The Top 10 Players in the 2014 NBA Playoffs (May 5, 2014) Part 2

The 2014 NBA Playoffs have given us, arguably, the best first round so far, what with five series going the full seven games and the lower seeded or “weaker” teams surprising fans and quashing experts’ predictions left and right. Simply put, the past few weeks of postseason action have been nothing short of awesome.

In this second of two parts, I will present five of the current Top 10 players in the 2014 NBA Playoffs. This will be based on the players’ stats for their first round games. They are ranked according to Player Efficiency for that duration of time only.

In this list, we will find the five best players so far in the postseason. Here you’ll find two Trail Blazers, a soon-to-be disgruntled Houston Rockets big man, and the two best SFs in the Eastern Conference.

Ladies and gents, presenting your top performers in the 2014 NBA Playoffs thus far.

Note: All of the following stats are based on each player’s stats as computed by HoopsStats.com. They were taken on May 5, 2014 (Manila time).

The NBA: The Best Players and Teams of January 2014

And just like that, we are one-twelfth into 2014. The All-Star rosters have been named (look at the snubs here), and the two New York teams have finally put together some winning runs. In this post, we’ll look at the best that January had to offer, from Kevin Durant’s insane run of 30+ point games to Victor Oladipo’s rise up the rookie ladder.

This is the third in a series of “Best of the Month” citations based on the Efficiency Recap ratings on HoopsStats.com. Team citations will be based on Efficiency Recap Difference (Team Efficiency – Opponents’ Efficiency), while Player citations will be based on Player Efficiency. You can check out the Stats Glossary here.

Team Citations:

Best Backcourt: Toronto Raptors - 46.2ppg, 12.8rpg, 16.8apg, 3.3spg, .420 FG%, .384 3pt%, 14.6 DEFF

How is the best point guard of the league’s best backcourt in January not an All-Star? Beats me. But here’s a more pressing query – who the hell voted for Joe Johnson as an All-Star this season anyway? Toronto’s backcourt was a huge reason they were 11-6 in the month and remain a top four team in the East.

Toronto's Kyle Lowry was one of the most interesting
All-Star snubs this season.
(image by Mark Konezny/USA Today)

They Be All-Stars: Our West All-Star Reserves

In our previous post, we detailed our picks for the seven All-Star Game reserves in the Eastern Conference. This time around, we will look at the players whom we’d like to see as 2014 All-Star Game reserves for the West.

What makes this a little bit more challenging is that there are so many deep rosters and gripping storylines in the West. Compared to the East, the West is a much stronger conference, with maybe 10-11 teams capable of getting winning records by the end of the season. Not surprisingly, there are also SO MANY players worthy of All-Star Game consideration. Obviously, not everyone will be picked. 

With so many deserving players, will both Damian Lillard
and LaMarcus Aldridge be named All-Stars?
(image from NBA.com)

Before you continue reading, take note of the following assumptions:

• Assumption #1: Kobe Bryant will play his two minutes.
• Assumption #2: Chris Paul will not play. He will rest for as long as he can so he can be as healthy as he can for the Clippers’ inevitable late-season run.
• Assumption #3: Again, one or more of YOUR own picks is/are bound to be left out. That’s just how deep the West is.

Now, here are our picks for the seven who should-be All-Star reserves in the Western Conference:

The NBA: January 2014 Position Battle – The Top 5 Power Forwards Right Now

In this Position Battle post, we will focus on the top five power forwards at this point in the season. We will take into account just the players’ stats for the latest five games of their respective teams. This will, hopefully, give us a more current picture of each player’s production.

There’s not a lot of movement really. LMA, Love, Blake… they’re all still here. Kevin Love nearly got bumped down to #6, but he stays in the top five after his nice line today (the Wolves still lost though).

Note: All of the following stats are based on each player’s stats as computed by HoopsStats.com. They were taken on January 13, 2014 (Manila time).

5. Kevin Love (MIN) – 20.2ppg, 10.2rpg, 2.8apg, 2.2 triples per game, 45.8 3pt%, 23.6 EFF

Love struggled against the mighty Spurs earlier in the week, but he bounced back with a nice double-double (27 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 triples) against Sac-Town today. The Wolves absorbed their fourth loss of the new year, though, and that bumped them down to eleventh spot. This is why there’s a part of me that wants him in a Lakers uniform soon.

So who's better? Kevin Love or Blake Griffin? Will
Love join Griffin in Los Angeles soon?
(image from Fansided.com)       

The Inaugural Baller Awards: The NBA Edition

Our inaugural Baller Awards will now turn to the best basketball in the world – the NBA. 2013 was a really interesting year for NBA basketball, mainly because of several things: Miami won its second straight title, Dwightmare moved from LA to Houston, the Cavs made yet another bone-headed move by picking that Bennett kid at #1, and, well, Derrick Rose returned and then got injured again. Sigh.

The guys whom we’ll feature here are those who did really well in the Association this past year, though we will also take a look at how they may have fared in other fields like the FIBA Subzone tournaments. Were these players able to lead their teams to new heights? What milestones did they or their teams achieve? What kind of mark did they leave on the NBA as a whole in 2013?

What award will Tony Parker get in our inaugural Baller Awards?
(image by Jeff Chiu/AP)

And the BALLERS go to…

The NBA Roundup: December 27, 2013

Two days after Christmas (in Manila, at least), hoop nuts everywhere were treated to an entertaining set of games in the NBA. And, thank God, those insane sleeved jerseys weren’t anywhere on the hardwood. Let’s keep it that way, shall we?

Today, Jeff Teague outdueled Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, LaMarcus Aldridge and the Blazers continued to roll, Danny Green hit all five of his threes as SAS beat Dallas, and James Harden booked a place in the history books after scoring 27 points on the strength of… 2 field goals.

Jeff Teague stepped up big time as ATL escaped Cleveland.
(image by Tony Dejak/AP)