Real Deal

TIME: 6:00 PM ET TV: FOX

Big question here: do you play basketball, and if so, what level of play? I've played against a few players that are D1 level, one that nearly made the Tulsa 66ers D-League team, and a few that could've probably played D1 ball. This is all outside of HS, in tournaments or in rec leagues. Passes that seem to be basic...they are very hard to make. When I'm at the top of the key, I'm looking at four different players. Sometimes, I know who's going to cut...but I didn't draw up the defensive scheme for our opponents, so I have to read the defense while I run a play. I've thrown plenty of passes, some that you would probably call basic and very easy to make, that have been picked off out of nowhere because I didn't throw the ball hard enough, or I was a second too late and didn't see the defensive rotation. To top it off, I'm a scorer...so my mentality is to score first, pass second. It's a good thing when I make a pass that leads to a bucket. Finally...to give another instance of how important the timing of passes are...have you ever lead the break? You hold the ball long enough to catch a defender's eye, then you dish it out at the perfect time (even a basic chest pass) to lead your man to the rim for an uncontested shot. A late pass could be picked off, and an early pass could stop the break. I won't comment on the first example because that wasn't an assist (shouldn't have been one, anyway)...but a true assist is important to the game, in many ways...whether it's on the break, in a half court set (most point guards in the league have trouble making the post entry pass), in a run and gun, or any set or situation on offense.

Damn, I needed the game to be a bit closer...wanted the Jets to lose by a field goal or less. Doesn't really matter, though. The Jets lost, and I'm happy. I can't stand them.

Nice to have an extra Bulls fan on the site. Go introduce yourself in the intro forum already.

I'm starting to think the Clippers are a bubble playoff team, the way they are playing. They are 7-3 in their last 10, knocking off a few monsters throughout the season. If Baron gets his head straight every game, they could contest the bottom-feeding playoff teams for that 8th seed. There's still a lot of time left.

There's still a chance the Nets will bounce back into this if they have an even worse 33 days than they have had the first 2-3 months of the season. However, they have an easy schedule coming up, 8 of those 13 games being against non-playoff teams, and their final two games (before the deadline) coming against teams they shouldn't beat in the first place. If they beat one of them (Spurs or Celtics) or even show they have the potential to stay in the game...it's only going to hurt Denver in the long run. Prokhorov still feels he has enough talent to build on, without Carmela (that's his name when we're talking about Prokhorov). As far as he's concerned, that offer Denver had is gone, and will need to be re-constructed if he decides to open the door back up. With no visible proof that he'll re-visit the trade, or even work a new deal, I think the Nuggets screwed up. The longer the Nets have to evaluate their product (talking about both Mela and their own), there's the possibility that they find comfort in what they have. Not all teams are willing to move mountains to get a superstar, because the difference between a 30-win team and a 45-win team isn't significant enough to lose top draft picks and big money over. As far as the Landry/Chandler offer goes, it's really not enough if we're talking just those two, and Curry. Denver will fight to get Gallo. Fields is the key piece, obviously...there's no way you can stick a cloud over what he's doing as a rookie. If a second-round pick can come in and produce 10/7 for you, on a team with 2-3 other scorers (one playing as a dominant scorer) and a couple of guys trying to grab boards over you, AND you're playing the majority of your minutes at the two-guard? It's impressive, no matter what. By the way, Fields' numbers at the three (SF) are better than they are at the two...offense and defense. He's a capable three and won't throw a wrench into Denver's plans with Afflalo.

It's Kidd (2000s), Stockton (90s), and Magic (80s). I would give Nash the nod over Kidd if he played defense, or found his way to the NBA Finals...but he never did, and Kidd is arguably a top five point guard of all-time. The other two, I won't need to talk about...their careers do the talking.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20110122_UTA@PHI

Raiders rule.

BANNED. All good, stop freaking out!

Gotta pay more attention to what games you're moving, fellas. This one was moved before today, had no replies, and was bumped all the way to the 3rd or 4th page of the Nets forum.

Super choke. Man, I hate Sullinger.

The Hornets actually picked for the Lakers, just to make that clear. Technically, it was a trade...but, also, the Lakers were the ones that asked for him to be selected at #13. They could've made the trade official right after the Cavs picked up Potapenko (trade for the PICK), but there was no point in it. But, yes, Shaq did sign with us a week later, and we did trade for Gasol. I can't think of a relevant championship team that built their squad through the draft over the last 10 years, other than the Spurs. They drafted D-Rob, Duncan, Ginobili AND Parker. You could reach back to Chicago in the 90s, because they basically took Pippen in the draft (from Seattle, traded for Polynice if I recall correctly).

Welcome to the best.

Nice. Thank you.

Wall has to work on his shot. You can tell there are times where the Wizards look to him to score the ball, and it's just not there. He can drive the lane all he wants, but to truly be great, you need to be able to knock down shots, force that defense into thinking you can do way too much with 24 feet of space.

Howard with the big 31/19 without playing in the fourth. He should be putting those up more often.

I actually thought he was mocking that article that someone wrote about him a long, long time ago, once he found out he was diabetic. I wish I could find it now...no idea where it was, and I did a search and couldn't pull it up. I read the reply as being sarcasm, but it really doesn't bother me.

If that's the case, so be it...but I still stand by my post about me being glad he's going to Dallas. He didn't do anything for New Orleans, and was a huge liability on the defensive end. If this were the Peja back when he was dropping 20+ a game, it would be a bit different (maybe not, because I don't like any Kings players)...but Peja has fallen off the face of the Earth over the last two seasons, and for the last 5-6 years, his jumper just hasn't been there if you stick someone on him. With that said, we just got rid of Mr. Camp-Shoot, so forgive me for being so harsh. Toronto should be happy to get rid of him.

Glad he's going to Dallas.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=6046190 (they talk to Kobe about what happened five years ago)

Those numbers are ridiculous (meaning, they shouldn't be that high, not that they are false). If someone is found guilty, with clear evidence, or he/she admits to the crime, and the death penalty is the "sentence" they receive, it should be done...no more BS along the way. The trials are going to happen, regardless. I have a friend that was murdered in Kansas City a couple of years back. They are still doing trials for the three that did it, and the main guy is serving 50 years. A lot of unnecessary money to prove something that is obvious and, basically, already proven and admitted to. The system is screwed up.

I wasn't really talking about Jordan's numbers across the board, mainly pointing out the bad shooting he had...three of the six games, he shot 41, 32 and 26 percent from the floor (26% in Game 6)...which is crazy considering it was Michael Jordan. Seattle did a great job slowing him down (51-123, 41% for the series).

LMAO.

I just find it hard to believe that a three-shot lethal injection (especially considering what they contain) is more expensive than the money spent on food, education, clothing, and everything else a prisoner could be using for the rest of his life in that cell.