Poe

Remember when Artest said something about locking somebody up?

I use the second guy I had made in the draft combine and he got drafted by the Cavs. My 6'9'' defensive Small Forward played the Summer Circuit for them, got cut, then moved on to the Blazer's camp. I managed to stay on the team without having to go through any D League games. So far my guy is rated about a 60 (80 defense, 48 offense, 50 rebounding I think). I chose the Blazers squad because they need a legit SF, though I probably won't start until I'm about a 70 rating.

LINK This guy is so underrated. His leadership, on-court production statistically or non-statistically, effort, coach-ability, work ethic, selflessness, and willing to truly do whatever it takes to win and being the first guy to "take one for the team"... I'm so glad to have him as a part of the Heat

This is why I still think Nash is the best offensive PG in the game. Seriously, how do you guard a guy like this? If you give him single coverage, he'll take you one on one. If you give him double coverage, he'll find the open man. This guy is just incredible. Pheonix's run started with their defensive intensity, and Nash took care of things offensively. The Heat couldn't find a way to adjust defensively, and the Suns took over. The Heat looked terrible on offense throughout the fourth quarter as well. Forcing shots, forcing drives, getting offensive fouls, creating turnovers, not fighting for rebounds, and getting way too 3-happy towards the end of the game. Well, so much for my predicted 5 game winning streak. I hope they can use the negative assets of this game and adjust for tomorrows game against Washington.

DAMN, nice move Arroyo! What a great pick up by the Heat, eh?

Wow, Steve Nash is just walking all over the Heat this quarter. Damn, 15 points just in the 3rd. Can anyone guard him?

Awesome. Wade makes a couple baskets, and he and Q-Rich make a couple hustle plays, and the Heat are back up by ten.

Wow, wtf. It's only 2 minutes into the second half and there are already blown assignments, allowed offensive boards, and a turnover or two. Geez!

Wade has only attempted 4 shots and the Heat are still up at the half. It's not that the Suns played really good defense on him or anything, it's just the Heat have played well as a team. You can see how much more Wade is trusting his teammates this year, seeing him pass up looks for teammates who are in better position to score. The Heat are continuing to play great team defense, too. They are holding the Suns below 50 points at halftime. Also, Udonis and Q-Rich have played great thus far. Udonis is proving to have even better rebounding numbers coming off the bench for some reason, and Quentin has been really aggressive today. I'm starting to like the decision of starting him a bit more.

Haslem is a starter, no question, and no matter when he comes into the game hasn't changed his minutes or team co-captaincy. Haslem has only been coming off the bench for game strategy and for the development of Michael Beasley. Haslem still finishes games with 30+ minutes while getting the closing minutes. Apparently, this was a decision made solely by Erik. Pat Riley advised against it, though, but it's good to see Erik handling his coaching role independently and making smart, somewhat risky decisions like this. It's a good thing Haslem isn't the type to moan and complain if things don't work out for him individually. Being able to take the bench role and not let it downgrade his performance, he really has a great team oriented mindset. It's too bad there aren't more players like him.

Wade will score if he needs to. So far, the team has looked good enough where Wade hasn't needed to explode for 40. Hopefully he doesn't have to do that tonight this early in the season and against a team like Phoenix. I'd rather him do it against a team like the upcoming Nuggets, but only IF he needs to. So far, every big that has played against Phoenix has had at least 20 points, except Biedrins. I think we can expect the same from O'Neal tonight, as long as they continue to find O'Neal the ball. I think Wright may have made a good case in his last game for earning improved minutes. He played very good defense, deflecting passes, blocking shots, and just doing things that don't show up in the stats. Q-Rich, however, was NOT playing good defense at all on Luol Deng. It seemed that Luol was just having his way out there. Frustrated the hell out of me watching that game. If Grant Hill takes advantage, please, don't hesitate to put Wright back in, coach Spoe. Other than that, this is a game with two teams 3-0, and only one will walk away still undefeated. Methinks the Heat. The past few games, the Heat have shown the capabilities of scoring high with running teams (Knicks) and hanging tough with defensive minded teams (Bulls). I wouldn't be surprised if the Heat can capture this one by double-digits, as long as they hold down shooters and remain efficient on offense.

When you play teams that can score. Plus the Bobcats were down 8 points at the half.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with Yugo's posts. Maybe it's just me, but having opinions against religion, a certain team, or a fanbase, and making jokes ("tv out..")... I mean, what has he really done wrong? Maybe the occasional insult, like telling someone he thinks they are stupid, or the racist thing... (though I've never seen it). I don't see anything wrong with that even, though most people would disagree. I have a hard time understanding why people shouldn't be allowed to say something just because somebody else doesn't like it. Really, it should be the other way around. If you don't like to hear something, don't listen or walk away if you have to, or don't read since we are on a message board. It's that simple. People take words and communication way too seriously.. I think I've said the same thing about kingfish's posts last summer.

Nash controls the offense. I don't see where this is headed. Take Nash out of the Suns team and they would no longer be a playoff team. Take Parker out of the Spurs and you lose a scoring option. They would be a worse team without him, but he has nowhere near the same impact Nash has on the Suns. The fact is, whoever the more efficient scorer is between Parker and Nash is still debatable. When considering a player's all-around game and impact to their team, can you honestly say that Parker is on a completely different level than Nash? That is all I'm arguing for.

They face the Heat tomorrow. That means somebody ain't gunna be undefeated for much longer.

20 years old with good height, athleticism, good passer, decent rebounder, and exceptional shooting ability.... maybe...

Woah. I checked the score in the 3rd quarter and Chase barely had like 5 points or so. I check the score at the end of the game, and he's gone off as the Rocket's second highest scorer with 17. Wow.

What makes Nash so good, other than his ability to score at a high percentage at just about any spot on the floor, is that he is almost completely unpredictable with the basketball in his hands: he has no tendencies. No matter how much game tape a defensive player would study from Nash, trying to predict his next move at any moment on the court is little more than a guessing game. Parker, on the other hand, easily has tendencies. You know exactly where he wants to go with the ball. Thing is, not too many players are quick enough to beat him there and stop the drive. Wherever Nash scores from, whether it's from a screen or not, it's still all elements of the game. Saying that Nash can't use screens as a part of his offense is like saying Parker can't run on fastbreaks to attempt any of his shots. Sure, maybe Steve Nash wouldn't score quite as much without the use of screens, but then again, neither would Ray Allen or Reggie Miller when it comes to off ball screens. It's not a negative part of a player's game to be so damn good at playing off of screens, on ball or off. Still, do you think Nash won 2 MVPs only for the ability to play screen n roll offense? I know his MVPs were probably somewhat undeserved, but still, how many times has Parker even been a candidate? Again, I'm not saying Nash is clearly better than Parker at all. Actually, at Nash's age, it won't be too long before Parker surpasses Nash, yet right now, if Parker IS better than Nash, it's not nearly by any long shot. ------- The difference between Ariza and Arenas is that Arenas has already put up these kinds of numbers in the past. Arenas is much less likely to have his stats drop off as the season progresses than Ariza, especially when scoring 30+ points is still unusual for Ariza in this point of his career. Again, IF Arenas remains healthy, he is easily top 5.

You make it sound like TP was the main cause to the Spurs success or something. Tony Parker was the 2nd or 3rd option behind Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. He was in a great system with great players and a great coach that was good enough altogether to win championships. He was a very importance piece for the Spurs, but I wouldn't bring up team championships in an argument for the better individual player. And whether Tony Parker is the better overall scorer to Steve Nash is very arguable. Steve has proven enough in the past the he can put up a large number of points when he has to, plus he can score more efficiently in more areas of the court than Tony. I think the main reason Tony scores more is because that is simply his role on his team. He is more aggressive in looking for his own shot often throughout the game while Nash is more concerned with setting up his teammates. Anyway, all I'm saying is that whether Nash or Parker is better than the other is arguable, but in no way is Nash "trailing and eating his dust" when it comes to overall game. Same thing goes for Arenas, despite the injury problems in the past. You can't ignore a guy who is already putting up the same numbers as in 06-07 of 28 ppg and 6 ast. If he remains healthy, he'll easily be a top 5 PG again.

^ What about Gilbert Arenas and Steve Nash? I think Nash is still probably the best offensive PG in the league, and Arenas is proving to be the same dangerous scorer that he was a few years ago.

Halftime and the Bobcats have 8 total field goals made, and the only players to make two or more are Gerald and Augustin.

Nothing. Seriously, I'm happy with everything I have.

Stats are overrated. Ariza is the #1 option and Artest is the #4 option. Ariza sees the ball more than Artest, so of course his offensive stats are going to be inflated a bit. What you should really compare is the stats between Ariza playing for the Rockets this year to Artest's stats for the Rockets last year, and vise versa for their production on the Lakers team, but even that can be misleading.

Monday, November 2nd GAME OF THE WEEK Rockets @ Jazz (NBATV) Points - 0 Winner: Jazz Leading Scorer, Rockets: Luis Scola Leading Scorer, Jazz: Deron Williams Leading Rebounder: Carlos Boozer Leading Passer: Deron Williams Tuesday, November 3rd Bucks @ Bulls Points - 10 Winner: Bulls Leading Passer: Derrick Rose Wednesday, November 4th Heat @ Wizards (ESPN) Points - 5 Winner: Heat Leading Rebounder: Michael Beasley Mavericks @ Hornets (ESPN) Points - 0 Winner: Mavericks Leading Scorer: Dirk Nowitzki Thursday, November 5th Bulls @ Cavaliers (TNT) Points - 5 Winner: Cavaliers Team with Most 3-Points Attempts: Cavaliers Spurs @ Jazz (TNT) Points - 0 Winner: Spurs Team with Most Turnovers: Jazz Friday, November 6th Cavaliers @ Knicks (ESPN) Points - 10 Winner: Cavaliers Team with Most Free-Throw Attempts: Cavaliers Spurs @ Blazers (ESPN) Points - 5 Winner: Blazers Player with Most Personal Fouls: Greg Oden (joke?)

LeBron has enough help to make another championship run. Really, as a team, the Cavs have everything it takes, as far as defense and offensive weapons go. I think the real problem lies greatly with the coaching staff.