Jeff Saturday – Super Bowl MVP and NBA Mid-season Report

First off, I am no longer alone in believing that Colts’ Center Jeff Saturday was the MVP of the Super Bowl.

http://www.slate.com/id/2158973/fr/flyout

Now, it’s time for the NBA Mid-season report - –
Fast and furious style

Surprise teams:
Houston – Overlooked between T-Mac’s unreliable back, and Yao missing games due to injury, is that the Houston Rockets are right in the thick of things! I think this is mainly due to the supporting cast, which is night and day compared to last year.
Last year, players who were logging over 20 min per night included: Derek Anderson, David Wesley, and Stromile Swift, all of whom are either old and not very useful at this point [Anderson, Wesley], or just a complete underachiever [Swift]. This year they have: Shane Battier, V-Span (the PG from the silver-medalist Greece team), and Chuck Hayes (a 6’6” Kentucky guy, playing PF and averaging a ridiculous 7.5 rebounds in only 20 minutes a night while being the starter). Basically, the Rockets finally realized how they were better off with younger, energetic guys who play defense, and do all the little things, as opposed to “older, proven” commodities like Derek Anderson, David Wesley, and Swift. Of course, Battier is a proven commodity, but I salute the Rockets for giving some good minutes to V-Span and Hayes. Plus, Bonzi Wells may finally be healthy. He may not be sane, but he will definitely help until Yao returns.
Utah – in-shape Deron Williams, Boozer, and a center that can hit 3s (Mem Okur) has proven to be a winning formula!
Toronto – things have really picked up lately for the Raptors (finally above .500) – all of the rookies from the Euroleague are contributing, and playing well (#1 pick Bargnani, Anthony Parker, Garbajosa). Not to mention, backup PG Jose Calderon (also from the Euroleague) did a great job holding down the fort while TJ Ford was injured. Plus, the Raptors have Bosh who’s out for revenge against all of the USA for continually being overlooked on last year’s World Championship team. And I thought this team wouldn’t be making noise until 2007-2008, they could be a tough out in the East.

Disappointing team: Most disappoint team in my mind is the Milwaukee Bucks. Talk about bad luck! Redd was injured, PG Mo Williams could have made the all-star game had he not missed 5 weeks, Villaneuva was out for 6 weeks, AND Bobby Simmons is out for the whole season! These guys missed 4 starters at the same time, and going into the season, they didn’t have much of a bench! Luckily, they are in the East, and once Redd, Mo “don’t call me Szyslak” Williams, and Villaneuva are all playing together, they may be able to still make the playoffs because they are only 5 games out.
It’s also worth noting that injuries have already wrecked the Nets (Nenad Kristic out for the season, after averaging 16.4 ppg, and 6.8 rpg!), Hornets (missed as many starters as the Bucks for a while), and Grizzlies (had Mike Fratello as their coach, and his hairline did not inspire confidence).

Intriguing team: the Grizzlies! They may lose every night, but I love the fact that they fired Mike “Czar of the Telestrator” Fratello after a pitiful start when they still were trying to run the shot clock down on every possession. This is Fratello’s way of attempting to level the playing field. It failed miserably though. So, the interim coach came in, and said something like: “If we’re going to lose, let’s at least RUN THE ENTIRE game! The fans will love it, it’s exciting, and we’ll probably lose either way, so let’s make it fun at least!”
Actually, that’s not what he said, but that’s what’s happened, as the Grizzlies now run the ball as much as humanly possible. http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA012607.06D.BKNspurs.barone.1bdfb85.html

Breakout players:
Kevin Martin, Sacramento – scores at will, but the team keeps losing
Andris Biedrins, Center – Golden state – puts up some crazy numbers for my fantasy team, but I haven’t seen him play yet.
Emeka Okafor – Charlotte – his back is holding up, and he’s finally living up to some of his potential

Finals Outlook:
At the start of the season, I went with San Antonio over Miami. I don’t think it was a wise decision of course. I wanted to pick Phoenix, but SI already had done it. Really, it’s hard to say, but clearly, the favorite is either Dallas or Phoenix, and San Antonio can only win in a long-shot. The East is such a crapshoot it’s not even funny. Every team is flawed in some way, so anything is really possible. Detroit? Washington? Chicago? They’re all capable. I guess I’ll go with Washington, only because, as pointed out on PTI this week, Arenas can hit 75% of his shots from the college 3-point line with only hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn6O42a5vl8
This video is way too long – but basically, Arenas bet DeShawn Stevenson on who could shoot better - Arenas with 1 hand, or Stevenson with 2 hands and behind the 3-point line (I'm as perplexed as you are). Arenas won the bet, but it wasn’t just a gentlemen’s bet – it was for $20,000! I think it was unfair to Stevenson, who makes considerably less than Arenas. Nonetheless, it proves that Arenas is an incredible shooter.