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No game tonight, but Survivor is on, at least.  Seems like the perfect day for me to post Part 2 of my Survivor: Heroes vs Villains comparison to NBA players.  Part 1, in case you missed it, can be found here.

Today, we hit the Heroes of the show and their NBA analog.  Enjoy:

Heroes

Amanda Kimmel is . . .  Dirk Nowitzki

This one was easy. Amanda Kimmel has twice leveraged a skillful social game to make it to the big dance, working her into the final as a favorite to win it all.  Then, both times, she completely blew her chances by picking the wrong opponent to face in the final tribal council,  and then compounded the error by trying to be the "nice girl" and play up the idea she felt bad about all her strategic moves.  That, of course, fell flat both times with a jury she had helped vote out.  Dirk Nowitzki, of course, has twice been the leader of strong favorites to win the title, and both times crashed and burned disastrously, gaining and then losing a two game lead over Dwyane Wade and the Heat, and then following that up with an even worse flameout against Golden State in the first round.

Candice Woodcock is . . .  Chris Hunter

Yeah, I'm a huge Survivor fan and I didn't know who Candice Woodcock was either.  Oh, and somebody named Chris Hunter apparently played for the Golden State Warriors this season too, so he gets to be her analog.

Cirie Fields is . . . Chris Paul

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Ever since CP3 was first injured and Darren Collison proved a capable replacement, fans have been speculating that DC2 might be the next great point guard in New Orleans. His double-doubles remind us of a time when Chris Paul, the greatest point guard on the planet, was healthy and on the court wowing us more and more with each passing play.

Collison certainly has had a few CP3-like performances, such as his current four game stretch with 24 or more points in each, or his 18 point, 17 assist, 6 rebound night against Memphis at the end of January, the latter of which broke Chris Paul's all time Hornets' rookie record for assists in a game. Certainly that means he's at least on par with the rookie CP3, right?

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To start with let's run down the recent happenings regarding the Hornets.

Chris Paul had successful surgery on his torn meniscus, and has been rehabbing the injury twice a day. He claims his therapy is going as planned, so expect to see him back before too long.

As far as the actual injury goes, I've done a little bit of digging and found out that instead of repairing the torn meniscus, which can increase the rehab time substantially and is often impossible, Doctor James Andrews removed the torn part of Chris's meniscus. The benefit of this operation, as opposed to repairing it, is the recovery time. The average recovery time for an NBA player undergoing the removal of a partially torn meniscus is four to six weeks. I was unable to get an exact recovery timeline for repairing a meniscus, but it is certainly longer than removing it.

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That's right.  I blame Morris Peterson for Vince Carter's explosion last night, and no, it has nothing to do with the fact Peterson couldn't stay in front of him.(Well, okay, that hurt too)  I blame Peterson because he made Vince Carter care. 

Motivation has been the problem for Carter for half a dozen years now.  He can drive, post up, and hit jumpshots from all over the court.  He's still bigger and stronger than most of the swingmen in the game.  But sorry, Basketball, he's just not that into you.

There are times, however, when Carter decides he wants to remind people that he was once half-man, half-amazing.  When something tickles his competitive funny bone and sets him off.  Last night, it was Morris Peterson that woke up that competitive fire.

Peterson and Carter have a history.  They are friends.  They started their careers together in Toronto, and that relationship has continued to this day.  After the game, Carter reserved his longest hug for Morris Peterson, with both guys talking fast - clearly exchanging much more than the usual platitudes between opponents.

In fact, Carter feels he's good enough friends with Peterson that he could even do this:

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There were a few developments involving the Hornets yesterday, which got me thinking about Darren Collison. I realized it's hard to judge someone objectively when you feel such a connection with their successes. But to start, let's discuss what led me to put together this analysis.

First off Chris Paul is officially underwent surgery to repair his torn meniscus. Obviously that's not great news, but at least it's over with so he can start recovering. Secondly, Jeff Bower made it clear that he has no intention of bringing on another point guard, even on a ten day contract, opting instead to let James Posey and Morris Peterson (who was on fire against OKC) assist in taking the ball up the court.

Lastly, Marcus Thornton didn't practice and is listed as questionable due to lingering pain from his fall against the Thunder. If he can't play against Philadelphia, the Hornets just might find a few moments without a single guard in the game. James Posey running the point? Color me excited.

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