Real Deal

I hope that wasn't Felton trying to tell Amare what to do...

Chandler looked SO pissed off when he was at the line, lol.

Yes, that one I really did. Jessica is sitting over here laughing, and I didn't think it was that funny.

See, the problem with that is that Charlotte has Tyrus in the paint (he just finished up with a clutch block on Weems a couple of plays before) and the Bobcats would rather give up that two and not bring over the help to leave Bargs open (Jackson was not going to let him get that shot off without a contest). Triano should've ran a play right up the middle for Weems or DeRozan to just put the ball in the hoop with a chunk of time remaining, then foul. Take the three when you're down by three with 2-3 seconds to go, not when you have enough time to go for the two-and-frees. But, most definitely, let Jack or one of the slashing guards drive and kick it out. Calderon is still in Spain, playing in the FIBA tourney.

Boobie playing like an implant...looks fun, but that's about it.

I would bet anyone $100 Triano told Calderon to Wade his way up the court, draw a double, and then kick it out to Bargnani for a 25-foot Dirk game-winner.

You're supposed to agree, and be positive. It's the Raps, dude! :o And about the double posting, keep doing it and I'll consider you a spammer. Are you posting from a phone, or...? What browser?

Go ahead and move him into that #1 favorite player slot. You can do it.

Who all is injured for the Clippers? Everyone? Starting five... C - Jordan PF - Griffin SF - Gomes SG - Butler PG - Bledsoe

Didn't travel...he's rehabbing that achilles.

Yeah, I actually thought Calderon was going to jack that shot up for a second, and he was wide open for a while, but it's Jose, and you really don't know what he's going to do (sounds like a good thing, but it's not). 2-8, because they will beat Miami. :o

I will restate what I've said in the past: no-show Joe is not a legit primary scoring option, and the Hawks will always struggle to win games here and there because of it. For a team that was rolling, I'm still not surprised to see them lose 2-3 consecutive games.

That's actually a good foul. He was way too deep in the post there.

Should've just shot the damn ball. I don't know why he was even trying to make a move. He knows what he can and can't do against someone like Jackson.

DUDE...Bargnani. WTF.

Three-point time!

When you don't score for 4 1/2 minutes in a close game, you're probably going to lose. Wall is a monster. Everyday is Halloween (I made that up).

Wall has to be fast because of those Zigs he's wearing. I'm pretty sure of it.

Kirilenko is a beast.

Are you using Photoshop to cut the pictures?

Sucks for Yao. I'd be more concerned about that right now if I were a Rockets fan. This game suddenly became irrelevant once he injured that foot.

Legit franchise players need to be the best players on your team, but sometimes, the best players on your team aren't always considered legit franchise players.

Kobe was criticized for shooting against Boston's miniature, "modified" zone defense. The way to beat the zone is to feed the post and attack the rim. A zone welcomes the shot, and if you aren't knocking them down, you don't beat it (well, for most). Only Tony Allen would be able to keep up with Bryant. Posey was a shooter's defender, and so was Ray Allen (a player who has relied heavily on help defense his entire career, actually). Problem is, Tony Allen played a total of 19 minutes in the NBA Finals...three games, didn't reach double-digit minutes in two of them. He was a non-factor, and it was because Posey was getting all of his minutes. Tony was playing significant minutes until the playoffs rolled around, and no, it wasn't an injury that forced him out...Allen was getting less than 10 minutes against the Hawks in the first round, played under five minutes in 11 of those 15 games he did play. Bryant would have had more success against that Boston defense back then, versus in 2008. The Lakers lost that Finals series for three main reasons: injuries, Bryant and Gasol's lack of physicality (Kobe settling and Gasol not being a man), and shots were not falling. The 2000 Lakers would be injury-free (this is assuming all teams are), Kobe would be driving to the rim more and a more versatile defender, Shaq would be 10 times more physical than Gasol and would be a major reason why Rondo would never drive to the rim (remember, the Lakers were 1st defensively, due to having Kobe on the perimeter and Shaq waiting in the paint), and the Lakers were getting open due to that post presence and Bryant's ability to work on the perimeter. I actually think those five more wins (to make the Lakers a 72-win team) would change almost everyone's opinion on the subject. That LA team would be considered one of the greatest of all-time (right there with Jordan's 72-win Bulls), and suddenly, this wouldn't be such a big debate. By the way, I think that Boston team was the second or third best team in the decade, and it's arguable that they are first. I'm not going to say that the Lakers are, hands down, the ones to select here...but it's too difficult for me not to say Kobe and Shaq.

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but just keep in mind that there have been a LOT of international players that have traveled this same road, and failed. While it's not really time to shut the door on him yet, Hamed Haddadi was supposed to be that "Yao Ming" figure for Iran. People were raving about Pavel Podkolzin in Russia when he was younger. These big guys get everyone excited because, honestly, you don't see many of them overseas that can actually play like a big man...and at an NBA level...so when you run into Yao Ming, Marc Gasol and even Dirk Nowitzki representing their countries in the NBA, you start looking for that next international big.

GO JAZZ! EDIT: Not really. I don't like Utah.