Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 10th 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Kobe Bryant --- 32 pts, 6 reb, 6 asst, 10 FTM, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 11-20 FG%...And yes, he also had yet another game winner to end the lakers longest losing streak (3 games) in 2 years. But one of the reasons I like Wade more than Kobe is because no matter how well guarded he is, Kobe ALWAYS shoots in that situation, whereas Wade will pass if he's guarded too well. Either way, both are epic performers. Andrew Bogut was huge too last night, coming up with 25, 17, 5 blks, and 5 FTM to help the Bucks upset the Celtics.

The Luc Longley Award

Rookie PF Taj Gibson with the Bulls had 1 rebound in 12 minutes before fouling out.  Every other stat was zero, except for turnovers - he had 3 of those.  Tragic!!! Ray Allen --- 3 pts, 4 reb, 3 asst, 3 FTM, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 0-3 shooting in 34 minutes...Yes, 34 minutes and only 3 shot attempts, none of which found the hole - pretty gross. 14 years is a long time to play SG in the NBA, and Allen is showing those signs, like an inability to create his own shot like he could when he was elite. But still, rather amazingly, Allen is still averaging 16.2 pts, 3.4 rebs, and 2.7 asst while shooting 46.6% this year. In the same game, Luc Richard Mbah Moute was pretty awful, going 0-4 with 4 rebs and 1 dime in 25 minutes, and Q Rich in Miami was also weak last night, going 2-8, 7 of the shots being 3's, and grabbing 2 rebs with 0 assts in 30 minutes.

Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 9th 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Manu Ginobili --- 38 pts, 7 reb, 5 asst, 7 FTM, 2 stl, 0 blk, 7 treys, and 12-23 FG%...The classic, cagey, crafty veteran from Argentina still has plenty of tricks in his bag at age 32. With Tony Parker injured yet again, and Tim Duncan not the offensive presence that he used to be, Ginobili put the Spurs on his shoulders last night and almost led them to a win over the Lebron-less Cavs, but they lost by 2. Al Jefferson was also large with 36, 13, and 15-21 FG%.

The Luc Longley Award

Mike Bibby --- 1 pts, 2 reb, 1 asst, 1 FTM, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 0-4 shooting in 21 minutes...Bibby's fast fade is getting sad. A career 16 pts/gm scorer, he's at 8.8 this year. Assists 5.9/gm, 4.1 this year. FG% 43.8, 40.4 this year. And again like yesterday, as mentioned before, the Hawks are paying him way too much money (3 yrs, $18m, new deal in summer 09) for this weak production.

Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 5th 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Zach Randolph --- 31 pts, 18 reb, 1 asst, 7 FTM, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 12-18 FG%...As mentioned yesterday, Zach is one of just 3 guys averaging 20 & 10 this season, at 20.9 pts and 11.9 rebs. He burst onto the scene in the 2003 NBA Playoffs, averaging 14 pts and 8.7 rebs after just 8.4 and 4.4 during that regular season. He went for 20.1 and 10.5 the next season, his first of four career 20/10 seasons. His reputation has gotten a boost in the last couple years after his early Portland days where he was known for being talented, but selfish on the court and troubled off it.

The Luc Longley Award

Ronald 'Flip' Murray --- 4 pts, 2 reb, 2 asst, 2 FTM, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 1-7 shooting in 18 minutes...Murray is the prototypical journeyman, undersized SG/combo guard. He's on his 5th team in the last 28 months, 3rd team in the last 12 months, 8th team total in his 8 year career. He first made a splash with the Sonics in 2003-04, going off for 20+ pts every 3 or 4 games. His career averages are 9.9 pts, 2.0 rebs, 2.3 dimes, and 41.5% shooting - journeyman through and through.

Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 4th 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Lebron James --- 26 pts, 7 reb, 14 asst, 6 FTM, 3 stl, 1 blk, 0 treys, and 10-18 FG%...and...David Lee --- 21 pts, 18 reb, 8 asst, 5 FTM, 3 stl, 1 blk, 0 treys, and 8-15 FG%...David Lee has really stepped his game up the last two years, and is one of only three guys this year to be averaging 20 & 10 (Zach Randolph & Chris Bosh the others). Of these 3 guys, Lee is by far the best passer, averaging 3.6 assts/gm this year, and over 4 a game since Jan 1st. Lebron is Lebron...I forgot to mention the ridiculous dunk he had the other night, taking an alley oop pass, dipping it between his legs, then reverse dunking. It didn't even count, but NBA TV still showed it about 5 times, it was that absurd.

The Luc Longley Award

Al Thornton --- 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst, 0 FTM, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 1-5 shooting in 22 invisible minutes...Until this debacle of a performance, Thornton had been thriving in Washington since his trade from the Paper Clips. In his first 6 games in DC (which doesn't include this stinker), he averaged 15.8 pts, 6 rebs, and shot 52.8%, compared to his Clipper averages of 10.7 pts, 3.8 rebs, and 47.8%. He's a nice athlete but a bit streaky and sometimes one-dimensional.

Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 2nd 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Josh Smith --- 17 pts, 18 reb, 4 asst, 3 FTM, 2 stl, 2 blk, 0 treys, and 7-14 FG%...The Joshua Tree's game has really matured this year, as he has become Atlanta's best player by vastly improving his rebounding, passing, and shooting. The fact that he didn't make the All-Star game with averages of 15.8, 8.9, 4.1 asst, 1.7 stl, 2.1 blk, and 51.9% is a joke. What's scary about Josh is that he's in his 6th season, and yet just turned 24 in early December. Dirk (27, 13 rebs) was also nice last night.

The Luc Longley Award

Hedo Turkoglu --- 4 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst, 2 FTM, 0 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 1-5 shooting in 15 minutes...Hedo is bothered by a sore ankle, which helps to explain this tragic performance...The bozo award almost went to Mike Bibby again, who followed up his terrible Sunday performance with an equally awful Monday night game: 5 pts, 1 reb, 1 asst, 0 FTM, 2-7 shooting...gross!

It's a new month, so it's a new honoree for the bozo award...and we're going back to one the worst drafts in the last 30 years for this one - the 1991 draft, and the 7th overall selection: Luc Longley. Longley lucked out by being on the Bulls during their last 3 championships, getting a chance to ride the coattails of Michael & Scottie to 3 rings. To his credit, he was servicable those years, averaging just under 10 points and about 5.5 rebs. When I looked for clearly superior players taken after him in that draft, and didn't find many, that's when I realized how bad that draft was. Terrell Brandon, Stacy Augmon, Dale Davis, Rick Fox....and....??? Above him went Larry Johnson, Dikembe, Kenny Anderson, and Steve Smith. The rest of that draft?...marginal talents and busts. See for yourself: http://www.dougstats.com/Drafts/1991

Daily Hoops Awards for Mar. 1st 2010

The Akeem Olajuwon Award:

Andray Blatche --- 36 pts, 15 reb, 4 asst, 2 FTM, 2 stl, 2 blk, 0 treys, and 17-31 FG%...I always liked this guy ever since before the 2005 draft, when he went in the middle of the 2nd round. Seeing highlights, he reminded me of KG. I thought he'd be better than the Lakers 1st round choice then, Andrew Bynum, and there were certainly times, as recently as 2 weeks ago, when I thought, well, I guess I was wrong. But since the Wizards traded Jamison, Butler, and Haywood, Blatche has responded by playing like an All-Star, averaging 26.6, 11.7 rebs, 3.4 asst, 1.4 stls, 1.4 blks, and shooting 56.4%, while also shooting over 50% in every one of those 7 games. Also strong last night were Dirk (36, 8 rebs, 7 asst), and Amare (41, 12 rebs, 10 FTM).

The Danny Vranes Award

Mike Bibby --- 4 pts, 0 reb, 3 asst, 0 FTM, 1 stl, 0 blk, 0 treys, and 2-8 shooting in 23 minutes...yet another example of complete stupidity on behalf of NBA management. Bibby was a free agent after last season, his 11th in the league, and was showing signs of slowing down. But that didn't stop management from offering him a 3 year deal for $18m...and this year, in the first year of that deal, they are getting 8.7 pts, 4.3 dimes, 2.2 rebs, and 39.7% shooting.