Real Deal

Matt Barnes became the third player in the last 25 years to put up 20/5/5 with perfect shooting from the floor and free throw line. The other two? Charles Barkley and Gary Payton, in the mid-90's. Barnes put up 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 0 turnovers, 2 steals, 7-7 FG, 5-5 3PT, and 5-5 FT in 24 minutes of play against the Wolves. Pretty impressive.

The lockout will be temporary, so I don't see how they would work this out. They aren't going to close it up for a full NBA season...the league would lose too much money, and so would the players. Both sides would break.

Camby or Noah are better comparisons to Rodman. Evans doesn't play much defense, and Rodman is the greatest defender of all-time.

I think the confidence would be shot having to play alongside James and Wade, because he would be expected to play in the post more. I think that's what it comes down to the most. Beasley is a small forward that can play some power forward, simple as that. In Miami, he would be playing the four OR coming off the bench. Why can't he play in Miami the same way he does in Minny? Well, because the Wolves have Love and Darko up front. Miami would run a lineup of Anthony, Beasley, LeBron, Wade and Arroyo...which would basically be a bunch of perimeter players and a stone hands center, leaving hardly any scoring in the post. Bosh is going to be the better fit in Miami, while Beasley has already found out that he's better off playing on a team that allows him to spend the majority of his time slashing to the rim and playing his defender face up, from any spot on the floor. While Bosh isn't exactly the post player I'm saying Miami needs, he's much better in the post than Beasley is, and Bosh has the ability to play the center position as well.

At his size, he was the greatest scorer of all-time. I'm not ready to call him the greatest scorer ever, though, because he didn't really have an offensive arsenal most would expect just by looking at his numbers. In all of my years of watching basketball, Iverson was at the rim more than any other point guard I've ever seen...maybe even more than any other two-guard and small forward (yes, including LeBron). The most amazing part about Iverson, though, wasn't that he could score the ball at 30 a game...it was that he could absorb all of that contact throughout his career. Shaq laid him OUT in one game, when O'Neal was with the Lakers...and I really didn't think AI would get up. I was wrong...dude popped right up, grimaced a bit, and went to the line for his free throws. This is a guy that was under 6 feet tall (yeah, they added an inch) and just 160 pounds, getting hit (maybe trucked is the better word) by a seven-footer that was around 355 at the time. If it wasn't for his body control, he would've landed like TJ Ford. Pretty crazy what he did in the pros.

He does everything, but he doesn't do it well enough to stand out. His success in college was mainly due to that, though. If you can do everything good, you're going to make it big in college basketball. Once you get to the pros, though, you have to be able to do at least one thing great to be able to stand out among the rest. You look at John Wall, for instance...he can pass, and he's one of the fastest players in the NBA. Those are two aspects of his game that translated well to the pros. Turner can score the ball, pass, defend, to the point where he looks like a poor man's Brandon Roy...but he's having to do this against 350-400 of the best players in the world, so something has to improve to the point where he's got an advantage over others in at least one department of his game.

One thing's for sure: it's not that DeMarcus Cousins dude.

Looking at this for the Hornets, they bring in a defensive-minded point that is a willing passer, and that doesn't mind taking open jumpers if he's asked to be a spot-up shooter. Bayless attacks the rim and would rather score the ball. Peja is a contract, and that's about it. He hasn't been doing anything for the Hornets this season, with the exception of a few points here and there and really bad defense. Banks doesn't stand out, really, but he plays defense as well. Andersen is another six fouls. It's a really good deal for the Hornets.

Super. They get even better.

Wow, I won't lie...I'm embarrassed to say I forgot all about Ed Davis on the Raps. If he's playing at 100%, he'll definitely ignite their frontcourt defense.

The longer they play with increased roles, the tougher it becomes. The only thing you have against you is that it works that way with most every team in the NBA...yet, a lot of teams in the league have at least an all-star player to lean on.

I wouldn't compare them to that team so early...they've only played 12 games so far. Oh well. Good talk.

That dude is a beast.

They defended the three well (just like Cleveland did last year), held Charlotte to 46-47% shooting (Cleveland's opponents averaged 44% all season long), Wade played like Boobie Gibson (8-11 points or so, under 40% FG). Bosh was LeBron's Robin much like Mo was last season, both able to drop 20-point games (check out that list of games I posted below...wow!). Miami grabbed 44 boards, less than two away from the average 42.5 that Cleveland grabbed last season. Just 12 turnovers, a little less than Cleveland's 13-14 average last season. Attempted 19 threes on average last season, put up 17 tonight. Shot 80 total shots tonight, close to the average 78 Cleveland shot per game last year. LeBron scored almost 30% of the team's points tonight (approx.), and that's what he did in Cleveland. Similar low scores... http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200910310CLE.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200911270CHA.html http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201001030CLE.html I'm not sure why you wouldn't think they were similar tonight. Sorry.

I did. I think they looked like the old Cavaliers tonight.

Now you're sounding like Poe, who was also a Heat fan. Takes away from basketball discussion? This game topic was a single-page discussion until I called the Heat the old Cavaliers (which is actually funny, because they really did look like it out there). Maybe we'll all just shut up and stop talking about the Heat, altogether, and let you guys talk Heat basketball from now on.

A 2009 post. I never said anything like that after he made his decision to go to Miami. Here's your quote... I assumed you were talking about post-decision. Kobe, LeBron and Gasol are all three different players. Gasol is a legit post. Kobe can shoot the ball. LeBron drives. It was a legitimate comment. LeBron, Wade and Bosh are all the same player, just at different heights. Again, you're circling around the point. Don't get pissed as us analyzing this team at 12 games when you were doing it before a single preseason game was played.

Four or five titles in six seasons, my bad. Just as bad. And that person wasn't me. ESPN Los Angeles isn't for the Lakers, specifically, it's for the city and sports teams in it. Sorry. And when we weren't even in the preseason yet, you voted the team would win four or five titles in six seasons. You also voted that the Heat would be the champs this season. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/17692-miami-heat-questions Don't be so mad people are judging your team after 12 games. You were judging them in September.

You had a chance, because Brand shot poorly, Iggy didn't even play (I don't think, didn't see him when I watched the fourth quarter), Williams and Holiday probably shot as bad as Brand...they just didn't have anything going besides Young, for the most part. But when Bogut and Salmons are also throwing up bricks, and all Maggette can do is get to the line, it's not going to happen.

How much longer is John Wall expected to be out? Memphis has to win these games. This was big, honestly. That confidence level has to be at an all-time low right now.

Artest going nuts endangered other innocent people in the stands. If there was a little girl in his path, she would've gotten trucked because he was unconscious once that beer hit him. Him diving into the stands caused for others to go up there, once again making things dangerous. Athletes are supposed to be role models. Some little boy, with a Ron Artest jersey, holding a Pacers foam finger, doesn't need to see Ron punching someone in the face and looking like he's going to kill anyone near him.

You were upset about his comment because you knew it was a ridiculous thing to say, especially when he stated a week before that he would play 48 minutes a game if he could. But I'm pretty sure you didn't mind him throwing Spo under the bus in the process. You can't prove to me that it was a typo, so don't bother calling it one. If he can't stop his finger from moving down to type the "L" (which wouldn't make sense as a typo), LeBron either has Tourette's, or he calls him Olden on a regular basis and did it on purpose. Bad decision, as usual. Nobody cares what you would really be like as a Lakers fan. You know what the point was. Unless LeBron is your father or uncle, there's no point in flipping out when he does something stupid and people call him out on it. As a fan, it's your job to support him, but it's also your job to deal with it if you're going to support him. Telling people they are obsessed with your team, and that we die to watch them...sorry, it's not like that. You have problems with people taking shots at LeBron? How do you think we feel about your obsession with him from June to October and November? How do you think we felt when we turned on the TV and heard how this team is going to win seven consecutive titles? Yeah, you were eating it up. You wanted a sig of the big three. You were super-excited about the pre-championship parade/party they held. You were pumped about the Heat Index, and the constant updates and ESPN following each Heat practice, as if it were USA Basketball all over again. Now that you guys aren't the best team in the league, or in the East, LeBron said some stupid things and Bosh isn't even playing as good as Odom, you're pissed that people are jumping on that? Haha...it's just like I said.

Most surprising for the Lakers? Probably Brown, for all things mentioned already. I figured he'd shoot better than he did last season, though, but the most surprising is that he's playing the role he should be, instead of being selfish and trying to play like Kobe. Most disappointing? Blake, but part of that is because he's really not getting much playing time due to Fisher eating up almost 30 minutes a game. He's picking up the triangle a little here and there, but the rotations are a bit weird, with Barnes playing some four and Odom playing in the starting five...may be just a bit overwhelming for Blake at this time.