Poe

Anyway, a few keys: Beasley needs to score, O'Neal needs to [expletive]ing box out, and no more silly fouls and turnovers. Keep up the energy.

Don't give me another reason to hate you, Cook....

Good energy in the first. Too many TOs, though. That's not normally like them. It's good to see them be aggressive and taking risks, though. The Heat are allowing WAY too many points in the paint. I swear, I don't think I've seen the Celtics make one jumpshot outside there so far.

I might watch this just because of Mark Cuban.

Jennings is one fast mother[expletive]er. I think he has a good chance at winning this.

I didn't realize he won DPOY in his country. I'm still skeptical as to whether or not that guarantees his defense carrying over to NBA-level athletes.

He's talking about the level of enthusiasm, not the conduct.

As of right now, it's a two-man race... obviously. LeBron is way out in front at this point, though. If Wade goes bananas and averages like 40 a game for the next few months, maybe the talks will open up for one more player. LeBron will be winning MVP regardless.

Kidd had very good athleticism in his youth. Fast, quick, and he had much more ups than he let on. Now, even though he's lost a lot of that due to age, he's become one of the strongest players in the league that plays his position. Nash is one in a billion. There are many people that have similar physical abilities as Nash, yet he is the only player like himself to be so successful this decade, to not only make it to the NBA, but actually win the MVP as well. Just because a player is similar to Nash physically, there is no way to tell if they will ever match his abilities. Look at some other players like him that are currently in the NBA. Travis Diener, Chris Quinn, Beno Udrih, Roko Ukic, and Luke Ridnour. All of them are similar to Nash and Rubio, yet they are all bench players. If Rubio is going to make it in this league as a starter and meet expectations, he's going to need to prove that he can keep up defensively with the speed, quickness, and strength of NBA-caliber players despite his own lack of athleticism. If he can't, can he make up for it by having one of the best shooting percentages in the league like Nash? From what I know, Rubio doesn't even have a consistent jumper. With no NBA-level quickness and no jumpshot, that's really going to hurt him. So with the possibility of his defense not carrying over to the NBA, and the fact that he has no jumpshot, his whole game is going to have to completely rely on his creativity, court-vision, and awareness. So with all that in mind, this guy could very well be the next Steve Nash, or the next Chris Quinn.

I'm not saying athleticism makes the whole player. It just gives him a better chance at being more successful at the NBA level, though I'm sure there is every possibility that Rubio could potentially wind up as the better overall player.

The past couple of games have looked awful, but I think the Heat's issues aren't as extreme as they may seem. I think the Heat could actually have a good chance at winning this one. No guarantees, though. With JO and Haslem possibly out for Miami, and Paul Peirce out for Boston (I think).. this game should be close. Having Haslem out (maybe - back spasms) will mean more minutes and production from Beasley. We'll see how he handles it. Wright and Richardson will need to step up their game as well, and Alston needs to knock down his open looks. It's really important for the Heat to set the tone in this game for their upcoming 8 out of 9 games on the road, with 7 of them being above .500 teams. This could possibly be their most important game of the year, especially with the schedule and their current seed. They need to put up a strong performance tonight.

Thing about Rubio is you don't really know how well he'll turn out going pro, whereas Wall you know can at least build on his game through his athleticism. A lot of players who play well at their current level of competition doesn't always translate when moving on to the next step of the NBA game. Stronger areas in their game gets taken away by professional defenders who are ready for what's coming, and their weaker areas become exposed. All of a sudden, a player who once appeared great starts looking like a bad one, and everyone calls him a bust. Rubio has some length for his position and court vision, but that lack of NBA-level athleticism, speed, and even a jumpshot to fall back on may hurt him in the long run. Maybe he could be developed somewhat like Dragic is now in Phoenix, but there is really no telling, and definitely not worth the risk of taking him as a number 5 overall pick assuming all star talent. Everything I said could turn out completely wrong, though. I'm only generalizing Rubio's abilities.

I was just talking about this game in particular, Real. The Lakers as a team need to figure out how to distribute the shots evenly where the right players are getting the right amount of touches, while playing at the right amount of aggression at both ends.

He's missed floaters and some tough lay ups. It could be because he doesn't have the same lift in his jump as he may have used to, so the feel for his lay ups aren't the same. Either way, it's hurting his field goal percentage, and he hasn't shot the 3 ball that well, either - not necessarily percentage-wise, but when he's left open it never feels like he has any sure chance of making the shot. He's still a great ball handler and he's done a good job limiting his TOs, and again, a better perimeter defender than both Arroyo and Chalmers. Even with the intangibles he brings, I still don't feel perfectly secure at the point guard position for the Heat. I know Spoelstra probably hasn't even considered this, but starting Wade at point wouldn't be a bad idea, IMO.

Each game, it seems more and more so that Rondo is carrying this team. Teams that revolve around their point guards don't typically have much playoff success.

To me, the text is the best part. The background doesn't seem to fit too well, imo.

Thunder. Durant will be a monster in the playoffs.

Got a poll? I haven't watched either of them play a full game, but I think John Wall is the safe bet because of his athleticism.

I know Kobe is so perfect and all, but I'll take Phil Jackson's judgment over his any day. Kobe isn't playing with Smush and Kwame anymore. He's got options now. He shouldn't have to take more shots than his 4 other starters combined, especially when he has two 20 ppg caliber scorers in the paint taking 10 shots combined and making half.

Hard to say. If they are friendly there is nothing to be scared of.

I'll give you JO for him!

@ The Heat, you can't expect one role player to solve all the problems. Alston is a clear improvement on the defensive end concerning his position, and offensively he hasn't typically made bad decisions with the basketball, though his field goal percentage isn't favorable. I think the best way to solve the point guard issue for the Heat is to start their best point guard, Dwyane Wade, at that position, and let the second and third best perimeter players (Richardson and Wright) start at the wings. I've made a thread about this, and I still believe this is the best way to make the most out of what the Heat have in their line up and put themselves in a good position to win the most games possible heading into the playoffs.

Make your predictions in this thread about anything NBA for this year. It can be something simple like LA will win the championship, or something more daring like Tyreke will break Jennings' season high in scoring. Anything that comes to mind that you believe has a realistic chance of happening.

I was the one who said it was going to be Heat blow out. I was just basing it off of the Heat's inconsistency this year, but I was wrong. This team is truly unpredictable. The main reason for the Heat's struggles is clearly three point shooting, though. I made another thread about this, and the trend is way too clear. Their record is 16-8 when attempting 16 threes or less, but is 7-15 when attempting 17 threes or more.

I was actually going to make a thread about this. I guess you beat me to it. When looking at the top 8 teams, the win margin between each conference is almost identical. Maybe two or three wins favoring the West in the 5-8 seed. The West have the clear advantage when it comes to non-playoff teams, though. In the East, it's already pretty clear who will most likely make the playoffs, but in the West the race goes all the way through the 11th place team. The fact that the East have the luxury of playing lesser teams more often in their schedule may actually make the West stronger despite a similar record in the top 8 teams, though. Kind of vise versa from last year with the top West records inflated from the extra bad teams in their schedule.