With Duke’s J.J. Redick and Gonzaga’s Adam Morrison lighting it up night after night, and U. Conn doing their best to live up to comparisons to last season’s North Carolina squad, it can sometimes be difficult to remember that the NBA is still going on. With all of the media attention surrounding college basketball, many people, even big sports fans, are overlooking one of the most intriguing NBA seasons in recent memory.

After a hugely successful All-Star weekend, the NBA is back in full swing for the second half of the season as some teams are clawing for playoff positions, while others are trying to stay atop the standings. Trade talks are flowing as teams are trying to make that one move that could put them into serious contention. And some cellar dwellers (i.e. the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks) seem to be making a case for the top overall pick in the draft.

With a great deal still to be decided for this season, three big questions loom. Below, these questions will be answered and bold predictions will be made:

Can anybody stop the Detroit Pistons?

In short, no. There is really no foreseeable way for any team currently in the NBA to stop a team that won the 2004 championship and came within one game of the 2005 title. using the exact same starting line-up.

But come playoff time, depending on which teams are hot, anything can happen. So which teams can put together the perfect seven-game series that could end the Pistons’ (43-9) dominant reign over the league? Let’s start with the obvious choice, the San Antonio Spurs. Last year’s champions always seem to turn it on come playoff time. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are undoubtedly great talents that can play with anybody, but two-time league MVP Duncan has been battling injuries as of late. If Duncan is healthy, we’ll see the Spurs in the finals with the Pistons, and it’ll be an epic battle. If not, they’ll be lucky to make it to the conference finals.

With Shaquille O’Neal and Dwayne Wade providing an incomparable inside-outside attack, the Miami Heat will be a team to watch come playoff time. Having split their two games against the Pistons this season, the Heat will be the stiffest competition in the Eastern Division for Detroit. Against the Pistons this season, Wade has averaged 35 points per game, which should be a major concern. With the team still struggling to find adequate team chemistry, however, with off-season additions Antoine Walker, James Posey and Jason Williams, the Pistons should be able to come out on top in a seven-game series.

On to a surprising pick for who could pose the biggest problem for the Pistons in the playoffs: the Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash and company are currently second place in the immensely competitive Western Conference, and that’s without Amare Stoudemire, one of the best young talents in the league and an absolutely dominant inside force. Stoudemire is expected to return from the injury that has kept him out the entire season, and when he does, watch out. The combination of Stoudemire and all-star Shawn Marion down low could be too much for Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince to handle. And with last season’s MVP Steve Nash running the point like only he knows how, the Pistons’ Chauncey Billups could struggle in the match-up he’s gladly avoided all season. But is it enough?

NBA Finals Prediction: Detroit over Phoenix in seven games

Who’s the MVP?

Okay, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant put up 81 points in a single game. But is he having an MVP-quality season? The answer is yes, but the performance of his team will keep him from taking home the award. Sure, Kobe’s 34.9 points per game is absolutely incredible, but despite his incomparable number of shots taken on the season and his team’s position in the standings (eighth in the Western Conference), Kobe will need to get a little more unselfish and start winning more games before he will win the MVP award.

Another excellent candidate is the best player on the league’s best team, Chauncey Billups. Billups is the catalyst for Detroit, averaging 18.9 points and 8.7 assists per game, good for third in the league. His assist-to-turnover ratio is enough to make point guards around the league extremely jealous, and the leadership that he consistently provides his dominant Detroit team is like that of no other player in the league. When the votes are tabulated for MVP this season, however, look for Billups to come up painfully short. After all, he is still another great season away from being a household name, and voters like a visible character – which leads us to my prediction for NBA MVP.

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James will take home the prize. LeBron has, quite simply, become the player he was always expected to be, just a few years earlier than most people anticipated. He makes the highlight reel every night with explosive offensive moves, yet gets his teammates involved and boasts a ridiculous statistics line for the season (31.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.64 steals per game). His team currently has the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and sits firmly in the fourth spot in the playoff seedings. And he does it with a supporting cast that is equally as weak as Kobe’s. LeBron should take home one of what should be many NBA MVP awards.

NBA MVP Prediction: LeBron James

Which team has been the biggest disappointment this season?

While I would love to spend a few paragraphs bashing the utterly despicable New York Knicks, the most truly disappointing team this season has to be the Houston Rockets. The fact that the Rockets have two players who were voted as all-star starters (thanks a lot, China, for your overwhelming number of ballots), Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, it is implausible that they would be 13th in the Western Conference out of 15 teams. The most likely cause, however, is poor guard play. A team can’t expect to win with David Wesley and streetball legend-turned-NBA guard Rafer Alston in the backcourt. The Rockets have received strong play off the bench from rookie Luther Head, who inexplicably starts only on rare occasions, but it hasn’t been enough to translate into wins. But no matter what, with Yao and McGrady on the floor, the Rockets should be able to hang with anybody. This team is disappointing in every sense of the word.

Most Disappointing Team: Houston Rockets

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