AboveLegit

Sullinger plays lazy at times, doesn't box out, doesn't play defense, really needs to step it up.

Rivers' crossover is lethal, haven't seen one guy successfully defend it. Sullinger needs to work on passing out of double teams.

Great test for Sullinger against a lengthy Duke frontcourt.

Pretty stupid that there's reports that the league, who own the Hornets, do not want to entertain offers for CP3. There's two outcomes to this, a superstar walks as a FA at the end of the season, or trade for a relatively cheap All Star PG locked up for 4 years and a few young assets. Makes sense for both teams (and probably the third, should they find one), but doesn't make much sense for Chris Paul. After this year, the Celtics will be on the verge of a complete rebuild, does Chris want to be apart of all that? I don't know if Ainge can pull off another miracle and quickly build around CP3 the way he did with Pierce in 2007. Dwight will be off the market by the trade deadline, I don't see Otis Smith letting him walk at the end of the season.

The only logical explanation I can see is Danny Ainge looking at Chris Paul, otherwise, it doesn't make much sense. Rondo would be an enticing piece for New Orleans, he has a fair contract and is probably the best talent you can receive for CP3.

I think you're underrating Eric Bledsoe a little Kyle, yeah he had an average rookie season, but you gotta remember he had to transition BACK to the PG position. In college, he was playing off the ball alongside John Wall, making it that much more difficult to run an NBA style offense. If I'm the Clips, my first option is Chris Paul simply because I think Dwight will clog up the paint for Blake. Not to mention Deandre is still growing, with the addition of an elite PG like Paul, and I'm sure his game will elevate.

What are your expectations for the season? Looks like the Wizards are headed for another 20 or so win season. Just too many question marks in the frontcourt, and it doesn't help that we drafted another project (although I have no real expectations for Jan, just want him to get minutes). The lockout may have helped Rashard Lewis gain his form, he will most likely be starting, and could bounce back after an abysmal 2011 season. I do look forward to our guard play, Wall, Young, and Crawford will be exciting to watch. I expect big things out of Wall, could possibly end up as a top 5 PG at the end of the year. His scoring went up after the all star break last year, and I think we will continue to see an increase in his scoring output. Hopefully McGee and Blatche make some strides in their game, at least enough to get their trade value up.

I went with the Lakers and Bulls. I'm not sold on the Thunder just yet, they have an MVP caliber player, but I question Westbrook's decision making and his defense. I think the Perkins trade was great for them in hindsight, but looking back, Perk really is a system player that simply perfected his role in Boston. He fit in with Doc's schemes, he knew exactly where to be on the floor (from setting screens to rebounding), while in OKC, he was completely lost, and honestly, I don't expect much out of him this season despite being more comfortable with the team. Chicago is exactly one piece from winning it all, their method of building this team into a contender is genius. Boozer can only go up from here, and it helps having a great backup in Gibson. Rose is an elite talent with the ability to close out games, Deng is their spot up shooter, I'm really hoping they can land a guy like Jamal Crawford. I think this lockout benefited Kobe more than any other guy in the league, which is why I'm picking LA over Boston. After the playoffs, everyone talked about how tired he was from their previous playoff runs. Now he's coming off an early playoff exit, an extended off season, and a surgery. While Boston's stars have also benefited from this lockout, they still don't have the talent LA has. The center position is a huge question mark, you cannot expect Garnett to anchor the middle much longer, and their bench is below average. Ainge really needs to work his magic in this shortened FA period before anyone can take them seriously.

They need someone who's able to create a shot, not an over the hill player. Yeah Tmac played well initiating the offense, but he's still not the answer to Chicago's problems.

Congrats bro

Regardless, we need to shake things up. Nine players were out for Buffalo tonight, yet two shorthanded goals were given up. We are now in the bottom five in goals given up. The sad thing is, the players look like they don't even care. Ovechkin isn't looking like a captain. At this rate, I won't even have to worry about early playoff exits...

Don't expect Rashard to be amnestied. If Davis comes cheap, which is expected, then the pickup would be solid. He knocked down the 3 ball at a career pace last season, and can still create opportunities off the pick & roll. He is injury prone, but this is a shortened season, so I don't think it matters a whole lot. And if you're not convinced with his three point shooting, it's not a huge deal anyway because the Triangle is gone. With all the weapons on this team, he will get open looks and will continue to playmake, something Steve Blake and Fisher are incapable of doing.

I separated this in two polls because of their situations. Lakers and Celtics are both proven winners, but I think most will agree that they are aging (both suffered brutal second round exits in the playoffs). I believe the Lakers will suffer the most in this 66 game season because of the coaching change taking place. A shortened training camp will hurt them a lot, but on the bright side, I have heard on Sportscenter that Kobe has looked great and is fully healthy. As for the Celtics, a lot of their issues need to be addressed in FA, they need to get younger and more athletic, but this extended offseason may have helped the big three regain their form. Bulls and Thunder are the two up and coming teams in the league, each built on a superstar surrounded by a lot of talent. The question now is if they can add a piece or two in order to become true contenders. Bulls need to add a SG capable of playing alongside Rose that can create for himself. We saw in the playoffs how much it hurt the Bulls when Rose was the only one creating for himself. This team is in an interesting position, they clearly overachieved last year winning 62 games, and while we continue to believe this is a young team like the Thunder who have 4 core players under the age of 23, they have two players under the age of 25 currently. This is not a team that can wait while it finds it's true identity and establishes team chemistry, they are in win now mode. They cannot afford to simply sign an average shooting guard, they need to find an X factor that can carry the load when Rose struggles. As for the Thunder, maybe they don't need to add anyone to the team. Maybe it's just about their young players developing and rectifying what went wrong in the playoffs last season. Last season we saw a lot of lapses in the third quarter where the offense was completely stagnant as the players simply watched Durant and Westbrook score. It would be nice if Harden fills that void and becomes the dynamic scorer he was sought out as being when he was drafted. Maybe adding a perimeter defender would help as well, it seems like quick guards give this defense the most fits such as JJ Barea or even Ty Lawson. Thabo is a good defender, but he cannot keep up with those guards.

Yeah I like where the age limit is at right now, there's just no need to extend it.

Fire Boudreau. We need a veteran, defensive minded coach, Bruce has completely lost the team.

Owners really made some key concessions in order for this deal to work such as the Melo sign and trade rule, MLE, rookie contracts, and BRI split. I'm very interested in seeing how they negotiate the "B-list items" such as the One and done rule for the draft. I like where the age limit is at right now, I really hope they don't extend it to two years in college. I find it funny though that Stern, Silver, and the rest of the owners were so adamant about parity, yet they still manage to open the season with big market teams facing each other. Very happy this is over though, I cannot wait for December 9th. Let's get OTR active again.

Gotta admit Fish, I'm very impressed with the Cowboys, I was very skeptical about them at the start of the season (as were you IIRC) but Demarco Murray has really helped balance out the offense. As for the playoffs, it's definitely a possibility, Dallas played arguably the strongest schedule over the first 6 games or so, and now they have an easier road than the Giants. But, they are also a team that has shown that they can blow any game at any point, so this will be a very interesting end to the year.

Ugh another [expletive]ing disappointing season, I don't think anyone suffers more than DC sports fans...

I think you're a bit too harsh on Kyrie Irving... while I don't expect him to be in the realm of John Wall or Derrick Rose, I think he will be an All Star caliber guard. Obviously he doesn't have elite athleticism, but he's deceptively quick and will be a quality defender at the next level. I was able to watch a lot of Duke basketball last season (as I do every year), and there's no doubt he will live up to being a #1 pick, especially in a relatively weak class. The only player that I believe will out perform him is Derrick Williams.

I'm very interested in seeing Leinart perform, the system fits his skillset pretty well, with a strong run game, and some seasoning on the bench, he might just perform well. Not to mention, Andre Johnson will be back soon.. I'm sure they will make the playoffs, Question is, how far will they go in the playoffs?

Defenses will adjust soon enough to the option runs, at some point, he will have to operate an offense from a conventional standpoint. I haven't looked at Denver's schedule, but I have a hard time seeing them make the playoffs, although I will be rooting for them.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/16161349/nba-players-hoping-for-one-more-shot-at-settlement

Probably the only game I care for now, would hate to go 0-2 against Dallas.

TEEEEEEEEEEEEEBOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Lmao Mark Sanchez is so bad.