Florida and Texas...Best NBA Teams?

Tonight in America Airlines arena the top two NBA Teams in the Western Conference squared off in TNT as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Dallas Mavericks. Not only are these two teams the best in the West but they make a strong case for who is the best pro team in Texas? Further east in the state of Florida the new look Orlando Magic led by Dwight Howard claim they're the best team in the NBA but the triple three in Miami claim that the Heat are not only the best team in Florida but also the NBA.

All four teams make strong cases for best team in the NBA but for now lest decide who's the best team in Florida and Texas:

Heat vs. Magic: With the addition of Jason Richardson and Gilbert Arenas, the Magic added additional scoring for Dwight Howard. Most Improved candidate JJ Reddick is improving every game and even regained his long range shooting. The biggest advantage for the Magic is Jamer Nelson. Miami has been unable to contain calaber point guards all year and Nelson and drive and dish all day. For the Miami Heat, it starts and ends with The Big 3. James, Wade, and Bosh can score any given night but the with the return of Mike Miller, he must provide the long rage shot when the triple threat are in trouble. Without a quality point guard I give the edge to the Orlando Magic.

The Texas Showdown: Tonight we saw the San Antonio Spurs victorious and I believe they're still the best team in Texas for reasons why. The Spurs are the smartest team in the NBA. The veteran team that's won 4 titles since 1999 has the same formula working since they won their first title. This team breathes defense and never takes any bad shots. Tony Parker is still one of the quickest point guards in the league and Manu Ginobili provides the additional scoring for Tim Duncan. Richard Jefferson has secured his role which is attacking the basket and having DeJuan Blair is a huge plus. Dallas is getting older and still does not practice defense. Jason Kidd can no longer guard the speedy guard and Dirk is still soft on the defensive end. Kidd's guard play, Dirk's scoring, Marion doing everything, and Tyson Chandler rebounding & blocking shots is still not enough for Mark Cuban's crew to win Texas.

All-Star Recap - Trading Deadline

What did I learn about this weekend...this has been one of the worse all-star weekends in recent history. For starter no Bryant, CP3, or Brandon Roy. The dunk off was a complete joke...A slasher wins the 3-point contest. The most disappointing event in Dallas was the dunk contest. Shannon Brown had better dunks in Proviso East than he did in Dallas. The best dunk of the contest was the Demar dunk of the side of the backboard for a windmill. Nate Robinson did what I expected him to do. Nothing creative but he got the job done to secure his title. Derrick Rose did not defend his skills title but did play in the ASG. The 2003 class dominated the ASG and they all should have walked away with the MVPs.

With the second half beginning tonight, Marcus Camby is now a Blazer. This is huge because Portland now has a legit center on their roster until Greg Oden returns next season. It wouldn't surprise me if Portland jumped all the way to the 5th seed. Will "Da Thrill" Bynum had a career high 14 assist against Minnesota tonight. Glad to see Will is finally playing the point the right way.

In college John Wall and Kentucky got a scare against Mississippi State and were down by 7 with 3 minuets left to go. But like true Final 4 contenders, the Wildcats pulled through with the overtime victory. Tom Izzo & Tom Cream had a mini reunion but once the game begin, Michigan State were the ones that left the court smiling. Indiana Hoosiers will be bad for a least two more seasons. Thanks Sampson.

Finally pray that coach George Karl has a speedy recovery and good luck Bulls tomorrow night in MSG.

Rookie/Sophomore Game - Dunk Off

Last night in Dallas the Rookies finally defeated the Sophomore class in the annual game that takes place during All-Star weekend. Tyreke Evans walked away with the MVP but DeJuan Blair have the best game of the night putting up 22 points 21 rebounds. One play Blair even threw the ball off the backboard then slammed it down with one hand. What's most amazing is that this guy tore his ACL in both legs. I expected Brandon Jennings aka Kenny Anderson clone to shine in this type of game but not a flashy as he was during his AAU days.

Demar Rozen qualified to participate in the dunk contest defeating Eric Gordon. I don't know why a shooter like Gordon even challenged a dunker like Rozen. I've seen Rozen do better dunks on YouTube versus the ones he did last night (don't wanna give away too much).

Tonight I'm predicting Derrick Rose will win the skills challenge along with Chauncey Billups to win the 3-point contest followed by Shannon Brown to win the dunk contest.

Tune into TNT to watch all the activities this weekend!!!!!

Potential Western Conference All-Stars

Earlier I announced the candidates for the East All-Star lineup. Now I will announce who should represent the Western Conference Dallas and land their first all-star bid.

• Deron Williams - Near double-double averaging 19 pts 9 ast but since this a popularity contest it does not bold well......again Verdict: OUT
• Al Jefferson - Putting up 19 pts 9 reb but with Dirk, Timmy, Stoudamire, Melo plus his team stinks his chances are not that well but is deserving...Verdict: OUT
• Kevin Durant - Velvet hoop is in his third year and is having a career year. Pure scorer droppiong 30 a night will not be left out in the cold....Verdict: IN
• Tyreke Evans - 20 pts 5 reb 5 ast has all-star numbers all day. The problem is Bryant, Nash, Parker, CP3, Billups are also guards that play in the west (plus they're teams are winning) Verdict: OUT
• OJ Mayo - 19 pts per night will have many all-star games in his career but just don't expect any this season or the next. Verdict: OUT
• Rudy Gay - 20 pts 6 reb for the former Huskie but once again too many forwards come out the west. Verdict: OUT

Sunday's Best Players

The star for Sunday was Zach Randolph for giving Denver 32 points and 24 rebounds. Zach has always been one of the most underrated power forwards in the League but doesn't get any recognition because of his troubled past or he's played on bad teams. With Dirk, Timmy, Melo, Odom, Al Jefferson all great forwards in the west Zach will not play in Dallas come February 2010.

Kendrick Perkins had a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The best thing that happened in his career was KG coming to Boston and winning the chip while Perkins was on the team. Since winning the chip in '08, Perkins confidence and game has improved but if I'm playing with KG everyday, my game should improve.

Quentin Richardson...Q shot 7-7 from downtown but unfortunately the Heat fell to Portland. When left opened, Q is one of the better spot up shooters in the League and he still has the ability to rise above the rim. Plus he's from Chicago.

Johnathan Bender is back!!! It's good to see Bender back in the League who retired in 2006 due to several injuries. On NBA TV tonight he mentioned he had to give it another shot or else he would have been 37-38 wondering what if. Good for him and I hope he works out.

Let Shannon Dunk

I know the NBA Dunk Contest is not until February but it's time to start thinking about candidates that should participate. Personally I'm endorsing Shannon Brown to enter the dunk contest. Please click here to learn more about Shannon Brown's campaign to enter the dunk contest. Other players I would like to see enter the contest is Derrick Rose, Will Bynum, Nate Robinson, LeBron James, JR Smith, Gerald Henderson, and Vince Carter.

I'm pretty sure only one of the names mentioned above will enter but the League needs to make it interesting by offering $1 million dollars to the winner. I guarantee the elite dunkers would participate then.

Take my poll and let me know who should dunk come All-Star Weekend in Dallas.