Loose Balls

*52 for Andre Miller. Wow. Just wow. Nate McMillan suddenly realized that very few guards in the league can handle Andre in the post. That's only been the case for eight years or so. But by all means, relegate him to a spot up shooter once Roy returns, Coach.

*When Big Baby reached out to the public for a new nickname, the fat jokes came fast and furious. My personal fav: Dunkin' Donuts.

*The Coach Of The Year race is super interesting this year. If the voting happened today, these would be my top three- Larry Brown, Scott Brooks and Lionel Hollins. In truth, Phil Jackson should win this award every year but that's just too easy. I've bashed Nate's handling of Andre but he's managed to stay competitive with Juwan Howard as his starting C and a handful of young and untested players (Bayless, Pendergraph, Cunningham) in the rotation. Props.

*John Hollinger recently stated the Luke Ridnour was his choice for Most Improved Player. I can say with great certainty that Luke's game hasn't changed a bit since he played for the Sonics. He's exactly the same player, no better or worse. Sometimes the stats lie. Hollinger also proposed Floppy Varejao for Defensive Player Of The Year. Now, I love Andy's game (not so much his hair or his floppiness) but there's no way he's a better defender than Dwight Howard. Ridonkulous.

Pictured: Floppy throwing himself to the floor in dramatic fashion