NBA Big Questions: Week Five

Every Monday during the NBA season The Hoops Manifesto and its Bloguin bredren team up to answer some of the burning questions from the world of the NBA. In this edition we decide name our All-NBA Team after the first month of play, name our suprise teams of the early going and decide which player has the most awesomest hair.

Contributors: Jeff Fox from The Hoops Manifesto, Diego from Leaving It All On The Court, Aaron Hodges, Peaceman and LIVES from Knicks Fanatics, Philip from Orlando Magic Daily, Deborah Horton from Hawks Highlights, and brumbygg and Don from With Malice.

1) All-NBA Team after a month of play:

First Team

G – Rajon Rondo – Boston

“Best point guard in the League this season?  Our voters apparently think so.” – Jeff Fox

“The Celtics are quietly the top team in the East. Rondo is becoming the team’s go-to guy.” – Philip

“Making everyone around him look five years younger. Boston is playing a game right now where most of Rondo’s assists are inside the paint and a really high number of layups.” – brumbygg

G- Kobe Bryant – Lakers

“Pau’s been the best big man in the league, but the transformation of Kobe Bryant has continued.  Guy’s now the ultimate glue guy?  Did anyone see this coming?” – Don

F – Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City

“His numbers are all down a wee bit this season, but he’s still an enormous talent.” – Jeff Fox

F – Pau Gasol – Lakers

“His amazing play in last season’s NBA Finals has carried over to this campaign.” – Jeff Fox

“Best big man in the game at the moment.  ‘Nuff said.” – Don

C – Dwight Howard – Orlando

“Howard has taken his offensive game to new levels this year and it is showing on the court and with his teammates. The Magic have not been shooting well this early in the season, so Howard’s performance inside has been a big boost.” – Philip

“Leading the best team in Florida.” – Don

Second Team

G – Chris Paul – New Orleans

“Paul has led the Hornets to a very impressive record.” – Diego Quezada

G – Derrick Rose – Chicago

“Perhaps the most productive player in the NBA today.  Leads the league in average of points+rebounds+assists.” – LIVES

F – LeBron James – Miami

“Only beats out Dirk because he is holding it down for the team under the most nightly pressure with less support than he had last year.” – LIVES

“Don’t like him, don’t like Miami, but LBJ is living up to his part of the deal.” – brumbygg

F – Carmelo Anthony – Denver

“Gotta be making Denver bleed at the thought of waving bye-bye.” – Don

C – Amar’e Stoudemire – New York 

“He’s given the Knicks exactly what they should have expected thus far this season – 23 points and nine boards –  but the fact that he’s blocking two shots a game should be considered a surprising development.” – Jeff Fox

2) Which team has been the most surprising (for better or worse) to you in the early going?

“A boring choice here, but Miami has to be the most surprising.  Not in my wildest dreams (notice I said dreams, not nightmares) did I imagine the Heat to be this bad.  Dreams do come true, kids.” – Jeff Fox 

“Miami. there is simply too much talent on that team for us to ever be thinking of them as hovering around .500. But here they are one game over .500 and having to answer a lot of questions no one ever thought they would have to ask. Miami has a lot of issues offensively to figure out. You figure they will, but coaches tend to be stubborn about these things and James and Wade still look like they want to defer to each other.” – Philip

“Easy.  The Heat.  Dwyane Wade’s currently struggling, but he seems to be the only guy of the three who’s trying to adapt his game to fit within the team’s parameters.  Miami rank last or near last in these cats: points in the paint, offensive boards, and second chance points. They also have amongst the fewest passes in offensive sets.  And injuries? Every team has/gets injuries. It’s up to depth to cover them.  Amazingly enough, all of those facts point to:
– no center…- no PG…
– no depth…
– a jump-shooting team.
For a team that was picked to perhaps challenge the 72 wins mark, finding themselves at 9-8 is somewhat amazing.” – Don

“Miami’s struggle is perhaps the biggest surprise.  I didn’t expect them to win 70 games, however, hovering near .500 is a shocker!” – Peaceman

“New Orleans.  With summer rumors of Chris Paul eyeing an eventual team up with Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony on the Knicks, it was easy to think the team with a no-name coach didn’t have quality coachable players.” – LIVES

“People could make a case for the San Antonio Spurs or New Orleans Hornets for their strong starts, but I have to say the Miami Heat. The Big Three’s continued diva act that started when they tried to make a huge spectacle of the Summer of 2010 shouldn’t surprise me. After talking about “sacrifice” during the offseason, this team has continually had the look of a group of players that expects to just show up and win. A lot hasn’t gone well for the Heat – Wade missed all of training camp and preseason, Miller and Haslem are out for extended periods – but I expected a lot more out of my favorite team.” – Diego Quezada

“Miami – I never believed that they were going to come out and be all-world from day 1. I also didn’t believe they’d be 9-8 at this point. C-Bosh has been a massive disappointment; D-Wade looks a little lost; LBJ is still LBJ; guys 4-12 are doing absolutely nothing. Miami needs an inside threat big time.” – brumbygg

“It’s a toss up between two teams. One who hasn’t lived up to expectations and one who has surpassed them. The fact that the San Antonio Spurs are sitting atop the Western Conference at 14-2 is astounding but when it gets down to it the Miami Heat have to take top honors here. So far the Big 3 experiment has been a miserable failure.They have beaten up on inferior teams like the Nets but quality teams like the Celtics and Mavericks have made them look downright mediocre. I feel sorry for the Whiskey Tango in South Beach.They are going to pick up many more tabs than they had originally planned for.” – Aaron Hodges

3) Who currently has the best/raddest/awesomest hair in the NBA, Michael Beasley, Andrei Kirilenko or Joakim Noah (or another candidate, if you wish)?

“Andrei Kirilenko was my inspiration for asking this question, so of course he’s going to be my pick here.  Just look at his profile picture on NBA.com – he looks like a cyborg from the year 2029, sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor.  Wait a minute – that’s a great idea for a movie.  Someone get my agent on the phone, stat.” – Jeff Fox

“Out of the choices you give me, I will got with Joakim. Always loved the flowing locks he has. Completely fits his personality. Otherwise, no one’s hair is as well-manicured as JJ Redick’s. That is just bias speaking though.” – Philip 

“Noah – It’s like a cross between a Brillo pad and a raccoon tail.” – Deborah Horton

“Lifetime achievement award to Dirk Nowitzki” – brumbygg

“If we can extend the hairstyle awards to facial hair I’d have to nominate Ronny Turiaf, who looks like he has a chalkboard eraser super glued to his chin.” – Aaron Hodges

4) Finally, every week we’ll be picking a Game of the Week that we will predict a consensus winner of. This week’s game – Sun, Dec 5 – Spurs @ Hornets

Record so far: 2-2

Consensus: Spurs (6 votes to 3)