Real Deal

Lots of factors involved. If the Lakers trade him this season, and they don't get a superstar in return, I probably drop the fanship because: 1) that just makes them the dumbest organization in the league, and 2) Oklahoma City finally has a team If they trade Kobe in a sign-and-trade for LeBron, or maybe even Wade, I'll probably still root for the Lakers as my primary team, but I'm not quite sure. To be honest, for me, the OKC Thunder alter everything. I was born and raised in Kansas, and because nobody in my family liked basketball (except for my cousin), I had to just pick a team out of the hat. It was Jordan and Barkley before I truly started loving the game, and because of Kobe, I picked the Lakers (would've been a Hornets fan, really, if not for the trade). Bryant has been with the team for 14 seasons now (this being his 14th). Thing is, I'd be pretty disappointed if the Lakers ended up trading him, despite his age. I think Houston and New York fans get it. They saw Hakeem and Patrick dealt to the Raptors and Sonics, ending their careers in poor fashion. Winning or not, Kobe is the reason I started watching and rooting for the Lakers. We had a 34-win season in 2004-05, and it didn't matter. We exited the playoffs two consecutive times in the first round, didn't matter. When it's all said and done, Kobe may be the reason I'm still rooting for them. Jumping on some bandwagon because of a 17-year old draft pick isn't exactly a reason to consider me a true bandwagoner. It was a reason to root for a player and his team, stick with it for 15-16 seasons or so, and hope for something local in the end (the Thunder). Los Angeles doesn't have a reason to trade Bryant. If they ever thought they did, I don't know...I COULD welcome the trade if it was legit, but again, I don't want him to Hakeem his way out of his legacy with the Lakers, either.

If Arenas averaged 35 PPG, he won't make the playoffs...so there's no worry there. And why would I even worry myself about how far the Wizards will get? Finals? Really? It took one full season for Rose to propel the devastated Bulls into the playoffs. Why wouldn't it take one year for him to do the same for a Wizards team that was the worst team in the NBA last season? The Tigers and Bulls are two different offensive teams as well, and in two different leagues at that. Not only that, but the Princeton offense doesn't necessarily require five capable shooters, either. Butler, Jamison and Miller would be better off with a true point guard. Rose is more of a true point than Gilbert. I'd take a look at the new Gilbert, but right now, all I can do is take a listen to him. The Gilbert I saw last, in the regular season, was one that should probably start considering bench play. If that's the Arenas you're telling me about, well, Washington is indeed in trouble if they expect him to lead. Grant Hill suffered a massive injury that would've devastated any player in the league. He was told, at one point, that he may have difficulty walking. Hill has had five ankle surgeries, an emergency appendectomy, a sports hernia surgery, and he almost died back in 2003 due to an infection from doctors re-fracturing the ankle and aligning it with his leg bone. Don't compare Hill and Arenas.

Joey hasn't really been a professional basketball player since he was drafted, and I knew that as he was coming out of OSU. He's a professional athlete, yes, but so are many bench players. It's Joey Graham, guys. You can't make sense of this, not with George Karl coaching. If Graham is going to turn things around and become a potential starter in the league, it won't happen under Karl or with the Nuggets. For one, there's no room on this team for him to play significant minutes. Two, George Karl doesn't have time to fit him into this offense (if he was smart, he'd look into developing Ty Lawson more). Joey's best bet is to be with guys like Popovich or Larry Brown, guys that will fit him in defensively, and let his offense come only when he's given the shots.

Ha, ratings are fine? I can't wait to see Boston pull off a Rondo-for-Durant trade in season mode.

Hmm, that's odd. I read somewhere he was healthy. But, not surprised.

I actually expected just a LITTLE more from Vick. I'll be forgetting he even played come the weekend.

Michael Huff is doing much, much better than he did last year, but I'm not sure if you'll hear anyone really talk good about him because he's on a pathetic football team. Greg Jennings is an amazing receiver, and I think he has the potential to be the best in the NFL someday. Pierre Thomas is also a good pick here.

Neither one of them are overrated. Both get their fair share of criticism through the media. Nobody I know considers either of them a top five QB in the NFL. Brady Manning Brees Rivers Roethlisberger Russell Not in any order.

Not sure if he topples Ryan Leaf on and off the field, but yeah.

This was a bug that was supposed to be fixed with the new version I installed. I'll talk to the devs about it. Should be fine for now.

LMAO at anyone who was jumping my ass for calling out Russell for the last two seasons. I even said it on draft day. He sucks. He isn't a legit starter. Our defense plays well most of the time, and JaMarcus brings us down hard, and even as a defensive player, I wouldn't have the motivation to go out and try to win a game if this trash was on the field for us every weekend. Russell is a L-O-S-E-R. Tebow, Bradford, McCoy, whoever...here we come. Hope we empty our recycle bin before we lose another 25-26 games in the next two seasons.

Haha, didn't notice the number change (knew he did it, but didn't really hit me in the picture). Maybe if I was a bigger fan of McGrady, it would've caught my eye.

I'm not even sure if Photoshop can make that look any weirder.

That's because if I looked at it from a player's perspective, I'd be praising every single Laker player on our roster...but realistically, there are six or seven true contributors to that championship, possibly three of them main contributors, and the rest don't even deserve a ring. Fisher hit a couple of big shots for us. He hit that 0.4 shot years ago against the Spurs as well. However, he has been average to completely horrific on defense, most of the time below average, and it has killed us in those games...and his ability to hit the shot only creates half the play. The other half is connected when Bryant or Shaq drew the double and fed him in the corner. So I ask myself if Horry and Fisher would be hitting those big shots on a team similar to last year's Kings, and the answer is clear: no way, not even in the regular season, because Fisher isn't Hamilton or Reggie Miller in regards to his off-the-ball play, and neither is Horry. There's a reason why Horry has been on multiple teams, and there's also a reason why Fisher's experiment with Golden State and Utah didn't work out, despite his stay with the Jazz being cut short because of his daughter.

You need a superstar or four all-stars. Detroit and who else fits that mold? When you have Big Ben, Sheed, Billups, Prince and Rip, pretty much five all-stars, and one of the best defensive-minded coaches in the league, you better win. A healthy Yao and Arenas would not get it done. A healthy Yao and Wade, or LeBron, or Kobe? Yes sir. And that's the difference between these players.

I'm honestly not really sure what this will do. McCants does need a new direction, though. I just don't see him taking the ball out of anyone's hands for at least the first 20 games, but if Houston starts looking ugly, Adelman could change it up a bit. Then again, who really knows when McGrady will return...and that would have a negative effect on Rashad's role on the team.

...lol, no. In that case, I'd look back and see he didn't score a single point in all of those seven games (because he didn't in the five we played) and realize we probably could've won in five if Shannon Brown had all of Vujacic's minutes. I don't look at things like that. If someone is hurting us for 40 minutes (ex. Odom was doing this for a LONG time) and then that person suddenly makes a good play to win a game...sorry, that doesn't mean much, because: 1) that play was probably initiated by someone like Bryant or Gasol, and 2) we wouldn't have been in that position had Odom actually played like a star So in the end, that doesn't matter to me. Did you happen to see Jordan Farmar's play against Houston when Fisher was suspended one game after his idiotic shoulder-block on Scola? Farmar did good. Doesn't matter, though, because he absolutely sucked all season long, and hitting a big shot here and there means nothing because, truth is, Shannon Brown's defense would've been much more valuable than Farmar's irresponsible play. If Horry had won championships as a second scoring option...well, okay, he gets props for something like that. But he didn't. If Shaq didn't have to jump over to help on Webber, Divac would've probably had less of a chance to score, and the same goes for Christie and Bibby when Bryant would help on Webber's elbow jumpers, who were soaking up WIDE OPEN shots from Webber on doubles, as C-Webb decided to prove to everyone he was probably the best passing four in the history of the game.

And if it wasn't for Paxson hitting the three to literally WIN a championship in Game 6 against the Suns, well, the Suns would have a championship, I guess. But nobody asks themselves what would've happened if Paxson didn't even play that entire series. Jordan may have had the ball in his hands more. Same with Pippen. It probably wouldn't have even come down to that last shot, either, as Paxson's defense against Phoenix wasn't that special to begin with. As someone who more than likely didn't watch the entire series, you should probably factor in Horry's inconsistencies on offense throughout the quarters of those games, and his inability to do anything with Webber when we needed him to. As far as comparing Kobe's IQ to someone like Horry's, well...that's a huge leap from one mountain to another. Horry's IQ was limited to following a shot to the rim, and grabbing a board, to getting open like Devean George and hitting the jumper. I'm definitely not saying he's as bad as Devean, not even saying Horry was a bad player (because he wasn't), but don't ever put him and Bryant in the same sentence. No other player in the league has put out a better pump fake since Olajuwon. Kobe can score from 20 feet in using a post up move, and that's pretty ridiculous. If Odom and Cassell can pull off half-ass Dream Shakes, Kobe can tear you apart with it.

When fully healthy, Arenas was the main option. I don't remember when he wasn't while in Washington. Rose is a real point guard. That's something Arenas will be expected to play, and there's absolutely no chance of it. Yeah, yeah, Arenas used to be an all-star. Derrick Rose will be a superstar. In ten years, looking back, it will be Arenas who wishes he was half the point guard Rose turns out to be, and I'm 110% sure of it. Gilbert is a downgrade to a young Ray Allen. Allen led teams to 50-win seasons. However, at the end of the day, if he wants to win a championship, he'll be a second or third option. Kobe, Wade, LeBron, those are superstars. Gilbert? Never was.

I didn't think Bay did that bad with a few movies, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Amityville Horror, and Transformers. The Hitcher was awesome, also. I think this has a lot of potential. The guy playing Freddy (for anyone who is curious) was also the guy who played Rorschach in Watchmen (Jackie Earle Haley). Pretty good actor, IMO.

Answer these when you get the chance, ECN. You can create a new topic in this KIR forum now (had it to where only admins can, sorry about that).

Still lied, and they've done it before. I refuse to watch a news station that does that. But it's funny how you guys are defending them...and it's really only those who are anti-Obama, I noticed. Not that it really matters, though, right?

Jordan hogged the ball less than he did in previous seasons...and you must be forgetting that they beat a 58-win Lakers team that had a prime Magic, Worthy and Scott, also beating a 50-win Pistons team with Zeke, Dumars, Rodman and Coach Daly, both to win that first title. It's the same Bulls team that nearly upset the 59-win Bad Boy Pistons a season earlier, in the ECF, losing in seven games...the same Pistons that won the championship that year for a second consecutive time. Fact is, Chicago didn't win a ring until Phil's second season with the team. That would be Jordan and Pippen's fourth season together, second with Phil Jackson. And the Kobe/Shaq duo didn't win a ring until Phil's first season with them, Kobe and Shaq's fourth season together, first with Phil Jackson. Technically, three dynasties (three three-peats) in a league of more than three times the amount of teams present when the Celtics and Red won theirs. But to go even further, when Phil left the Lakers in 2004-05, they landed 34 wins in an injury-plagued season, mainly because nobody but Bryant was playing the game. After trading arguably their second best player in Caron Butler (you would argue third) and getting Kwame Brown, for some reason, the Lakers make the playoffs and nearly beat out the Phoenix Suns, 4-3, in 2006. Tex Winter's triangle offense, and the way Phil Jackson applies it to his superstar players and manages their egos, has won him ten championships as a coach. Saying that Red Auerbach didn't have that much talent? Well, he didn't have Jordan, but he had Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Sam Jones, and Tom Heinsohn...all excellent players, all available for the first five of Red's championships until 1963, when John Havlicek joined them, won another with those four, then Cousy was finished. What happened then? Heinsohn left in 1965, and the amazing trio of Russel, Havlicek and Jones won 54 games and beat a 45-win Lakers squad to win the NBA championship. That was Red's last season. A 68-win Sixers team (with Wilt) knocked them out in 1967, with Bill Russell coaching and winning 60 games that season, tied for the second best record in franchise history. No Red Auerbach. The following season, the Celtics managed to beat the Sixers after Greer choked, then took out a 52-win Lakers team on their way to a championship with Russell coaching. Russell's second as a coach? A 48-win season, with Havlicek, Russell, Jones and Bailey Howell, who was actually a pretty good 20 PPG scorer and second pick in the draft. How did they do that? By beating the Lakers again. Another title without Red. The players won those championships as much as Red did. If you want to argue that Jordan, Kobe, Shaq and Pippen were big factors, you might want to consider that they were all failing before Phil Jackson, and in the end, Red had as much help as Phil. So, judging by their championships, I guess the answer is crystal clear.

You can say that about MSNBC, but not CNN. Funny thing is, you're accusing CNN of being biased. It was proven that Fox News LIED. They were crushed. Not the first time, either. That's why Fox News is worthless, and all of their garbage shows need to be cut off the air.

As far as his cockiness goes, that's Jordan. He was always like that. Growing up watching him, you'd think he didn't give a [expletive] about anyone, not even his teammates...but the crazy thing was, he won championships, and he made his teammates win them as well, forcing them to play good, coaching them, etc. I wasn't too fond of his attitude during the speech, but overall, the speech was awesome. MJ went through his career with tons and tons of doubters. The problem was, a lot of them were in the league with him. Players would doubt MJ as much as the media did his first six years in the NBA, and most of them would talk that trash to his face, a great example of this being Xavier McDaniel, as much as he whined about Jordan's ability to score during games (foul line, and that's it), or John Starks and the amount of trash he would spit in Jordan's ear during games. Jordan ended up punching them, lights out, at the end of his career, becoming the greatest basketball player of all-time. The speech was a reassurance of that, and also a motivational tool for future players in the league.