Built Ford Tough

If the Rockets are serious about moving up in the draft and Portland keeps the Nets pick, I could see something centered around Lowry and the Blazers 11th pick (plus another asset). That would give Houston the 11th, 14th and 16th picks (plus guys like Patterson, Morris, Buddinger, etc...) that they could dangle to try and move up into the top 5. They would then likely target somebody like Drummond and hope to hell that Hakeem and McHale can bring out the best in him. I can't really think of a better situation for a young big man like Drummond to come into than having arguably the two best back to the basket scorers in NBA history working closely with you. I doubt that they would be able to move into the top 5 with that kind of package, though, which would kill any chances of this type of trade. I think they would have to get a top 10 pick in order for a team to consider doing this kind of trade unless the team trading down really falls in love with a guy like Rivers, Waiters, Sullinger, T. Jones, or some other late lottery/mid first player. If Toronto doesn't have any luck in the lottery, aren't able to move up and don't have a guy they like fall to them, I can see them being interested in moving their pick for Lowry as well. Their search for a point guard is hardly a secret and Lowry would fit in very nicely with Casey's system.

Every Celtic possession is the same. Aimlessly dribble or pass the ball around the perimeter and then finally get the ball to Pierce and hope he can bail them out with 5 seconds on the shot clock. Sad thing is, the Sixers offensive execution is worse and because of that the Celtics are up 8.

Turner's offense in the postseason has been all sorts of awful. He is still doing his usual work on the glass and it is helping spark the Sixers transition game, but man, he is launching bricks left and right.

Marlies beat the OKC Barons 3-1 tonight to win the Western Conference Finals 4-1. They are 11-2 in the playoffs so far. They will be playing the Norfolk Admirals for the Calder Cup. For anybody who doesn't know, Norfolk won 28 games in a row earlier in the season (Universe mentioned it in the general hockey thread), so they are obviously a great team and are the favourites in this series. On the bright side, the series doesn't start until June 1st so the week off should hopefully be enough for Kardi, Zigomanis and Mueller to heal up and get back into the lineup, as well as give anybody else nursing minor injuries (I knowColborne missed some games earlier in the playoffs) some needed rest. As far as stats are concerned: D'Amigo has 8/4 for 12 points Dupuis has 4/8 for 12 points Frattin has 8/3 for 11 points Deschamps has 3/8 for 11 points Kadri has 3/7 for 10 points Gardiner has 2/6 for 8 points Scrivens has posted a 0.942 SV% and a 1.66 GAA with 3 SO

I'd say Suter is the best free agent this summer. Parise is a very good player, but he isn't the same as he was before tearing his ACL. If I thought he could get back to the 40 goal/85-90 point great two way forward that he was prior to that injury I'd say he is the biggest prize of the summer, but I don't think he will ever get back to that form. Maybe he still isn't at 100% as this things do take over a year to fully rocover from and I am wrong, but he just doesn't have the same burst to his game that he used to. He is still a damn good player, though.

Top 10? Definitely. The combination of natural talent, athleticism and upside is just too much to pass up. Sure, he may bust and become another Anthony Randolph, but there is also the chance that he could become the best player in this draft. For me, I start considering him after the top 5. I think it is safe to say the top 5 will be: Davis MKG Beal Robinson Drummond (in some order) I would start considering him after those guys are off the board.

Did Lundvist get injured earlier in the series or something? I missed games three and four so I can't comment on any sort of specifics or anything like that, but he just seemed to be a completely different goalie in the last two games. I haven't seen him look this bad in a long time. Sucks for the Ranger fans on here, but I think you guys can admit that the Rangers really didn't deserve to win this series. You can't expect to win when you are coming out completely flat and digging yourself a multiple goal hole early in both games. I don't think anybody realistically expected them to make it this far anyways.

1st - 3.5% chance 2nd - 4% chance 3rd - 4.8% chance 8th - 70.4% chance 9th - 16.5% chance 10th - 0.08% chance They can also technically fall to 11th, but the chances of that happening is in the ten-thousandth of a percent range, so it isn't even worth mentioning.

Do you forget the 40/18/9 game less than a week ago? Wade is great, and he was completely dominant tonight, but LeBron goes off nobody in the league can match him. Sure, Kobe and Durant can get in these scoring zones that rival or even surpass James, but nobody dominates a game in every single way like LeBron does when he gets in that zone.

Wednesday. TSN is airing it at 8 PM EST.

Some new draft stuff over the past few days. Colangelo is one of many GM's/Scouts taking in the workouts in Santa Barbara: Perry Jones impressing in workouts playing as a small forward: Dion Waiters is impressing everybody and Ford recently moved him into his top 10. So much for getting him in the 2nd round like I hoped so desperately for earlier in the season. Jordan Taylor will be working out for the Raptors. If he was picked, it would likely be the Pacers 2nd rounder.

Might still be him. The mens team doesn't really have anything this summer since they didn't qualify for the last chance Olympic tournament this summer. As far as I know, it is basically a summer off for the mens team. The majority of the speculation I've read is that he will have an executive role and not coach. I'd rather him coach since there really isn't any better option if we are talking strictly Canadian coaches.

The thing is, Griffin isn't a low post threat. His offense is basically all slashing and finishing. You can't really dump the ball into the post and tell him to go score you a basket. Same thing with Millsap in the Jazz series. They did have Jefferson who is a great low post scorer, but he also doesn't have a significant size advantage either to pair with his post game. Guys like Bynum are very difficult for San Antonio because not only can he score in the low post, he has a significant size advantage. Gasol as well, although not to the same degree. I believe those were the type of bigs that Finch was refering to, not guys like Griffin or Millsap. EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm not saying they will run through the Thunder or anything like that. I do think they will win, but I'd be surprised if it was in less than 6 games. I'm just elobrating on the Spurs vulnerability to talented size like Bynum or Gasol.

Tim Duncan: 32 mpg Manu Ginobili: 26.3 mpg Tony Parker: 35 mpg They have made quick work of both the Jazz and Clippers, yet Pop has still managed to moderate their minutes and keep them from any potential burnout. It is amazing how they've been able to dominate both the Clippers and Jazz and yet these guys are barely playing more than they did in the regular season. Meanwhile, you have guys like Kobe, James, Wade, Rondo, Granger, West and Durant who are all logging 39+ minutes a night and Pierce, Garnett, Holiday and Iguodala playing 37+ a night. I'm not saying they will break down or anything, but it just goes to show how great the Spurs really have been in the playoffs so far. Basically every other team has had to ride their stars into the ground, while Pop is able to win games and keep his big three well rested for the upcoming rounds.

I'll be the first to point out a Clipper flop, but I didn't see it on that last play. Paul was simply off balance as Green beat him to the spot. Since he wasn't able to create the seperation he needed to get a shot over the taller, longer Green, he had to go into his bad to create space and hang in the air more than he would on a usual shot. That looked to get him really off balanced and he fell as a result. I think if he really was trying to flop or sell a call, he would've complained to the ref and I didn't see that.

Great defense from Green on that final possession. Really forced a difficult shot for Paul.

Paul uncharacteristically out of control on two straight possessions. He got lucky on the first having it bounce off Manu out of bounds, but you can't get caught in the air like that. How will he redeem himself on this final possession? Green left the door open by splitting the pair.

So Del Negro does have at least a tiny bit of common sense. I'm actually surprised. I thought he'd leave Evans in the game but it looks like he is putting Butler in and playing Griffin at the 5. Even if you are at a bit of a disadvantage defensively, you simply have to make this move or else you will piss the game away on offense with missed free throws.

Vintage Duncan in this quarter. In the post, elbow jumpers, momentum swinging baskets, blocked shots and so on. The only thing missing is him guarding Griffin one-on-one and shutting him down. Nice response by the Clippers with the mini 6-0 after San Antonio came back and took a small lead.

I love it when Jordan complains about not getting a call. Are you mad you won't get the opportunity to brick two free throws?

Terrible T on Leonard. What did he do to deserve that?

Well, if you are of the opinion that Granger's antics have had no impact on LeBron and Wade and if he focused more on actually playing basketball and being the primary option that he is expected to be, the Pacers could have a real stranglehold on this series. You could also argue that him getting in Wade's face today was what he needed to get going and, if that was the case, it could be argued that was the biggest reason Indiana didn't take a 3-1 lead today. It really comes down to whether his antics have actually done anything to bother James and/or Wade. If you think they have then they definitely have helped, if you think they haven't then it could easily be viewed as a negative when your most talented offensive player is more focused on being a pest than actually scoring the ball. Personally, i don't think it has had a noticeable enough impact either way. I really don't think he has gotten in James or Wade's head, nor do I really think it is the reason for his offensive struggles either.

Jordan is such a disaster. He is a complete liability on the floor, especially against this Spurs team. What a flukey ass shot by Williams, lol.

I'm sure everybody knows what I mean by his act. He has been going out of his way to confront James and, to a lesser extent Wade, in what could only be described as trying to get them off their game. He has picked up 3 technical fouls in the last 3 games. While he is still a long way away from the 7 that are needed to get an automatic one game suspension so he won't physically take himself out of the game, could it be argued that his desire for confrontation in this series is actually hurting the Pacers and limiting his effectiveness out there? By always looking to mix it up he seems to be not focusing as much on the game. Against Orlando he averaged: 21.4 ppg and 7 rpg on 52.2 TS% Against Miami he is averaging: 13.8 ppg and 5.5 rpg on 44 TS% You can see that there is a dramatic decrease in his production in this series. Now, I realize Miami is a much better defensive team than the Magic are, especially without Howard, but are they good enough to account for a 7.6 decrease in scoring and an 8.2 decrease in TS%? I'll let you judge that. Also, one could argue that his confrontation with Wade late in the 2nd quarter of this game was the turning point in him going off. Up until then he was still struggling and after that he basically went nuts. LeBron has had some outstanding statlines in this series as well, so it is clear Granger's after the whistle shenanigans aren't really disrupting him either. So do you think his act is helping the Pacers, or is it actually hurting them? Or has it really done nothing either way and is a complete non-factor?

You are still one of the very few people on here who should be taking shots at other people for their supposed bias when it comes to James. Even if you don't troll, you are still far from impartial when commenting on him. I don't blame you, either, because I guarantee that if I was in your position I'd be far from impartial when it comes to James as well. Hell, I was in that position when it came to Vince Carter and it probably took me 3-4 years before I got over it and was able to be 100% objective when it came to him.