Real Deal

Feel free to post some of your mixes here. I'm interested in what you can put out there.

Basketball is 48 minutes, not 60 seconds. Battier is a more dedicated defender. I'll take Kobe defending ANYONE in the final minute of the game, but I'll take Battier for 47 minutes. Ariza's defense has improved this season, and I'm sure his allowed eFG% says he's one of the best at his position as well, just too lazy to look it up. Good defenders can't defend all shapes and sizes: Duncan struggled against guys like Amare, too, but that never took away from his overall defense. Garnett was an excellent defender last year. This year, he has taken a step down. He's still a top two at that position, though, as his LEADERSHIP is still there, and his help defense as well...but man-to-man, he's struggling a bit, and I have to hand it to someone who is probably running a stronger allowed eFG%. Oden's current injury doesn't suddenly remove what he did for 21 games. He was arguably the best defensive center in the league.

C - Greg Oden I'm not completely sure, but I'm almost positive Oden's opponents shoot just as bad against him as they do against Howard, and their PER is probably lower. Oden is the better on-ball defender, and he's just as good of a help defender. PF - Kenyon Martin To me, this isn't even close. Garnett is the easy choice, but Martin can defend anyone from 2-5, and he's holding opponents to worse shooting percentages, while Garnett has taken a step back after his knee injury. SF - Trevor Ariza Just take a look at all of the struggling players' shooting percentages when he's on them. He's too long and quick to shoot over, and there aren't many small forwards who want to take players into the post all game long. SG - Shane Battier Best face-guarding I've ever seen, period. I'd pick Bryant here if he defended his opponents consistently, and Kobe can defend both quick and strong players, but he's not as dedicated to his defense as Shane. PG - Jason Kidd Should be the unanimous decision. Kidd can defend 1-3 and is still one of the smartest defensive players in the NBA.

Why does it seem like the Lakers lose games through three, or keep them close, on purpose...just to come back in the fourth and have Kobe hit a game-winner? Third one this season. And yeah, I already see people complaining about a push-off, a travel, or a step out of bounds. Please. The Kings' bench wasn't complaining about the sideline, the push-off was actually just Kobe running into Sergio (just take a look at it again), and there was definitely no travel. Thing was, we were down 20, and Udoka missed BOTH free throws with four seconds to go. You can't start placing blame elsewhere for the Kings' mistakes.

If he's going to be anything like Andrea Bargnani, I'm sure Raptors fans will be able to confirm that he won't be worth a top five pick. Even though Bargs can put points on the board, he allows just as many (or more, most of the time), and he'll probably never put on the weight or add the strength he needs to become a very good player in this league.

Detroit and Indiana have been bitten hard by the injury bug, so if Chicago didn't win those games, I wouldn't know what to think of their team. The New Orleans victory was impressive, but damn, getting Tyrus back proved to be big for Chicago. From what I watched of that game (since I get all Bulls games on WGN), Noah and Tyrus just DESTROYED West and Okafor, to the point where it made Chris Paul play a two-man game with Devin Brown...and there's no way in hell the Hornets were going to win like that. Chicago needs to start Noah and Tyrus together, and bring Salmons off the bench with Gibson, Johnson, Miller and Pargo. Thomas won't give you 20/10 every night, but he'll go after shots on the defensive end, and it would be a mess trying to drive the lane with both Noah and Thomas playing as vultures over your layups.

Ellis is the better scorer, but Rose is the better overall offensive player (which includes passing, ball-handling, and finishing at the rim). Both need Defense For Dummies, though. As far as who's going to have the better career, it's Rose. I really didn't have to think twice, either. I see Rose being that championship-caliber teammate to a LeBron or Wade, while Ellis could be that scorer on a decent to bad team most of his career.

Well, I mean...the only choice he has is to coach and to keep his mouth shut about what's being said. There are better options out there, and I'm sure he knows that, so running his chops won't land him much except for a nice box with all of his stuff packed inside of it.

Washington or Chicago. The Knicks would be a possibility, though. Nate wants out, and they really don't care what happens to their team this year as long as they have the cap to sign a big FA this offseason, and McGrady helps them with that.

I always thought you should change your name to ThisJustin. For real.

Cheez Wiz.

I wouldn't say that. We could blow them out, but don't be surprised if we act like we're playing a JV team and end up going down to the wire with them.

Wow, just get rid of him already.

Dude, stop. You don't know for sure LeBron is going to NY, so chill. Hope you guys had a great New Years (or will have one, for those of you still waiting, lol).

Thompson did well, as expected...but really, Casspi has surprised me this year, and so has Greene. I wasn't really sure those two would even get to see much time on the court, but they are proving me wrong so far, and both are decent players.

Anyone know why TJ Ford played just nine minutes tonight? I don't see where it says he was injured or anything...but if that's the case, he joins Granger, Murphy, Foster and Hansbrough. :o

He didn't shoot that well (5-12), but Kevin Love almost posted a triple-double tonight... 17 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals In the end, the Wolves just missed too many free throws (61% FT tonight) and they couldn't overcome the bad third quarter they had.

No Pierce, no Garnett, no chance against a mean Suns squad. You have to defend to beat them.

Well, it was obvious that Atlanta wasn't paying attention to ANYTHING in the final minute or so, haha. They are the ones that blew the lead to begin with, which had nothing to do with the shot clock. They really had the game in the bag, in my opinion, but...well, I don't know what got into them.

Yeah, get in there as soon as you can.

Lots and lots of angry Hawks fans tonight, man...wow. RealGM is blowing up with people flipping out about what happened with that shot clock. I don't see how the damn thing doesn't reset, and I also don't get how the referees don't stop to think how it expired so quickly. It was very noticeable with me just watching it on TV. Those refs are right there, in the action, with a big shot clock in their face, something they are SUPPOSED to be watching as the Hawks make their way across halfcourt.

Wow, Jennings needs to stop shooting the ball if he's going to throw up less than 39% every game. That's pathetic.

Which is probably why it's a pinched nerve or carpal tunnel. You can pinch a nerve without knowing it for a while, then it starts hurting your leg, or your hands, or anything...just out of the blue. I would be surprised if it's anything other than those two.

Wow, great job.

LMAO. Back when I was 22 or 23, I ate a Habanero and stood without a drink for three minutes (after swallowing), and it won me $100. Looking back, it was one of the dumbest things I've ever done, got to where I was really dizzy and my chest burned for about 30 minutes after it was over with. The only other time I've ever had one was when I ate a few of those real little ones (the ones you buy in a jar), and they aren't as hot...but the big pepper was a big mistake, and I'll never do that again. Would've been cool to get it on camera, though. Biggest mistake ever. Some guy I met in college burned his throat eating one, and he had to go to the ER for it. He could be lying, though...but his friends were there to talk about it, and I guess he ate a small, dried-up one, which is probably easier. I love hot stuff, but I couldn't imagine downing one of those.