Real Deal

Weird that they run away with this, and not consider the tone. He was cracking a joke. I'm assuming they didn't actually LISTEN to the interview.

Well...have fun in Miami, then.

Haha, okay then... Don't lie. First off, all of KG's missed games this season (nine) were also missed games for Perkins. Anyway... OPPONENT PPG, 2010-11 season 89.1 PPG with Perkins (1069 points) 91.9 PPG without Perkins (4229 points) 91.4 PPG without Perkins, but Garnett playing (3382 points) Garnett's nine games missed, Perkins also missed, so there's no reason to even discuss them. In the 12 games Perkins played, the opposing team scored over 96 points just once (101-97 loss to Dallas). That team (with Perkins) held the Magic to 80 points, and the Blazers to 78. Phoenix just scored 88. The Lakers (best offense in the NBA) was held to 92 points. The Miami Heat? Held to 82 points. So...without Perkins, and with a healthy Garnett, the Celtics allowed 91.4 PPG. With Perkins and a healthy Garnett, the Celtics allowed 89.1 PPG. ---------- OPPONENT FG%, 2010-11 season 42.1% (403-958) with Perkins 43.6% (1230-2821) without Perkins, and with Garnett playing So...without Perkins, and with a healthy Garnett, the Celtics allowed 43.6% FG. With Perkins and a healthy Garnett, the Celtics allowed 42.1% FG. Really? The truth is, the Celtics were lucky to play that out-of-shape Rasheed Wallace. They allowed just 83 points (their third best performance in the 24-game playoff run they had), and the only time they allowed 83 points or less was in the first two games of the first round, against the Miami Heat. It also helped that Drew played just 18 minutes, and took five shots, and was in need of the surgery he received after the series was over. Who defended Gasol in Game 7? It was Sheed, forcing Gasol into his third-worst shooting performance of our 23-game playoff run. Garnett couldn't do a damn thing on the glass because Bryant and Gasol had a combined 33 boards, and Sheed, Pierce, Davis and Rondo were making up for it. Three total boards for Garnett. Also, last season (and I remember seeing it on ESPN, before Game 7 and after Perkins' injury), the Celtics allowed 45% shooting with Garnett, and 45% shooting without, during the regular season. Next time you take shots at the community here, make sure you have your facts straight. Half of these guys will bury you alive in a basketball debate.

I'm going to take a guess and say that the Celtics are going to experiment with Garnett at the five, Green at the four. I'm not sure how that will work, though...but, even if they decide not to do that, they'll play Davis at the five, Green at the four. It won't be too bad against a team like Miami, but neither team has the scoring in that position to matter, unless Shaq finds the fountain of youth. Plus, it's Dampier playing center now, and he's not afraid of Shaq. When Murphy comes in, I'm assuming Joel Anthony will find his way into the lineup, and if the Celtics play Garnett at the five, Spo will have Bosh there. Chess game. Bibby will get lit up, but so did Chalmers. Rose had his trouble because of the way Miami rotates. Unfortunately, Bibby is also one of the better three-point shooters in the NBA (shooting 43% and taking 4-5 per game), so that will distract Rose a bit, and make it harder for him to play off of Bibby on the defensive end.

Need to do these scores soon. Copy and paste the code below, filling in the blanks. All correct answers get you five points. No late entries accepted. If you don't turn yours in by the tip-off of the first game, you miss out, no exceptions. Wednesday, March 2nd Phoenix @ Boston (NBATV) Winner: Leading scorer: Houston @ LA Clippers (NBATV) Winner: Leading passer: Thursday, March 3rd Orlando @ Miami (TNT) Winner: Leading scorer: Denver @ Utah (TNT) Winner: Leading rebounder: Friday, March 4th Toronto @ New Jersey (NBATV) Winner: Player with the most threes made: Chicago @ Orlando (ESPN) Winner: Leading scorer: Miami @ San Antonio (ESPN) Winner: Player with the most turnovers:

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110301_SA@MEM

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110301_GS@IND

I don't think Deng or Brewer can contain LeBron or Wade. They didn't in the second meeting, and nobody stopped Wade in the first meeting (LeBron didn't play). Don't really know about Rose doing well against them, either. So far, he hasn't shot well...pretty tough to really do much when LeBron and Wade are seeking blocks and turnovers. If it's up to anyone, it'll be Deng. If he forces LeBron to defend him tight, it helps take James out of the picture (help defense) and also requires LeBron to spend some energy without the ball in his hands. When Deng was playing well on the offensive end, Wade was more aggressive. LBJ took 21 shots, and had no problem making them, but he also didn't get to the line as much as he usually does. Brewer is irrelevant in that series. He gets lit up. --------- As far as the Boston/Bulls series goes, I don't know. Without Perkins, the Bulls could do some damage. Rose's best game against the Celtics this season (and the only game Chicago won, out of the three), he went off...and it was because Garnett AND Perkins weren't playing. Unlike Wade and LeBron, the duo of Allen and Pierce aren't elite help defenders. They don't go after the ball. Allen relies on Garnett and Perk to do a lot of the defensive dirty work, especially on the elite offensive players (which is what we see with Bryant, forcing the shot). The key for Chicago will be working the two-man game, between Rose and Boozer. If Booz attacks Garnett (in the same manner Deng can go after LeBron), Rose will be staring in Troy Murphy or Glen Davis' eyes. He won't drive as much with Shaq in the paint, but then again, Shaq will more than likely be playing limited minutes, either due to foul trouble or just being gassed. --------- There are a few that think the Bulls can make the Finals. I wish they would've gotten a two-guard that can do a little of everything. Brewer doesn't exactly do much for the offense (takes smart shots, but he's not aggressive enough to matter), and Keith Bogans is trash. Korver could play the two, but he's one of the worst defenders on the team, and would get killed against any all-star caliber player you stick in front of him. Chicago is the second best defensive team in the NBA, but I'm afraid that their defensive intensity will dip a bit when they have to play the same elite team over and over again, every other night, in a series. In back-to-backs, the Bulls have struggled against the good teams, and even struggled winning games against bad ones. LOSS vs. Celtics (OT) LOSS vs. Spurs WIN vs. Kings WIN vs. Wolves WIN vs. Suns (2OT) WIN vs. Rockets (OT) WIN vs. Wizards WIN vs. Pistons (OT) WIN vs. Cavs LOSS vs. Nets WIN vs. Celtics (no Perk or Garnett) WIN vs. Heat (no LeBron) LOSS vs. Bobcats WIN vs. Pacers WIN vs. Heat Seven of the 11 wins are against teams under .500, and two of the four teams over .500 were missing players. Tell me this team has to play Boston or Miami seven times, and suddenly, things change. Maybe Boston will show signs of age and slowing down a bit more (although, they never really do, for some weird reason), but there's no way the Heat will. LeBron and Wade on the break, every night, is staggering. Boston having HCA hurts Chicago. The Heat having it changes everything as well. Right now, the top six teams in the NBA (SAS, BOS, MIA, DAL, LAL and CHI) all have winning road records...but Chicago is 15-13 on the road, tied for the seventh-best in the league (with Orlando), behind all of those named, plus the Hawks. I hope I'm wrong, though, and that the Heat lose to the Sixers in the first round.

You stand Ray and Korver at the three, or anywhere from 15-24 feet on the floor, and Korver out-shoots him. Maybe not by a lot, but he does.

He's getting $8.7 million a season if there's no 10-12% increase, which is good money for him, and actually a decent contract for the Thunder to dish out.

Man, Amare needs to learn how to rebound. I realize he was getting boxed out all game long, but damn, there were a lot of times where he was actually in position for a board, and he was boxed out despite it...like he's a 9th grader playing against varsity teams. I'm not sure where the defense came into play...the only defense I saw was in part of the second quarter. Orlando made over half of their shots this game, though...which is always bad, not to mention 116 points. Weird fourth, though. The Knicks went away from what was working. Not only were they cold, but it was just too much ISO. The Heat can run ISOs and drop it into the corners for threes, but when the rest of the team is cold, it's Melo and Amare time, and they both have to work together to collapse the defense and make those shots easier, for both them and their teammates.

Solid defender? Thornton? I don't know man. And the mid-range jumper is nice when he's open. Stick a hand in his face, and it's ugly. The worst part about Thornton is that, when he's out on the court, he ends up forgetting he has a team. That's why he's no longer a Clipper, and probably why he's not with Washington anymore.

Kobe started the game 1-6, came out and finished up 7-12. That second half Kobe is nice. I'm not so big on him trying to pass the ball all the time in that first half...it just knocks him out of rhythm. He has to do what suits him best, and his teammates have to work around that. That's why the Lakers are built around him, and not Ron Artest.

LOL TRADE BOSH.

He's a top 3-4 defensive big, with Howard, Bogut and Horford. Not only that, but it sounded like your four most important players (KG, PP, RA, and RR) were pretty pissed that he was traded. Boston was lucky to have him in 2008, and all I heard about in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals was that the Celtics were going to have trouble without Perk, because of his defense, and all of Boston's excuses were surrounded by the fun fact that we had never defeated their starting lineup in the NBA Finals (which would've happened anyway, because according to you, Perkins is overrated).

Hmm...never thought about that. Duncan has played a LOT of center since his last championship, especially in the last two seasons (probably 90% of the time, or more). In fact, rewind back to 2005-06. I know Nazr Mohammed was starting games for the Spurs, and there's no way Pop would start Nazr at the four. Same with Rasho the year before. I'm sure Tim was at the PF position most of the year back then. Oberto was playing PF for them when they faced Cleveland in the Finals. I forgot who the center was at the time. If it was Elson, he was playing limited minutes. Duncan probably split time between the two positions that season. Anyway...at the center position, he's below Wilt, Kareem, Shaq and Russell. Argue Hakeem, because much like Duncan, Hakeem was almost flawless on both ends of the court, and he put up better numbers. Top five center of all-time (probably 5th best).

How are the Heat lacking focus? Teams are said to be gunning for them every single game, home and on the road, and they came into the league hyped about dominating everyone. I'm sure they didn't "lack focus" against the Lakers on Christmas, so why are they lacking focus against the other 4-5 elite teams? Maybe the Lakers were lacking focus? If that's true, though, the Heat would be 0-7 against elite teams. And how does the weakness at the SG position come back to haunt the Bulls? If that's true, what about the weakness at the point and the five for the Heat? Bibby is a horrible defender, and all he does is spot up...just like Miller, Jones, and House, who barely get to touch the ball as it is. With that said, the most dangerous team in the East is the Heat, but not for the reasons stated. They are the most dangerous because there is only one West team that has the potential to beat them in a seven-game series, and it's because they have the defensive players to help negate their all-stars, and they also have an advantage at the five and at the point (Chalmers defends, but Fisher is way too strong). I think Boston and Chicago would have trouble with more teams out West (specifically the Spurs and Mavs, the Thunder could be tough if Perkins is 100%), but I doubt any other West team can handle the Heat in seven.

Haha...a big middle finger to those that thought he didn't want to be there? Good job, Perk.

Griffin was his usual self, but the Clippers need Gordon back quickly. The team doesn't know how to play through Griffin without Gordon actually getting the job done. They expect all of Griffin's points to be from lobs. Stupid Clippers. And Kaman sucks.

He's always mad. I think he needs to come to the NBA next season and coach whatever team Perkins ends up signing with.

The Heat haven't won a playoff series in 4-5 years. Cleveland has been a contender from 2007-2010, made the Finals in 2007, conference finals in 2009. How are the Heat more of a contender than the Cavaliers? Correction: three more wins, five less losses. Magic are four games behind the Bulls, Thunder are 4.5 games behind the Lakers. If the Magic are contenders, so are the Thunder.

Frye again. I can't believe Nash fouled Morrow at the end, anyway. Just a stupid foul. Game could've been over then.

Didn't he screw it up in the All-Star game, too?

If that's how you're judging the players, LeBron James is your MVP every single season. Saying the Bulls would be a top five defensive team without Rose is just you assuming it. By definition, the MVP goes to a contending team's best player, that does more with less. Pierce, James, Kobe, Dirk, and Ginobil all have more help than Rose has had this year. Orlando isn't a contender, unless we are going to consider the Thunder and Hawks one. No need to change the definition of the award. If we do that, Bryant has been robbed over and over again, because he has been the best player in the league for many years.

Sources are saying he's going to the Heat (reports coming from ESPN). Bring it, you Sactown Queen.