Real Deal

That stupid media story was minor compared to what I had to defend Kobe Bryant for back in the summer of 2003 (rape accusations)...and, even worse, the Lakers were globally hated because they were a dynasty, with a superstar that nobody liked (Kobe) and another that made fun of everyone from Divac to Yao (Shaq). It didn't help that both were at each other's throats. Most of the time, all Lakers fans are considered unintelligent bandwagoners. I heard it over and over again on JBB, from Sonics fans (among others). I'd post my ass off, and it wouldn't matter. The crazy thing is, you have been through just one season of this mess. Opposing teams have been chanting "beat LA" since I can remember. Utah fans would bring blow-up dolls to the game, for Kobe. They made fun of Fisher's daughter (her cancer) by holding their eyes during his free throws. Denver would chant "rapist" during games. Some of it still happens. Nobody is going to sympathize with Heat fans, especially those that have defended LeBron to the death. There were times that a lot of Lakers fans would come out and say they hated the way Shaq talked trash on the "Queens" (he started that) and how he spit a racist comment about Yao. When LeBron and Wade are making fun of Dirk's illness, though, it's all fun and games...and when that's noticed (easily noticed), non-Heat fans lose respect for not just those two, but also for the fanbase, and this is the result of it. It never helped that you guys had posters like Diesel, who was talking major shit all season long about his Heat winning it all this year. Poe bragged about his conference finals predictions, and knew the Heat would win it all. Flash knew. Did you? If some of you had gone about it differently, or if LeBron wasn't such a POS, things wouldn't be this way.

How many have been saying it for years? LeBron isn't MJ. He doesn't resemble him, at all.

Boston was just too old, but yes, they were still a team. Chicago I disagree with. In the playoffs, it seemed like the Bulls were far too reliant on Derrick Rose, and because of that, he ended up shooting a low percentage in every series, not having much help each night on the offensive end, and Chicago was lucky to get past the Hawks because of it. Jeff Teague came out of nowhere to defend Rose, and it was effective. He's lucky that Hinrich was hurt and not playing.

In that case, all teams in the NBA are going to be screwed. That's not exactly how it's going to work out. LeBron and Wade aren't going to work unless two things happen (one of the two): they have role players that actually step up, huge, or one of them learns how to play off the ball very well. Miami is losing Big Z to retirement (not a big deal anymore). They are also losing a few to free agency: Howard, Dampier, Magloire, Bibby, Jones and possibly Chalmers. If we're talking about players being signed to long-term, overpaid contracts...well, Miami has them. Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, and Joel Anthony are all signed until 2015. I actually like Joel on the defensive end here and there, but he's a massive liability on the offensive end. Miller is nowhere near worth the $6.6 million he'll be getting at the end of his deal (he'll take the PO). Haslem is cheap, but he's still coming off the bench in very limited minutes, with Bosh eating up most of those at the four. When it's all said and done, if the owners get their way, Wade and LeBron are going to have to change the way they play together if they want to win rings, because the Heat will be a trio with a bunch of old vets trying to leech their way into a franchise to get a ring, and over the years, a lot of those "leeches" have been more of a liability than anything else. Do you think one of those guys will change after eight seasons? I'm not sold on it. Plus, it was very evident that LeBron and Wade were both tired. Give them a few more seasons like this, and see how it wears them down. One (LeBron) has been fortunate not to suffer a big injury, and Wade is lucky to have just one significant injury in his career. Same with Bosh. One is what...28-29 years old? Bron is up there in age, along with Bosh. In three seasons, all of them will be 30+ years old. I never said the Heat were the only team that would be screwed over, but they are the best team without an actual team right now (trying to make sense of that). With the potential of even less of a team, I'm not sure where they go from here.

Well, considering the fact that the Heat were just defeated in six by a real team of players, one all-star (not even sure if everyone considered Dirk a superstar months ago) and role players...it doesn't sound that promising for Miami. If there is any flexibility (and there will have to be), most teams will find a way to capitalize on it...but I don't see how on Earth the Heat will be able to, unless they decide to deal Bosh.

So, basically, this is a Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley thing? I would do whatever it takes to win championships (and this is supposedly what was done back in July 2010). A low post, high-efficiency scorer in Dwight, who is one of the best defensive players of the last decade, paired with a versatile power forward that has a mid-range game, led by a two-guard that plays defense and scores 20-30 a night? What owner wouldn't want that? What player wouldn't want to be in that trio? Miami better pray to the basketball gods that there isn't a hard cap put into play, or else they'll be a trio + minimum contracts for the rest of their time together, struggling to find a decent center that doesn't have 40-year old knees, and a legitimate point guard. At least with someone like Howard, you can make up for many of the defensive deficiencies, and take care of the weakness in the frontcourt.

Easily. Plus, it would promote better listening. We would have to pay close attention to what Shaq says, just to understand him. Could you imagine JVG and Shaq joking with each other during a boring game? It would be fantastic.

Doesn't make much sense to give up on the team so quickly, but let's just say Otis Smith offers Dwight Howard for LeBron James. Do you make the trade if you're the Miami Heat? C - Dwight Howard PF - Chris Bosh SF - Mike Miller (or whoever) SG - Dwyane Wade PG - Mario Chalmers

Shaq.

They made a convincing argument about Dirk being ahead of KG on First Take this morning. Look at what KG wasn't able to do in Minnesota...simple as that. Plus, if we're going to give Dirk the edge over McHale because he's a better scorer, and dismissing the huge advantage on the defensive end, we might as well do the same to Kevin Garnett, who was less efficient than McHale, not even close to the scorer Dirk has been, and yet plays/played elite defense.

Show off your baseball cards. Then, just make the decision to be friends. You don't want to be in a long distance relationship, 12 hours away, especially when you're away at college. I was in one, same situation and nearly the same distance (from Coffeyville to Albuquerque), and it didn't work. I got to the point where I actually moved to Albu just to make her happy, then we left for California for 2-3 months. At the end of the day, it was the worst relationship I've ever been in, despite it being the second-longest (two years). Ended badly, and when I look back on it, nothing I did was worth it. I know people will say it can work, but unless they are now married AND met up with them while in college, long distance, they have no idea and no ground to stand on. Once you leave, you'll be calling her all the time, she'll be expecting it, and eventually, she'll start keeping tabs on you. If you miss a call, or two, she'll be suspicious because you're in college, she's not there, and that's life. On the other hand, you'll do the same, even if you don't think you will, and it may be because she feels that way about you. Because you are 12 hours away, you can't jump in the car and drive to make sure things are cool, so your jealousy and/or suspicious (or hers) will eat at you the entire week, or two, or however long. Fighting over the phone means it's much more difficult to make up with each other. Everything is ten times harder. Maybe there's a chance later on, if you're really, really into her. You don't want to ruin it now, though. Being away, you can't really get too deep into the friends zone...so that can be avoided. Who knows what will happen in 2-3 years? However, it's easy to see what MAY happen if you dive into a relationship now, then leave three months into it, right before you lock her up (could be less time, if she's wanting to wait a bit). I just wouldn't swing for the fences in that situation.

Show her that you have 9,000 posts on OTR. Trust me. Post your results in here.

As stated earlier, I would love to play in the NBA, and I do have problems, but at least my girl isn't getting banged by other NBA players, and my mom isn't getting nailed by someone in his 20s with open sores on his lip.

Deng is a better defender than Marion, but Marion had help from Chandler, Kidd and even Stevenson. Funny thing is, I'm sure that LeBron actually shot worse in the Chicago series...but Dallas defended LeBron better in the fourth than any team has all season long, and it was because their offensive threats weren't required to hold James AND score, much like Chicago's were, when Rose was playing badly and Deng needed to focus more on offense. Nah, I don't want a medal. I'm satisfied with what happened tonight. LeBron didn't attack the rim on purpose? Wrong. He couldn't. Never in attack mode? He seemed to be when he made his first four shots tonight. If you want to know why LeBron and the Heat failed, you can look no further than the zone defense that Dallas played, and the excellent individual defenders they were putting on the court at once. The zone defense also caused LeBron a ton of problems in the Boston series last season, didn't it? He had trouble getting off the shots he wanted because, like Dallas, the Celtics had someone in the paint (KG and Perk) and individual defenders in Pierce and Tony Allen. Similar problem for LeBron, similar results. Wade and LeBron aren't similar? Both are slashing superstars who can make the play out of penetrations, both are excellent help defenders, and both eat up ISO situations when only one of them is on the court. Ironically, the team seems to be better when one of them is sitting the bench, and there's a reason for that...look no further than this post. Not sure what else to tell you. The Mavs won because they were the better team, they trusted their zone defense, and they had the best clutch player on the court with, by far, the best bench, and a true defensive anchor, a higher IQ, and a better coach. Championship recipe.

I think Kevin McHale gets considered because he was a far, far better defensive player than Dirk is, and he also knew how to play the low post. I don't really consider the rings, or else I wouldn't have Malone and CB on my list. If Barkley wasn't such a damn good rebounder, well, he'd be lower on the list. Dirk's range gets him the nod, if anything, as well as his primacy on the court. So, really, it's a toss-up for me. Like I said, I could argue for Dirk in that top spot, especially after tonight, and the way he has been taking over those fourth quarters.

Dalembert is strictly defense. He's not a guy you try and post up, and he would probably give Miami about 4-5 PPG.

Why would you guys want a PG that handles the ball? Wade and LeBron aren't going to start playing off the ball. That was one of the bigger problems to begin with...both having similar styles, both needing the ball to be effective. If you take the ball out of BOTH of their hands, wanting to rely on someone like Nash (who runs his own system), you're going to be severely disappointed again.

Pettit doesn't count. He played in the mid-50s to mid-60s, fewer players in the NBA, fewer teams, less athleticism, etc. Elvin Hayes (unless you're talking about the behemoth Chuck Wagon Hayes) put up his best numbers in the late 60s and very early 70s. After the first few seasons of his career, he started producing more like a McHale, with far less efficiency. By the numbers, I'm sure Pettit could be considered the greatest of all-time, but Wilt averaged 50 a game for a reason.

I got to watch him, live, when he was killing guys. I didn't get to see too many of his fights live, but what I did watch was enough to tell me he was easily one of the greatest of all-time. If you consider just the power of his punch, nobody had a better uppercut, jab or hook...well, anything he threw. Also saw Buster Douglas KO him, Tyson's first loss. Fun fact about Buster... Iron Mike is a boxing god, though. The drugs and jail time, and the media, basically killed his career.

Top five PF? Duncan Malone Garnett Barkley McHale/Cardinal I suppose I could make an argument for Dirk. There's no way I put him over Duncan and Malone, though.

Dallas won it all because LeBron and Wade are too similar, Bosh didn't get enough respect in this series and should've had the ball more, and LBJ was intimidated in the 4th quarters, passing up shots and even throwing up a few airballs throughout the series. Because of the similarities and the intimidation factor, the Heat couldn't get to the line enough against a Dallas team that had defensive specialists at three positions on the court, including a defensive anchor. I've said it all year: the Heat have to get to the line to win. They win games at the charity stripe. Huge props to Kidd and Marion, for the defense they played on LeBron (and Wade, late in games). Same to Chandler and his efforts in closing up the paint and doing his best against Bosh at the same time. Dallas wanted it, but I can't be convinced that Miami didn't. LeBron left Cleveland because he wanted a championship, badly. So did Bosh. Wade was taking over the series so he could win a ring, putting up 25-30 point games. The Mavericks won this championship. The Heat didn't win it for them.

Just so you guys know, I was celebrating almost as hard as I was when the Lakers were winning their rings. On one of Dirk's clinching jumpers, I nearly hit my head on the ceiling, I jumped so high, haha. Funny enough, I wanted Portland, LA and OKC to sweep you guys.

Server is having problems as well, minor ones, but just bad timing for all of this. Hang in there!

I can see where this makes sense. I haven't paid much attention to baseball, hardly at all, but I did watch a little back in the 90s, and did keep up with it the first part of the last decade. I was actually a Mariners fan, and I followed Griffey and A-Rod for a while, even when they put on another jersey. I remember the hype, too...everyone saying that A-Rod was going to be the greatest player of all-time when it's all said and done (although I always thought that would be Griffey, until his injury). Makes sense.

Yeah, but Kobe didn't start for the first two seasons, third season was a 50-game year (lockout). When Kobe was actually a starter, and running the offense, the duo won it all their first three seasons together.