Real Deal

I don't believe so. The point of draining the knee is for relief and mobility, so it doesn't seem like it. Never had it done before, though.

Wow, that's quite a bit. That's actually a good thing, though. After Kobe's was drained, he came out and killed OKC, and he's been a mad man ever since. I'm aware that Bynum's knee is a meniscus tear, so it's not going to heal just from the draining, but anything like this is a positive for his mobility and strength.

Tough, man. I might have to hand it to Steve Nash as the top point guard, if we're looking at who has done the best job throughout the decade. You can't beat the two MVP awards and those insane shooting numbers. Now, if we're talking overall abilities, nothing more...sure, Kidd gets the nod. He's a top five point guard in league history.

Iverson, Nash, and Dirk are a yes. Carter and McGrady are a no. At one point, Iverson was the most dominant guard in the NBA, and it lasted for a few years. Dirk is one of the greatest international players to play in the league, and he's the modern-day Larry Bird (minus the defense, of course). Nash gets in because he's arguably a top five point guard of all-time, and he's got two MVP awards. Carter and McGrady really haven't done anything significant to be put into that group.

Not so sure about that. Obama has knowledge of the game (basketball, at least). He's not oblivious to Rondo's strengths and weaknesses, knows about the Bulls (past and present)...and while he didn't do well with his NCAA predictions, I don't think many really did in the first place. Either way, all of our Presidents have to have lives. Bush was all about his baseball. Clinton sexed his secretaries. Obama watches basketball.

Quite frankly, it's all based on how much you like/dislike the player. Fans that hate Kobe always bring up the 2004 and the 2008 NBA Finals...but they won't discuss the 2007 Finals and the 22 PPG and under 40% shooting LeBron had (and honestly, that's just off the top of my head...I used to know the numbers, so I may be close). They both played bad, simple as that. For me, personally, I don't care how many times a player has been to the Finals. I don't care if the Lakers get to the Finals, either...but that might be because I'm spoiled. The Wizards fans would be thrilled, right? Any loss...I try to forget. So when someone says, "Hey, Kobe is 4-2 in the Finals. Jordan is 6-0. LeBron is 0-1." That really means nothing to me. I would be telling them how many rings each have.

For Cousins, you could say Al Jefferson, but a more athletic (sort of) and stronger Zach Randolph comes to mind as well. I'll have to comment on the rest of the mock (and the other mocks) tomorrow.

Haha, a few people spotted Kevin Durant in a Kobe Bryant jersey the other day, in OKC. He was praising him on Twitter, too...so I think I know who he's rooting for. Dude is funny...acts like a huge fan when he's out of the playoffs. We all know who Alvin Gentry is rooting for, too...haha.

LOL, okay. I will continue to think with my non-millionaire perspective...and you too.

Simmons also threw his Celtics under the bus pretty bad, saying they were going to lose in the first round against the Heat.

Problem is, we're talking about a single ball fake to someone's face. The ability to NOT flinch or blink has NOTHING to do with money, at all. Doesn't matter if Barnes did it with a basketball on the court, with his hand, or with a crunched-up piece of paper out at a park. Hell, you don't even have to achieve intimidation to make someone flinch. This particular situation is not related to money, in any way, shape or form. It's related to Kobe's focus and anger, simple as that.

Yet you would be excited to trade Chris Bosh to us for Andrew Bynum? This season, Marc Gasol averaged 14.6 PPG on 58% FG, 9.3 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 25 years old. Pau Gasol averaged 18.3 PPG on 54% FG, 11.3 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 30 years old. Man, that's just a massively ugly trade.

Twitter is being supported by athletes and the media. It won't go anywhere for a while. Facebook is held together by students and young adults. The chance of it dropping out of existence is slim to none today. MySpace...you can make an argument there, but then again, the music and entertainment side is heavier than it has ever been. It seems like MySpace is more for bands and comedians these days...gonna be tough to topple. Of course, ten years is a long time. Something could throw a monkey wrench into all of this, featuring everything from all three major social networking sites, and become King. Can't really say, though.

There are about three or four keys on the keyring, and Gasol isn't the one that starts the car. The article was put out before Game 6, I believe, and it failed to mention Gasol's last three against the Suns, and also the one he let Amare drop 40+ in.

Riot advances to the finals.

Legacy advances to the Finals.

This month might be the closest he's been all season long, to be honest.

As I stated in the game topic, Kobe messed up his ankle two days before the Boston game, third quarter against Philly...had tons of trouble in practice, shot poorly against Boston, and it was clear as day that he wasn't able to keep up with Rondo, at all. Good try with the link, though. Rajon threw eight assists in the second quarter of that game, and that was around the time Kobe was getting treatment on the ankle from the bench, came back out on the court at the eight-minute mark in the second, and had to defend Rondo. I believe Rondo dropped 10-12 of his points in that quarter as well. Yikes, dude.

Oh well, I'll do the work myself...

Two days before that game, Bryant hurt his ankle...third quarter, against the Sixers. I'm sure you remember that...but of course, you can look that up. January 29th. He had trouble at practice the next day, had swelling, and came to Boston hurting. He shot 8-20 and sucked on defense most of the game, because Rondo kept blowing past him, before he hit the game-winner. If you don't want to acknowledge those injuries, so be it.

Do you have an ad-blocker? That could be it, although I never have problems when using one.

No for Hayes... http://www.82games.com/0910/09HOU19.HTM#bypos Yes for Ibaka... http://www.82games.com/0910/09OKC13.HTM#bypos I should've known about Ibaka, though. I watch enough Thunder games (every one of them). He plays under the rim quite a bit, and he does defend bigs from time to time, so I just tossed his name in the list. Most minutes come at the four, though.

TIME: 9:00 PM EST TV: ABC

I never said that about Fisher. I'm saying that he did fairly well against two elite guards in the NBA, and he hit big shots down the stretch. Asking him to defend a guy that doesn't attack the rim? He would do it, gladly. Afflalo has only been a good defensive player for a year. He showed how well he could defend in the second half of the season in 2009, when he was with Detroit...and he got burn against Bryant that March, and Kobe lit him up for 30 on 56% shooting. Afflalo did well on Kobe in the first meeting of this season (Lakers-Nuggets), then Kobe torched him for 33 on 50% shooting in February. Bryant was re-injured, and shot 3-17 at the end of February, third meeting...around the time he shot terribly against Dallas, Philly and Indiana (all of those games after he missed most of the month in February). Do you really want to give credit to Afflalo for that? Afflalo is a very good defensive player, but you're out of your mind if you think that kid could hold Kobe in a playoff game, especially this season. Wes Matthews and Andrei Kirilenko thought the same, and once Bryant's knee healed up, so did Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Durant (two players Kobe destroyed in that close-out game at Oklahoma City. But...well, okay.

Yeah, I know...Fisher is a scrub who has defended Deron Williams and Steve Nash so far this postseason. And yes, Arron Afflalo can most certainly lock of a healthy Kobe Bryant, especially after Bryant has dropped 30+ in 10 of his last 11 playoff games. And of course, Denver would be in the NBA Finals if it wasn't for George Karl missing the playoffs. Don't really know what else to say to you.