Real Deal

Charlotte has the best chance of any East team not named the Magic, Celtics or Hawks, to beat the Cavaliers in the playoffs. They are a defensive-minded team, THE top defensive teams in the league. They are also 9-3 in their last 12 games, with wins over the Lakers, Magic, Thunder and Heat in those 12. In the three wins against Cleveland, the Cats shot 55%, 49%, and 47% from the floor, because they have too many various weapons, inside and out, that they can rely on. They also know how to play the foul game, where Cleveland hasn't shot 70% or better from the line in ANY of those three games. Even worse for Cleveland, the Bobcats can limit LeBron to under 30 points (like they did in all three of those wins) and limit him to under 10 assists (four and six in two of those games). I don't think many people understand how good of a defensive team they are. They have Jackson and Wallace, who are two excellent defensive players, along with newly-acquired Tyrus Thomas, a tough match-up in Boris Diaw, and one of the better defensive coaches in Larry Brown. I would still put my money on Cleveland to advance, but I wouldn't bet too much.

...Ron, stop playing, man. You can finally tell everyone you've been using Paul's account.

GO CORNELL!

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You have to believe Saunders 110%. Blatche is young and has the IQ of a frog, and Flip is a respectable coach who had no trouble coaching Garnett and a very, very unselfish Pistons team. Blatche needs to take in everything an NBA vet or a coach tells him, respect his teammates more (because that's showing disrespect to both coaches AND teammates), and get it together. Otherwise, he'll end up getting in deep with another big-name coach, waived from a team or two, and pushed out of the NBA, much like Marbury was.

http://cdn.faniq.com/images/blog/b24fe869ca2ce970203bc8248456a50b.jpg Oliver Miller

So...maybe I should wait?

That's actually something I don't understand. But that's the magic of being able to make up my mind about anything and everything, without worrying about my "party" and what they want.

Well, maybe 3-2, right?

Bryant was quiet for three quarters, but he wasn't shy in the fourth. What I liked most was that he was literally picking and choosing where and who to hit his shots on, not just scoring in bulk, and it made the Spurs nervous. They ran Mason, Manu, Hill, Jefferson and Bogans at him...five players defending Bryant throughout the night. Ridiculous. And yeah, Duncan had way too much trouble out there. Give a little credit to Gasol, a little to Duncan's aging.

...LOL.

Wow man, Kobe is taking over, and Ron is a monster on defense. LOVE IT.

Funny. Isn't that the "do nothing" attitude the Republicans have? -_-

He's got plantar fasciitis in both feet, but he's losing weight so he can still play (with less pain) and while keeping his strength, he's also a bit faster. One of the best defenders in the league, really. I just prefer Kobe defending LeBron over Artest because, well, Kobe is the smarter defensive player.

Boston is playing much better down low, and Rondo is toying with Billups. Simple look-aways shouldn't be turning Billups' head, but he's so concerned with Rajon getting to the rim, he's giving him room to operate and make plays for his teammates. Lots of free throws for Denver, but the Celtics are getting their shots off and staying ahead.

No order... Ron Artest Danny Granger Gerald Wallace Shawn Marion LeBron James Ariza's defense has declined big time, probably because of the larger role on offense. He's running out of gas. And Prince, same thing. I can't really give Prince the nod for my top five this year. He's allowing too many easy buckets against those who play the three, which is the position he defends the most.

What the hell? Artest is a big reason why we have been ranked 1st through 5th, defensively, the entire season. Granted he's not knocking down the wide-open shots Ariza did, BUT he's also a better three-point shooter (shooting 38%, while Ariza was giving us 32%). He also does more on the floor, and we can stick Ron in the post if we needed to. We couldn't do that with Trevor. And Trevor is doing better than Ron this season? Well, if you take a look at his shooting stats, you'll find that he was shooting 46% for us last season, 39% for Houston this season. Turnovers doubled, three-point percentage didn't change much, free throw percentage is down quite a bit. Question is, were the Lakers a better fit for Trevor? Yes, indeed. Was Houston a better fit for Ron Artest? We'll see in May and June, around the time Trevor was getting lit up by both Carmelo and Turkoglu.

In 2004 and 2005.