Real Deal

The more you divide, the more groups you have to deal with.

Haha, yeah, that's the truth. Five times the rebounder.

Blake Griffin is closing in on Durant as my second favorite player. He's really trying to prove he can do more than just dunk, also...like using the glass on his mid-range jumpers (ala Duncan). The highlights are awesome, no doubt, but I love how much he wants to improve his game and do everything he possibly can to assist his team in winning.

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. Thursday, December 23rd San Antonio @ Orlando (TNT) Winner: Leading scorer: Miami @ Phoenix (TNT) Winner: Leading passer: Saturday, December 25th Chicago @ New York (ESPN) Winner: Leading rebounder: Boston @ Orlando (ABC) Winner: Player with the most free throws attempted: Miami @ LA Lakers (ABC) Winner: Leading scorer: Denver @ Oklahoma City (ESPN) Winner: Leading rebounder: Portland @ Golden State (ESPN) Winner: Player with the most turnovers:

With Yao out and Odom playing so well, how likely is it to see Kobe, Gasol, Odom AND Drew all making it? That would be insane. I think the Pistons did that once...with Rip, Billups, Sheed and Big Ben.

I have a friend in Miami that can see it really well. She took a pic. http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1231.snc4/156388_10150150004707796_551597795_8252143_6397064_n.jpg

Man, I can tell it's red...but it's too cloudy to really see it.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20101220_PHO@SA

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20101220_CHA@WAS

So, the conclusion is that the Heat aren't the best team in the NBA. Eh, it may be relevant. Since the 2007-08 season, the Mavericks are 2-7 against the eventual NBA champions. No sweeps. Ironically, the one championship team they did sweep...was the 2006 Heat, but they also lost to them and the referees in the NBA Finals and Shaq didn't play in one of those regular season games to begin with, so... At the end of the day, whether he said it in mid-July, November, or this month, Cuban said what he did to annoy the Spurs and Lakers (mainly Pop and Jax, and their fans). It was obvious from the start, because there was no reason why anyone should believe the Heat were, at any point, the best team in the NBA, not when they have two losses against a team that ALSO has the better record (Boston) and a loss to another that ALSO has a better record (Dallas). But, yeah, no need to discuss this one any further. It's pretty clear now. The eclipse should be showing in a while, so I'll get back to watching that.

To end the year (meaning, 2010), they have the Nuggets, Magic, Wizards, Lakers and Mavericks. That's a nasty streak of games, minus Washington.

You think the Falcons will lose to the Saints at home? I don't know about that. Tough game for New Orleans.

Manu Ginobili is the biggest reason the Spurs are top dogs in the league right now. He was coming off the bench AND still being nominated (and I believe voted in) as an All-NBA Third Team player just a few years ago. Injuries have always held him back. Never liked Kevin Martin. I don't think he's a legit first option on any team in the NBA, and I always stated that his stats were blown up by playing on a terrible Sacramento Kings team where his defense (well, lack of defense) and the rest of his poor play was masked by the entire team playing bad as a whole.

Nah. Well, we have at least one Heat fan that would still argue they are the best team in the league, and they would still give me the Cuban quote, so it was hard to sense the sarcasm. And yes, I agree, the Spurs (or Celtics) are currently the best team in the NBA. Probably San Antonio as of tonight.

...hurts, huh? Since you decided you were going to make a comment, you can go ahead and explain yourself now. You still listening to Mark Cuban when you want to know how good your favorite basketball team is?

With the Mavericks beating the Heat both times this season, I wonder if it's still a good idea to listen to Mark Cuban when he says the Heat are the best team in the NBA. Or...maybe, just maybe, he was taking a shot at the other West teams (Spurs, Lakers), like I stated from the start.

You want to use the full link (including the HTTP), and put it in between the IMG tags. [img=http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9586/w254.jpg] But, the image is also too big. The max size for signature images is 468 pixels in width, 140 pixels in height.

Yeah, that's what he has going for him. Brady has the 12-2 record and beating what most would consider the elite teams in the NFL. The last I saw, Brady had 21 TD's in his last nine games, no interceptions. For the season? He has 31 TD's, just 4 INT...leading in both categories. Most TD's, least INT, highest QB rating, fourth highest completion percentage, leading the Patriots to a 12-2 record...he's easily the best QB in the NFL. Being the best QB in the NFL...how does another QB (Vick) win the MVP award over him? Possibly because Vick is the best overall player? So, yeah, I see where you're coming from, but it's just tough for me to say it's one or the other, hands down.

Couldn't care less who wins this. If Dallas loses, it's good for the Lakers, and Miami has a good chance of walking into LA with their winning streak. If Miami loses, it's good for me because I love seeing them lose. Final score: Dallas 62, Miami 61 (3OT), Jose Barea game-winning dunk over LeBron.

Well, I think Vick has done enough over the course of the season to actually take the award, but as you said in the rest of your post (didn't quote it all to save space, haha), it's probably Brady's. The only thing that gives Vick the edge is the fact that he's playing amazing football, and few expected him to be THIS good. The shock factor will help him earn some votes, because to be honest, the microscope has been on him the entire year, and he has been playing exceptional football as a quarterback AND as a football player. You're probably right.

Okay, let me re-visit what I stated last summer... Melo has leverage, but so do the Nuggets. I'll let Larry Coon explain. I stressed how important it was going to be for Melo to get this extension signed before the February trade deadline. It's a must if he doesn't want what COULD be up to a 30% paycut and a year less on his contract (potentially two years less if you combine the year subtracted due to a new CBA + a year less due to not being signed and traded). Melo's best-case scenario is this: the Knicks and Nuggets agree to a trade before the deadline, and Melo signs the extension and is dealt to NY. Same with the Nets and Nuggets. However, all Denver has to do is refuse the trade, keep him through the deadline, and then work a sign-and-trade in the off-season (after losing what could be up to 30% of the money, why would Melo refuse to a sign-and-trade that would give him an extra year?)...so in all reality, Denver could really screw him over.

Guess this means it's time for Salmons to step his game up. He's been a crutch to the Bucks' offense more than ever.

Gonna keep my eye out for this, and any appearances by Edward and Jacob. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3N0PG192wXQ/TCa9wEpDUXI/AAAAAAAAABk/0-IDAjy9YEo/s1600/twilight+3+eclipse.jpg

I thought he did that earlier in the game? They said something about him surpassing Jim Kelly. The record-breaking pass was nearly picked off, funny enough.