Real Deal

Anyone is better than Russell at this point.

Sacramento should deal him. Few will like that four-year deal, but I'm sure someone would bite, and maybe the Kings can get some talent back. Evans should be leading this team into April, not Martin.

He just wants the most money he can rake in. If he disappoints again this season, his FA value falls flat on its face, and few teams will want him for anything over the MLE.

Doesn't really matter. Billups has been struggling, and Lawson is more than capable of starting. Denver will be fine.

Kobe dropped 27 points, 10-19 shooting in the second half, including the last seven after the Lakers were down six with 1:18 to go. That's partly because the Bucks had no answer for him, and partly because Bryant is the best player in the game. Putting Charlie Bell on Kobe, by himself, is stupid. If the game is on the line, you don't stick someone on Bryant out on an island, doesn't matter if it's Bell, Wade or Battier...your chances of losing the game are increased significantly.

Yep. She actually drove off and was nowhere to be found when the cops saw Henry lying in the street. RIP.

I think the rule is 0.3 for a catch and shoot or a tip-in (feet never touching the ground), and 0.4 for a catch/set/shoot (Fisher vs. Spurs). Anything less is impossible...but don't quote me on that until I find a link, haha.

Here, you guys can feed on this a bit while I update records. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/5500-arenas-nobody-can-guard-me (nobody can guard him) http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/6504-its-time-people-realize (we should've realized)

Haha, now wait a minute...wasn't everyone else's expectations extremely high to start the season off? Wasn't it Gilbert who said he's done blogging, that he's going to be a changed man on the court, and play much better at 100%? Didn't people think Washington was going to win 40-49 games (in the poll created pre-season)? I'm only staying consistent with what I've been saying since 2007. If everyone else allowed their expectations to hit rock bottom, I'm going to point that out. Because of Gilbert's mouth, and because the Washington fans believed, I'm going to expect... 1) Gilbert to play better basketball and be healthy all season 2) Gilbert to pass the ball more 3) The Wizards to be a better team and have a winning record with their big three healthy Since Arenas is the primary scoring option, I guess it's him or bust for Washington...and that's why my expectations are still going to be high. If that's a problem, they need to trade him.

He was still moving, and he was outside of the circle. But whatever it takes, I guess. Perfect angle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2G6LymlDMk He slid in, never had position. Sorry.

If Rose is leading this team, he's doing a pretty crappy job. He better step his game up. Without Noah, Chicago would be giving up 120 points per. Rose needs to play defense and start attacking the rim again, or else they'll be begging for a real superstar (Wade) to come and save their franchise next season.

By the way, how can anyone complain about a potential travel at the end of the game if they are supporting LeBron James?! How many travels has he had on game-winners alone? The ball is hit and Kobe takes the extra step. It can go both ways, but travels aren't called after fouls, either, and he was hacked before Bogut even took the hit.

Awesome contributions by the un-clutch against the Kings. Evans (a rookie) picked his pocket and showed Arenas he was the better guard tonight. Arenas doesn't have a team? Haha, I'm pretty sure he does. Wade has Beasley and O'Neal. Brandon Jennings has Bogut. Both teams are better than the Wizards. And I placed the blame on everyone else as well. Go read my previous posts. It just seems like that's not the right thing to do, since NOBODY is to blame in Washington (except for the injury bug, of course!) so I don't know where to go with it. Don't bring up shooting percentages? Defense? Turnovers? What else should I say? He sure the hell didn't look like he was getting anyone involved late in the game tonight, and I do watch plenty of Wizards games on LP. My girlfriend is a Cavs fan, so she cheers for the team opposing them, and we love watching Washington lose. But yeah, keep praying for the "injured" Arenas, the guy who has taken 20+ shots in five of his last seven games, all but one in losing efforts. I guess I was right in saying that Mike Miller was the most valuable player for the Wizards, since these three so-called "all-star caliber players" in Jamison, Butler and Arenas are on pace to win just 25 games at this point without him playing.

It looks like Deng is the best player in Chicago anyways, and there's no way Hinrich (or anyone, for that matter) can hold Bryant by themselves, especially when they are wrapped up like a mummy from all the injuries.

LOL, the NBA is not rigged. Milwaukee was up six with a minute to go. If the league was rigged, that would've never, ever happened, because it's extremely difficult for ANY team to win the game being down by that much, with that little time left. And that was a travel, and it was also a blocking foul. Bogut's feet were moving. He probably needs to take a class in Flopping 101 if he thinks otherwise. Complain about the refs all you want, but it was Andrew Bynum getting hacked down low all game, didn't get to the line once. Kobe's seven turnovers, and his poor shooting in the first half, was the main reason why Milwaukee stayed in the game. Otherwise, a healthy Kobe, and the Lakers, would've smoked them in three quarters. EDIT: Hahaha, I take back what I said. No travel, and Bogut was out of the circle on that charge, AND still moving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89w3ciG7lMQ

Battier goes to the bench, and you turn Ariza into a spot-up shooter that feeds off of McGrady's passing. Otherwise, you trade T-Mac.

That big three, especially Arenas, should be making teammates better. Look what Garnett, Pierce and Allen have done for Rondo, Perkins and House. Did anyone know who Shannon Brown was when he played in Cleveland? How good was Trevor Ariza in New York, or Orlando? Washington has Foye, Miller, Blatche, Haywood, McGee, McGuire, Young, Stevenson, Boykins, James, and Oberto (probably leaving one or two out). Problem is, Arenas is shooting the ball 18 times per game at under 40%, and Caron is getting 14 shots per at under 42% shooting. Even then, Arenas is turning the ball over almost four times a night, Washington is 21st in points allowed per 100 possessions, 23rd in points per 100, they have no leadership on the floor, no defense among their players and no defensive coaching with Flip Saunders. I don't see how it's not obvious that Washington needs to toss Gilbert aside. He's becoming what McGrady and Redd are to their teams, what Marbury was to the Knicks, and what Baron Davis is to the Clippers: a player that scores, stops the ball, turns it over, plays zero defense, and does nothing else for his team. It's why the Knicks are garbage, why Houston kept getting tossed in the first round, why Milwaukee was nothing without Jennings, and why the Clippers are still a joke. Injuries, just having a bad year, whatever...he hasn't done anything for Washington since suiting up for them. He's shot 43% or less from the field almost every season of his career, he completely choked in the 2005 Playoffs, did absolutely nothing in the 2008 Playoffs, and the team actually looked better without him a few seasons back. Arenas is done, and the sad thing is, he has about $96 million, five years left on his contract. Keep him for those five, and you might as well write off any success this team will have in that time frame. It was being strongly preached that the Wizards were going to do very well, maybe grab that fourth seed, and I actually believed it at first...but open your eyes, this team is doomed as long as they have Arenas running the offense, and I should've stayed with my summer prediction of exactly that.

Roll with the big three until they retire, then. Apparently, you're still banking on Arenas to be fully healthy someday. That trio has been together since the 2005-06 season, and there have been a total of four failed seasons, not including this one (which will also be a failure). Fact is, Gilbert was supposed to be 100%. He was supposed to be a changed man. The Wizards were supposed to be a 50+ win team. None of that will happen this year, and it hasn't happened in the last four, either. When you settle for mediocrity on a yearly basis, you become the laughingstock of the sport you play in. The Clippers did this, and now they are the butt of everyone's jokes. The Seattle Supersonics did this, and now Seattle wishes they had their team back. The Knicks re-signed all of their favorite players a few years back (like Washington has done now) and they are now praying to the basketball gods that LeBron rescues them next season, or else they are done for another ten years. Kobe just dropped 42 tonight, with a broken index finger on his shooting hand. Brett Favre has played the last 2-3 years of his career injured. Those are greats who get the job done, no matter what...athletes that teams would like to build their franchise around. Well, Gilbert isn't that player. He's not even half that. I knew it before the season started, and I knew it two years ago after watching him crawl around against the Cavs in the playoffs: he's done as that starting point, that leader that everyone thought he was. His clutch is gone, he scores a lot of points on open shots or screens, and he plays absolutely no defense and makes poor decisions with the ball in crucial moments of play. If Washington finds a suitor, it's go time. Trade him and move on, like Houston needs to do with Tracy McGrady and Milwaukee needs to do with Michael Redd...all guys who can give you 20 points, but do everything else to hurt your team in the long run, big contracts, while staying injured most of the time on or off the court.

Probably because Bynum and Odom have been giving up a lot.

SRV, you can definitely learn a ton on computers using the net. I've taken college courses as well, but I can say that the internet has given me more knowledge than anything else, combined with having to actually work on my own computer from time to time (along with others' junk), and even rebuilding one or two.

That "big three" was healthy in 2006, when they all played 75 games or more, and they still won just 42. Do whatever it takes to trade Arenas. He's done as a winning starter in this league. He never did change. Jamison doesn't play any defense, but at least he knows how to score the ball without shooting 30% from the field. And Caron Butler isn't a good defensive player. He was a matador in Miami, even worse in Los Angeles, and he's one in Washington. The only defensive player on the team is Brendan Haywood. Trade Gilbert for whatever you can get (preferably a pick), never play Stevenson again, trade Butler for an expiring, use your draft pick to snag Derrick Favors (someone who will play defense), move Jamison down to the SF position, and use free agency to bring in a starting point guard, even Nate Robinson would suffice.

This is better than the dancing, no question about it. That kid will remember that for the rest of his life.

Nothing is certain when Kobe is injured. This team doesn't know how to run the triangle with him out or in bad shape, so who knows what'll happen tonight.

Amen to that. If a girl isn't confident, she's kicked to the curb. I don't want to hear how much better she wishes she can look all day long, how it takes her five hours to get ready to go to a grocery store, or how much better some hot ass celebrity looks. EDIT: Ah, and the "I'm fat" comments, especially when she weighs 110 pounds.