into the All-Star break. 3 of which are under new coach, Tyrone Corbin. The retirement of Jerry Sloan is still quite shocking to many basketball fans around the world. Nonetheless, it's not an excuse for any team to allow fast food to score so much. The Jazz need to get themselves together and start winning some games before they drop out of the playoff race.

4) Trade Talk - The NBA trade deadline is next week, so expect to see sort of trade occur between now and that time. Possible destinations for Carmelo Anthony are still up in the air. However, if I was a GM for most teams, I'd pass on Carmelo like I pass on my grandma's cooking. He's probably not even going to resign with your team unless you are the...Lakers, Bulls, and/or Knicks. In other news (non-Melo related), Avery Bradley could possibly be up on the trade block. Ramon Sessions and Antawn Jamison are on sale as well.

3) Bullying Others - So, I watched the Bulls - Spurs game on TNT, and I must say that I was quite impressed by Derrick Rose. The young man scored a career high 42 points and was dazzling to watch. Hitting contested floaters and jumpshots like they're nothing. And that's not even the most amazing part about this 42 point game. He did all of this without a single 3-point field goal. He shot 18 for 28 and made all six of his free throws. Rose also dished out 8 assists. It's not like the Spurs are horrible at defense either, because that is most certainly not the case. Beating the top team in the NBA right before the All-Star break is always good. Happy All-Star Weekend, everyone.

2) Seeing Green - For those of you that don't know, each season ESPN and the NBA team up together to shoot a season long documentary that follows one team in the league. This year, they decided to follow the Celtics and film them and their 4th run at a championship with KG and Ray Allen on board. I've posted part one of episode one below. Ray Allen is also the new all-time NBA 3-point FG's leader.



1) Disappointment - What do I think of when I hear Milwaukee, Houston, and Minnesota? Disappoint. Why you ask? Well let's see... Milwaukee was in the playoffs last season pushing the Atlanta Hawks to a 7-game series and was on the brink of heading to the second round. With Brandon Jennings' injury, they should've still been halfway decent with everyone's favorite Aussie, Andrew Bogut. The Bucks are currently 21 and 34. Houston was 42 - 40 without Yao Ming last season. With Yao supposedly returning this year, Houston was supposed to make a serious push into the playoffs. However, they've been awful. Yao Ming has been hit by the injury bug once again, and Aaron Brooks (last season's Most Improved Player) is averaging a very unspectacular 11.9 PPG. The only person I would say that is playing very well is Luis Scola. He's averaging a near double-double at 19.4 PPG and 8.6 RPG. Minnesota wasn't very good last season, but Kevin Love has been playing his beard off with 21.1 PPG and a league-leading, 15.5 RPG. The combined amount of talent on Minnesota should be able to at least win a few more games than their 13 - 43 record. Jonny Flynn? He's averaging 5.8 PPG this season. Last season? He averaged 13.5. Michael Beasley's improved, and Darko Milicic's nipples have stepped their game up this season. But even with the improvement of those two, the T'Wolves are only 3 games better than the Clevland Cavaliers which is quite rediculous if you ask me.