Check my Stats

Did you actually just compare Kobe to every NBA player or any other player? Lol every situation is different, Kobe will be 32 and this team's salary is already huge, his situation is different than any other Free Agent. People claim Kobe is a competitor, at this stage in his career he obviously is rich as hell and money is no concern to him, so he should be taking a paycut/staying where he is to secure this team's ability to compete long term, if not he is obviously showing money>winning and he is putting the team in an awkward situation, he wants to win but at the same time he wants to ADD to the biggest payroll in the NBA? Lol. If he chooses to take a max deal he will be making over 1/2 of the cap which will eventually force the Lakers to cut costs and the teams quality of players will obviously be affected. To continue your example, if you choose to take a raise that jeopardizes the (or 'your' in Kobe's case) company's ability to retain or maintain their assets moving forward and remain competitive, yes it does make you a douchebag. I am pretty sure Kobe will take a reasonable 3 year 60 million extension or something like that, I am just saying if he does take that 3 year 90 million deal or whatever he will be shooting himself in the foot when the Lakers are forced to move some of their key players because they don't want to pay an extra 60 million in lux taxes lol.

If Kobe takes more than what he is making now he is a douchebag, he should be signing for 15-18 million so he isn't hurting this team long term to re-sign or add salary if needed.

I agree he is more rounded offensively but all you are telling me is just that, Wade is the better all around player especially defensively. EDIT- To the above, I just find it funny how often Laker fans bring Kobe or the Lakers into a discussion that isn't even about them.

Dallas would have won regardless.

Taking this game back next week. The story creator [expletive] took too much time for me and very little satisfaction from completing one. Most my game time will be reserved for COD MW2 now anyways.

This defense has caused me to turn off the game. You can't give up that many open shots and expect to have a chance at winning.

Seems like Jay has thrown in the towel, Dirk is just playing on another level right now, it is so [expletive]ing annoying that he is shooting like 65% on nothing but jumpers, many of which have not been easy wide open shots. Our offense is really stagnant, we aren't getting up and down the floor, just look tired as hell.

His upside isn't be there which is why I was surprised to see him go in the lotto with how much stock is put into age and upside these days, but he will always be on an NBA team. The kid is a winner and will do whatever it takes, seems like he will be a great hustle guy/role player down the road. You know what you get with Hansbrough, which is not a bad thing.

First half thoughts: -Taking a disgusting number of jumpers, not making them either which is annoying that they keep taking them. -Bosh and Hedo need more touches they are the only ones capable of getting to the hole it seems -Bargnani is doing a surprisingly nice job on Dirk when Dirk gets it in the high post, even if Dirk is making those fades those aren't easy shots -Jose is playing solid again, he seems to have his jumper back when coming off the screen -I don't know why Demar is starting he is doing nothing, gets no touches and is crappy on the defensive end, may as well have Wright starting My main concern, as it was coming into the game, is the number of jumpers we are taking. Though a lot are good looks they aren't falling and we aren't trying anything new. Hedo is going to need to get more touches in the second half if we are to make this a game, otherwise I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas pulls away, unless we hit a hot streak like we did last night. I would like to see Hedo handle it up top more with Jose used is a spot up shooter more often. On the bright side, we are shooting 38% from the field and we are only down 7 at the half with the Mavs shooting 52%.

Amare is overrated, not worth a max contract.

How does Howard tip the scales that much? I understand he is good but am I am more scared of Terry and even Barea then him, the gunners are the guys that kill us.

What if David Stern never changed the age rule? Durant or Oden could be a Raptor right now.

I was confused by your wording, thought you might have meant Paul was not in your top 10, lol. I would completely understand if Jose was not in your top 10, he might not even be in my top 10. I was one of the Raptor fans jocking him prior to last year, but I saw the light last year, he is not a great PG just solid at best.

I am not disputing your points about Melo but what does the Lakers team now have anything to do with this discussion? The Nuggets now would not beat the Heat then if you want to compare teams like that. Lakers would probably beat both teams in a series so that point is pretty irrelevant to me. Please tell me how Melo's game is more rounded, and how Melo is more valuable? All Melo has on Wade is scoring capabilities, but Wade is a top 5 scorer himself, so what Melo can do great so can Wade... Wade is an all defensive player while Melo's defense is still suspect, Wade can run the offense while Melo can't (yes I am aware they are different positions but if we are talking overall value and not a comparison then this is relevant). Heat and Nuggets are both 5-1 and no one is daring to say the Heat support is near the Nuggets. I find it completely absurd after 6 games everyone is jocking Melo when for the past 4 years everyone has considered him to be in the same class as Bosh, now they have him on Wade's level after 6 games? Completely absurd....

I assume Jose is the one not in your top 10?

Definitely need to keep up the good work on the glass, not used to seeing the Raptors with more rebounds then their opponents like they have lately lol. Bosh needs to take it inside early on, at Dirk if that is who is guarding him, early. I don't want to see us launching more than like 4 threes in the first.

Great a Laker fan will turn this into a Kobe debate somehow now Can someone tell me why everyone is setting aside the fact Wade has led his team to the same record with an inferior cast? Wade is better and it isn't even close, lol.

Well Jennings won't score 19 a game all year most likely, but he could average around 13-15, so to say he might get the most overall points is not far off. If Redd misses significant time then Jennings is definitely the favourite, no one else does much of anything for the Bucks, they should just clean house and start over with Jennings he looks like the real deal so far. I would be surprised if Redd was still a Buck after the trade deadline this year. Good to see the Bucks playing their young gun in Jennings though, thought Ridnour would be getting the bulk of the minutes to start the year. EDIT- Damn Jennings is already shooting a kinda [expletive]ty percentage, if Redd goes down that is a lot of shots to replace, Jennings could actually average damn near 20 a game long term if he is a chucker.

Not to sound like a hater but your team just has not near enough talent to make the playoffs. Most your starters should be coming off playoff team benches/generally be role players. You should just be happy if your pick isn't top 6 or 7 for the Jazz. The East is as tough as ever, the Raps and Wiz are going to be fighting for playoff spots and both of those teams have way more talent then the Knicks. It feels like the Knicks are just a bunch of random talent put on a team and expected to put up wins, you don't have a first option caliber player and I wouldn't even call Harrington a 2nd option scorer on a playoff team. There is a reason this entire team is expiring in 2010 and it is because none of them are in the Knicks future plans. EDIT- Why is Jordan Hill not getting minutes? They drafted him over Jennings and aren't giving him minutes? Jennings could have been getting 15+ minutes for them or even starting, Walsh is an idiot.

Jose always seems to shows up against CP3. He played his best game easily, was nice to see us passing the ball but and finding the open man, NO's transition D was atrocious. Bosh played amazing, there was a play that stuck in my head where Bosh got it in the post, looked to the perimeter, saw the double wasn't coming. Backed down, the double came and rather than throw it up awkwardly and get the foul he kicked it out to I don't remember who and I don't even recall if he made the shot. I just remember how awesome it was to see Bosh kicking the ball out of the post for once, it was something I wished he would do more. When you are 9-9 and they don't double you, you make them pay, but when they double you have to make them pay by kicking it to one of our shooters, but just played fantastic.

Jason Terry is going to piss this game I can feel it. No one is going to touch Bosh this game, should drop 30 if he is getting enough shots. Mavs are gonna have trouble with us if they are playing Damp significant minutes, as long as we rebound the ball defensively and make them pay for playing Damp by giving Bargs and Bosh lots of touches we should be okay. Dirk is going to get his but we have to continue to try and keep guys out of the lane and close out on shooters. My biggest concern is that we are going to be too reliant on our 3-point shot, especially early on, but we are getting better offensively which is scary for opponents, we are spreading the floor and Turk/Hose are learning to coexist. Is Josh Howard still hurt? Don't be surprised if Marion is guarding Bargnani and Bosh tonight more than Dampier. I expect to see a lot of Dirk and Marion at C and PF tonight, Bosh needs to go right at Dirk and try and get him in foul trouble, Bosh is doing an amazing job of getting in the paint so far.

I'm not lying, or off base IMO, to say that Bargnani is as good a free throw shooter as Jose. Jose said it himself that last year will be impossible to replicate, he is a good FT shooter but not that good. Not as if it matters since he only gets to the line 2-3 times a game anyways.

If the Raptors ever won they would give us rings made of wood.

The thing is most the time we have all 5 guys on the court capable of hitting jumpers, so while a couple guys might be cold, more often then not someone else will be hot. It won't be often our entire team will be cold, though it will happen. That is why it is up to Bosh to get to the line a lot and Bargs take advantage of smaller defenders on him. Heat will not be top 3, Cavs and Magic will both win 55+ and Raptors and Heat along with the other teams like Wizards etc will be in a dog fight for that last home court spot. Wade will have to be a one man team again, I don't know why you think they will all of a sudden be 3rd seed with the same team as last year. Hawks are ahead of the Heat and Raptors if you ask me. The Cavs will figure it out, Shaq should come off the bench this year Z is more effective for what they need. The Magic and Celtics are the teams to beat in the East, the Magic have the 2nd most overall amount talent in the entire NBA behind the Lakers.

Like I said, it's not as though the Cavs didn't 'try' to get a 2nd option, Boozer stabbed them in the back and Redd decided to walk to Milwaukee at the last minute for 1 million more annually. They got screwed by those two so they didn't want to walk away from FA empty handed and signed Z (re-signed), Hughes (who had an amazing year in his contract year), Marshall and Damon Jones. Where will LeBron have a better chance to have good players around him? New York? They have sucked for over half a decade now and getting LeBron will just make them average unless they get him AND JJ, Amare or someone. New Jersey? They have nice youth but LeBron wants to win now, not 4 years from now.