Boom!

Even Luis Scola is pumped!

I don't like to brag, but I was pretty close to nailing the Rookie-Soph teams. Granted I just picked these teams like two and a half weeks ago, and I picked 12 man rosters, but I was close. My two errors were leaving Rudy Fernandez and Greg Oden off the Soph team. Who cares. I thought we abandoned basketball in the Pacific Northwest? But seriously, Oden has been coming on lately. In his last 5 games, he has averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds. He could be the next Chris Kaman. Wait, is that good or bad? As for Rudy Fernandez, I stick by my exclusion of him. He is more style than substance. I would take my boy, LRMaM anyday.

If you dont know what I am talking about, here are the old posts

Sophs Picks

Rookie Picks

Rookies vs. Sophs, Part Tuno

Rookies: Captain Derrick Rose

PG: Derrick Rose-He may not be as good at putting up points as O.J. Mayo, but I would pick him as captain anyday. He makes his teammates better, except for maybe Joakim Noah. He is averaging 17 points, 4 boards, and 6 assists

SG: O.J. Mayo-Almost scoring 20 points per game. He is the most explosive scorer of the group, but I still don't like the guy

SF: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute- Wow, this draft sucked for small forwards. I ain't hating on LRMaM though. He is probably the best defensive player on the Bucks, and is better than Joe Alexander

PF:Kevin Love- Sorry B-Easy, you need to rebound more. The T-Wolves are hating the trade right now, but Love is probably the better value. He's grabbing around 8 rebounds per.

C: Brook Lopez-Finally, the Nets have a decent big man. No, Nenad Krstic didn't count. Brook is averaging 10 pts, 8 rbs, and 2 blks per game. He is not a bust

Bench:

D.J. Augustin- This draft is so much better at the PG posistion than last year's. Augustin should be starting over Felton, but Larry Brown is a crazy coot

Russell Westbrook-14 pts, 4 rbs, 5 asts per game. He also plays pretty solid defense, like most UCLA players. I think him, Durant, and Green can be a big 3 for the Thunder in the future

Michael Beasley- Wasn't he supposed to be a double-double machine. Where did the rebounds go? He hasn't lived up to the hype, but he is still playing decently

Jason Thompson-Where is Rider college even at? He was a big surprise being picked by the Kings so high, but he is looking good down low, scoring 9 points and 7 boards per game

Marc Gasol-I accidentally put him on the sophs squad, but he just started this year. He is bigger, stronger, and more scruffy than his brother

Eric Gordon-He torched the Pistons when we played him. He's been doing that since high school, but now his team sucks

Mario Chalmers-As long as he stays away from Darrell Arthur, he should be fine. The guard deprived Heat appreciate his 10 points and 5 dimes nightly

Just Missed the Cut: George Hill

Rookies vs. Sophs, Part Uno

Since I have picked the players to represent each conference in the 2009 All-Star Game, why not pick the stars of tommorrow who should be in the Rookies vs. Sophomores game. So without further ado....

Sophomores- Captain Kevin Durant

PG: Ramon Sessions-You might be thinking...who? He may be the Midwest's best kept secret. Off the bench, he is averaging 11 pts, 3 rebs, and 5 asts. Not bad for the 56th pick

SG:Rodney Stuckey-Yeah! Even though this may be bias, he was the best player in the conference a week ago. 14 pts, 3 rebs, and 5 asts, and a ton of energy to start each game

SF: Kevin Durant-He is their captain, even if he didn't win R.O.Y. He is scoring almost 24 points per game right now and finally starting to rebound, grabbing 6 boards. Even though the team is in the pits, everybody in OKC loves him

PF: Al Horford-He could be the co-captain. By far, the strongest post player drafted in 2007. He is currently putting up about 11 and 9 each night, and that's all the Hawks have needed.

C: Spencer Hawes- He was drafted purely on potential. Now it doesn't look like a bad choice. Maybe he can be Kevin Martin's partner in crime for years to come

Bench:

Aaron Brooks-Oddly, the second best point guard so far that comes out of this draft class. He has been important to the success of the Rockets, especially when Rafer is unreliable....which is like all the time

Wilson Chandler-You know, if the Knicks didn't make stupid trades and sign scrubs to huge contracts (yeah you, Jerome James), they might have a good team. Chandler was a good pick, and is now scoring about 15 points per. Is he the next Boris Diaw?

Al Thornton-Who needs Elton Brand. Wait, the Clippers suck now? Apparently they still do. But it is no fault of Thornton. He cashing in on Baron's dimes, scoring almost 17 per

Luis Scola-No, he wasn't drafted in 07, but he did start playing then. 12 points, 8 rebounds, and generally keeping the Rockets above water when all their stars are hurt isn't bad for this guy. At times, he looks like the best player on the team

Yi Jianlian-He is still a bit of a dissapointment, but he is scoring in double digits now. There weren't a bunch of good big men in this draft

Jeff Green-Do fans still wish they had Ray Allen instead? Probably. Will they complain about 16 points a game? No

Thaddeus Young-Last year he was a big part of the Sixers playoff surge. He's still playin well this year, but the Sixers are just chillin

Just missed the cut: Nick Young

Tomorrow: Rookies

W.C. All Stars

Here were my preseason predictions for the Western Conference versus the actual standings

Mine- Actual Standings
1. L.A. Lakers- L.A. Lakers
2. San Antonio-San Antonio
3. Houston- Denver
4. Utah- New Orleans
5. New Orleans- Dallas
6. Phoenix-Portland
7. Portland-Houston
8. Dallas-Phoenix

I am surprised at how close I actually am. I don't think many people expected Denver to be this good, but I think they will start falling off now that Carmelo is out. Houston is still at 7, but they are not playing good lately, save a win over Boston. I think they have the potential to take out any team in the playoffs this year.

My preseason All-Star Predictions for the Western Conference

G Chris Paul
G Steve Nash
G Deron Williams
G Kobe Bryant
G Brandon Roy
F Carmelo Anthony
F Tim Duncan
F Amare Stoudamire
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Yao Ming
C Tyson Chandler

Who out of this list isn't deserving?
Nash is a close call, but I think he still deserves a spot. Deron Williams hasn't been really healthy, so some should go in his place. Roy also hasn't been healthy much, he really deserves a spot. Carmelo is hurt now, but he probably will be healthy by the All-Star Game, so he stays. Tyson Chandler had a good season last year, but this year he looks like a bum, like when he played in Chicago.

Who gets the open spots?
As previously mentioned, I thought Chauncey is still an All-Star, so he takes the spot ofDeron Williams a.k.a. The Ice Pick. Who will take Chandler's spot? It comes down to Big Al Jefferson and Shaq. Even though the Wolves are terrible, I give the spot to Jefferson, he has much better numbers and the Wolves are on a 4 game win streak.

E.C. All Stars

Before the season began, I made some predictions.
First I predicted the standings in the East:

My Predictions- Actual
1. Boston- Cleveland
2. Detroit- Boston
3. Philadelphia- Orlando
4. Orlando- Atlanta
5. Toronto- Detroit
6. Cleveland- Miami
7. Miami- New Jersey
8. Milwaukee- Milwaukee

Two teams have been huge dissapointments obviously, the Raptors and the Sixers. They both are just games away from a playoff spot though. The most surprising team has been Cleveland in the East. I figured they would fall off a little this year, because Mo Williams didn't seem like that big of a deal to me. I don't know how they are winning that many games with LeBron and a bunch of misfits (see Szczerbiak, Wally.) Atlanta has always had the talent to be a top team, but this is the first year they are winning a lot of games. I don't think they will reach the second round of playoffs. Other than Celtics, the team I am most afraid to meet in the Playoffs would be the Magic. We don't have anybody who can defend Dwight Howard, who even though I love Yao, is the best center in the League. Also, I am still sticking to my theory that the Bucks will make the playoffs.

I also predicted this year's All Stars before the season started. Here they are

G- Chauncey Billups
G- Andre Miller
G- Dwayne Wade
G- Paul Pierce
F- LeBron James
F- Shawn Marion
F- Kevin Garnett
F-Elton Brand
F-Josh Smith
C-Dwight Howard
C-Jermaine O'Neal
C-Chris Bosh

Who would I take out now? Clearly Elton Brand and Andre Miller are not deserving of spots. Shawn Marion just doesn't have the numbers, which is odd. I love Josh Smith, but his numbers are all down this year, so he is out. Lastly, Jermaine O'Neal is not worthy of an All-Star spot...at all. Also, Chauncey is still an All-Star, but now in the West

Who would I replace them with? I need two guards, one center, and three forwards. For the guards. The guards are obvious for me. Devin Harris over Vince Carter and Danny Granger, who is just ridiculous. Even with the Pacers being turrible, he is still a top 5 MVP candidate to me. The forwards are more difficult. Even if this wasn't a Pistons blog, I would still give a spot to Tayshaun Prince. He will be the only person playing defense at the All-Star game. I'll give one spot to Caron Butler, because he is still playing hard. The final forward spot goes to...David Lee, who is shooting at a 57% clip. The center spot is between two guys...Andrew Bogut and Emeka Okafor. Bogut is hurt, so Okafor gets the final spot

Even though it has no relevance to the Pistons, tomorrow I will provide my preseason Western Conference standings and All-Star Picks

Don't like my picks? Whine in the comment section or check out those of Sean Deveney from the Sporting News