Real Deal

He's open, but why are they dishing it out to Wright? He's not a superstar, all-star, and he hasn't proven he's effective under pressure. Given the fact he was also horrible shooting the ball tonight...no point in finding him for a game-tying three.

Good answers, bro, except for... NO.

Haha, how does the ball go to ANYONE ELSE but Kobe or Fisher? Gasol, Artest, any of them, all choke? Not surprised.

Same. That class produced a lot of all-stars and four superstars (Ray was a superstar in his prime).

That was a sick banner, for real. I have that somewhere.

That, and because he was shooting with a busted hand or wrist (can't remember which). I wasn't too happy when Brown went into his mini-Kobe modes, and decided he was going to try and drop 30. I think he's actually a smarter player now.

http://www.vividseats.com/nba-basketball/new-york-knicks-tickets/knicks-vs-thunder-12-22-1040253.html

Reminds me of when Barnes got his technical for giving the referee the ball.

WOW, DON'T RUIN THE HYPE! I think I'm going to hold an online parade for this December 2nd game.

LOL, I can't figure you Raptors fans out. You want to lose, but you get a little excited for these wins. You bunch of schizos.

1) Who is your least favorite player on the current Cavs roster? 2) Leaving out Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich, what current NBA coach would you want coaching this season's Cavaliers? 3) On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you that Colt McCoy is playing for your Browns? 4) What one position do the Cavaliers need to tend to immediately? 5) In your opinion, name the two greatest Cleveland athletes you've seen live (on television). 6) All Cleveland, all sports...who would you say is Cleveland's newest face? 7) Realistically, who could the Cavaliers beat in a playoff series out East? List the teams you wouldn't mind facing. 8) What one West team would you like to see in the NBA Finals if the Heat win the ECF? 9) If the Heat don't make the Finals, and Cleveland doesn't make the playoffs, pick the two teams you want to see in the Finals. 10) Second favorite NBA team, if you were forced to have one (or if you do)?

I'm pretty excited to see what goes down. James isn't crazy like Ron Ron, so you won't see him go into the stands if something does happen...but fans can get out of hand quickly, and it takes one to spark a handful of them to throw things onto the court (much like the idiots did in that LA/Cleveland game last year, with the foam hands). There's a radio station out in Cleveland that is giving away Delonte West masks (or having you print them out in a PDF file, can't remember). That would be funny as hell. It looks like him, too. I wonder how long James will play, or if he'll even suit up.

Well, whatever works. He's a true center that wants to play defense, so the Thunder really need to work with him and make sure he's ready for the pros. They could always use someone like him.

Funny? I don't know. They need to just stick to the cartoons.

Had he clipped him from behind, on purpose, I would give out the longer suspension. I realize it was still a dangerous situation, but not even close to a fall that drops you on the back of your neck.

They can snag a playoff spot if they keep it up, but I can't say they will contend for a ring this season. I haven't watched all of their games, but from those that I've seen (including the Heat game), they need to convert on those drives to the rim and hit those mid-range shots. I know they can make threes, but they just need some offensive consistency. I'm not too surprised that they are playing pretty good defense, probably a top ten defensive team in the NBA. Granger will always be a decent to good defensive player (and he is, this season), but I'm shocked that Hibbert seems to have improved on the defensive end. The Pacers just need to get Collison on the same page, because he's having trouble...partially due to the injury, but he's had trouble for a while now, even in New Orleans (he was pretty bad, defensively, when he was in NOH, so I guess you can say he improved as well). The one that sticks out the most is Dunleavy, but you won't fix that defensive problem anytime soon. Boston, Orlando, Chicago, and Miami would all beat the Pacers in a seven-game series. After that, though, it's hard to say.

Evans needs to handle the ball more. He would spoon-feed Brooks all game. Tyreke has no problem getting to the rim and kicking it out. Brooks would be excellent from the perimeter (again, to boost their three-point percentage) and he would also be nice to have on the break. Sacramento doesn't need a true point. Evans can run the offense at the two.

I figured the Heat would start slow and wouldn't reach a 70-win mark, but I wouldn't have guessed they would be 8-7 after 15 games. Really tough question, though, because I also thought the Raptors would be one of the worst teams in the league. No Ed Davis, injured Barbosa, Jack playing badly (until traded)...you'd think they'd be 1-14. Five more wins? If Toronto was at .500, I would be more surprised. Five more wins than a 1-14 start isn't that big of a deal when compared to the Heat starting 8-7, in my opinion.

Chill out, guys.

Portland Trail Blazers completed. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/forum/36-portland-trail-blazers-team-forum

Saw it coming. It was a really stupid foul.

Trade obliteration, haha. The Kings would part ways with Omri to get Brooks, I'm sure...but an unprotected pick would be insane. The 5th worst team in the NBA should be sold to another owner if they gave away an unprotected pick to a team just to bring in Aaron Brooks. Then again, draft picks have been thrown around so carelessly in recent years, so it really wouldn't surprise me. It would be top 3 protected, though.

Didn't Pierce once say that his development was partially due to the hard work he put in because the Celtics were struggling so much under him? The more he scored, the worse their record was? Allen, KG and Pierce all went through that phase. They all became leaders that way. I'm afraid that, if you were to stick them on the same team in the late 90s and ask them to start from there, things may have been a bit different without a clear-cut leader, a proven leader at that. Eventually, they would start winning rings, but I doubt that those three would've tackled the dynasty Lakers OR that Spurs team that Pop ran with for so long, to be honest. They would've handled the Heat and Pistons, started beating the Lakers in 2003 or 2004, but the Kobe-Shaq dynasty would've turned them inside-out back in the first part of the decade.

Some players take advantage of this situation (Dampier putting up his double-double in Golden State), and some don't (Crawford). Cool that he can identify it, but I see this as him using it as an excuse, to make sure teams aren't going to look away and forget about him. Here's the thing...Crawford has always come across as that chucker when his team is down, the guy that things he can superstar his way into the game and drag his team through the mud on his way to a victory. How many times has he shot a bad percentage in a season? This is a guy who doesn't really get that much defensive attention, either, and with Atlanta struggling after their quick start, he's going to struggle the most because it's in his blood to start chucking up shots to win games and look good. That's been his M.O. most of his career.