The 2006-2007 NBA Season Discussion Thread
 

Alright, it won't be too much longer before a new NBA season is upon us. So, all discussions about the offseason leading up to and including the 2006-2007 season will go here.

I like how last season's thread was essentially a three-way conversation. bishop743, nazpyro, and I had more than 75% of the posts. But the thread was started in March, so maybe this new one will draw more people as training camp begins in October.

Maybe more photos and stuff will catch some eyes. Here are some from those USA practices:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...mmage-Driv.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...actice-Dri.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ctice-Dunk.jpg


And Steve Nash has a new hair cut:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ndationCha.jpg

I didn't really mind the fact that we were the only 3 that had a great deal of participation in the last thread. I liked chatting it up with you guys. I wouldn't mind seeing others getting involved though.

I really think this team the US has put together has a excellent shot of bringing back the credibility we lost at the last World Championships and at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Team USA has taken a different approach this time around. Instead of just throwing together a bunch of superstars, they've actually went and put a real TEAM together this time. I mean, you could get away with the old concept when you had the players that were on the original Dream Team, but with the guys we have out there today, that formula is not going to be successful. It's true that the international scene has gotten much better and much more talented, but I think with the team we have, we can bring the gold medal back to the US.

It's a good squad. They have a few superstar players who are clearly the centerpieces of the team: Lebron, Wade, and Melo -- and to some extent Chris Bosh. Everyone else will find their roles just fine.

I think Larry Brown did a poor job in 2004 with Team USA in the Olympics. He's well-known for his dislike of young players. Lebron and Melo rode the bench practically the entire time.

Yeah, Larry Brown's legacy has taken a huge hit in my eyes with the events of the last 2 years or so. First the debacle that was the 2004 Olympic team, then his messy divorce from the Pistons (which he mostly brought on himself) and then the horrible excuse of a New York Knick team he coached last season. He's still a great coach with an intellectual passion for the game, but the events of the last 2 years have greatly knocked him down in my list of upper-echelon coaches in basketball.

Also... I dunno man, I don't think I'm feelin' this new look for Steve Nash. I guess it'll take getting used to.

A couple bits of news:

The schedule for the 2006-2007 NBA season has now been put out. There are a lot of great and intriuging matchups. Check the following article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...arc&id=2536337

Also, we will finally get a chance to see Team USA in action. They are going to be playing in an exhibition game on Thursday against Puerto Rico. It will be shown on ESPN2 at 11PM EST.

Lastly, speaking of Team USA, here is an article about Kobe Bryant and his interaction (or lack thereof) with the team since his surgery: Kobe's 'We' Problem

Cool. They had a scrimmage yesterday against Puerto Rico where, if they didn't reset the scores each quarter, USA won 116-82. Supposedly nonstop full-court press. I gotta see this on Thursday. I'd be scared as shit to have to inbound through Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul.

I think everyone's gotten used to his long hair that swishes around when he runs down the court, and that he often licks his fingers and tucks those hair behind his ears.

Is it NBA Live 07 or NBA 2K7 that will be implementing that special finger-licking animation? (I just checked -- it is 2K7) They're gonna have to take it out...





I came across this PSA Yao Ming did for WildAid, swatting bullets away to save elephants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKj3nRYPRgQ

Why would they have to pull out the finger-licking? I thought he just does that before free throws and various other times throughout the game, not necessarily touching his hair when he does it... or am I wrong? I just can't remember what his mannerism was :/.

I'm cised for 2K7. I've lost my loyalty with the Live series.

I greatly prefer the NBA 2K series over the Live series. I haven't bought a Live game since...like... '99 or so.

Well, Team USA had an impressive showing against Puerto Rico on Thursday. They started off great, then Puerto Rico began competing more and got back in the game... even took the lead a few times. Then, the US took over and pulled away for a 114-69 victory. Now that I've seen how these guys play together finally, I really think our chances are good this year. Still, it's only one game and the competition is going to be much, much greater down the line.

Also, the Suns signed Leandro Barbosa to an extended new deal. This guy had a huge coming out party during the Phoenix's playoff run last season. I knew they weren't gonna let him go. He also says that he wants to be a Sun for life.

Doesn't Nash lick both his fingers and brush his hair back? Maybe you're right.



But have you played a Live game since '99? The series has gone through some changes for the better. Ever since Live 2003, the series has been pretty solid ... though admittedly it's hitting that point again where they're getting a little stale. There are still problems that EA sorely needs to address, such as the ultra-annoying tendency (probably 85% of the time) of players stopping dead in their track to catch passes, effectively ruining the fastbreak.

I have NBA Live 2005, and NBA 2K6 -- both for the PS2. Being more used to Live, I was intrigued by what the 2K series brought to the table. I love the pace of the 2K series, it feels like an actual NBA game.

NBA Live's pacing, at its default factory setting -- is awful. I had to go online and find customs sliders provided by other people, i.e., those who prefer a more realistically-paced game. But when you turn down the speed, the players run very, very slowly (even with the turbo held). And it bugged the hell out of me that a trailing defender inexplicably always managed to catch up and get in front of me, even when I was playing as Iverson.

Gameplay wise, it took me a while to get used to the 2K series, since I was so used to Live. I really like the shot stick in 2K6, but I miss having the right analog stick as my dribble-moves. Also, passing is terrific in 2K6 -- I love the lead pass. Fastbreaking is fun in 2K6. The same thing can't be said for Live, you can't run a break properly unless you're miles ahead of the defense.

Graphically speaking, the 2K series is awesome. But Live has much better animation, in my opinion. Live's 10-men motion capture is dope, and the nuances in animation are so good. Live also has better dunk animations. I can't stand the dunks in the 2K series -- not only are they limited in variety, most of them also look awkward and weak.

(Keep in mind that all my comparison is done for the PS2 versions)




Random funny video. Shawn Marion almost dunks at the wrong basket:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asbDADzklyI

Just discussed it with my brother. We think his free throw routine was: work-the-follow-through, work-the-follow-through, maybe sweep the hair, lick the fingers, receive the ball. The YouTube results had him skipping the sweeping the hair part. ?_? But I think he does that too then.

That Matrix video is hilarious. No backcourt call at that point though? The refs were probably like: "hellhethinkhegoing?"

Haha, that Marion clip was funny, random Shaq popping out of nowhere. 2k7 > Live 07, 2k just seems more real. Nash licks his finger just for the heck of it when he recieves the ball. I haven't seen him lick and slick his hair back in a year or so. Maybe he gave it up?

Way to go Jared Jeffries. He got the Knicks (lollin) to give him some huge $30 million offer. Wizards weren't gonna match that shit. They basically said yeah... we get the same type of play out of DeShawn Stevenson for (wait for it!) the league minimum of $932,000 for the first year. Meanwhile, Jeffries goes to a team that's hopeless. I also can't imagine it's fun to be booed by your home court. But he gets his monies. What a win. Meanwhile, Wizards are set to be playoff-bound again with the support of its fans.

Why would Knicks boo Jared?

I dunno... every time I see the Knicks on TV, they're getting booed. They seem to get booed even more when they play at home. :p

Yeah, I've played some of the other Live games since '99, I just haven't bought any myself. I do agree that Live's dunk animations are much better than the 2K series. I've still been playing 2K5 (never bought 2K6) and the dunks are pretty limited. I've never played 2K6 so I can't speak on that but I hope that the upcoming 2K7 improves on that.


Talk about a team mis-managing their salary cap! Is it their goal to overpay every single one of their players? Highest payroll in the league....2nd worst record in the legaue.... the hell is that?! It doesn't make any sense at all.

Washington, on the other hand, made a great move snagging Stevenson. He's gonna help them out very well. It was also good to see them give their coach Eddie Jordan an extension. They've been through a slew of coaches over the last decade or so, so it's good that they have some stability now. They'll definitely be in the playoffs next year.

USA owned the Yao-less China. In another warm-up game, the USA barely got by Brazil, featuring Leandrihno Barbosa and double-double machine Anderson Varejao. I'm hoping Varejao won't get hurt this season and get mucho PT. He was an awesome source of boards two seasons ago (so yeah, we should do GFF Fantasy NBA this year when it becomes available). Anyway, time to lol: Carmelo Anthony got hurt. Injury-prone...

Melo owns. Not as much as Kobe/Pierce though.

The Knicks have made one puzzling move after another. Jared Jeffries $30 million? I don't get it. There is also a rumor going around that Isiah Thomas wants to trade for Darius Miles.



Okay, a little late, but some photos from the Puerto Rico game:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ORICO-DUNK.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ICO-DUNK-2.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...RICO-DRIVE.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ICO-JUMPER.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ORICO-DUNK.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ICO-DUNK-2.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...ORICO-DUNK.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...RICO-DRIVE.jpg

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...RICO-WIN-2.jpg

Isiah has done a piss-pour job with the Knicks since he took over the helm. The team was in disarray before the got there and now they're in complete shambles. Making terrible trades, paying players WAY morre than they're worth, firing one of the top 5 best coaches in the league only after one season (a coach that is known for turning struggling teams around). Now, he wants to step out of the box and onto the sidelines? Come on...


== Around the Association ==

>> Knicks coach Thomas denies harassment in filing

>> Carmelo practices with Team USA, says knee is OK

>> Pierce has elbow sugery, expected back for camp

>> Tellem says Harrington ready for new offers

>> NBA promotes Curry to VP of basketball operations

>> New Sonics owner: Key Arena won't cut it

Sonics: In other words, "we're not gonna win for a while, so to come to our games, we're gonna build a 'world-class, multipurpose facility' so you can do other things besides watch the Sonics get owned every night or so."

USA basketball is so talented, it's scary.

Oh yeah, didn't Dale Davis or someone get stun-gunned. Lollin!

ROFL! Yeah, he did: Pistons' Davis arrested, shocked with stun gun on Miami Beach

I laughed so fucking hard the first time I read this.

I really hope that Portland is able to deal away Darius Miles as he is the last bastich in the Portand Jail Blazers era.

They have gone from a playoff team to just absolute trash these past couple seasons. They have made some great draft and off season moves so it will be interesting to see how they do.

Portland hasn't been the same since they lost Game 7 in the 2000 Western Conference Finals against the Lakers when they were up by like 14 in the 4th quarter. Since then, that team just hasn't been right. They had a really good draft this year though and are making a good effort to bring in charcter guys that can change the identity of that team.

Aww. Arenas got hurts and won't be playing in the world championships. I like how USA hasn't had to cut anyone since the initial cut from 30 as players just keep getting hurt, making Coach K's life easier. Now just one more needs to get hurt cut.

This Yahoo! article on the Eddie Johnsons fucking confused me at first, since I wasn't expecting it. Lollin' now.

Too about about Arenas indeed. He really really wanted to play for Team USA.

He's still a part of the Olympic program so he could still be in Beijing. At least he can concentrate on doing well for the Wizards for the upcoming season.

Anyone have any idea on whats going on with Bonzi Wells? Kings offered a bit more than the midlevel and he refused it was the last I heard so Kings signed Salmons instead.

It's official, Team USA has made it's final cut, and the casualty is Bruce Bowen of the Spurs. Here's an article about it: Team USA names official roster; Bowen final cut

The team is going to miss his "defensive intensity" but I think most people saw this as the obvious cut to make.

Dang. It would've been fun to see Bruce Bowen coming in with flying side kicks on players from around the world.

Battier does offer more on the offensive end while keeping a defensive mind, so it was an easy cut IMO, though Coach K would say otherwise.

Can't wait for these games to startup. Winning with almost twice as many points as the opponents is crazy. Like the old video games.

lol! Yeah, he could have been our secret weapon.


Arenas getting hurt probably sealed Bowen's fate. If he hadn't gotten injured, Team USA would have probably cut Himrich instead.

Team USA should get out of group play without any problems. China is probably the only other contender: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...ldchampsgroupd



== Around the Association ==

>> Bobcats Unveil Alternate Road Uniform
I actually like these new unis. Adding the blue was a nice touch.

>> 'Starbury' for less: Marbury to endorse cheap kicks
... I have to say I'm not really impressed with the look of this shoe. I mean, they look decent I guess, but I don't think I'd even pay $5.00 for thsoe things.

"Starbury won't be paid for endorsing the sneakers but will be compensated based on how well they sell."

hahaha! Can't wait to see some figures on those sells.

>> Shaq signs shoe deal with Chinese company Li-Ning

Dwyane Wade vs Dirk Nowitski again. :D

Does anyone know if internationally, the US was favored to win gold at the past couple World Championship and Athens?

For some reason I thought that domestically the US was favored even though they got completely thumped. Especially at the previous world's.

Oops.

No gold. Again.

Pretty good for a team without some of their best guys. But I'm pretty sick of some our big name players not wanting to play. And good, no, great job by Greece, they actually had me jumping out my chair.

<sigh>
Hopefully in two years we will have the very best of our best. :(

PF - Tim Duncan / Kevin Garnett
SF - Lebron James / Ron Artest
C - Shaquille O'Neal / Brad Miller
SG - Kobe Bryant / Tracy McGrady
PG - Chauncey Billups / Mike Bibby

Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul to fill out the rest.

Yes I know I'm a Kings fan but I do really believe in Ron Artest and Mike Bibby.

Ron would kill the opposing teams. litterally. :D

I have to say that the team that played in this year's FIBA tournament was a lot better than the team we had 4 years ago. They played with a lot more heart and a lot more energy and enthusiasm. However, it was still a flawed team. We don't need to have all superstars on a team to win. What we need are good shooters, more specifically, good 3-point shooters. Michael Redd needs to be on this team come the Olympics. There just aren't many American players these days that can both shoot the 3-pointer well AND play solid defense. That is something that's going to continue to hurt us.

But I'm proud of this year's team and how they played hard. I hope they figure these problems out before '08 though.

Michael Redd is an All-Star. :) Not a superstar but definently an All-Star. You are right that we need more defense - more players like Ben Wallace, Ron Artest, Bruce Bowen would have been nice. I guess Bowen's problem is he is getting ancient but since they didn't play Miller anyways.

Some Ray Allens, Chauncey Billupss would have been great.

Overall I am proud of the US team and it is a 3 year commitment and I'm furious that we didn't have our absolute best possible team. Winning the Olympics, even the worlds would mean more to me than the Larry O'Brien. F making Miami happy when you can win for every American.

Couldn't have any more respect for this team. I'm from LA and Lakers fan and I'm not being biased by saying Kobe and Paul Pierce (Celtics) would bring gold if it weren't for those injuries.

:beer: to the USA and efforts to bring Gold back to America.


USA 2008 Olympic Champs :).

Didn't get to add my thoughts during the weekend, but yeah. I actually didn't expect USA to win this tournament, and it would've surprised me if they did. I didn't expect them to lose to Greece either, but that's another story. Anyway, USA is a much better team than before, and I can't wait for them to get better together and bring it next year. If they keep at it, gold in 2008 will happen.

The only person who shouldn't be giving lessons about chemistry:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html



Plus, he's wrong. The USA team didn't lose because of a lack of chemistry.

Ha! What he means by "needs better chemistry" is "needs to mix in a lot of Kobe."

hehe, there is so much irony in that it's not even funny. While it is true that most of the other teams in the tournament have played together for a lot longer, that is in no way the reason why they lost. I already explained the reason in an earlier post. No consistent shooters (more specifically 3-point shooters) who play defense is why they got the bronze and not the gold.

Osnap. Yeah it is funny. Taking Kobe's statement: "need more chemistry" and the words behind that: "need more me", Kobe is right. USA does need a shooter like him. Kobe... can shoot. Arenas would've been awesome here too.

Are we going to do Fantasy Basketball?

Wow, this thread's been dead. Fortunately, stuff is atring up soon.

Hell yeah, my favorite fantasy sports game (rotisserie mode). Has it ever been done on GFF before? Anyway, I'd be interested, even running it in fact. Preseason starts early October, and regular season in November. We should probably draft a week or two before the regular season begins. I'm also interested in making the draft "offline" (i.e. not using e.g. Yahoo!'s online draft), but just using something like Google Spreadsheets (just did this this year with football... SO FUN) and/or AIM chat rooms to draft (more fun and less rush).

So yeah, if there's enough interest, There's probably only been like 6 unique people that have posted in the NBA threads this year. :p

I'd be up for a fantasy league. Always wanted to try it but not experienced in it. Any types out there that doesn't require TOO much management? I'd have a few friends who dont post on GFF who would be interested I am sure as well.

The new ball for the league.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2766/newballzh7.jpg

Wow.

Yeah. A lot of the players are complaining about it. D-Wad expects many bricks for the early part in the season. Players (especially him) will probably get more steals because of it too... oh, and turnovers. :p They (players) say it gets wet too easily, and it stays pretty slippery; the grip is slick. :/ Shaq said it also feels cheap. Despite it, the NBA claims its better. We'll see....

Also, Fantasy NBA Thread here. Play!

Here's what Shaq had to say about the new ball (video included): http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2610976

And here's another one: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6026976



I take the players' feelings about the new ball over the league's any day.

so i see a lot of players are complaining about the new ball...imo i hope it gets changed to. if not, well, they'd have to get used to it quick, lol.

i'm also hoping that halfway into the season, kobe changes his number back. i just think it's weird and confusing...

The ball looks like one of those plastic ones you win at like a carnival booth or something.

Horrible.

Yeah, it is some kind of plastic composite instead of leather or whatever it was originally. They want to get rid of the supposed "break-in" period you need with the original balls when they're new. The result: ugh.

And come on! Fantasy NBA! Sign up!

I just don't get the point; they could have focused on something else; why the ball?

I'm surprised this wasn't talked about:

More Pacer drama involving Stephen Jackson who, if I remember right, was suspended during that Pacer-Pistons brawl a while ago.


Anyways, seems like there's an lack of interest with the Fantasy Basketball - bah.

Whooo! Game on like freaking Donkey kong!

Tha NBA season begins tonight, with the Heat/Bulls and Suns/Lakers. Get cised. Fantasy basketball lineups are set (too bad there's not enough interest in GFF for a league), and I'm looking forward to an awesome year. Keep an eye on Thabo Sefolosha and Rajon Rondo. Get pumped.

And more importantly, Ron Artest's rap album comes out today. Get it.

Yeah, I'm pretty psyched about the NBA season tipping off tonight. I'll definitely be tuning in.

I'm sure all basketball (and sports fan, for that matter) know about the passing of Red Auerbach. His funeral was today. Here is an article about it: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2644409

LOLOL. That Heat/Bulls game was the most boring thing on earth. And Thabo Sefolosha is on pace for 100% FG percentage for the season.

Halftime with the Laker/Suns game right now, and it's much more entertaining. I like how, in on quarter, Phoenix scored 2/3 of what the Heat scored in their entire game. =p

Heat/Bulls was really really boring. One-sided for the most the game, hell the Bulls had like 40 points on them. Like do the Heat not care since they all just go their rings?


It's only one game, sure, but that's some poor poor play.

The Heat look like an old, aging team out there last night. They were outplayed at every facet of the game. Maybe there was a big letdown after the whole ring ceremony, I dunno, but they got served. Ben Wallace and crew made a huge opening night statement.

And did you see the size of those championship rings the Heat got? Damn, those things looked like friggen bracelets or something.

An awesome night of hot NBA action last night... just gotta put as much of my thoughts down. :p

ADAM MORRISON ~ The greatest NBA debut of all-time*.

Lollin' at Gerald Wallace already hurt. Sure it was via foul, but his head was bound to break sooner or later.

RON ARTEST is a fucking monster. 7 steals? Dayum. Double-double, but then 6-24 shooting...

The Knicks won. WTF? Also, Jama Crawford needs to stop shooting: 4 for 22?!? Also, picked up Q-Rich for many of my fantasy teams.

Carlos Boozer was a freaking monster: 24/19, 2 boards shy of his record. Barring any injury, he's set for a huge year. Deron Williams did hella well too. Big year for him too.

Kevin Martin, my pick for biggest surprise of the year.

Amare is back.

Things are looking good in Orlando. So the Magic crushed the Bulls who crushed the defending champions Heat. Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard are beasting out. Look out for Darko!

Paul Pierce. Ridiculous on top of ridiculous.

Thabo Sefolosha. So fun to say.

Bucks beat Pistons. That happens when Michael Redd out of THE Ohio State University lights it up. Also, Nazr Mohammed's pretty good, if he could keep himself out of foul trouble.

Kurt Thomas: Mr. Foul Trouble.

The Fail/Jail-blazers beat the Sonics. :/ Brandon Roy was beast. We got some competition for ROTY it seems.

Kidd's still got it with a triple double.

The new Kidd, Chris Paul, is beast, as expected. Peja still blows.

Bosh and his continuous plantar fasciatis. :/

Elton Brand is the best face-to-face shot blocker in the game, i.e. he'll block you if you're going 1-on-1 on him, unlike the other blockers who get it off a double team or OUT OF NOWHERE. :p

I think that's it for now. OPENING WEEK, yo.

* - by a moderately athletic, diabetic white guy from Wyoming.

You forgot that fact that Lamar Odom is straight up ridiculous.

56 points, including 4 3-pointers made. 22 rebounds and 15 assists, and can't forget the 3 steals. And that's just two games.

Sucks that his fantasy value will go down a bit once Kobe Bryant comes back...

Best dunk from opening week belongs to...

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...NKONDUNCAN.jpg

Tim Duncan, you just got SERVED, son!

Nice shot, Timberwolf.

I didn't think Lebron was going to make it, but he just kept rising and extending. The impact knocked Duncan down backwards.

I'm sure everyone watched the highlights several times :)

I know I did! I expect to see this on a poster in the not-so-distant future. Dude got baphtized.

Read up on some NBA news and articles today ... this one is funny:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drm...117199,00.html

Awesome shot Timberwolf. That was definitely on the highlight reel for a while.

McGrady had a good first game, but had a bad second game and Yao had to pull through with 36 points.

I was actually wrong with Kobe's comeback - Lamar still showed himself to be one of the main focuses on the offense.


There have been some great games, and I have to admit that I'm pretty excited about the season.

This season has been great so far. I think it's going to get even better as we move forward.

Speaking of LeBron, I have to say that I'm feelin' these "The LeBrons" commercials. I really like 'em. Business LeBron is off the chain.

Haha. Speaking of LeBron, Slam Dunk Contest this year perhaps... eh? EH?! :p

So Yao's godmode button isn't broken. He just murdered the Mavs yesterday.

I really hope McGrady's shot picks up, though. Both Yao and TMac need to be up an effective for the Rockets to contend. I'm not banking on it or anything, but they're my favorite team in the West.

I'm holding out hope that he, and some of these other guys will take part in it this year. But, I'm fearful that, the days of big superstars competing in these things are long gone. Nobody wants to get embarrased or mess up it seems. I hardly watch the dunk contest now. Although, I did laugh my ass off when that one guy needed like 345353265 attempts to finally throw one down last year.

The Rockets can make a lot of noise in the West but McGrady and Yao need to stay healthy. Last year, they only played in like 25, 30 games together. That's not gonna get it done. And with offseason acquisitions like Shane Battier and Bonzi Wells, they have people are them that can pay huge dividends.

I, too, am enjoying the season immensely. The field this year seems wide open, as neither Dallas or Mami seem to be a lock as conference champions. Dallas is winless (0-2) as of right now, and Miami got their rear ends spanked on opening night by a dangersous Chicago Bulls team.

As far as the Dunk Contest goes, I don't think we'll be seeing Lebron any time soon. A player of his stature nowadays doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with competing in such an event, which -- if he doesn't win -- can only hurt his image and standing in the public eye. I'm sure as far as Lebron's concerned, he's got nothing to gain and everything to lose in a Dunk Contest.

It's too bad, since it would be such a great thing for the fans. I would be so happy and amped to watch a Dunk Contest between the likes of Lebron, Vince, Kobe, T-Mac, and Dwyane. But it would be even more exciting if they threw in other lesser-known players-but-nontheless-great-dunkers, like Gerald Wallace, Desmond Mason, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith, and Jason Richardson. And then make the prize money $1 million dollars.

That would make the Dunk Contest intensely competitive.

What does the winner of the Dunk Contest get now, besides a trophy? I know they get some sort of cash prize, but it's probably an amount that most ballers wipe their ass with. Some guys may have incentives in their contract if they win stuff like that too.

But yeah, 1 million bones would probably get more guys interested.

Last year's winner (Nate Robinson) received $35,000. Second place contestant (Iggy) took home $22,500. Third place and fourth place contestants each received $16,125.

That's a lot of money for us regular people. But for NBA players, it's ... well, I think you said it best :)

Awww crap. I don't like this recent injury on Brad Miller. This would hurt many of my fantasy teams, though he's been hurting them lately anyway even while on the court. WTF.

Anyway, such a slam dunk competition would be legendary. Nuf said.

Opening week's been a blast. Clearly, this cannot be any indication to what will happen by the end of the season... I mean, we got the Hawks, the Sixers, the Knicks, and the Bobcats are off to good starts (though the Bobcats are indeed, a vastly improving team). The Heat's been awful. Utah and New Orleans are emerging as West Coast powers. KG and AI are working their asses off this year. It's all great to see.

Just finished watching the Rockets-Hornets game. Chris Paul dished out 16 assists, tying his career high.

And there's something about Tracy McGrady that seems off. Three games into the season, his jumper appears broken -- even though he still elevates very well on them. Through three games, he's struggling with his shot -- shooting just 34.0% from the field, 12.5% from beyond the arc, and 57.1% from the foul line. He seems not as sure of himself as in years past, passing up open shots to teammates.

It's still early, but the Rockets need him snap out of the funk to stay competitive.

Wasn't McGrady injured with back problems for most of last year? Could be something relating to that, but hopefully it's not injury-related just rustiness.

Though I have to say that something is wrong, and that he does need to get out of whatever slump he's in in order for the Rockets to push on through the rest of the season and into the playoffs.

Yeah, he played in only 47 games last year, bothered by his bad back. It's been a chronic problem, and I recall McGrady admitting that he likely only has a few more years left of playing at an elite level.

Supposedly, he's healthy and pain-free right now. But there's an alarming amount of rust on his jumpshot. I've gotten so used to seeing him simply elevate over defenders and drain shot after shot -- the sight of him missing everything is shocking.

Goddamn, I love Cuban more every time he talks.

Cuban sure makes an interesting read and soundbite.

And speaking of headlines and such, Lang Whitaker does an annual piece for SI.com where he gathers the most interesting-but-often-falls-under-the-radar news bits. A lot of it is pretty funny.

Here's the 2005-2006 edition: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ies/index.html

And here's the 2004-2005 edition: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...nks/index.html

Nice finds man. Some very intriguing stuff in there.

And man, Philly is the only team left undefeated in the East. Whodathunkit? Last year they were a horrible mess.

Well, no longer ... they were soundly beaten by the Pacers tonight. I watched the entire game, and they just didn't bring it. Iverson himself had just 20 points and 3 assists.

I also watched the end of the Cleveland-Atlanta game. What a finish. Lebron missed a crucial freethrow near the end of regulation, allowing Lue to make the desperate game-tying layup to force Overtime. And Joe Johnson took over in OT, and the Hawks won. Cleveland had the game in the bag, but missed freethrows by them down the stretch essentially cost them the win.

And then I watched the Timberwolves-Lakers game. That kid Andrew Bynum ... he did very well (to get on the nerve of Timberwolves fans everywhere). He could be a force in this league. And I think it's time Randy Foye gets more minutes for the Timberwolves. For a rookie, he's very steady with the ball, and plays under control. He's also a good slasher, very aggressive to the rim.

Foye is ready to contribute big time -- the Timberwolves don't have time to wait around. I don't have much more patience with watching the Timberwolves lose because of Eddie Griffin jacking up stupid shots, or Marko Jaric coughing up the ball, or Troy Hudson always being way too trigger-happy. I can't stand how so often when Kevin Garnett goes to the bench for a breather, the Timberwolves fall to pieces.

Yeah, I probably jinxed them or something. They were playing great ball until I mentioned how well they were playing. Oh well, sucks for them.


I saw that game too. Everyone seems to want to compare LeBron to MJ but that's not the case. With the game on the line, Jordan would not have missed that free throw. As great as James is, he still has a LONG way to go before he can even think about approaching that level.

And the Hawks are 3-1, that's suprising considering that they started 0-9 last season. I don't think their success will hold up but they are forming a nice nucleus there for in the future.




The New Orleans Hornets are 4-0, and only one of two undefeated teams left in the Association (Utah Jazz). They've put together a great mix of young and veteran players. Chris Paul is just out of his mind right now. The guy's only in his sophmore year but he is already the unquestioned leader of that team. They can definitely make some noise in the West.

WOW, what a great night of NBA basketball last night -- FOUR game winners: Chris Bosh hit a long three over Chris Webber, Jamal Crawford hit a three off a scramble, Hedo Turkoglu hit a turnaround three with Rashard Lewis right on him, and Delonte West hit a long two at the buzzer.

Two supposedly powerhouse teams are surprisingly winless: Denver and Dallas. Let me post a picture of Mark Cuban from last night's 18-point loss against the Clippers -- he looks like he's about to kill someone:




And Phoenix is also struggling at 1-4, with Amare being inconsistent. At times he looks very hesitant and not very explosive. He had some nice dunks last night in his first start of the season against San Antonio, but he was wide open for those dunks thanks to Steve Nash. The Suns play the Mavericks tonight -- both teams should be hungry for a win.


I do recall MJ missing a freethrow or two during his career with a chance to seal the win. But once in overtime, MJ would always redeem himself and put the other team away with his killer instinct. You're right ... Lebron has a long way to go.



Well, the Horntes are the only undefeated team now :) Good for them. I'm happy for Chris Paul and company.

Yeah, a couple times during his ENTIRE career. LeBron is only in his 3rd season and I can think of about a handful of times where he has let this happen. He's a young guy, but still...

A lot of people are making a big deal about him walking off the court last night with 10 seconds to go against ATL. I don't think it's a big deal and it's not the same thing as Randy Moss walking off the field that time when he was with the Vikings. I mean, it was wrong to do but unlike Moss, LeBron has been a standup guy who has class and sportsmanship. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

You're right ... Lebron is still developing. He's got the stats, but now he needs to prove that he's a winner. Last season, he showed us that he can be clutch. But missing key freethrows (he missed two last night in the final minute of regulation, and another one on overtime) just leaves a bad taste in fans' mouths.

What, I didn't know he walked off! Did he just quietly slip away, or did he storm out? I'm guessing he was just upset at himself because he essentially cost his team the game.

No, he didn't storm out or make a scene. I believe he, or someone else on the Cavs, took a shot. The shot was a brick, and when Atlanta grabbed the rebound, he calmly walked off the court. There was about 10 seconds left but the game was well out of reach by that time.

Like I said, I didn't really think it was that big of a deal. Maybe he shouldn't have done it but it was nothing to make a big fuss about, in my opinion.

Double Post:
Here's an article about the whole thing: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2655852

And remember when T-mac did 13 points in 33 seconds? Legendary.

Man, 6 times in the last 2 weeks, I've fallen asleep on my couch to these games. Loving NBA League Pass. :p

Anyway, Mavs finally won in a shootout in Phoenix. So, yeah. Only the Nuggets are winless now. Who knew?! Oh, and no one's undefeated now.

Thanks for the article, bishop743 :)


When healthy, Tracy McGrady is top 5 in this league. But he probably isn't even top 10 now, and he's admitting this in a stunningly candid article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...nba/index.html

It is the rarest thing for a 27-year-old superstar to admit that he's no longer the elite player he once was. That's the kind of thing no player would even want to admit to himself, because you'd start believing it in. The article also makes an interesting point:

Of course, every player is different. T-Mac is a unique case in that he has a chronic back ailment. You look at Kobe and KG -- the latter has already logged on more minutes than the Celtic great who drafted him, Kevin McHale -- and they are still going strong despite nagging injuries that have piled up. But it does make you wonder, just how what Lebron's game and health will be like at age 30, which will be during his 12th NBA season.

As for T-Mac's 13 points in 35 seconds, it was one of the most amazing things in basketball I had ever seen. I remember watching the game while slumped in my couch -- thinking the game was essentially over -- with headphones on soft enough so that I could still hear Steve Kerr and Marv Albert call the game.

Then it happened. It unfolded shot by shot, and by the end I fell out of my couch. And my jaw was on the floor.

Okay, you know what -- I am going to upload this game for you guys. Y'all wait for it :)

I'm very suprised to see him actually admit that he has diminished a bit as a player. Like you said, few people rarely even want to admit that to themselves, let alone to the world. I hope he has several good years ahead of him though. It'd be a shame if he went down the same path as his former teammate, Grant Hill, went.

Dude, it'd be awesome if you uploaded that game. Not since Reggie Miller's explosion in the Garden had I seen anything like that.

I'm upping the game as we speak. I'll have it ready for you guys either later tonight or tomorrow.


And uh, Mark Cuban was in Phoenix last night for the Mavericks' first win. He's is a big fan of David Stern -- as he constantly makes reference to the "David Stern University." And that shirt is priceless:





EDIT:

Alright -- T-Mac's legendary 13 points in 35 seconds performance. Here is the entire game, broken into three .rar files. You'll need all three parts to extract.

Houston Rockets (8-11) vs. San Antonio Spurs (16-4) -- Thursday, December 9th, 2004 (Boxscore)

Part 1: http://www.sendspace.com/file/epjg4s
Part 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/avf0e6
Part 3: http://www.sendspace.com/file/l9xkzu

T-Wolf, you're the man. Now, I can relive that unforgettable night anytime I want to. Thanks again.


Also, a couple things that stood out for me from last night's games:

1) The Nuggets finally got their first win of the season after beating Philly. Carmelo had a very nice game with 31 points.

2) The Lakers got straight UP beat DOWN by Pistons, and the Pistons didn't even have Rip in their lineup. Kobe Bryant had 19 points but it was a very quiet 19. The Lakers lost by 14, but going by the way they performed, they should have lost by 40. Maybe this is a sign that the Pistons are starting to return to form in the post-Ben Wallace era.

3) Even though Miami won last night over the Nets, they really look like a tired, aging team. They were out-played and out-hustled most of the night. Richard Jefferson's injury... and D-Wade's 34 points... is what got them over the hump. For Wade, it has been a long year. He's pretty much had no break at all with win the title and playing in the basketball championships. I hope he doesn't break down.

No problem -- enjoy the game :)

Yeah, the Lakers played poorly last night. Kobe had only 2 points entering the fourth quarter, and that's when he finally got aggressive. I don't understand how he thinks. So far, the players who are playing very well are Luke Walton and Andrew Bynum -- which doesn't say much about this team. Lamar Odom has essentially ducked back into his shell since Kobe's return. You also get the sense that if Jordan Farmar weren't a rookie, Phil Jackson would've already yanked Smush Parker from the starting lineup.

And how about those Atlanta Hawks! The youngest team in the NBA leading the East at 4-1.

And it's without a doubt now: Yao Ming is the best center in the NBA. He put up 35 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 7 blocks, and 1 steal last night in a win. For the season, he's averaging 26.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.3 blocks, while shooting 59.6% from the field and 86.7% from the line. Looks like T-Mac doesn't have to shoulder as much load as he did before. This might even extend his career.

As for Wade ... I too hope he doesn't get worn out. You're right -- playing basketball non-stop for 13 months will drain your body. Good thing he's a young guy.

I would've just liked the last quarter or something, if I recall, the game wasn't much until then (Houston was getting killed until McGrady's outburst). But yeah, the comeback was one of the most amazing things I've seen.

And yeah, hopefully Yao's monstrous numbers can keep up so that McGrady doesn't have to force himself into a role he's not ready for yet. Right now his shooting is awful, but he's doing pretty well as a facilitator and is doing a solid job on the boards. Even if he returns to form, he really should be deferring to Yao anyway.

Dunno if it's been said, but the Blazers are 4-2 and it's mostly been Zach Randolph, who's been tearing the league up so far. He's averaging 28.5 and 11.7 , and he's shouldered the load when they were down by 27 yesterday. I'm not a fan of his personality or anything, but his on court play has just been great. Now, to be fair, the Blazers have been winning by pretty slim margins, so I don't think this will keep up, but Randolph deserves some props.

The Nets match up badly with the Heat, but they probably could've pulled that one out yesterday if Jefferson didn't get injured. It's kinda funny to know New Jersey fans in real life, since they were basically calling for trades for basically everyone except Kidd and RJ after this loss. New Jersey's going to be in a little bit of trouble if RJ's out for an extended period of time. On the other hand, Carter's numbers are probably gonna benefit from his absence, and it is a contract year....

For me personally, the shock value of the McGrady sequence can be appreciated fully when watched in context of the entire game. You get the full effect of what he accomplished when you watch the whole thing :)

Plus, I just like to have the entire game, rather than the last minute off Youtube or something.


Man, the Blazers are a suprise at this point. Randolph is definitely playing amazing ball. They need him to continue what he's doing with Roy out, and Darius Miles needing another surgery.

I don't see the Blazers doing much this year, though.

Yeah, there have been a lot of suprising developments so far in this young season. Atlanta, Portland and New Orleans starting off so well... Dallas, Phoenix and Denver starting off so poorly. As the season progresses, though, things will start to even out. Both the contenders and pretenders will show themselves.

If Yao keeps playing the way he has been, it will help out McGrady in a huge way. Yao looks like he's finally becoming that dominant force many of his critics thought they'd never see. Many felt that he didn't have the attitude or mindset to be a dominating big man, but so far, he's proven the doubters wrong.

And, for the record, I'm glad you uploaded the entire game. Seeing it all from beginning to end makes you appreciate the end result even more. It's like Jordan's shot in Game 6 of the '98 Finals. Everyone talks about the shot itself, but seeing the whole game and his steal at the end to get to that point, make it even more incredible.

Thanks Timberwolf. LEGENDARY video right there.

What also could've been legendary but instead was just outright ridiculous? I just finished watching the Jazz/Bucks game. Michael Redd out of THE Ohio State University went off for 57 points and missed a game-winning three as time expired. The whole end was ridiculous. If Redd tied it or won it, it would've been LEGENDARY.

What? Are you telling me Redd had a chance to get 60 points off of a game-winning 3-pointer... AND MISSED!? Oh man, that just negates his 57 points right now man. The Jazz have been good this year so far, so I'll let him slide a bit on this.

Also, LeBron and Friends overcame a 25-point defecit to beat the Celtics tonight, 94-93. The Cavs needed every single one of Bron-Bron's 38 points to pull that one out.

.... umm... and the Pistons are getting schooled by Golden State. It's 47-26 late in the second quarter. So much for Detroit returning to form.

Wow, he missed the three?! He missed the one that would get him 60 and the win?!

That's gotta hurt so bad.

I'm checking the boxscore... 18 for 32 on field goal ... 15 for 17 on freethrows ... 25 points in the fourth quarter alone ... new franchise record (2 more than Kareem) ... awesome personal performance


Here's the photo of Redd hitting the three that gave him 57 points, and tying the game at 111 before Harpring scored the game winner:





I watched this game on TV. Lebron made another mistake in the end that nearly cost them the game. Up 94-93 with 1.2 seconds left, he was fouled and went to the line for two freethrows.

He missed the first... which was bad enough.

Then he meant to intentionally miss the second, since the Celtics had no more timeouts -- and thus any rebound would quickly run out the remaining 1.2 seconds on the clock. Well, he did purposely miss the second foul shot, but he DIDN'T hit the rim. Which meant the Celtics could inbound the ball with the 1.2 seconds that was remaining.

The Celtics inbound lob was a long one, and Paul Pierce caught it. He launched a three-pointer that ALMOST went in...

Yao shines in yet another dominant performance -- this time against Shaq -- leading the Rockets to a blowout win with 34 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists. He shot 12-13 from the line.

T-Mac is really taking a backseat at this point. He's getting his shots, but he's just not making them. He'll find his groove, sooner or later.

Yeah, Yao is really doing some work this season. I think McGrady will turn things around. He missed a lot of last season so it'll take him some time to find his stroke again, but he will. I'm actually suprised that Yao is doing so well since he missed quite a bit of time last year too. He needs to keep it up until T-Mac finds his way. If both of them are struggling, the Rockets don't have a chance.

Yeah, Yao was on fucking fire near his end of last season. And he's picking up right where he left off: absolute monster.

Some other fun remarks about games yesterday:

-Interview lady greeted Dwyane Wade: "LeBron..."

-Shaq's shoes weight 5.8 lbs. ZOMGWTF.

-Sac-town's Kevin Martin is absolute beast. Leading the team in scoring shooting at an astounding 54%, with a three, some boards, and 2 steals a game. He's also made his last 36 free throws.

-Elton Brand is back. After two sub-10 scoring games (he had none of those last season), he finally has that familiar 20/10 game we're all so used to seeing, with some of everything else (except threes, of course). Need to work on that free throw shot, though. He couldn't miss in the pre-season. Don't know what's going on now. :/

-LeMarcus Aldrigde Debuts with a 10/8 performance in 19 minutes. Pretty damn good.

-Vinsanity with a ridiculous 3 (on a high bounce) on the Wizards to send it to overtime where the Nets dominate it. :(

-I like how every there has been commentary in every game I've watched so far about the new ball and how no one likes it.

-Yao Ming is awesome.

Ouch ... did she correct herself. How did Dwyane react?

Each? Or both together?

The guy's good. He's still pretty much under the radar, but I bet we'll soon hear more about his play.

I think Yao missed like 25 games, and McGrady missed like 10+ more than that.

Yao was a tank last year though, making up for T-Macs not being there.

And yeah, Yao was amazing last year. In games from Feb. 22nd to Apr. 7th he scored 20+ points (with the exception of two games) and had 10+ rebounds (with the exception of five games), including a 21 rebound game and 8 30+ point games.

Best center in the league?

Yeah, he is. But that's not really saying a whole lot, though. With Shaq in the twilight of his career, there aren't very many dominant centers in the game. It's a guard's game now. But Yao is definitely one of the top 10, maybe even top 5, players in the league right now.

Yeah, Yao has become the best center in the league. It should be easy for him to dominate, since there really isn't any center who could go toe-to-toe with him. More than a decade ago, Shaq had to contend with the likes of Hakeem, Ewing, and David Robinson. Yao has it relatively easy.


Unrelated, here's a nice interview with TNT's Ernie Johnson: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...cus/index.html

She went: "LeBron..Dwyane." He didn't react to it. He either didn't hear it or just let it slide. :p

Both together, but still! Shaq's running on babies every time he plays!

Oh, and Yao's comments on Shaq yesterday:

Made me lol. Best center in the league? Without a doubt. And in fantasy bball, he's probably the most untradeable player right now (and I have him in my money league :p :p :p).

The All-Star balloting has begun: http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/asb/e...ml?from=sweeps

When it comes to the All-Star Game, I am a proponent of voting for players I want to see, not necessarily who's most deserving. I mean, that's what the coaches are for -- they name the reserves :p

I see that they switched up some of the positions this year. Clever. They're trying to minimize the chaos that is the Western Conference forwards. T-Mac is now listed as a guard, as opposed to under forward last year. Amare is now a center, though I can't remember what he was listed under last year.

I will try to vote daily, whenever I remember to. Here are my votes.


East
G: Allen Iverson
G: Dwyane Wade
F: Lebron James
F: Chris Bosh
C: Ben Wallace

West
G: Steve Nash
G: Tracy McGrady
F: Kevin Garnett
F: Carmelo Anthony
C: Yao Ming

Nice picks there. The only thing that was different in my picks is that I put Chris Paul as a starter instead of Steve Nash. He's having a better season thus far AND I'd much rather see him right now than Nash. No disrespect to Nash, of course. I'm gonna try and vote everyday too.

Yes, I had to wrestle with that one... I like Chris Paul's game a lot. I was watching "NBA Stories: Chris Paul" the other day, and he is a great kid as well.

I'll probably alternate my votes between Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and probably Ray Allen. Maybe I'll even stick a vote in there for Kobe just for the heck of it.

Ugh... 'Melo. I can't stand the guy. Definitely on my list of players I just hate in the NBA.

For Western forwards, my top choices are KG, The Matrix, Dirk, and EB. But for who I wanna see... Ron Artest, yo. :p

The lack of Shawn Marion confuses me. Take Anthony out and put Marion in.

Why does it confuse you. It's an All-Star Game, not an All-NBA team. You can vote for The Matrix if you prefer watching him over Carmelo. I personally would like to see Anthony play in his first All-Star Game.

Like I said, I am in favor of fans voting for players they want to see perform in an All-Star Game, not necessarily players that are most deserving (even if it were, and even conceding the argument that Marion is the more efficient player, I find it hard to believe that he is more deserving than Anthony).

The vacuum sound you hear nowadays in Madison Square Garden is Stephon Marbury sucking.

Maaaaaan, you aren't kidding. You know, I thought the team would be at least a little better this year. I figured they'd perform better, if nothing else, to spite Larry Brown. But, it seems like they are even worse this season. "Starbury" has been a joke his whole career to me. When Phoenix traded Jason Kidd for this clown, I was like "shiiiiiiit, you some dumb motherfuckas!" ugh! I can't stand that dude. .... UGH!!!

Meh...At the very least include Paul Pierce :(.


Still, the games have been very enjoyable to watch as I've stated, though that game the Rockets played completely broke down against the Spurs. They were up big, but pretty much gave up on defense for a while.

Wow the Rockets, over the last couple games, have let huge leads slip away. They had a huge lead on the Spurs and ended up losing. Last night, they had a 21-point lead against the Bulls, and were only able to win by one point. The Rockets have some serious issues when it comes to closing teams out.

Also, sucks for the Nuggets that Kenyon Martin is out for the year.

The Rockets ... Shane Battier almost fouled Nocioni on that buzzer 3-pointer. Oh, that would've made Van Gundy tear his (what's left of it) hair out.

The loss of K-Mart will hurt Denver a bit. Who else is injured ... Larry Hughes' injury was more serious than first diagnosed, and will be out at least two games. Bucks' Villanueva will be out a few weeks. Darius Miles needs another surgery and is out for the season.

And Chris Webber just want out.

How can you forget about The Diesel, man? :P He's gonna miss 4-6 after having knee surgery. In the two games since he's been out, the Heat have gotten blown out by the Knicks and barely gotten by the Hawks.

Steve Nash missed tonight's game against the Jazz because of back spams. Hopefully it isn't anything too serious.

Kobe Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to score 17,000 points against the Raptors on Friday. I'm sure you guys remember the last time he played the Raptors he scored 81 points, but in Friday's game, he ONLY scored 31 points. PFFT! Scrub!!

And, I think word is getting out: Gilbert Arenas is a pretty good player. 45 points tonight in a victory over the Cavs which ended their 5-game winning streak.

Oh yes, how could I forget about Shaq. He'll likely miss the Christmas matchup with Kobe and the Lakers ... that's kind of disappointing. And Nash as well -- they really could've used him last night in the loss against the Jazz, who are 9-1 and playing so well.

Kobe Bryant 17,000 points in 28 years and 86 days will eventually be surpassed by Lebron James, provided that Lebron stays healthy.

Chris Paul had a career high of 35 last night in a win over the Timberwolves. Peja hit the gamewinner ... a dagger.

5'9" Nate Robinson SNUFFS 7'6" Yao Ming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqlaN31OzDs

Yao turned and probably didn't know Nate was already in midair anticipating the shot. Block of the year, so far :)

I don't give that block much respect. The time is Yao. Nate Robinson was pretty much just wildly flailing himself and his arms, and in fact, stabbed Yao in the eye. Meh. Plus, Yao's been blocked by shorter. :/

Arenas is damn good. He's currently the #1 fantasy player too. He my boy. Unfortunately, he's some weak sauce on the road. At home, he's 36.6. ppg and 4.6 tpg, both on 51% shooting. On the road, a mere 18.3 ppg on 28% shooting, 0.8 3s on 17%. And they got a road trip coming up. The Wizards are 4-1 at home, 0-4 on the road. They gotta beast up. :/

Utah Jazz leading the power rankings. Deron Williams is QUICKLY becoming the PG the Jazz drafted before Chris Paul last year. Whooo, it's exciting.

Chris Webber is a fucking idiot. But we all know that. :/

EDIT: Also need to mention D-How's second straight 20/20 game. He's getting better by the second.

Utah's definitely playing some great ball. I watched the Jazz-Raptors game last night, and the Jazz came back from a 16-point third quarter deficit. And with the win, Jerry Sloan becomes the first NBA coach to reach 900 wins with one team.

I had no idea the Jazz would rebound this quickly after the departures of Stockton and Malone. Those two had been such a fixture on that team, I thought it woudl take the organization SEVERAL years to get back on track. But, the brass and Jerry Sloan have done an excellent job in the draft over the last couple years. Big ups to the organization for keeping Sloan around too. He's definitely my early pick for Coach of the Year.

It baffles me that Jerry Sloan has never won Coach of the Year.

Wow, Utah just came back from down 21 points to win by nine at Arco Arena...

I'm tellin' ya man, this Utah Jazz team ain't one to mess with. Best team in the league right now, by far.

I can't believe how this is their best start in franchise history, besting even all those years of Stockton and Malone.

It really is amazing. But, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. Some of these other teams that started well out of the gate like Atlanta, Philly and Portland are starting to falter. Not saying Utah will end up like that, but just because they've started off well doesn't make them a lock to make waves in May and June.

They're definitely turning heads right now, though. Jerry Sloan is doing a heck of a coaching job.

Very true ... just look at Dallas. After a 0-4 start, they've won eight straight, including a win against the Spurs just a few hours ago. The Mavericks are the hottest team right out outside of Utah.

Even though they won yet again tonight, I don't see Utah staying in first place for long. Teams are taking notice, and they'll get up to play the Jazz. Carlos Boozer won't be putting up those numbers when he starts seeing double-teams on every possession, or every time he catches the ball.

....

Lots of stuff happened tonight on a busy 13-games schedule...

Allen Iverson returned -- from a tooth situation, of all things -- to the lineup and poured in 46 points to beat the Bulls. Ben Wallace had ZERO rebounds in that game.

Gilbert Arenas was held to THREE points -- on 1-12 shooting -- by Memphis.

Kevin Martin of the Kings scored 35 points tonight, on 12-19 shooting.

Carmelo Anthony is leading the league in scoring, at 31.0 points going into the game against the Warriors, where he put up another 30. (I know it's early, but who do y'all think will win the scoring title this year? I still think when all is said and done, it will be Allen Iverson.)

Melo's Nuggets, surprisingly, are the highest scoring team in the NBA so far, averaging 108.3. They scored 140 tonight against the Warriors.

Miami is really struggling. They really miss Shaq's presence.

The entire Atlantic Division is so weak, as every team in there is under .500.

Yeah, I'm not suprised with this quick turnaround by Dallas at all. They brought in some new faces that needed to gell. Now that that is starting to happen, they are firing on all cylinders.

wtf? ZERO rebounds. That part jumped out at me even more than Iverson's 46. Did you see that game, btw? Does he look out of sorts, or what? No rebounds... that's like... never happened to him before.


k... several posts ago, I was ready to call this guy a star player, now I'm beginning to take that back. If you want to be a superstar in this league, you've gotta play well on the road. So far this season, he is playing HORRIBLE away from home. nazpyro touched on this earlier as well, I think.

With the injury to Kenyon Martin, I think it's a real possibility that 'Melo could win the scoring title this year. Iversion is going to be right there, but by the end of the season, I think Anthony will edge him out.

Yeah, the scoring barrage the Nuggets are on is amazing. That game versus the Warriors last night was VERY fun to watch. It was like a throwback mid-80's game. I really miss those days.

So...

How about the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference? Three tied for first, all with the record of 5-8.

I'm looking forward to the Garnett-Nowitzki matchup tonight. I'll be watching the game :). The Timberwolves are finally playing good basketball. Rookie Randy Foye had a blazing 14-point fourth quarter against the Clippers the other day.

I didn't see the game, I just saw the boxscore and was stunned. The Bulls are tied for last in their division right now at 4-9, and apparently there's a storm brewing behind the scenes in Chicago:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...nba/index.html
and
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...tes/index.html



I don't understand why a coach would disallow playes to wear headbands. Scott Skiles seems to have his priorities mixed up. Jerry Sloan also disallows headbands in Utah, and I just don't get it.

And did you see the Clippers-Nuggest game last night? JR Smith played so well. He had this one putback dunk, coming out of nowhere, just plucking it out of the air and cramming it with one hand.

Melo looked very comfortable and patient. He waited for double-teams, surveyed the defense, and looked every bit like a superstar. I am certain he will make his first All-Star Game this season.

Hahaha, that division is so bad.

Eagerly waiting for the moment JR Smith gets into George Karl's doghouse. It's due. :p And nay to all-star "Melo." Let's wait for him to drop his almost 5 TOs per game first.

Yeah, I don't really get the deal with the headbands either. :/

And yeah, the Atlantic is horrid. I'm hoping on Toronto to be able to turn it on at some point, but they're actually last somehow in that division.

Utah's been dealt their second loss in a row. Not sure what happened, but perhaps their early season hot streak is over. Will they settle back into Western medicority? I think they still got a good shot at the playoffs.

Oh, and the Warriors are now on freaking fire. Who knew? :p

See, I had a feeling something like this would happen. Maybe, not to this extent, but something similar. Wallace should have stayed in Detroit. He was a perfect fit for that team and probably won't get that type of chemistry ever again. I don't know what issues he and Flip Saunders had, but they both should have tried harder to work things out. Both parties, the Pistons and Wallace, are suffering because of it right now.

And man, I don't even know what to say about this Atlantic division. I mean, SOMEBODY has to come out of it.... right? I figure the Nets will get it together enough and make it out on top. On paper, they are the best team in the division, and I use the word "best" very loosely. The Sixers started off nicely and have since crept back into mediocrity. This is probably the worst division in sports.

The Warriors have been playing great ball lately. A lot of that is due to Baron Davis. He's a hell of player and a great point guard. Still, there's no team hotter than Dallas right now. After losing their first 4 games, they have bounced back to win 10 friggen straight. Coach 'em up Avery, coach 'em up!

I agree ... Ben Wallace and the Pistons had a good thing going. Packing up and leaving wasn't in the best interest of either party. Big Ben's game was a perfect fit with the Pistons, anchoring the defense with other great defenders like Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. He had found his niche, and his own deficiencies on offense were shielded. Now on the Bulls, he's just so out of his element.

I've only seen three or four Bulls games so far this year, so I can't pinpoint what the problem is. Maybe it's just a different atmosphere for Ben ... after all, being told to not wear headbands is pretty unfair.

You know, I have a pretty good feeling about the Raptors. I'm watching their game right now against the Hornets, and they're playing well. They may just come out of the Atlantic Division, provided that the other teams continue to suck.

Yes, Dallas is scary now. Ten straight. They are the hottest team, now that Utah has cooled off in a hurry.



Oh, I have a video for you guys, it's a highlight package of Allen Iverson's 45-point performance against the Heat last night (including a sick cross-hesitate-cross move against Dorell Wright): http://www.sendspace.com/file/9svzzo



And then there's this:

Wallace actually had a pretty solid game last night in a victory over the Knicks. 8 points, 12 boards, 2 dimes, 2 steals and 2 blocks. This was against the Knicks though, so we might not be able to read TOO much into it.

Nice vid of AI's game. That crossover was pretty hot. Even into his 30's, Iverson still can break ankles like nobody's business.

We were talking about how terrible the Atlantic division was. Well, here's an article discussing how atrocious the Eastern Conference is as a whole: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...simmons/061129

What's up homes
How do you think the bulls will benefit from having "Big Ben" on their squad? I think it'll boost their defense, but I don't know if he'll contribute a lot to their offense. I think he only averaged like 10 points a game (give or take), but he stuffs people left and right, and the hair....well, ya gotta love the hair.
What about that headband issue? Do you think any disagreements between Wallace and the coach will form more bad than good out of the deal?

Double Post:
Oops, my bad, i think i repeated a topic twice. I don't really read every article.

No worries :)

I think the TNT studio crew pretty much summed up the issue last night. It was hilarious seeing Charles Barkley wear that headband. I agree with him ... I think it's a stupid team rule.

And of course, last night's headline grabber was Kobe's 30-point performance in the third quarter, and 52 overall.

I especially lol'd when the fans started chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P! ..." you know, 15 games into the season. :p

But yeah, crazy...

And on the Jazz, sure they lost, but I still think they're a team to contend with. Kobe was just ridiculously unstoppable. Maybe the Jazz figured that double-teaming wouldn't affect him at all, and were proven correct when they finally did late into the quarter as he continued to dominate them.

Kobe...

Oh my ...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

I just knew these decisions and changes would come back to bite the league in their ass. Not one player in the Association has had one nice thing to say about the new ball. And, as far as the stricter officiating goes, I think it's BS. They might as well name the rule after the Rasheed Wallace. I don't know what's gonna come from all this, but I am in favor of the lawsuit and I think it was a just move.

Well, Arenas claims to like the ball better for free thow shooting... when it's not wet. :/ The fact he has missed a few free throws counters this though.

Anyway, have you seen those Adidas NBA shoes: http://adidasbasketball.com/nba
They've created a shoe for every team, and I love them. The Wizards one is hot. I also like the designs for Golden State, Sacremento, Boston, Utah, ... oh so many! <3 It comes out December 8. I just thought of 30 things to add to my Christmas wish list. :tpg:

LOL. So we might be getting back the old balls now. Actually, I think the only nice thing said about the ball came from Gilbert Arenas, who said he liked it better for free throw shooting... when it's not wet. However, The fact that he has missed free throws contradicts this. :p But osnap, I didn't know the new ball caused papercuts! I might have to remove it off my wishlist now. O_o

Also, Damon Jones wants in at the three-point competition during the All-Star break...

Damon Jones: the best shooter in the NBA, according to Damon Jones. :tpg:

Double Post:
OMFG, Suns-Nets game: double overtime.

Final Score: 161-157.

Kidd ties Wilt Chamberlain for third all-time triple doubles.
Nash gets career-high 42 points. I have a friend who saw this game. Freaking craaaaazy.

Damn, man, I wish I could have seen that game in it's entirety. That's one thing I really hate abuot the current state of the league. They just don't have games like that anymore. On Sportscenter this morning, they showed a graphic of the top scoring games in NBA history, and pretty much all of them were in the 80's... the golden age.

Hopefully, this'll be on ESPN Classic sometime soon.

Double Post:
OH SNAP!!!!!!!

Iverson has wanted a trade for quite sometime now but I never thought it would actually happen. Things are starting to look that way though. Watching how this all pans out is going to be interesting as hell.

You won't have to wait that long.

I'm going to upload it for you guys :). It might take me a day or two, though.


I heard about this today as well. Rumours and discussions will heat up this weekend. There's a chance that we've seen AI play his last game as a Sixer (that blowout loss to Chicago ... he got back spasms and didn't play in the fourth quarter).

Double Post:
The game is broken into five parts (first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, overtime periods):

Suns at Nets - December 7th, 2006 - 1st Quarter: http://www.mediafire.com/?0nddtmnnjnt
Suns at Nets - December 7th, 2006 - 2nd Quarter: http://www.mediafire.com/?amcylqk2g1z
Suns at Nets - December 7th, 2006 - 3rd Quarter: http://www.mediafire.com/?8zgr5wddyxu
Suns at Nets - December 7th, 2006 - 4th Quarter: http://www.mediafire.com/?an0mynmzugy
Suns at Nets - December 7th, 2006 - Overtime(s): http://www.mediafire.com/?bo3m2mmkzod

Enjoy :)

Dude, you're the man. This is awesome! I'm downloading it now.

So, we're going back to the old balls mid-season; January 1st to be exact.

Article



I'm in love with the Rocket's one. The simplicity of it, and just how awesome it is just makes me want to buy it (I need money...).

Ohhh awesome. New year, old ball. :tpg:

Maybe I'll have to remove the new ball off my wishlist... haha.

Oh yeah! Those shoes are out now. $100 for a pair. So much for getting a bunch of them; I'll have buyer's remorse just getting of them. I'm not one to spend a hundred dollars on shoes. ;_;

And Timberwolf, you are awesome. I'll start downloading those at some point, or at least the overtimes. :p

I'm glad to see they are going back to the new ball. While league scoring and FG% stats are pretty much the same as last year, the difference can be seen with the increase in turnovers from last year. I think Stern has made the right, smart decision here.

Also, congrats to Jerry Sloan. With last night's victory over the Mavs, he became only the 5th coach to reach 1,000 victories. Even though the Jazz hit a rough spot for a bit, they have rebounded and still have the best record in the league.

Jazz with the best record, but the Spurs are only half a game behind, with the same number of Ws and just 1 more loss... recently to the Lakers who currently have the number 1 spot in this week's power rankings. I didn't think the Lakers were that deep, but dang...

Meanwhile, the Suns are on an 11-game winning streak. "ON FIRE!"

Where will AI end up...that's the question for December.

Well, we do know he won't go to Charlotte 'cause he refuses, but where else?
I think Sacremento or Minnesota would be good spots, Minnesota being the best. Garnett and AI just seem like a good tandem.

I think Woody Paige said something about AI going to the Lakers...stupidiest thing I've ever heard. Kobe and AI couldn't co-exist on a team.

Ahaha. I do like the KG/AI tandem concept. I think that's what a lot of people are hoping for.

As for AI/Kobe... well, they said C-Webb/AI couldn't be done. Last season seemed to disprove that, but this season proves it. With AI/Kobe, there'd need to be two basketballs on the court for them to play. Well, maybe three since one isn't enough for Kobe. :p

Off topic.

I like how this is the worst halftime show ever.

http://img152.imagevenue.com/loc306/..._122_306lo.jpg

http://img109.imagevenue.com/loc353/..._122_353lo.jpg

I haven't heard anyone mentioning that Minnesota could be a possible destination for Iverson, although I think it'd be great for both him and KG. The two possible teams I've heard about are the Pacers and Nuggets. The Pacers are probably more likely since they have a lot more young talent that they can put on the bargaining table. Also, AI has said that he would like playing in Indiana.

The Warriors, Timberwolves, and Nuggets seem to be the teams most rumored to be interested in A.I. The next couple days should be very exciting as A.I. needs to be dealt, even if the deal doesn't help the 76ers. Getting rid the the disgruntled player is a must. :/

Ya, he's not a good fit for the 76ers. Igoudala could probably carry the team on his shoulders for now. At least he doesn't just talk about "practice."

If the nuggets manage to get their hands on him, they will be a tough contender for the remainder of the season. How can anyone compete with Carmelo, Andre and AI as a point guard?

Um... Ben Wallace got 27 boards. And Yao Ming currently has 4 blocks in the first quarter.

For a moment, I definitely thought they were gonna go OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAND.

Double Post:
Also on AI:

Iverson should go to the Knicks, and they should start an all-guard lineup of Starbury, Crawford, AI, Francis, and Nate Robinson. I want to see someone leave in the middle of the game and come back with a second basketball while the game is still going on.

It's been more than a week, and AI is still up for grabs. He clearly will never play for the Sixers again -- they've already cleaned out his locker and removed him from the jumbotron highlights and the team website.

Is the poor guy just sitting at home twiddling his thumbs, or what.

He's probably sitting at home - kind of like how he's sitting on my bench for one of my Fantasy teams.


The issue is that all the offers the Sixers are getting aren't that good. The reason is the other teams realize that the Sixers and Iverson are done, so their sending off mediocre players who aren't even close to the worth of Iverson.

I think Sportscenter mentioned it - the Sixers are getting offers that are significantly worse than the offers made for Iverson over the summer.

Every teams know that the Sixers have no choice but to move Iverson, and thus the Sixers can't be as picky about trade offers like during the summer.

At some point, they'll just have to give him up. Kind of like Toronto giving up Vince Carter for essentially nothing two years ago.

I like how the Sixers also got Larry Brown on as a consultant in trying to get some deal through. I'm hoping this stuff gets over with soon. The world of fantasy basketball is in quite a flux. =p

Not another one. Brawl at MSG.

I was watching this game when the fight broke out. It wasn't pretty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHI2HYE2J0A

Mardy Collins flagrantly fouled JR Smith, even though the game was essentially over. A brawl ensued with Nate Robinson jumping into the fray. And Carmelo threw a punch at Collins -- you could hear the blow -- and retreated like there was no tomorrow.

Suspensions coming like what.

I tell ya... the Knicks are so bad right now, they'll do just about anything to get some attention, huh? That was a wild one. Carmelo has been playing so well and just had taken the league scoring lead from A.I. I'm suprised he lost control and jumped into the melee.

EDIT:

and LOL @ some of the comments about this vid on Youtube.

Saw it on ESPN, and watched your link for some extra LOL. =p

That was awful but hilarious. I was kinda hoping for Ron Artest, Ben Wallace and Stephen Jackson to show up at the brawl randomly. Jackson can just punch people in the audience. Artest can just kill people. And Wallace can just shove people in the face.

Also LOL at Isiah Thomas calling out George Karl for poorly managing his roster and leaving his starters in late in a blowout, leading to what will be the suspensions of 3 of their 4 best players.

Pot: Hey, Kettle, does this quote make me look black?

Thomas doesn't get ripped on by The Sports Guy everyday for nothing. The man can't build a roster any better than he could build a Jenga tower.

I was expecting something along the lines of the Pacers-Pistons brawl and almost cried when it didn't happen. NBA is an acronym for "Nothing But Asses;" while I'm disappointed that Carmelo was involved, it just proves that anyone in this league is capable of just flipping the fuck out.

So tomorrow we should find out the WWDD on this. (What Would David Do?)

Until then, I had a fun conversation regarding brawl musings. So here are the questions:

Who would be the most dangerous during brawls in the NBA? Who would be on your all-brawl team? =p

Do you go with strength/power or crazy factor/felony experience? Are there any random players with ninja like qualities? Barbosa with the Brazilian break dance fighting, Obi Wan Ginobili with a flurry of kicks (soccer prowess) and light saber skills, or Kirilenko going KGB on everyone's ass... with an AK47?

Anyways here are some nominees my friends came up with:

Ron Artest ~ The perfect combination of power and crazy. He is the size of Ben Wallace and jacked like no other. The man also has Artest face... which means he's got no facial expressions. He gets the same facial expression when he wins, loses, celebrates, and after eating babies. This guy is no joke. Ben Wallace lucked out when someone in the stands threw a drink on Artest... because Artest was probably seconds away from biting Ben's eye out.

Shaq ~ He is like Goliath, packs the most power and has an overarching reach. However, his showing in the Shaq vs Brad Miller melee showed us he still needs work on his aim. Landing a punch would be devestating to his opponent, however his lack of aim and questions about his chin strength probably gives the advantage to smaller quicker fighters.

Ruben Patterson ~ I don't know how he does in a fist fight, but he does beat up his women nicely. I don't think Ruben's crazy, I think he's just a businessman at the head of his group of delinquents. This is not a particularily big man (compared to most NBA players), but he did scare Zach Randolph (a badass himself) to hide out at Dale Davis' house for two days in fear of his life. Ruben's strength probably lies in larger brawls where a lot of players are involved. This is where he can come in and knife a few people under the radar. He also has a big psychological advantage because his counterpart knows that messing with Ruben = getting jumped in the street later that night.

Mount Mutombo ~ Hands down, this is the player you would least want to mix it up with. His world class elbows are legendary, leaving evidence on the head of many unfortunate foes. But that's not all, the one-two punch combo of elbow to face plus sex you up, strike fear to children and grown men around the world. In fact, the Mormon religion is based loosely on the fact that God sent Jesus and Moses to sex Mutombo so that the people of Utah could escape Mutombo's wrath.

Seeing Mutombo fight Shaq would be pure amazingness. Personally, I think Mutambo would own. Shaq definitely has the brawn, but I don't think the brains to think of any strategy.

And back on topic. I saw the brawl, and it was pretty harsh. Especially Carmelo's cheap shot...wow. As if basketball doesn't already have a bad reputation for being a league full of pussies.

The Suns have won 14 straight games.... damn!

Gilbert Arenas droppd 60 on the Lakers in a winning effort.... DAYUM!

Yeah, nobody wants to fight in the NBA. 90% of the time a fight breaks out, the people involved just swing wildly like sissies, not connecting or even trying to connect. ....and then you have those that hit and run.

I LoL-ed.

Yeah, I never understand why, when a fight breaks out, NBA players put an arc to their punches -- swinging from the outside in with an open hand. And then flail about.

Those aren't real punches.

Maybe they don't really want to hurt the other players. I mean, these are millionnaires getting paid to put an orange ball inside a basket. It's a good gig.

:tpg:

WWDD results:

Anthony gone for 15 games, which was expected. Some people were leaning closer to 10, but the 15-20 range seemed right.

Robinson and Smith get 10 games.

Each team was fined $500,000.

What I did not know was that Thomas apparently told 'Melo not to go into the lane before that brawl started. Surprisingly, Thomas wasn't punished at all.

Collins got 6 games. Jeffries will miss 4. James and Nene will miss one game for leaving the bench.

So Nuggets get to keep Miller and Camby. And here I was about to be disappointed that Camby would miss his first 5 games of the season due to suspension instead of injury. Well, at least that won't happen. :p

Haha, that's pretty nuts. I agree with the 15 game suspension for Carmelo. Cheap shots don't go over so well in any sport. I wonder how they'll in their game tonight...

And yes, the sun's are "hot" this past few weeks. Now that Stoudamire is back, they finally have that power down low to go with Marion. Double trouble there, as long as Nash keeps on playing like a star, which is basically a given. Suns in the finals for sure if they keep playing like that.

Surprisingly, both New York and Denver won today - New York over Utah in OT and Denver over the Wizards.


I was pretty shocked with both games. Denver without Anthony just doesn't seem like a winning situation, but they pulled through (and Camby played really well). I still can't believe New York beat Utah though...pretty low scoring OT game though.

Yeah, what the hell? How does Arenas not get to the line at all tonight after getting there 27 times on Saturday? =/

Crap, I still haven't seen clips of the brawl, and the NBA requested YouTube take it down. I'll have to scour around to find something. Anything that lands Anthony 15 games in the hole ought to have been interesting. Shame that all 10 players on the court ended up getting involved.

It wasn't anything I haven't seen in a lunchroom fight at my school, to be honest. I think Anthony only received the stiff penalty he did because he pretty blatantly threw a cheap shot after the main action had died down.

The wizards shot atrociously against Denver. A sub 40% field goal and 24% 3-pt performance isn't terribly impressive and won't win you many games.

This link still works for me, give it a try: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RPeEFCanZug

If not, let me know. I'll upload it for you.


(Oh, and welcome back, Drex:))

Denver acquires Allen Iverson from Philadelphia for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, two 2007 first round picks.

Andre Miller is an excellent young guard, Joe Smith is a serviceable forward. Denver gets a guy who'll fill Carmelo's shoes for the next 13, 14 games.

Dang. Two scoring powerhouses on the team in A.I. and 'Melo. And J.R. Smith will maintain his position as the starting SG when he gets back and will hold his role as the three point specialist, except he will be even more open. Along with "solid" inside presences in Nene and the Cambyman (if he can). When they play the Suns in the playoffs, those two teams will set a playoff scoring record of some sort. I guarantee it. Score.

Meanwhile, Miller will still get his assists in Philly while taking on a more prominent scoring role.

I still think Minnesota would have been better for AI, but Philly got more for AI than I thought they would.

AI seems like he'll fit in Denver well enough. Camelo and AI will probably split points (like how McGrady and Yao splits points - in the 30s or low 30s/high 20s), though AI will have 14 games to get use to playing for the Nuggets.

Right move, at the right time for both teams I think. Philly really lucked out because I didn't think they'd get anything in return that would equal the value of Iverson, but they did, pretty much. Denver, with the absence of Anthony, are getting Iverson just in time. For both teams it's addition by subtaction, and I think each team came out on the winning end of this deal.

So is DerMarr Johnson going to give up his #3 jersey.

I bet AI will pull a Kobe and go with a new number.

While it was a quality trade for the Sixers, this is the saddest day of my life as a Sixers fan. My favorite player in the history of sports got traded today.

It really sucks bad.

Just think of the possibilities though... once Carmelo comes back, they could switch positions, and have him and Iverson on the same line. That would be a hard task for any defender.

Denver may have gotten the most out of this deal for this season, but Denver is going to be jealous when they find Philly drafting three studs in the first round.

Now if Philly can get rid of Webber for anything, their future would be very bright.

But, man, I'd wanna see a Nuggets/Suns or Nuggets/Warriors game so bad now (after 'Melo returns, that is).

The best thing for the Sixers is to not get anything for Webber because his 23 million comes off the books next year and we'll finally be under the cap. All we'd get for Webber would be a bunch of guys with long-term bad contracts and that isn't what a rebuilding team needs.

The Sixers are going to have 5 picks in the top 40 this upcoming draft. 3 firsts and 2 2nd rounders. Hopefully we can package any of the 4 besides ours(which could easily be #1 overall since we suck so bad) and get back into the lottery and maybe get a young player in return.

Oh true. I forgot about Webber's expiring contract. I was actually gonna go look up what the deal was with him after I posted, but then I fell asleep. :tpg:

But yeah, let Webber expire, start new: good stuff. Like what the Knicks should've done years ago....

Double Post:
So A.I. got #3 while DerMarr went ahead and took #8, probably for a price. :p

Sixers lose again. 5-19 baby. Oden better come out this year.

12 straight losses. At least they are doing the right think and losing games.

Now it seems that Iverson says he never demanded a trade. Check this article out: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2704221

Also, the Utah Jazz overcame a 21-point deficit in the 4th quarter last night to beat the Hawks 112-106. The Hawks are a terrible team, but that is still one serious meltdown.

Man, what an injury-plagued week.

Nenad Krstic out for the season. Josh Smith, Rashard Lewis, and Yao Ming out for several weeks. Lewis and Ming's injuries pretty much kill my fantasy season now, as they were two top ten players in the game. That kind of production is irreplaceable. My season's done. Merry Christmas? ;_;

And then the Lakers/Heat Christmas game special. I was almost looking forward to a surprise Shaq return (since there's never been a timetable released for him), but that didn't happen. Oh wells, it was the Wade/Zo show. :p

Looks like a repeat of last season for the Rockets.

Yao is plagued with another injury that will take him out for weeks, and McGrady is again plagued with back spasms (though McGrady could be back tonight).


Being without Yao is a huge blow, though they still have Mutombo and his elbows of death. Battier needs to step up on offense.



I'm looking for AI to have a huge game against the Celtics. 30+ points.

Iverson got his first win as a Nugget last night. 28 points and 13 assists in a 116-105 victory over the Celtics. A.I. has always been a great ball distributer but has never had a real opportunity to show that in Philly. Now that he has much better players around him, he'll be able to showcase that skill much more.

You can add Chris Paul to the growing list of those getting injured. He's projected to miss anywhere between 2 and 4 games after an ankle injury last night in a loss to the Supersonics. New Orleans has been hit hard by injuries this year. Peja is probably going to miss the entire season with his back trouble, and David West and Bobby Jackson have also been missing considerable time.

So that Knicks game goes to TRIPLE O.T. Man, there were some clutch plays there. And as expected, the score was in the 150's with all that extra added time. Hamilton even hit the 50 point mark I believe.

And with the win against the T-Wolves, Toronto's back on top of their division.

Yeah, the Knicks seems to better when the game is longer. Lollin' at outlasting their opponents. The Pistons starters almost all fouled out. It was intense. =p

I'll be going to the Wizards/Magic game tomorrow. Should be a fun one as it'll be for first place in the division. ^^

Also gonna try out the new DSLR camera. =p

It seems as though the Knicks have been playing a lot better since the brawl. Go Figure. We've been having a lot of these high scoring games this year, a lot more than in years past. I have to say that I really enjoy games like that. Like I touched on earlier, it reminds me of the way it was in the 80's.

nazpyro, have fun at the game tonight. It should be a good one. Be sure to share your pics. :D

Yet another 3OT game. This time between the Lakers and Bobcats.

Anyone have a count as to how many OT games we've had this year?

There have been 17 OT games, 4 2OT games and 3 3OT games.

Here are the triple overtime game we've had this season:

<> 12/29/2006 Bobcats vs. Lakers 133-124
<> 12/27/2006 Knicks vs. Pistons 151-145
<> 11/1/2006 Knicks at Grizzlies 118-117

3 in less than 2 months (and the Knicks in two of them). Before those, there had been 7 3-OT games in 5 years.

Also, in other news, Michael Jordan and his wife file for divorce: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2714217

What happened to Yao? What did he hurt this time?
And McGrady's out too. That's not good news for the Rockets.

Don't remind me. ;_; Yao's out for two months after getting his knees pwnd. (My fantasy team is done.)

Anyway, so that Wizards/Magic game was intense, despite it being an overall sloppy game. Not much Arenas action since he only made one three; then again, he did score 36 points and almost had a triple-double, but you don't notice it watching it live. =p

Anyway, a few pictures I took from very far away:

http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-001.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-002.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-003.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-004.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-005.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-006.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-007.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-008.jpg
http://sanemonkey.com/images/gff/20061229-009.jpg

Great pics, Nazpyro! I hope I'm lucky enough to see a game someday.

The Raptors lost by four, after bouncing back from a 20+ point deficit. Damn!
Finish the jorb.

Great pics naz. Half-time game looked fun, though I'm not entirely sure what's happening in the 5th pic.

Haha. I was kinda rushing and forgot to include captions for each pic. Hmm. Here they are, in order:

1) The history of Western Civilization is being decided, according to Bill Walton.
2) Dancers. ^^
3) Arenas misses a three, probably because he was only 24 feet away, instead of 30.
4) D-How with a monster putback.
5) CHIPOTLE BURRITO DASH. <3
6) Caron with a trey, but misses also. Looked good though.
7) The G-Man with the reverse dunk.
8) The crowd during the final moments in the game.
9) The Magic's last attempt for the win. :fail:

Nice pics, nazpyro. Thanks a lot for sharing them. I really like the one of Arenas' 3-point shot attempt. He has a nice stroke. From the pics, it looks like you got some pretty good seats. I'm glad you had a good time.

Ahaha. Actually, we were in some of the farthest seats, with the back wall behind us. THe only good thing was that they were somewhat at center court. =p

At least you still got a decent view.

Additional Spam:
First day of the new year, and the old leather ball came back in to play! I wonder how the players will react to this.

KG was first to reap the benefits. Racked up 32 points and 14 boards in that game versus Charlotte.

Haha. Osnap. I haven't watched a game yet this year. Gotta see dat old ball. =p

Anyway, I stumbled across this site today: http://basketbawful.blogspot.com

It's got some amusing things there, such as Waltonisms. <3 And, most recently, this:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/124/3...fbc039e3b9.jpg
No, they are not scrambling for a rebound. Granger is, in fact, stuffing his own teammate.

Way to go, Granger. You my boy! ^^

Also did not know Nate Robinson has his own blog on MSNBC. -_-

Very nice finds, naz. I really like that blog site.

In other news, Pat Riley to take a leave of absence to have knee and hip surgery: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2718720

I really don't know how much of an effect this will have on the Heat. I mean, the team isn't playing very well right now. They aren't even among the top 8 in the East right now... THE EAST, for crying out loud! If Shaq doesn't get back soon, they won't make the playoffs.

First off...

AGENT ZERO STRIKES AGAIN! What an amazing game winner by Arenas. That's just fucking confidence right there. =p

Anyway, some humor from one of yesterday's box scores: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore?gid=2007010203

LOL. That's like "M. Camby: DNP - Marcus Camby" of the past. This is the coronation of J-Rich into the Cambyman's injury realm. :tpg:

Haha.


The blog is hilarious naz. Gatorade bottles are actually phallic. I never knew!

Gilbert Arenas Birthday =p

Haha, happy birthday Agent 0!

haha, ah man, that's so awesome. You know you're good when you can throw your own birthday... make it invitation only... and make people have to have an "Arenas Express" card to get in.

On the court, though, this guy is still hot. It seems like everything he throws up is going in. Right now, he could probably hit one from where you were sitting at that game the other day, naz.

Happy B-day, G-Money.

Heard his party was awesome and all that stuff, and he was described as a "kid in a candy store." :tpg:

Anyway, Nick Collision: averaging 29 and 21 in the last one games. What a beast.

Is that 21 boards, or points? Because 20+ boards in a game is incredible!

And Cleveland clawed back and got a win over the Kings. They were down by over 15 points, and still managed to get back in to the game. Drew gooden got another double double (third in a row?) and Lebron's 5 trey's in a row certainly helped clinch that "W".

Forget Nick Collision. Dwight Howard is just tearin' it up this year. 4 games of at least 20 points and 20 rebounds this year (most in the league), which includes a 30-point, 25-rebound performance yesterday against the Warriors.

Also, Dikembe Mutombo passed Karem for 2nd all-time in blocked shots last night against the Lakers. In fairness though, blocked shots didn't become an official stat until sometime in the 70s, so some of Kareem's blocks didn't get recorded. And damn, Bill Russell would have had....like... a million blocked shots. But, congrats to Mutombo, nonetheless. No way he catches Hakeem "The Dream", though.

29 points and 21 rebounds against the Suns (they still lost though).


And I have to say that Dwight Howard is a beast. Bishop said it, 20+ rebounds in 4 games, and yesterday's game was ridiculous.

30 points and 25 rebounds? Great stuff.

The game is tied 111-111, Wizards call a timeout after Utah's shot. 12 seconds are left on the clock, who does the ball go to?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...8/Hibatchi.jpg

Final score: Wizards 114 - Jazz 111.

Gilbert Fucking Arenas.

I would say that his swag today was phenomenal. :tpg:

It's been entertaining at work today with the basketball games going in the afternoon for Martin Luther King Jr. day 24 weekend as I've refreshing box scores for the last 3 hours...

I saw the stats at the end, and realized something awesome must've happened.

So eight player trade today between the Golden State Warriors and the Indiana Pacers.

Pacers get:
Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod

Warriors get:
Al Harrington (Best person in the trade IMO), Stephen Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell


I think the Warriors got the better part of the trade, but anyway - Article

Dunleavy. What shit! :tpg: Haha. Yeah, agreed that the warriors won out on that. Sure the Pacers got Ike Diogu, but meh; we'll see about that in the years to come. Dunleavy...

Anyway, in the Spurs-Lakers game, Kobe posterized Duncan on many occasions. =p

Raptors win convincingly over the Bobcats 105-84. Wild action at both ends of the court, but Toronto pulled ahead in the second quarter. And OMFG Anthony Parker posterized Okafor on a drive to the hoop. If I had a pic i'd post it...man, it was sick.

Pape Sow was also given a warm welcome back to Toronto this evening, playing in his first game this season since his severe back injury.

The Lakers have gotten very frustrating to watch in the past 5 games. I can't believe they lost to New Orleans again.

I guess I should be happy though. No one expected them to get this far this year. And it's a very good record despite injuries to Kwame Brown and Lamar Odom. Still, they're much better than they've been playing.

Right now, they're losing to Golden State because of a heapload of turnovers. Hopefully, it goes well from there.

And I agree, Golden State got the better end of that deal. They should be fun to watch when Richardson gets back.

Bear in mind the Warriors also received perennial trouble-maker Stephen Jackson in this trade. They've been looking to deal him for a long time now. With a guy like Ron Artest, bad behavior is forgivable, and he's still a semi-desirable player, but Jackson's gameplay doesn't make up for his behavior. I don't see him being anything but a hassle for the Warriors.

odang. so now we gots 'melo and AI together for a ridiculous power tandem that just rocked the grizzlies. i didn't get to see it, but i definitely wanna check out denver some day. should be fun...

wheee double post, but a necessary one. so the all-star starting lineup votes are in, with quite the pleasant surprise:

we're also getting another first-time starter in chris bosh! freakin' awesome for them. sadly though, shaq is also getting his 14th straight start too. whatever whatever.

so here are the lineups:

EAST
C - Shaquille O'Neal
F - Chris Bosh
F - LeBron James (led all votes)
G - Dwyane Wade
G - Gilbert Arenas

the west is pretty typical;

WEST
C - Yao Ming (led all votes in the West; too bad he can't play though since he'll still be injured)
F - Kevin Garnett
F - Tim Duncan
G - Kobe Bryant
G - Tracy McGrady

Good to see both Bosh and Arenas getting starting nods. Arenas should have been on the team last year but got snubbed.

The East is SO weak at the center position that Shaq should get the starting spot there every year by default. The West starters are no suprise at all. Like you said, it's become the typical norm over the last couple years.

It should be a very good game.

-------------

Also, tonight, the Suns go for a franchise-record 16th straight win tonight against the Bucks. I'm sure they'll get it. They've just been totally streaking lately. Might be the greatest offense in the history of the Association.

There was an argument for Dwight Howard at center (since he is most deserving) yet this is the All-Star game, and fans would rather see Shaq over the power house that is Howard.

Shame Yao is injured though, he was definitely deserving after what he did most of the season. :/

Was Nash even selected for the all star team? I thought he would have a great chance at making the starting lineup, but I just never heard of him. He might just be on the bench.

And too bad about Yao. Any estimates when he'll be back in action again?

I think Yao was thought to be back at the end of Feb. to the beginning of March, but I'm not sure if I heard that from a source or if it was just my roommate talking about it.

As for Nash, he's on bench.

Wow. The Suns lost... to Minnesota of all teams. =/

KG with an atypical outburst of 44 points I guess did it, but yeah. :streak over:

The streak seemed like it had been going on for forever now. I figured they'd lose to either San Antonio or Utah but they didn't make it that far. KG just had one of those dominating games where almost everything was falling. Ricky Davis had a nice game to, which helped a lot.

I wouldn't be suprised if the Suns reeled another streak like this before the season finishes up.

Oh, man I gotta see this guy:

7-foot-9 Sun Ming Ming out of China, signed with the ABA's Maryland Nighthawks.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/2...etball_sun.jpg

There's a bunch of articles no him. Here's one. There were some shots of him in today's newspaper, but I couldn't find them online. The dude can dunk without jumping. =p

That's gotta be a lot of pressure on his legs though. Like Yao seems really able at his height, while I remember Sun was looked over in the draft cause he was slow, weak and seemed susceptible to injury.

That's a matchup that I'd like to see.. Yao vs/ this Sun guy. Two Ming's going at it.

And wow, that Raptors game against the Wizards. Gilbert who???? CB4 absolutely stole the show with his 30+ points, and that 60 foot shot at the buzzer. Sam Mitchell went nuts!

Celtics lose again! Raise your hand if you were surprised. Ahahaha.

Can't call them tankers.

Well Paul Pierce has been out forever, and he is the heart of the team. :/


Any word on when Yao will be back? I haven't seen anything, but I've been speculating the beginning of March.

Pistons are rolling right now. I had my doubts on whether still had any gas in the tank, but he's been surprisingly effective so far.

Dwight Howard has been monstrously efficient lately. He's taken 52 shots in the last four games, and he's missed 8. That's 44/52, 84% from the field. He needs tutelage from Hakeem or someone, because once he actually gets post moves and a point guard who can get him the ball, he's going to wreck things. Also needs to cut down on turnovers.

And augh, another TV matchup with the Heat, Spurs, Cavs, and Lakers. ABC so far has chosen really boring games to show.

The Spurs are always good, but they are never exciting.

The Heat play a pretty boring game in spite of D-Wade, because most of the game is spent on the line, which really slows down the game.

LeBron's Cavaliers have the most unimaginative offense I've ever seen. Thank God they benched Eric Snow, it was getting ugly out there.

The Lakers are actually a fun team to watch for me. I've stopped hating Kobe (as much) now that he's bought into the team concept. The work Phil Jackson has done with the role players is amazing; all of them have great footwork and passing skills now. Bynum looks like he could be a beast, and they're getting decent production out of folks like Luke Walton (injured now) and Farmar. Weirdly enough, they've been struggling lately even with Odom. I guess it doesn't help that he's been pretty crappy these last few games.

Yet these four are the teams they usually pick to showcase on ABC Sundays. That and the Suns, that is usually pretty fun.

Arenas... 41 points less than what he promised. He got owned.

Yeah, he got owned really bad. Owned by himself and owned by his coach too.

A lot of injuries on the Western roster in the All-Star game.

Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson and Carlos Boozer.

It seems that aside from Yao, the rosters seems set. The only other centers I see on the Western roster are: Amare Stoudemire and Mehmet Okur. I assume Amare is starting.

Yeah, that Western lineup is a bit weirded now. I mean, Okur is good but he's Okur. =p Props for the Terror from Turkey!

So, with the Cavs beating the Lakers for the second time this week, we're all set for the All Star break! Skills Challenge go!

I love how injuries have completed decimated pretty much every point guard who was set to play in the All-Star game. All the West has left is Tony Parker, and he's not even starting. No Iverson, no Nash, no Kidd...pretty much a guarantee we'll be seeing way more iso and much less passing.

Wow... yesterday's all star events were very entertaining. That was mad fun to watch.

Jason Kapono ties a record final round points for threes, making Arenas and Dirk have to step it up for a possible new record if they wanted to win it. Man, I was cheering for Arenas though I actually bet on Kapono to win, but that was exciting.

Slam dunk contest: Gerald. Green. Oh. My. :p

Skills challenge had an epic feel to it, but those guys need to enter something like the Slam Dunk contest... D-Wad, LeBron, CP3, Kobe... that was fun too though.

Bill Laimbeer in that shootout game was hilarious. <3 how it ended controversially and Detroit was the usual bad self even in that.

Commentary for the night was hilarious too. =p

And let's not forget Barkley v Bavetta. Haha, that was funny.

:tpg:

Also that dunks show before it all was great too. But man, the fans voted for the wrong " best dunk" in the end. =/ Anyway, I liked the Shaq quote on Barkley:

Lastly, LOL at that East dance contest earlier in the day. Shaq was breaking... and doing the Worm! If you missed that, it's on the NBA.com front page on the side. =p

It was a pretty good show overall. I thought it should have been Dwight Howard instead of Nate Robinson in the finals with Gerald Green after Howard's sticker dunk, but that was all right. And it seemed like Lebron mailed in the skills competition, which is sad considering he's ducking the dunk contest in the first place.

Still, it was entertaining, especially the shootout and the clock controversy. Looks like Pippen might be able to contribute a bit for whatever team takes a chance with him, even if it's just 10-15 minutes a night.

I wasn't able to watch the entire All-Star weekend like I have been in the past, but what I was able to see was very entertaining. It funny because all the guys in the Skills challenge should have been in the dunk contest, but it was all good. Dwayne Wade really put a good show on. The dunk contest was pretty fun to watch as well.

All in all, a great weekend. The All-Star game should be good as well, even though several key players will be out.

I was kind of suprised to hear that Pippen is thinking about coming back. But, after seeing him last night, he still can contribute to a contending team. It'd be cool to see him return.

Kapono killing the 3-point contest was one of the highlights of the night. The fact that he wasn't even invited originally was a huge surprise, and the fact that he won proved something.

Howard got low low scores in the dunk contest, probably because of his height (he's the tallest ever to be in the dunk contest, or something). I thought his sticker dunk was creative though. Gerald Green definitely deserved his victory. Some great dunks by him.

Barkley was hilarious after the race - completely out of breath, didn't know the charity or the amount of money they were going to give. A great laugh.

West Wins!!!!

Kobe snatched MVP with 31 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.

Easy victory for the West, and thanks to the roster they had (even with four players injured), they had some ridiculous line-ups out there most of the time. Solid outings for the two Suns: Marion with 18 points and 8 rebounds, and Amare with 29 and 9. Shame Nash and Kidd couldn't play.

Really, the only agonizing part of the game (besides the first few minutes when both teams were sluggish) was the 45-minute pregame/intro ordeal. Might be why the teams struggled in the first quarter. That and all the partying.

I love how it started out slow, but after a couple of great dunks and alley-oops the game just rolled on.

West just held the momentum the entire time - and you can't forget the fact that they had 52 assists. 52 (versus the East's 29)!!!

Man, I was really hoping the West would bring in the ridiculous bigman lineup at some point like they did a few years back. Here it would've been something like:

PG: Marion
SG: Dirk
SF: KG
PF: Duncan
C: Okur

:tpg:

Also loved it when Shaq took it up. That was great. They should've cleared it out for him. =p

Uh,does anyone know how Andres Nocioni from the Bulls injured his foot which is why he isn't playing in the next to games?

Nocioni got goot ol' plantar fasciitis, and it looks he's being out longer than expected, which often happens anyway with this ailment.

Anyway.... trade deadline approaching in just under 3 hours. As usual, I'm waiting for big names to move. Will it be Kidd? Carter? Bibby? No one? ._. I really see Bibby moving though.

Also, suck for D-Wad and the Heat. I've seen rumors (nothing official yet) thay he may be out up to six weeks. That's a blow for last year's champions who are only barely in the playoffs right now (8th seed in the east).

A part of me gets the impression that this trade deadline could end up with a lot of hype with nothing actually happening. That would piss me off, and I hope it doesn't happen since I like to see things get shaken up, but every team seems really reluctant to pull the trigger on these deals.

Trade of the decade. =/ My boy, Juan Dixon, from Maryland, of the Blazers for Fred Jones of the Raptors. There was also Anthony Johnson to the Hawks for a second round pick. A disappointing day.

Right now, he's weighing the option of getting season-ending shoulder surgery. If he does that, the Heat are done - I can't seem them in the NBA Finals (or too far into the playoffs) without him.

I can't believe no one's posted this yet. No sound, but you really don't need any. Shaun Livingston dislocated his knee in one of the most graphic injuries I've probably ever seen in any sport.

You are WARNED!
**Hidden Content**

Sorry I've been away, guys.

Me and bishop were sharing some stuff, and I figure I can post the links here for you guys as well.




Livingston dislocates knee: http://www.sendspace.com/file/gvb4lr (this one has sound ... you can hear him screaming in pain)

Dwight Howard's Sticker Dunk: http://www.sendspace.com/file/omtgkm

2007 Slam Dunk Contest: http://www.sendspace.com/file/s1619l (play with VLC player if WMP doesn't work)

The announcer and color-commentator's comments on the slow-motion are great:

"...if you are a little squeamish, you might not want to see all this..." "...gotta be when he lands...ooh, right there." "Oh, yeah, OH, OH DEAR ME, oh, yes...oh dear...not only, uh...and there's no kneecap there, if you notice..."

Yeah, I was doing the dishes while keeping an eye on the game on TV. And I turn around and all of a sudden saw Livingston on the ground. So I went to get a closer look -- then they showed the replays, and I felt kind of sick.

He's never had a injury-free year, and you feel bad for the kid. He's got so much potential (he was just coming off a career-high 14 assist game), and yet he's so prone to injuries. I don't see the longevity in his career.

Holy crap! Like he almost fell on it.

They talked about it on ESPN, but I didn't see the video. I like how they didn't even stop play, and both his teammates and his opponents just kept going with the ball.

CALL TIME OUT!

What do you think this is, international football where players kick the ball out of play when someone is injured out of respect and sportsmanship? WE DON'T TAKE KINDLY TO THAT KIND OF TALK 'ROUND HERE, STRANGER.

I guess nobody knew how serious it was until they realized he was still writhing in pain.

The expression on everyone's faces -- including the Bobcats -- was just one of shock, horror, and empathy. It's so disturbing because no one collided with him ... he simply landed after a layup.


It's estimated that he'll be out 8-12 months, and may very well miss all of next season: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

Oh wow. ._.

I saw the headline of an injury when checking my teams today, but didn't realize the seriousness of it. That video is sick. So much for my hopes of him picking it up for the second half of the season. =/

Jesus H. Christ, that is horrific. I've seen it once and there's no way I'm gonna look at it again. I don't think I've ever seen anything that bad before. Forget this season, he might not play next year either, after something like that. I just hope the guy can come back from this. It's going to take a hell of a lot of work and rehab, though.

Also, thanks T-Wolf for those two dunk contest uploads. I appreciate that.

You know, I don't even know why I downloaded that video this morning. I saw it live last night, and didn't think I would ever want to see it again. It makes my legs feel weak each time... like I need to sit down and not jump ever again.





Something happy... ok.

Here are my thoughts on the Dwight Howard dunk, which he got robbed on in the scoring department. I think the judges should be allowed (or required) to view replays of a dunk right after it's executed, before handing out scores.

When all is said and done, Dwight Howard's Sticker Oop is still the most memorable dunk from this year's contest. Catching an alley-oop with the right hand while simultaneously slapping a sticker near the top of the backboard with the left hand -- that is absolutely sick. And to fully appreciate the creativity and execution, you have to understand that a lot of work and pre-planning went into it.

After the league denied his request to raise the rim to 12 feet, Dwight and his teammates came up with the sticker idea. But to make it work, they actually got help from the Orlando Magic's Creative Services Department. Read the Orlando Sentinel article HERE.



TNT showed footage today of Dwight practicing the dunk with Jameer Nelson, slapping the sticker while alley-ooping. You see how much thought went into that one dunk -- and he was also saving his Kiss-The-Rim dunk for the final round. But unfortunately he got robbed Saturday night, and in turn so did the fans.

Some people -- including Dwight's camp -- seem to think that maybe the dunk would have generated a better reaction had he let the crowd and judges know what he was doing.

I disagree.

The reason why Dwight didn't just reveal what he was about to do was simple: Surprise factor. You appreciate the subtleties of it so much more when you suddenly realize that there's a sticker with his face on it up high on the backboard. Indeed, the dunk generated quiet a buzz throughout the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday night, once the crowd realized what he had done.

Too bad the judges made up their minds prematurely and took the dunk at face value -- and likely didn't even see the motion of Dwight's left hand -- without the benefit of replays.

At the Legends Brunch on All-Star Sunday, Dr. J introduced Cheryl Miller, who was being honored. The first thing Cheryl did when she got to the podium was call out Dr. J on scoring the Dwight Howard dunk.


PICTURES!

http://img149.imagevenue.com/loc209/..._122_209lo.jpg http://img163.imagevenue.com/loc206/..._122_206lo.jpg http://img157.imagevenue.com/loc235/..._122_235lo.jpg

http://img45.imagevenue.com/loc151/t..._122_151lo.jpg http://img169.imagevenue.com/loc122/..._122_122lo.jpg http://img135.imagevenue.com/loc96/t...9_122_96lo.jpg http://img13.imagevenue.com/loc102/t..._122_102lo.jpg

http://img150.imagevenue.com/loc45/t...1_122_45lo.jpg http://img143.imagevenue.com/loc8/th...OP_122_8lo.jpg http://img153.imagevenue.com/loc258/..._122_258lo.jpg http://img105.imagevenue.com/loc15/t...6_122_15lo.jpg http://img133.imagevenue.com/loc64/t...3_122_64lo.jpg

http://img157.imagevenue.com/loc270/..._122_270lo.jpg http://img135.imagevenue.com/loc246/..._122_246lo.jpg http://img105.imagevenue.com/loc97/t...8_122_97lo.jpg http://img135.imagevenue.com/loc121/..._122_121lo.jpg http://img127.imagevenue.com/loc252/..._122_252lo.jpg

I watched the video with the sound (and the commentary). I didn't notice his knee...off to the side of his leg. I thought he would be in more pain than he expressed, but it might have the adrenalin from the game or just him keeping a blank face when he was on the stretcher.

Wade was in tears after his injury, Livingston grabbed it and cussed a few times but he was calm once he was on the stretcher.




In the happier news, yes, Howard did get robbed. It's obvious the judges didn't know what he was doing 'cause I didn't know and I was watching him on television (which I assume had a better view of what was happening). I didn't see anything special about the dunk until they showed the sticker, and I'm sure the judges couldn't see the sticker from where they were sitting.

He should have invited them over to stare up at his awesome.

o artest u

He wasn't exactly eating babies this time, but dang. This could end his term as a King. =/

Also, welcome back Yao. <3

It must be the new haircut.

Or not.


http://img169.imagevenue.com/loc265/..._122_265lo.jpg

I don't think he's worth the baggage that comes along with playing him. Yes, he might give a team a boost, but he's crazy, he calls out teammates, and there have been games where he won't come in when the coach tells him to. And then this.

Yes, he is a great defender and he can be an offensive force when he's not chucking threes, but he's killed Indiana and now he's killing the Kings.

I didn't even realize Sacramento was back in the playoff race until I watched the game last night; after their lost, they're tied with the Hornets and only a game and a half behind the Clippy Clips. I'd say the first 5 seeds in the West are pretty much set, but the last 3 are really up for grabs still (the Lakers haven't been doing so well without the indefinitely-injured Odom and the now oft-suspended arm-swinging Kobe :p).

I don't care about the double post: this one's worth it. Lone NBA fan... :(

OH MY GOD! That was probably the greatest NBA game all season. Double OT with the best two teams... MVP candidate vs MVP candidate... Nash and Nowitzki... it was ridiculous. THen in the final 55 seconds of regulation, Nash scored 10 points ending with a game-tying three. :tpg: In the first overtime, Terry with a game-tying three! Monstrous play followed by monstrous play all throughout the conclusion... this was unbelievable. :3:

41 for Amare, 32 for Nash, 30 for Dirk, 33 for Stack, 27 for Terry. MAGICAL!

Yeah... we're getting a third straight MVP for the Nash. :p

Yeah, that was definitely one of the best games I've seen in a LONG time. So many great players playing at such a high level, throughout an entire game, doesn't happen all that often. With that performance, Steve Nash has probably separated himself as the clear-cut MVP right now. It's just him and Dirk. LeBron, Kobe and Arenas have all been fading lately.

And speaking of Kobe, what's up with him and his flailing arm of doom? That's definitely not a normal shooting motion. I don't know what the hell Phil Jackson is talking about.

If I were a Dallas fan (and I'm not), I'd be a little worried, since the Mavs were making the same kind of errors that cost them the championship last year.

He was trying to make it look like there was more contact than there actually was. Each time, he was stuffed cleanly, but he just flailed his arms to make it look like he got fouled.

Too much time spent in Hollywood, probably.



(But that 65 point game, followed by that 50 point game ... those were something)

Houston killing Philadelphia by 50 points was something as well.

Kobe scores 60 again.

He now has four 60+ games in his career, tying MJ for second place all-time.

As much as I can't stand the guy, I have to admit that watching these scoring streaks he goes on is very entertaining. He probably isn't finished yet either.

For the Lakers to stand a chance in that loaded Western Conference, he has to put up numbers like this, or close to it. I guses after that losing slump they were going though, PJ told everybody to give the ball to Kobe and get out of his way.

I don't like Kobe as a person, but he's very entertaining as a basketball player. He is in an incredible offensive rhythm right now -- the basket must seem like a giant bucket to him these days.



And how about those Raptors, wow. They spanked the Nuggets last night. It was Chuck Swirsky Bobblehead Night at the Air Canada Centre.

Here's an interesting article comparing Kobe and MJ on ESPN:

Putting Kobe in perspective

Kobe falls in that same category as A-Rod, I think. He, like A-Rod, wants and tries so hard to be respected and admired. They both care about their image greatly. While, I don't like the guy's attitude off the court, he's definitely amazing to watch on it.

I do agree with the article that some people refuse to acknowledge the greatness of Kobe (the player) simply because they don't like him (the person). But some of the assertions the articles makes, they're certainly... interesting.

She claims that the NBA is "tougher" now, but fails to acknowledge that the game today is officiated differently. Wing players like Kobe have a much easier time getting to the basket in the modern NBA. You lay an arm on them and it's a whistle. MJ was routinely hacked on the way to the basket (Pistons and Knicks specifically).


I don't know what she's trying to prove here -- the fact remains that Joe Dumars was still a better defensive player than Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter combined. Physical gifts and athleticism only get you so far.


This is very debatable. How can she even make such comparisons without backing them up with valid arguments.


This statement just reeks of a lack of sense of history. David Robinson perhaps, but Hakeem never affected the league the way Shaq and Duncan have?? She can't be serious.


Michael and everyone else?

Everyone else as in Charles Barkley? Karl Malone & John Stockton? Patrick Ewing? Shawn Kemp & Gary Payton? Shaq & Penny?

It was "Michael and everyone else" because Michael was head and shoulders above all the other hall-of-famers of his day.








In other news -- did everyone see Rasheed Wallace's 62-foot heave to force overtime yesterday? I watched the entire game, and I almost jumped out of my chair when it happened.

I agree with you on every single thing you said about that Kobe-MJ article.


I didn't see the game, just the highlights. It was an amazing shot. The fact that the Pistons took the game in OT made it even cooler.

You wouldn't happen to have a video of that shot, would you, T-Wolf?



Lastly, the Mavs won their 60th game last night in a win over the Bucks. They're the 3rd fatest team to reach 60 wins, only behind the 95-96 and 96-97 Chicago Bulls teams.

To say they've been on a tear this season is an understatement.

Yup, I do :) Here you go, off NBA.com: http://www.sendspace.com/file/hd01id



They are very impressive. I'm sure they're still motivated by blowing an 0-2 lead last year in the Finals against the Heat.

Do you think they'll win 70 games? That requires them to go 10-1 (or 11-0 to finish 71-11) in their final 11 games.

Looking at the remaining schedule, they still play against Phoenix, Denver, San Antonio, and Utah.

It's gonna be close, I think.

I can't see the Washington Wizards going far in the playoffs with both Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas being out. They were having a pretty promising season too.

In any case, looking forward to the playoffs - should be another great one this year.

I'm not sure if they will reach 70 wins. They definitely have a shot at it though. With the teams you just listed, it's going to be hella tough to get there.

And thanks a lot for that video. :)

We're on the final stretch. The Clippers, Lakers, Warriors and Hornets are fighting for those two last spots in the West. It's gonna be interesting to see who wins out. The Clippers won a huge game over the Lakers last night. They overcame a double-digit deficit and 50 points from Kobe Bryant to come back and get the victory.

Also, the Mavs won't make it to 70 wins, but they've still had an amazing year. Now, let's see how that'll carry over into the postseason.

What about those Raptors! They're 9 and 2 in the last 11 games, and are up against 'Sheed and Detroit tonight. They way the Raps have been playing lately (and this season overall) makes me pumped to see how they fare in the playoffs. As long as Bosh and Bargnani stay healthy, the other teams will have a hell of a time finding a challenging matchup.

In addition, Bargnani, after a few weeks of recovery from appendicitis, still won't be able to play in the game tonight against Detroit, due to a severe sinus infection. :(

Yeah, the Raptors are the suprise, feel-good story of the year as far as I'm concerned. After Vince Carter's messy departure, that team was in shambles for awhile. Their coach and management have done an excellent job at turning things around so quickly. I think they definitely can make a run in the East.

Raptors Playoff tickets went on sale (for the general public) today at noon through Ticketmaster.

I got mine. I'm going to Game 2 of the first round. The Raptors may end up playing New Jersey, which will be a hot-blooded series.

Damn you're a lucky guy! If I lived closer to Toronto, I'd definitely spend the money.

It will be extremely exciting to watch them play the Nets. Vince Carter will either be hot and kobe-like, or a complete discrace. There'll certainly be a few boo's though :p

Enjoy the game, Timberwolf! Try to take some pics that you can share.

My ticket is on the low end, as I can't afford anything too pricey right now. So my seat it pretty hight up. The main thing is that I just want to be there in person.

The great thing about the ACC is that the arena is designed very well, and you can see the action clearly no matter where you're sitting.

Man, that's really cool, T-Wolf. I hope you have a good time and enjoy the game. And, as Fiddlegoof mentioned, please bring back some pics to share with us. :)

I will :)

I hope whatever photos I take will turn out decent, considering where I'll be sitting. This is the least expensive ticket I've never purchased (I believe it's in the section called The Sprite Zone), so I'm really hoping the view won't be too bad.

Man, the Wizards are getting the tar beat out of them by the Bulls today. It really sucks to see this. They had such great promise this season. Hopefully, Arenas and Butler will come back even better next season.

The Spurs-Mavs game coming up should be a good watch though.

whos is better, Lebron or Kobe

Wizards finally won one tonight, avoiding a first round match-up with Detroit. They will play Cleveland -- but without Agent Zero and Butler, things don't look good.

Chicago blew a big game tonight against New Jersey, knocking them all the way down to the fifth seed. Their road to the Eastern Conference Finals looks very tough (they would have to go through Miami and likely Detroit).

The East match-ups are in:


Detroit (1) vs. Orlando (8)
Chicago (4) vs. Miami (5)

Cleveland (2) vs. Washington (7)
Toronto (3) vs. New Jersey (6)



Now we wait for another two hours to find out what happens in the West.

I'll have my predictions and brackets tomorrow.



EDIT: I made a mistake last night, Chicago is the 5th seed and Miami is the 4th -- not the other way around. (But Chicago will still have homecourt since they have the better record.)

You should hold a big sign saying "Onions baby, Onions from GFF", so we can spot you out in the crowd if the camera ever falls on you.

I'm excited to see New Jersey play Toronto. With Carter there, it'll be just like old times. My bet is that he gets hurt in the first game, third quarter, and Toronto completely owns the series.

Haha. One thing for sure -- there's gonna be signs everywhere at the ACC, and half of them will have Chuck Swirsky sayings.

It will be an exciting, heated series. Vince Carter may even play hard.

Analysts and talking heads are already saying that if there's a likely upset in the first round, it would be New Jersey over Toronto. They go on to talk about the Raptors' inexperience, and how much experience New Jersey has.

I don't really buy it. A good team's a good team. And the Raptors are a good team.

Give me a good, young team that plays hard and executes over an experienced team that thinks it can turn it on or off whenever they want. Anyday.


Here are my predictions for Round 1:




EAST

Detroit (1) vs. Orlando (8): Detroit in 4
Miami (4) vs. Chicago (5): Miami in 7

Cleveland (2) vs. Washington (7): Cleveland in 5
Toronto (3) vs. New Jersey (6): Toronto in 6


WEST

Dallas (1) vs. Golden State (8): Dallas in 6
Utah (4) vs. Houston (5): Houston in 7

Phoenix (2) vs. LA Lakers (7): Phoenix in 6
San Antonio (3) vs. Denver (6): San Antonio in 7

I'm leaning towards an upset in the Detroit/Orlando series. Rasheed tends to get in to technical foul territory in a hurry, and I haven't heard much about Billups these days. And of course, without Big Ben, they don't nearly have that important defensive support that they used to have.

As for the Raptors? They're inexperience counts for nothing. Bosh is already an outstanding team leader, their entire team works hard until the bitter end, and they do have some veteran know-how (Mo Pete and Martin) on the bench, ready to support the team when it needs it the most. The key veteran players that come to mind for the Nets are Carter and Kidd. As I said earlier, Carter will end up injuring himself and limit his playing time, and as for Kidd? Age is a factor for his performance. He'll have to work extremely hard against the quick and energetic point guards, Calderon and Ford, just to keep up. In this case, I think that the young, energetic Raptor squad will take the Nets totally by surprise.

And Timerwolf, you need to do something unique so we can spot your Raptor-cheering ass in the crowd. :p

Man, if I were the Bulls or a Bulls fan, I'd be hella pissed off. All they had to do to lock up the #2 seed was beat a sub .500 New Jersey Nets team. But, they came out and laid an egg. Now, instead of having a much more favorable road to the East Finals, they'll probably have to go through both the Heat and Pistons JUST to get there. Nice job! The Cavs should send them a fruit basket or something for that pitiful effort.

Wow, Golden State.

Mark Cuban looked maaaaaad.

Hah, I agree. I predicted that the series would last 6 games, and just about all my friends and family called me crazy. After the game was over I performed my "Happy Dance". They seriously like to think that they know more about sports than me.

Just about every single series this year is just about evenly matched. Even Orlando and (to lesser extent) Washington made it tough for the Pistons and Cavs late in the game. Finally, I can watch all the series without being bored. It's never been like this ever.

Serves Dallas right in my opinion. I have no idea why Avery Johnson rested his lineup on the Warriors game rather than their last game. They wanted the Warriors and so they got them. It was a really great game. That team is fun to watch when it's clicking. Whatever happens, I hope this series goes to 7. I want the Warriors in the Playoffs for as long as possible.


***


I wish everything turned out well as I hoped, but my Lakers blew a chance to go up on the Suns. Leandro Barbossa absolutely killed us. Stoudamire and Nash got their numbers, but they didn't mean anything until Leandro blew through our guards. At one time, the boy scored 13 straight points. You can't win against that.

What's more upsetting is that the Lakers played their game plan and actually held Phoenix to mediocre offensive categories. They couldn't hit their shots today. And unfortunately, this will not happen again. The Suns will shoot a higher percentage, and the Lakers will have to play even better than today to stand a chance this series. It doesn't look good.

There were bright spots though. Lamar Odom's turning up the heat in the playoffs just like last year. And Jordan Farmar actually did a good job in the game. Last year, Luc Walton emerged as a good player in the Playoffs. Here's hoping Farmar is the next one.


***


The Spurs look sluggish to me. I had them winning in seven games, but I'm thinking of switching that to Nuggets in 7. As good as Tim Duncan is, they don't let him defend at all. The Spurs are too scared to get him in foul trouble. The Parker/Iverson matchup is a wash, but Carmelo makes the difference here. Bruce Bowen can't defend Carmelo, and even if he did get the assignment, it won't work when Iverson can equally be that scoring presence.

Then add the rebounding presence of the Nuggets, and you have a recipe for trouble. If the Spurs want to win this series, they better grind it out and stall. They're not going to win if Parker and Ginobilli take quick shots.


***


New teams are fun to watch in the playoffs. I'm hoping for upsets around the league.

Gargh, don't even get me started on how upsetting that game was... Lakers played a decent first half but the last half game this Sunday made me CRY. It was lame as hell~. Just wished the Lakers held off a better defense, then we might have had a chance, but nooooooooooo, some where down the middle it was "ok" to give up just because homeboy Barbossa scored a few points to tie us. :mad: :mad: :mad: Honestly, I miss the Laker team from like half a decade ago. Anybody with me on this?

I'm with you on that one man. Consider that Shaq has been gone for 3 years now. Had he stayed on the team, we'd be contending even now.

But this is the team we have, so we have to pull through it. Here's hoping someone steps up besides Kobe.

Hopefully in the offseason, Bynum improves his footspeed and muscle. I heard he and Dwight Howard were making plans to train together in the summer. Maybe Kareem and Dwight's training will pay off for us next year or so.

I actually like how the Bulls played this weekend, they played not too bad of a game. (I'm not a person to follow favorite teams, but I'm all for watching a good game, regardless of what team is playing.)

Game 2 between the Raptors-Nets was SO good.

Not only was I attending my first Playoff game, it was also the first time I was there to root for the Raptors. All the other games I went to in the past, I was there to see the visiting team (Penny, KG, MJ, Iverson).

So this was new. I even wore red.

I'll try to upload some of my photos for y'all tomorrow. I just gotta say, it was a lot of fun, being part of the crowd, cheering for the Raptors and booing Vince. I'm very glad the Raptors came away with the win.


And I came home with an Anthony Parker jersey.

The Warriors should have won at least one of those games in Utah, and could have been two, but missed free throws and mistakes down the stretch of both games were too much to get over the hump. Maybe a change a scenery will get them back in gear.

The Suns-Spurs series could go either way. I'm rooting for the Suns as well. I just enjoy watching their offense.

The East title is definitely there for the Piston's taking. I don't think any of the other teams left have what it takes to challenge them. A Suns-Pistons matchup in the Finals would be interesting scenario.

Nice vids, naz. They definitely bring back memories.

The Warriors have a style of play that's very entertaining to watch. However, because of that type of reckless, all-or-nothing play, it came come back and bite them in the ass at times. In the Dallas series, that aspect never reared it's head, but it has in the Utah series. They've had a nice run but I think it comes to an end in Game 5.

So the Spurs/Suns game was absolutely amazing last night.

And now we get to see if the NBA cares more about basketball or about ridiculous rules that punish people who didn't end up doing anything wrong. I mean, do they really want to ruin the series, hand it to the Spurs, by suspending Stoudemire?

I finally found my way back...

I didn't even know GFF was back, until I checked one of my lesser used email accounts and saw Miles' notice.

And then I couldn't find The Back Pages...



Well, good to be back at last.


http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c2...-SPIDERMAN.jpg

Ridiculous rules that punish people it is!

Robert Horry has been suspended for two games. Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw will just be sidelined for Game 5. It really sucks that the NBA still live in archaic times when it comes to their rules and regulations. This had been an excellent series so far too.

The baby Bulls have a little hop in their step tonight. They are playing very well and are up by 11 as I type this post. Entertaining game thus far.

Man, this is not good for basketball.

Welcome back, T-Wolf. Glad you found your way. :)

Dirk Diggler was formally announced today as the MVP. Gotta be a bittersweet occasion for him and his team. They had such promise, then ran into a brick wall, also known as the Golden State Warriors. Congrats to him, nontheless.

If the Suns lose game 5, I'm pretty much done with the NBA. Before it was the lockout, which was greed, but a lack of ability to put out a good basketball product is completely unforgivable.

Well, the Suns put up a valiant effort and even had a sizeable lead at one point, but the loss of Stoudemire and Diaw really caught up with them in the 4the quarter. Even though they lost, the Suns should still feel pretty confident. Despite being down 3-2 and heading back to San Antonio, they have solace in the fact that they have beaten the Spurs in their own gym, almost (and probably should have) beat them last night without two of their best players AND the Spurs will be without Horry for one more game.

That being said, I think the Spurs will close this series out in Game 6.

And is it just me, or has the Cavs-Nets series been a complete snoozefest? Especially that 4th quarter last night. This series just hasn't been all that interesting to me.

Sorry naz, but your hopes and dreams have been dasked... AGAIN!! ;_; I still have much <3 for you, though, so keep ya head up. Chicago hung in there for the most part, but the Pistons took over in the second half. I can't wait to see who plays them in the Finals.

Well, I'm done.

Short of the Suns making a playoff run, I probably won't watch another NBA game start to finish for at least a few years. The NBA ruined itself for me. I don't want to watch anything put out by people who care so little about its fans and the game of basketball.

The NBA can go fuck itself. I'll stick with college ball.

David Stern and the NBA totally ruined the Suns-Spurs series. The Suns won't make any excuses but they were set up to fail after that ruling.

Cavs eliminated the Nets last night also and get the esteemed privledge of being eliminated in 5 games by the Pistons. That is, if the Pistons have gotten their mojo back.

The Spurs are now up 2-0 on the Jazz. It hasn't even been close. Even though I figured San Antonio would win this series, I really though that Utah would put up a pretty good fight. At this point, I don't even think heading back home will help the Jazz. This series is over.

Congrats to the Portland Trailblazers for securing the #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Seattle ended up with the #2 pick. The Celtics and Grizzlies both got owned.

The Celtics certainly did get owned. One less chance for me to watch a Celtics game this year.

However, this might, if nothing else, get a rivalry going between the two teams up there in the northwest.

Well, the Celtics might be able to get this highly-touted Chinese guy that's supposed to be a cross between Yao Ming and Dirk Nowitzki. I don't know much about the guy but he's being hyped up pretty well.

The Timberwolves had the same odds as Portland (5.3%) to get the #1 pick. Damn, Oden+Garnett would have been awesome to watch.

Lebron James just became the new Michael Jordan. 48 points, last 25 Cavs points, and the Cavs are up 3-2 going to Cleveland.

I don't usually watch basketball, but I was really impressed by his performance.

Man, I really wish I was able to watch these games, but I'm sort of in the middle of the most epic GFF event ever... :3

I heard all about it emphatically from my brother though. And now just read that the Cavs clinched their first NBA Finals berth. Congrats! Too bad the Spurs are gonna win... then again, I said that about Detroit. Oh wait, too bad I don't really like either team. =p

LeBron James completely took over the last two games of that series. His performace in Game 5 was.....in short.. epic. ESPN Classic-esque. The fact that he did it against the vaunted Piston defense made it that much more sensational. I had a pleasure watching that game. Even though he didn't shoot well from the field in Game 6, he got to the foul line...like... 20 times and found Gibson many times for wide-open 3 pointers when he was double and tripled teamed. James has definitely ascended to that next level.

....

Now, he has the pleasure of getting swept by the Spurs. I might give the Cavs one game in the series but the Spurs are surely winning this thing. 'Bron 'Bron will have to pull something legendary to win the championship.

I don't have a vested interest in either of these, really, though. I might watch a game or two but that's about it.

Would you put it past him at this point?

Well, you're right, I probably wouldn't put it past him. The Cavs did win both meetings against the Spurs this year, so anything is possible.

I take it the lack of the NBA finals thread, and discussion overall is a sign that you guys also don't take basketball seriously anymore. Just a guess though. I've felt that way ever since the fall of the bulls. The NFL is showing signs of being predictable too.

The Cavs are probably going to win 2 straight and then lose game 6. It's setup for the Spurs to win it by default.

Yeah, this has been a horrible series to watch. The Cavs are simply too overmatched, that's really what it all comes down to. At first, I was only giving the Cavs one game, but now I expect them to get swept tonight. They played a lot better in Game 3 but that still wasn't enough to get a W.

Even *when* the Spurs win this series, I will not consider them a dynasty. A great, consistent, annual contender, but no dynasty.

It's all over. Even though the past two games went down to the wire, it hasn't exactly been an exciting series.

I believe that had the Pistons won the East, they would've matched-up much better against San Antonio. But give Cleveland credit, for beating Detroit and winning the East. Despite getting thoroughly out-played and out-executed by the Spurs in the Finals, it's been a successful season for the Cavs.

It annoys me that no one in the media ever says anything when Duncan has underwhelming performances. It's like, if the Spurs win despite Duncan's subpar play, the media looks the other way and instead talks about how great the Spurs team is. But if the Spurs win and Duncan puts up numbers, the media gushes about his greatness.

These are the same people who say that Tim Duncan is the greatest player since Jordan. Or that he's the greatest power forward of all time.

As far as I'm concerned, he's just one of the greatest power forwards of all time, and who happens to have been fortunate enough to play on a stable team with quality personnel and coaching. Just because he has four rings, doesn't automatically make him a better player than Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, or even Kevin Garnett.

What a boring playoff final.
The balance of power is so awkward in the NBA conferences.

The NHL West had 1st - 7th seeds with either 48, 49, 50 or 51 wins, and thus all insanely close to each other in greatness while the NBA difference means a huge difference in power between each seed.

The NBA should have serious concerns with how lopsided the Eastern and Western Conferences are to each other. The talent differential between the two is staggering, and it's not getting any better anytime soon, with Oden going to Portland and Durant going to Seattle. I'm not sure how you go about fixing something like that but it definitely needs to be addressed somehow, someway.

Congrats to the Spurs. The series was boring and not entertaining in the least but they earned it. Cleveland had a good run this year, and exceeded expectations, but ran into a MUCH better team. Michael Finley finally got a ring after being in the league for 13 years, and Robert Horry got his 7th, which is the most among active players.

Tim Duncan is an excellent power forward, but best ever, I think not. I still hold Malone and Barkley in those regards. Duncan is in my top 5 though.

I knew they were going to win, but I didn't expect a sweep. And they are considered a dynasty now, which means the NBA is going to try hard to break the team up.

I didn't get to make a comment on the finals since I've been out of the country. I was able to catch game 3 though, and I pretty much forced myself to watch. I kinda expected a sweep after reading up on what happened in the first 2 games, but yeah: seems like it was a boring finals after all. Actually, it got boring after all the fun teams left, so it was east and west finals where it got dull. =/

Cya next season foos.

Yeah, the Finals were a complete drag and left MUCH to be desired. However, the offseason should be very intriguing. With Kobe Bryant demanding to be dealt, and the T-Wolves listening to offers for KG, it'll be interesting to see how all that plays out. Also, the Pistons better keep Chauncey Billups. Joe Dumars would have to be a complete moron to let him go.

Should be a great Draft too.

Thursday night, 7pm.



As wonderful as it must be for Portland to own the first pick, it's gotta be tough deciding between Oden and Durant. I think if I were a GM or management in this year's draft, I would rather have the second pick than the first pick.

Because you can't go wrong with the second pick. It's easy -- just take the player that Portland passed on.

Nah, I think I gotta disagree with you on this one. The choice is plainly clear here. I'm sure the Blazer's brass will say they are reviewing all their options but they know they are taking Oden, and that's what they should do. Durant is a great player and might be a great pro but great wingmen are a lot easier to come by than a big man. How many true great centers are in the league right now? Shaq? Yao? Howard?

Oden will pay immediate dividends with his defensive presence alone, it'll probably take Durant some time to reach that same potential. Plus, the Blazers have a lot of good, young players. As a team, they are right on the cusp. Oden could be that piece that gets them over the hump.

Well actually, I do agree that taking Oden is a no-brainer for Portland. But I'm just thinking in terms of maybe 7-10 years down the line... what if maybe Durant's potential is actually greater than Oden's, and Durant's able to maximize all of it. What if maybe Oden turns out to be an Olajuwon, and Durant turns out to be a... Mike. If that happens, Portland won't necessarily be kicking themselves, but they would still wonder "What if..."

But for Seattle, the pick is SOOOO easy. No matter what -- even if Oden has a better career than Durant -- they won't be kicking or second guessing themselves. Because essentially Portland did the choosing for them.

Draft is about to start.

Who else is watching.

Celtics trade Delonte West, Wally "the Scissor" and the #5 pick Jeff Green to Seattle for Ray Allen and a 2nd round pick.

Huh. Dunno what to think, honestly.

The New York Knicks traded Channing Frye and Steve Francis to the Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones.


Steve Francis is OUT of New York and on the West Coast, which is pretty interesting.


I'm kind of shocked that Portland would trade Zach Randolph though - he's a young guy (25 or so), and he averaged 23 points and 10 rebounds last year.

I'm guessing they're moving last year's first round pick, LaMarcus Aldridge, to PF to make room for Oden at center, but they're still giving up Randolph.


Portland's starting five looks like: PG Francis, SG Roy, SF Frye, PF Aldridge, C Oden.

I hate Stephen A. Smith.

LET ME E NUN C ATE MY SYL A BULLS AS LOUD LY AS POSS I BULL.