Real Deal

Activity is better on other boards, for sure...but that definitely doesn't matter much to me. I'll take the general NBA knowledge we have. That's the entire point. I'd rather discuss basketball with Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich, just those two, than 200+ football or baseball fans, all in the same room, that have never watched a single NBA game all the way through.

Didn't you just say it yourself, that him shooting more jumpers throughout his career is the reason why he has been incredibly consistent? I'm pretty sure you put that. Good for him. I would rather have an incredibly consistent Kobe, winning rings as a leader when he's over 31-32 years of age, than him playing in Turkey after being benched on 2-3 different teams and hoping his body holds up long enough to feed his family after he's 40. Like Iverson. That was the topic, yes.

...are we seriously talking about what Kobe should've done throughout his career? Really?

It's actually a good thing, then, because a few years back, he'd be Allen Iverson, and he'd be retiring with three rings. Thank God he developed his shot so well throughout his career and stuck with it. Even if he was attacking the rim without Shaq, it wouldn't have been enough to win a championship with Odom, Kwame, Smush and Walton starting...and Kobe wasn't going to turn into Corey Maggette with Shaq's 355-pound frame in the lane...not in Shaq's prime.

I haven't heard any of this, at all.

Is it bad to like OTR now?

That's a little contradicting, though, unless you're saying he hasn't been doing it right since the first day he started putting up 20-point games back in the first dynasty. And if he hasn't been doing it right his entire career, that's sort of scary.

He's not a free agent. Here's the thing, though: what does that do for Denver? He's letting them know he wants just one team, and that he's leaving regardless. So, basically... "Hey, Denver, trade me to the Knicks before February (even if it means you're going to get ripped off), or lose me to the Knicks and get nothing in return come July. The Nets will give you Favors and picks? So? I don't want to go anywhere else, so deal with it." I would let the punk leave in July, so he is forced into signing a 70% deal, and two years shorter, after the new CBA screws him over.

Haha, well, I hate to inform you, but LeBron was my second favorite player at one point. Then he disrespected the Magic in the playoffs after he lost, wore a "Check my $tats" shirt during the summer, prancing around with his Cavalier teammates during blowouts and laughing at other teams, re-tweeting EVERYTHING good that his followers say about him (to the point where it's a bit creepy, narcissistic and obsessive)...and, finally, it got old. And I'm pretty sure I did say that it was bad that Kobe called out Drew (check the post you quoted, actually). Kobe can do wrong. He was egotistical early in his career, shut out a lot of teammates and friends. He committed adultery. However, he did no wrong by pushing the organization to put talent around him AFTER they lied to both him and Phil Jackson. Here's what's weird, though: I don't see ANY Heat fans criticizing what LeBron James has done, in the past or present, now that he's on the team. Should you stop rooting for the Heat now? It seems like LeBron is the god-like player according to most all of the Miami Heat's fanbase, and that he has never done wrong.

Here's the thing: I would do it, regardless of the time and effort (hell, you guys know that haha), but those team skins, WHENEVER I finish them, will be assigned to team forums. Now, with that in mind, a skin selector allows you to select the skin you want to see. However, an assigned skin to a particular forum will override your skin selection. So, if you've selected a dark skin, you'll see it on the main index, off-topic, general NBA, and anywhere else...but once you dive into a team forum, it will change to that ONE particular team skin I've assigned, and it will be light. I don't think it's wise to flip from dark to light, so it comes down to having personalized team forums vs. a dark and a light skin to choose from. I stress posting in team forums (more than most of the sites you'll ever visit, actually), so anything that encourages you guys to visit that team forum is a positive, and anything that could take away from it (ex. flipping from the dark selection to a light team forum) is a negative. :\

While I say I want the Heat to lose every game this season, once the dust clears, I actually don't care if they beat teams in our conference. By the way, after an 11-1 start, the Hornets are 3-9. :o

I'm not really sure what the rules are. I do know that I wouldn't be responsible for members not paying up, though, so it wouldn't be wise to bet against someone you really don't know. Someone is in the process of coding a bookie system for IPB, by the way. Just throwing that out there. It's based on points, though.

Given who he's defending the paint FOR, Dwight is going to win this award, hands down, unless someone suddenly steps up midway through the season and starts playing some incredible perimeter defense (on the level of Payton or Pippen) or post defense (Rodman-esque). Not going to happen...but that's what it would take to throw Howard out of the top spot (or an injury, of course).

Whoa...you weren't saying that a few years back. :o

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, December 15th Boston @ New York (ESPN) Winner: Leading scorer: Portland @ Dallas (ESPN) Winner: Leading rebounder: Thursday, December 16th Atlanta @ Boston (TNT) Winner: Player with the most threes made: San Antonio @ Denver (TNT) Winner: Leading passer: Friday, December 17th Miami @ New York (ESPN) Winner: Leading scorer: Phoenix @ Dallas (ESPN) Winner: Player with the most free throw attempts: LA Lakers @ Philadelphia Winner: Leading passer:

By the way, the best teams in the league, right now, are... 1) Celtics 2) Spurs 3) Mavs 4) Lakers 5) Heat This will most certainly change by February.

I actually wanted to have fun with this, so here we go. 24 games in, this season vs. MVP season, Kobe's numbers... 2010-11: 26.7 PPG on 44.0% FG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.4 SPG, 3.0 TO, 2.0 PF 2007-08: 26.8 PPG on 44.6% FG, 6.2 RPG, 4.8 APG, 2.0 SPG, 3.1 TO, 2.3 PF Wow. In that MVP season, he looked horrible. Showed in his numbers. Probably because of age or injury. And he still won an MVP and an NBA title (the following season)? And, whoa, I assume he was the second best player on the Lakers because of the numbers he was putting up...so I just don't see how they won it all if he was second best.

Well, Memphis has moved him to the bench, and I'm guessing they are looking to grab either Chandler or Gallo (probably Gallo) based on the way their team is built. But, then again, it's all speculation. Nobody actually confirmed the Knicks are open to trading for him...just someone close to him thinking he'll be traded to New York.

Whoa. Layman's terms: you just bragged about predicting the last two Lakers championships, basically saying we should listen to you because "it's coming from someone who predicted the last two despite the question marks." Did you not say this? So I tell you that everyone else predicted those titles, too (how many people actually thought the Lakers weren't going to win them?) and then you say... LOL, I think so, since they thought the same as you about the Lakers winning it all. But, you were referring to the LAL/UTA series in the past AND the fact that Utah always starts off quick and slows down...even though, yes, everyone still thought the Lakers were going to win it all the last two years. Do I seriously need to keep going with this? Here's the point: if we should listen to you because you predicted our last two titles, I'll listen to me because I've predicted our last two as well, and our three finals appearances, and our other dynasty from the Kobe/Shaq days, AND the Heat's slow start. You forgot to talk about Bryant's lack of 50% shooting games in the first 24 games of every season I listed over the last 2-3 years, also...but that's probably a good move on your part, to be honest.

It's basically a cushion. Get Melo when you have the opportunity. What if the Knicks go on a major slump and finish the season with 35 wins, and then the CBA cuts salaries by 30%? Suddenly, Melo will be losing a chunk of any contract he gets from ANY team, and he'd be going to a Knicks team that just finished just six wins ahead of where they were last year? Would he change his mind? What if Amare goes down with another eye or knee injury in April? It's smart to wait, but it's smarter to get him when you can if it's not going to cost you a good chunk of your team. If the Knicks can acquire him before February, they have a good chance at making some noise until the end of the season, and they will surely be a playoff team AND have a shot at the ECF's.

If the Knicks are doing this to package Mayo in a deal before the February 24th trade deadline, they better hurry. Once a player is acquired in a trade, assuming his salary will be packaged with another (and more than likely, it will), that team can't trade him to another team for two months UNLESS they trade him all by himself (which can't happen because Melo makes too much money). So, the Knicks have a little under two weeks to decide if they want Mayo or not.

So, you're right because you've predicted the last two Lakers championships? Are you not reading what you're typing to me?

Overplayed? He skipped basketball all summer long, decided not to play for Spain, because he knew he was going to have to play big minutes. Plus, he is STILL attempting less than 15 shots per game. It's something he has never done in his career, not even as a primary option in Memphis. He's averaging under 40 minutes a game as well. Where is he being overplayed at? LOL, when has Kobe averaged 50% in a season? If you're expecting him to average that, sorry. Guess what? In his first 24 games last year, Kobe shot over 50% ten times. This season? Eight. Pretty similar. How about in 2008-09? Eleven times. What about in the 2007-08 season? Nine times, despite winning the season MVP. How impressive. :o He doesn't have a broken hand. Haha, based on their current 17-8 record, I'm guessing? Utah, first 25 games of season... 2009-10: 15-10, finished 53-29 (4th in the West, lost 2nd round vs. LAL, 4-0) 2008-09: 15-10, finished 48-34 (8th in the West, lost 1st round vs. LAL, 4-1) 2007-08: 14-11, finished 54-28 (5th in West, lost 2nd round vs. LAL, 4-2) 2006-07: 18-7, finished 51-31 (4th in West, lost WCF vs. Spurs, 4-2) The Jazz better than the Lakers this season? Is that what everyone thought over the last three years when they started with a similar record they have this season? I'm pretty sure many others predicted it as well. I don't need to list those that have.

NOBODY is better than the Heat, not even in past seasons.