Real Deal

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110318_MIN@LAL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110318_GS@PHO

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110318_NJ@MIL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110318_SA@DAL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110318_CHA@OKC

Hippies, or monks? It was first used in shramana traditions. EDIT: My Chrome spell check says "shramana" is not spelled correctly, but I think it is.

It hasn't been that way in a LONG time. Nash was never the best player in the NBA, but he won two consecutive MVP awards. Same with Dirk and his MVP. Bryant has one, Shaq has one. If it were about being the best player in the league, they would both have more, but they split votes due to being on the same team together...which is what needs to happen with the two in Miami. I wouldn't say a lot more. I can't think of a fanbase, other than the Cavs, who actually liked him last season. You had a few fans here and there, but as a whole, only Cleveland fans liked him...and there were even a few from that fanbase that couldn't stand him before he played his last game. Point was, being the "villain" wasn't keeping him from his second-consecutive MVP last season. It won't keep him from his third...something else should. Not while he's teammates with Wade, unless he's dropping 30/8/8 on 50% FG and winning 70 games. He's going to have to stand out, way out, to get it.

Jessica (my girlfriend) has a 31/32 bracket right now, and I'm so damn pissed. First of all, I'm pissed because she entered one bracket, a different one, into the ESPN challenge (and filled out this one she has now on paper a couple of days before she entered the challenge). And, I'm pissed because she keeps boasting about it. The only college basketball she watches is when KU is on the TV. She hasn't seen a single game outside of the Jayhawks' games. Makes me sick to my stomach I filled out about 20 brackets, all different picks, and yet my best one is a 25/32, and it's not one where KU takes it all (it's my UConn bracket). I'm done watching the tourney. I'll change my mind when I get up in the morning, but I'm done as of right now.

He's having to play better defense, instead of leading his man into a couple of defensive anchors (one being Perk), and it's wearing him down a bit more than usual.

LeBron was a punk ass last season, with the Cavs...dancing around, taunting people, wearing cocky quotes on his shirts, not shaking hands with anyone, etc. He still won the MVP. You're wrong...just digging up an excuse that makes zero sense. The media eats up what he does. They love it. This isn't fan voting. Rose is doing much more with far less. Howard is the second candidate, only because the Bulls are a legit contender. LeBron has Wade and Bosh...his shot at the MVP should be over, just like it has been with other players in the past in that situation.

Yep, people hate him, we get it. Here's another reason why:

The foul (if there was one) was probably on the rebound, but there's no point in calling it...not much there. Clean block.

Ric Flair was robbed.

I never said you get everyone's best game every night. I said a lot of teams will want to beat your asses come playoff time. My comment wasn't ridiculous. You took it like I said the Lakers weren't motivated, but you knew exactly what I meant...only some of the team was motivated to begin with (Bryant, Fish, Phil, Drew, Ron, Barnes). We were motivated to beat the Cavaliers last season, too, but it didn't happen. We would've kicked the shit out of them in the playoffs, though. Same with Orlando in 2009. I made that clear earlier, in this topic or somewhere else, actually. Like it or not, the Lakers do this quite a bit. Then they show up for the playoffs. They played the first half of this season like none of the games mattered, losing the last three or four before the break, then came out of the break acting like it was do-or-die, just to snag the second seed. While Jackson, Kobe, Fisher and now Drew are wanting to win every single game, wanting to play as hard as they can, both Gasol and Odom are starting to take games off, and that's what they did for spurts against the Heat. It's why we were beat on the glass again, despite being a much bigger team. But you wouldn't understand how it works, because you've deliberately forgotten everything before the July 2010 free agency period.

They should've shut the lights off, but they didn't. That franchise will continue to respect champions. That's why they have Jordan's number retired. Bosh should relate, but he's only an all-star and will never understand.

I have a bracket with just three total misses on it, but it also has UConn winning it all. I LOVE filling out brackets before the tourney, and thinking I'm going to go perfect...but while these first round (er...second round) games are playing, I always say that I'm NEVER doing it again. These teams are too unpredictable and bipolar, instead of bi-winning.

Haha, nail on the head. I'm so pissed I'm not a Miami fan. It absolutely sucks rooting for a champion. Am I mad we lost to the Heat? Yeah, I get pissed when we lose ANY game because the Lakers are the cream of the crop. Keep in mind that we also lost twice to the Memphis Grizzlies, and we have losses against the Clippers, Pacers, Kings, Bucks (blowout), Suns, Rockets, Cavaliers, Bobcats (blowout), among others. ^_^

He traveled right before he dribbled, then he traveled right after his dribble, before the shot. Wouldn't have mattered anyway, because he wasn't getting through that double without a travel OR a turnover.

Soon, I'm going to become a celebrity and pay thousands of dollars for those seats, too...which would suddenly classify me as a "fan" of the Lakers...right? If they wanted to find out about the Lakers fans, they should probably start paying attention to those that aren't rich, in movies, and that actually know more than 25% of the players on the team (Jack, Snoop excluded, among a few others).

You can actually go over to TLN (the Lakers site I run) and see all of the praise I give the Heat, among all of the Lakers fans. http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/41359-should-we-be-worried-about-the-heat/page__view__findpost__p__764763 (Aug. 2010) http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/41359-should-we-be-worried-about-the-heat/page__view__findpost__p__764914 http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/41359-should-we-be-worried-about-the-heat/page__view__findpost__p__764921 http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/41359-should-we-be-worried-about-the-heat/page__view__findpost__p__765008 Best post in that topic, though...made back on August 4th (before the season started)... http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/41359-should-we-be-worried-about-the-heat/page__view__findpost__p__766264 You can follow the topic and see where I posted a follow-up, beginning of this month. http://thelakersnation.com/forums/topic/48274-who-do-we-want-if-we-get-to-the-finals/page__view__findpost__p__882967 (a different topic) The fact is, on both sites, I'll post things to get debates going. Here, with the Heat, I'm not going to sit here and praise them when their own fans blame the coach for every little thing the big three does wrong. I'm not going to praise them among those that actually stated that the Wade/LeBron duo was already better than Kobe/Shaq (lol). I won't give them any credit on OTR because there are Heat fans on this site that stated this team would win 4-5 titles in their first 6-7 seasons together, and predicted they would win 70+ games, etc. This is basically my middle finger to anyone who actually thinks I talk shit on the Heat because I hate them. I've praised them plenty of times, over and over again, more than anyone on OTR and TLN combined, with the exception of the Heat fans. The truth is, I have held back plenty of times on OTR...could've said much, much worse, but when I post in Heat topics, I don't go too far into it. This particular game is different, because my initial post was going to praise Miami...but, as expected, I had my ass jumped before I could even type the first line approving the Heat as a serious East contender, so this is the end result of that.

2005 Spurs/Pistons 2008 Celtics/Lakers 2010 Lakers/Celtics Just taking three here...you're telling me that those three Finals series aren't as good as those back in the 90s? Of course, it's just an opinion...but I'm trying to understand what makes those 90s series better. I thought the Rockets/Magic series was trash (any sweep is), and I wasn't really a big fan of the Bulls/Blazers Finals, either. The Bulls/Lakers Finals wasn't that great, given the fact that the Lakers team wasn't the one winning championships back in the 80s.

Oh, but they weren't a potential Finals team until they beat the Heat, right? I've already written enough about the Heat. You don't need me to tell you how they will lose to certain teams in the playoffs. Knee-jerk reactions, huh? We lost to Orlando both times in 2009, ended up beating them in five games in the Finals. We lost to Cleveland both times last year (aka Miami 2.0) and the Cavaliers couldn't even find their way out of the second round, and we held up the trophy for a second-consecutive time. My knee may have been jerking right before the all-star break, when the Lakers were unmotivated and playing like they didn't give a damn. You were jerking something else on Christmas Day. In fact, Miami's knee-jerking (and possibly other jerking) started July 2011. Don't even begin to talk that trash.

WTF? I'd rather them do something radical...like, give two points to the kicker that drives the ball through the FG posts on a kickoff. Seriously, this is dumb.

No, the Heat just keep getting screwed by the refs, or it's Spo's fault. Nobody said a damn thing about the Lakers. [expletive] the Heat. I was about to reply to ECN and say they are still a potential ECF team, and could even get to the Finals depending on who they face, but I don't feel like defending that trashy, cocky team anymore. You said it yourself: the Heat have that massive target on their backs. Everyone wants to beat them. Everyone gets up to beat them. It wasn't just you, either...I'm pretty sure one of those conceited fools on the big two said it. There are 29 teams in the NBA that would love to beat the Heat in the playoffs. They would love to see them humiliated in the first round. People don't like LeBron James, and he doesn't have a single ring on his finger yet (much different than hating a champion). This is you making sure the Heat are getting respect. They were about to get it from me in this post, but I'd much rather spit on them. http://www.officialpsds.com/images/thumbs/okc-thunder-logo-psd22442.png

That really fixed it? That's pretty weird...just doesn't seem like it would be a problem if it wasn't one not too long ago. Then again, if you had just updated Chrome, that would make sense.