Player of the D.A.Y.

By Sam Rubenstein

Let me do this now cause I am a little bit under the weather, and the medication has made me kind of lightheaded. It’s a nice feeling. It must be like how David Harrison feels when he plays a game. No football game this weekend, that is annoying. Whaddya gonna do.

A quick word on the All-Stars… typically an All-Star is a great individual player who wins. They are celebrated for that. But what is the opposite? A bad group/team that loses a lot. There was a lot of talk earlier about the Celtics making their run for the Bulls 72 win record. But going the other way… the Miami Heat, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Seattle Supersonics are all on pace to win less than 20 games. Sure, Dwyane Wade is starting the All-Star Game. You know, Tracy McGrady won the scoring title for the ’03-’04 season when Orlando won 21 games. He was 2nd team All-NBA. But enough about individuals, it’s an easy trap to fall into to say praise this guy, blame that guy, or give a sermon about how teamwork is more important than the air we breathe.

To the Sonics, Wolves, and Heat… Let the tankathon commence!

No more team talk. Back to the individuals.

Games played Wednesday Night: Honorable mention to Al Jefferson leading those lowly Wolves over the Suns with 39 and 15. Minnesota owns Phoenix, just like Golden State owned Dallas. Just wait until they meet up in the first round! Ha ha, no that’s not happening. Honorable mention to Tim Duncan who had 28 and 17 for the Spurs in a game when the Lakers fell apart. But, the award has to go to Jose Calderon with 24 and 13 at Boston.

Last night: It’s tough, cause two of the best performances – Monta and Tim Duncan – were both against teams on crushing losing streaks where Murphy’s Law is more important than the rules of Naismith. So, I’ll go to the third game and give it to Michael Redd with 37-5-5 over Indiana. Sure, the Pacers are nothing to write home about as they say, but their hemmoraging is slighlty more subdued than the Nets’ at the moment. Also, Baron’s triple double cuts into Monta’s chances, as does Monta’s 39 hurt Baron.

Dizzy.