This week had a lot of good, hard fought games. But the matchup we were all looking forward to was between rookie Omar Grant (a.k.a. Chris Paul) vs. veteran Mike Won (a.k.a. Steve Nash). To tenacious players on both ends of the floor, the veteran got the best of the rookie this time, as Won finished with 20 points, six rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and the W. Also, the main reason that he gets Player of the Week this week is because of his defense, holding Grant to one field goal and only 10 points.

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I don't know what happened over the weekend, but somehow Pat Cassidy came to NRF on Wednesday night ready to play. With new teammates Stalley and Christian Grant-Fields on his side, the sharp-shooting Cassidy was lights out in his game against Hyperflight, finishing with 27 points (6-of-10 from the floor, 6-of-7 from the line and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc) along with three rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Honorable Mention goes to Rafael DaSilva who finished with 26 points, five rebounds and seven steals.

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For the first week this season, choosing Player of the Week has been a tough call. Each game, there was standout player doing their thing. In Game 1, Rafael DaSilva dropped 21 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor, 2-of-4 from deep and was 5-for-6 from the line to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. In Game 2, Omar Grant dropped 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor, 2-of-4 from deep and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the line to go along with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. But in Game 3, Brandon Smith was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, 5-of-10 from deep and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the line to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. The impressive thing about all these performances, is that all three guys only had 1 turnover each.

But unfortunately only ...

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For everyone that made their way to 350 Grand Street last night, we've learned a few things. (1) There's no clearcut favorite to win it all this year; (2) The Rookie of the Year race could be even tighter than last year; and (3) The NRF beard game these days is looking like an extras audition for "Cold Case." But above it all, what we learned this week (again) is that Dan Solomito is a difference maker.

Rolling into the gym a little late didn't seem to phase Solomito one bit last night, as the big guy posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks and 2 dimes. Whether it was from beyond the arc (2-of-4), in the lane (3-of-6) or from the stripe (6-8), D-Sol was dropping buckets. And most importantly, getting the W.

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This week the NRF Player of the Week was a no brainer. One player elevated his game to another level while leading his team to victory.

When Aron Phillips saw the video of Jason Burke this morning, he proclaimed “it looks like Burke just went to war.” Jason Burke approached this week’s NRF match up with Dan Solomito like Rocky Balboa approached his fight with Ivan Drago. He was focused on one thing this week, picking up the win. One vocal Dunk fan tried to get into Burke’s head but his focused remained and he even blew her a kiss. Burke dropped 27 points and pulled down 12 rebounds recording his 4th consecutive double double of the season securing the win for Shox.

When asked about winning his second straight award, Burke said: “You can’t see me, you can only watch me.” I’ll let you interpret ...

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There were definitely some guys that were putting in work this week at NRF. Scott Williams of Uptempo was a one man show, scoring 34 of his team's 47 points (that's 72 percent of the scoring load). Then there was Niko Klansek aka Dirk Nowitzki, who put up 13 points, 15 boards and 2 blocks for Hyperflight. But regardless of those great performances, we had to give the player of the week honor to the Shox's Jason Burke.

Playing with just five guys this week, Burke carried the load for the Shox. Despite getting double, sometimes triple teamed by Uptempo, JB was still able to get his points as he finished with 21 points on 7/11 shooting, 4/5 on his free throws and the 6-6 power forward even knocked down a triple. He was also a force on the defensive end, racking up 16 rebounds ...

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Normally this is one of the hardest awards to give out each week, but this week it was a no-brainer. After missing his first game in Week 1, Dan Solomito decided he'd finally suit up for Dunk and let the league know that they were out of their minds by letting him slip to the No. 3 pick in the draft. How good was his debut? Try 38 points and 12 boards good. The rest of the league better watch out.

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Thank goodness the NRF season is back! The action yesterday was off the charts, as we saw a few players put up some crazy stat lines in some Ws. To kick things off, Niko Klansek led Hyperflight to a victory (something that didn't happen until late last season) with 19 points, 10 boards, 7 assists and 1 steal. In the next game, Jason Burke had a tremendous game for Shox with 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks and 2 assists. In the third game, Uptempo's Scott Williams picked up where he left off with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. And in the last game of the night, Brandon Smith had 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

While it was hard to choose from this bunch, it really came down to Dirk & Burke. Both big men posted double-doubles on the night, but ...

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After last night's performances, there is no doubt in my mind who should win the postseason awards - and the crazy thing is, they would be going to two rookies.

In the first game, potential Rookie of the Year Rafael DaSilva just simply wanted the W more than everyone else on the court, finishing with 27 points, 5 assists and 5 steals. In the second game, Scott Williams showed why he is the MVP of the league with 25 points and 6 rebounds. Of every guy on the floor, he is the biggest threat on both ends.

The matchup between these two is going to be great tomorrow night!

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In the best game of the night, there was really only one player who seemed to be in control for the majority of it. And that player was Mike Won. After being away from the team for a couple weeks, Won came back and established himself early and often. Buckets off the dribble, taking it to the rack and finishing with either hand, there was nothing Shox's guards could do to stop him.

As Uptempo enters the playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed, their playoff fate will fall on the shoulders of Won. If he can continue putting up 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while grabbing boards and dropping dimes, you might have to hope for swine flu to hit Uptempo in order to slow them down.

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