Here are my picks for NBA awards and the championship.
MVP – Derrick Rose, Chicago
Rookie of the Year – Blake Griffin, LA Clippers
Most Improved Player - Kevin Love, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Year – Dwight Howard, Orlando
Sixth man of the year – Lamar Odom, LA Lakers
NBA Champion – LA Lakers (I hate to say it as a Blazers guy, but they are just too good).
My NBA Awards
Oregon’s own Kevin Love makes NBA history
Updated 3/1/2011: “As Love piles up double-doubles, Wolves pile up losses”
Lake Oswego graduate Kevin Love just recorded his 45th consecutive double-double. A record since they began keeping track of the stat.
All-Oregon basketball team
A starting five of players who played high school basketball in Oregon. Based on how good they are right now. Here’s my starting five:
G Terrence Ross, Jefferson (Washington)
G Terrence Jones, Jefferson (Kentucky)
F Luke Jackson, Creswell (Oregon, last played for Memphis this season)
F Kyle Singler, South Medford (Duke)
C Kevin Love, Lake Oswego (UCLA, Minnesota Timberwolves)
Other possibilities: Abe Lodwick, Mountain View, Maarty Leunen, Redmond; Andrew Andrews, Benson; Kyle Wiltjer, Jesuit, Jordan Tebbutt, Horizon Christian.
What would be your lineup?
Kevin Love has a 30-30 game!!!
Oregon’s own Kevin Love had the first 30-30 game in the NBA since 1982. Love, from Lake Oswego, finished with an amazing 31 points and 31 rebounds in just over 40 minutes of playing.
Pac-10 Basketball doing well in the NBA
No Pac-10 basketball team is ranked in the top 25 right now. But how different would that be if the Pac-10 Conference hadn’t lost the players it has to early entry in the NBA draft? Here’s a look at what Pac-10 teams would look like had those players stayed:
Player, grade they would be, what they are averaging in the NBA, NBA team
Arizona
Jordan Hill, Sr – 4.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, Knicks
Chase Budinger, Sr – 8.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, Rockets
Jerryd Bayless, Jr – 9.4 ppg, 2.4 apg, BlazersArizona State
James Harden, Jr – 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.1 apg, ThunderUCLA
Jrue Holiday, So – 5.2 ppg, 2.5 apg, 2.1 rpg, 76ers
Russell Westbrook, Sr – 16.1 ppg, 7.4 apg, 4.9 rpg, Thunder
Kevin Love, Jr – 15.4 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2.6 apg, TimberwolvesUSC
Taj Gibson, Sr – 8.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, Bulls
DeMar DeRozan, So – 8.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, Raptors
OJ Mayo, Jr – 17.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, GrizzliesStanford
Brook Lopez, Sr – 18.9 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 2.2 apg, Nets
Robin Lopez, Sr – 7.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, SunsWashington
Spencer Hawes, Sr – 10.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, Kings
Granted, you could make this case for every Conference I’d imagine. But the fact is that the Pac-10 has lost a lot of talent very early. Many of the above players were one and done and are having real success in the NBA.
All six teams above would likely be top 25 if they had those players on their teams right now. How crazy scary would USC be? Can you imagine how many highlights that squad would produce. Arizona would be an impossible matchup.
How about trying to matchup with the Lopez twins of Stanford.
Terrence Jones
PORTLAND – I got the chance to see Oregon’s best high school basketball player tonight and he didn’t disappoint. Jefferson high school’s Terrence Jones put it all on display Friday night: dunks, threes, no-look assists, blocked shots and his Nike Pro underwear! The 6-foot-9 Jones wasn’t bashful about changing his shorts on the court when he got some blood on his uniform.
It was a packed house @ Jefferson High School as Jefferson played host to Grant on Friday night and Jones took all of 10 seconds to throw down his first dunk of the game. It was the first of several dunks for Jones, who you get the feeling could probably throw down about 20 dunks a game if he decided that was all he was going to do. Watching Jones warmup he looked like an NBA player on a high school team. Don’t get me wrong, Jones isn’t the only big, talented player on the Democrats roster. Stephen Madison, a 6-6 senior wing and Noah Kone-Nelson, a 6-7 senior post are studs! But Jones literally looks like an NBA player. If he walked in the room, you’d guess he was already in the league.
Oregon has had some elite prepsters in recent years like Kevin Love (now of the Minnesota Timberwolves) and Kyle Singler (a Duke Blue Devil) but Jones has the most NBA ready body I’ve ever seen on an Oregon high schooler. The big left-hander is currently ranked as the the No. 13 recruit in the entire nation.
Jones hasn’t decided on a college yet and according to Kentucky, its because he’d like to share the attention with his teammates and keep coaches watching.
The Class 6A Grant Generals are a scrappy, athletic team, who were clearly undersized against the No. 1 5A team in the state. Grant never gave up and kept it competitive the whole night, led by fantastic guard play by Anthony Penney and Kenneth Acker. The Generals managed to stay aggressive despite having numerous shots blocked. Jones blocked layup attempts, jumpers and three-point shots time and time again.
Jefferson won the game 84-61 to 13-3 on the season.
If you get a chance, watch him play this season. It’s always fun to look back and say, “I saw him when…”
On a side note: Jones was just named ESPN Rise Player of the Week!