Real Deal

Ha...so, if you aren't Dwight, you better play your ass off because you're on the block! Confidence killer right there. I'm not sure if this was a good thing to put out there or what.

Funny enough, as I hit Post, a McGrady topic is posted where he is saying that LeBron would've been better off in Chicago because he's a rhythm player...that he and Wade are two of the same, and Tracy even puts himself into the picture and says he would feel the same and would struggle. Good stuff.

Dude is money.

I think some of you are looking at it the wrong way (not sure how Alex is actually approaching it, though...sort of confused because he's not really coming out and saying who's to blame). Look, Spoelstra was Wade's buddy for years. They ran a system, and Wade bought it. The Heat started off slow last season, finished with 47 wins (started the season 9-7, ironically). This was with a team many Heat fans said should've have been good enough to win that many games, aside from Wade and Haslem's play. Beasley wasn't good enough, Wright just didn't fit, Jermaine was a shell of his former self, and Spoelstra wasn't experienced enough to get out of the first round. Well, now we're talking about Spo not being able to command respect. Why not just say the players (probably starting with LeBron) aren't giving him respect? From how others are putting it, it makes it sound like this is all on Spoelstra, even though a lot of us predicted the team would struggle early. Adjusting the offense? While coaches do the work on the whiteboard, it's the players who do it on the court. Nothing Spo says will make Wade and LeBron better off-ball players. Nothing he says will make them spot-up shooters. No offense he sets up will force these two guys (meaning James and Wade) to play both of their 2009-10 styles without any restrictions. Maybe Spo isn't right for the job, but that definitely, 100% doesn't mean he's the one to blame. Him being the wrong person to coach this team has almost everything to do with LeBron and Wade. Would any other coach have been able to take Kobe and Shaq and turn them into a dynasty duo? I don't know, but it would be much easier because basketball makes life simple when you have a dominant post and a dominant slashing and playmaking guard. This duo isn't Phil's Lakers. It's not even Riley's Showtime Lakers. It's not Jordan and Pippen. It's a superstar duo that contains two guys who play nearly the same exact game on the floor, nearly the same spots on the floor, trying to involve a third all-star that, unfortunately, plays more like them than he does a traditional power forward. Eventually, it'll work and they will be able to run off 60-win seasons (unless they blow a fuse and start feuding with each other), but that won't be up to any coach they will ever have, either...Spo, Riley, or anyone...because it all starts with the two willing to adjust AND redefine their games while improving in areas they never needed to consider before. It doesn't take a coach to tell them this, unless both of these guys are really that ignorant to the game of basketball. In fact, I believe both noted before the season started that it's a work in progress, that they will need to adjust and not play like they were last season...am I correct? But just recently, LeBron stated he was not going to defer or adjust his game, because it would make him a role player. It's very clear where the problems lie.

That open-handed hit, helmet on, connected to Ben's chin. It could've broken his jaw just as much as a punch without a helmet on would.

Both Seymour and Johnson should've been suspended for one game. They both threw punches. If you can be suspended for a helmet-to-helmet hit that, sometimes, can't be proven as intentional...you should be suspended at least one game for intentionally throwing a punch, through a facemask or with the helmet off, doesn't matter who provoked it.

The closer to the rim, the better. Throughout most of his game-winners, it really doesn't matter who is on him or how close they are in his jersey. See Wade as one of the more recent examples, more athletic than Ford and also 4-5 inches taller, and a far, far better defensive player. Same with Raja and Diaw, same with Patterson when he was basically laying his body all over Kobe before he dropped a nasty game-tying three on him and Portland. A normal three with someone in his face still has that higher percentage of going in, over the 30-footer.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/news/story?id=5862172 I read some fans thought that he wasn't telling them what to do, that he wasn't one of those "in-your-face" coaches like Pat Riley, that he needed to be more of a leader and get them all on the same page. Then it's made clear that the Spoelstra Heat fans were wanting to see...well, he's the one that they've had all along.

I would give him props, but I have a feeling it was mostly on Kevin (he's been shooting poorly so far this season, under 43%) and that Battier just found a rhythm. Because Durant is doing more shooting now that Westbrook is dominating the ball, it makes sense that Battier would get in a couple of good games against him to begin with, especially considering how he has had trouble shooting the ball all season long. I'm sure Houston fans would love to see Battier play like this all season long, but I wouldn't bet on him doing it.

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 1st Portland @ Boston (NBATV) Winner: Leading scorer: San Antonio @ LA Clippers (NBATV) Winner: Leading rebounder: Thursday, December 2nd Miami @ Cleveland (TNT) Winner: Leading scorer: Phoenix @ Golden State (TNT) Winner: Player with the most threes made: Friday, December 3rd Chicago @ Boston (ESPN) Winner: Leading passer: Sacramento @ LA Lakers Winner: Player with the most turnovers: Dallas @ Utah (ESPN) Winner: Leading scorer:

I got a kick out of these costumes. The real Ultimate Warrior, WWF days (back when wrestling was amazing)... http://www.pwpix.net/superstars/u/ultimatewarrior/images/ultimate-warrior-2.jpg Impersonators (hopefully doing this for Halloween)... http://gallery.costumekingdom.com/images/medialibrary/resizelarge/BC9DEAB93A7BF5272B6C712B199136AF_486w.jpg http://i.usatoday.net/communitymanager/_photos/pop-candy/2009/11/03/x-warriorx-large.jpg http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2843/53820192.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3221/2706085197_74a3550961.jpg http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6117/73634298.jpg http://www.wordsfallshort.com/Words_Fall_Short/Blog/Entries/2009/11/8_Halloween_a_la_Lafayette_files/IMG_1363.jpg http://www.blackboxdist.com/i/popup/images/bboxh07_5.jpg Yikes.

Going to break away from the "trade Cousins" topic I made and show you some shocking stats. Danny Fortson's rookie season, compared to DeMarcus Cousins' rookie season. I get credit for this one, by the way. http://i56.tinypic.com/ossyeo.jpg http://i56.tinypic.com/ossyeo.jpg Fortson shot better from the floor (but he still shot poorly for a big)...but check out everything else. Mind blown?

Four fouls and 2.4 turnovers in 23 minutes? He's also shooting under 40% as a center.

The first player in years drafted by a team without making Chad Ford's Top 100 draft list.

Not as long as Shaq and Garnett are still playing. After those two, though, sure.

Sorry, I was talking about Finnegan. Seems to me like Goodell has been pretty hard on Harrison because of the way he hits other players, so it wouldn't really shock me to hear that he's booting Finnegan out for the year due to his conduct on the field. Johnson is a different story, really...but I don't think he'll hand him just one game, either.

Would anyone be shocked if Rog suspends Finnegan for the rest of the season?

Wow. Pathetic. Gasol acts like he doesn't even care he was humiliated by Hibbert all night long. Great game, Roy. Great game, Kobe.

Hibbert just [expletive]ing punked Gasol. I hope people have watched these last handful of Lakers games, to see how much of a pushover Gasol has been when the Lakers need him most.

Pau and Odom are supposed to be all-stars. Get on the glass when it matters most, contest shots, do something. Play defense if you aren't going to score when needed.

What the hell...Hibbert is destroying Gasol, and Kobe is dragging his team out of the quicksand.

Still not a fan of this guy. http://bballbreakdown.com/2010/11/06/chris-paul-retakes-the-best-point-guard-in-the-league-crownwhy-the-heat-are-still-not-elite (CP3 best PG in the league) That was on November 6th. This is three weeks later. ---------- Also, his title is, "Lakers at Jazz – Barnes and Blake Bare The Brunt of the Blame." He's hard on Blake, but he only stuck Barnes into the title because his name starts with a "B" and, according to his video, Barnes changed the entire game by...cussing out the referee? He jumps Raja's ass for going under a Gasol screen and allowing Kobe to shoot the three, stating, "Are you crazy?" Well, there's only one other option, to chase him over the screen and lose Bryant, force help, and give Gasol a higher percentage look (sometimes, a dunk). LA does this all the time. He says he hates how Kirilenko put his hand on Kobe's waist 27 feet away from the rim, says he hates what Bryant does by drawing the foul and pretending like he's going to try and shoot the ball because he's only doing it to get the call, and that he can never make that shot. "There's no chance he'd ever make that shot." Really? I have a few clips of him shooting deep threes, not even at the end of a quarter/game, and drilling them. Kobe passes the ball to Artest for a late-game shot, and Nick is jumping on Bryant for not moving after the pass? It's too bad he doesn't know that Jackson wants Bryant back on defense with four others crashing the boards (like Pippen or Jordan in Chicago, depends on the game) and, aside from that, when does Ron pass up a shot that is drawn up for him? He faked, drove straight to the rim, and didn't look at a single teammate before putting up his fadeaway. When the shot clock first screwed up, and Nick states that it wouldn't have affected the game due to the Jazz having four back...too bad he's wrong there as well. Look at Odom and Artest at the bottom of the screen. Utah had two guys watching Gasol down low, and either Ron or Odom were going to be open for the three if Fisher started to swing the ball, from Kobe to one of them (which happens a lot). For the last play of the game, Nick isn't so sure Kobe can make "that kind of a pocket pass" to Gasol? LOL...what the [expletive] is this dude saying? Did he ever watch Kobe and Shaq? Did he watch any games over the last three seasons? Was Gasol really "more open" than Ron? Please. He ends his video by stating that Barnes (who he mentioned maybe twice in the entire analysis) and Blake can't bring it every night. He spoke not a word about Shannon Brown, though, who shot 2-8 in 18 minutes of play, much worse than Barnes' 3-6 shooting, 8 points and 5 boards in nearly the same amount of minutes. I guess it was all about the one foul on Barnes, and him cussing out the referee, which earned him the place in the headline. He also decided not to talk about Fisher's chucking and poor shooting (1-7 if I recall correctly), just his poor defense on the basketball god, Deron Williams. Why didn't Nick cover the November 22nd Jazz game against the Kings, when Deron was absolutely picked apart? Why did he miss the following games? 11/13 @ CHA - 17 PTS (5-15 FG), 9 AST 11/17 vs. NJN - 23 PTS (5-13 FG), 8 AST 11/19 vs. SAS - 23 PTS (7-19 FG), 5 AST 11/20 @ POR - 12 PTS (3-13 FG), 11 AST 11/22 vs. SAC - 12 PTS (4-14 FG), 9 AST All within the last two weeks, also...between the time he stated that Chris Paul was the best PG in the NBA after beating the Heat, and stating that Deron is, hands down, the best PG in the league after beating the Lakers. Haha. I'm sorry, I understand he has a lot of knowledge, but what he knows is a bit overrated. He sticks his hand into these videos telling everyone what a team is running on offense, and how a team defends...but he's not analyzing these players very well. Blake shoots 0-7 and he's a problem in this game? Sure he is. My own mother can determine that. There was a bad hand-off between Kobe and Gasol? Sure was...everyone watching the game, coaches or fans, saw it and recognized it as such. He should start to consider what these players have done in the past, and how they play in more than just one game, before talking about just one game. Kobe can't fit in a pocket pass to Gasol? Absurd, Nick...one of the most ignorant things I've heard you say. He shouldn't have passed to Ron for that open three? Is that what you would've recommended when he did it against Boston in Game 7, the shot that caused Ron to blow kisses to the fans and eventually gave him a championship ring? All he's doing is telling his viewers how an offense works, and pointing out the mistakes on both sides of the ball. I think he puts more effort into putting his clips together, honestly. Kudos for that, but if he's going to evaluate the players on the court, he needs to do a better job of it.

I agree with most of the list, but I could argue about Weems, and to be honest, I think Bayless is one of the worst defensive players on the Raptors, almost on the same level as Kleiza.