Ohonsi's NBA Blog

Rules -A mix of player (mainly) stats and team record  -The priority is my law of hoop (defined at the end) and creating shots for others -Info past 1/20 (voting deadline) isn't allowed -Enough games have to be played ( nba.com  > player stats > official leaders) -Click the players for the positions ( nba.com ) BC: Backcourt FC: Frontcourt WC: Wild Card West starters: Edwards (BC), Gilgeous-Alexander (BC), Durant (FC), Davis (FC), Jokic (FC) Bench: Fox (BC), Booker (BC), James (FC), Jackson Jr (FC), Wembanyama (FC), Irving (WC), Sengun (WC) East starters: Brunson (BC), Lillard (BC), Tatum (FC), Antetokounmpo (FC), Towns (FC) Bench: Mitchell (BC), Cunningham (BC), Barrett (FC), Brown (FC), Vuvevic (FC), Ball (WC), Maxey (WC) Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP as of now) SGA, Jokic, Tatum, Giannis, and KAT are starters who are 100% approved by me. RJ and Vucevic likely wont make it since they aren't household names or on winning teams. Brunson, Dame, and Cade are toss ups. The 1...

Game 1 Expected Boston to win. In game 2, they're probably not going to be nearly as hot from 3 and Porzingis is most likely not gonna go crazy. But they didn't allow any lobs or corner 3s (when the game mattered) so their defense is what impressed me the most by holding Dallas to a very small number of assists. However, Kyrie is probably going to be much better and they almost blew a 29 point lead. No answer for Luka either. I think Dallas wins on Sunday. Game 2 Still picking Dallas to win the series. They've been great defensively the 1st 2 games. All they need is a good Kyrie game which hasn't happened yet. However, Boston's defense limited them again in terms of lobs and corner 3s which has to change for the Mavs to win. I think Dallas' crowd will propel them to fix the aforementioned issues. But Tatum is due for a big game and since Boston has a much better roster, Dallas might be in trouble. Game 3 Even if Dallas wins game 4 (I don't think so), Boston ...

Luka is by far the best player heading into the series. There might not be a better scorer in the NBA than him. He's also arguably at the top of the league as a passer who's surrounded by corner 3-point shooters (PJ/Jones/Green) and lob targets (Gafford/Lively). If Boston traps Doncic after he uses a screen, Dallas' centers will have the opportunity to find shooters beyond the arc who can shoot or attack a closeout to bend the defense even more. Conversely, the Celtics can hedge or play drop coverage on the Slovenian which can lead to lobs or crafty mid-range jumpers/floaters by Luka which'll be caused by his manipulation of the defender chasing him after being screened. The Mavs superstar is also a 3-level iso scorer who often looks to demoralize his opposition with step back j's from long range. It gets worse for Boston because Kyrie is essentially the B+ version of Doncic. Irving is going to test the Celtics in a similar way. However, the perimeter defense (Holid...

1st Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) (MVP) Doncic (Mavs) Antetokounmpo (Bucks)  Jokic (Nuggets) Brunson (Knicks) 2nd Tatum (Celtics)  Booker (Suns) Durant (Suns) James (Lakers) Davis (Lakers) 3rd Edwards (Wolves) Fox (Kings) Maxey (Sixers) Mitchell (Cavs) Irving (Mavs) *Curry (Warriors) and Leonard (Clippers) would replace the last 2 if I based it off of the 65 game rule. *Mine are positionless like the real ones but I'm still applying the general modern era rule that a player needs at least 50 games played to be on the All-NBA team. And since they're positionless, the order of the players represent my MVP rankings.  *Creating All-star and All-NBA teams is a great mental exercise for me. *They're based on (in this order): scoring production and talent (explained at the end), creating shots for others, rebounding and defense, team success. *The most important skill in basketball by far is being able to score in isolation (off the dribble, posting up, or the face up jumper) at ...

On paper, I think Minnesota is best suited to represent the western conference in the finals. They're led by a star who elevates his game every time during the playoffs and is a good 3 level scorer (Ant). The Wolves also employ one of the greatest three-point shooting big men in history who can serve as an effective post scorer too (KAT). Gobert is 1 of the best rebounders and shot blockers in the modern era. Minny's quality defense extends to the perimeter as well. Edwards, McDaniels, Alexander-Walker, and Anderson are players who've shown to be at least good defenders in their careers. Reid is a skilled scorer off the bench that does a great job backing up Towns and/or Rudy. And at point guard is a reliable, battle tested vet who's a very efficient 3-point shooter in Conley. But can they figure out their 4th quarter scoring woes in the postseason?  Will Minnesota have to sacrifice the backbone of their defense (Gobert) to add more spacing late in games, especially in ...