Nitro

I know I'm biased because I was in attendance, but my choice would be the Suns-Nets game that went in double OT and the score was 161-157. Kidd had 38/14/14 (tying Wilt on the all-time career triple-doubles list), and Nash scored a career-high 42pts along with his 13 assists. Nash also hit the game-tying 3 to send the game into OT.

I'd rate his albums SSLP>Infinite>TES>MMLP>Recovery>Encore>Relapse

Again, many of the greatest rappers ever have used recycled rhymes in freestyles. Nas, Big L, Biggie, and it goes on and on. It's not to trick anyone or use up some dead area in their verse. They use the pre-written stuff to get the flow going, and they improvize off of the rhymes they already had written down. Most freestylers spitting in a ciph already have at least the first few lines already layed out in their head, and then go off the dome once they got the flow going after they spit the pre-rehearsed lines.

I'd be optimistic if I were a Lakers fan. Even if only for Game 5 he'll feel like a million bucks. And if the 2008 Finals and Game 4 were any indication, the Lakers will need a relatively healthy Bynum to close this series.

It's neither right or wrong, it's just the way it is. It doesn't bother me at all.

My bad about the assist thing, I read it wrong off the box score (was reading Artest's assists). Anyway, I don't think his defense was HORRIBLE on Davis. Many of Davis' drives to the hoop were contested, and as opposed to the previous games when he had trouble finishing over length, he was making some tremendous shots last night. The biggest difference in Davis' and Odom's play was energy and effort. When there was a broken play that Davis scored on, it was because he was giving it his all while Odom was going through the motions like it was a regular season game. When Ron Artest is tied for team-high in rebounds with 7, the Lakers won't win. The Lakers just don't have the playable size to match up with the Celtics with Bynum out. Having Mbenga and Powell play spot minutes would probably be a wise move, but anymore than 6-8 minutes for each is a scary thought.

Odom was one of only 3 players for the Lakers to score double digit points tonight, and he was tied for team highs in rebounds and assists. FAR from the only, or even biggest problem in tonights game.

Boston's bench saved them. Doc should take a hint for the rest of this series. Lakers played like garbage. Gasol was getting muscled out of his comfort zone in the 2nd half, Kobe was commiting a ton of TO's and started his take-over too late, and everyone else was non-existent. Horrible.

Of the more well-known rappers, Canibus is one of the best at spitting off the dome as well. Kind of like Em but to a lesser degree, his ideal style is perfectly suited for freestyle/battle rap.

Because I thought it was pretty common knowledge that Dirk is still in his prime while Duncan is not. First off, who did the Mavs sweep in the first round of that postseason? Who did Dirk severely outplay that series as the #1 option? Right. Secondly, you can't isolate that 1 foul call for being the reason the Mavs beat the Spurs. You can't make a big deal about that 1 foul (which WAS a foul) when Dirk scored 35pts, grabbed 15reb, dished 3ast and had 0 TO's. Dirk came up big and the Mavs beat the defending NBA champs...who according to you weren't an "elite team." Lastly, Dirk didn't play well in the Finals, although blaming him for the loss is really pushing it. Dallas' offense didn't lose the series, Dallas' defense did. And that is solely on Avery Johnson's decision not to throw a double at Wade at all in the series, who had one of the greatest NBA Finals in NBA history. Dirk had a tough series, but it's not like Gasol has never had a tough series, including in the NBA Finals. And yes, I know Gasol is a different player than 2008, but so is KG and the Celtics. Dirk was #3 in clutch scoring last year in the league behind James and Bryant. In 08-09, he was #8. In 07-08, #3. He has hit the 8th most GW shots since 03-04 (playoffs included), and the 2nd most GW FT's. Gasol's clutch scoring since joining the Lakers is skewed because of Kobe (skewed meaning his #'s are way down, to be expected), but if you look at his 06-07 stats he was HORRIBLE in the clutch, scoring 35PPG less per 48min in the clutch and shooting 13% worse from the field, 40% worse from the FT line than Dirk. In 05-06 Dirk averaged 10PPG more per 48min with the same FG %, and shot 21% better from the FT line than Gasol. So, knowing all that...do you HONESTLY think Gasol would have done any better in the clutch against any of those teams you mentioned? Do you REALLY think Gasol is anywhere near the clutch player Dirk is? AND ONE LAST TIME- IT DOES NOT MATTER IF DIRK IS A JUMPSHOOTER!!! What hurts jumpshooters is they don't get to the FT line and shoot a low % from the field...Dirk gets to the line 7-8x a game and shoots 48% from the field, 42% from 3 and 90% from the line. He's one of the greatest scorers in NBA history, just look at the stats. LeBron basically gave up against the Celtics as well...does that mean he's a worse player than D-Wade because Wade played hard all 5 games vs. the Celtics and his team over-achieved this season while LeBron's under-achieved? Howard has led his team to the Finals and the ECF this season. He's a dominant player. He has quite a few holes in his game, but like the few other physical specimens like him in NBA history, his presence and freakish abilities negate his lack of skill in certain areas. Certainly nowhere near as versatile offensively as Pau, but only a fool would call Pau a better defender or rebounder. And Gasol has never been dominant enough offensively to cancel out the things Howard does so well. We can talk about all the what-if's with Pau, but he's proven nothing to show he's THAT dominant offensively to say his offense is more impactful than the difference between each of their rebounding and defense. Thanks for putting words in my mouth...I said JVG was a horrible OFFENSIVE coach. Any Rockets fan from 2004-2007 will agree with that. I personally love JVG as a coach, but his offensive sets and principles are horrible. Secondly, how do you in one breath say T-Mac was brittle and he had mediocre role players, and then question why doubling Yao was so effective 2 sentences later? Yao is an underrated passer...certainly no Pau Gasol, but it isn't nearly as big of a difference as you're making it out to be. Lastly, you can talk about his underwhelming postseason stats, but for his career Gasol's are even more underwhelming. Your point? If Bosh was healthy for March, then I would gladly just use his entire season as an example. But the fact of that matter is that he averaged 27/12/3 on 55% shooting in January/February, and his team was 29-23. He got hurt, his team floundered, he came back too early, and the rest is history. Bosh didn't have a tenth of the help Gasol had defensively. The year before Gasol left Memphis his team was the 2nd worst defensive team in the league...it doesn't prove much. Not to mention they are TOTALLY different players defensively. Gasol is taller, stronger and longer than Bosh. He's more capable of guarding some of the bigger, stronger post players in the league like Duncan, Howard, etc... Bosh is quicker, better rebounder and more versatile of a defender, and that was displayed best in the 2008 Olympics. When you have crappy defensive talent around you, the team won't perform and your own defense will suffer. That was seen with Gasol in Memphis a few years back, and Bosh this year. *One last thing...when you are on bad teams and expected to do all the heavy lifting, all the "little things" that you talk about with Gasol are lost in translation. It's why KG went from never mentioned on defense to DPOY by joining the Celtics, and why Pierce went from being considered really good to arguably the game's best player in 2008 after the calvary of help arrived. It's why Gasol's all-around skills, which haven't changed since his Memphis days, were magnified the second he joined the Lakers. We can speculate about what Bosh or Dirk would do as 2nd options, but the fact of the matter is that since they became truly productive NBA players, they were put in the position to be that #1 option. Therefor you have 0 example to say what they would do in those roles, just speculation. As far as defense goes, Bosh's terrific campaign in the 2008 Olympics was my proof of what he could do with the right coach and defensive talent around him. Other than that, there's just no proof. HOWEVER, Gasol has been #1 option of his team for plenty of years, so we do have a place to judge him against Dirk, Bosh or Dwight besides the X's and O's. What defines the NBA's BEST players is how they can lead or carry a team, which is why I stress that ability so much. And there is 0 question to me that Dirk and Dwight can carry and lead a team much better than Gasol, and I truly believe in the right place Bosh can as well.

From what I've personally seen, verses/lines that make an appearance on multiple songs/freestyles tend to be written for the purpose of being put in a song. A lot of rappers who freestyle like to use pre-written rhymes, sometimes from other songs, to get them going and they improvise from there. Some of the best freestylers, new and old, use that technique.

Manhattan alone is about 5x as large as any other city's downtown in the country. If you've ever been there it's crystal clear why it's among the dirtiest...just far too many people jammed into one place.

Awesome. He's a winner, I'd hate to see the Heat let him go.

Nothing too groundbreaking or revealing about the interview (except the fact that LeBron won't go to LAC...ha), but a very interesting read.

This actually looks sick. Mortal Kombat was my favorite video game and movie when I was young. Consdering the outlandish story and characters, this movie looks like it does a good job of keeping it as realistic as it could possibly get. Also love how dark it looks as well. Very excited, even if it doesn't come out 'till 2013 lol.

Has more to do with Yao and T-Mac not being around than anything. For his first few years in Houston he was the team's big-shot maker, hitting a number of dagger 3's set-up off the T-Mac/Yao PnR. Without the benefit of getting open looks in the clutch, it doesn't surprise me he's that low.

Personally I think Paul on the Nets would make just as big of an impact as LeBron or Wade. When healthy he's a top 5 player in the league IMO, and his playmaking and on-court leadership will really help tap the potential of the many young, talented Nets players. Not to mention, with CP3 in town NJ will be a much more lucrative landing spot for many of the top FA's. Give him a Stoudemire, Boozer or Bosh and watch out.

Most rappers use recycled rhymes in freestyles. Big L, Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z...they all do it.

I've given this album a few good listens to the last few days, and I've definately warmed up to it a lot more than I did when I posted a few days ago. Love The Way You Lie, Talkin' To Myself, Going Through Changes, No Love, On Fire...all very solid. My problem remains the same, although I'll rephrase it...the production isn't necessarily bad, but I just don't think it's the best style for Em. As I said before, lyrically he's tight on this album, and many of the beats he's rapping over are solid, but the lyrics and production just don't mesh well. And some of the guest appearences he has to spit the chorus are questionable...not to mention I can't stand when he 'sings' his own chorus. But definately a huge improvement over Encore and Relapse.

Bingo.

Tim Duncan is well past his prime. Dirk Nowitzki just came off one of his best seasons. Horrible example. Do I think Dirk can be the 2nd option of a championship team? Hell yes, he came within 2 wins of winning a championship as a 1st option. And yes, he's essentially a jumpshooter...so what? He's one of the elite jumpshooters in the league, and unlike other pure jumpshooters he gets to the line 7-8x every single year. And despite being primarily a jumpshooter, it hasn't stopped him from averaging 26/11 for his career in the post-season on solid shooting percentages across the board. As I said, after Dirk you can make a great case for Gasol against any other big men. You can't simply use a playoff series 1-on-1 matchup to determine who the better player is though. Gasol was punked by Amare Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki in the postseason with the Grizzlies, getting swept both times and never grabbing over 7.5RPG. Dwight is the kind of player that even if his offensive game never evolves, his teams are always going to get deep into the postseason even as his supporting cast changes. As badly as the Celtics exposed his game, he still made a big impact with 22/11/3. I'll be the first to tell you he's one of the most overrated players in the league and not as great defensively as most claim him to be, but he's always going to be a bigger impact player than Gasol. As for Yao, for years he had a horrible offensive cast and coach (JVG) to work with yet still got his 25PPG in relatively limited minutes (33-35 was the norm). I watched the Rockets religously from 2005-2009, and the only thing that ever stopped Yao was his foul-prone nature and stamina. When he had a bad game, it was usually because he'd get in foul trouble early and mentally would get taken out of the game. This started to change when he took over T-Mac's role as the team's go-to player, but nontheless it was what it was. Pau has more moves than Yao does, and slightly better range, but he also has more moves and range than a prime Shaq. When you're talking about a 7'6'' player with unbelievable touch and talent, the slightly better versatility Gasol offers doesn't mean much. And yeah, I know it's unfair to expect Yao to come back the same player he was. But that's all we have to judge from at the moment. If I were to rank the top players coming into next season I wouldn't even list Yao because we don't know what to expect. But you were critiquing Yao as the player he was pre-injury, so I went along with it. Oh c'mon now...before the injury Bosh was the most dangerous offensive big man in the league. From October-February he was averaging 24.5PPG and grabbing 11.4RPG. Toronto was 29-23 before his injury. That was with Hedo Turkoglu having the worst year of his career and for the most part a team of scrubs/young talent. The team went 3-4 in his absence, and he came back from injury still not playing healthy. As a result, the team went AWOL and he's on the path to a new team this summer. As for his defense, Bosh will never be the shot-blocking defensive presence that traditional big men are, but he showed in the 2008 Olympics how good he can be defensively. He was the team's best interior defender that Olympics, and showed his versatility in locking down many of the Euro big men that can take it outside. And unlike an Amare Stoudemire or Antawn Jamison, he cleans the glass among the best in the league. He's far from a defensive liability. Once again...c'mon now. Bosh is not the same player he was in 07-08, his last postseason appearance, just like Gasol isn't. And even though you criticize his series against the Magic, he still averaged 24/9/4 on 47% shooting...the kind of numbers Gasol never came close to in the postseason with the Grizzlies. And he won a game...something Gasol couldn't do in 3 straight postseasons. And those games you mentioned from this year were literally RIGHT after he came back from weeks on the sideline. A few weeks later he put up 28/12/7 against the Warriors and 42/13 and 5 steals against Philly. And earlier in the year he put up 36/11/5 against the Kings. Bosh has never been the 2nd option so I'll hold off judging him in that role, although that is likely to change next season when he may team up with LeBron or D-Wade. But we have seen Gasol in the first option role and IMO Bosh's resume is clearly more impressive than Gasol's in that role. And as I mentioned before, if the 2008 Olympics are any indication, Bosh can do many of the little things that a great 2nd option has to do. I'm very excited to see him perform with a legit star and supporting cast playing around him. I think he'll flourish.

You're right...saying a former MVP, 9x All-Star, 4x All-NBA first-teamer and #1 option who led his team to the Finals is better than Gasol means you have no credibility...right. Anyway, Gasol is arguably the most complete and skilled big man in the league, and certainly a perfect compliment to Kobe Bryant. But, do I think he could be the centerpiece of a championship-level team? No. People will say that he could be so much more productive if he was the #1 option...I don't buy it. He certainly has grown since his Memphis days, but I just don't think he could be the 25-28PPG scorer like Dirk or the defensive monster like Dwight that you could build a championship team around. And that's not a knock on Gasol and how great he is, but when talking about the game's best big men I take that ability to be "the guy" into major consideration. Because of that, I'd still take at least Dirk over him for sure. After that it's more of a 'what have you done for me now?' thing. Before this post-season, I don't think there'd be more than a very select number of people to take Gasol over Dwight. Now it's becoming more common. If Chris Bosh was on a team that had more success last season, he would be getting mentioned a lot more in the 'best big man' debate...he had a tremendous season, especially before the injury. And if Yao ever comes back healthy, he'll reclaim his spot as the best low post scorer in the league.

Yeah NYC is beautiful at night. Not just because of the Manhattan skyline (none anything close to it in the country), but because of the surrounding boroughs and NJ. The entire area for miles and miles and miles is just lights and people. It's pretty amazing.

I don't exactly know that area very well, only been there twice (and once was when I was 6, the other being last year). But I know there are plenty of subway lines all around the stadium that you can use to get there from where you're staying (maybe have to hop different subway lines to get there but shouldn't be a problem).

Unfortunately, no. I loved Big Ben, and in his prime he was an absolute BEAST. But the issue is he only had 3-4 HoF caliber years, and even in those seasons it's difficult to say he's more deserving than a number of legends that still continued to get screwed by the voting (let alone the few players in this era that will get screwed of bein in the HoF that are more worthy than Ben).