Real Deal

I forgot Hinrich was back in Chicago...flipped on the game and was like, "Oh damn, it's KIRK." He plays like he's 38 now. Noah was making up for the complete ownage that was going on with Deng. Johnson and the Kings were sending him wherever they wanted on the court, and Deng just played into their hands. Rip looked uncomfortable out there, also. You can tell he's hating life without a superstar pulling that defense out of his hair. His off-ball play takes a hit with Rose out. T-Rob was pretty bad. That's all I can say.

It's just one game, but Harden and Lin looked as if they've played for about five years together. It helps a lot that both are very good passers, and Harden knows how to play off of teammates better than anyone else on the team. I was a little shocked, though, seeing him drive hard from about 30 feet out, go all the way to the rim, and finish so well through 2-3 players...but then I remembered: it was the Detroit Pistons. Interesting combo, no doubt. Houston could be one of those "fun" teams this year.

Lowry put in one of those games he contributed with last year in Houston, but I still wonder just how long that can last. I realized that his numbers fell pretty good partially because of injury, but that wasn't the only reason, and it looks to me like the Raptors will demand these kind of games out of him each night he's on the floor.

New Orleans needs Eric Gordon. Austin Rivers isn't going to make up for anything that Gordon can give them, at least not right now. Gordon is ten times better on both ends of the floor...maybe even an injured Gordon. You're right about Davis. He didn't stand a chance against Timmy, but I expected that due to the experience factor AND the weight disadvantage. Duncan looked more like he was 28 years old out there. I figured that Unibrow would get me out of my seat at least a few times, throwing a few shots and using his versatility to turn big plays into points, but the only exciting thing I saw from him was when he cut to the rim and slammed it home. I did like how he was trying to follow a lot of shots, though, and was active on the offensive glass, but he had trouble getting position (which didn't surprise me). Leonard is going to be something special. He's going to be their Shawn Marion, a much better player than Bruce Bowen ever was on offense, and just as good on the defensive end (if not better, since Bowen was dirty, and Kawhi has the size and frame for it). The Spurs did let the Hornets hang in there for too long, though...but a win is a win.

No defense. Nash hurt. Go Kobe!

World Peace DID NOT WANT ANY OF THAT!!!!!!!!

Well...14 FT attempts by Howard with 8:36 left in the second. LMAO.

Around the same amount Stephen Curry got from Golden State (a little less, actually)...and I like the deal for Toronto. Wasn't sure if they were going to give him an extension or not, but it sounds like it's a go. UPDATE:

Meaning...only for the four years he was originally offered by the Thunder (four years, $52 million). I figured he'd get max, but for those four only...not a five-year deal from Houston.

Nah, you misunderstood me. What I wrote in my post above is copied from that topic...I was expecting four years.

Beat me to it, lol. Overpaid? I figured he would get the max, but only for the four years.

He grabbed his shoulder. If you call that a clothesline, you need to go back to Kobe/Bell incident, where Bell brought his arm back, then forward, and clotheslined Kobe across the neck. You didn't hear Elton Brand calling Dwight Howard a punk, and saying he dropkicked him, for hitting him across the shoulders last night...and that was actually worse. And yes, LeBron took Wade's city in the summer of 2010, like I said he would. Miami was LeBron's the night he told the world he was going there. I'd be salty if I was Wade, also, if the NBA's villain came in and ripped off my Batman mask and gave me cat ears, high heels, and a whip.

He didn't do it that often, actually. It was going to multiple teammates, but Nash is a coach's player, so he's going to try and run the Princeton (or whatever the hell it was) before he ditches it. The only problem I had with him was that Nash wasn't doing much off the ball, and I think he can work wonders for us catching and shooting. Still need him to have it in his hands more, though, in the P&R at least...but it's only the first game. When we found ourselves down big, Kobe was the first to ditch, gave us about five or seven points to try and cut into the lead, but we didn't play defense. Our best play was near the end (offensively), when we weren't out there trying to please Eddie Jordan. Kobe was going ISO, Nash was making attempts at the P&R, Howard was catching down low, and it felt right...but again, our defense was just horrible, and we aren't going to beat anyone with those bad rotations and us giving up on screens like we did.

https://twitter.com/wwltvsports At least Rivers won't be playing the point right now.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2012/10/31/warriors-stephen-curry-agree-to-4-year-44-million-extension Well, that's still a decent amount, years and money-wise, for someone who seems to be hobbled every year by chronic ankle problems.

Yeah, but we've been down that road before...eight seasons of it. If Howard is going to shoot around 50% from the line, he's only going to hit four more in last night's game. Give Jordan Hill a couple more, and we're still losing. We could have shot better than 49% from the floor, honestly, and the 3-13 from downtown was also pretty bad, considering a lot of those were wide open. Plus, we took 77 total attempts, compared to Dallas' 85. In our last two championship seasons, we shot 77 times or less just 24 total times, 12 each season. That's us without Nash or Howard, and Drew was not the all-star he is now. We couldn't find a groove, weren't getting in the right spots (I had no idea what we were running half the time), and we drained the clock almost every possession, to the point where we nearly had to go ISO at the end of each. It reminded me of the old Miami team, when they were first put together (the big three)...which some will say is a good thing, except that we are trying to execute an offense that we'll most likely stick with, while they just didn't have one at the time.

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mikeborwnwhat_1.gif He really is confused, too. That's the problem.

I like Bron more than I do Wade, and that's hilarious to me, given that James was my most hated for a few years. Wade is just annoying, and probably pissed that LeBron took his city. I laughed hard when the crowd gave LBJ that HUGE ovation when he was the last one to get his ring (which was great, also).

By the way, Howard isn't 100%. He missed his first dunk, no idea how...then nearly missed another that bounced in. He grabbed maybe 3-4 of his rebounds barely jumping and just having the ball basically fall into his lap. That's definitely not an excuse, because with Kobe, Nash and Gasol, we should have won (plus a 70% Howard), but it's something to watch for over the next couple of weeks, especially with Nash and Gasol trying to connect with those lobs.

Dwight and Amare are two different players, if we're talking anything out of the P&R. Amare could actually stretch the floor, didn't have to camp out near the rim if he wanted a bucket. Plus, if we're letting Nash run his Phoenix offense, we're ignoring three significantly-good passers in Gasol (arguably the best big man passer in the NBA), Dwight, and Kobe. That's a mistake. Nash is almost 39 years old. He's going to get destroyed on the defensive end if we rely on him THAT much on the offensive end (and he's going to hurt us defensively anyway, but yeah), and back on offense, he's going to play like he did last year in Phoenix, doing less and less not by choice, but because he has to lay on his back for almost half of the game. I just don't see why the one guy in our five that has NEVER been to an NBA Finals should be the one that doesn't have to adjust. He has a very high IQ, and he's one of the greatest shooting PG's of all-time (I could argue the GOAT shooting the ball at that position), and with Howard closer to the rim than anyone else Nash has played with (aside from Shaq), it doesn't seem like a great idea.

The only problem with letting Nash do as he pleases is that we don't have the plethora of shooters he has always had over the course of his career, especially in Phoenix. Channing Frye Eddie House Leandro Barbosa Quentin Richardson Joe Johnson Raja Bell James Jones Tim Thomas Shawn Marion Jason Richardson Matt Barnes Goran Dragic Grant Hill Vince Carter Hedo Turkoglu Mickael Pietrus Aaron Brooks And in our five, we have...Ron Artest, who does better shooting off the dribble. I mean, we're going to run P&R, but aside from that, what will Nash do? We can't run the seven-second offense, or any uptempo offense that relies on his drives and penetrations, unless we're going to change everyone else's games to basically build around him, and I don't see how that's a good idea.

Don't even know what to say. If it's in style, it's not in my style.

If I was Kobe, I'd walk up to Mitch and tell him to just fire Brown and Jordan, both, after tonight. Call up Jerry Sloan, Larry Brown, or even Phil, and make things right ASAP.

Yeah, it's a lot of Princeton. I kinda wish we would just break away from trying to execute every set, go to P&R with all of the combos we have out there, and then play the bench a little more.

Jordan Hill with two wide open dunks off cuts. These role players are so happy, lol.