Real Deal

Still no Granger? Brandon Rush was moved to the bench. His play has been ugly recently. This should be a 30-point beating, though, unless Troy Murphy goes nuts and gives the Pacers a 30/15 game.

Chandler 10.5 rebounds, over/under?

Pound the ball inside with Brand and Speights, and Philly will win this game.

Karl Malone is the second greatest PF of all-time. Charles Barkley is third. John Stockton is a top five PG of all-time. Jason Kidd is as well. None of them have rings. Pair LeBron with a prime Shaq, and he's got rings. Do you think Melo will win a ring where he's at right now, with the teammates he has? Do you think Wade can win one with Beasley? Do you think Durant can win a ring with Westbrook and Green? You're looking into this way too much. Dennis Rodman's attitude was five times as bad as LeBron's, yet he was a pivotal piece on the absolute greatest team of all-time, the 72-win Bulls. Kobe Bryant, the one you say LeBron shouldn't be compared to, had a poor attitude for the first half of his career, which included the dynasty. All the while, saying LeBron's skillset is weak doesn't help much, either. He improved his jumper, has a nice fadeaway, added range, is slowly improving his post game (slowly), and his defense is much better than it was back in 2006 and 2007. I don't know what else to say. I'm the biggest Kobe fan here, and I'm not sure if LeBron will ever be in the same league as Bryant as far as overall game goes...but he will be the best player in the NBA soon, and if there's one current player that deserves to be in a commercial with Bryant (if that's even something up for discussion to begin with), it's James.

So all this is about, really, is LeBron's attitude? Well, Jordan was one of the most hateful players on the court. He didn't dance around and showboat, but he mouthed off to everyone, including teammates and opponents. As far as Magic being on Jordan's level, that's inaccurate. Only his five rings puts him there...and to be honest, even LeBron would eventually have championships running with Kareem, Worthy, Scott, Cooper, Green and Pat Riley. LeBron out of the league in 6-7 years because of his attitude? Well, that's 14 seasons. Jordan played 15. Larry Bird played 13 seasons. David Robinson played 14 seasons. Those guys should've watched their attitudes, I guess.

You remove Jordan from the 90's, and Karl Malone is arguably the greatest player to play in that decade. He didn't win a ring.

Kobe to LeBron is a much, much, much different comparison than that of Garnett and Randolph. In 3-4 years, LeBron James will more than likely be the "undisputed" best player in the league. Nike is marketing the two best players because Bryant will be handing the torch to James. I know a great deal of Lakers fans don't care much for LeBron, but there isn't a single person here that can deny his talent. His attitude is in the gutter, but that can't take away from his physical abilities on the court. Personally, the only other player I'd want Kobe to share a commercial with would be Wade, but I absolutely love pairing Kobe and LeBron together. They were the two everyone focused on in the MVP race over the last two years, the two players everyone watched closely in the Olympics, and it's probably the match-up that gathers the most attention (media and fans) when it happens in the regular season. If Kobe and LeBron is a bad thing, Jordan and Magic were, because Magic sure the hell wasn't the player Michael was. He wasn't the defender, he wasn't the scorer, wasn't as clutch, and if putting the two best players in the NBA in a commercial together is a problem, sticking Magic and Bird in there with Jordan was idiotic.

Bosh would be a nice consolation prize, though. C - Lopez PF - Bosh SF - Douglas-Roberts SG - Lee PG - Harris That's not bad at all, and that's not including the very nice draft pick you guys will pick up for 2010. New Jersey won't be playing defense anytime soon, Bosh or no Bosh, so you might as well try and duplicate what D'Antoni has been doing in Phoenix and New York, pushing the ball up and playing at a fast pace, and outscoring teams.

Here's the funny part... So, obviously, Wallace is right. If Chandler needs some type of motivation to grab boards, it's a problem.

I get the feeling you aren't that big of a Derrick Rose fan, are you? I wouldn't say he's a better ball-handler, and he's not as athletic as Rose...but he's a better defender, better scorer, and arguably the superior passer.

As high as I was on Rose last year (after how well he did in that series against Boston), I'm leaning towards Evans being the better overall player. Now, the better career? I take Rose because I truly think he'll be teamed up with Wade next season, and that can result in championships down the road, if Chicago puts the pieces of the puzzle together correctly.

Thanks Kobe, Ron and Shannon (relating to our defense, of course).

All I'm saying is that it would still be a beating, today's Nets team (as in, this very minute) against today's Kansas squad. I'd put $1000 on that game. Lopez would score 30+ on anyone listed on the Jayhawks' roster, and I'd hate to see what Devin Harris would do against Collins. As it stands, both Harris and Lopez would be the best players in college basketball if they were somehow placed back into the NCAA, and two players of that caliber, with the addition of EVERYONE ELSE being NBA talent, there'd be no way Kansas takes out an NBA team. Same can be said for any team in the NCAA right now, from Texas to UNC, Kansas or Kentucky. If you want a clean example of this, take KU's 2008 championship squad. Chalmers, Rush and Arthur were the three main gears for that team. Today, two are bench players, and one (Mario) is close to being benched permanently (for Arroyo). A team of Chalmers, Rush and Arthur, along with a bunch of college role players, would get absolutely WRECKED by the Nets...and this is using those same KU players after two years in the pros.

Non-Lakers fans can celebrate victories, also, and they can believe their team is the best. I don't see a problem with that at all. We held our chins high in 2008, before Boston smashed us and made us look bad. Just because we are the defending champions doesn't mean we can start being jackasses to everyone. I believe we'll win again this season, but boasting about it just pisses people off, and forces everyone to root against you and your team.

So what's the point of even watching the regular season? What's the point of NBA.com's power rankings at this point of the season? Why even talk about Amir and Pops when both players "play different" against other teams? You just didn't find interest in the discussion. That doesn't make it a useless topic, that makes YOU useless to the topic. If one person replies in here with an actual noteworthy post, it's not useless because it spawns discussion. Analyzing what Boston does against ANY NBA team, ANY streak, is important. A streak of games gives you home and away, back-to-backs, and multiple playing styles, doesn't necessarily matter the quality. Then don't post in the topic of the team you don't like. I am around to post about every single team I can, create topics no matter what. I don't fall in the same category as you do, I guess.

You created a poll with choices based on your opinion. If the Hawks are contenders, anyone here can argue that the Mavericks and Suns are, even the Nuggets. Plus, why put up a poll without an "Other" choice? For all anyone knows, the Spurs could run off 15 straight in the second half of the season and snag the 2-3 seed.

The Cavaliers are still a dangerous team, guys. They just need to get Shaq out of there. He's changing that entire team around, but not for the better. Great teams lose, sometimes. Boston just lost to the Sixers a couple nights ago. Does that mean we'd sweep them in a series?

Removed the poll.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? :o

...and if you're a fan of the Western Conference team other than the Lakers, you're just SOL in this topic.

What the hell is wrong with you? Go cool off or something. The topic was created to talk about their 11-game win streak, to see who they beat and what caused some of them to be close, to take a deeper look at Boston's strengths and weaknesses. Better than a Pops vs. Amir thread, right?

Five total posts in a Lakers game topic? :o This game was boring, though...and early.

LeBron and Shaq lost this one.

Safest bet is LeBron.

Hate to say it, but drugs/pills could've been involved. I was never aware that she had a heart condition, and 32 is pretty young. Plus, being an actress and having money, putting two and two together here... RIP.