Poe

Interesting how it doesn't mention his defense or his extraordinary rebounding ability. Nonetheless, great steal for the Knicks, and it looks like Fields is on his way to a very successful career. Also, last summer I predicted the Knicks would finish as an eighth seeded team, but probably the only reason I didn't predict them any higher is because I had no idea Landry Fields existed. The small but impacting elements he brings to the starting line up have been very important to the Knicks' success this year. As he further develops that three pointer, he may be the type of both-ends player every team needs to win championships.

Despite not taking three pointers, his true shooting was 59% in that 6 game span. That speaks volumes about his growing ability to score.

Well all the guys I mentioned have more than Brewer, Ellis, and maybe Aldridge. Oh well, at least I found a couple names. And Granger and Jameer have more games played than Calderon.

Andrei Kirilenko, Jameer Nelson, Danny Granger, Andrew Bogut, Jose Calderon.

I think it may actually turn out more disappointing if he did join the dunk contest.

But the Heat may still have the MLE, which I believe is a good 5M or more to sign someone even when you are over the cap limit. I think the Lakers used it to get Ron Artest, then Steve Blake the next year. Micky Arison is willing to spend that extra money to get the players the Heat need. So as long as the rumored lockout doesn't change any of that, the Heat should be fine in regards to having some flexibility to upgrade their weakest positions each offseason.

Some stats for ya. Last year, the Suns were: 1st in FG% 1st in 3PT% 1st in PPG 11th in turnovers 1st in offensive rating 12th in opponents FG% 17th in opponents 3PT% 26th in opponents points per game 20th in rebounding 29th in steals 12th in blocks 23rd in defensive rating This year, the Suns are: 2nd in FG% 9th in 3PT% 2nd in points per game 10th in turnovers 3rd in offensive rating 30th in opponents FG% 16th in opponents 3PT% 30th in opponents points per game 30th in rebounding 25th in steals 27th in blocks 30th in defensive rating So what do we get out of this? The Suns might not be the best offensive team in the league anymore, but they are still damn good at third place. However, their biggest issues are going from 20th to last in rebounding, and going from 23rd to last in defense. So bottom line, after now knowing the facts, are you still trying to tell me that the best way for the Suns to become good again is to increase their "interior scoring" thus most likely becoming the best offensive team in the league, rather than not being the worst defensive team??? Again, the solution is to not be last in defense and rebounding. That's why they got Gortat and Pietrus. They may still need more defenders if they wish to make the playoffs.

Where the [expletive] is this guy: http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/media/act_monta_ellis.jpg Seriously: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/gamelog?playerId=2751

The Suns are one of the best offensive teams in the league. Getting another top 5 PF like Amar'e would only make their offense SO good, that it would make up for being possibly the worst defensive team in the league. What's more valuable to them is getting more defensive minded players, particularly at the wing positions. So in other words... their defense sucks. That's why they are mediocre.

Simply put, their defense sucks.

I'd take them over Magloire and House, or even Dampier and Howard. That's a good thing. The majority of the players on this team are in their 30s. As Arroyo and Z age, hopefully the Heat will find quality replacements through free agency.

Thabeet would be awesome... but I'm sure there are many other teams in this league that are high on his potential, and most likely have much better value to give in return than Joel Anthony and Eddie House.

The Heat should have kept Butler and Beverly. There's too much age on this team. The only youth that remains are Chalmers and Pittman. For now, nobody really needs to be cut. The Heat always keep 15 players. The only reason the Heat should cut a player is to replace him with a younger guy that may be useful in the future. Also, there is one thing I disagree with in your line up suggestion, and that's Dampier getting more playing time than Anthony.

Sacrifices may need to be made in order to do what's necessary to bring this team back to a championship level. Brown has proven to be a quality player, which makes him a good trading chip. I'm not saying the Lakers should look to trade him specifically, but he may inevitably be involved in order for the Lakers to get the player they need..... that is, if the Lakers are actually looking to trade Artest or upgrade over Fisher. I see what you are saying about Odom at the 3. Perhaps it would be better to find a shooter based player instead. Plus, moving Odom to the 3 would require a bit of an adjustment to Odom's game, and he's already found his comfort zone at the 4 in the Laker triangle, and it's probably best not to take that away from him. I still believe Fisher needs an upgrade, and Phil Jackson possibly disagreeing with it isn't a reason for me to believe it's the best decision for Fisher to remain at the starting position. Back in his day, Fisher was valued for his shooting, defense, and leadership. Now almost every PG matchup has been considerably against Fisher to the point where Kobe may actually have to guard his man, his true shooting has gone too far down to just 49%, and now his leadership role is pretty much all that's left. But Fisher can still bring that leadership presence off the bench. Trading Artest for Mo not only upgrades the much-lacking PG position, but it also frees up playing time for Matt Barnes, who's TS% is at a very high 59%, while Artest has gone down to a horrific 46.6%. The triangle is only the best offense in basketball when the players know how to run it, and just by the shooting numbers you can tell which one out of these two small forwards actually know it and thus benefit from it. Plus Barnes isn't exactly much of a downgrade from Artest defensively anyway. Brown might have to be thrown in in such a trade because I doubt the Cavs would be willing to take on Artest's contract without getting some youth along with it, as well as picks and whatnot. It wouldn't be an easy choice to part with Brown the way he's played, but a good PG is more valuable for LA than a good back up SG behind Kobe. Plus, as far as I know, Mo is the type of player that would greatly benefit from the triangle with his shooting ability, and he'd be a defensive upgrade to Fisher... well... anyone would I guess. It wouldn't have to be Mo specifically BTW, but I do feel it would have to someone that is a clear upgrade over Fisher, and not just a guy who can simply fill in like Steve Blake. It needs to be an elite level shooter or defender. A defender like Hinrich or a shooter like Ben Gordon.

The Magic have Ryan Anderson. What they need to do is replace Gortat.

Pat Riley used it during the '06 playoffs. And for a serious answer to the topic, typically Pittman, Magloire, and Howard/House should be inactive, depending on matchups.

I feel the Lakers need to make a change, and two changes are certain to me: 1) Andrew Bynum needs to start 2) Artest is playing much too poorly to start for this team, and the same thing with Derek Fisher. The problem though is that Artest is not very useful as a bench player, since his only value is at the defensive end. It's fine when he's starting next to good scorers like Kobe, Pau, and Odom, but much less so next to Blake, Brown, Caracter, or Walton. Instead of simply switching the roles of Barnes and Ron Artest, I suggest trading Artest, and in the process, changing the make up of the starting line. Perhaps they should trade Ron (among other things like draft picks) for a big man with a similar contract, like Tyrus Thomas, or Anderson Varejao, or Drew Gooden, etc and change the starting line up to: Steve Blake Kobe Bryant Lamar Odom Pau Gasol Andrew Bynum With Fisher, Brown, Barnes, and someone like Anderson Varejao backing them up. The reason I suggest starting Odom at the 3 is because I feel Odom has become too good to come off the bench. Not only has he improved the ability to shoot threes, his true shooting percentage is at a career high 62%, which is far better than he has shot the past two years, and is the highest TS% on the team this year. His PER is also the third best on the team at 19.0. Putting him at the three would also allow the Lakers to overwhelm the opposition with their size including a 7'0 PF and a 6'11 SF. It wouldn't hurt spacing since starting Odom would actually improve the three point shooting, and though Odom might not be as good of a defender as Artest (by reputation), he can still use his length to bother wing players at the very least. Alternatively, the Lakers could go back to bringing Odom off the bench, and instead trade Artest for an upgrade at point guard, perhaps including Steve Blake and/or Shannon Brown in the deal. Perhaps for a point guard on a bottom seeded team like Mo Williams, or maybe just a shooting guard LA can stick at the point in the triangle like Ben Gordon. Some people might think LA has no hope of getting a player of the same caliber as Mo Williams or Ben Gordon without removing something too valuable, but remember the way they got Pau Gasol... So anyway, an end result of... Mo Williams Kobe Bryant Matt Barnes Pau Gasol Andrew Bynum With Fisher and Odom, and whoever else remains off the bench. I think either of my suggested moves would result in a much improved team.

The whole team. Watching them makes it hard to believe they won the championship last year. Unless they make a change, they are done.

I watched most of this game. I gotta say, D Wright is really starting to "get it". 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 turnovers in 43 minutes, plus 28 points in 8-11 from the field, 5-6 from three, and shot 7-8 from the line. A VERY efficient game. I think this will be a turning point in the season for Dorell.

If it's about who has the most wins, then I guess we can assume the team with the most regular season victories will win the championship each year... right? Or maybe you mean which teams win the regular season series will win each round? I'm looking at how teams play as a whole. I barely pay attention to overall wins and losses anymore. The Heat lost some close games to some good teams, but crushed some bad ones. By the numbers, the facts, they are the best defensive team. The two times the Celtics played the Heat were in the first 9 games. The Heat weren't put together as well defensively then. And yea yea, I know, the Celtics are pretty damn good and the Heat have a couple weak points. But the Heat have three 10s and two 3s while the Celtics have five 7s. 36 > 35. You can over-analyze the last sentence if you want, but I think I got the main idea across. Since neither of us have any real facts to prove who's better, then call it a matter of opinion, and my opinion is Spo > Doc. What I'm looking at isn't about what team he has beat, what playoff series he's won, who out-coached who, or what he's pulled off out of nowhere. Spoelstra has shown a fast growing knowledge of the game, but what's more important is that his imagination is better than what most people may see on the surface, and definitely far better than Doc's, at least that's what I believe. Spo continues to grow and impress me the more I watch the Heat the past two and a half years. He sees things other people don't. I think there is a reason Riley stepped down for him and said that Spoelstra will become one of the elite coaches of our time. I merely trusted Riley's word for it before, but now I understand why.

The Heat are 1st in the league in opponents PPG, 1st in opponent's FG% and 3PT%, 1st in average score differential, 1st in block differential, 5th in rebound differential, 5th in FG%, 4th in 3PT%, and 3rd in turnovers. And the Heat have won 14 of their last 15 games, 12 of them being double digit victories. Average victory margin in that span has been about +14 ppg forcing opponents to score an average of about 86 ppg. This isn't a mere run either, and the Heat are still getting better. The Heat are the best defensive team in the league already, and will maybe become the best defensive team of all time as far as I know. Add that with possibly the best trio of all time... let's just say "Finals Lock" is putting it lightly. A healthy Heat is a championship lock, and I've felt this way since the first game this season. And Erik Spoelstra is a better coach than Doc Rivers.

The Lakers aren't playing championship basketball, which is very odd considering how long the majority of these players have been together. The Heat are a brand new team, and 31 games in they are already looking like a lock for the finals. I don't doubt Phil and Kobe's history and their ability to turn things around. At this very point in the season though, the Heat, Celtics, Mavericks, and Spurs are better than them, and that's not something I could say the past two seasons. There needs to be a change IMO. Perhaps starting Bynum will do the trick, perhaps Matt Barnes should start over Ron Artest, or perhaps LA needs to make a serious trade, or maybe just a small but impacting tweak. I don't think "getting serious" is the entire source of the issue.

Ax the guy the Heat got to replace Haslem... Dampier.

Overseas road trip.

I personally think there should be 40 teams or so, and put 10 in Europe. There's too much talent not to add more teams, and I don't see a reason why the NBA has to be limited to the US and Canada.