The King is Here

Cleveland jumped on Orlando early, and it looked as a typical game where the road team won game 1. Orlando looked as if they were not interested.

Well, as in Game 1, Orlando came back, and came back strong. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are giving Cleveland fits right now, they cannot figure out even how to slow them down. That Dwight Howard guy is OK too.

In the 4th quarter Mo Williams and Turkoglu went back and forth for a while. With 30 seconds left, Lebron was called for a foul. Probably because he took about 6 steps. Honestly, still a little suprising that the refs called it.

Turkoglu would then go on to hit a running jumper from the free throw line with 1 second left putting the Magic up 2 points with :01 on the clock.

Here comes Lebron

Pass goes inbounds to Lebron at the top of the arc, behind the 3 point line, Turkoglu all over him..

He knocks it down, tough ass shot, he knocks it down for the win, and saves the Cavs season.

Lebron James is here to stay, and stay at the top of the league.

Wow, these NBA Playoffs have been AMAZING!

Denver Seizes Control

The Denver Nuggets are the best team in the West right now. I am saying it, and saying it with confidence. I will also add that THEY WILL WIN THIS SERIES! The Nuggets were the better team in LA, and even though they let one slip away in game 1, they climbed back from a big deficit in game 2 and played better down the stretch than LA did.

Chauncey Billups and George Karl are currently sharing one mind. They think on the same page at almost every instance, and even better for the Denver Nuggets....they have found a way to get Birdman,J.R. Smith, and Kenyon Martin all on that page as well.

Before this season the Nuggets were is a mis-meshed unit full of talent. Everyone knew J.R. Smith could play, people knew Kmart was once a 1st overall pick. But it just didn't work. Then comes in the superstar that no one wants or hears about until the playoffs role around about every season. Mr. Big Shot, Mr. Control, "Smooth". All 3 apply, and show up almost nightly. He never seems even a little bit out of control. He somehow makes a pull up 3 on a break look like a good shot.For whatever reason, and after how many years early on in his career struggling....somewhere he learned the game, and it all of a sudden got a whole lot easier for him, and he was instantly exponentially better.

The Nuggets will move on to the Finals in a week, and it will be a great site for Nuggets fans. As a Pistons fan, I am happy for Chauncey, but it makes me wonder how dumb everyone around here was when we said we couldn't advance further with the team we had. The best move at the time was to trade Billups? I don't know, may never. At least we have cap space, RIGHT???

Number 14

Chris Bosh Toronto Raptors Forward
(6th Season)

Bosh is in his 6th season. He was another part of the famous 2003 draft class. Bosh nightly gives his opponents fits, and creates a potentially deadly matchup problem. Too quick for the big guys, too many post moves and too big for the quicker players.

The Raptors had a down year this season, and have not been overly strong at any point in the Chris Bosh's young career. That does not slow him down however in showing off his talents. Bosh was an integral part of Team USA dominating the Olympics and winning gold. Bosh is an elite athlete with great size to go along with a smooth left handed stroke, and vast array of moves. He is going to be one of the top talents available in the 2010 Free Agent Class.

Bosh will get you 23 points a night to go along with 10 rebounds. It is more than just the numbers for Bosh though. He does so many things for his team. He is quicker than almost every big so he makes teams defend and run with him all game long, and in the half court their are very few guys in this league that can even slow him down. He shoots around 50% and can hit from 17-20 feet at will, but players can't get up on that jumpshot because he will make them pay with his surprising speed.

In Toronto Bosh will never be an All-NBA talent. But once he gets out, he has a very good chance to. He will have the choice to go to almost whatever team he wants to. He will be able to pick the tempo, coach, and teammates that he wants. Once Chris gets these things to go along with his amazing ability, the sky is definitely the limit.

Number 15

Al Jefferson Minnesota Timberwolves Center

(5th Season)

Al Jefferson doesn't have the name recognition of any of the other 19 players on this list, but he is a future NBA Star. He was the main attraction in the KG trade from the Timberwolves point of view. The reason the trade took so long is that the Celtics tried everything they had to make a deal work without Jefferson involved. The Wolves held steady though and got their man, and in the future it will pay off.

Big Al has everything you would want out of your center. He is 265 and can hit the mid range shot, and hit 70% from the FT stripe. In the post, he owns overpowering strength to go along with his great footwork, and elite touch around the basket. Offensively he gives you all that you could ask for from your primary inside scoring threat. Even though every team Minnesota faces gameplans around Jefferson he is still able to get his on a nightly basis.

This season he averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds a night. That is 3 consecutive seasons of at least 11 boards per contest. That puts him in a very rare group, a group that consists of KG himself. He also contributes on the defensive end, averaging 1.5 blocks per night.

Al Jefferson will soon be a top ten player in this league, the Timberwolves winning percentage will determine whether or not he is recognized around the country as that. Knee surgery ended his season early, his recovery from that will determine where he is next season on the BL Sports Top 20 List.

Clippers WIN the BLAKE GRIFFIN SWEEPSTAKES

The LA Clippers won the draft lottery, and will be selecting Blake Griffin.

They now will start

PG-Baron Davis
SG- Eric Gordon
SF- Al Thornton
PF- Blake Griffin
C- Kaman/Camby/Zach Randolph

They now have no excuse not to make the playoffs.

Will they???? comment below

Number 16

Carmelo Anthony Small Forward Denver Nuggets

(6th Season)

Carmelo went into the league as a superstar. He was in the famous draft class of Lebron, Melo, D Wade, and Bosh (amongst others). Coming off of a National Championship at Syracuse as a freshman, Melo had his sights set real high.
Although Melo has already scored 10,000 points in his young career, he has been overshadowed for a large part of his career by Lebron and D Wade's success, especially postseason success. Before this season Anthony had never escaped the first round of the NBA Playoffs. That is not all to his detriment but when you are looking to be a NBA Superstar you must advance in the playoffs.

Melo's best moments have been at the helm of Team USA or even at Syracuse. The upcoming series with the Lakers will be a chance for Anthony to propel himself into the league's elite.

Anthony averaged 23 points and 7 rebounds this year for the Nuggets. He also improved defensively, and with the help of new PG Chauncey Billups learned to play as a team, and help the team in ways other than just putting the ball through the net. Up until this season Anthony had been thought to have College 3pt range, this season he shot a very respectable 37% from downtown.

Carmelo Anthony definitely has the ability to shoot himself up the list of NBA players all the way to top 5. This will depend on his ability to stick with the team concept enough to lead the Nuggets into the NBA Finals, and possibly Championship(s). This season was a definite step in the right direction for Carmelo, and his future is bright. He will never have the highlights of Wade and Bron, but eventually he may have as many or more victories.

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16. Carmelo Anthony
17. Pau Gasol
18. Deron Williams
19. Amare Stoudemire
20. Ray Allen

Number 17

Pau Gasol Power Forward Los Angeles Lakers
(8th Season)

Pau Gasol has battled the lack of exposure playing for Memphis, and now the fact that Kobe Bryant is his teammate during his career. Internationally he is a superstar, in fact in most of Europe they believe Gasol is the best player in the world. If you look at his international performance alone, it actually is understandable.

Everyone knows that the Lakers are run through #24. However, for those that watch a lot of Lakers games know that Phil Jackson likes to run a whole lot of offense through Gasol. Pau is one of the last throwback big men in this game. You can give the ball to him with his back to the basket and watch him use his post moves to get you 2 points over and over. Pau has a great hook shot, a good up and under move, and underrated strength which he uses to dominate lessor opponents.

Gasol has averaged either 18.8 or 18.9 PPG each of the past 3 seasons, he matches that with about 9 rebounds a night. He does this now with one of the best scorers in the league on his team. That can be considered either help or hendrence depending on who you ask. What I know is that Gasol would be the #1 post option on just about every team.

Gasol is pretty much what he is. I don't think there is any way for him to climb the ladder much, and really there is no need. He is an average defender, and one of the best post players in basketball. Gasol has and will rule international play, and that will be what he is most known for in his country. If the Lakers are to win titles this year, or in the future they will need Pau to be the best inside player in whatever series they may be in.