Real Deal

Well...in no order: Celtics, Magic, Cavaliers are guaranteed to be in the playoffs, despite major injuries. Pistons, Hawks, Heat, Wizards...not a guarantee, but will get in more than likely. I don't see how the Raptors can't get in with a healthy Bosh, Bargnani, Turkoglu and Calderon. The Bulls will need a healthy Deng. The Nets just lost Carter, so they'll be gambling on the play of Harris and Lee. Not sure about them. Philly has Iggy, Brand and Young...but with Miller being gone, Brand has to stay healthy. A LOT of conditional statements will need to be used for the Knicks to get in. It's not impossible, but I wouldn't bet any amount of money on it.

I think it depends on how the offense is ran more than anything else. Defensively, the Raptors were 22nd in points allowed per 100. Offensively, we know they weren't good either. Thing is, with Hedo factored in, my biggest question is how much he'll actually facilitate the offense, because Calderon is still hanging around. If Hedo plays more like a point forward, and tries to form that inside/outside duo with Bosh, and then those two feed their teammates off of their offensive work, then the Raptors can win 50. But to me, that's a stretch, because you're going to have the Celtics in their division, an up-and-coming Sixers team that may have a healthy Brand this time around, and a few Eastern Conference beasts in Orlando and Cleveland that have the scoring down low to abuse Bosh all night long. Bosh added the weight, but that doesn't automatically mean he improved his defense. Maybe that's the case, though, and maybe his post defense will see improvement, as his slender frame only helped him recover a bit quicker, yet gave teams an advantage posting him up with the likes of true big men.

Griffin will be excellent on the glass, and possibly a very good offensive contributor for the Clippers, if Gordon and Baron don't ignore him in the post. The only thing is that his defense is suspect, but as we've seen with numerous players, that can be improved within 2-3 seasons, just as their offensive games. But will he work well with the Clippers? I don't know...but I know he has the potential to be a franchise player.

I've played online a few times in the past, and I've never had any lag. Kinda weird. And that's the only problem I have with the PS3, that we get late demos...but that's pretty much irrelevant. Every demo I ever download stays on my PS3 for a day, then I just delete it. Might as well just go rent the damn game for $2 for a couple of days at our Family Video (which is like Blockbuster), play the FULL game, and return it.

+1 for that.

Well, I don't see how he's not already healed up, especially when there were rumors that he would've returned if the Celtics had gotten to the Finals last June. Four months later, he's limping up and down the court? I don't wish injury on anyone, and I hope he gets better. Nobody can tell me that he's fine, though.

I've had two PS3's replaced, no problems at all, all shipping within five days. One was my fault, the other was one of the first systems to come out (a 20GB system) that overheated. I've had my current PS3 for years, 40GB. Perfect system, nothing goes wrong. Love the blu-ray player, love the sound. In addition to that, I've had three friends switch after getting the red rings on all of their systems, two of them getting it twice on a store-purchased and then on a refurbished (or repaired). Also, there would be no way I'd play with that odd-shaped controller. Feels stupid in my hands. Love the PS3.

Game is over.

You can't sit there and tell someone not to defend their MLB team, then go defend your NBA team in topics discussing them. That's pretty ass-backwards, don't you think? If someone made a topic with the initial post... Wouldn't it be awesome if the 8th seeded Rockets defeated the Lakers in the first round? ...you're telling me you wouldn't be in that topic, butting heads with the topic starter?

BS call, roughing the passer? But whatever, at least my boy Moss got a TD.

Greatest dunk contest I've ever seen. Ever.

You still are?

Very unexpected. That block was sick, though. That was it for Cleveland if that hadn't happened.

No surprise there, you probably will anyways.

So I was walking outside earlier, got hit in the back with a football. I'm pretty sure I know who threw it.

Haha, really. Maybe I'll go into the Rockets forum and tell you guys you won't even win 10 games...and I'll do it every new topic created.

...hahahaha.

Wait for a while longer.

Ron will self-destruct, the Lakers will lose, LMAO-OMFG!

Goooo fill them in! http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/forum/84-member-fanbases Season is getting closer. I need to see who all we need to recruit for.

Last night, which was a power failure, and that probably had a hand in the Apache problems this morning, if they were having trouble getting everything reset.

1) My comment about Yao was strictly an example of how ridiculous it was to judge a player based on how many people support him, but I guess that flew way over your head. 2) I started rooting for the Lakers because of Kobe, because I didn't live in or near an NBA city. Plus, I'm the type of guy who doesn't root for a team just because I was born near them, or my family does. I think for myself. Ironically, the Lakers were a 53-win team when I decided to root for them, and it was pre-Shaq (the night Kobe was drafted and traded), and also pre-Phil. Young Kobe, no Shaq, no Phil, no championships...guess I just knew Bryant was going to turn out to be the best player in the league, and the Lakers would have a dynasty. And we've already had our share of Heat fans on OTR that lack knowledge of the game. There are a couple that come to mind immediately, and they no longer post here. I'm sure I could go to a Heat message board I used to be affiliates with and find you many, many more. All teams have their share of ignorant fans. It's not my fault the Lakers have 20-25 times the amount of fans as the Heat do. Well, he didn't get into the playoffs averaging 35, so no. But asking if he could still put out 30 PPG and do it with one legit teammate? Sure...and he could drop 40's and 50's if needed...so that's why I still think Bryant is in his prime.

Sorry for the downtime this morning. The Apache service was down. Things should be fine now.

Ah, that's a pretty good point, actually.

...in other words, he's annoying you like you do our Lakers fans.