Record before the break
44 Wins 9 Losses - Best in the league

Currently on a 9 game winning streak

44 and 5 the last 49 games
95-96 Bulls' record the first 49 games (44 and 5)

Main Man - Dirk Nowitzki
The guy is probably the best European to ever play basketball.  Legitimate MVP candidate.

X-Factor - Josh Howard
All around talent.  2nd best scorer on the team and the team's defensive ace.  Solid rebounder.

Support - The rest of the team
This is the deepest team in the NBA.  Nuff said.

The Mavs have 29 games left and their remaining schedule is this: (15 on the road)

Feb 22 vs Heat  
Feb 24 vs Nuggets  
Feb 26 vs Hawks  
Feb 27 @ Timberwolves
Mar 1 vs Cavaliers  
Mar 3 vs Magic  
Mar 6 vs Nets  
Mar 11 @ Lakers
Mar 12 @ Warriors
Mar 14 vs Suns  
Mar 16 vs Celtics
Mar 18 @ Pistons  
Mar 20 @ Knicks  
Mar 21 @ Cavaliers
Mar 23 @ Celtics  
Mar 25 @ Hawks
Mar 27 @ Hornets
Mar 28 vs Bucks  
Mar 30 vs Knicks
Apr 1 @ Suns  
Apr 3 @ Kings  
Apr 6 @ Nuggets  
Apr 7 vs Trail Blazers
Apr 9 vs Clippers  
Apr 11 @ Timberwolves  
Apr 13 vs Jazz  
Apr 15 vs Spurs  
Apr 17 @ Warriors  
Apr 18 @ SuperSonics  

It's impossible to break the Bulls' record but if they can manage to win 26 out of 29 games left, they will reached the 70-win plateau - a feat only accomplished by the 72-10 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

The Heat, Suns, Pistons (road), Cavaliers (road), Jazz, and Spurs are the only tough teams in there and you can also notice that they will have 5 back-to-back games.

Do you think it's possible for them to win 70?

Atlanta Hawks

Bad news is that Al Harrington departed from the Hawks but the good news is about the “Williams.”  Everyone saw how great a basketball player Marvin Williams was in the Summer Games and Hawks fans are hoping this year he will break out.  The other Williams, Shelden, is, a beast in defense.  We all know Joe Johnson is good.  Josh Smith is one of the best athletes, a great shot blocker, and is improving his range in the game.  But with all these talents, I would agree with some of you here that the Hawks would not reach the playoffs again.

 

Boston Celtics

The Celtics is a very young team with a veteran leader in Paul Pierce.  Pierce is a heck of a player but will never be the greatest Celtic player of all time as said by one analysts (forgot his name though).  No chance for a championship here for the most successful team in the NBA for the coming years.  I see some potential in Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes but other than them – no one else. 

 

Charlotte Bobcats

Part owner Michael Jordan couldn’t be happier with his young and talented team.  Adam Morrison is “instant offense,” all-around Gerald Wallace plays all-out hustle, Raymond Felton showed flashes of brilliance last year, Emeka Okafor is once a Rookie Of The Year, Primoz Brezec once averaged 17+ppg in the NBA, and Brevin Knight is a pure point guard who can build huge number of assists and steals.  But the main concern of the whole team, I mean the whole team, is, health.

 

Chicago Bulls

Chicago is a title contenders again since the Jordan Era thanks to the acquisition of Ben Wallace.  Last season, the Bulls were ranked best in holding opponents’ FG% and with the addition of Wallace definitely mean they will only become better defensively.  Apparently, many players of the team’s roster are defense specialists, so with that makes the scoring quite challenging.  Yes, offense does matter but defense wins championship.  

 

Cleveland Cavaliers

Clearly, King James cannot carry this team alone so he needs his teammates to step it up and become consistent.  And I am talking about guys like Larry Hughes, Zyrdunas Ilgauskas, Damon Jones, and Donyell Marshall.  The baby-face Drew Gooden is cute and okay as a player at least.  Either Eric Snow or Larry Hughes must teach LBJ how to play a slick of a defense.  In any case, I see the Cavs coming back to the playoffs.

 

Detroit Pistons

Don’t count the Pistons out yet.  The departure of Ben Wallace is somehow a no big deal, after all the Pistons still parade 4 of the best starting 5 in the NBA.  I think it will be better if Sheed plays the starting center and Dice plays the 4 slot rather than having Nazr at the 5th spot.  The new Piston Flip Murray can play if given enough playing time.  I am guessing a 50+ wins for the Pistons upcoming season.

 

Indiana Pacers

The bad news is that they lost shooter Peja Stojakovic and Anthony Johnson but the good news is that Baby-Al is back to the roster and they got Marquis Daniels in exhange for AJ.  Health will always be a “question mark” for the team but if most key players especially Jamal Tinsley and Jermaine O’Neal are healthy, then I must say the Pacers are back to title-contention again.

 

Miami Heat

The fact that they are the defending champions with last season’s major players still intact made them my preference as the number 1 team in the east.  Plus, Riley is back to guide his players for a chance to “HeatPeat.”  Shaq is still the top center today while Zo and GP’s desire to win is unquestionable.  As for D-Wade, he just keeps on getting better and better and better.

 

Milwaukee Bucks

The lefty Michael Redd is a sweet-shooter but is a defensive liability.  Mo Williams is good at crunch time but is an injury-waiting-to-happen.  Bogut can be a double-double specialist but lacks confidence.  Villanueva is a scorer but is not a defender like Redd.  Former All-Star Jamaal Magloire is gone.  Strangely, Bobby Simmons is still unknown in the planet.  I don’t see the Bucks reaching the playoffs this season.

 

New Jersey Nets

Rookie Marcus Williams and former Duke-superstar Jay Williams added to the line-up will most likely make them a playoff nominee again for the East.  The Nets still is deficient in big men especially now that Josh Boone still injured.  They are a great defensive team as their overall defense is better than the sum of its parts.  With Kidd calling the plays, VC and RJ at the wings, and the budding Krstic at the post, the team will not pose any problem in offense.

 

New York Knicks

The line-up of this team looks pretty good and deep.  They got 3 former All-Stars in Starbury, Franchise, and Jalen.  NateRob, Frye, and David Lee are talented sophomores.  Curry can be a monster down low only if he wants too while Crawford is a good scorer.  They just didn’t crystallize last season mainly because of Larry Brown but now that Zeke is the coach, watch out for the Knicks in 2006-07 season.   

 

Orlando Magic

How about this?  Twin Towers Darko Mililic and Dwight Howard will establish major threat inside.  Also, both are great rebounders and shot blockers.  On the outside waiting are Redick and Turkoglu.  The explosive Jameer Nelson will administrate the team play.  And one just can’t forget the team’s heart and soul – the-now healthy Grant Hill playing on the wings.  I’m happy to express that this year’s Magic is playoff-bound again.

 

Philadelphia 76ers

If AI wants to stay on the Sixers for the rest of his career then chances are he will never get a championship there.  AI and C-Webb can play together but the rest of the team is at lost.  If Dalembert came to his senses, Korver becomes consistent, and Iggy continues to improve then I must say the Sixers will be a team to contend with.  But then again, I see no championship coming for AI if he stays with this team.

 

Toronto Raptors

The question is: Can the new European players in this squad play NBA rules?  If so, then the Raptors will make noise in the NBA.  European players are much more disciplined and that will help the team reach higher levels.  Run-and-Gun Raptors looks okay with Ford running and dishing to shooters like Andrea Bargnani and inside operator like Chris Bosh.  

 

Washington Wizards:

We saw Caron Butler’s emergence against the Cavs in last year’s playoffs and Wiz fans only hope he will show that type of performance in the regular season. Antawn Jamison’s numbers will fool you, however, he still is somehow reliable but is a big “question mark in defense.”  Acquiring Stevenson is a great addition for improving team defense.  Number 0 (who raised his ppg ave. by 5 points a game from 10 as a rookie to almost 30 last season) is in charge for another playoff run.  Will he averaged 35 this season?  I don’t think so.

One of the worst trades in the NBA history was when the Charlotte Hornets traded 1996 13th pick Kobe Bryant to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.  Vlade Divac went on to become one of the successful European basketball players of all time but Kobe as I speak, is the greatest basketball player in his generation. 

Kobe, 28, once dubbed as the next MJ, never won a Regular Season MVP award maybe because of his tarnished image.  His father Joe Jelly Bean Bryant and I believe that he should have won the MVP last season - averaging 35.4 points while leading the Lakers to a 45-37 record, a 12-game improvement over the previous year.  Scoring 81 points in a single game and 62 points in just three quarters are some of the basis of winning the MVP award.  Last season was Kobe's best chance of winning it and Kobe-Haters blew it for not voting him.  He may never win an MVP award again unless he leads the Lakers to a strong season provided that people give him props.    

What makes Kobe the world's greatest basketball player in this era?  There are two reasons and these two are his two main weapons. 

First reason or rather I say his first main weapon is his INSTINCT.
Examples:
Athleticism
Court Vision
Dribbling Ability
Offensive Awareness
Scoring Ability

Second is SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Examples:
A number of game-winning or game-tying shots.
The guts to score more than 50% of his team's total points.

According to the Bible, 666 is the mark of the beast:
On the 666th game of his career, Kobe scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
He shot a total of 66 times, 46 from the field and 20 from the free-throw line.  There are a total of three 6s in the previous sentence.
Is it just me or does anyone else thinks that Kobe Bryant is really a beast in basketball?

On a side note:
I believe that the Heat will not be able to defend their title next season.  Shaq, the Glove, and Zo are all one year older and a step slower.  J-Will and Walker are inconsistent.  D-Wade will become better but the teams out there are fully prepared against them.  Sure, the Heat can take all the teams in the East and might win the Eastern Conference again but the West got the better teams particularly the Nash-led Suns with the fully recovered Amare Stoudemire and my team Spurs led by the now healthy Tim Duncan.  

First, I would like to apologize to Fox Sports.  I didn't mean to expose one of your flaws in choosing Blog of The Day, which I think, is random and automated but prioritize in selecting attractive blogs or avatars.  I am very sorry that I made the people criticized you.  I didn't even expect to make it the BOTD since my post was somehow or total garbage.  And lastly I will list the bloggers that I owe an apology.  I'm thanking LSUfan for his kind comments knowing that it's not my fault to be chosen as the BOTD.     

 

 

Okay I changed my avatar.  Now it's not semi-naked as before.  Let's see if I will still get the so called "Blog of the Day."  Oh do I look like Carmen Electra?  I don't think so. 

Some of you bloggers said that I'm a new blogger.  Well, yeah, that's right.  In fact, I made my blog ID and post just 2 days ago (Sept. 11), and immediately it became the Blog of the Day the next day.  And then promiscuous bloggers suddenly appeared and criticized my blog and they even criticized Fox Sports.  What's wrong with this hoodrats anyway?  Get a job first people before trying to offend someone like me. 

P.S.
MustardMan - DID YOU MANAGE TO FIND A MUSTARD JAR IN A BIKINI OR A SPEEDO?  GOOD LUCK!  I HOPE YOU GET THE BLOG OF THE DAY AWARD.
fatmaw1 - MR. FAT MAMAW, CAN YOU PLEASE ASK YOUR GERMAN SHEPHERD TO TEACH ME HOW TO SPEAK GERMAN LANGUAGE?
smoketheblowfish - SORRY HAD TO TYPE ALL CAPS CUZ I KNOW YOUR GETTING OLD AND BLIND.
born2playin69 - I'M NOT EARL.  MAYBE YOU ARE EARL.  AND MAYBE YOU ARE THE 320 POUND-####-HAIR-LIKE GUY.
ShooterB - SORRY NOT INTERESTED IN THE GUY CUZIFFER AND I DON'T LIKE BASEBALL TOO.  OH I AM NOT HAZWASTED YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.  YOU REALLY DIDN'T LIKE ME OR IT'S JUST YOU REALLY DON'T LIKE THE FACT THAT I GOT THE BLOG OF THE DAY?  CAN YOU REALLY SHOOT?  OH AND BY THE WAY, WHY DON'T YOU, YOURSELF, DATE WITH CUZIFFER? 
Miracle - I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T MEAN TO DELETE YOUR COMMENT, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT.  IT'S A MIRACLE IF YOU GET THE BLOG OF THE DAY AWARD.  I SEE YOU ARE THE ONE BEING ACTING LIKE A #### BAG HERE.
SouthernCindi - FACT NUMBER 1 = I AM NOT A PRANKSTER.  FACT NUMBER 2 = I AM PRETTIER AND HOTTER THAN YOU, PLEASE TELL THAT TO NEOAC.  FACT NUMBER 3 = THE CHICKEN SOLD BY SOUTHERN FRIED CHICKEN TASTES REALLY AWFUL.
CarolynT - WHAT IS THAT PUPPY DOG FACE YOUR TALKING ABOUT?
demonicume - OKAY MY BLOG IS LAME AT LEAST I AM NOT AN #### LIKE YOU.  DEMONICUME,.. YOURS FROM DARKNESS,.. DUH!!!
 

What do you think of the Hawks next season?