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[b]By Maurice Brooks[/b]
NBA.com
Week 11
Posted Jan 16 2007 1:45PM
January 16, 2007 -- Who says you can't go home?
Chris Webber, who in high school was named Mr. Basketball for the state of Michigan and went on to lead the University of Michigan to a pair of NCAA title games, is coming back to Detroit.

A week after Webber and the Sixers negotiated a buyout of his contract, the big man announced on Monday that he was going to sign with the Pistons.

"I thank all of the interested teams for their time and consideration," said Webber, a 14-year NBA veteran. "Joining the Pistons will allow me the opportunity to play the game I love in my hometown of Detroit surrounded by my family. I look forward to joining a roster of talented athletes and working towards a fourth NBA title for the Pistons and the great city of Detroit.”

And with that statement, the Pistons once again became the best team in the East.

Yes, LeBron James and the Cavaliers are good, but they can't match Detroit's depth.

Sure the Heat are the defending champions, but Shaquille O'Neal has missed practically the entire season and head coach Pat Riley is still sidelined.

On paper, the Wizards, Magic, Bulls and Nets each have quality teams, but their squads aren't as complete as the Webber-led Pistons.

Webber, who is expected to play center, will fit in nicely with Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince in the frontcourt. Throw in veteran guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton and you see why C-Webb chose Detroit as his next destination.

Since tearing cartilage in his knee as a member of the Kings in 2003, Webber has not been as mobile as he used to be. Even still, he is capable of putting up outstanding numbers, judging by the 20.2 points and 10 rebounds a contest he posted last season.

At this later stage in his career, Webber, who is arguably the best passing big in the league, will thrive in Detroit. He will aim to complete his goal of winning an NBA title before becoming a free agent in July.

The five-time All-Star won't be the main cog for the Pistons but then again, they don't need him to be.

Webber had front-row seats Monday at The Palace for the Pistons game against the Timberwolves and got a standing ovation.

Sign of things to come?

Perhaps.

Here are the player rankings for the season through Jan. 15.


Race to the MVP - Overall Player Rankings
[b]1. Steve Nash[/b], Phoenix
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
19.5 3.2 11.3 0.8 0.1 .526 .876

Last Week's Rank - 1 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
Phoenix has won 10 straight, it's the second time this season they've posted a double-digit win streak. Has Nash ever been better than he was against Cleveland when he handed out 21 assists?



[b]2. Gilbert Arenas[/b], Washington
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
30.2 4.3 6.3 2.1 0.1 .433 .841

Last Week's Rank - 2 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
Agent Zero has seven 40-point games and three 50-point games this season. The 51 points he scored on Monday was a record point total for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.



[b]3. Dirk Nowitzki[/b], Dallas
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
24.8 9.4 3.1 0.7 0.7 .508 .895

Last Week's Rank - 3 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
The Mavericks have the top record in the league and Dirk has played some of the best ball of his career the past two games: He had 43 points and 12 boards against the Pacers and 38, 11 and five assists vs. the Raptors.



[b]4. Kobe Bryant[/b], L.A. Lakers
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
27.9 5.3 5.5 1.2 0.4 .471 .858

Last Week's Rank - 5 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
With Lamar Odom, who has been out since Dec. 12 with a sprained ligament in his right knee, expected to miss the rest of the month, Kobe will have to continue to shoulder the load for the Lakers (7-3 over their past 10 games).



[b]5. Kevin Garnett[/b], Minnesota
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
22.7 12.6 4.4 1.2 2.0 .480 .831

Last Week's Rank - 6 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
KG, who has 10 straight double-doubles, has led the Timberwolves to three straight wins and they now trail the Jazz by just three games in the Northwest.



[b]6. LeBron James[/b], Cleveland
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
26.9 6.7 6.1 1.5 0.8 .481 .710

Last Week's Rank - 7 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
With LeBron filling the stat sheet -- he is the only player in the league with averages of at least 26 points, six rebounds and six assists -- the Cavaliers have the top record in the East (23-13).



[b]7. Carlos Boozer[/b], Utah
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
22.3 11.8 3.1 0.9 0.3 .560 .716

Last Week's Rank - 4 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
Since getting off to that great start to the season, Boozer has been super, while the Jazz have not. Utah has dropped four straight, but don't blame Boozer, who posted 32 points and 16 rebounds, 29 and 14 and 27 and 13 in his last three games.



[b]8. Tim Duncan[/b], San Antonio
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
19.9 10.3 3.4 0.7 2.0 .548 .616

Last Week's Rank - 8 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
Just when it looked like the Spurs were slipping, they ran off four straight wins before falling to the Bulls on Monday. Duncan tallied 21 points, 16 rebounds and four assists in the defeat.



[b]9. Dwyane Wade[/b], Miami
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
27.9 4.5 8.0 1.9 1.2 .480 .817

Last Week's Rank - 9 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot daily
D-Wade did an unbelievable job of carrying the Heat while Shaq was gone. With the Diesel, who has missed 33 straight games expected back any day now, look for Miami to surge.



[b]10. Dwight Howard[/b], Orlando
PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT%
17.4 12.6 1.7 0.8 2.0 .569 .640

Last Week's Rank - 10 | All-Star Game: Fill out a ballot
It was an up and down week for Howard. He had arguably the best game of his career on Wednesday (30 points, 25 rebounds against the Warriors) and then posted his worst game of the season on Saturday against the Suns (10 points, five rebounds).



Close But No Cigar (season averages)
11. Tracy McGrady (HOU): 22.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6.3 APG
12. Shawn Marion (PHX): 19.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 2.1 SPG
13. Caron Butler (WAS): 20.8 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.0 SPG
14. Jason Kidd (NJN): 14.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 9.4 APG
15. Josh Howard (DAL): 19.0 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.9 APG
16. Zach Randolph (POR): 23.4 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 1.9 APG
17. Chris Bosh (TOR): 21.5 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 2.1 APG
18. Baron Davis (GSW): 20.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 8.6 APG
19. Allen Iverson (DEN): 29.4 PPG, 7.3 APG, 2.1 SPG
20. Jermaine O'Neal (IND): 19.2 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.1 BPG



Running the Floor

[b]Stoudemire [/b]
Amare Stoudemire is having a great bounce-back season for the Suns. The big man is averaging 18 points and nine rebounds a game and exploded for 42 and nine against the Grizzlies on Monday. Obviously, he is over the knee injury that limited him to just three games last season.
As well as Gilbert Arenas has played this season, he still believes it will be tough to dethrone Steve Nash for MVP.
"MVP? That trophy is given out at the end of the year," Arenas said. "This is (37) games into the season so you can't do too much about it. Right now, Steve Nash is above everybody. You have to really do something dramatic in this league. If Kobe Bryant averages 35 with an 81 and he didn't get it, you have to do something else in this league to overtake what Steve Nash has done."

[url="http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings_070116.html"]http://www.nba.com/features/player_rankings_070116.html[/url]
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I still say Steve Nash gets MVP this year.

His numbers are better than year's past. Suns are on fire. He makes everyone on his team better. Take Boris Diaw, almost kicked out of the league, now a very good player with Nash or Raja Bell, not known offensively prior to coming to the Suns, now is a force .... I could go on and on. Nash almost makes the clutch shot night in and night out and steps his game up in so many ways.

While Gilbert has done well late and is the new hot name, he does little to improve the players around him. He has talent around him, but it is hard for other guys to get in a rhythm when you are constantly chucking it up.

Kobe does a lot for the Lakers and is a great scoring threat, but even though I watch him a lot, he is not a MVP .... not on the Nash level. He definitely has the skills to get to the MVP level at some point in his career though. There is no doubt about that
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Guest WhoDeyForever
For me, It has to be Arenas. He has literally carried Washington this year and the stats he puts up night in and night out is flat out amazing.
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Guest Master Shake
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan
Bill Russell
Wilt Chamberlain
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Moses Malone
...
Steve Nash?

If Nash wins MVP this will be the list of all the 3-time winners in league history. Not that this is really all that pertinent to the argument of who should be MVP this year, but does anyone really think Nash is at these guys level?
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[quote name='Master Shake' post='433117' date='Jan 25 2007, 06:55 PM']Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan
Bill Russell
Wilt Chamberlain
Larry Bird
Magic Johnson
Moses Malone
...
Steve Nash?

If Nash wins MVP this will be the list of all the 3-time winners in league history. Not that this is really all that pertinent to the argument of who should be MVP this year, but does anyone really think Nash is at these guys level?[/quote]

Watching Nash night in and night out I would say yes. He dominates the game, but does it in a different way then most players. He is the most clutch shooter in the league (meaning he has the highest FG %) in the last two minutes of a game this season. He has better numbers than last year and the Suns have gone on two 15-game winning streaks this season, not to mention basically back-to-back.

The only thing that Nash doesn't have in comparison to the above mentioned players is he hasn't done it for as long. Jordan, Bird, etc. dominated the game for large parts of their career. Nash basically post-30 is now reaching the peak of his play, which can be compared to those above superstars.
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Guest A-Men-HouseofPain
[quote name='Dan_Bengals_NJ' post='433138' date='Jan 25 2007, 09:14 PM']Watching Nash night in and night out I would say yes. He dominates the game, but does it in a different way then most players. He is the most clutch shooter in the league (meaning he has the highest FG %) in the last two minutes of a game this season. He has better numbers than last year and the Suns have gone on two 15-game winning streaks this season, not to mention basically back-to-back.

The only thing that Nash doesn't have in comparison to the above mentioned players is he hasn't done it for as long. Jordan, Bird, etc. dominated the game for large parts of their career. Nash basically post-30 is now reaching the peak of his play, which can be compared to those above superstars.[/quote]
i swear, ud collect his nut hair if u found it.
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Guest A-Men-HouseofPain

[quote name='Dan_Bengals_NJ' post='433205' date='Jan 25 2007, 11:03 PM']Who says I haven't already.

:ninja:[/quote]
did WDF hack ur password? oh wait nvm, that woulda meant u sucked his dick. :ninja:

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Guest A-Men-HouseofPain

[quote name='Dan_Bengals_NJ' post='433208' date='Jan 25 2007, 11:05 PM']:lol: :lol: :lol:

Damn dude is getting pwned today.[/quote]
pwned/bwned its his familys way.

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[quote name='Dan_Bengals_NJ' post='433138' date='Jan 25 2007, 09:14 PM']Watching Nash night in and night out I would say yes. He dominates the game, but does it in a different way then most players. He is the most clutch shooter in the league (meaning he has the highest FG %) in the last two minutes of a game this season. He has better numbers than last year and the Suns have gone on two 15-game winning streaks this season, not to mention basically back-to-back.

The only thing that Nash doesn't have in comparison to the above mentioned players is he hasn't done it for as long. Jordan, Bird, etc. dominated the game for large parts of their career. Nash basically post-30 is now reaching the peak of his play, which can be compared to those above superstars.[/quote]
go nash

[quote name='A-Men-HouseofPain' post='433209' date='Jan 25 2007, 11:09 PM']pwned/bwned its his familys way.[/quote]
go suns
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