AboveLegit

Insane. 12 offensive, 19 defensive rebounds. He also has 28 points and 5 assists. Wow... This frontcourt of Love and Beasley is great. I still don't understand how he's in trade rumors. While Beasley is an average rebounder, Love definitely picks up the slack.

Gil played solid, he made some great passes, got some key rebounds, and got others involved. He didn't shoot well at all, missed two straight threes at the end of the game, but he is still getting back into basketball shape and trying to find his rhythm. Wall didn't have a great night scoring either, but as always, got others involved. Another 10+ assist night, and another double double. I thought Blatche was forcing it too much in the first, but then he got hot and scored 14 in that same quarter. Then he cooled off big time. He needs to stay more consistent throughout the game. Yi is becoming a good defender in the paint, back to back games with over 4 blocks. We could have won this game had John Wall been more aggressive scoring the ball. But his shot wasn't clicking tonight, his midrange game wasn't working out for him, and the Bobcats defense was great. The refs were terrible though, not trying to make excuses or anything, but there were a ton of questionable calls favoring Charlotte.

Imagine how much better this offense would be if Bosh demanded the ball and played facing up causing the defender to actually play up on him. When he gets it going, it causes other wing defenders or post players to collapse, and this changes a lot. If opposing teams do not respect him on offense, Bosh will drop 20. This would open up the court for Wade and Bron because at the bare minimum, Bosh's man is pulled out of the paint and forced to cover him whereas now his man is just playing off, clogging the lanes and making life a living hell for the slashers. They are forced to pass it out to an out of rhythm and uninvolved Bosh.. easy situation for the D. If there is a legit threat downlow, Bron and Wade can be cutting or kicking out to guys like House and Jones. Defenses will be out of position, it's common sense really.

What surprises me the most is that the Wizards didn't pick him up in the offseason. We have much better assets than a Minnesota second round pick, we should have given him a chance. If he doesn't pan out, he's gone after the season. Let's remember, he's on a expiring contract, so there is that motivation to play better in your last season of the contract in order to prove yourself to teams out there looking to spend cash in the offseason.

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-101112-14/testing-early-trade-winds

Got it last night against Denver. 32 years, and 80 days old. Bron and Durant are poised to break this record, but with Bron sharing the load on offense in Miami for the next 6 or so years, his chances might be lower. How many points do you think Kobe will have by the end of his career?

Lmaoo, best one is the Mavs video.

A few big mismatches here for both teams: John Wall going up against DJ Augustine and Shaun Livingston. Bobcats have a physical frontcourt of Gerald Wallace and Tyrus Thomas. Stephen Jackson always kills us, but it's nice to know we finally have a good defender in Kirk Hinrich. Looking forward to tonight.

Exactly, well said. Here's what Udonis Haslem said:

Yes, I expected John Wall to play great, if anything he exceeded my expectations of him. But with the team struggling, it all evens out. We have an average frontcourt coming into the season, and are near last in rebounding and points allowed in the paint I believe.

I don't understand why you're getting frustrated Flash. You should have realized there would be a TON of hate towards the big three when they first signed here. It seems like the Celtics despise the Heat, kind of refreshing to finally see this kind of hatred in today's game.

Love it, good work Guru and RD.

This whole downplaying regular season games is becoming so cliche now. It is an important game. It's one of the few times you have as a team to find out where you stand against potential playoff teams. I'll bet a good amount of money on the Heat facing the Celtics in the playoffs.

Sent. Just listened to a few of the songs, All Of The Lights is amazing. Love it.

What it comes down to is this: Bosh is a slasher. Lebron is a slasher. Wade is a slasher. What they need to do is find ways to get Bosh the ball less than 10 feet from the hoop. Even if he doesn't post up, if he can make quick face up moves to score some points and draw some defensive attention that will go a long way toward opening up driving lanes for everybody else. When I watch what Amare does for the Knicks and watch what Bosh does for the Heat I think that both teams should just trade them. Bosh is better at handling the ball in the places where D'Antoni is giving it to Amare, and Amare wouldn't get intimidated against Garnett and would score around the basket better than Bosh. Rondo had another fantastic game, as did Ray Allen. Greatest three point shooter ever. I think everyone on Boston had a very efficient game. Looking at the boxscore, Pierce was 10/16, Garnett was 6/8, and while Ray missed 10 shots, he still was 7/9 from three. That stretch where Nate came in during the third was huge as well, props to him, he bounced back after being on somewhat of a shooting slump the past few games.

Actually, I'd take the 2000 team before I'd take the 2001 Lakers team. People get a little caught up in how the 01 Lakers ran threw the West in the playoffs that season, but they were pretty flawed team. They payed two shell shocked teams in the Blazers and Kings who had convinced themselves that season (because of the previous year's mistakes) that they couldn't beat the Lakers and they face a banged up and over the hill Spurs team (they started Danny Ferry and Terry Porter, and played Antonio Daniels a lot) and finally took on a banged up Sixers team (who still managed to take a game from them based on a herculean effort by Iverson). They had a mediocre bench (really none at all) and got through the playoffs because no one could stand up to Shaq and they were facing teams whose perimeter defense was fairly sub par. I'd definitely take the more versatile 2000 Lakers. They struggled a little more in the playoffs, but I think they were ultimately the better team. Shaq was at his peak (and hadn't gone on his chicken and waffles diet yet), Kobe didn't think he was the man yet and thus wasn't just gunning, Rice was still a serviceable player, and Fisher, Fox, and Horry were all coming off the bench (only Horry was coming off the bench in 01 and none of them were in 02). And I agree, the 03 Spurs were probably the second weakest of the Spurs championship teams. Parker played poorly enough in the playoffs that Speedy Claxton was taking crunch time minutes away from him. I don't think they'd really stand a chance against the Celtics from this season. The 07 Spurs were probably the best of the Spurs championship teams IMO. I like Duncan in 03, he carried his decidedly mediocre team (in terms of championship teams) to an NBA title against the Nets. He was at the peak of talents then, it's just the rest of the team I don't think would be up to snuff. I think the Celtics have enough quality bigs to throw at Shaq and Duncan to somewhat contain them.

I got Boston winning again. We've seen how much the Heat suffer in the paint against good post players that are paired with great PG's (Garnett and Davis with Rondo).

Scola had a nice night as well.

BTW, he's the 3rd Youngest ever (behind LeBron and Odom) to get a triple double, and 6th-fastest ever in terms of games played.

I'm going to need some assistance. I still have a soft spot for Gil. You know you enjoyed every minute of it.

John Wall He's such a beast, I cannot say enough about him. He limited his turnovers tonight, played like a true leader, and was everywhere on the court. He was even hitting his threes, and he's hitting on that pull up jumper...just gotta stay consistent. Looks like Flip storming out of practice and yelling at the team motivated everyone. The bigs were great on the glass, Yi played amazing, he got rebounds, blocked shots, and was aggressive when he was in the paint. Dray was great as well, some questionable decisions here and there, but overall he was a force down low. And everyday I'm beginning to think Al Thornton is better off starting for us rather than Josh Howard. He's so strong, he's able to get rebounds through traffic, he has a nice midrange game, and doesn't force anything. I love his hustle and his attitude towards the game. I hate seeing Gil play limited minutes, he never really got into his rhythm, but oh well. Hopefully he develops it as the season progresses.

TAKE OUT HINRICH WTF

Best chinese player in the world! Wall 2 rebs away from a triple double.

Falling apart as always....

Good half for us, great half for Wall. 13 points 7 assists 5 rebounds. Amazing.