See who I would give the hardware today

The Doug Awards are the awards I would give to each player throughout the year.

Most Valuable Player:Chris Paul New Orleans Hornets

The award is given to the most valuable player. That means they are the most valuable player to their team. You could argue Kobe Bryant deserves the MVP, but the Hornets are off to a great start, and they couldn’t have done it without CP3. Paul is averaging a double-double for the Hornets and they need him to keep up the good work. The team is off to a 12-4 start and they would not be playing at that level without Paul’s 17 PPG(points per game) 10 APG (assists per game) and 3 SPG (steals per game). He is also grabbing 5 RPG (rebounds per game) even though he is only 6′-0” tall. Paul has helped his team on defense and offense and they now have a good chance at making the playoffs, he deserves to win the MVP.

Defensive Player of the Year:Dwight Howard Orlando Magic

Howard has only been averaging 2 BPG (blocks per game) but he has also been averaging 1 steal per game and he is a 6-11 center. Rebounding is another important aspect of the game and it is important for the defensive player of the year. Howard is averaging 12 RPG for the Magic. His defense is very important for his team. Without it, the team might not be playing as well as they are. His only problems on defense are his 3 FPG (fouls per game) and his 3 TPG (turnovers per game).

Most Valuable Coach:Gregg Popovich San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs have not been to the finals since 2007 but Popovich is showing his leadership skills with the team this season. His chemistry with the players (especially Tim Duncan) is very special. If he can keep it up, the team could go back to the finals. they are off to a 14-2 record. Popovich is just what they need to help in the playoffs.

Rookie of the Year:Blake Griffin Los Angeles Clippers

After an injury keeping him off the court last season, Griffin has proved himself to be a good power forward. Averaging 19 PPG and 11 RPG Griffin is the centerpiece to the Clippers success. Though they are only starting the season with a 3-14 record, Griffin has worked hard. Hard work pays off, whether they are winning or not. The other big candidate John Wall has missed 5 of the last 7 games because of injuries so Griffin leads in my ballot.

Most Improved Player:Eric Gordon Los Angeles Clippers

Sixth Man:Jason Terry Dallas Mavericks

Let's look down my power rankings

The NBA has been crazy lately, The San Antonio Spurs have been great, the Los Angeles Lakers lost 2 straight, Miami got off to a bad start, now I will make my power rankings for the top 10 teams.

1.The Boston Celtics:Boston beat Miami twice, they won in Oklahoma City and they beat Chicago in overtime. Rajon Rondo has been averaging a double-double while Paul Pierce is scoring twenty-one points per game (ppg) and Kevin Garnett has been averaging ten rebounds per game (rpg). The big 4 have been getting it done but players like Shaquille O’Neal, Nate Robinson, Glen Davis and Jermaine O’Neal are helping the team. Boston’s big problem will be injuries though, we will have to wait to find out where they are headed.

2.The San Antonio Spurs:Tim Duncan said this was the Spurs last chance at winning a championship. They are getting old but this great start is showing the whole world that the Spurs are still good. We saw they can beat good teams in last years playoffs when they beat Dallas, we now know they can win even with them getting old against Chicago and Oklahoma City, now the San Antonio Spurs are ready. They are now 9-1 tying the best start in Spurs history. The big question is if they can beat great teams like the Los Angeles Lakers or the Boston Celtics. They do have a nice bench with players like George Hill and Antonio McDyess coming in for their big 3.

3.The Los Angeles Lakers:The Lakers are the 2-time defending champions. Players like Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom will play well and they will win games. They are on a 10-2 start with Andrew Bynum out. this year’s roster is better than last year’s because now they have Matt Barnes and Steve Blake. Phil Jackson looks healthy so the Lakers are in good shape. If Kobe can produce like he has averaging twenty-six ppg 6 rpg and 5 assists per game (apg) the Lakers should be able to stop any team. Phil Jackson will also give a lot of good luck to the team because he always 3-peats as a coach. I don’t know if anybody can beat the Lakers if they stay like they are.

4.The Utah Jazz:Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz have been beating teams like Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Oklahoma City. Carlos Boozer left this off-season for Chicago so Utah got Al Jefferson with 3 more years on his contract. Jefferson has helped the team a lot. With Williams on the court as well as Jefferson the Jazz look strong. They allready beat some good teams, they can kill bad teams, they might finish second or third in the west for a solid playoff spot. Jerry Sloan is probably one of the most important pieces to the Jazz. Sloan is their head coach and without him the team could fall apart like last years Denver Nuggets. If Sloan can stay healthy Utah should have a great season.

5.The Miami Heat:Miami might have looked horrible in some of their games early on, but they are just getting used to the big 3. Dwyane Wade was out for the preseason so it took some getting used to. Elite point guards like Chris (CP3) Paul Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo have killed the Heat. If they can learn to stop all the players they should play great. They also need more from Chris Bosh and they got that Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns when he scored 35 points. If the team can play as well as they did against the Suns all season they should be in good shape. This is the Miami Heat that we talked about all off-season. Their chemistry is coming together and they are like Team USA.

6.The New Orleans Hornets:It could be argued that they should be in my top 5 but I’m not looking at records. They lost in Dallas and fell to 8-1 but a win at home over Dallas brings them to 9-1. They have been beating good teams such as Dallas, Miami and Denver. I am just not buying the New Orleans Hornets yet though. One year they finish the season 37-45 and the next they are a top 5 team in the NBA. I do think they are playing great but it is a long season and almost every team goes on runs. This year they were on an 8-0 winning streak and last year they went on a 6-0 winning streak. I can’t say they are that good this early in the season. They are playing for a reason though, they are playing to keep Chris Paul.

7.The Orlando Magic:Dwight Howard is helping lead the Magic averaging 21 ppg and 11 rpg. The Magic have a good roster with a solid bench and a great coach. Even though small forward Matt Barnes left Orlando the Magic have still been winning games this season. They lost to the Heat, the Jazz and Toronto. They should have beat the Raptor but Miami and Utah were acceptable losses. I don’t think this year’s Magic is as good as last year’s Magic and I really don’t think they are championship contenders. The only reason they played in the finals 2 years ago was because Kevin Garnett was injured. They added Vince Carter last season but he is getting old. if Orlando will win games Howard will have to play good defense and Carter and Rashard Lewis will have to be their offensive weapons. The magic have potential and talent, they just have to use it.

8.The Chicago Bulls:Their only big win was against the Denver Nuggets and I wouldn’t call them elite. The Bulls have been trying and they lead the central division (Which isn’t saying much) with a 6-4 record. Derrick Rose has been working his butt off as they await for Boozer to come back. Though they might not be the best team now, the Bulls will get Boozer to come back and they should get better, but will chemistry hurt Chicago like it did Miami? It seems like it will take a while for Boozer to get used to playing with the Bulls, but the NBA season is long and they can get better chemistry, after all, the playoffs are the most important part of an NBA season.

9.The Oklahoma City Thunder:I hesitated to put them any higher. Durant is averaging 28 ppg but he is only shooting 30% from 3 point range. I think Russell Westbrook might be the best player for the team’s success right now. He is averaging 23 ppg and 8 apg while shooting 35% from the field. Durant is still the star of the team but a team that should be looking like the 2008-09 Denver Nuggets is looking more like the 2009-10 Oklahoma City Thunder. They have not changed very much. And why is James Harden coming off the bench!? This is ridiculous, we are about to see how good this Thunder team really is as they head to Boston for their next game.

10.The Dallas Mavericks:They have beat Denver, Boston and New Orleans. They got a great trade for Tyson Chandler and Dirk Nowitzki is averaging 24 ppg and 9 rpg. Jason Kidd who is only averaging 8 points and 9 rebounds per game needs to step up and be a key factor for Dallas. Kidd is a veteran who needs to show that and play well, if he can do that Dallas could be so much better, but he needs to play better on the court. One question I have is why is Jason Terry coming off the bench? It’s not like Brandon Roy is starting. I’m not sure if adding Chandler was as big of a push as I thought it would be. They look older and crustier than last season and Chandler is only averaging 8 ppg and 8 rpg for the Mavs. They need some younger talent, or else, they will end up losing more games than they are winning.

Just Sports is a Youtube show with sports experts Doug Rife and Felix Peligrin. In episode 2 they talk about their top 5 teams in the NBA.

Happy Birthday to the 14 year vet and 32 year old Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant came into the league out of high school. His father is a former European and NBA player, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant. Kobe was drafted 13th overall to the Charlotte Hornets in the 1996 NBA draft. He also was a Hornet for 13 days and was traded to LA for center Vlade Divac. We all know who won in that trade.

Kobe Bryant grew up a Lakers fan, now he had the chance play for his favorite team. His first season he averaged 15 MPG (minutes per game) and 7 PPG (points per game). People had guessed it would take a while for him to adjust because he was coming right out of high school. He averaged 15 PPG and 26 MPG the next season.

Kobe and Shaq celebrate after winning it all

It all started in the 1999-00 NBA season when Kobe and Shaq won their first championship under coach Phil Jackson. That season Shaquille O’Neal was the league MVP.

The next season the defending NBA champions went 56-26. Shaq once again led the Lakers to a championship with Kobe playing the role of Robin. The next year Kobe played 80 games for the first time in his career. Kobe made the NBA defensive 2nd team and joined Shaq in the all NBA first team for his first time. The Lakers swept Portland, beat San Antonio in 5 games but faced rival Sacramento in a 7 game beat down. This year LA did not have the home court advantage. Game 7 had 16 ties and 17 lead changes, but Sacramento started to crack and soon the Lakers headed back to the finals. History repeated itself, or 3-peated itself when LA swept the New Jersey Nets making the first 3-peat since Jordan and the Bulls in the 90′s.

In the 2003-04 NBA season Kobe and Shaq played their final game (excluding all-star games) together when they lost to the Pistons in game 5 of the NBA finals. They went all the way to the finals only to be upset, that summer was more upsetting when Shaq got angry by comments made by the GM Mitch Kupchack. O’Neal asked for a trade. LA wanted Shaq in Dallas for Dirk Nowitzki but Mark Cuban (Dallas owner) shot that down, LA later sent Shaq to Miami to play with Dwyane Wade. The 2 beat Dallas in the 2006 NBA finals.

Meanwhile in the 2006 season Kobe Bryant made history scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors getting 55 points in the second half. I put up a 2k9 video that has the same shots that were in the actual game.

In the 2008 NBA season Pau Gasol headed to LA for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol, Aaron McKie and LA’s 2008 and 2010 first round picks. The Lakers won in that trade with Gasol who helped the MVP, Kobe Bryant go to the finals. The Lakers played rivals Boston. The C’s had gotten Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and kept Paul Pierce. The Celtics had the Big 3 but nobody expected them to go to the finals at the beginning of the season. Boston did go to the finals and in game six they won “Banner 17″ which might be the most famous banner they have. The Lakers were disappointed and came out unstoppable next year flying through the playoffs and destroying Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic.

Last season Kobe Bryant made history when he became the youngest player to score 25,000 points in a career(31 years 151 days) hitting a free throw in a game against the Cavaliers. Kobe also achieved greatness that season by leading LA back to the finals to play the Boston Celtics. Rajon Rondo was the surprise of the playoffs and the man who took Boston to the finals to play LA. During the series against Phoenix Lakers fans chanted “WE WANT BOSTON” while Boston fans back in Boston chanted “BEAT LA” while they slowly hacked at the Magic.

The Celtics had a 3-2 lead in the finals but in game 6 the Lakers were unstoppable and crushed Boston. In game 7 of the finals Boston led 40-34 at the half but LA surged to re-gain the lead. Center Kendrick Perkins was out of the game with an injury but The Big-4 managed to hold LA for most of the game and keep it close. The score was 83-79, Rasheed Wallace was on the bench after fouling out and the Celtics hustled the ball down the court, Rondo shot a 3 but missed and Kobe Bryant won his 5th ring and his 2nd straight finals MVP.

Throughout his career so far, Bryant has won 5 rings, an MVP, 2 finals MVPs, became a 12x all-star, became a 2x scoring champ, won 3 all-star MVPs and has succeeded so much more. A lot of people hate him, just as many love him, but we all have to agree, he is one of the best to ever play the game.