Poe

Kobe is not a better defensive player that Dwight. Perhaps fundamentally and better at sticking to his man, but he doesn't impact the game the way Dwight does. When Dwight's on the floor, it affects the way the whole team plays defense. The perimeter players are able to stick into their man because they feel more secure that if they get beat, Dwight's got their back. Opposing players feel more intimidated going to the basket because they feel that Dwight may block their shot, and even if he misses the block or doesn't even contest, his presence alone will affect the shots taken by the opponent. If Dwight ever gets MVP, it will be for his impact on both ends. His defense is completely game changing, and his offense is growing as well. He's becoming a more reliable post threat, and he's always affected the offense with his pick-n-roll game.

The Bobcats are currently in the 8th seed and have a decent overall record at 10 - 14... but look at their road game record. 1-11. What's causing their poor road play?

If it's 5 guys for the Heat, I think I'd like to see Wade, Beasley, Haslem, and Jermaine for sure. As for a 5th guy, I'm not sure. A toss up between Q and Dorell.

I already said that I don't think LeBron is a true leader, which is actually understandable seeing how young he still is compared to the others. Leadership shines when the teammates responds and they become better as individuals having the best player on the team. Chauncey had a clear impact on his teammates. Melo is simply a scoring and rebounding threat. Very valuable, but he isn't a leader. Assists aren't necessarily what makes your teammates better. Assists are just finding your guys when they are open. Maybe you're helping them get a few baskets, but you aren't making them better individual players. I'm talking about the leader to get after their teammates when they make mistakes, praise them when they are doing it right, and give them constructive criticism when needed. For example, Nash could be a big reason for Goran Dragic's improvement on the team. How often are they actually on the court together? Hardly at all. The three best leaders in the NBA, IMO, are Kobe, Nash, and Chauncey, and Wade could quietly be a good leader as well. LeBron has yet to prove it to me, and again, I'm not talking about pretty passes. Also, a leader has to lead by example. LeBron impacts his teammates the wrong way, making the mood too light in my taste throughout the season. He acts like a kid, and his teammates follow. One more thing, the reason I think about the leadership as part of my criteria for season MVP is because I find a player's impact on his tammates just as important as their own impact from their own performance. Melo is just a tremendous shooter and 1on1 player to me. If you can mold Chauncey and Melo into one player, then THAT would be a true MVP to me.

Anthony isn't the MVP to me because although he's the best scorer on the Nuggets' team, he isn't their leader. Chauncey is. I think a true league MVP needs to be both the leader AND the best playmaker for a successful team, or just simply have the most impact on their own team than any player in the league, hence most "valuable" player. To me, these players are Kobe, Nash, Wade, Dirk, and maybe even LeBron. For the very best, I'll have to go with Kobe easily. Just look at what's he's been able to do without his pinky and index finger on the same dominant hand. Wade has fallen off his game a bit, but he'll bounce back quickly I think. LeBron has never been a true leader, IMO. Dirk and Nash lack all-around defense. So, again, the winner goes to Kobe so far, and maybe back to Wade later on if he ever redeems himself.

BTW, last thing I'm going to say about Dorell before heading to bed. DW1 will be an all star by next year if he went to a successful run-n-gun team. A team much like the Suns. First of all, Steve Nash and his amazing playmaking abilities will continually give Dorell open looks, maybe similar to what Nash did with Marion, and Dorell is proving to be a high percentage shooter from almost everywhere on the court when given open looks. Also, Dorell is just dieing to run out there. The Heat don't run the break much, although they should, but D is just hustling after every rebound. He'd definitely benefit greatly playing for a run-n-gun style team. He'd definitely pick up to his full potential much quicker that way. Come to think of it, I hope this idea doesn't hit Dorell's mind. Hopefully he isn't smart enough to go FA next year. I really want him to stay here on the Heat

The West is as deep as it's ever been this year, IMO. Other than the LAL, so many teams have a good shot at the Conference Finals. The Mavs and the Nuggets are ahead of everybody, but you never know what the Suns and the Spurs can manage. The Blazers could stick around, too, despite loosing Oden. And if Boozer can stop complaining and realize that he really does have a good situation working for him playing alongside the arguable best PG (or top 3, w/e you think), plus the second best 3pt shooting big man in the league to clear up the paint... the Jazz could wind up surprising some people as well.

Exactly. That's the Dorell we see when he forgets what being self-conscious mean, and plays purely through hustle and aggression. He needs to take a note from KG and bang his head on the wall or something.

People would normally rather put blame on anybody but themselves, or their own team in such a close game. As far as scapegoats go, refs are a fan favorite.

Yea but a guy who's 6'9'' with a 7 foot wingspan being guarded by a guy 6'4''? He's not the strongest guy in the world, but if he can establish low post position being head and shoulders over the guy guarding him, that's clearly a mismatch IMO. He's young and still has plenty of room to add more weapons to his game. He should develop a hookshot, turnaround jumper..... anything that can get him points when being guarded by a guy half his size. Also, about the "burn" he's gotten... I consider him more of a sophomore than a 6 year vet. He's only played in just over 150 games by now, and a lot of that playing time was in garbage minutes. He still has a long way to go. Believe me, he still has a lot of potential, and I think he's much better than Ariza as an overall player, or at least by the end of this year he will be. Once he develops a better driving game, he'll take off.

Wade played the right way today. He establish a driving and post up game before he even thought about taking a jumper. THAT is Wade's game. Not dribbling around trying to shoot over people, discovering that for some reason it ain't workin' too well, and then finally drawing a few fouls.

I'm always trying to expand my knowledge of the game, and I consider myself a somewhat low spot right now so I'm going to start paying more attention to detail on each player individually. Today, I'm going to analyze my current fave player's game. When playing the SF spot, Dorell is much like Trevor Ariza where he's learning to feed well off great playmakers, especially playing with D Wade. He's gaining good timing cutting to the basket, and doing a great job knocking down corner jumpers. The form on his shot looks fantastic. Confidence is still an issue in his game, especially when handling the ball. The issue isn't that doesn't take good care of the ball, since he hardly ever turns over the ball. The problem is attacking the basket. He looked aggressive at first, but after some unsuccessful drives he started settling for contested jumpers due to indecisiveness with the ball in his hands. He needs to improve his change of speed and change of direction. He does do a great job keeping his head up, though, and usually spots the open man, though sometimes he'll pass out too quickly when nobody is actually open. I do like his willingness to be a ballmover, though. Also, he needs to find a way to get himself to the foul line more. He's so athletic, so quick, and has a high percentage from the foul line. He's 80% for his career I think. He needs to look for contact more often. One more issue in his game is that he needs to develop at least a somewhat decent post-up ability. For a guy who's 6-9, playing the SG position and being guarded by JJ Redick and Jason Williams on some occasions, he needs to take advantage and call for the ball in the post. His length alone would make those very easy baskets. His hustle and battling on the boards were actually been close to spectacular today. Yet another 8 rebound performance in under 30 minutes. His defense does seem to need a bit of work, though. He does a good job staying in front, and his length can bother players, but he needs to do a better job keeping his hands up and cutting away the drive on close-outs. The only reason JJ was able to score on Dorell was his tendency to leave both hands on his sides. Most shooters in this league will recognize it. His length won't save him in every situation. Overall, if he can develop a better driving game, post up game, and more overall confidence with the ball in his hands, he'll become a great player in this league. Easily a 20+ PPG scorer in the future just because of the major mismatches that he can create due to his versatility and athleticism. Sorry for making a long post on a guy nobody cares about. I did it more for me than anyone else. Next time I'll analyze a guy like Beasley or Jermaine.

It's sort of a mixture of the Magic playing particularly bad and the Heat playing particularly good. Ball movement and defensive effort looks just great for Miami today, yet the exact opposite for Orlando.

True, but I prefer a few odd shots over no aggression at all. He needs to establish himself as that second option. He's only 20, so he'll learn over time.

Well... So far, Wade has touched the blue a little today. At least he's only taken three jumpers, one managed to drop, and it was out of 10 total shot attempts. It was also after attacking the rim a bit, which is a good time to start shooting is after you establish a driving game. That's Wade's game. Keep it up.

The Magic have played lackadaisical defensively, and the Heat have taken advantage... kind of the reverse situation in Memphis. Gundy will dig into his team by half time. This game may turn out closer towards the end. Hopefully the Heat won't relax too much and let this lead slip.

Lol, Carter guards Q and he scores 8 points on him. Dorell comes in the game, and he scores 6 straight on Carter. Neither have scored above 20 in a game, yet they both combine for 14 in the first quarter. Van Gundy REALLY needs to talk to Vince about his defense

Lmao, Carter is such a bad defender. Giving Q open threes and letting him drive so easily. Q already has 8 points in like the first 4 minutes.

^ Kobe drove to the basket, Bogut was set for the charge. Kobe, being the best player in the league that he is, recognizes this and spins to avoid Bogut. Bogut shuffles his feet in an attempt to gain a better position, draws contact while still moving his feet, thus getting called for the block.

Depends what team. Nobody's dancing on the Spurs team, that's for sure.

Da Link Good to see Riles taking action. Let's see how Wade responds tonight...

They have a good shot at the Conf Finals this year.

I don't know. It doesn't happen much to me, at least not particularly at OTR. It could be specifically your connection resetting.

Smart man. :glasses:

Neither charge nor travel. Bogut was shuffling his feet on contact, and the continuation was deserved because Kobe took two steps after fully gathering the ball. The refs got the call right.