Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 3:20 pm  |  16 responses

21 Questions: ‘It’s The First Of Da Month’

“I only eat January snowflakes.” –Lucy, from Peanuts.

by Sandy Dover

If it was good enough for 50 Cent and Nate Dogg alike, I’m pretty sure that it’s exceptionally sufficient for SLAM. Regardless of music, 21 Questions with San Dova is taking the task of asking those nebulous questions that seem to revolve around the force of gravity we know to be the NBA. Check for the preguntas at the top of every month or so.

1. Why exactly was Vinny Del Negro hired in the first place?

2. Why is Dirk still underrated?

3. Is Carmelo ever going to get the MVP recognition in Denver?

4. What exactly is wrong with a willing and able Tracy McGrady contributing to your team?

5. Why is TJ Ford the loser everywhere he goes?

6. Who would’ve thought that Corey Brewer would come back from injury and actuallOJ Mayoy end up being a real NBA game-changer?

7. Why is Pat Riley pressing on DWade? Doesn’t he see that he’s hurt and playing .500 ball for a hopeless team?

8. Did you ever in your wildest dreams believe that OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay and Zach Randolph would lead a team to relative success?

9. Is Brandon Jennings the new Paul Pierce and Caron Butler (high-quality prospects/10th overall picks talked down about pre-Draft)?

10. Does anyone even care whether the Nets go to Brooklyn? (And does anyone care whether Jay-Z’s even involved at all?)

11. Can any of the critics please apologize for talking so badly about Danilo Gallinari being a bust in his injury-filled rookie season?

12. Chris Paul: Dwyane Wade’s contemporary (losing soon-to-be re-signed superstar) or Chris Bosh’s pint-sized equal (superstar in franchise limbo, ready to go)?

13. Who knew that Jason Williams would still be able to “bring in the noise, bring in the funk” for the Orlando Magic after those hard-to-watch J-Will years in Miami?

14. Why is Elton Brand on the bench? Why is Andre Iguodala getting paid so much for par-for-the-course second banana production? And why is Eddie Jordan not playing his game-changers more minutes?

15. Again: What in the H-E-double hockey sticks is so special about Steve Blake to Brandon Roy and Nate McMillan? Is Blake certifiably the human equivalent of Linus’ blanket from “Peanuts”?

16. Kevin Durant said years ago that he patterns his game after Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett, and sees himself eveChris Boshntually ending up as a face-up and back-to-the basket power forward—is this more scary knowing that he’s still growing and improving vastly?

17. Will Manu peak just in time for the Spurs’ playoff hunt?

18. Chris Bosh: the new Elton Brand (peak performer on a bad team) or the new Pau Gasol (peak performer waiting for a better situation)?

19. Is Deron Williams ever going to be an All-Star in his prime?

20. Why Gilbert? WHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY?

21. Other than bringing in Jonas Jerebko, bringing back Ben Wallace, and keeping Will Bynum, what is so special about Joe Dumars?

Sandy Dover is a novelist/writer, artist and fitness enthusiast, as well as an unrepentant Prince fan (for real). You can find Sandy frequently here at SLAMonline, as well as at Associated Content and Twitter.

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  • niQ Posted: Jan.5 at 4:00 pm
    Dirk is NOT underrated. He’s recognized as ALL-NBA. And, I agree with the Philly’s questions. For the longest time (all season) I’ve been bashing Eddie Jordan. And asking why Elton Brand is still on the bench. I watched their game against the Clippers the other day, their whole system seems wack. Eddie Jordan’s game plans seriously don’t fit the players…

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jan.5 at 4:01 pm
    mia and philly got issues. bosh will proly go to mia. durant vs bron is the future. blake sucks. deron will be an allstar next month. and ZACH RANDOLPH FOR ALL STAR!

  • TADOne Posted: Jan.5 at 4:02 pm
    I’ll answer your question #21. The reason Dumars is special is because he basically took a Pistons franchise that was reeling and about to lose it’s best player in Grant Hill and turned that into Big Ben and Chucky Atkins and then parlayed some shrewd trades and drafting and turned that into a perennial championship contender. It’s not like FA’s are pining to play ball in Auburn Hills, MI.

  • riggs Posted: Jan.5 at 4:13 pm
    #10: i do.

  • boy sanchez Posted: Jan.5 at 4:20 pm
    #10: I do too.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jan.5 at 4:28 pm
    yea, all those gallo haters sure have shut their faces havent they? and all those who said zbo would destroy memphis and what they were trying to build with oj and rudy. turns out, he was the missing piece. hoop family!

  • Allenp Posted: Jan.5 at 4:44 pm
    So, what exactly has Gallo shown? That he can hit threes? Who didn’t now that?

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jan.5 at 5:26 pm
    21. He drafted Darko Milicic. That’s what.

  • niQ Posted: Jan.5 at 5:27 pm
    And, I’ve been voting for Deron Williams everyday. He probably won’t get to play in the ASG til Nash retires.

  • Oli Posted: Jan.5 at 6:46 pm
    @Jackie: He drafted Darko ahead of Melo, DWade and Bosh and STILL won the ring that season

  • MikeC. Posted: Jan.5 at 7:07 pm
    @Allenp – Gallo has shown us that he has, quite probably, the very best all-time post-dunk pose with that boomer he threw down on Hibbert. I call it the doo-doo squat. He dunks on you, then doo-doos on your feelings.

  • andrew Posted: Jan.5 at 7:46 pm
    RE: #10 How come we all go on about Jay-Z being a part owner of the NETs when he probably owns less than Usher owns of the Cavs anyway???

  • Anton Posted: Jan.5 at 8:48 pm
    22. Is the new Cleveland curse having a superstar but eternally doomed with endless supplies of role players?

  • Hoodsnake Posted: Jan.6 at 2:10 am
    #10 Jay Z does…

  • Paul A Posted: Jan.6 at 7:43 am
    @Allenp–If you are paying attentiona at all, Gallo has actually shown that he is more than just a 3 point shooter. MikeC already pointed out that massive dunk on Hibbert–which I saw live from about 15 rows back at MSG–but he has been consistently taking the ball aggressively to the basket over the past few games, and is proving to be a better defender than people anticipated. So, the guy has shown that he is a player, and a pretty dangerous player at that

  • Ben Posted: Jan.6 at 1:07 pm
    If Bosh is a good player on a bade team, how about Wade (is he not in a similar situation except for the fact that he play in a more attractive city, in terms of the temp)?

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