Is Michael Beasley better than Kevin Durant?

After Kevin Durant rampaged through the Big 12 as a freshman, most people (myself included) assumed that we probably wouldn't be seeing anything like that again for a while. But it is possible that we are seeing something even better just one year later? Is Michael Beasley better than Kevin Durant was?

Looking at the sheer numbers, it's a tough call. Durant averaged 25.8 PPG and 11.1 RPG last year as a freshman, numbers that were difficult for me to comprehend. Well, though he still has a ways to go before this season is over, Beasley has nearly identical numbers - 25.3 PPG and 12.4 RPG.

Looking more closely, one thing jumps out at me - Beasley is a much more efficient scorer. Kevin Durant could score in basically every way imaginable, but the percentages give the edge to Beasley. Durant shot 47.2% from the field, 40.4% from the 3-point line, and 81.6% from the FT line. Michael Beasley is shooting 56.2% from the field, 43.5% from downtown, and 74% from the stripe. Edge goes to Durant at the FT line, but there's a large edge for Beasley in the other areas.

Next, I think Beasley is a better rebounder than Durant. The numbers say things are close... Beasley averages about 1.3 more rebounds per game than Durant did last year. However, I think Durant relied a lot more on his wingspan and athleticism to grab rebounds, which isn't really treating him so well at the next level. On the contrary, Beasley has incredible instincts, quickness, and positioning when rebounding. I think this will cause him to be a better rebounder at the next level than Durant.

Defensively, I give the edge to Durant. The freakish wingspan that helped him be such a good rebounder also helps him defensively. He is able to get in the passing lane, and block more shots. Beasley is a solid defender with his athleticism, but I think Durant has more potential in that area.

All in all, it's great to be able to see such talented players, both of whom put (and are putting) up absurd numbers in the Big 12 as freshmen. Who will be better in the long run? I'm not sure. But looking at the numbers and looking at their games, I think Michael Beasley has been the superior college player so far. Let's see if he can lead Kansas St. further than the Longhorns got last March.

Your thoughts? Who is better?

Thursday Debate: Midseason NBA MVP

We are about at the midway point of the NBA season, which means it's time for the ultimately worthless midseason awards. I'm going to focus on the MVP race, because I think it's the most interesting, and ultimately that is what matters.

Let's start off with apologies to guys like Chris Bosh, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups, Dirk Nowitzki, and Carlos Boozer, who just miss the cut. Here are the top 5, in inverse order:

5. Dwight Howard (Orlando) - He has taken his game to a completely new level this season on both sides of the ball. With 2.6 blocks per game, he is a threat defensively at the basket. Offensively, he has developed an efficient, and explosive post game, using his incredible quickness in the post. Plus, at age 22 he is the best rebounder alive, using his instincts and athleticism to grab nearly 15 rebounds per game.

4. Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles) - People often refer to Kobe as the best player in the world, but I'm not sure that's the case anymore. He seems to have lost a little bit of the athleticism after the knee surgery. But people don't give him enough credit for his craftiness and smarts scoring the basketball. While a guy like LeBron James relies on his athleticism sometimes to score, Kobe scores in a number of ways. He is quick on the post, great with fadeaways, and just crafty when he gets the ball down low. The shooting percentage is down a little bit, and he is not getting to the FT line as much as he has in past years (again, a sign that he may have lost a little explosiveness and is not going to the basket as much), but he's still obviously one of the 2 most dangerous offensive players in the NBA.

3. Kevin Garnett (Boston) - Looking at the Celtics record is enough to see the impact that KG has had. The counting stats are down a bit this year, but there are reasons for that. He is not playing quite as many minutes, and he is simply deferring to teammates more. With talented guys around him, KG does not have to force things... of course, he has adapted his game seamlessly, showing the unselfishness of his game. He is taking only good shots... he is shooting the ball 4 less times per game than he was last year, and his shooting percentage has skyrocketed from 47.6% to 55.1%. Add in the world-class defense, and KG is #3 on my MVP list.

2. Chris Paul (New Orleans) - Yes, the most underappreciated player in the NBA. People need to see how good Chris Paul is. It's difficult to appreciate how good he has been in leading the Hornets to their blistering 32-12 start. He scores efficiently (48% shooting, 35% 3's, 89% FT), and is a fantastic passer, doling out over 10 assists per game. For being 6'0, he is a great rebounder, snagging 4 per game. Defensively, he might have the quickest hands of anyone in the NBA, getting 2.6 steals per game. He is the premier PG in the NBA.

1. LeBron James (Cleveland) - The best, most athletic player in the NBA. To say that LeBron James is the most athletic player in the game hardly does him justice... it really is like a man among boys, at times. He is the quickest player in the league off the dribble, one of the fastest up the court, and the highest leaper. Oh yeah, and he's the best and strongest finisher at the hoop in the NBA, with a greater skill of getting 3-point plays. Add in the fact that he's a great passer and is becoming a great defender, and it's hard not to see him deserving this award every year for a while. He may not be a consistent outside shooter yet (and maybe never will be), but he more than makes up for that by being so incredibly outstanding in every other facet of the game.

Your thoughts? Who is your first half MVP?

Who is the Midseason NBA MVP?
	LeBron James
	Chris Paul
	Kevin Garnett
	Kobe Bryant
	Dwight Howard
	Other

Lo Siento

Sorry, I've been a little under the weather the past couple of days, which is why I haven't posted. Plus, my disposition is not being helped by the fact that it's about -40 windchill right now (maybe even colder).

But anyway, I've got what could be a fairly interesting post (wait, aren't they all interesting?)(hmmm....) planned for tomorrow, so check back then!

Who is the best Mid-Major?

One of the best parts of college basketball is the Mid-Major... the teams that seem to come out of nowhere (mostly because people don't know a lot about them) to make major impacts in March. Now it's time to assess who is the best among them. For the purposes of this post, I am included all teams that are not in a BCS Conference and are not Memphis. The candidates are:

Butler - I've written about them before, but I love watching these guys play. Fundamentally, they're excellent. They're unselfish with the ball, don't turn it over, and shoot the ball well from downtown. They're not athletic (other than Mike Green), but the aforementioned attributes allow them to compete with anyone.

Xavier - Their domination of Dayton seems to establish them as the team to beat in the A-10 (if they weren't already). They're deep, experienced, and very well-balanced. They have 6 guys that score between 10.2 and 12.0 PPG, which is pretty remarkable. With Drew Lavendar's steady hand at PG, they can play any tempo.

St. Mary's - Has Gonzaga's reign over the WCC ended? Perhaps. They've got solid wins over Drake, Oregon, and San Diego St., which will help come Tourney seeding time. You've probably heard of frosh Patrick Mills by now, but if not, you should. Diamon Simpson provides a presence down low.

Drake - They're not extremely talented or athletic, but they just play very well together. They turn the ball over just 13 times per game, and shoot the ball efficiently. They don't really have any overly impressive victories, which makes it hard to know just how good they are, but as of this writing they're 17-1, which isn't too bad.

Dayton - They've lost 2 in a row, but they still stand at 14-3 right now. They're led by senior Brian Roberts, who might be fighting Drew Lavendar for A-10 Player of the Year. Freshman Chris Wright is one of the most athletic players in the conference.

Gonzaga - They have 5 losses already, but they're all (well, almost) to good teams. Their win over Connecticut is looking better and better after UConn beat Indiana. They might not have the star power they've had at times in the past, but this might be their deepest team in a while. 10 guys average at least 10 minutes per game.

VCU - They give up only 58.8 PPG, which is pretty good. Eric Maynor gained fame when he hit the game-winner in the Tourney against Duke, but he really is one of the best PGs in the country. His scoring is way up this year, he's still distributing the ball, and he's very good defensively. With Jamal Shuler as a second scoring option, VCU is just as good this year as they were last year.

Who do you think is the best Mid-Major? Right now, I lean toward Butler by a smidgen over Xavier. It'll be interesting to watch these teams the rest of the way to see who can make some noise come Tourney time.

Kevin Love = Player of the Year Candidate?

26 points and 18 rebounds on the road in his homecoming game against Oregon. Bruins win 80-75 in a very difficult environment in Eugene.

In addition to the great rebounding numbers (sidenote: Is there anyone that is consistently in better position than Kevin Love? I'm not so sure there is) and low-post scoring, he is also becoming a very good FT shooter and a threat outside. He was 2/2 from downtown tonight, included one contested 3-point shot. He is now shooting over 40% from beyond the arc. If that shot continues to fall consistently, he just becomes even more dangerous.

At this point it appears Kevin Love is the best player in the Pac-10, and he may be joining guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Michael Beasley, and Eric Gordon in the race for the National Player of the Year.

Look out for Baylor

OK, Baylor is probably going to get a lot more publicity now after their epic game against Texas A&M, but in truth, they probably should have been talked about a lot more even before this game. Because going into College Station and beating the Aggies is not a fluke.

They've been building towards this season ever since Scott Drew was signed, and now they have a team that is obviously capable of making the Big Dance, and potentially even making a little bit of noise once they get there. They're talented, and they have the personnel to cause a whole lot of matchup problems.

Everything starts with their guards, and they have about as much talent and depth there as anyone in the country. Their leader and leading scorer is Curtis Jerrells, who puts in 13 PPG. The junior is one of 5 Baylor players averaging in double figures. He doesn't get to the FT line a ton (this game against A&M notwithstanding), but he has the quickness to get to the rim, and he's also a very solid shooter from outside.

Baylor's most talented player is LaceDarius Dunn, a top 25 recruit who has become a huge contributor as a freshman. In only a shade over 20 minutes per game he is putting up 12.3 PPG and 4.1 RPG. As he continues to develop and get more minutes that is only going to make Baylor that much better.

Guards Aaron Bruce, Henry Dugat, and Tweety Carter are also big contributors, scoring 10.8, 12.1, and 9.2 PPG respectively.

Up front, they have some troubles. Junior Kevin Rogers puts up solid numbers (11.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG), but there's not a whole lot of production anywhere else. No other traditional frontcourt player scores even 5 points per game or grabs 5 rebounds per game.

Baylor is a team that could make a lot of noise come March and surprise some people with their personnel and style of play. They have loads of talented guards which can cause matchup problems with a lot of teams. It's because of their guards that they are now 16-2 (4-0 in the Big 12) and a team to watch the rest of the way. The win over A&M is nice but there should be a lot more where that came from this year.

NCAA Basketball Most Underrated Players

We know all about the guys that get the publicity... but now time to take a look at what I think are some of the more underrated players today.

Patrick Mills (St. Mary's) - The freshman in Australia is one of the big reasons why St. Mary's is posing the biggest threat that Gonzaga has had in the WCC in years. He is a huge part of the offense, leading the team in minutes played, points, and assists. He scored 37 points in his 4th career game (a win over Oregon), and has been an excellent player ever since.

James Harden (Arizona St.) - There's a lot of talk about the freshmen in the country, and especially in the Pac-10, but not all that much about James Harden. He has been a large part of the turnaround of Herb Sendek's club from last year. With a 4-1 conference record, the Sun Devils are currently tied for the Pac-l0 lead. Harden is leading the way with 18.6 PPG and 5.3 RPG. He was a big prospect coming out of high school, but he has surpassed expectations a little bit. He has helped change the Arizona St. program around.

Raymar Morgan (Michigan St.) - When people think of Michigan St., they think of Drew Neitzel. However, in my opinion, Morgan is the most valuable Spartan player and probably one of the top 3 players in the Big 10 (tough to argue against the 2 Hoosiers right now). He averages over 16 points and 6 rebounds per game, and is a good enough passer and ballhandler that they can run a lot of things through him. He takes some pressure off of the young Spartan guards.

Trent Plaisted (BYU) - If you do know Plaisted, it's probably because of the way he seemed to get the better of Tyler Hansbrough during their game back in November. That was not exactly a fluke. Plaisted is a pretty athletic big man that can finish around the basket, play solid defense down low, and is a good rebounder. I think we'll be seeing him at the next level.

Damion James (Texas) - Everyone talks about DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams, but check out the numbers for Damion James. He's like a poor man's Charles Barkley. He's only 6'6 or 6'7, but he averages an impressive 10.9 RPG. He also contributes offensively with over 14 PPG, scoring in a variety of ways (he is even 14/25 from the 3-point line). He has double-doubles in 9 of his last 12 games.

JaMont Gordon (Mississippi St.) - He might be the best player in the SEC, but nobody sees him because he plays for Mississippi St. He does it all for the Bulldogs, scoring nearly 18 points per contest, grabbing 6.6 rebounds, and doling out 4.3 assists per game. He is one of the best all-around players in the country.

Your thoughts? Do you agree with my selections? Who else do you feel is underrated in college basketball today?