Real Deal

Guys, I know a lot of you contribute here. Aaron created every gameday topic and does our backups, Kyle and the moderators manage the forums, Epidemik moves gameday topics each day, BasX manages Twitter, and our writers and non-staff members create topics and reply to them daily. I just want to point out that Wali (Waldo) has been ON TOP OF HIS GAME. He's managing our YouTube account, and...well, you just have to see it to believe it. http://www.youtube.com/otrbasketball He uploads videos every night or so. We have over 540 subscribers, and almost 900 videos, with a total of over 1,020,000 views. That is great, and it does take a lot of hard work and dedication to the site. I know he doesn't want me posting something like this, because he doesn't like the attention or the constant praise, but he's way too young to tell me what to do, so he just has to deal with it. Show some love, guys.

Are you writing these up? It looks similar to the work you were doing earlier with the screenshots and videos.

Awesome that you went, dude. When I was a wrestling fan, I always wanted to go see a PPV, especially one like WM. Let me know when you are ready for me to create those sim league forums, or if you're still interested in doing the league to begin with. We can wait until the off-season, if you need time.

Final eight games below, they are 54-20 as I type this... 3/31 - @ Atlanta 4/2 - vs. Utah 4/4 - vs. San Antonio 4/8 - @ Denver 4/9 - @ Minnesota 4/11 - vs. Portland 4/13 - vs. Sacramento 4/14 - @ Clippers They need to go 6-2. Likely?

You should never take pills, for any reason, unless a doctor prescribes them to you. They don't have an effect on the body when you're taking them, necessarily, but they will hurt you down the road. I have one of the best nutritionists in the state (needing one because I'm diabetic). I have been drinking milk every single day, up to three times a day, and I have been under 10% body fat most of my life. The best way to get any type of vitamin or nutrient in your body is through food. People that take potassium pills can ruin their heart, but eating bananas and spinach every day doesn't do any harm, at all. That's why lethal injections are potassium. Milk is good for you, and so is cheese.

TIME: 8:47 PM EST

TIME: 6:07 PM EST

Haha, yep. I guess voters were right in giving Shaq just one season MVP award, also. Speaks volumes, right? Nobody has yet to give me a "second fiddle" on a championship team that averages 28.5 PPG on 46% FG, 6 RPG, 5 APG, almost 2 SPG, while taking 22 FGA per game (the most shot attempts on the team). Anyone want to tackle that? I'll be waiting. Give me ONE "Robin" on ANY kind of team that has ever done that. Just one. Here's the facts: in 1996, Shaq came to Los Angeles and increased their wins from 53 to 56. Kobe was a bench player, getting under 16 minutes per game. That season, and the next two seasons, the Lakers failed in the playoffs. Phil Jackson comes, introduces the triangle offense, and gives Kobe the chance to run it. No matter if it was the post tri, reverse tri, whatever...it was the triangle offense, and very unlike the reverse triangle ran in Chicago. The first season Kobe is given the offense, they win their first of three championships. Comparisons to Pippen went out the door when Kobe was picking and choosing his time to attack. With Jordan as a teammate, Pippen NEVER averaged over 17 FGA per game, never averaged over 21 PPG. Kobe came out of the gates and broke that mold the first season the Lakers won the title, taking 18 shots for 23 points per game. The next season? 22 shots for almost 29 PPG. Third title? 20 shots for over 25 PPG. In 2002-03? 30 PPG with 23.5 FGA per game. To say that Shaq was the first and last to touch the ball shows you didn't watch the Lakers. Shaq needed two slashing, scoring guards that ran the offense to win his championships. Otherwise, teams put two or three guys on him the entire game, and it wore him out. Kobe Bryant, meet Dwyane Wade, who took over the Miami-Dallas series in the same fashion Kobe was taking over games against the Kings and Spurs in the playoffs, two of the toughest teams the Lakers faced. Shaq obliterated the East champs every year. We know that. Kobe dissected the West powerhouses, putting up 30+ point games against them and taking a load of pressure off the entire team, including O'Neal. Kobe was 21-23 years old. Shaq was sitting in his prime, with a 22-year old "Robin" averaging almost 29 PPG and running the offense, defending the best players on the court every night. Kobe wasn't as important? Please. He averaged 29.4 PPG on 47% FG, 7.3 RPG, and 6.1 APG in the 2001 Playoffs. Does anyone want to give me a "Robin" that has come remotely close to those playoff numbers?

Diesel doesn't post here anymore, because he couldn't refrain from acting like a child. His posts are deleted, and if I see one more, I'm banning IP addresses and accounts that contain them. He didn't contribute when he was here, and he won't contribute when he's not. I'm sure a former member, who isn't worthy of posting here anymore, isn't worth losing an account over. Plus, the obsession is obvious. When you HAVE TO post something on a site you're banned from, and it's because you keep checking in and making sure nobody says anything about your favorite player, something is mentally wrong. I hate Shaq, but I can recognize how great he was. He's on our rotation of main banners for a reason. However, when you have so much hate for a player that you refuse to give him credit for anything he did, you don't belong here. Maybe if the maturity level was a bit higher, things would've been different...but I sure the hell don't go searching for a Shaq shirt in a store just to take a picture of me flipping it off, and I don't go hunting down people to make comments for me on a site where I'm not welcome anymore.

All college students and their families get in free? Just a cruel joke. Sorry Nets fans.

You gotta change browsers, then scan your computer. Something is definitely wrong.

No concerns until we play the Spurs, granted that Manu and Parker are both healthy. Ginobili is playing out of his mind right now. Other than the Spurs, I'm still a little worried about Dallas, but I don't think they'll be able to hold it together against us in the post-season.

vs. Clippers @ Sixers vs. Warriors @ Cavaliers vs. Celtics @ Hawks vs. Bulls @ Pistons vs. Knicks Up-and-down schedule, too. Doesn't look too promising, to be honest. That five-game run, after the Sixers, is going to be tough, really. The Warriors run way too much, Chicago wants to win badly, and those other three need no explanations. Could be a tough road to that seventh seed for the Raptors.

CBS got it wrong, then. They have him at 34/10/10. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gamecenter/recap/NBA_20100329_DEN@DAL?tag=gcOptions;sbOptionLinks

44-30 in the first quarter, on pace to reaching 176-120. With that logic, my prediction was damn close.

Not surprised at Dirk's trip-dub. He didn't shoot 50% from the field, but a large part of that was because Denver was putting everyone they could on him, and fouling him like crazy in the process (shot what...15 free throws or so?), and his ability to get the 10 boards and 10 assists also has a lot to do with an absent Martin.

Kobe is going to play until he's 80.

A large part of that is also due to the finger injuries. It doesn't take much to dislocate a finger on the rim if it's already damaged. Bryant has two dislocated fingers, and one torn finger, on his right hand alone. He can't risk dunking the ball.

I didn't get to see a single second of this game...but...Manu didn't play? Why not?

Nope. The Suns have the better record, and Denver is a five seed because Utah just took the division.

Didn't see them beating the Spurs, but I did see #10 coming. The Nets were tanking all season long, they just didn't want to set the record for worst finish in league history.

Wow. We need the Kobe we've had for years, not this Kobe. This Kobe is making way too many damn passes. We aren't going to win our second consecutive championship with Gasol as the primary option. The facilitating needs to fall back under the scoring on Kobe's priority list. Either that, or it's Phil Jackson telling him he needs to do this for three quarters, and that's STUPID.

I won't lie, I was fooled. Turkoglu played well with Orlando, handled the ball well and was a part of why they were in the Finals last season. But the Magic must have read his body language outside of those games, knowing he was due for a huge contract and, thus, a huge fall after receiving one. A player doesn't normally decline this quickly, and he hasn't been injured beyond belief, so you know it's the attitude. Whether it has anything to do with going from a contender to a struggling playoff team...I don't know, but I think it has a lot to do with getting paid, getting locked up, and getting the opportunity to do nothing until his contract runs out.

Go about three days without dedicating time to packing your stuff, just doing your normal daily activities. Along the way, you'll run into the important items. That's when you grab them. If you leave anything behind that you didn't use in those three days, it's safe to say they may not be important to you to begin with. Otherwise, Paul covered it, with the friend contacts and such.

It would more than likely take Deng, yes. Boozer to Chicago was rumored right before the trade deadline, actually...but Chicago started trading their pieces away (Salmons to Bucks, Tyrus to Bobcats), so even if there was a chance, it just didn't happen. Word is that the Jazz are still interested in shopping Boozer this summer anyway...and seeing that the Bulls and Heat were the two East teams most interested in him, I'd imagine Chicago would make another play at him right before the draft.