Real Deal

Of course. The odds would increase significantly. Bynum can be a MAJOR piece to our quest for a title in 2011...but not necessarily in a Lakers jersey. There are a few teams interested in a big man that can produce 20/10 at full health. While the Lakers FO does have concerns for his health, and those teams are aware of it, it's those very teams that may be willing to part with a nice player just to have a productive big man. High risk, high reward, as I've mentioned before (and as everyone else is award of). I really don't even think it matters how well Bynum contributes for us in the NBA Finals, either (unless he goes into monster mode and throws down 20/10 a game on Perkins, which won't happen). I truly think we are dead set at exploring any deals offered for him.

The deal was on the table in February, when we were doing very well...so I wouldn't be too shocked if we pull the trigger, ring or no ring.

I don't even know what you're talking about anymore. I guess I will hold a stack of cash, act like I'm throwing it at Trump, and see if he flinches. Why would I flinch when someone is talking trash? That wouldn't make ANYONE flinch. Flinching means you act quickly by ducking, blinking, draw back suddenly, avoid contact instantly, etc. How do one's words, or someone's money, make me flinch (or not flinch)? Tiger Woods: "I am the first billion dollar athlete, Brandon!" Brandon Neal: "OH [expletive]!" *blinks and ducks his head*

I actually don't remember a topic created about it on OTR (could be wrong). I do know a ton of Lakers fans were blasting him for saying that over at TLN, though. A lot of those guys (including me) were pissed that Bynum even replied to a reporter, instead of working on his game...let alone talked about wanting that rematch, as if he was there in 2008 to begin with (didn't even play).

I don't watch baseball much, but damn, that's two already...and what's crazy is, hasn't there been a couple of other games that were perfect through eight or the top of the ninth?

Point was, if a Laker stated something like this, a few non-Lakers fans would be in here talking about how cocky they are. All smiles tonight, though. I don't fault what Nash said, because it's good that he believed...but again, only the Lakers fans can do wrong. Cocky [expletive] Lakers fans.

LOL, I was going to post a longer reply...but come on. If I had a baseball bat, and pretended to swing it at Donald Trump, he would flinch. If he didn't, he's a zombie. That's the end of this discussion.

You did see Dragic running his mouth to Sasha, and then the bump in the back...right? Or is that something you want to ignore? I don't even like Sasha, but he didn't start that.

1) Denver wouldn't have beaten the Lakers, coach or no coach. They didn't do it last year, despite what you predicted, they were swept before that, and this year's match-up would've been even worse for the Nuggets. Phil Jackson doesn't call plays. They are freelanced by our offense. There was a reason why Jackson considered coaching JUST the home games a couple of years back...the assistants (would've been Rambis) can just sit there and watch Kobe and Fish coach their teammates on the court, which is what happens every game. Phil is there for the ego management and big man development. This team is fine. 2) Yeah, Garnett will draw Gasol out. So did Amare. Same with Boozer, and especially Jeff Green. Garnett isn't Amare on offense. Not a big deal. Pierce and Rondo penetrate? Again, they have the two best perimeter defenders on them. What makes you think they will get into the lane that easily? Ray Allen will be too busy running off screens. If he is forced to be a playmaker (something Rivers will not agree to roll with), Boston loses in five games. They aren't that dumb.

Veteran champions win games, and ultimately, win the series. Kobe and Fisher were the two biggest players in these six games, no doubt about it. Can't say enough about Kobe, so I'll just leave it to one statement: best player in the game. Fisher's physical play on Nash changed the course for the first two games, and it also helped tonight. Nash has done most of his scoring on our bigs, on those pick and roll switches. He did blow by Fisher a few times, but some were due to Fisher having to be cautious about Amare's screen. After Ron's 2-9 shooting and a game-winner on Thursday, he came out huge for us in the first half tonight. Those 17 points he gave us in the half were crucial, and he played very good defense, as always. While Ariza is a better offensive player, Artest is easily the better defender, and the one defensive player we were missing in 2008. Gasol couldn't handle the pick and roll, and he had trouble containing Amare. That's not good, of course, but Garnett won't be dropping 40 on us, nor will Boston use a PNR every time down the court. Plus, that zone defense wrecked Gasol's offensive production. Too many Phoenix defenders closing in on him...and Pau makes bad decisions out of double teams, one of the reasons why he never won a playoff game in Memphis. Stupid move by Sasha, stupid move by Dragic to start it. Similar to Kwame and Boris a few years back. Whatever. Let them both cat fight, for all I care. No reason to discuss it any further. Poor shooting: Gasol (2-9), Odom (3-12)...both bigs. Again, the zone defense put too many defenders in the paint, collapsed on us and forced a lot of tough shots down low, but some of those shots should've been dunks. Both Odom and Gasol need to grab the board, go up hard with it, and either dunk or take the foul. For the Suns, four boards for Amare, and 7-20 shooting on your home floor, closeout playoff game...not going to get it done for an all-star big man playing against a "soft" Pau Gasol and an injured Andrew Bynum. Dragic did well, but Gentry left Nash on the bench for too long. If you want to produce with both on the floor, do it. Stick Dragic at the two. He and Nash are fully capable of playing together against the Lakers, especially in the quick offense they run. Congrats on a nice season, Suns. On to the Finals for us.

Kobe would've flinched if Michael Jordan did that to him? Like that really matters? Wow dude... I would flinch if a 15-year old, with no money, did that to me, an inch from my face. Money means nothing in this situation. I can't even believe this is in the discussion.

Kobe dropped 30+ points in 9 of his last 10, near triple-doubles in his last three, played stellar defense on Westbrook (which may have saved us from losing in the first round), dominated the Jazz and is doing everything against the Suns, yet Gasol (who let Amare drop 42 on him and can't even hold off Robin Lopez, or contest Nash's jumpers) is above him? Why? Because Kelly Dwyer wrote the article. You want to know what's funny? Click and read Or you can just read the most important part here: This was his fake interview with Kobe. He wrote it on the 19th, which was just 3-4 days ago, wrote the Top 10 article on the 21st. Game 2 against Phoenix was that night. He wrote his "new list" two days after he wrote that article. Don't bother reading his articles. The truth is, Kelly Dwyer doesn't know his basketball, and everything he says is strictly based on getting a rise from certain fans. It promotes his articles even more. Typical BS writer: no substance, all incoherence. If he re-read what he writes and actually understands what he's saying most of the time, he would see how his opinion flip-flops as much as his articles flop. I also left this comment on his article:

Ah, so if I'm playing baseball and I'm someone like A-Rod, and some no-name minor league pitcher throws a fastball three inches from my head, I'm not going to quickly duck because I'm rich and I'm great? It wouldn't have mattered who had the ball. Matt Barnes, Shammond Williams, Omar Cook, Shaq, Wilt or Jordan...Kobe wasn't going to flinch. It had nothing to do with the person itself, and everything to do with the moment at hand: in the game, angry, focused and determined, cold-blooded and dominant. This nonsense about money and fame...that doesn't mean anything. If you don't want to get hit in the face with a basketball, you flinch. Kobe's attention was 100% in the game and on Matt Barnes (or whoever he would've been defending), and nothing more. EDIT: If I were A-Rod, I would just duck and make sure I wasn't hit by the pitch, then drill him in the side of the head with a line drive the next pitch.

Kobe didn't flinch because he's not intimidated by anyone, and his head is always in the game. If it had anything to do with money, Tyreke Evans would be intimidated by Adam Morrison, and almost everyone in the league would be intimidated by Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison.

I don't see a problem with what any of them are saying, honestly. Nash is either going to say they will win Game 6, or he's going to say they won't. If someone asked me if my team was going to win a particular game, I'm not going to answer by saying, "Oh man, I hope so." And if I'm Ron or Phil, I'm asking why the Lakers aren't getting the respect they deserve...because, quite frankly, they aren't. So really, it's not an issue, from either side.

Great defense doesn't make a team a good offensive team. You should know that with the Charlotte Bobcats. They were a top five defensive team this year, yet they were ran out of the building in four games by the Magic. And as good as Orlando was on the defensive end, they couldn't produce enough offensively to beat Boston...granted that Boston's defense is arguably the best in the league, that's really no different than the situation Orlando found themselves in against Charlotte. The main difference? Match-ups. Boston took out the Cavaliers because they took away the three-point shot, and forced LeBron to do it all. They took out the Magic because they took away the three, and forced Dwight to do it all. I don't see why that's so difficult to figure out. The Celtics would sweep Phoenix in the Finals for that very reason, assuming the Suns would beat LA in these next two games. However, the Lakers don't want the three. They are in the bottom half of the league shooting it, and they want to go away from it. Matching up to Boston? We CAN lock down their two main players, with two of the best defenders in the NBA...something that the Heat, Magic and Cavaliers didn't have. You keep talking about defense, but you're ignoring ours. Garnett is going to struggle against Pau. He's not Amare offensively, and he's not Shaq physically. I've told everyone at TLN that there's still a chance we lose the NBA Finals, but you're saying five games, and you're saying Phoenix would do better against Boston. Unless there's a huge breakdown by Kobe, or someone gets injured, that's not going to happen. Of all people here, I would expect a Nuggets fan to recognize how important match-ups are, because you just ran into a very limited Jazz team in the first round, the same team we swept in the second. There's a reason for that.

You're telling me that Kobe won't be able to defend Rondo? Come on now. Our two best defensive players (and two of the best in the NBA) are defending the Celtics' two best overall players, in Pierce and Rondo. Garnett is hurt...barely producing in the ECF, having trouble rebounding. If Boston wants to win, it will be up to Ray Allen, simple as that. I really don't think Ray Allen has enough in him to dominate the Lakers every night, to the point where it negates what Gasol will do to Garnett...not to mention the fact that you expect Ray to challenge Kobe when the ball is in Bryant's hands. Ray is in his mid 30's, not 25. If we lose this series, it'll be because Bynum doesn't do a damn thing, and either Rondo or Pierce dominates. I can say for sure Bynum will struggle (unless he's faking it), but there's no way I'm going to say Rondo lights Bryant up, and I would be shocked if Pierce dropped 30 against Artest, unless he puts him in foul trouble. Today, Phoenix is a bigger concern...and not because we're still in a series with them, but because we don't play as fast, and their bench shoots way too many damn threes. Boston won't run up and down the court the entire game, unless Nate plays 30 minutes...and he won't. I'm not saying Boston sucks. I'm not saying it will be an easy series. But...with Kobe and Gasol, and now Fisher playing the way he is, I'm confident we have the pieces to take them out in six or seven, especially now that we hold home court.

The one without Vince Carter.

Excellent article, by the way. Take note of what Grant Hill says.

Deadline is 24 hours from this post. No exceptions.

Deadline is 24 hours from this post. No exceptions.

This shouldn't even be news. I'm sure free agents do this every year. The media just prays for a trio of superstars to head off to the same city, so basically, reporting anything like this and gaining both media and fan support is ideal.

Make it a top-tier NBA team, and you don't see the desperation as much. You'll still see a TON of support, because LeBron is a superstar player and a key to their franchise's success in the future...but you have to understand that Cleveland is a city ran down by their sports teams. They don't get this type of attention often, let alone the success (if you want to call a 60+ win season successful).

The weird part isn't just licking his fingers (and I've seen players do it before), but he does it after he brushes his sweat-drenched hair back with them. Watch a Nash free throw. He will brush his hair back behind his ears, lick his fingers...then practice his shooting form twice. Then he gets licks his fingers one more time, and shoots the free throw.

Team defense is most effective with good defensive players. Sure, I'm going to talk about them individually, in the same way you would talk about Dwight Howard and LeBron James, changing their team's overall defense. And no, a double by Nash and Nowitzki isn't better than being held by someone like Prince. A double leaves someone open. It was stated two or three times at the half and at the end of the game: Boston ran Orlando off the three-point line. They didn't want the Magic catching fire. With Perkins in the game, they don't care what Howard does in the paint. He has very limited offensive skills, so Howard dropping 40-50 points on them is highly unlikely, as long as they are forcing hooks and long jumpers. They have no problem winning when Howard is scoring 25-30 points...but when Orlando catches fire from beyond the arc, Boston blows leads (as you saw in those first two games, actually, and in Game 5). But okay. Never said the Lakers will shoot threes against Boston and win by doing so. And no, the Celtics would not let Phoenix shoot threes over the Nash-Amare pick and roll. They would rather defend the PNR straight up, and cover shooters, because they have excellent interior defense. You really think Rivers would allow Phoenix the three before the Nash-Amare pick and roll? Phoenix racked up 9-12 points in 80 seconds against the Lakers the other night, and it was their threes that gave their bench 50+ points en route to beating LA in Game 4.