Real Deal

TIME: 9:30 PM ET TV: TNT

It was Budinger last year, right?

Karl and Gentry have been the two guys that really talk about Kobe before and after every game, it seems. Rivers and Popovich have done it a few times, also...Doc more than Pop.

Pacers are going to get killed against the Heat. Five games. If they want to compete in that series, those guys need to start finding their offensive game. Sure, they will have to defend to beat Miami, but they should have scored over 100 every single game of this series, without Howard in the middle. Ryan Anderson and Glen Davis? The Heat will eat their lunch. I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping I'm wrong, and that Danny Granger turns into Scottie Pippen while defending Bron.

I found this funny. https://twitter.com/#!/LakersReporter/status/200098701430095874 LOL...Karl praises Kobe more than he does his own guys, sometimes. It's hilarious.

SO MUCH FOR THIS QUESTION.

JaVale McGee is a good player...but some of those baskets...no excuse for that. Bynum has been praised for years, and quite a bit this season, for being a legitimate defensive anchor and arguably the best true big man in the NBA (I say Howard, but it's been argued). Right now, Drew and Gasol are being outworked by McGee and Faried. That's it. That is why the Nuggets have two wins. Lawson did well to win that first game, but it was their two bigs that made the difference. We walked into Game 5 thinking it was going to be an easy out (Bynum, really, according to his comments). Then, we rely on Kobe playing 43 damn minutes (most in the game, by anyone...only player to play 40 or more) and superhero ball to bring us back from a 14-point deficit. Just ridiculous. Most of Denver's points came in the paint (over half of them)...think they said 56 points, which is just unacceptable. Matt Barnes can't hit anything, even though he's wide open more times than not. Blake made two big shots, but was absolutely tore up by Andre Miller. Oh well.

Philly moving on so they can get pounded by Boston in the second round (unless Rondo shatters his knee, which wouldn't surprise me, seeing how the East is turning into the ultimate cakewalk).

Yeah, I guess that kind of made it seem like I was saying they would win with him...but I wasn't. I don't see how Miami loses this close-out opportunity on their home floor, even if a 100% healthy Jeremy Lin was playing.

No Win

You didn't bump this after Kevin Durant hit that game-winning playoff shot the other night? When you double CP3, he turns into the un-clutch, and that's what I don't like about him. Did you happen to see what went down last night (since you bumped this because of last night)? To end regulation, he was doubled and lost the ball, didn't even get off a shot. He also screwed up and lost the ball late in the OT, for the same reason. Put one guy on almost any superstar, and he's going to drain a few clutch shots every now and then. That's why Melo was so good for a while...no idea why, but teams would rarely double Melo at the end of a game. What would you expect from this series? Let me put it this way: with Conley defending CP3, it was obvious that Paul was going to hit his shot. With Tony Allen? Much different. By the way, that one 4th quarter shot in regulation from CP3...that was his only two points of the quarter. He was 1-4. If Memphis had doubled him the entire OT, he would have been held to a couple of points, especially with Tony Allen as his primary defender. I'm still taking the lethal scorers.

C-Webb has been calling out the super flops by Blake, almost wanted to laugh when Blake's neck whipped back when he was tapped on the face...and even if it was a bit harder than a tap, there was a slight delay before the reaction to the hit, almost reminded me of the Bosh/Boozer incident.

Doubt the story is true. The picture seems like it would fit something The Onion would put out there, and when it says that the boy had 600 million photos and 17 million clips on his computer...well, that's quite the hard drive.

Just as long, but I did read somewhere that the second round and beyond (or at least the second round) will have back-to-backs...which is also something they've avoided for a reason. A lot of the older teams would rather have that day or two in between games.

That's my point...just speaking on LeBron because it was his comment. But if you make this a typical 82-game season, guys like Rose and Howard could give you the argument that they wouldn't be playing with the condensed schedule, staying in shape as much as they have over the years, etc...and now that their team isn't going to win it all (Orlando wasn't going to anyway, but Chicago could have), their perspective is going to be much different, I'm sure. So, really, you're just going to have to ask yourself how much different is the 66-game season...and the answer is: very different. Started late, less of an off-season (only had one week of free agency), very few practices and time for conditioning, etc. What's worse...is that the schedule was changed drastically. Lakers played the Bulls once, but the Heat and Celtics twice. All three games against the Spurs came in April. They played the Thunder just three times. The changes could have been the difference between HCA and not having it in the first or later rounds for some teams in the league (maybe Miami would have HCA over Chicago, or the Thunder over the Spurs, Clippers over Grizzlies, maybe the Bucks make the playoffs and play Chicago in the first round, etc). So when LeBron talks about the season not being much different, he is dead wrong.

I'm sure LeBron is going to say that. Ask Derrick Rose or Dwight Howard (or their teams) what they think, though.

First question is: was the 1998-99 season in the same boat? It's always hard to give full credit to any team winning the championship in a shortened season. If the Spurs or Lakers win it all, is it easy to just say that those older teams are lucky to not have to go 82 games...OR do you say it's easier on the younger superstar-led teams because it's shorter?

Hahaha. They are hot, Slaven Medvedenko.

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