From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
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Tom: I still enjoy watching the All-Star game because it matches up the best of the best you can get a chance to see the elite among the All-Stars emerge. Always seems like the players with talent and resolve end up imposing their will on those who arrive with talent alone. Like about any event in 2007 it is extremely overhyped. With all of the sponsor tie-in events around the game on Friday and Saturday, the actual All-Star game becomes a little anti-climactic. But when the game gets to the second half and the outcome is up for grabs, the competitive juices start to flow through the talent and makes the game a must-see NBA spectacle.

What surprise player is going to come on strong in the final months of the season?

Atma Brother #1: Two standout swingmen are going to come on strong in the final months of the season: Paul Pierce and Jason Richardson. Paul Pierce aka "The Truth" is an amazing talent whose career is being wasted by the Celtics' clueless decision-maker Danny Ainge. Pierce has pride and the skillz to put up some monster numbers as the season winds down. He will not let the Celtics finish with the worst record in the league. The problem is that might not be a good thing for the Celts. Say goodbye to Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.

Jason Richardson aka J-Rich is another candidate primed for a huge finish to the 2k6-2k7 NBA regular season. Many NBA junkies might not realize it, but Rich was playing at an All-Star level last season despite being alongside two of the worst starters in the league in Mike Dunleavy and Adonal Foyle. It didn't help that his other half of the BoomRich backcourt, Baron Davis was down for a major portion of the season either. Throw in the fact that the Warriors didn't have an NBA-level head coach walking the sidelines last season and it becomes even more uncanny how J-Rich dropped 23 points a night. J-Rich will entertain Warriors Nation for the rest of this season even as the losses pile up almost as fast as they do for the Celtics.

Dave: You've got to believe Chris Duhon in Chicago and Larry Hughes in Cleveland could both be doing better than they are.

Matt: Surprise player, huh? Does that mean someone who's making an impact now, as recent as it may be, like Paul Millsap? Or a previously underrated star who's just emerging like Andre Iguodala? What about a rookie, like Nets PG Marcus Williams? Or do you just want to Free Darko like I do? Somewhere between Tony Battie's injury and the light bulb going off that he's playing for a big-money contract, Darko will emerge as a force for Orlando. He and Howard will be a twin tower combo that no one will want to face. In due time, we'l finally be able to give a new connotation to his "Human Victory Cigar" nickname.

Mike P: This is kind of a cop out, but I see LeBron James being absolutely insane over the final few months. Do we really have such a short memory? LeBron did this last year too. He sleepwalked through the first half of the year, then absolutely turned it on in the second-half to singlehandedly lead Cleveland to the second round. He's stayed surprisingly quiet on the subject of Cleveland's struggles, and seems to lack that extra gear right now. Don't you think that if there really was a problem, he'd be more vocal about it? With the East there for the taking, I see LeBron turning into a better version of the LeBron from last year.

As for an actual surprise player, this is completely a shot in the dark, but I'll go out on a limb and say that Shaun Livingston finally starts to realize his full potential. Once the Clippers rid themselves of Corey Maggette, they'll be fine. They'll miss Corey incredibly, but it just seems the entire feud is dogging them. I see them making a late run and Shaun finally starting to put it together.

Ryan: Has anyone else noticed that the Hornets are only one game out a playoff spot in the Western Conference as of Wednesday morning? After battling through a couple of weeks without Chris Paul and David West it looks like the Hornets now have the majority of their starting line-up back healthy and poised for a strong second half. West is still hobbled but he's shown in the games that I've watched he's a legit double-double each night and provides the Hornets with a lowpost scorer. Add Bobby Jackson for veteran leadership and Tyson Chandler for his defensive intensity and New Orleans has a chance to make a lot of noise in the second-half of the season.

Tom: Brandon Roy is going to run away with the Rookie of the Year award with his level of play after the break.