One Team, One PlayerSuprises:Orlando Magic-They have a ton of young talent, but no one would have expected the Magic to be contending for the division lead after Jan 1. If they can keep up their play, and if Jameer Nelson can keep playing stellar point, then the Magic could be a scary team in the playoffs.Zack Randolph-He's always been known as a head case, and after last season's decline in production, it's a suprise that Randolph has gotten his act together and put up what he is putting up. But the young Blazers need a team leader, and Randolph has shown that he can be that leader.
The team for me has to be The Jazz.They started out on fire and are still smoking.I see them keeping it up as long as Boozer keeps on playing the way he is playing and same with Williams.
Team: Jazz. Like LC said, I don't think anyone expected to be as good as they actually are. I haven't seen them play much aside from one game vs. the Celts, so I can't really comment much further than that, but from their record, I can see that they're playing well.Player: Tony Allen, maybe not the biggest surprise, but a very pleasant one. Even though he started out terribly, he has came on and been a GREAT all around player for the Celtics in the last monthish of play. He has been doing everything since Paul got hurt.. scoring, defense, passing, energy. He's been a joy to watch progress this year from his bad start.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SunnyD @ Jan 7 2007, 05:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>One Team, One PlayerSuprises:Orlando Magic-They have a ton of young talent, but no one would have expected the Magic to be contending for the division lead after Jan 1. If they can keep up their play, and if Jameer Nelson can keep playing stellar point, then the Magic could be a scary team in the playoffs.Zack Randolph-He's always been known as a head case, and after last season's decline in production, it's a suprise that Randolph has gotten his act together and put up what he is putting up. But the young Blazers need a team leader, and Randolph has shown that he can be that leader.</div>I agree with your team. The Magic were expected to fight for a low playoff seed but have turned into an elite team in the East. I'll choose another micro-fracture victim as my surprise player. Even the most optimistic Suns fan couldn't have expected him to be so good offensively so soon after the surgery. He has been nearly as good as before and is providing us with some good interior scoring and his mid-range has been very nice. What else has surprised me is his improvement on defense. I expected him to get better eventually, but not right away since he hadn't played really for a long time. He has been much smarter on defense, his shot blocking has improved even without the same athleticism as 2 years ago and he has also gotten better at rebounding. He's actually getting in good position now. Thank you Kurt Thomas and/or Iavaroni. :happy0144:Edit: Didn't pick the Jazz because I thought if they could've stayed healthy then they could do pretty well but I didn't expect anything at all from the Magic.
Team: Nuggets - they were a decent team last year but with all the power in the west I had no idea they could do so well, but with all there players together and healthy they can beat any team in the leaguePlaeyr: Monta Ellis - he plays with two guards who take about 20-30 shots a night combined, usually more and yet he (at 19 years old) is scoring 17 ppg. Unbelievable!
Team: Toronto Raptors. Bosh and Ford are playing great and so are the Raptors. First place in their division and 4th in the East. Bargnani looks better every game and Anthony Parker has been a pleasure surprise for them.Player: Matt Barnes. He has had a couple of 30+ point games. He's been great for GSW. My Most Improved Player IMO. Now that he gets playing time, he is taking advantage.
Team: 76ers. I really didn't expect them to be this bad this year so that was a big suprise IMO.Player: Dikembe Mutombo. Didn't know he can still be a soild player and he has done so with the rockets which have defently helped them out a lot.
Team: Jazz/Magic. Both are having huge years when they were mostly considered to be teams that would have to fight to make the playoffs. Both teams have great defense, and great coaching also.Player: Kevin Martin/Monta Ellis. Kevin had a decent season last year, and was expected to start this year. Youve gotta think people expected him to do pretty well, but he's just blown everyone's minds. He's averaging over 20 ppg. He has a very nice shot, and he drives very well. Monta Ellis was supposed to still be a project, but he's turned into a 16/17 ppg scorer this season. He has a pretty nice shot, and he is just so explosive getting to the rim.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Jan 7 2007, 07:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I agree with your team. The Magic were expected to fight for a low playoff seed but have turned into an elite team in the East.I'll choose another micro-fracture victim as my surprise player. Even the most optimistic Suns fan couldn't have expected him to be so good offensively so soon after the surgery. He has been nearly as good as before and is providing us with some good interior scoring and his mid-range has been very nice. What else has surprised me is his improvement on defense. I expected him to get better eventually, but not right away since he hadn't played really for a long time. He has been much smarter on defense, his shot blocking has improved even without the same athleticism as 2 years ago and he has also gotten better at rebounding. He's actually getting in good position now. Thank you Kurt Thomas and/or Iavaroni. :happy0144:Edit: Didn't pick the Jazz because I thought if they could've stayed healthy then they could do pretty well but I didn't expect anything at all from the Magic.</div>That's not saying much..
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yankshater213 @ Jan 7 2007, 07:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Player: Tony Allen, maybe not the biggest surprise, but a very pleasant one. Even though he started out terribly, he has came on and been a GREAT all around player for the Celtics in the last monthish of play. He has been doing everything since Paul got hurt.. scoring, defense, passing, energy. He's been a joy to watch progress this year from his bad start.</div>Just like to point out that he followed up my compliment with a 7-14 FG, 21 point, 9 rebound, 7 steal, 3 assist performance.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (CB4AllStar @ Jan 7 2007, 09:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Team: Jazz/Magic. Both are having huge years when they were mostly considered to be teams that would have to fight to make the playoffs. Both teams have great defense, and great coaching also.Player: Kevin Martin/Monta Ellis. Kevin had a decent season last year, and was expected to start this year. Youve gotta think people expected him to do pretty well, but he's just blown everyone's minds. He's averaging over 20 ppg. He has a very nice shot, and he drives very well. Monta Ellis was supposed to still be a project, but he's turned into a 16/17 ppg scorer this season. He has a pretty nice shot, and he is just so explosive getting to the rim.</div>I cant disagree with your selections what so ever. To me, those are the right choices. I would pick that the most surprising team would be the Jazz though. Personally, I expected that Orlando would be a good team this year. The Jazz however have just as good as a record as the Spurs, and are close to the Mavs and Suns. I would have never guessed.....And as for the player, I am going to say Kevin Martin. IMO, Martin has impressed me so much that I can call him Sacramento's best player. Now I know they have Mike Bibby and Brad Miller, but this kid has taken the scoring role of the team, and he is the player that really gets the team rolling. Bibby and Miller are still the leaders, but I think Martin is their best player.
Toronto and Portland have really shocked me, I thought both of them made bad draft choices and didnt improve much over free agentcy. I was wrong. I can't go with Utah because I'm a Jazz homer and thought they would be good, but I must admit I didnt think they'd be 14 games over 500 at all this season, let alone in early January.players: Kevin Martin.
Team: Orlando MagicLike ASUFan said, most people (including me) expected this team to fight for a low playoff seed coming into this season. Talk about proving the doubters wrong, eh? I know the East is horrid as a whole this year, but that doesn't take away the major improvements the Magic have made as a team. They are all playing together. They don't have a "go-to guy" per say, they all work together and feed off each other's success. The bench this year has been outstanding. Guys like Carlos Arroyo and Trevor Ariza especially have turned it on, Keyon Dooling has brought energy, and Darko hasn't been great, but he has shown flashes. But the #1 reason why this team is succeeding right now: defense. They play defense, they fight on defense, and more importantly, they want to play defense. Major props to the Orlando Magic this year for proving everybody (including me) wrong. This team has a very bright future ahead of them.Player: Kevin MartinAs of right now, he gets my vote for Most Improved Player of the Year. There are guys right behind him in the running, but as of today, I'd give it to Martin. He went from scoring 10 or 11 points per game to leading the team in scoring, and doing it consistently. His confidence level is at an all-time high, he doesn't necessarily need a bunch of plays run for him in order to be effective offensively, he has improved his outside shooting (although it never was all that bad), and he has brought a ton of energy to this team. The Kings have had a lot of unfortunate things happen this season: Bibby's injury, Artest unhappy, Miller's injury, etc. But Martin has been the biggest bright spot for this organization this season, and I did not expect him to fill the shoes of Bonzi Wells and then some like this, this fast. I applaud Kevin Martin for the improvements in his game this year.And yankshater, yes, Tony Allen has come a LONG way this year. He had a terrible preseason and he did not play well at all in November. People gave up on him, people wanted him out... and I am not going to lie, I was one of those people to an extent. His rookie year, I loved Tony Allen. He played great defense, brought energy and passion, and slashed to the basket. In 05, it was a lost season due to the off-court issue and his knee. But, from December to now, he has been a COMPLETELY different player. He is Tony Allen of 2004 times 2. The defense is better than ever, the ballhandling and decision making has improved, the jump shot has come a long way (still needs work though), he has always 100% aggressive, he takes it to the basket consistently, and he is really knocking down that 18-20 foot pull-up. In every game he has started this year, he has been outstanding, especially in the last 10 games or so. TA was one of my favorites in 04, and he has earned that again. WAY TO GO TA!
