FanHouse NBA Most Likely

With the start of the 2009-10 season looming, NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Madison Square Garden is the crown jewel of NBA arenas. It's the oldest building in the league, and has hosted a ton of special moments throughout its history. Many of those moments likely helped shaped the hoop dreams of many of the league's current stars.

Of course, no one had a greater influence on making MSG a special place to play than Michael Jordan (sorry, Knicks fans). Since Jordan, every NBA player has wanted to come to the Garden and put on a show.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Chris Andersen -- better known as The Birdman -- has a long way to grow before gaining the beard notoriety of The Hangover actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis, but I think he can pull it off (albeit in a light shade). In August, on occasion of his basketball camp in Denver, Andersen revealed to the Denver Post he would not be shaving his beard until his wedding in June 2010. Andersen even quipped that he was "the grizzly bird," which makes no sense until you really meditate on it.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Some basketball statisticians think Kevin Durant has been overrated through two seasons of work, a tunnel-visioned volume scorer. Others believe him to be The Second Second Coming, a future pantheon invitee getting his sea legs. Where's the truth?

We'll find out more this season, I'd bet ... but not without a war.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Shawn Marion looks like a man that won't last the entire season at his current destination. Let's look at some of the reasons why:

1) Marion is in the last year of his deal, and has incentive force a trade to a team that wants to sign him long term.

2) Miami already has Riley favorite Udonis Haslem and number two overall pick Michael Beasley to fill Marion's role at the four.

3) Miami's in desperate need of a starter level point guard and center.

4) Tons of teams could use a do everything player of Marion's caliber. Seems like the perfect storm for a Marion trade. But where could he go?

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Before getting injured this past week, Derrick Rose was making a name for himself this preseason (Case in point: his 30-point performance against the Mavs this past Tuesday). With his explosive game, he's quickly becoming a fan favorite around the league.

When you consider the lack of superstar point guards out East, and the fact that Rose is playing in a big market like Chicago, it's highly likely that he could get voted to the All-Star team as a rookie. I mean, with Jason Kidd heading west, his only competition for the starting nod would be with Chauncey Billups, Rajon Rondo, Jose Calderon, Andre Miller, Devin Harris, TJ Ford and Gilbert Arenas (no angry emails about Starbury).

Chauncey is probably the best of all of those players, but outside of Detroit, he's never been that "box office."

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

On Christmas Eve, Scott Skiles received the dreaded pink slip from the Bulls. Heartless? Perhaps. Unexpected? No fricking way. The NBA is a business, son, and business has to get handled ... even on a quasi-holiday. So who should fear the phone during Hanukkah, the 12 days of Christmas and New Year's Eve this year? We offer three candidates.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Last year was a break-out year for Sasha Vujacic. He made a name for himself by becoming the Lakers go-to bench scorer and resident defensive pest. It's the latter part that concerns me though.

Throughout last season, his irritating ways got under the skin of a ton of NBA guys. Sasha had physical confrontations (read: he got manhandled) with Baron Davis, Rafer Alston, Carmelo Anthony, and Renaldo Balkman. He also didn't make make the Cleveland Cavaliers too happy when he tried to infiltrate their huddle.

So what is it about Sasha that gets under the skin of so many NBA Players?

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

Newsflash: Sacramento Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin is all sorts of good. I mean really freaking good.Trusted basketball scribes like Tom Ziller, David Thorpe, and John Hollinger have been raving about Martin for a while now. Yet, K-Mart hasn't been getting love from the mainstream.

For instance, if you talked to a casual NBA fan, they might laugh at you if you suggested that Kevin Martin is better than Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady. This is just sad, because it's obvious to anyone paying attention that Martin is better than pretty much every two guard in the league outside of Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. If you don't believe me, please check out Tom Ziller's Kevin Martin NBA Top 50 post for the proof.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

For the past two seasons, Jazz guard Deron Williams has been roundly considered one of the best point guards in the league. He's led the Jazz out of the first round two seasons in a row, and has put up some serious numbers (shooting 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 80% from the foul line with 18.8 points and 10.8 per night). Despite all this, Deron still hasn't made an All-Star team.

This really isn't a knock on Deron's on court performance, but mostly just proof that the Western Conference has been stacked with top point guards for the last few seasons. 2007 NBA Finals MVP Tony Parker, 2-Time MVP Steve Nash, 2008 MVP runner up Chris Paul, and the explosive Baron Davis all played out west with Williams last season. Those guys still all reside in the Western conference, but that shouldn't prevent Williams from finally making the All-Star team this year.

NBA FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

League MVP, NBA Championships, Olympic Gold, 81 points in a game...you name it, and Kobe Bryant has pretty much done it. Well, almost everything.

Despite having some pretty big games against the Knicks, Kobe has yet to score 50 points in a game at Madison Square Garden. There's something that just feels very wrong about that statement.

Michael Jordan made it fashionable to have great performances at the Garden. Jordan had numerous spectacular games and plays at MSG, but set the bar at another level when he became the first Knicks opponent to reach the 50 point plateau at the Garden on opening night of the 1986-87 season. Jordan later broke his own record when he dropped a double nickle "wearing the four five" during his comeback in 1995.