Real Deal

Good win, but too many turnovers, and a fourth-quarter collapse (midway through it)...just can't say it's good enough to win a championship. Not yet, at least. We need to play better, maintain leads and limit turnovers.

Kobe time in the fourth? Miles just can't defend his post.

The first five rows are celebrities, and the next 70% are mostly older fans who don't care to cheer. They are the only ones that can afford Lakers tickets. The loudest part of STAPLES, unfortunately, is in the nosebleed section.

I don't get it. Why not just keep our guys in for a change, push it hard and not let off the gas, and make sure we don't have to fight back so damn hard to close the game out? Phil wants everyone to play limited minutes, but it's better to let them run a bit longer if it means they don't have to claw their way out of a huge Jazz run every fourth quarter.

I'm okay with 44% FG, but it's not great. Don't want to take away from Matthews' defense, though. And yes, the turnovers are a problem right now. Him and Gasol both have five.

You sure can't tell that Bynum is playing with a hole in his meniscus. He's playing pretty damn good right now. Kobe isn't shooting the ball as well as I'd want him to (7-16, 44%), but he's making plays and playing good defense. Gasol is playing good as well.

Not really. He does it quite a bit, unfortunately. Wide-open layups, as you can see.

Haha...yep. While I said he deserved the award, I actually said that Oden was the best defensive big in the NBA before he was injured. Fact is, Howard would've kept that title even if Oden stayed healthy.

My two are Eminem and Pac. I think they connected with more people on personal levels, and that's mainly what music is all about...not to mention I think Em is, hands down, the greatest lyricist of all-time. Personal preference, of course.

Jameer is a major problem. I'm thankful he was actually injured (or...not fully healthy) for the Finals last season, or else I believe that would've been a seven-game series.

Horford is getting dominated inside. Even though he improved as a defender, he has absolutely no chance at Howard in this series. I would play Pachulia and Collins much more at the five, and drop Horford down to the four and try to run bigger. The Hawks have no shot at this series if they keep playing like this...they are struggling to nail 46 before the end of the third, while the Magic are going to hit 100+ (barring any huge defensive stand by Atlanta). You really can't say TOO much about just one playoff game, most of the time...but in this case, this series, it looks like the Magic can sweep Atlanta.

Then don't become one.

First and final warning for you. Stay out of the topic if you aren't going to contribute.

Just put up with it. You remember how it went last season, too...so maybe it'll all repeat. You see what's going on in other topics, enough to get OTR shut down for good, so just stick your chin out and deal with the slapping for a while.

It's actually closer than what they said. LeBron took just one step before taking the pro-hop (or whatever you guys call it, so many different names for it). So, technically, yes...one step after picking up the ball, two on the hop, is three steps total.

Would've been better if the Hornets didn't suck. I don't know if anyone really thought they would play THAT bad. And the Bucks, of course...would've never guessed they'd make it.

I got 14. But I didn't post the predictions in this topic, of course. BLAH. Posted back in mid-August, here: http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/4171-can-the-thunder-make-it

Well, he's getting 30 minutes per game...but my problem with that is that the minutes are so uneven. Not sure if that makes sense, but how about this: you really don't know when he'll be playing. Erik has pulled him off the court, and put him back in, so many different times, it just seemed like he couldn't find a rhythm out there in a lot of the games these first two seasons. But to talk about his game, I can't really say he's playing up to potential just yet. We know Beasley is an athletic freak. I had to see that crap when he was playing at K-State. However, the rebounding just isn't there, and it may be due to him trying to grab boards using his athleticism, instead of actually boxing out and being smart about it. Beasley's biggest problem will be fitting in, though. He's not a power forward because of his weight and lack of skills in the post. He also doesn't want to pass out of the post (or pass at all, most of the time). He's more of a two-guard trapped in a large small forward's body. If he wants to have a successful NBA career, he's going to have to discover his primary position (which will be at the small forward slot), then learn how to pass the ball and know when to shoot, and when to take it to the rim. Beasley would be dangerous if only he could create for himself, but he relies too much on other players, and defenders don't see him as a threat to pass up shots, either, which results in a lot of contested jumpers (and a lower FG%). Beasley came into the draft as a big man, because that's what he was at K-State. If you look back, it makes sense...but not in the NBA. Beasley needs to do everything possible to mold his game after LeBron James, learning how to pass, how to attack the rim and get shooters open looks, and find out ways to use his athleticism to block shots, steal passes and improve his help defense, overall. If he were elsewhere, it would be easier to say how well he'll play in the future...but as of now, it's a tough call. He's still just a sophomore, though.

Beasley is no bust, not yet at least. Give him room to operate elsewhere before thinking he's not worth a first-rounder. However, a top three pick? No way...not with Wall, Turner and Cousins still on the board. Those are three players that have potential to be all-stars, two possibly superstars, in the NBA. I don't do that trade if I'm the Wizards.

TIME: 10:30 PM EST TV: TNT

TIME: 8:00 PM EST TV: TNT

I don't know which is funnier...the Kobe photoshopped pictures, or the Antoine Walker shimmies.

Easier said than done, though. The Heat fans figured Wade could be aggressive, but Boston started to double him before the drive, and they forced the rest of the team into shots. Can't remember which game it was, exactly, but the Heat had a big lead (maybe 19 points?), and then Wade was locked up for 17 minutes without a bucket. With Perkins and Garnett watching, and both Pierce and Allen (Tony Allen) trying to disrupt what James is doing, it's going to be a tough series.

Mike Brown doesn't make offensive adjustments, his assistants do. Brown is strictly defense, and honestly, there is no other way to defend Rondo. James can't defend him, so the adjustments will be for players to actually hit their shots, for LeBron to be as aggressive as he was in Game 1, and to not let Sheed and Garnett abuse Jamison in the post.

LOL, for the last time, I'm not saying LeBron isn't the better playmaker, but you're so adamant about proving it, you're blasting Kobe any which way you can...so there's no point in me going any further with this. I gave you a couple of seasons where Iverson seemed to be an excellent playmaker according to his A/TO ratio, but you gave me conditionals, for some reason. Then you tell me Kwame shouldn't have gotten the ball at all, and that's Bryant's fault for passing it to him. You say that Odom and Butler were sufficient enough, yet they actually create their own offense, and have been doing it their entire careers...but then you tell me that Ilgauskas and Gooden weren't shooters, and that LeBron didn't have any three-point threats. You don't care to discuss Chucky Atkins and how much he handled the ball (and how many assists he averaged), don't care about anything other than LeBron's A/TO ratio. What's the point? No point. If I wanted to prove that Kobe was the greatest scorer of all-time, I'm not going to dropkick everyone else in the teeth in doing so.