Real Deal

I'm not that impressed with these articles anymore. These professional writers can't write about much of anything else, it seems. We've been reading these for about 4-5 years now, along with the new stuff about LeBron. It makes you wonder if some of these guys watch more than just those two play.

Very, very, very tough thing you stepped into. It's a great thing you're doing, though. I have a mentally challenged cousin that's three months younger than I am, and she does a lot with the Special Olympics, mainly basketball and bowling (I'm 110% sure she plays basketball the most). She's the reason I tried starting up "Shoot for the Stars" (and I guess I would've gotten in trouble for that, for some reason, according to some SO rep, even though it was non-profit). Just a quick tip...smile when you're coaching them, and make jokes as you're doing it. If you don't, you'll run into some of them thinking they got into trouble and made you angry, and they get pretty upset over it. There was a referee about three years ago that called someone out of bounds during my cousin's game, and the kid went nuts, started crying and threw the basketball down the court. Even the smallest things tip the scales a bit, ref or coach. Good stuff, though. Hope it's a great experience.

Kobe doesn't flop.

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Murphy and Rush were 1-11 from downtown...way too many threes to try and make up for Granger's production on the floor. This is fun... Memphis starters: Randolph - 26 pts Mayo - 20 pts Conley - 19 pts Gay - 18 pts Gasol - 17 pts Rest of team: 7 pts And I believe Gay was the only starter who struggled tonight (shooting-wise).

Durant dominated the Pistons at the line. I'm pretty sure they said in the broadcast that he got to the line just as much as Detroit did all night long, and if that's accurate, that's almost always going to cost you a game.

Brandon Jennings (55) Gilbert Arenas (45) Tony Parker (32) Danny Granger (31) LeBron James (31) Those are the only 30+ point games allowed by the Warriors this season, but I guess you need to account for the fact that they've been blown out plenty of times (despite the end score, which includes garbage time), and that means a lot of superstars sit the fourth against them. Stuckey gave them 29, Harden put up 26 with Durant's 27. Not so bad on paper, but the Warriors need to play defense. Those two HUGE games by Jennings and Arenas were big factors in those losses, especially when both games were very close until the end, and both players turned it up late in the game.

Did anyone see Randolph pull an Odom earlier? He tried dribbling the ball inbounds. Greatest thing ever.

I don't think having Billups would've mattered in this game in regards to slowing down CP3. Paul is too fast, and it's not like he was working in the post. He just blew by whoever he wanted, penetrated and dished, grabbed boards, and dominated this game. 30 points, 19 assists, 9 boards. I haven't seen a player do that in a long, long time.

Then you're going to see a lot of douchebags soon, because everyone from LeBron and Wade, to Bosh and Carmelo, will be taking max money through their entire careers.

Great win by the Cavaliers, inching closer to the top spot in the East. You win the close games, no matter if it's the Celtics or the Bucks you're playing against.

Uh, Mason, again, most blocking fouls are called when the player is still moving his feet. I don't know what league you're watching, but my ideal referees stay consistent. I don't need to say it again. I suppose it's too bad the referees don't follow the written rules, but that's not my problem. In the NBA, in college, and when I've played ball, sliding your feet means you're still adjusting, and it's common sense you are. Still adjusting = not set. Simple as that. The Lakers were lucky? Damn dude, you're really pushing it there, haha. It's the Bucks. Get real. The Sixers just beat the Celtics, also...but I'd like for you to know that it means absolutely NOTHING. If you want to put the word amazing in parenthesis, don't do it for the Lakers. You'd be foolish to say that, in a sarcastic tone, about the defending champs. It's the Bucks who were proven to be an early season fluke, playing the easiest teams in the league and are now one or two games below .500 on the season, and Brandon Jennings is now tailing Tyreke Evans as the best rookie in the league. And all of the players you named as "banged up" hardly equal a healthy Kobe, truth be told. That's real talk.

I'm shocked that Pierce didn't make that jumper...but then again, I'm sure everyone and their mothers knew he was taking that shot from the elbow. It's the only shot he takes in the clutch.

Because he and Lopez, with a good player in CDR, should be winning more than 10 games this season. Harris was happy to leave Dallas, getting out of the backup role he had and "earning" this starting job with New Jersey...so as a professional, he should want to prove to the fans that he can lead a team. If Devin was actually carrying this team a bit, then he decided to demand a trade or ask the FO to get something done, that might be different...but since his first game this season, Harris just hasn't looked like he wants to win. He doesn't want to score the ball at will (despite his ability to against certain slower point guards he's played against), he certainly doesn't want to pass the ball, and it's ALMOST like he's letting the team go down 30, then playing hard for himself, to make sure everyone knows it's not his fault.

You know, Don Nelson used to be a damn good coach, especially with Milwaukee in the 80's. Old age does work, I guess (look at Al Davis).

It wouldn't matter if Gasol or Kobe took less money, we'd still be over the cap, and still dipping into the luxury tax threshold. Sucks, but hey, whatever needs to be done to keep the five around as long as we can.

Devin Harris brings the ball up the court and acts like he wants to come out of the game and hand water to the opposing team for beating his own teammates half to death. He doesn't even care.

No post presence, and Milwaukee is going to get crushed. They need to get Bogut back in there.

I don't need to study clips of anything, and it sounds like to me you might as well be an NFL AND an NBA referee, since you're obviously right on every call they supposedly blow (lol). Don't bother posting screenshots, since they aren't "conclusive evidence" of it (haha). Every shot you'll post shows he's standing in position to begin with, even if you take screens from 30 seconds pre-foul, so I don't even know what you're trying to prove. He moved his feet to get into position. Why else does someone move their feet after establishing position in a basketball game? Does he have Tourette Syndrome? He moved his feet to get better position, not to tap his toes to the tune of a one-point loss, not because he slid on a player's sweat, not because his shoe was falling off...but to get into a better position. He was back-pedaling to get there, not sure what rule book you're looking in, but that means he's not there in time, that means it's a blocking foul, and that means Kobe pisses you off again, and again, and again. Just get over it already. You can't be right all the time, Mason.

He has to take the fine, no matter what. You can't toss a rule out, under any given circumstances. But, with that said, I think it's awesome Chad is doing this. I can't stand him, but it's still pretty damn cool.

LOL, his feet were moving BECAUSE he was trying to slide into position. Two seconds before Kobe gathered his shot? Hahaha, come on dude. Same situation as the "elbow touching the ground" issue, I guess. Since his chest was in position to take the charge, and his chest is connected to his hips, then to his thighs, then to his knees and ankles, then feet...guess that means he's in position. If you're still sliding into position (you slide with your feet, you don't float into position), and you're stepping into the player's path, and you're outside of the circle, any other day of the week and any other team and player, this is an obvious blocking foul. But instead, it's going to be a charge, a travel, a palming violation, a goaltend and a kickball, all at the same time. So okay, good call.

Hell, I'd be saying this too if I couldn't dunk anymore.

In that case, all big men defensive players are more important than guard defenders, because teams use them as anchors. Doesn't make Howard the better defender, though, which I'm talking about. In a way, the Cavaliers anchor their defense around LeBron and his ability to block shots from the weak side, but that doesn't make him a better defender than Bryant, just a more important one to his team. With Artest and two bigs blocking shots and grabbing boards, the Lakers aren't depending on Bryant's perimeter defense as much as they did a few years ago...but that doesn't make him less of a defender.

Haha, it would actually be pretty cool to have one for every player in the league...but...lol.

Marcin Gortat is a better one-on-one defender than Dwight. Just because Howard goes after every single players' shots doesn't make him a better overall defender than Bryant, who can actually lock his man up on the perimeter. Yao Ming has his way with Dwight, and it's even difficult for Howard to contain Shaq. He changes his entire team's defense because, quite frankly, he's one of the only players on the team that plays defense. Having him in the game is like Garnett in Boston, when Allen lets his man blow by him. But put Garnett on Gasol and watch Pau go to work, much like Yao does Dwight, and you'll see the holes in their defensive games.