Who's #1?

After catching a vicious stomach virus that lasted from roughly 12:15-1:30 this afternoon, I was forced to miss my British Literature class and watch the Big East Tournament.  I would have much rather discussed the metaphor and rhyme scheme in Ode to the West Wind by Percy B. Shelley, but instead I was forced to watch Georgetown and Syracuse battle in Madison Square Garden.  Ugh.  What an awful afternoon.

Ultimately, Syracuse lost and I was forced to wonder if they just lost one of the #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.  As of right now, I think there are two locks to be #1 seeds: Kansas and Kentucky.  Beyond that, there are a couple candidates, but none of them have really distinguished themselves.  Let's take a look at the resumes of a couple candidates.

1. Syracuse - (28-4) - (15-3 Big East) - #3 in AP Poll
• Syracuse has been looked at as a lock for one of the #1 seeds, but with losses in their last two games, some have started to doubt their legitimacy as a #1.  Even with those two losses, Syracuse still only has four losses and has been the best team in the bet conference in the nation all year.  It would be hard to give them anything but a #1 seed, but things could get interesting if the injury suffered by Arinze Oniwaku today is serious.
2.  Duke - (26-5) - (13-3 ACC) - #4 in AP Poll
• Duke has a very interesting candidacy this year because typically being the best team in the ACC would nearly automatically get you a #1 seed, but the ACC hasn't been nearly as good this year.  Duke has played a tough non-conference schedule, though, and if they win the ACC Tournament, it would be hard to keep them out of a #1 seed.
3. Ohio State - (24-7) - (14-4 Big Ten) - #5 in AP Poll
• Ohio State is in contention for a #1 seed for one reason and one reason only: Evan Turner.  Sadly, though, Turner is also the reason why they are not in contention.  In December, Turner got injured on a dunk and missed six games.  Ohio State lost three of these six games without him, which means they have only lost 4 games with Turner in the game.  If Ohio State would win the Big Ten Tourney, it would be hard to keep them from receiving a #1 seed.

If you have been keeping track,  that means I think there are three teams that deserve a #1 seed with only two #1 seeds available.  Two of these teams' destinies depend on what they do in their respective conference tournaments, which means the next three days should be a lot of fun.

Random Thoughts...

On the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament:

• There is no clear cut favorite this year.  It will be an extremely difficult year to fill out a bracket.
• The tournament field this year is unbelievably weak.  There has been talk of six Atlantic 10 teams making the tournament this season. SIX!  Are you serious?
• Senior leadership is hard to find.  The only team in the Top 5 that has significant senior leadership is newly #1 Kansas.
• I have an absolute man-crush on Scottie Reynolds.  I'm still not sure why, but I find it very hard to pick against him.  In my opinion, he is the best point guard in the nation.  (I have seen mock drafts that have him being drafted in the second round.  NBA teams are crazy!)
• Evan Turner is an absolute monster.  Turner is leading the Big Ten in points and rebounds and is second in assists and steals.  And he has played half of this season after BREAKING HIS BACK!  He returned from a broken back and might have been ever better than before he got injured.
• The Big Ten is scary good.  (I don't care if I am biased.  They are.) 
• Ohio State is seriously dangerous with a great supporting cast along with Turner. 
• I would love to talk about Purdue, but they won't be the same team without Hummel. 
• As always, Michigan State will be a threat to reach the Final Four with their typically talented and well-coached team. 
• Wisconsin will be a tough out this year with Trevon Hughes in the backcourt and Jon Leuer back from injury.  (Leuer's injury was a blessing in disguise for this team because role palyers like Jordan Taylor and Keaton Nankivil learned how to step-up into bigger roles.)
• The Pac 10 is scary bad.  They don't deserve more than one team in the tournament, but because of the weak field they might get two.
• The mascot of Coastal Carolina University is the Chanticleer.  What is a Chanticleer?  A chanticleer's origins can be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.  A Chanticleer is a proud and fierce rooster that protects the barnyard.  Figured you wanted to know.

New Face in New Orleans

For the last few years, if you would take a look at the box score of any New Orleans Hornets game, you would likely see the stat line of the Hornets' point guard look something like this: 21 points, 11 assists, and 5 rebounds.  this was obviously the stat line of Chris Paul.  After being dragted 4th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft, Paul earned Rookie of the Year honors and developed into a NBA superstar.  The last two years, Paul has been in consideration for NBA MVP and has been nearly unstoppable.

Paul was playing just as well this year, but then Paul got injured a month ago and was forced to have surgery on his left knee.  Hornets fans' collective breath stopped and their hopes for any success for the rest of the season were lost.

Then something happened.  After the All-Star Break, the box score started to read things like "24 pts, 9 asts, 4 rbs" and "18 pts, 12 asts, 13 rbs", but Chris Paul was still not in the line-up.  The Hornets were now being led by rookie point guard Darren Collison.  Collison, the 21st pick out of UCLA, has been putting up Paul-like numbers since the All-Star Break.  Which brings up two questions: "What kind of water do the point guards in New Orleans drink?" and "How talented is Chris Paul?"

Though Collison's success is a great story, I would much rather discuss the implications of his success for Paul.  In New Orleans, Paul has always been allowed to dominate the ball on the offensive end and attempt to make plays.  Paul has been such a dynamic force that it was unthinkable that anyone else could have been successful in the the same situations.  Paul was being called a "once-in-a-lifetime" talent and the best point guard under six feet tall since Isiah Thomas, but now his performances do not seem that special.

Collison is putting up very similar numbers to Paul and he is only a rookie.  Does this mean that any point guard in the league inserted in to the New Orleans lineup could do the same things Paul could?  I don't think so, but it definitely does ahve certain implications for Paul.  The assembled in New Orleans is perfect for a point guard who can manage a team and get into the lane and that is exactly what both Collison and Paul can do.

For the last three years, people have marveled at the numbers Paul has put up, especially his assist totals, but really his numbers are completely inflated.  When Mike D'Antoni was the head coach of the Suns many NBA analysts were quick to discount the accomplishments of Steve Nash, some going as far as to say he didn't deserve the two MVP awards he won.  But now that it is apparent that the same thing may be occurring in New Orleans, no one has really stepped up to say the same thing.

Paul has benefited from a game plan completely centered on maximizing his performance.  As a Hornet, Paul has had great pick-and-roll post players, as well as great spot-up shooters in Peja Stojakovic, James Posey, and Marcus Thornton.  He has been put in a system that gives him multiple opportunities on every single possession to get an assist.  Now that a new point guard has been put in this position he is thrivingi in the exact same situations that Paul was.  Leaving us to continue questioning how talented Chris Paul really is.  Is he really a superstar.  Is he expendable with the emergence of a new young point guard?  Could the Hornets even think of trading him?

In my opinion, I think they could trade Paul.  I can't even imagine what kind of return they could get for Chris Paul.  I can't think of a time a team has ever traded a true point guard in the middle of his prime in the NBA.  There is no way that the Hornets wouldn't be able to get at least another legitimate scoring option and some more young role players to assemble around Collison and West.  A starting line-up of Collison-Thornton-(Scorer obtained in trade)-West-Okafor could do some damage in a very talented Western Conference.  If the Hornets would make this move they could become a mainstay in the top five of the Western Conference instead of team that struggles to make the playoffs.

WITNESS

After seeing this video, I had no choice, but to write about one of my favorite sports subjects. Some call him King James, some call him the Chosen One, some even call him the Akron Hammer, but I will just call him Lebron James.

I absolutely love watching Lebron James. I refuse to pass up any opportunity to watch him play because in my mind Lebron James is the most amazing athlete of all time.

Lebron James is 6'8" and weighs 260 pounds. Take a second and just think about that. (Keep thinking about...keep thinking...okay.) Lebron James is absolutely massive. Just to help you comprehend how large he is, I have found a few comparable bodies:

• Justin Tuck - DE, New York Giants - 6'9", 275 pounds
• Julius Peppers - DE, Chicago Bears - 6'7", 283 pounds
• David Lee - PF, New York Knicks - 6'9", 250 pounds
• Elton Brand - PF, Philadelphia 76ers - 6'9", 254 pounds
• Zach Randolph - PF, Memphis Grizzlies - 6'9", 260 pounds
• Karl Malone - PF, Utah Jazz - 6'9", 256 pounds

If you take a look at these bodies, you will find all-pro NFL defensive ends or all-star NBA power forwards. Last time I checked, Lebron James does NOT play power forward. I included Karl Malone because as a surefire Hall of Famer and arguably the greatest power forward of all time, Malone was famous for hammering home dunks on fastbreaks led by John Stockton. As a guard, Lebron not only finishes fastbreaks, he also starts them many times.

There has never been a physical specimen like Lebron James before. He is the size of an NBA power forward, but he has the quickness and agility of a point guard. The things he does on the floor are absolutely unbelievable and at times unthinkable. After watching him night in and night out, I can't help but think that Lebron might have become the NBA's best player.

Before they even finished reading that sentence, I could hear every Lebron hater in the world say: "Lebron is a stat stuffer. Lebron is overrated and overhyped by the media. Where are his rings?"

I have heard all of these arguments before and they are all valid. When it comes down to deciding the best player in the NBA, there are really only two choices: Lebron and Kobe. I'm not going to pretend to like Kobe. I have never really liked him, but I have always respected what he can do. Kobe is undoubtedly the best closer in the game and no one in the league is better than him at creating their own shot. Though he does several things well, at this point, I believe Lebron has surpassed Kobe as the NBA's best player.

It has been a long time since we have seen a player put up numbers like Lebron James. As of March 6, Lebron is averaging 30 points per game (1st in the NBA), 8.5 assists per game (6th), and 7.2 rebounds per game. Lebron is on pace to become the first player of all time to win the NBA Player of the Month award every single month of the season. These stats become even more impressive when you take a look at the team Cleveland GM Danny Ferry has assembled in Cleveland.

Throughout Lebron's career, Cleveland has paired him with Zydrunas Ilgauskas at center. I am adamantly against calling Ilgauskas a center. I don't remember the last time I saw Big Z make a post move, but I do however remember seeing Big Z standing in the corner looking for an open three on nearly every Cavaliers' offensive possession in the last 5 years.

To help remedy this problem, the Cavaliers brought in Shaquille O'Neal this offseason. The Shaq that came to Cleveland was a shell of his former self. He was no longer the top center in the league. He was no longer the force that played 38 minutes a game, while averaging 28 ppg and 12 rpg during the 2000-2002 seasons when he helped Kobe obtain three of his four titles. In Cleveland, Shaq has struggled to find a flow and Cleveland has actually been more efficient without Shaq in their lineup.

Through his first six season's in Cleveland, along with the lack of a true post presence, Lebron has also been forced to deal with poor point guard play. Lebron was forced to play with the likes of Eric Snow, Alvin Williams, and Jeff McGinnis. There was a lot of attention paid to the Cavs bringing "All-Star" point guard Mo Williams two years ago, but this move seemed relatively unimpressive to me. (As a bucks fan, I know Williams all too well.)

Mo Williams is a shoot-first point guard, who is most effective when he can dominate the ball and shoot off the dribble, but is not a great spot-up shooter. None of these attributes fit well with Lebron's game. Honestly, there are probably about ten or more point guards I would rather have. (Point guards I would rather have (in no particular order): Nash, Williams, Paul, Rondo, Rose, Kidd, Westbrook, Harris, B. Davis, Billups, Brooks)

I'm not even going to discuss the wing players and power forwards Lebron was forced to play with. When J.J. Hickson, Ricky Davis, and Joe Smith are three names that would be brought up in the discussion of Lebron's best running mate at these positions, there is clearly something wrong.

On the other hand, Kobe has had the pleasure of playing with some of the best team's of the last ten years. As I already mentioned, Kobe won his first three titles with the help of Shaq who was argubably the most dominating low post player of all time. Last year, when Kobe won his fourth title, his Lakers team was likely the most talented team in the league. Kobe was once again able to play with a top five center (Pau Gasol) and one of the most dynamic forwards in the league (Lamar Odom) en route to his fourth NBA championship ring.

Even though I'm sure I haven't convinced any of you Lebron haters to think any differently, I hope you can at least step back and appreciate what Lebron does on a nightly basis. Instead of nitpicking and being completely critical of everything Lebron does, please just take some time to watch the show he puts on night in and night out.

Because some day, your kid or grandkid will ask you if you got to watch Lebron James play basketball and hopefully you will be able to say with a smile, "Yes, I was a witness..."

Welcome

Nehm of the Game is a blog written by me, Eric Nehm. (It's pronounced name. Yeah, I did just use a pun in the title of my blog. Get used to it. I like puns.) I am a Sophomore at Maryville University, where along with pursuing a double major in English and Communications, I play basketball.

This blog will be dedicated to the random thoughts I have about various sports topics. I may also include some of the experiences I have as a Division II Basketball player here at Maryville. I might have some others contribute from time to time as well. Read some posts and see if you can catch up.