Big 4?

Big 3 could become the Big 4?  The fellas at ESPN think so.

How insane would this be?  Yes, they would need a lot to happen, opt outs, pay cuts, and everything else, but good Lord.  You thought people went nuts when LeBron, Wade, and Bosh teamed up, this will crush that.

In a weird, weird way, I want this to happen.   Don't get me wrong, I want Melo to play for the Celtics, but if he doesn't give me a hated villain.  The Heat are already the NBA's villain, can you imagine what it would be like if they add Melo?  Come on.

Why Voting Carmelo Over LeBron Makes No Sense

By now you have all heard that Heat F LeBron James won his 4th NBA MVP Award over the weekend.  He received 120/121 1st place votes.  Today we learned that Celtics beat writer Gary Washburn, of the Boston Globe was the lone outlier.  He voted instead for Knicks All-Star Carmelo Anthony, preventing LeBron from being the first unanimous winner.  He wrote why he voted the way he did and has been making the rounds on local and national radio all day. 

He was wrong.  Here's why.  

No matter what your rhetoric is for MVP, LeBron James was the only choice.  Let's take a look.  

Carmelo led the league in scoring  (28.7 points per game), LeBron was 4th, less than 2 points back (26.8).  But LeBron shot a significantly better percentage from the floor (56.5 to 44.9) and from 3 (40.6 to 37.9).

One of Washburn's big reasons for voting for Carmelo was that he led the league in scoring.  Tracy McGrady led the league in scoring twice.  He finished 4th in MVP one of those years and didn't receive a SINGLE VOTE in the other.  

LeBron averaged more rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes as compared to Carmelo.  The assist number was particularly lopsided (7.3 to 2.6).  Who makes their teammates better?  If you want to add the assist-points onto their scoring you get (41.4 for LeBron and 33.9 for Carmelo, and that's calculating just 2 points per assist.)

LeBron had 36 double-doubles, Carmelo had 10.

LeBron missed 6 games all season (in the final month of the year for rest), Carmelo missed 15.

LeBron finished 2nd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, Carmelo finished 2nd to last (can't confirm this.)

If you like PER (Player Efficiency Rating) that's also in favor of LeBron: 31.67 (1st); Carmelo: 24.83 (4th)  

If you vote based on statistics, it's obvious.  If you vote on simply best player, it's obvious.  If you want to come up with some off the wall/ I'm sick of voting for LeBron theory, then you find a way to vote for someone else.

But if your argument is, "He led the Knicks to their first division title in 19 years.  That's a long time."  What about Chris Paul?  

Chris Paul led the Clippers to their first division title in.... EVER.  First title in franchise history.  Seems more historically significant to me.  

Another "reason" to vote for Carmelo was the theory that without him the Knicks don't make the playoffs and without LeBron the Heat are still a top team.  Well it's a small sample size, but New York went 7-8 this year without Anthony.  That pace would have beat out the Bucks for the 8 spot.  

The Knicks won the division in large part because the Celtics were far worse than expected/ old/ just getting through the regular season.  Deron Williams played hurt for most of the season.  The 76ers got 0 minutes from Andrew Bynum after trading for him, and the Raptors are awful.  Now, the Heat didn't play in a world-beating division either, but to say Melo gets your vote cause he scored a lot of points and the Knicks won the division seems weak.  

LeBron has better teammates.  Fact.  They did win 12 more games and have the best record in the NBA.  The Knicks finished with the 6th most wins in the league.  

If you really want to use the, "Without him where is his team reasoning?"  Then I assume Gary had James Harden, Stephen Curry, and Zach Randolph high on his ballot.  

Fact is LeBron has already been penalized for choosing to join forces with Wade and Bosh.  He should have been the MVP in 2011 (when Derrick Rose won), and everyone knew it, except not voting for him was the only way to say they disagreed with him leaving Cleveland, "The Decision," and the perception that he was taking the easy way out to win titles.  That lasted one year and he has since won back-to-back MVPs in Miami, and 4 out of 5 overall.  

Look, I'm not a LeBron apologist.  In the words of Manti Te'o, "Far from it.  Faaarrrrr from it."  I actually like Carmelo more, but to think he was the MVP over LeBron is crazy.  Michael Jordan missed out on some MVPs simply because writers were sick of voting for him.  LeBron has raised the bar for this generation and is without question the best player in the game.  To vote for someone else when he continues to put up insane numbers, because a guy made a team relevant again, or because he was the scoring champ?  Makes no sense.  

Yes I understand that LeBron still won it this year.  But I don't understand how an NBA writer doesn't agree with that.  This wasn't a Duncan or Kidd, Duncan or KG, Dirk or Nash or Kobe type of year.  This was clear cut.  Maybe what LeBron is doing is being taken for granted... by one Boston writer anyway.

-Keefe

Keefe on Melo Deal

I started the DA Show last night with my reaction to the Carmelo Anthony deal to New York. What does it mean for the Knicks, Celtics, and Eastern Conference? Check out most of the first segment below.

Carmelo to the Knicks by Keefe21

Who is the best College Basketball player of the last 20 years?

The AP announced their All-American teams yesterday. A pair of freshmen made the 1st team, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins from Kentucky as well as Ohio State's do-everything man Evan Turner. Wall or Turner will take home player of the year, and both had good seasons. I believe they will both make good pros, likely going 1-2 in June's Draft. But did either guy make you say, wow he might be the best college basketball player I have ever seen? No.

So who is the best college basketball player of the last, say, 20 years? Let's look at all the Naismith Award Winners since 1991.

91- Larry Johnson, UNLV
92- Christian Laettner, Duke

93- Calbert Cheaney, Indiana

94- Glenn Robinson, Purdue

95- Joe Smith, Maryland
96- Marcus Camby, UMass

97- Tim Duncan, Wake Forest

98- Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

99- Elton Brand, Duke

00- Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati

01- Shane Battier, Duke

02- Jason Williams, Duke

03- T.J. Ford, Texas

04- Jameer Nelson, St. Joe's

05- Andrew Bogut, Utah

06- J.J. Redick, Duke

07- Kevin Durant, Texas

08- Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

09- Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

10- ? (Wall or Turner likely)

Quick observations from the list; from 99-02 Duke had 3 different players win the Naismith, still can't believe Carmelo Anthony (2003) and Emeka Okafor (2004) did not win this award, and hey remember Blake Griffin?

I mention Melo and Okafor, neither guy won this award, but both probably should have and both took home National Titles. What is the most important thing to you when determining the "best" college player.

Is it best season, (Larry Johnson, Chris Webber, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant), is it best 2-3 year run (which eliminates Melo, Durant, even a Michael Beasley), and obviously how do you take into account career numbers. Guys like Laettner, Redick, and Hansbrough are going to have much better career numbers (individuals stats as well as Final 4s, etc.) than the 1 and done or 2 and out players.

That is why it's such a great argument. Laettner won 2 titles and played in a ridiculous 4 Final 4's while at Duke. Is that more impressive than what Carmelo did in his 1 year at Syracuse? Laettner averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game for his career; Melo meanwhile slapped up a 22.1-10 in his only season which was capped off by Most Outstanding Player award. And in the semi-finals he torched Texas (and Naismith winner T.J. Ford) for a freshmen tourny record 33 points.

Coach Jim Boeheim, obviously biased, but still, referred to Anthony as "by far" the best player in college basketball and it "wasn't even close." I, unlike the Naismith voters, agreed. That may have been the most impressive college basketball season I have ever seen.

However, Duke PG Jason Williams, later known as "Jay" or motorcycle man, had an incredible 3 year run. He was freshmen of the year, then led his team to consecutive championship game appearances, cutting the nets down as a sophomore. He was better than Shane Battier, his teammate who won the Naismith. I remember watching Williams play, and saying the words, "that is not fair."

To me the answer(s) to the question are Larry Johnson, Carmelo Anthony, and Jason Williams. Combining incredible individual seasons with the ultimate team goal of capturing a championship. Webber, Camby, Duncan, Jamison, and Durant were all amazing players, but when so many great seasons have happened in the past 20 years, I believe the title is the tie breaker. If that is the case, then I think you narrow the list down to L. Johnson, Laettner, Jason Williams, and Carmelo Anthony; I eliminate Laettner, because a side from my hatred for him, he may have been the best winner (minus Alcindor and Walton), but on a team with Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill and others, he was great, don't get me wrong, but not the best player in the last 20 years.

I know Larry Johnson and Jason Williams also played with great teammates, but their numbers were superior to Laettners. Johnson played only 2 years at UNLV (after starting at Odessa College), he made 2 Final 4's, won a national title, and went 69-6, while putting up 21.6 points and 11.2 rebounds. Jay Williams was 19.3 points 6 assists in 3 years, including 21+ his final 2 seasons.

So you do you think is the best college basketball player of the last 20 years?

-Keefe