Real Deal

Wow, this game came out of nowhere. Had no idea it was on that early. Yeah, I agree with putting Bargs on Hibbert. Amir would get destroyed. Hibbert may tear up Bargnani also, but you're better off going with the guy that can actually contest his shots and use his weight to keep him away from the rim a little.

Kobe: 26/8/5 on around 50% shooting (don't remember the final shooting numbers, something like 8-16)...and that's what Utah gets, for trying to rely on just one defender. Miles and Bell can't hold Kobe by themselves, even the old man Kobe. Take into consideration the fact that Gasol actually STUCK HIS ASS IN THE PAINT a few more times than usual, Artest is playing closer to the rim, and Ebanks is getting to the line...makes it a little easier on Bryant, and the Lakers roll. Utah sure the hell misses Williams...but just as much, they miss Jerry Sloan.

That Portland defense kicked in after halftime. Kings shot 9-38 (24%) in that second half. :o Gotta admit...it was chuck-city tonight. Crawford, Jimmer, Matthews, Thornton...dudes were just firing threes, and bricking them badly. I was in and out of the game quite a bit, but damn...every single time I turned the channel, it was someone jacking a bad shot.

I actually didn't mind Love taking that three-point attempt. I know people probably didn't like it, but why not? Jennings did well...caused a lot of confusion on the Wolves' end. Opposite of what can be said about Rubio, who I thought would have a pretty damn good game tonight...but I'm guessing Terry Porter just came in and told the entire team to let Love foul out the Bucks' roster. AND...WHAT ABOUT JON LEUER??? The fans love him as much as Laker fans used to love Luke Walton (obviously, that didn't last long). Put up some good numbers tonight, and he was clutch.

It's not a surprise to see Boston struggling to keep up with such an athletic team, but also not shocking to see the Celtics play catch up late in the game. Boston can make you work on the defensive end, and it really does tire legs...and when Miami starts to feel that burn, they tend to go away from what works. They will run less, rely more on shooters, and it's depressing to see (for Miami fans) because they have three guys who should be able to go to work all game long. I'm not sure if Boston wins this with Pierce, though. Ray Allen really pulled them back into this game, and I doubt Pierce gets that 28-30 against LeBron, probably shoots a low percentage this game and keeps the ball out of Ray's hands a little too much. Who knows, though. Miami has ran the Celtics and Mavs to death in these first two games. I'm interested to see what they will do in a few weeks, when they go to LA to play the Clippers. Before that, they have it pretty easy these next couple of weeks.

I'm not even sure if Lopez matters. The Nets wouldn't make the playoffs, either way. They are a team put together to bring in a big-name free agent, not to win. The team itself isn't much to watch. Damien James, Anthony Morrow...these guys are back-ups, at best. They still don't have a legitimate starting PF, although Humphries does a decent job racking up big numbers on a bad team. Bench is horrific.

Getting interesting, to say the least. They are letting him do more work than one would think in this offense, especially considering the talent around him (very, very few rookies should be dropping big scoring numbers with Wade, LeBron and Bosh on their team). I'll go back to what I said to start the topic... And I'll go ahead and say the guy is probably going to be starting before the break. However, the bench really needs someone to score the ball. I wonder if he's better suited coming off the bench in a sixth-man role.

Because I don't like watching my girlfriend's Vampire Diaries box sets in the evenings, when League Pass gives me every game I want.

Well, if the player isn't willing to learn, you can't teach anything to him. Otherwise, yes...you can teach him how to defend. You can stress how important angles are, when to switch on screens, how to position the body defending the post, how to box out and defensive rebound, even defensive tricks that are deemed illegal unless you get away with them (ex. thumb in the back). Now, obviously, you'll have guys like Nash...who are too small, not strong enough, and don't have the lateral quickness to defend many of the starting PG's in the NBA, so you can't teach Steve Nash how to grow a few inches and heal his back and knees. However, Nash can be taught how to play off of a defensive anchor (like Battier does, and Bowen used to), and he can be given clips and video to watch, learning angles and hot spots of his opponents (vintage Battier...the dude has been doing it for years).

Andray Blatche is an idiot. He thinks he's Dwight Howard. And... What needs to happen is Saunders looking at his depth chart and moving Shard out of the lineup, and sticking Young at the three. Crawford had a pretty good game, I thought, and Young is fully capable of playing the SF position.

Can't wait to see Indiana back in the playoffs. They played Chicago hard last season I wouldn't be surprised if they handed out an upset in April.

Rubio's court vision is top-notch. It's too bad he doesn't have a jumper like Nash. The league would be in trouble. Durant went off again...second 30+ game already. I expected a Thunder victory, but had a gut feeling it would be close. Minnesota is going to be one of those interesting teams that gives you a feel that they can make the playoffs, but there's just one or two things missing.

First team is easy: C - Andrew Bynum PF - Blake Griffin SF - Caron Butler SG - Kobe Bryant PG - Chris Paul Second team, same: C - DeAndre Jordan PF - Pau Gasol SF - Devin Ebanks SG - Chauncey Billups PG - Mo Williams Artest doesn't make the list because I'm pretty sure he'll have another bad year shooting the ball, and aside from defending 2-3 players in the NBA very well (ex. Durant and Pierce), he'll be a huge liability, and he'll also provide us with nothing else. Fisher doesn't touch the ten.

I'm now 28 years old, so I've been giving more than I usually get...but I did get some pretty nice things this year. http://i43.tinypic.com/28k53zq.jpg Decided to wait for the lockout to end before getting 2K12 (no rooks), but as you can see, I didn't have to buy it. http://i41.tinypic.com/34xjblh.jpg That dark "something" to the left of the Nike sweats would be my PS3 controller docking system. http://i42.tinypic.com/nfhf2p.jpg Sick Kobe gear. ------- As for what my girlfriend and I bought everyone else... http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/388901_2426681304855_1186200095_32191604_1127972173_n.jpg My brother's games, for his new PS3...and my girl bought him the same HDMI DVD player you saw in one of the pictures above. Don't have pictures of anything else, but we purchased perfume, two dress shirts, and earrings for my mom. Gave my dad a gator grip wrench, a halogen work light, house shoes, and a Nike coat. Girlfriend and I bought ourselves a Christmas gift...a 42" Vizio we spent around $600 on, and got her a 2006 Grand Prix in mint condition. Now if only the Lakers had won.

I'm not so sure I'm surprised at Howard's play, once again. He's not happy. The dude grabbed seven boards tonight, and against Houston, he should be grabbing 20+ (especially when you consider all of the shots the Rockets were missing). Dalembert may be a decent defender, but Howard is going to score 30 motivated points if he wants...just seems like he's running through the motions and awaiting the trade that sends him elsewhere.

Where is the Tyson-ensity?

Shaun Livingston was playing pretty good, the quarter or so that I watched the game (kept flipping back and forth all night long). Also, what the hell happened with S-Jax? I can't believe he committed six fouls in under 20 minutes of play, even though he wasn't assigned a superstar to defend. I haven't seen that from him in a while, even though he has lost quite a bit due to his knees.

Let me clarify: I want Fisher to coach, not play.

Welcome to the best. RealGM is a bit cluttered. The activity is fun, and I've always wanted more than what we have...but with that said, I feel like our community is very intelligent, and part of that is because some new posters are probably intimidated by our long, lengthy and detailed posts. If you have friends on other boards, definitely invite them. We try to keep our team forums active, and have gameday topics for every single game of the season...something I don't see much of anywhere else (of course, RealGM's team forums are very active). Hope you stick around. If you have any questions, just ask any of our veteran members, or a staff member.

He's going through that phase where he's not trusting his guys again, and really, there's not much to trust. Ron (Metta, whatever) performs well once every 20 games (ironically he did it tonight, after being horrific in the first game). Fisher is just terrible. Walton needs to retire (I have no idea why he was even playing). Gasol is too damn scared to play down low against Cousins and Hayes (it was embarrassing to see Cousins boxing him out as if he was doing it to Beno Udrih). This is one reason why I would be happy to trade Drew and Gasol for Howard. I know I've busted Drew's ass in the past, by the way...but really, it's for two things: not passing out of the post, and being injured. The truth is, now, Bynum is more valuable to this team than Gasol, and I won't bother saying it's arguable anymore. Of course, I'm not saying Kobe is completely in the right, either...but we've seen this show before.

Yep. If only Gasol could draw defenders into the low post, like a true intimidating big man...and if our guys could make shots. I doubt our offensive strategy changes, either...and Drew can't pass out of the post (never has, anyway). Can't say I didn't expect this.

What people aren't understanding is that you can tell what we're going to run all season long, on both ends of the court, in the two preseason and regular season games we have played so far. Those that continue talking about how it's just two games (talking Lakers fans)...well, most of those guys don't know the X's and O's about basketball. They look at history, when teams have started off bad (ex. the Heat last year) and assume teams can just pick it up mid-season. That's not always how things work. The Heat actually changed it up because, well, they implemented an offense that MAY HAVE come from upstairs (meaning, Pat Riley, even though we aren't told this). It wasn't that the team needed chemistry, it was that they had to find an offense they could be comfortable in. The triangle offense was very flexible, more than any offense in basketball. One out, four in (whatever Brown wants to call it) is built for someone like Hakeem Olajuwon, when he was surrounded by guys that can make jumpers. We don't have Hakeem. Our passing center...is actually a PF, who doesn't like playing down low. Our true big man...is actually out, and when he returns, he's not going to pass the ball like Olajuwon, or Shaq. Teams are smart. Double Kobe, and force the rest to beat you. Attack Fisher when he's in the game, screen and roll the Lakers to death, be physical against Gasol. It's not difficult to figure out. The Memphis Grizzlies did it with the Spurs, another team who still tries to run a similar offense and has liabilities on the defensive end. You don't need to wait 60 games to start thinking we have problems. It's been visible for a year now. Sad stuff.

I seriously can't stand Derek Fisher. I wish he was on our bench, and stuck there...and at the end of the season, he retires.

Not one post?!?! I was sort of impressed by Orlando for a bit...but, suddenly, I realized they were just clawing to anything and hanging in there, and fatigue would set in quickly. Howard acts like he doesn't care, even laughing a few times during the game, which is sad. Durant and Westbrook...not really sure what to think just yet. I don't want to come out and say that Westbrook has changed, because he showed glimpses of it, but I still think he's taking too many bad shots, and should only look to get to the rim. I don't know.

Longer video with a few replays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtaDy_Y9kNI