Real Deal

WTF. Lechler I can understand, but not Koenen.

Anyone have any Raider news to share with me today? They are still in the NFL, right?

Haha, I was a huge Crabtree-to-Oakland fan. I wanted him in a Raider jersey so bad. It didn't take long for me to get a feeling he was going to turn out to be a problem, but I was convinced he would be a very good player in the league for quite some time, and I wanted to punch babies when we took DHB. My WR list was Crabtree, Maclin, Harvin. I thought Hakeem Nicks wouldn't pan out. I do remember praying that Sanchez would fall to us, though, because I've wanted a QB since Gannon retired. I never thought Stafford was going to be good, and I didn't like Freeman only because he was from Kansas State. I seem to remember that draft more than any other, only because I was still hoping Al Davis would stop buying into speed demons...but he let me down over and over again, and now I'm to the point where I've accepted it.

I have seen a LOT of guys play, even many that play 5-6 minutes a night and people consider them scrubs. But, I didn't see much of Solomon Alabi. I did see him in the Toronto/Miami game (because I watched it to see how Bosh would do), and Alabi logged about a quarter in that game, had a block or two. I also saw him against the Lakers once, the game where Kleiza and Calderon were lighting us up, but he didn't see much time out there. Drew was about 2-3 games into the season, and I thought he banged knees with Alabi, and I was about to flip out, lol. So, really, probably two games...maybe three, because I think he was being a bit too aggressive with Dwight down low, picked up like four fouls (might have seen it on NBATV as a highlight). From what I've seen, all he needs to do is get bigger and stronger. If he can put on another 15 pounds (because he gained a little since the draft...he looked like a stick before), I think he could be a decent player down low, at least on the defensive end. Doesn't look like he'd contribute much on offense, but he's so damn tall (a true center), he could contest a lot of shots, and I don't see any reason why Toronto wouldn't give this guy a test run this season.

Exactly. I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Back in 2004 (I believe that was when the previous CBA expired, but don't quote me on that), it referred to 10+ year players as league veterans. Many analysts today will still do that. For some odd reason, Coon's CBA FAQ was written with the idea that anyone NOT a rookie is a league vet. I have no idea when or why that fell into play. Those players don't fit the term. All two-year players (NBA sophomores) are students of the game, not veteran NBA players. Kevin Willis, Dikembe Mutombo...these were guys that earned the right to be called vets, and were only considered veterans after their long tenure. But, all of that is really irrelevant to the conversation, I guess. The writer should've considered Ellis (and other five-year players) still young enough to be part of future "promising" backcourts, but oh well.

The Raiders have signed every single 2011 draft pick. That's news for us. I guess we're good to go now, lol...

LOL, the Diamond Cutter to Mr. Perfect. Anyway, if you take away the rings, it's Malone. I think Karl was a more dominant offensive player (the gap is larger) than Duncan was a better defender. Blame Jordan, though, because if it wasn't for MJ, Malone has two rings, no doubt in my mind. No other team in 1997 or 1998 would've stopped the Jazz. Duncan is the greatest at the position, though.

Two banned members, and two deleted members, in this topic of just 32 posts (before the bump). That's the funniest part, lol.

At one point, Oden was putting up similar defensive numbers to Dwight Howard, so I'm not really sure what Portland would be doing these days. After seeing Roy play some of the best defense on Kobe I've seen in years, and seeing him take over games before he even stepped into his prime, I'd have to say that a trio of Roy, Oden and Aldridge would turn any team into a contender once they reached their primes (and, well, they'd accomplish that together, since they are all young). With Camby and Miller, two vets, and guys like Batum and Matthews, Portland would've had chances to get to the WCF, and I don't see why those squads wouldn't be able to take any WCF team to seven games.

Of course, if it's the basketball HOF...especially if Yao gets in, because Manu has done more to deserve it. If it were the NBA Hall? Not a chance.

Looks like the NBA took down all of the clips (go figure). I remember it, though...didn't think it was TOO bad when it first happened, but then a guy ran up and put a towel over his ankle, and I was thinking, "Uh oh." Jefferson looked like he saw one of the most disgusting things ever. It's up there with that Shaun Livingston injury, but that turned my stomach.

1) Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving 2) Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Williams 3) Utah Jazz: Enes Kanter 4) Cleveland Cavaliers: Jonas Valanciunas

Jonas Valanciunas it is. We need more participation.

Hahaha. NANAMIDIDEE AWESOME-U-GWAH?

Well, some are predicting the lockout will end late February...but they aren't realizing that, if that's the case, there won't be an NBA season. There's no way the league will run with a 25-30 game season. They almost canceled the season in 1999.

Wow...no QB will want to play against the Jets if that happens.

I agree with iBoldin. I don't think anyone can make a case for him being better than Rodgers, but I didn't see much out of McNabb, and enough out of Stafford, to say that they are better QB's. I kicked dirt in Cutler's eyes a couple of times last season, but that doesn't mean too much if we're sticking him in a discussion such as this one. McNabb is a shell of his former self. If this was the 2004 or 2006 McNabb (can't remember, one of those seasons was incredible), then yeah, it's a different story...but based on how things worked out (or didn't work out) last season, I don't know. I know someone is going to run and give me his stats and say they are almost as good as his best season, but the game has changed over the last five years, also. Quarterbacks are putting up better numbers around McNabb, and the passing game is different. He hasn't been able to keep up, and just watching him, it's easy to tell.

Ah, didn't know that. It's just odd that she described OKC so inaccurately. The only explanation I can give is that she was describing it the way she figured Artest may know it as being...I don't know. Whatever, lol.

It will. Someone (may have been a GM, can't remember) stated that if the NFL lockout was a sprained ankle, this was a torn MCL and a ruptured achilles (something along those lines).

This part seems weird to me. I've been to OKC many, many, many times (have family there, and that's where I was going every two weeks for two years to get my eyes fixed). This sounds like a person that has no idea what OKC even looks like. Golden wheat, tipping cows, petting horses? That's a description I hear from people that live in, say, California, and that think they know what it's like in OKC.

I doubt that would happen due to the consequences (why would most of the owners want that?), but that would lead to utter chaos. This is a mess.

I'm still in depression mode, knowing that Aso isn't going to be a Raider and that we can't build a playoff team quick enough to keep our decent players around.

Veteran's minimum salary is available to anyone who has been in the league for 10+ seasons.

Probably server problems. I'm going to have to move the site (isn't going to be that big of a deal) before August 15th. The hosting plan is going to get a bit more expensive, but that's no problem...it's more about the lack of memory on the current server. Right now, and throughout the night, people are probably performing backups. We're on a semi-dedicated server that holds 50 sites total, so it's expected. The new server I'm jumping over to will still have 50 sites, but they will all be limited a bit more when it comes to memory usage, and OTR rarely peaks (not even sure if I've seen it peak on this host, actually).

Dude, I remember a lot of posters that contributed. I'd say you did...not to the tune of thousands of posts, but I do remember you posting a lot of quality replies. I asked if you wanted to be a writer, can't recall if I actually put you on the crew or not (because I ended up tossing the crew a couple of times due to inactivity). But, yes, I don't forget much.