NBA Player Of The Decade

The decade is nearing its end, and it has been 10 years of basketball excitement. Years of glorious players, teams, and plays have all come to an end as the 2000's is in the books. However, through all of these years, there have been a few elite players that have come as their own, sitting atop basketball's throne. Who is the player of the decade?
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The Candidates
When you look at today's game, the way it stands, there have been quite a few players that people would label as the game's best players. You have LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade. Those 4 are the game's biggest names. They sell jerseys, win games, and bring huge success to their teams.

As much as that is true, 3 of the 4 players (Dwight Howard, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade) weren't around for the full decade, as James and Wade were drafted in 2003, and Howard entered the league in 2004.

So, take them out of the equation. That leaves Kobe Bryant. However, not just only Kobe, but quite a few players who aren't the game's biggest names today, but sure have dominated over the course of this decade.

After rounding down candidates, I am left with two players in mind that qualify for the player of the decade: Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan.
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The Numbers
Kobe Bryant - 28.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.1 assists
Tim Duncan - 21.2 ppg, 11.7 rpg, 3.3 assists

From those statistics, it's quite clear that Kobe Bryant beats Tim Duncan in the scoring category, which fits Kobe's portfolio, and Tim Duncan leads the two big time when it comes to rebounds, which makes sense as well. The assists are definitely a bit closer, but Kobe edges Tim out by about 2 dimes a game.

Those are their statistics in terms of their contributions on the court. How about the hardware?

Kobe Bryant - 4 NBA titles and 1 MVP
Tim Duncan - 3 NBA titles and 2 MVPs

Kobe is one up on Tim when it comes to the NBA championships, but Duncan has Kobe's number with 1 more MVP.
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The Verdict
This is definitely a tough question. They both brought perennial success for their teams during this decade, and both have had a spectacular decade. However, if I were to choose one, it should be Kobe Bryant. This is only because of the fact that he has had consistency over the past decade. He has always had an amazing season, for 10 straight years, while Duncan has fallen off a bit over the past couple of seasons. If Tim were to continue the consistent play that he had for about 8 years, then this would be so hard that I most likely would've given it to both. Not only that, but Kobe Bryant is somewhat of a fierce warrior. He yells at his guys to play better. He punishes himself if he has an off game. He is loud about his opinions of what's happening on the court. Tim Duncan has always been known as a quiet guy.

So, with that being said NBA's player of the decade for the 2000's is shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant.

Oh My Bosh! : A Preview of the Toronto Raptors 2009-2010 Season

It's that time. The 2009-2010 NBA season is near. The Raptors season starts on the 28th against the Cavaliers, and looking to improve on a horrible season last year, posting a 33-49 record, the Raptors did everything in their power this offseason to make sure that their team would redeem themselves.

After much worry that Raptors star, Chris Bosh, would not return after this upcoming season, it was a wake-up call for Raptors personnel to build more around Bosh to try to convince him that the Raps are a contender, and not the shaky team they have been for the past 2 years.
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So, how did they do that? In a press conference held shortly after Toronto's season had ended, Raptors GM, Bryan Colangelo acknowledged the fact that the Raptors were a soft team with no fire power. So, in light of that, he started off by trading streaky shooter, Jason Kapono, who struggled down the stretch in his stay, to the Philadelphia 76ers, and getting an aggressive rebounder in Reggie Evans.

With the ninth pick in the NBA Draft, Toronto then picked USC forward, DeMar DeRozan, whose high-flying ability and quickness around the court earned him a high pick in the draft. You know that you've got ability when you start dunking a basketball when you're in grade 6.

A big-time acquisition that was critically needed for the helpless Raptors was the need of a back-up point guard, as Jose Calderon proved to be affected by the massive amount of minutes he was playing. After shooting guard Anthony Parker left to go to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Raps quickly swooped in point guard Jarrett Jack from the Indiana Pacers. Along with getting Jack, they got former Raptor, Rasho Nesterovic back, who was a key part in the Atlantic Division title a few years back.

Rumoured that guard Carlos Delfino was on his way back to playing NBA ball in Toronto because of his added toughness on a team that lacked it dearly, Colangelo decided to swap players with the Bucks by giving Delfino and point guard Roko Ukic in return for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.

Saving the biggest for last, the blockbuster transaction of the NBA went down when Colangelo initiated a 4-way deal. The Raptors sent Shawn Marion, Nathan Jawai, Kris Humphries and other cash considerations to Dallas and a second-round pick to the Grizzlies. The Mavericks sent Deavean George and Antoine Wright to Toronto and Jerry Stackhouse and cash considerations to the Grizzlies, who sent Greg Buckner to Dallas, and the biggest of them all, Orlando sending forward, Hedo Turkoglu to the Raps. Deavean George was then sent to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Marco Belinelli, who averaged close to 10 points per game.

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Projected Starting Lineup : PG Jose Calderon, SG DeMar DeRozan, SF Hedo Turkoglu, PF Chris Bosh, C Andrea Bargnani.

Two places where switches can be made is at the two guard and at centre. Definitely, DeRozan has showed multiple signs of an NBA-type player, but with most teams, they opt to have their rookie come off the bench, unless the player is a top 5 pick draft choice. Instead, they can insert Marco Belinelli who is a developing player who can only get better, jumping his PPG by nearly 7 points.

Also, head coach Jay Triano may want to start Rasho as opposed to Andrea Bargnani because this gives Andrea more time to rest and come off the bench fresh, whereas his increased minutes last year contributed to his continued fatigue.

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Although the Raptors got better, the East got better as well-a lot better. From the huge addition of Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers to the signing of Rasheed Wallace in Boston, the East has definitely stepped up its competitiveness.

The Atlantic, which includes the Boston Celtics, will be a tough division to be in. Expect the Celtics to win it, as having a healthy and hungry Garnett paired up with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Wallace will prove to be too much for a young Raptor squad.

With teams like Orlando and Cleveland likely to rule their respective divisions, the first 3 of 8 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference to be filled.

The Chicago Bulls, who were a tough task for the Celtics, pushing them to 7 games and providing the world with one of the best series in NBA history, should come back as sophomore Derrick Rose will look to move on to bigger and better things in the Windy City. The Hawks, powered by their explosive forward in Josh Smith, should be another pick in the conference.

After that, the conference is anybody's guess.

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Projected Record: 46-36
Projected Standing: 5th in Eastern Conference

I would've given them fourth, but realizing that this whole team is new and considering that the whole bench has been changed tells me that at first, chemistry will be an issue, and that little obstacle at the start will hurt them a bit.