Real Deal

As long as Chris Mihm isn't shooting 15 threes in our scrimmages, I'm good.

Because Bosh, Amare and Dirk are at least 10 times the player Beasley will ever be, and it's not even close.

For one, Miami only has two players on their roster. They have two team options to pick up (Chalmers and James Jones). With just two players signed, they have around $50 million to spend. I don't think I have to finish my post...

Speaking of bringing the ball up and shooting it each time he does, maybe he should take a look at that Phoenix game Kobe dropped a playoff career high in assists in. Basketball isn't that simple. There's a reason why this guy is on Youtube and not spreading his amazing knowledge to professional players.

LOL. "When Kobe brings the ball up the court, he's just gonna shoot it." Are any of you seriously going to listen to this ridiculous [expletive]? Ever heard of Tom Thibodeau? That's the guy coaching the Celtics' defense. But I'm assuming this guy is "so smart" (as he claims, he just can't believe how smart he is) that he probably needs to be the one coaching, instead of a great defensive mind like Tom. Please.

Correct. The 2008 Celtics had a younger Garnett, PJ Brown, and James Posey. They would never allow this much dribble penetration. Tony Allen, and Paul Pierce, aren't key to holding Bryant. The Thunder probably had the numbers to prove that Durant was key, until he started getting lit up. He defended Kobe well in one game, had no chance the next. Same went with LeBron a couple of years back, when Brown stated that LeBron would be best defending him, and the numbers showed it. Kobe kept shooting over him, and suddenly, it didn't look so true. Tony, Ray, Paul...the least of my worries. I know Kobe will get his against anyone in green, no matter what. Numbers don't account for help defense, which is what Boston had to use excessively against Bryant all game.

More reason for LeBron to bolt to Chicago. That's all this is about...bigger picture.

They support how well (or bad) Kobe did against each in Game 1. Doesn't mean much outside of that one game, though. Every fan knows Bryant can take anyone in the league, one on one, even to this day. Stick Pierce on Bryant the entire game, and Pierce probably doesn't retain the energy to get to his 20 points (or whatever he had in Game 1), and Kobe still gets his 30, one way or another. The key to defending Bryant? The Jordan Rules. Throw as many different defenders on him, force him to adjust to more than just one or two guys, and box him up, a modified zone set just for Bryant. Everything AND the kitchen sink. I praised LeBron and said he was a deserving MVP this season. I stated that he was a better overall player. Many did (even Magic). I was dead wrong. If you're going to do your best to stop Bryant, you make him use every single offensive skillset he has, from post work to perimeter shooting, mid-range and slashing, facilitating, whatever...and to do that, you use multiple defenders. The Jordan Rules.

Falcons are going to be pretty good this season, but I don't think they'll get past Green Bay. I'll take the Packers over either the Steelers or Patriots in the SB. It's hard for me to go against Moss because he's my favorite player, and I really don't like Pittsburgh or Big Ben...but if I were putting money on the game, it's Green Bay 34, Pittsburgh 24.

It actually wasn't...not exactly the way you interpreted it, probably my mistake for the way I worded the post. I just got off RealGM, where 80% of the Celtics fans think they were screwed by the referees. But of course, like every single series the Lakers have played in so far this season, the calls will be even until we go on the road, where we shoot 15-20 less free throws each game. If the fouls didn't disrupt the way the Lakers played, they didn't disrupt the way Boston played. If so, we know who the better team is. Plus, points in the paint and rebounds killed Boston. Has nothing to do with fouls.

Had Boston gotten more fouls called on them, and less free throw attempts than LA, I'm sure the refs wouldn't be doing their job at that point. Ray couldn't defend Kobe, and Rivers stuck him on Bryant most of the time he was on the floor. All five of those fouls were legit, and three of them were so intentional, it made Allen look like he was 45 years old. Again, it's expected. Tony Allen found it to be the same for him, also.

I don't know why anyone is surprised. 1) Rondo struggled against Bryant. You can tell he was happier with Fisher and Farmar defending him. 2) Pierce had to rely on his teammates to shake Ron Artest. Ron kept him off that elbow, the one place he doesn't miss shots. 3) Garnett has no answer, whatsoever, for Gasol. 4) Fisher did an excellent job chasing Ray Allen most of the game, and Ray was useless when he wasn't getting open looks. 5) Not a single player on the floor could stop Kobe from getting his shot, getting in the paint, or racking up his assists. Some of you thought I was ignorant for saying this stuff last week, but come on...if you watch Boston, and you watch LA, you can easily tell the Lakers match up to them much, much better than they did in 2008.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2j5dmbs.gif I've never seen Kobe this focused for a full playoff season. Dude has been even more focused since Game 1 versus the Suns. Anyone just see his post-game interview?

No idea why he is, but I am...and so is Jerry West, and even Magic Johnson was pretty happy to say he will end up being the greatest Laker of all-time. How happy would you be if Donatas Motiejunas found his way to Houston, then became the greatest big man of all-time?

Kobe did an excellent job keeping Rondo out of the paint (slipped up just twice, both times in the first quarter, helping on Garnett too much). He also put out 30 points (46% FG), 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Amazing game...11 of his last 12 have been 30+ points. Gasol was playing very well defensively, contesting everything, as expected. His length bothers guards and forwards around him, slashing to the rim or taking those contested jumpers (which we want). Artest played very good defense...Pierce got 24, but he had to work for half of those, and a lot of the points were dumped on other players. We reached 100 points, held them to under 90. I don't need to comment much more on it. Three more.

Posting my first spin. I could really see this happening, too... http://i47.tinypic.com/2vl0j02.jpg

Basically, that's why there won't be individual team forums for any sport OTHER than basketball.

I'm not surprised about any of those players, really...but as you reach the top, the list doesn't take into consideration the defensive attention the player receives, or the role he plays in the offense. Battier used to be a clutch shooter...couldn't stand when he'd shoot to the corner and drop threes to tie games up. Bowen did it, and so did Bell (imagine that, massive defensive players netting open threes in clutch moments). Artest was that way for a while, but with the busted hand, his shooting took a HUGE tumble, from 40% 3PT to almost 20% at some points of the season.

If some aren't going to give up on Andrew Bynum yet, you might as well treat Oden the same way. He's a defensive monster. Him and Dwight Howard were the two best defensive centers in the NBA last season (in the limited time Oden played, of course). Say Miami does pursue him...they can do it with someone taking a walk due to free agency (that includes Haslem and Wright). I like Joel Anthony, and he's a good defender down low, but he's not starter material...at least not yet. Wade would appreciate a defensive anchor like Oden.

I'll use them for football...probably not baseball, and definitely not hockey.

LOL what is that off of?

Hearing that she really isn't pregnant now... Hate to say it, but if she is, they better hope the baby comes out looking more like Lamar.

So the same can be said about Shaq, then...Pacers, Sixers, Nets, and Mavericks. Kind of weird...Jordan only defeated a "fellow NBA champion" just once in his career (Lakers, but no Kareem, Riley or Cooper), and took out the Sonics, Blazers, Jazz (2), and Suns. Hakeem Olajuwon took out the Knicks and Magic in the Finals...guess he really hasn't done anything, either.

Too bad he has beaten far dominant teams on the way to the Finals, including the Duncan-led Spurs (that he mentions multiple times in his article, and I'll talk about in a second), an extremely tough Blazers team and a contending Kings squad, having HUGE games in those match-ups. Those Spurs are so high on his list, but who did they take out for their four titles? They took out a Jason Kidd-led Nets team (must be bad, since he mentions it as such), LeBron James' one-man show in Cleveland in a sweep (similar to Iverson's Philly team he mentions as "weak"), a 54-win Pistons team that limped into the Finals to defend their title, and their fourth championship came against the weaker Knicks team after completing just half a season (lockout). Oh, and of course, LA beat a Denver team that fans thought would be in the Finals last season. I could go on and on, but I'm already bored with it.

Fill in the following. Ten points for each correct answer, minus ten for each missed (which includes extending the series over the correct amount of games). If you feel the series will extend past four games, continue to add an answer to each game you think the series will play to. +10 bonus for the correct series winner, +15 for a perfect series. For example, if you believe the Lakers will win the series 4-2, you should fill in six winners. Los Angeles has home court advantage.