Real Deal

I think Ray Allen is still an all-star player. I can't say the same for Tyreke Evans yet.

All I'm saying is that I would never, ever judge a player's impact on a team based on +/- numbers because those numbers are still influenced by teammates' statistics. No matter what way you bend it, when you "adjust" them using his teammates' numbers...well, you're still adjusting with other stats impacted by teammates (since EVERYONE'S is that way). It all stems back to my original take on it: if you can consider Anderson Varejao the best sixth man in the league because of his +/- stats, you have to consider Ron Artest an MVP candidate. I'm sure there isn't a single person on OTR, or anywhere, willing to do that...so they might as well drop Varejao from all talk of a sixth man award. And Vujacic isn't the only one. I found three other examples, and I'm sure I can find many others (at least one per team) where you can easily tell the +/- statistic is way off regarding player impact, I just didn't feel the need to have to post it. As you saw, you had to try and explain why Fisher, Farmar and Ariza were sitting behind the pathetic Vujacic. All three should've been ahead of him, not just one of them. Plus, when Odom is ahead of Bryant on the 1-year adjusted, nearly on the 2-year adjusted, and the 1-year overall...haha, I'm sorry, but that's just another example of the statistic being absolutely ridiculous, because Bryant is easily the better offensive player (by far) and easily the better defensive player. All this stat tells me is how players do with all the different lineups they have to work with, but it doesn't tell me that Odom isn't stuck in a five with garbage players, or how much garbage time Vujacic played. After a while, you run out of explanations, Erick. Farmar is low because he wasn't that good, but Ariza was low because of his adjustments due to his teammates, and Deng is so high because Chicago doesn't have anyone else at his position, while Rose is low because he was a rookie and his offense didn't impact the team as much as Hinrich's defense did, while Vujacic was so high because he was on a team full of stars and his rating was actually a bit low in that regard... The one simple excuse is that the stat covers more from the five than it does from the actual player, because Kobe and Odom don't play with the same teammates, against the same opponents, all the time. Hardly ever, in fact. Does Odom defend Wade and shoot 20+ shots a game...same night? Does Bynum do that and run the triangle offense? How many offensively-injected centers does Bynum have to defend all season long compared to who Ron Artest will have to defend? It's my final post on the subject. The statistic measures a player's impact in the fives he plays in, in the situations he's given. Not one player is the same in that regard, so this statistic is useless. While you can tell who some of the top scorers in the league are by simply looking at their PPG, or who throws the most assists, or who grabs the most rebounds...this stat really doesn't tell you much because, honestly, it doesn't compare two like kinds.

Well, yeah, Crittenton deserves punishment too. I'm just talking about Arenas. I can't feel bad for him, at all...especially after he pretended to shoot his teammates the other night.

Nah, Pau won't play. Bynum needs to MOVE around, instead of trying to post up so far away from the rim. He can play a two-man game with Bryant all game long if he would just stay active around the basket.

I'd consider that, actually. Ray Allen is a HUGE piece for Boston. He's one of the best shooters of all-time, one of the best off-the-ball players ever, and he's still a very dangerous player (just had a 50-point game in the playoffs last year).

Depends on Kobe's injury. He's been trying to play left-handed for the last few games, re-wrapping the finger and trying different casts. If he's fine, we'll win. He won't let us lose this game.

What does it matter? He still had guns.

Well, they play with other starters...that's the point. And Erick, I listed the one year overall. But, since you asked me to go to the one year adjusted, I will...and see that Sasha Vujacic was a 0.61, which is said to be better than Trevor's -2.78, Fisher's -11.09, and Farmar's -16.99. Haha, not a chance, bro. 2008-09 Vujacic? No way.

Yeah, Evans is a two-guard. Let me just list the primary two-guards for each team. If I get one wrong, I'm sorry...it's based on how much they probably play the position. Joe Johnson Ray Allen Stephen Jackson John Salmons Anthony Parker Jason Terry JR Smith Ben Gordon Monta Ellis Trevor Ariza Brandon Rush Eric Gordon Kobe Bryant OJ Mayo Dwyane Wade Charlie Bell Corey Brewer Chris Douglas-Roberts Devin Brown Larry Hughes Thabo Sefolosha Vince Carter Andre Iguodala Jason Richardson Brandon Roy (who is primarily an SF, but I'm sure he plays the most two-guard on the team) Tyreke Evans Roger Mason Marco Belinelli Wes Matthews Randy Foye Is Evans a top ten? I don't know. Kobe, Wade, Johnson, Allen, Roy, Carter, Iguodala...I think those guys are easily the better overall players. I'm sure some can argue for Eric Gordon, Monta Ellis, Ben Gordon, Stephen Jackson.

Durant had 19 at the half, ended up with 27 for the game. Big difference, especially in the fourth, where New Orleans made their mini-comeback.

The entire third was Kobe, but it didn't matter because Bynum and Fisher can't defend ANYONE. Baron and Kaman just toyed with them all game, really. No matter what he shoots, Bryant won't outscore the Clippers in a 48-minute span. This game was lost due to pathetic interior defense by anyone and everyone defending in the post, and terrible defense by Derek Fisher. Pathetic. Maybe we can focus on ALL games and not act like we just want to hop on the plane early and fly to our next destination.

Well, I want to see what we do if we have Gasol in there. I don't think we've had Gasol playing in the three meetings we've had with Houston already. Because he's a big baby and doesn't want to play if he doesn't get enough shots.

Sorry to hear that, bro. It's always toughest when you're there with them.

Drop the personal agendas now. Don't even reply to each other. Leave everything that happened on another site ON that other site. Don't start "online beef" with anyone, don't bait anyone to get them banned, don't come whining to me about it constantly, don't act like kids and just do what you're supposed to do on a message board without all the Real World drama. Topic closed.

Don't want to sound too biased, but Aldrich is already a huge upgrade over Dalembert. If I were a betting man, I would put quite a bit down that Philly takes a big...but hey, you never know.

Was I dreaming, or did I read somewhere that Brady had one or two broken ribs?

We were running them off the three pretty well, but they just kept getting too many easy looks inside. Plus, our biggest problem was our turnovers. Stupid turnovers, at that. Bad game for us.

- Draft John Wall.

Roy Hibbert and the Pacers read your article before the game tonight. I'm not a big fan of hardly anyone from the team, and I think Danny Granger will be better off as someone's Pippen...but Hibbert can be pretty good. I'm disappointed in Brandon Rush, who I thought would be a good starter for the Pacers, but his inconsistency has turned me away from his game for now. Indiana hasn't had much of a chance to rebuild through the draft, though. They aren't usually the team standing near the top of the lottery every year, more like in the middle (ex. Granger, Bayless, Williams, Hibbert, etc). But I think their PG troubles have actually gotten them in a hole. Waiting on Tinsley, the Pacers skipped over a player they were said to be looking at in 2006: Rajon Rondo. Even crazier, they were one pick away from landing someone they wanted in Brook Lopez, also.

I don't know, man. I saw one bad call against him. Those others were legit, especially that last foul that he was complaining about. Howard's weakness? A big and/or strong center that will take it to him in the post. Since the start of the season, Hibbert has gotten surprisingly stronger, quicker than I expected. With his ability to hit that jumper, Howard had no choice but to follow him out 15 feet from the rim, and when he did that, Hibbert used his speed to get to the rim, or Howard respected his post a bit less, and Hibbert used his strength to gain that respect back. I'm DEFINITELY not comparing Hibbert and Howard to the two, but it seemed like a poor man's version of Hakeem versus Robinson out there tonight, where Dwight just didn't have an answer for him.

The STUPID Raiders will probably take Dexter McCluster in the first, since he's probably the fastest player in the draft. Idiots. I know we need to protect Russell, and Campbell would help...but man, I just don't like what we have to protect to begin with. I just hope we select a QB, doesn't matter who as long as it's someone committed to playing and has an accurate arm. If we weren't paying JaMarcus so much money, I'd be more confident in us selecting a new one...but yeah...

You can definitely tell that Ben Gordon hates coming off the bench. It's too bad Gordon can't run the point, and that Hamilton is one of the best off-the-ball players since Reggie Miller (not as mean as Ray Allen, though). Maybe the Pistons could explore a trade, because I don't see their guard situation working out, long-term, and they could use another big.

Jennings has shot under 40% in nine of his last ten games. And it's safe to say that the Nets are basically the worst team in basketball, especially after seeing the way Devin Harris is playing.

Yep, Golden State was robbed tonight.

Three things lost this game for Orlando: 1) Vince Carter and his pathetic shooting. 2) Dwight Howard and his inability to stop a versatile Roy Hibbert. 3) The Orlando Magic and their hesitation to go inside to Howard. #1 and #3 will be devastating blows to the Magic if they don't fix that come playoff time.