Joakim Noah leads the NBA in rebounds and is no where to be found on the 2010 All-Star ballot.His teammate Brad Miller is on the ballot considering he is averaging 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Noah leads the league with 12.6 rebounds and second with 4.6 offensive rebounds per game. He is tied for seventh in blocks per game (2.0) and is averaging a career high 12.1 points per game The third year player has posted eight double-doubles and five straight while shooting 55% from the field.

Noah is up against Dwight Howard, Brook Lopez, Andrea Bargnani and Al Horford in the East but his scrappy play should keep him in the mix. Noah attributes his improvement to bulking up and league experience. On November 7th and 10th he recorded career highs in points (21) and rebounds (21).

The Knicks won a game this week! And The Answer may be coming to New York (so the question must be: Will a desperate team do anything to keep their fans interested?). But with last Friday’s loss, the Knicks established the worst 10-game start in franchise history. Things could be a lot worse, though; here are some other bad starts throughout history that may help them feel better about themselves: The Hindenburg blew up over New Jersey on the first of its 10 scheduled round-trips between Europe and the United States, killing 36 people; the Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk four days into its maiden voyage; William Henry Harrison died of a cold one month into his presidency in 1841; Wally Backman lasted four days as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks before he was unceremoniously shown the door; Gilligan’s three-hour tour got off to an inauspicious start, getting stranded on a deserted island for 15 years, until the castaways were miraculously rescued, followed by them buying …

The usual state of affairs when the Rangers sign a free agent goes something like this: Free agent is past his prime with his best days well behind him, he signs an outrageously sized contract and then plays like crap while laughing all the way to the bank (see Redden, Wade or Fleury, Theo). But the Blueshirts have hit the jackpot this year, with Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal and Ales Kotalik (well, three out of four ain’t bad – Donald Brashear and the word “jackpot” don’t go together – except to his agent). Unfortunately, it’s the rest of the roster that’s dragging the team down.
Gaborik, Prospal and Kotalik have scored a combined 26 goals. The Rangers have a total of 62, which means those three free-agent pickups have contributed 42% of the team’s scoring. Prospal’s the bargain of the century, with his one-million-dollar contract (I’m so old I remember when a million dollars was a lot of money). Kotalik gives the Rangers the point man …

In 2006, the Mets were one game away from the World Series. And that’s been their biggest problem the last three years. They still think they’re one game away from the World Series. But they’re not. And they’re not even close. 2006 was their year. It was their chance. Their opportunity. And they blew it. And they’ve been a step behind, plugging holes, sticking their finger in the dike, fixing last year’s problems, or even the problems from the year before that, ever since. Unfortunately, the big problems who go by the names of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel (is Wally Backman waiting in the wings now that he’s been hired to manage Brooklyn? God, I hope so) are still here, so we’ll have to live with them at least through the beginning of the 2010 season.
The Mets’ failings are more than the bullpen issues of ’07 and ’08, and more than the power outage and injuries of ’09. The team needs more than Matt Holliday and John Lackey (though they definitely need …

1. Brandon Jennings is the real deal: In two games last week Jennings has scored 87 points with 14 assists. So far this season he is averaging 25 points (8th in the NBA), 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. He also is shooting 49% from the field, 83% from the foul line and has 17 three-pointers. In a 8-cat league his fantasy value equals the 10th overall player.

2. Marc Gasol has been playing like his brother: Gasol  pulled down 16 rebounds last Saturday for the second time this season. He is averaging 14.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Also he is shooting 56% from the field and 78% from the line. He is looking like one of the biggest steals in the draft.

3. Danny Granger is showing why he was a top 4th pick: The Pacers upset the Celtics last Friday and Granger was a big part of that with 29 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 6 three-pointers. His rebounding has increase with Troy Murphy sidelined.

4. Chris Bosh …

Week 4 (Nov. 16-22)
Teams playing four games: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indiana, Miami, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Portland, Toronto
Teams playing three games: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Golden State, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Memphis, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, Utah, Washington
Teams playing two games: Minnesota

Darren Collison (Hornets)- With the injury to Chris Paul, Collison started at point guard and had 10 points, 4 steals and 2 steals in 25 minutes last Saturday. Paul could be out for about a month which increases the value of the rookie.

Marcus Thorton (Hornets)- Thorton should  receive extended minutes off the bench with the injury to Paul. Thorton has scored 32 points over in last two games including a career high 20 last Friday.

C.J. Watson (Warriors)- Watson scored a season high 19 points vs. the Knicks last Friday. He is shooting 51% from the field and averaging a steal per game.

Wes Matthews (Jazz)- Matthews has scored in double-figures in four of his past six games. Deron Williams has missed the past two games which …

The Yankees win the World Series and as soon as you can say the words “Johnny Damon wants a four-year contract” the rest of the New York–area teams go down the tubes. They went a combined 5-11 this past week. It must be a hangover. Are all the local teams riding on the Yankees’ coattails and going to all of their parties? It’s also possible that many of the area teams just stink. The Knicks and Nets went a combined 0-7 this week, and are 1-16 for the year, for instance. It was only the always-good Devils that skewed the combined record by going 4-0, and they barely count as a local team.

Here’s a day-by-day look at the past seven days.

Friday: The injury-riddled Nets lost to Philly, which kept them winless for the season, and the Devils beat the Islanders in a continuation of the New Jersey–Long Island War of 1801, in which it was so cold and icey out during the Battle of Massapequa that both sides just gave up …

Guards

Toney Douglas (Knicks)- Douglas scored a career high 23 points in 36 minutes vs. the Hawks on Wedesnday. He scored 16 and 21 points in his previous two games and has made nine three-pointers on the season.

Rudy Fernandez (Trailblazers)- Fernandez has played inconsistent minutes all season but has 13 three-pointers and is averaging 1.78  steals per game.

Kyle Lowry (Rockets)- Lowry is averaging 8 points, 5.12 assists and 1 steal off the bench. He has played in at least 24 minutes in every game but two this season and has three games of at least eight assists.

Honorable mention: Devin Brown (Hornets)

Forwards

Jared Dudley (Suns)- Dudley has scored in double figures in five of his past six games. He has 18 three-pointers on the season and is averaging 1.30 steals per game.

JJ Hickson (Cavs)- Hickson scored a season high 18 points in 31 minutes vs. the Heat yesterday. He is starting over Anderson Varejo which means he could provide a decent amount of points and rebounds.

Taj Gibson (Bulls)- Gibson has scored in double figures in three of his …

1. Head Coach Mike D’Antoni has assembled four different starting lineups in nine games.

2. Their opponents have scored over 100+ points in every game but one (Jazz)

3. Opponents are shooting 49% from the field and averaging 109 points per game  (2nd and 3rd worst in NBA)

4. NY is shooting 29% from three (27th in NBA)

5. Starting PG Chris Duhon is shooting 26% from the field and needs to be benched

6. Four of their eight eight losses have been by 12 points or more.

What i would like to see the Knicks do:

1) Start Toney Douglas, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, David Lee, Jordan Hill…Al Harrington has been effective off the bench

2) Play better defense

3) Buy out Jared Jeffries

Eighteen games into the Rangers’ season and this is what we’ve seen so far: the effort comes and goes, the scoring comes and goes, the forecheck comes and goes, the backchecking comes and goes and the defense comes and goes. And they’re not very physical, as we saw when no one stood up for Chris Drury on Saturday night. Their 7-1 start has been followed by a 3-6-1 stretch, so they’re also inconsistent. With a break in the Rangers’ schedule, now’s a good time to divide up the roster into four categories and see which players are overachieving, which are underachieving and which are, unfortunately, Michal Rozsival.
Godsends: Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal, Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy. Gaborik has done everything and more that was expected of him when he signed. He’s seamlessly fit in with the Rangers and produced at a superstar level. Health remains the only question mark for him. Prospal’s given the team more than was expected, and has certainly earned …

What do you do when you lose a self-proclaimed must-win game? The Giants did just that yesterday, wrenching defeat from the jaws of victory. That’s four losses in a row and counting. And they’ve lost each game in a different way: A bad defensive effort started things off, the offense then followed suit, a total team disaster was next and now a crushing, last-minute defeat rounds things out. Let’s count the ways the Giants blew yesterday’s game vs. the Chargers.
The first ominous sign was the botched field goal attempt on the first drive of the game. When the play happened, it looked like Lawrence Tynes just decided to not kick the ball. Was there a fake field goal on, but he was the only one who knew about it? Did the voices in his head tell him a trick play was on? The announcers were no help as they didn’t have a clue as to what happened. But on closer inspection, Jeff Feagles …

Teams playing four games: Dallas, Golden State, Houston, L.A. Clippers, Minnesota, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Toronto, Utah
Teams playing three games: Atlanta, Boston, Bobcats, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, L.A. Lakers, Memphis, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Orlando, San Antonio
Teams playing two games: Indiana, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Washington

Guards

Ronald “Flip” Murray (Bobcats)- Murray made his season debut scoring 15 points and pulling down six rebounds last Friday. With the Bobcats struggling on offense Murray should receive consistent playing time and is a good source for threes.

Jose Juan Barea (Mavs)- Barea recorded a season high 12 assists against the Raptors last Saturday. He is averaging nine points in the season and has played in at least 23 minutes in four of the team’s six games.

Will Bynum (Pistons)- Bynum continues his strong play off the bench as he filled the stat sheet with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists and two steals on Sunday. He has played at least 28 minutes over his last four games because of an injury to Richard …