2. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is currently the best center on the planet.

3. The Magic are hardly a one-man team, however. Orlando is for real thanks to Howard and some outer-worldly shooters who recently combined to sink 23 3-pointers in a single game.

4. LeBron James is going to win his first MVP Award.

5. Kobe Bryant is having another MVP-like season while trusting his teammates more.

6. The Western Conference has nine playoff-caliber teams, but only eight will go.

7. The Eastern Conference has six playoff-caliber teams but still eight will go.

8. While the West has more winning teams, the East is better from top to bottom and it has the clear advantage in head-to-head meetings to prove it.

9. The Utah Jazz have found out that injuries are contagious.

10. The Houston Rockets already knew all about the "injury bug."

11. Charles Barkley should call a cab after a night on the town -- or at least find himself a designated driver.

12. Kevin McHale deserved to be released from his G.M. duties with the Timberwolves.

13. Then again, McHale deserves much credit for suddenly getting impressive results from his misfit group of players as their coach.

14. A couple of ex-Jazz players were unable to have long-term success in their first jobs as NBA head coaches. Milwaukee let go of Larry Krystkowiak after last season, less than two years into his tenure and Marc Iavaroni was fired by the Grizzlies this week after only 123 games.

15. Those failures don't seem to bode well for ex-Jazz player/assistant coach Kenny Natt, who is currently the interim head coach of the woeful Sacramento Kings.

16. Phoenix players -- especially Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire -- miss Mike D'Antoni.

17. Stats by Knicks players are being artificially inflated by D'Antoni's run-and-gun style of play.

18. Denver is better with Chauncey Billups.

19. Detroit is worse with Allen Iverson.

20. Elton Brand is a talented, game-changing player ... when healthy. The power forward from Duke, however, is simply too injury prone to build a franchise around.

21. Replace "Elton Brand" on No. 20 and insert "Carlos Boozer."

22. The Golden State Warriors are bad. What happened to the young, up-and-coming team from the 2007 playoffs?

23. The Lakers are still the class act of the Western Conference.

24. The Clippers are still the joke of the NBA.

25. Oklahoma City waited a long time for an NBA team it could call its own. Too bad the ex-Sonics haven't provided much thunder.

26. Shouldn't the Northwest Division be renamed since Portland is now the only team in that geographic region?

27. It's easy to see how Avery Johnson was wearing on the Mavericks players. His voice is hard to take even in limited doses on ESPN.

28. Still, most would rather listen to Avery Johnson for hours before suffering through a few minutes with Stephen A. Smith.

29. Alonzo Mourning's retirement was a good opportunity to remember what a class act he has been over the years. Coming back to play in the NBA after a kidney transplant was an amazing feat.

30. Ex-Ute Andre Miller has been in the league for 11 years now but is still one of the best pure point guards around.

31. Everyone talks about the Celtics' "Big 3" -- and rightly so -- but Rajon Rondo is just as important to that club's success.

32. Toronto point guard Jose Calderon makes Kyle Korver look like Shaquille O'Neal when it comes to free throw shooting. Calderon has made all 76 foul shots he's attempted this season and has a streak of 83 in a row dating back to last year.

33. If Dwyane Wade is healthy the Heat will have a chance against any team it may meet in the playoffs.

34. After seeing him in a Cleveland Browns uniform in that commercial, it's clear LeBron James could have been a star tight end in the NFL if he wanted to be. And, yes, he could probably block some field goal attempts, too.

35. It's a two-man race for the Rookie of the Year honor between Chicago's Derrick Rose and Memphis' O.J. Mayo.

36. Portland's Greg Oden will never be a dominating player on both ends of the court. He's just not good enough offensively. He'll become a force on defense, however.

37. Allen Iverson and Amare Stoudemire have no business starting in the All-Star Game -- especially Iverson. He shouldn't even be on the All-Star team this year, let alone starting.

38. Paul Millsap is not an All-Star -- yet -- but he has been the team's most important player in helping the Jazz stay afloat this season.

39. "Pesky" is a fitting adjective to describe the Timberwolves, especially in the past couple of weeks.

40. Andrew Bogut is far from being a bust, but there is little question that the Bucks expected better than an 11.8 scoring average from the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft during his fourth NBA season.

41. Jerry Sloan, like Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, will never retire.

42. Don't count out the "aging" Spurs. San Antonio started the season 1-4, but knock out those five games and its winning percentage rivals the Lakers, Celtics, Magic and Cavs.

43. One other "aging" team isn't getting old as gracefully. The Suns appear to be setting in the West.

44. The NBA in general, and the Wizards particularly, miss Agent Zero -- Gilbert Arenas.

45. It was a travesty that Jazz guard Deron Williams wasn't on the All-Star team a year ago. This year he isn't expected to make it either, but it's more understandable due to his slow start after a preseason injury.

46. All things considered, the Jazz have gotten more out of Mehmet Okur than Carlos Boozer since they were both signed as free agents in the summer of 2004.

47. Cleveland coach Mike Brown deserves much credit for stressing defense and having his team listen. Now the Cavs are truly one of the league's top teams.

48. Chris Paul is great, no doubt about it, but it's still too early to say that he will undoubtedly have a better NBA career than D-Will.

49. Considering all the injuries and missed games the Jazz have had, their record at midseason is remarkable.

50. Larry Miller is the reason the NBA is still in Utah, period. Jazz fans everywhere are hoping he can overcome his many health issues in recent months in order to be able to enjoy the games -- without pain -- from his court-side seat at EnergySolutions Arena. E-mail: lojo@desnews.com