Built Ford Tough

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/update-lesnar-out-of-ufc-106-20560 Pretty crappy to hear this as this headliner would've been the icing on the cake for a pretty good 106 card. Don't get me wrong, Tito vs. Forrest is a very interesting remtach and a fight I am very excited to see happen, but if they would've had this fight on top of the Tito/Forrest fight it would've been a very nice card (assuming that they have the Lil Nog vs. Cane fight on this card as well like speculated). Oh well, if they end up having this fight on the New Years card and they also keep the Silva/Belfort fight on that card (speculation was that this would be the headliner) then that is going to be a sick card.

Greg Oden. He is still worth taking in the top 2 imo, he just hasn't done enough to warrant being selected ahead of Durant. He still have the potential to be a very good center and I don't really see anybody else that should be taken ahead of him.

What the hell does that have to do with anything? Do you even know what hypocritical means? Please, explain to me how having DeMar DeRozan as my favourite player makes what I said in this thread hypocritical? I said talk is cheap because year after year we always hear about how the Phoenix Suns are going to be an improved defensive team, how they are focusing primarily on defense, yadda yadda yadda, yet the Suns have shown absolutely no improvements defensively at all. They have traded away their best defensive players in Shawn Marion and Raja Bell and fired their defensive minded coach because of players not willing to commit to playing defense. I said that talk is cheap because the Suns have talked more about defense than they have actually played it, yet somehow that is hypocritical of me because DeMar DeRozan is one of my favourite players? Right... Hell, you bring up something to do with Amare Stoudemire when I didn't even mention his name in my post. Even then, you talk only about offense, which I didn't even mention as I was strictly talking about defense, something that Amare is allergic to playing. Keep reaching there buddy...

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/62333/20091025/barkley_wants_to_be_a_general_manager/ How do you think Barkley would do as a general manager?

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/62337/20091025/thunder_hoping_for_vast_improvement/ The playoffs are a possibility, I guess, but I have said before that the Thunder might be better off having another relatively poor seasn if it means getting a pretty good draft pick. They are lacking a good, solid big man and this years draft has a lot of big man depth in it. Getting a player like Cole Aldrich or even a prospect big man like Soloman Alabi (although the Sonics/Thunder franchise haven't had much luck with prospect bigs) could very well set this roster up long term at basically every position, assuming that they are able to keep them all together. They should obviously set their goals as high as possible and shoot for the playoffs, but it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did not make the playoffs, in my mind at least.

Talk is cheap. We have been hearing about how the Suns will be an improved defensive team since Steve Nash's first season back in Phoenix but year in and year out they are the same mediocore defensive team and year in and year out that is their downfall. I do agree that the Suns could be a good sleeper team this year considering some people don't think that they will even be a playoff team, but unless they make some huge strides defensively, which I don't believe they will considering the personnel on the team, they won't be anything more than a first or second round playoff exit.

So? Anyways, its not like Machida landed anything of significance to Shogun's entire body, let alone his face. Machida landed a very good knee in the first couple of minutes and he landed a couple of solid punches, but other than that Shogun landed the more significant blows all night long. As for the comment about it being a unanimous decision rather than a split decision, just because it was considered to be unanimous doesn't mean that it wasn't a close fight. There have been split decisions that weren't as close as unanimous decisions because one judge might have it 29-28 for one fighter but the others could have it as 30-27 for the other fighter (which is pretty ridiculous if you think about it, I have seen it happen though). Just because a decision is unanimous doesn't mean that it wasn't neceissarily as close as a split decision. Machida won the 2nd round of the fight definitely (at least in my opinion) and you could argue that he won one more round, but there is no way that he won 3 rounds. Shogun was the aggressor for almost the entire fight, landed more shots in basically every single round and was simply the better fighter last night for the majority of the fight. I definitely agree that Shogun was robbed last night and that performance that Shogun put on was the type of fighting that everybody expected from Shogun when he first came to the UFC. That kind of performance is why Shogun was widely considered the #1 LHW in the world and one of the best P4P fighters in the world a few years ago. It looks like Shogun is finally recovered from his two ACL surgeries and having a healthy Shogun makes the UFC's LHW division even more stacked. Combine Shogun's resurgance with the additions of Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria as well as Chuck Liddell getting back into training (who knows, maybe he can have a late career rebirth much like Randy has had?) and the fact that Rampage will be back eventually (at least I believe so) and you have one stacked division. Back to the decision though, that is one of the worst decisions I have seen in the UFC. It isn't as bad as the legendary Bisping vs. Hammil decision back in England a couple years ago (that was an absolutely terrible decision) but it definitely was a robbery. Speaking of poor decisions though, how the hell did they give Matt Bader a 30-27 decision? I agree that he won the fight but it was definitely a 29-28 decision as he did not win the 2nd round at all. Not sure if anybody watched the prelims or not though. Cain Velasquez is legit though. I had my doubts about him after his lackluster performance against Cheick Kongo, but he put on an absolute wrestling clinic against Ben Rothwell (who is no joke) and completely dominated him from start to finish. The stoppage was a bad stoppage imo, but Velasquez was going to dominate Rothwell anyways so its not that bad. That was a very impressive performance from Cain though. I hope that they don't throw him to the wolves and match up with the winner of Lesnar/Carwin or somebody like Nogueria or Mir as he is still fairly green in some aspects of the sport and needs some more seasoning against second tier fighters but with the rate that he is improving he could become a very dangerous heavyweight contender. Anthony Johnson was very impressive as well. The guy is just a huge WW. I think he might be too big though. He missed weight for the fight as he had to cut 50 [expletive]ing pounds (he came into his camp at 220 pounds). I just don't know if he will be able to continuously make the cut to 170. If he can he is going to be a dangerous fighter int hat division and he is the one guy that I could see giving GSP some troubles. A huge guy like him with a very good wrestling background and knockout power in both hands and both feet. He is still very young and only getting better too. It was a solid card (still have to watch some fights as I missed a couple last night) but it will definitely be overshadowed by the controversial decision in the main event.

I just happened to stumble across this: It is from Sam Smith's blog. He is a Bulls writer so I don't know if it is completely credibile but it does sound realistic to have Sefolosha start at the two and have Harden come off of the bench for them.

Yeah. During the pre game introductions Bosh is always announced as the starting power forward while Bargs is announced as the starting center. Bosh just takes the jump ball for the team because of his length and superior athleticism over Bargnani. I've also read that Triano and Colangelo want Bargnani to play inside more this season (I doubt it actually happens though) so I think this will be the year that Bargnani actually plays center rather than Bosh. One thing I noticed is the Knicks. I don't see David Lee not starting for them. I'm not exactly sure on the other positions but I would expect something like: Lee Harrington Galinari Chandler Duhon That is just a guess though as outside of the center and power forward spot I am not positive who will start where.

From everything that I have read, heard and seen, the Raptors starting lineup is correct. Everything is pointing to it being Calderon/DeRozan/Turk/Bosh/Bargs.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketbal...438856-sun.html Hopefully he can be ready by the beginning of the season as his hustle, toughness and rebounding would be a great help against the Cavs. However, it doesn't sound like that will be happening. I would just go with a 3 big rotation of Bosh/Bargnani/Rasho because Amir Johnson isn't ready for more than 10 mpg at this point in his career against a championship calibre team like the Cavs.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/basketbal...446171-sun.html I realize that it doesn't technically say that he was sent home, I just used that as my thread title because I figured it would create more interest lol. You can't be too careful with this kind of thing. You definitely don't want to see the entire team get hit with the flu bug with just a week until the season opener against the Cavs.

Could you just imagine a Durant-Roy perimeter duo? That would be straight up nasty. I still believe that Oden can become a great center if he manages to actually stay on the court, but Durant is the obvious choice here.

Please point out to me where I said that Darko is a better player than David Lee? What exactly is your point about David Lee being the teams best rebounder either? Its not like I am saying that Lee should be benched or anything. I said that he should play at his naturaly position, which is the 4. I listed him as the starting 4. You do realize that Jared Jeffries averaged 0.6 bpg last season (a career high) and has a career average of of 0.5 bpg right? Jeffries averaged the 0.6 bpg in 23.4 mpg while Darko averaged 0.8 in 17 mpg. When Darko has been given around the same amount of minutes (23-24) he has averaged 1.8 and 1.6 bpg. Hell, he averaged 2.1 in only 20 minutes with Orlando after he was traded there during the 05/06 season. Oh yeah, Darko has a career average of 1.2 bpg as well. Darko is undoubtedly the teams best shot blocker. Put it this way, Darko has been in the league for 6 years compared to Jeffries 7 years and Darko has managed 414 blocks compared to Jefferies 204 despite playing 5 less minutes per game and 103 less games. As for you comments about Lee and Jeffries being "long" players, David Lee has a wingspan of 7'0 and Jeffries has a 7'1 wingspan. Darko has a wingspan of 7'5. So seeing how Darko has a longer wingspan and is a better interior defender than both of them (Lee is a better rebounder but Darko is a better defender), what exactly are you trying to argue about here? I just noticed this comment: What makes me think otherwise is that I have seen David Lee get lit up by post players and attacked by perimeter players on a regular basis. The same can be said for Jeffries when he was put in at the 4 (he spent the majority of his time last year at the 3). All you have to do is have watched the 3 of these guys play enough to get a credible opinion on them to realize that Lee and Jeffries aren't as good interior defenders as Darko is. I'm not saying Darko is an elite defender or anything, but he is the best interior defender that the Knicks have on their roster. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am not saying that Darko should be the starter or anything like that. I just made this thread to create discussion. If you don't believe that Darko should start, I can accept that opinion and see the reasoning behind it. The only reason why I responded to your post is that you saying the only reason to consider Darko for the starting job is curiousity is simply false. Darko brings things to the table that they do not have with David Lee at center and Al Harrington at power forward. One of the Knicks biggest problems last season was a lack of an interior presence defensively and Darko is their best interior presence defensively. That would be why you could argue for Darko to start.

No it isn't. You can use the very legitimate argument of Darko being the best interior defender on the team and a shot blocking presence down low as well. The Knicks don't have one big man that is capable of blocking shots and while Darko is no Dwight Howard when it comes to blocking shots, he is definitely an upgrade over players like David Lee or Eddy Curry on the defensive end of the floor. And neither Jeffries or Lee can defend centers. David Lee got absolutely abused by legit centers last season on the defensive end of the floor and Jeffries simply doesn't have the body type to defend centers either.

He is out for the rest of the preseason. http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2009/10/tough-break-for-the-tough-guy-2.html

Who would you rather have between Pops and Johnson and why?

What I've been most impressed with him is his ability to get to the free throw line. He has done a really good job of getting to the line, and most importantly, converting his free throws into points. At USC he got to the line 4 times a game but he only shot 64% from the stripe. So far in the preseason he has gotten to the line 28 times and made 24 of them including a 10-10 game against Washington. His jumper still needs work and the same can be said for his handles, but I am impressed with the improvements from him at getting to the line and making them as well.

I know man, I was just messing around. Mine would probably be hockey just because basically every weekend I will go out and watch some hockey games with some friends and I love watching hockey live. I know more about basketball, play basketball more often and can discuss it in greater detail but I honestly think that I would miss hockey more if both were taken out of my life completely. I watch hockey and basketball basically equally, but what sways me towards picking hockey is because of me being able to watch it live and just loving the atmosphere at a live hockey game, especially the playoffs.

Thats cause hockey is played with a puck.

Warriors exercise options on Brandan Wright and Anthony Randolph : InsideHoops No surprise here. I don't think that anybody believed that these options wouldn't be picked up.

Which Western Conference Team Concerns You The Most? San Antonio Spurs Dallas Mavericks Portland Trailblazers Denver Nuggets Utah Jazz New Orleans Hornets Other

Both of these players are still relatively young and still developing their game. Thornton had a solid rookie season but fell off a bit his second year while Jordan didn't get much of an opportunity to play, but produced when he did. How important are these two youngsters to the Clippers future? Do you think that they are solid builiding blocks heading forward, or are they expendable pieces?

Do you think that Darko should start this season for the Knicks? I know that D'Antoni likes to push the pace and play a Run N Gun style and would rather have smaller, quick players which is why Lee started at center, but having Darko in the starting lineup gives them a guy with good size at center as well as a good defensive presence as well. He is athletic enough to get out and run the floor as well so that shouldn't be a problem. So do you think that the Knicks should start Darko and have a lineup of: C: Darko PF: Lee SF: Harrington SG: Hughes PG: Duhon ???

Nuggets players step it up back at home - The Denver Post Jesus, just start Afflalo until Smith comes back and then give Smith the starting job. If you really want Smith to be the 6th man then just give Afflalo the starting job all year. What is it with Karl's love for Anthony Carter? The guy is a serviceable backup point guard at best. It is a joke to even consider him a starter when you have other, better options like Aaron Afflalo.