Real Deal

Danny Granger is going to get into a fist-fight with LeBron tonight. It's long overdue.

From the OKC Thunder Facebook:

Stupid. It wasn't during the game, and I'm sure the same idiots would have done it regardless.

The funny part about all of this above is, the one guy that should know all about this (Shaq) is the one blaming the big men for their play. It was Shaq who actually fought with Kobe, won three consecutive rings with him, was a big man while Kobe was dominating the ball just as much as he was...and, yet, Shaq knows what's going on in Los Angeles.

Bynum was removed from the equation when Perkins started to front him, and that was after he was pushing Bynum out of his spot. Kobe isn't going to get the ball to Drew when he's trying to post up 12 feet away from the rim, and our PG's can't throw a pass over Perk and Ibaka, to Bynum, because he's not athletic enough (or skilled enough) to work over the front. Ask Houston fans what it did to Yao Ming. I can't recall just how many bad shots Drew got up from that distance, and how many times he was blocked doing it. If this dude thinks he's going to make it on another team, as a primary option...well, I can't wait to watch. Teams will eat him alive, and his FG% will plummet.

He doesn't care what they think, he was just getting annoyed that they continue to ask him ignorant questions. I figured that was a given, but I guess very few have paid attention to his interviews over the last two seasons.

Kobe has 15 of the 19, the only guy to come and play. Drew has two early fouls already, Hill picks up two, Gasol sucks. Sick of this team.

Shaw, Malone, McMillan all come to mind. How hilarious would it be if Jeff Van Gundy was hired?

https://twitter.com/#!/WojYahooNBA/status/204654699171946497

TIME: 8:00 PM ET TV: TNT

TIME: 9:30 PM ET TV: TNT

I wouldn't say the Spurs have THAT much trouble against low-post scoring. They weren't picked apart by our bigs, in any of the three games we played them. Bynum struggled in one of those games, shot 7-20, and in another, he couldn't the amount of shots he wanted, despite us feeding him the ball every now and then. Drew tore them up on the glass once, with that 30 rebound game, but that was all due to Blair being on him. Once Popovich realized how much Blair was hurting them against the bigger, longer centers in the game (and making Duncan work a bit too much in the process), he started playing Splitter and Duncan together in that second game against us, which was part of the reason why we were blown out.

I could type a huge explanation as to why this damn team is so good, but simply put, they can play two different tempos effectively...and for me, that's what it comes down to. You can't slow the game down, because the Spurs can go straight into "Duncan mode" and drag you through the mud, and you can't pick up the pace, because they can use their fresh legs + Tony Parker and take you out of the game again. Last year, the "complete team" was Dallas, and we saw what they did. This season, it seems to be the Spurs.

Ah damnnnn.

I had a feeling CP3 wasn't going to come through.

I'm going to take a guess and say you would do the same with LeBron and what he did (or didn't do) against Dallas in the NBA Finals. Don't get me wrong, I laughed and loved every bit of LeBron getting tore up in that series (4th quarters), but that was because Dallas decided to take him out of the game. This isn't 1990. If you want to zone up and take a superstar out of the game, especially if you're a good defensive team (or great, for that matter), you can do it. What games are you going to give me? The ones against Dallas in 2011, or Boston in 2008 or 2010? Will you go back to 2004 and Detroit? I don't care if you're Kobe, LeBron, MJ, Magic, Wilt, Monta, Teague, or Walton...if a team doesn't want you to score the ball, they will take you out of a game with a strict zone defense, and more than likely, it will come at the end of a game if you're a clutch scorer. Before you say that Kobe should pass the ball more and give up those clutch shots, instead of shooting almost all of them, you should go back and let me know all of the times other players (besides Derek Fisher, who Kobe has to feed anyway) have done ANYTHING with the ball in the clutch...whether it has been Steve Blake's wide-open miss the other night, Odom's airball from 16-feet in, or Walton just holding the ball and letting time run out vs. the Knicks.

Vogel lost the game. You play big the majority of the game. Slow it down and PLAY BIG. It's not that hard to understand. Instead, they stuck with the long, contested jumpers, and they kept Barbosa's ass in there for FAR too long. Barbosa is horrible...does absolutely nothing but run up and down the court, has no offensive awareness, and his defense is pathetic. It's like Vogel went away from what worked in the last two games, and I'm not sure why. Even with the bigs in foul trouble, it's the playoffs...you trust in them, and you go all in, because if you win Game 4, you don't HAVE to win in Miami. LeBron did them in. Wade stepped up in the second half. That third quarter, though, was killer for Miami...just couldn't stop the duo.

You think LA is going to win the series?

LeBron rarely sees that defensive pressure until he gets into the paint...and you and I both know that, by the time he gets in there, it's too late, and he's either going to go to the line, or get his two points. Any time LeBron has the ball on the perimeter, clutch moment and down by 1-2 points, and he's not being doubled...he should keep it. He has to have the same mindset as Kobe has had all of these years. He would get LESS criticism for missing potential game-winners if he didn't shy away from it all the time. You may not think so, but right now, they are saying LeBron isn't clutch in 4th quarters, ignoring the actual 4th and just paying attention to that last second shot that he seems to be scared of. Sure, he's clutch...one of the better 4th quarter players in the NBA, easily...but nobody cares about that because what they remember are the big shots (makes or misses), and LeBron is rarely in the picture.

Game was lost because of screens, simple. Perkins is one of the most valuable "offensive players without the ball" I've seen this season. Illegal screens out the ass, but once Westbrook comes off it, or Durant, or Harden, they either have a wide-open mid-range jumper, or a clear path to the rim.

He was doubled 25 feet away from the rim. Be serious for a moment. He scored 10 of the last 14 points of Game 3. Also, he had seven or eight game-winning shots in the 2009-10 season...don't have the list over the last two seasons, but he hit one against the Raptors just a couple months ago (off the top of my head). Not sure if you're serious, or...

Yeah, I'm not that surprised at the comeback, but it was QUICK and unexpected. I really thought the Clippers were going to end the run halfway through, but damn. They went to the Hack-An-Evans, though. So annoying.

...I can't believe this.

Haha...well, I actually typed what I did because of the stuff I was reading on Twitter. I already know where you stand, Bruce.

TIME: 7:00 PM ET TV: TNT