Top Ten Dunks of this NBA Season

This season has had tons of great plays, mainly dunks. Here are the top ten dunks of the season thus far:

1. Blake Griffin DESTROYS Kendrick Perkins

2. Gerald Green's proves he would have won the dunk contest

3. LeBron dunks... and jumps over John Lucas III

4. Russel Westbrook forgets he's just 6 foot 3

5. Blake Griffin Jumps over 4 people and dunks... wow

6. Paul George doing his best Vince Carter impression

7. Josh Smith dunks on Serge Iblaka

8. Nicolas Batum embarrasses Javale Mcgee

9. Paul George unreal reverse double pump dunk

10. John Wall forgets he's a point guard

Why Kevin Love is NBA MVP -- The MVP Debate

There are three things that make a player the MVP. His impact on his team, his stats, and his team's performance. Here's the comparisons of the top MVP candidates and how they stack up:

Most Valuable to Own Team: 
1. Chris Paul -- Last year at this point Clippers were 19-31. They add Chris Pual, they're 29-21. You can't deny the facts, he's more valuable to the Clippers than any player on any other team. 
2. Kevin Love -- Putting his whole team on his back, keeping his team in contention. Without Love T-Wolves are one of NBA's worst teams. 
3. LeBron James -- Tough call between KD and LBJ, went with LeBron. The Heat's various injuries made LeBron the pick here, because without LeBron the Heat would have actually really struggled.
4. Kevin Durant -- There are nights when he's overshadowed by Westbrook, and his team would win without him more often than the Heat would win without LeBron. 


Best Stats:
1. Kevin Love -- 26.6ppg, 13.9rpg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 6
Kevin Love is putting up ridiculous numbers. With his 51 point game, and his 40 point 19 rebound game, he's having a ridiculously good statistical season. 
2. LeBron James -- 26.7ppg, 6.6apg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 1
If LeBron's PER can remain the same he will have the best PER ever. That's incredible. He's only behind Love because of Love's amazing rebounding rate that goes with his scoring.
3. Kevin Durant 27.8ppg, 8.1rpg, ESPN#NBAMVP rank: 2
Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the NBA, and he's always going to put up impressive stats. This year he's scored less than the two previous years though. 
4. Chris Paul 19.4ppg, 8.8apg, ESPN #NBAMVP rank: 4
With Chris Paul the stats don't show the affect he has on the game being played. While his stats are impressive, they're not nearly as impressive as the stats of the players above. Paul's affect on the game comes with his speed and leadership along with the scoring and passing which he of course also does well. 


Team Record/Quality of players of team (How well team has done compared to expectations)
1. Kevin Durant -- OKC is living up to expectations with the second best record in the NBA, and Durant is a big reason why. 
2. Kevin Love -- With Rubio out for the season the T-Wolves season is fully dependent on Love. He's embraced this, and has gotten his team of NBA draft busts into playoff contention.
3. Chris Paul -- The Clippers were expected to compete for the division and make the playoffs. That's been exactly what has happened, and they are currently leading their division.
4. LeBron James -- It's pretty crazy for a team to be second place in the confrence and be underachieving... but that's the case with the Heat. 

Who Should be MVP:
After looking at the three things that are considered when deciding who's MVP, I've decided Kevin Love should be the 2011-12 NBA MVP. He has the best stats out of the four candidates, and has carried his team by himself like none of the other candidates. Love was the best player in the NBA in March, when he scored more than 35 points 5 times, including a 51 point game and a 40 point 19 rebound game. He's been dominating every team he faces, and the teams play fully relies on him. If Love were not on the Wolves they'd be one of the worst NBA teams instead of a playoff contender.

NBA Players Draft Round 1 -- All Players Eligible

Every year kids from college are drafted into the NBA. Here's what the draft order would look like if GM's got to draft anyone in the NBA, not just college players. (These teams would be drafting these players to their team for many years to come, not just this year)
1. LeBron James (SF) -- Some question how clutch he is, some question his competitiveness, but no one questions that LeBron is the best overall player in the NBA. He's more valuable to a team than anyone else.
2. Dwight Howard (C) -- Dwight Howard single handedly makes his team one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. He also has eight 20 point 20 rebound games this season. He's tough to turn down.
3. Kevin Durant (SF) -- Kevin Durant is the best scorer in the NBA. He's won the scoring title the last two years, and is just 23. The only reason he's third and not first in this draft is that the two players above him are much better defenders than he is.
4. Derrick Rose (PG) -- Derrick Rose has not peaked yet, which is unbelievable for a player that has already won an MVP. He may not be the best point guard in the NBA right now (Chris Paul) but he's just 23 and is still improving. Imagine how good he's gonna be when he peaks...
5. Chris Paul (PG) -- As mentioned Chris Paul is arguably the best point guard in the NBA right now. He's behind Rose though because he's three years older and isn't going to improve as much as Rose will in the future. Paul does have a huge impact on a team though, a perfect example is the LA Clippers.
6. Blake Griffin (PF) -- Blake Griffin's upside is enormous. His offensive game is currently very raw, yet he still averages 21.2 ppg this year. When Griffin learns learns how some good post moves and gets his jumper more consistent, NBA watch out. Also no one sells tickets quite like Blake Griffin which is very important to some struggling franchises.
7. Dwayne Wade (SG) -- Wade falls back to no. 7 because of age and injuries. He's been struggling with a number of injuries this season, which has resulted in inconsistent play. Also Wade is 7 years older than Griffin Rose and Durant, so why pick Wade over those guys?
8. Kobe Bryant (SG) -- Sadly the great Kobe Bryant is getting old (well... basketball old). At 33 no one know how many more great seasons he's going to have. He may be getting old, but it doesn't seem to be affecting his scoring. He's a great scorer and shooter, and will likely be able to put up the amazing numbers he's currently putting up for at least the next 3 years. Kobe is a great leader, and when crunch time comes there's no one in the NBA who's I'd rather have.
9. Russel Westbrook (PG) -- Russel Westbrook is insanely athletic, and can do things at the point guard position that no one else can. The downside is that he's often criticized for shooting too much and not passing to the other star his team, Kevin Durant. If Westbrook is on a team that fits his playing style, he could become a point guard very similar to Derrick Rose.
10. John Wall (PG) -- Similar to Blake Griffin, John Wall has incredible upside. A change of scenery and a new system could turn this much hyped no.1 overall pick into the best point guard in the NBA.
11. Demarcus Cousins (PF) 
12. Andrew Bynum (C)
13. Deron Williams (PG) 
14 Kevin Love (PF)
15. Carmelo Anthony (SF)
16. Al Jefferson (C)
17. Rajon Rondo (PG)
18. Roy Hibbert (C)
19. Ricky Rubio (PG)

20. Kyrie Irving (PG)
21. Rudy Gay (SF)
22. Pau Gasol (PF)
23. Tony Parker (PG)
24. Brandon Jennings (PG)
25. Tyreke Evans (PG/SG)
26. LaMarcus Aldridge (PF)
27. Steve Nash (PG)
28. Paul Pierce (SF)
29. Dirk Nowitski (PF)
30. Monta Ellis (PG/SG)

The Most Underrated Player in the NBA -- By Far

In the Air Canada Center in Toronto the least talked about, most forgotten, and most underrated team in the NBA play about twice each week. That team of course is the The Toronto Raptors. On that forgotten team are 12 players who all deserve more media attention and most of them are very underrated. The most underrated player (by far), on the most underrated team is James Johnson.

The 6 ft 9 starting SF for the Raptors has been having an amazing season. Johnson is underrated by fans, writers, reporters, virtually everyone outside of Toronto. The players know how good Johnson is though. He is as strong defensively at his position as anyone else in the NBA. LeBron, Igoudala, Gay and Durant are generally looked at as the best small forward defenders, but James Johnson is equal to all of them, if not better. He defends the opponents' best scorers, and defends them just as well as the names I previously listed. Don't believe me? Look at the stats below.




















As the charts show James Johnson is one of the best defenders in the NBA even though outside of Toronto he's virtually unknown. He definitely deserves to be in the Defensive Player of the Year discussions, but given how underrated he is, he may not. James Johnson deserves way more credit than he receives for his defense, and he's improving on the offensive side as well.

Why LeBron Is Better Than MJ

"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to play the game, but I may go as far as to say LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game." That was a quote by Michael Jordan's basketball sidekick and former teammate Scottie Pippen. When Pippen said this many people were outraged, and strongly disagreed. I thought Pippen was crazy at first, but as compared the two players I started to see where he's coming from. I believe that Michael's ability in crunch time and competitiveness get's brings him above LeBron, but the comparison is close. Jordan's a better shooter and winner (by far), while LeBron's a better passer, rebounder and defender. If LeBron can figure out his clutch problems, which he will throughout his career, he will become the best ever.

Scoring: 

Lebron: Career stats: 27.7 ppg -- .482 FG% -- .331 3P% 

Early in LeBron's career with the Cavs he had no help on the offensive end. He was relied on almost every time down the floor which resulted in him taking some bad shots. Even with the lack of help he managed to shoot .474 FG% with the Caveliers in his seven years there. He has improved his FG % every year but one throughout his career, including shooting over 50% in the last three seasons. This year James is on pace to have a better FG% then Jordan ever had in his career, and a 3 point percentage Jordan only did better then once in his career. 

Jordan: Career stats: 30.1 ppg -- .497 FG% -- .327 3P%

Michael Jordan was a natural scorer. He averaged over 30 points eight times during his career while LeBron has done that just twice. Jordan was a whole step above his competition during his career, getting ten regular season scoring titles. 

Analysis: Jordan has the edge because of the amount of points he averaged, but if LeBron can continue to shoot well over 50% for the rest of his career he will surpass Jordan in this comparison.

Score: 10-9 Jordan

Passing:

LeBron: Career stats: 7.0 Apg -- 3.34 Turnovers per game

LeBron is an exceptional passer. He always gets his teammates involved, and uses his intimidation over defenders to bring double teams and then send the ball out for the open bucket. He makes his teammates better (i.e Mo Williams, Anthony Parker), and is one of the few stars ever to honestly be "team first" when it comes to scoring. If he feels someone else has the hot hand he'll feed them instead of demanding he take the shot. LeBron averaged 8.6 Apg (assists per game) in his last season with the Cavs which is absolutely amazing, because he did that with a team that without him lost 26 games in a row the next season. The turnovers often come because he's trying to set up his teammates a little too much.

Jordan: Career stats: 5.3 Apg -- 2.73 Turnovers PG

Micheal Jordan wasn't a bad passer, but he wasn't a great one either. 5.3 assists per game would be an impressive amount an for the average small forward, but not for a guy like Jordan. MJ played almost every minute of every game he played in and had the ball in his hands for most of the time during the games. When you always have the ball and have a guy like Scottie Pippen on your team you should average more then 5.3 Apg. 

Analysis: LeBron is a much better passer then Jordan. Although he now has wade to pass to, Jordan had Pippen, so it evens out. LeBron gets his teamates involved more, and is better at making his teammates look good then Jordan is. Jordan's 2.73 turnovers per game compared to LeBron's 3.34 is impressive, but that is largely due to how Jordan didn't pass as much as LeBron.

Score: 10-7 LeBron

Defense: 

LeBron: Career stats/achievements: 1.7 Steals per game -- 0.8 Blocks per game -- 3 All NBA Defense Team --

Defensively just looking at the stats above LeBron's defense does not seem too impressive. But when you think about that LeBron either has to play defense as an undersized power forward, or is defending the opponents best player, it seems he's doing a bit of a better job. LeBron's steals and blocks go up come playoff time, as he's really shut down opponents star players in recent playoff series'.

Jordan: Career stats/achievements: 2.35 steals per game -- 0.8 Blocks per game -- 9 All NBA Defense Team -- 1 Defensive Player of the Year --

Michael Jordan made a huge impact on the game with his scoring, but also with his defense. He had a knack for getting steals. He did an unbelievable job of picking the pockets of the players he was guarding, and the guys he was guarding were often the games best. Jordan often turned defense into offence with those steals, which was why he had the ability to bring his team back in any game.

Analysis: Both these players are world class defenders, and they were both experts at certain aspects of defending. Jordan was the master at forcing turnovers and turning offence into defence. LeBron was the best at just plain stopping his man. He didn't force as many turnovers as Jordan but he did play as good defence, shown by his higher Defensive Rating then Jordan.

Score: 10-9 Jordan

Rebounding:

LeBron: Career stats: 7.1 Rebounds per game

When LeBron entered the NBA it was thought that rebounding would be a large problem with him, but that certainly has not been the case. LeBron has improved his rebounds per game every year since he came to the NBA. The lack of a real center on the Heat has forced LeBron to take on more of a rebounding role, which he has embraced. LeBron is averaging 8.1 rebounds per game this year, which is very impressive due to the fact that he's a small forward. 

Jordan: Career stats: 6.2 Rebounds per game

Unlike LeBron Michael Jordans Rebounds per game went down every season since his rookie season. Whether it was lack of rebounding effort or not having the energy to rebound, Jordan never came close to the 8 rebound per game pace he set as a rookie. As Jordans career he virtually stopped rebounding and starting using all his energy on defense and scoring instead of rebounding.

Analysis: LeBron may be slightly taller then Jordan but that's not why he's such a better rebounder. LeBron decided to put effort into rebounding for his team, while Jordan didn't nearly as much. It's as simple as that. 

Score: 10-6 LeBron

Winning:

LeBron: Career stats: .635 regular season win perc -- .608% playoff win perc.

LeBrons biggest problem has been the ability to win big games. Eight times LeBron has brought his team to the playoffs with high hopes, and eight times LeBron's team has lost in the playoffs. His teams have lost twice in the finals, including the 2010-11 finals when he played awfully in the fourth quarter of the games. When LeBron was faced with a big shot in the finals he deferred to his teammates instead of taking the big shot. Except for the finals in 2010-11 LeBron has actually been a clutch player throughout his career, but the fact that he played so badly on the biggest stage cannot be denied.

Jordan: Career stats: .659 regular season win perc -- .665 playoff win perc.

Michael Jordan is a winner, plain and simple. 6 NBA championships and 6 finals MVP awards should show just how good Michael Jordan was when it came to big games. Jordan hit 25 game winners throughout his career, including many in the playoffs that were the reason his team was able to have the success they had.

Analysis: . Michael Jordan has more titles, more games won, and has more finals MVP's than LeBron. Michael Jordan has had success in the end of big games, while LeBron hasn't. This doesn't meen LeBron isn't a winner though. He still has a very good .635% regular season win percentage and .608% playoff win percentage. He has been the reason his team has one so many games but he just needs to perform better on the big stage to become widely known as a winer.

Score: 10-4 Jordan

OVERALL Score:

43-42 Jordan-- If LeBron can improve his performance in the clutch and win some championships, which he very likely will, he will become the best ever.

Players Who Should Be In Next Years Dunk Contest

This years dunk contest featured a bust of a high draft pick (Derrick Williams) a player who averages 5 minutes of playing time a game (Jeremy Evans), a player who has not fulfilled the high expectations given to him last year (Paul George), and well... a white man who truly did not seem to fit in with the others (Chase Budinger). I must admit all these players can definitely jump and have some great dunks in their arsenal but the dunk contest is all about the hype, and these players had none of it going into the contest. Some of the dunks were pretty good, especially Paul George's glow in the dark dunk and the Jeremy Evans two ball dunk, but the dunk contest overall was not very good. In the end a virtual unknown prior to the dunk contest, Jeremy Evans, came out on top. If the NBA really wants to put on a show they need to put the legitimate best dunkers in the contest. These guys would make the most memorable slam dunk contest ever.

Contestant #1: LeBron James:

LeBron is in most peoples opinion the most athletic player in the NBA. Most athletic=epic dunks. LeBrons problem is that he has a poor reputation for not being clutch, and putting on a great show in the dunk contest would get his "King" reputation back. LeBron shows off his amazing dunking ability in almost every Heat game and there is no doubt that he could bring a new standard to slam dunk contest dunks with a dunk never seen before..

Contestant #2 Russel Westbrook:

For a 6 ft 3 187 lb man, Russel Westbrook can jump insanely high. His in game dunks are ones that would still be impressive if done by someone a foot taller. He loves to be in the spotlight, which sometimes brings problems when playing on a team with Kevin Durant, but a dunk contest is a perfect place to put yourself in the national spotlight.

Contestant #3 Kobe Bryant
Many of the complaints about the dunk contest is that there are no more competitive rivalries like there was back with Michael Jordan vs. Dominique Wilkins. Back then it was two of the best players in the world battling it out to become the best dunker. Kobe would bring that competitive edge back to the contest. Kobe's known for his competitiveness and he would likely build off his rivalry with LeBron during this contest.

Contestant #4 Blake Griffin

And last but not least, the dunking artist, Blake Griffin. Blake's had some of the most incredible in-game dunks ever,which has made him very well known. The 2011 dunk contest winner can do things no one else in the world can do, and if he can fully showcase those skills in the dunk competition it would be something never seen before.