Real Deal

The Spurs are slow and old. Duncan's weight loss hasn't exactly helped him in the post, and without Parker, I can't see the Spurs winning this game. They will need bad games from Bosh or Bargs, or else they'll fight tooth and nail against a motivated Toronto team that thinks they can beat anyone in the league at this point.

Utah is inconsistent, but the Knicks are just lost. I can't expect a close game here. Deron needs to dominate the ball quickly, then start feeding mouths in the post area, where New York struggles to defend most. You may see Harrington and Lee get their points, but you can't expect anything less with Boozer and Okur up front. Should be a back and forth game for a while, but Williams will take over. If not, the Knicks could pull it off, but I doubt it.

After watching how the Sixers played against the Pistons, I can only assume that they will get wrecked against the Suns. They have no answer for Amare, and that pick and roll will eat them alive. Nash is getting all of his passes converted into assists, which is leaving him more open for easy jumpers as well. It will be an upset if the Sixers win this one, even in Philly.

When you have the best scorer in the league and also a post threat, you run your guys off of the shooters. So out of the shooters (Fisher and Artest), you pick the one less likely to make the three, and that would be Ron. Fisher has been doing it for years, especially in the clutch, so there's no way I'm leaving him wide open like that. I really don't know one team that can keep one man on Kobe the entire game. Some would say Battier a few years ago, but Kobe has become numb to that face-guarding crap, and I'm not so sure if there's another single defender in the league that can even slow him down.

Well, I was already prepared to accept a 67+ win season. I think we can do it. I just wasn't prepared to watch Kobe dominate so early and us being 6-1 without Gasol (and a couple of games without Bynum). But then again, just think...even without Gasol and Bynum, our team still has Kobe, Artest, Odom, an improved Shannon Brown, Fisher, and some freak named DJ Mbenga. Pretty odd how well he's playing, but hey, I can't complain.

Yes sir.

Could be a lot of things. Maybe Bosh is just slumping, like some players do. Maybe the extra muscle in his arms is throwing his mid-range off a bit (not sure the percentages, but I consider 15-foot free throws mid-range as well). I wouldn't worry too much, though. 64/87 in his first six games this season. 44/54 in his first six games last season. The best thing about it is that he's getting to the line more, 20 more free throws in his first six games this season than what he had at this time last year.

Tyreke Evans is a monster at the point. He's doing very good, stepping up with K-Mart injured. I'm surprised, really.

Oden with 11 points in 23 minutes, 50% shooting, not bad at all for a guy who has been struggling with his offensive production. He was a little absent on the boards, though, but still gave Portland two blocks.

Seven day suspension. You've done this too many times to Raptors fans.

He's got 26, and I think this game is already over.

I don't even think the falling cap is the biggest issue. Dalembert is just someone you don't want to take on unless you're in desperate need of a center. For the defense he sometimes plays, his offense is just ugly, and you can't expect the guy to learn anything more than he already knows in the first place, so you rule out complicated offenses such as the triangle. If he was a minimum, it would be different. You can waive minimums without suffering the consequences of an ugly buyout. Dalembert not only makes too much money being a limited defensive-minded player, but he's also tough to coach, and that kind of problem spreads like wildfire during practices. I won't name too many teams, because I don't think many would want him...but someone like the Warriors could test him out, maybe the Knicks bringing him off the bench...but with New York, they won't because they are too intrigued by the FA class coming up, and the Warriors really don't have anything to offer outside of Stephen Jackson, who would absolutely love to play in the Princeton offense in Philly, but I doubt he is willing to come off the bench, and the Sixers would have to deal someone else to catch the Warriors' eye to begin with.

What just happened on the injury? I missed it.

Ew...not sure. I've seen how the fans boo him. It would be really bad if he went through with the ceremony, had his name called, and the fans just booed the life out of him. Would they actually do that in those circumstances? I like the idea of waiting. Who knows, maybe Vince will finish his career in Toronto...haha. Or maybe he'll be the one eliminating them in a Game 6 game-winner, in Toronto, in the playoffs soon. You never know.

Kobe with 26 at the half, Lakers up 13. Odom looks like he's going to get a triple double, and Ron is playing good defense. Can't wait to get Gasol and Bynum back.

Kobe ends the first with 14, and the Lakers are up 10 on the Hornets, despite missing Gasol and Bynum. I don't get how we can do so well without them in the game. The Hornets are 2-4, yeah, but West and Okafor seem to be struggling to get position against Odom and Mbenga, and that shouldn't be that big of a problem for those two. CP3 needs to get it going, for New Orleans' sake. He's not driving the lane hard, even with Fisher and Farmar defending him.

Kobe already has eight of the first 15 for the Lakers. He's coming out gunning, and Ron Artest is setting him up nicely. I love what Ron brings to our team.

On paper? Boston. Kevin Garnett Paul Pierce Ray Allen Rajon Rondo Rasheed Wallace Kendrick Perkins Marquis Daniels

No game thread here either. Chiefs did come back and almost made it a game, but it was a little too late.

I got you.

Best at each position, unless you really need to move someone to their secondary position (ex. Kobe at SF so you can include West at SG). And I just added Terrell Brandon in my five. He was better than Pooh.

Well, my point was, even if Shaq does agree to come off the bench and the Cavaliers decide not to play LeBron and Shaq together as much...you'll be cutting LBJ's minutes, or playing Shaq 20 minutes per game. If you play LeBron less, you lose more. If you play Shaq less, you're going to piss him off. 25-26 minutes is fine. 20 minutes or less, you're leaving him out an extra half a quarter, and knowing that LeBron will need to play a lot of the fourth, Shaq's playing time will be limited quite a bit, probably more of him sustaining leads, rather than creating them. At that point, you risk injury to Shaq. I don't even think this trade was a good idea to begin with. I never supported this trade or the Shaq trade to Phoenix, mainly because he doesn't belong in either offense.

I'd rather see Gilbert Arenas getting nine or more FTA per game in four of his first six games, than to see a game decided by a ball that was called out of bounds on the wrong team, or a charge that was nowhere near one. Most every team has a star player that will get those favorable calls here and there, but there are a lot of times those superstars don't get them (Kobe, Wade and Howard have been getting hit lately, and no call has been made).

That, and not to mention he's big enough to hold his own in the post. Charles Barkley was 6-6, 252 pounds. LeBron is 6-8, 260+ pounds, three times more muscle.

Wow...crushed? 32 point lead with under six to go.