Real Deal

Time: 8:00 PM EST TV: NBC

Time: 4:30 PM EST TV: NBC

Boozer or Kirilenko. I wonder if Chicago is pushing for a trade here, still trying to get Boozer.

I'll get to them in a few.

Yeah, but Bynum will. That's just it. Drew only plays when Gasol isn't on the floor, just like he did versus Dallas. If we ever got the two bigs on the same page, we'd be unstoppable.

This is exactly what I'm saying. Their +/- stats are heavily based on the other four teammates they play with on the floor. What happens if Gasol and Artest both stay injured, and they play about, oh, 30 games with this lineup... C - Bynum PF - Odom SF - Bryant SG - Brown PG - Fisher Basically, +/- stats tell how good the five-man units do (those that Kobe has to play in), not necessarily how good a player is. So when we ask who the best sixth man in the league is, why not just use those +/- stats for the MVP as well? Well, because if we did, Ron Artest would be an MVP candidate...and we know how ridiculous that is. I don't judge players on their +/- stats for that very reason. If Bryant has to play 25 minutes with the likes of Adam Morrison, Sasha Vujacic, Josh Powell and DJ Mbenga, I'm not going to have high hopes for "his" +/- statistic because, obviously, that five-man untit will score little and give up a lot. It's really that simple of a stat...a little too simple. Every point Morrison and Vujacic would give up, it changes Kobe's +/- statistic. How is that Bryant's fault?

Yeah. There are a lot of times where Gasol or Kobe will play with Vujacic, Farmar, Mbenga and Powell/Walton in the five, and that unit will struggle, thus hurting Kobe and Gasol's +/- stats, despite what they do in that span of 3-4 minutes where Phil Jackson declines to call a timeout, and lets Vujacic launch three bricks.

I guess I can give better examples. Fisher on the court, the Lakers are a +12.5. Fisher off? They are a +1.4. Gasol on? +14.8. Off it? They are +1.6. It's pretty difficult for me to believe that Gasol and Fisher have nearly the same impact on and off the floor, especially when everyone knows Fisher is a pathetic defensive player and a terrible offensive player, shooting 37% from the floor with just seven points a game. By the way, LeBron James was a -2 tonight against the Bobcats, despite drilling them for 29/7/6 on 62% shooting, just one turnover...while Anthony Parker's 40% shooting, 5/2/2 and PATHETIC defense on Stephen Jackson still gave him a +2 in the +/- column. Worst stat you could ever use.

Not a bad offensive performance by Iverson, but Lawson sure lit him up. Can't be surprised, though. And the win isn't a surprise, either. Denver played well without both Melo and Billups in last night's game, but the Jazz just had an ugly, ugly night.

Even though our run defense SUCKS, JaMarcus Russell is, by far, the worst QB in the NFL. The fans booed the hell out of him, too...and I loved every second of it. That first pick was one of those "WTFUDOIN picks" along with a fumble where he just dangles the ball out to be hit by anyone in a Ravens helmet. I pray that the Raiders get a QB in the draft. I don't care who as long as he's had SOME college success and he's more accurate than he is a cannon arm.

Are you guys really going to make another mess again? http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/4410-Dallas-@-NY-Giants Tell me where I jumped someone's ass in that topic, when the Cowboys fans were being baited. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/4362-Dallas-@-Green-Bay/page__view__findpost__p__66227 Did I give him a warning for that one? I'd keep going, but I don't need to waste my time with this anymore. I'm not changing the rules when the Eagles lose a game. You guys wanted me to ease up and not be so harsh about the baiting, so I did...see above. Now that the Eagles get cremated and ONE member says ONE thing, it's suddenly a bad thing, and the staff is biased? Despite a moderator (Smitty) being an Eagles fan? I believe we, as a community, are done talking about stuff like this.

Well, you gave me Billups over Kidd, but Chauncey is barely faster than he is. And...hate to say it, but stats say otherwise for both cases, Kidd (46% eFG% allowed) and Ariza (40%), compared to Billups at 49% and Rondo at 48% or so, and I'm pretty sure I don't need to list anyone trying to rival Ariza's defense.

Maybe Eli needs to start throwing toilet paper rolls to his receivers, and the players should sleep with their cleats on, so they can be better prepared for their games? Or bring in some pros to teach them how to play? Just some crazy ideas that I came up with.

Deron played, and did well...but HOW can the Jazz lose to a Nuggets team, without their two best players, in Utah? Looks like they turned the ball over way too many times...Boozer with five, Ronnie Price with four in about 20 minutes of play, 26 turnovers combined for the entire team. Pathetic.

More +/- stats? Really? As I've said before, the +/- stats take more into account than just the single player's impact on the floor. They actually factor in the other four playing on the floor with him at the same time. If you need a great example of this...take the Houston Rockets. With Shane Battier off the court, Houston is a +6. With Trevor Ariza off the court, they are a +6.3. With Luis Scola off the court, they are a +4.6. With Aaron Brooks off the court, they are a +4.6. Those players on the court? Houston is at or under a +0 for each of them. So....seriously? Is Houston really better off without Scola, Ariza, Battier AND Brooks? I'm pretty sure the stat makes little to no sense when discussing individual player impact.

Too bad he didn't get that oop. THAT would've made it ten times better.

...and I can't wait.

Right...but a lot of guys should've known this, given his role in Los Angeles last season. Sad thing for Rockets fans? You're not even halfway through the season yet.

Texas fans: "But you still didn't beat a top ten, like we did...and Temple doesn't even belong in the top 25 to begin with!"

When your best player was on the floor for 31 minutes before fouling out...and your best player's name tonight was Matt Barnes...you aren't going to beat very many people. Howard had a total of seven shot attempts. That's not going to win you games. Vince, Shard, Nelson, Anderson...they all need to take a step back and realize they have a strong post player with his hand up, waiting for the ball. Even if his offensive game isn't as defined as, say, Yao Ming's...you can't deny him the ball for 40+ minutes.

This game sucked, really (for me, rooting for the Thunder). I was waiting and waiting for someone other than Durant to step up late in the game, but nothing. No defense, for sure. It was just garbage from the start. And I'll go ahead and say this now: Durant has to put on some muscle, soon. He's a hell of a scorer, but he needs it for his post play and his defense. Ah, and just another terrible night for Brandon Jennings, shooting-wise. Can't be shocked, though.

I'm shocked the Pacers didn't win this one by 50. It looked as if they could've at one point, up 28 at the half before Minnesota choked the hell out of them in the third, 40-25. Crazy thing is, the following players were injured and did not play for Indiana: Danny Granger TJ Ford Troy Murphy Tyler Hansbrough Jeff Foster Yet...they score 122 points against a team that beat Utah twice already, took out Denver in their building, and pounded the Kings.

I saw a TON of shots Gilbert should've passed on. Plenty of them that would've fell for Jamison and Butler, and even Haywood a couple of times. Yeah...the game was close, but I always had that feeling that Washington was going to lose it in the fourth. I turned it on when they were up by like 4-5 near the end of the third, and Arenas should've passed the ball instead of jacking up his three, and it just felt like it was over at that point, like Gilbert thought he'd just play "Arenas vs. San Antonio" in the fourth.

That's because neither of them were playing defense, and the Kings weren't pounding the ball inside. Evans and Martin would've gotten Bynum in quick foul trouble...which would've been a good thing for us, since Mbenga would've defended Hawes five times better.