Nitro

Yeah, I'm not a fan of his ultra fast-paced screaming either. He still has some really sick lines, but it just doesn't sound good on the ears (especially in songs like Despicable where it just kills the song). In terms of his flow and voice, the best he's sounded since around TES is on this song (which is by far my favorite song on Recovery)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tto9o8hTl8I

Team is whack around him? The Nets have a ton of money to spend this offseason, along with having Deron Williams and some solid role players.

Royce outshined Em in that song, and I'm really feeling it overall.

I'm not, I don't think anyone expects them to be any better than a 7th seed next year with this current roster (6th if Orlando trades Howard). It is clear they are a star away from making any real noise in the post-season.

I already caught my mom cheating...I stared and then joined in.

All those NHL teams were before 1985. And what qualifies a dynasty is subjective, and I personally disagree with having to go on a 3-peat to be considered a dynasty.

Since when did a dynasty qualify as having to be a three-peat? Since 1985 only 4 teams, 3 NBA and 1 MLB, have achieved a 3-peat in any of the 3 major sports (including NCAA). I think that definition isn't the best to define a dynasty. Anyway, I do consider the Spurs a dynasty. They won 4 titles in 8 seasons, and 3 titles in 5 seasons. I consider the team that won 3 titles in 5 seasons to be a dynasty because they essentially had the same core and mostly the same team, and that was where they really did dominate...they won at least 57 games all 5 seasons on top of those championships.

The Artest/Belinelli matchup is KILLING the Hornets this series...there is no way you can let Artest shoot over 50% in 4 out of 5 games, or have him be the 3rd leading scorer on the Lakers.

That's my guess, no way were there more than 10,000. It looked like a half-full NBA arena worth of people, so that's where I came up with that number. Being that the Marlins play at a football stadium just made it look soooooooo much worse too.

This. I do still think he has a shitload of talent, and CAN be a Jamal Crawford-type player, but he has to learn to adapt to his new role and get his confidence back. I mean, it's great that he had a solid playoff game and thinks he still has that All-Star level of play, but he's got to get consistent with it.

Management, not Terry. There was only 1 season where the Mavs were expected to win the championship, and that was 2007 when the Warriors beat them (which wasn't all that much of a surprise since the Warriors owned them that entire season). It was embarrassing, but regardless that was the only year where they were expected to make it out of the West. This season is the same story, and people are really overreacting to the Mavs struggling against a team they were EXPECTED to struggle against, especially without their 2nd best player.

Both Wade and Lewis averaged 1.0BPG per 36min for their careers, but Wade has the longevity on Lewis, and Wade's also 3 inches shorter than Lewis which makes his feat more impressive IMO. As for VC, I forgot about how good of a shotblocker was, but again, Wade has the longevity on him. T-Mac was actually the best of the bunch, averaging 1.9BPG back in 99-00, and 1.5BPG the following, but his longevity hurts him too (as well as the fact that he had the natural height of a SF). According to Hoopdata.com, Wade shot 66.6% at the rim this season to Rose's 60.0%, and between 3-9ft Wade shot 50.0% to Rose's 39.7%. Besides the stats, Wade finishes better at the rim because he knows how to finish with contact better, won't make shots more difficult by trying to avoid the contact, and he has freakishly long arms which help him finish easier than Rose, who is only about an inch shorter than him.

Well, you may be right on that one...

Basically this. They won't find a coach much better than Carlisle, but they certainly can make roster upgrades. I saw a post on RealGM that I feel is really true...some superstars get a Kobe/Pippen/Shaq/Wade/Gasol/Garnett as a sidekick, and some get a Jason Terry. As well-balanced as the Mavs are, I truly believe it is imperative in today's NBA to have either 2 superstars or 1 superstar and another elite player, along with team balance in order to win a ring. Besides, everyone expected the Mavs/Blazers to be a tough series, and no one expected the Mavs to come out of the West. Also, they are still without arguably their 2nd best player, Caron Butler, who helped the Mavs get off to that red-hot start early in the season before his injury.

Went to the Marlins game last night, about 5 rows next to 3rd base for only $30 (keep in mind, it's the Marlins, so there were only like 10,000 people there). It was a lot of fun and the Marlins had a walk-off hit to end the game.

Wade also has an effective post game which Rose doesn't have, is a better rebounder (averaged over 6RPG this year which is fantastic for a 6'4'' SG), and is a far better defender, which is ultimately what comfortably puts him ahead of Rose. I don't think you put enough stock into just how good Wade is on that side of the ball; he is the best shot-blocking guard since prime MJ (which the numbers back up), gets his steals, causes chaos with his ability to cut off passing lanes and make sharp rotations, and he's a tremendous one-on-one defender against iso scorers. If they were equal defensively, this would be a very close debate, but with Wade having such a major advantage in that area it really isn't all that close. Oh, and Wade's only 28, and Rose's only 22. Rose definitely will improve and Wade's probably about leveled out, but this is about who's better right now.

Terrible execution on that last play by the Spurs, from not calling the timeout to Manu not even getting a shot off. Memphis played great, inspired basketball, and Randolph sunk the Spurs with that 3 (he's been very underrated the last 2 years). I hope McDyess is alright and ready for Game 4, he couldn't even move his hand which is not a good sign at all.

I tend to value a player's peak over consistency and accomplishments, although they are also major factors for me as well. With that said, since the '80's began (pre-'80's is too difficult to judge and I've seen very little from those era's), I'd put MJ, Bird, Magic, Shaq and Hakeem over Kobe. Duncan/Kobe is a coin-flip, though I'd probably give Kobe the edge due to longevity. That puts Kobe at 6th. Going by what I've heard along with stats/accomplishments, Wilt/Russel/Kareem would also probably be ahead of Kobe. That puts Kobe at 9th. Overall, I'd say anywhere between 6th-9th greatest. Depending on how much you value longevity and accolades, that could fluctuate a few spots up or down.

Of course he does, he leads the team in points by 8PPG, while taking only 1 more FGA than Richardson. He is the only player that can consistently score in the paint on the Magic, and along with all the double teams he receives it opens up that strong 3pt attack the Magic have (keep in mind, they have no really good playmaker either). Just because he's not a great passer doesn't mean he doesn't make his teammates' lives much easier offensively. Dwight has as much range as Shaq ever did, especially now that he's developed a relatively consistent 15ft bank shot. All I was debating is that you don't need to do much more than score within 6ft to be elite, I wasn't debating who was the better overall offensive player. Still, Dwight DOES now have a solid post repertoire, and mix that in with his insane athleticism and ability to finish in the paint, and he's become a truly elite post player...he was the highest scoring post player in the league last season, and he was the most efficient scorer of anyone who scored at least 22PPG (once again, that's factoring in his FT%). I don't know how you can possibly minimize that. Besides being a better finisher at the rim, Wade also has a very effective post game, has more pet-moves to get his shot off, and his midrange and 3pt shooting aren't much worse than Rose's (Rose is only a 33% 3pt shooter to Wade's 30%). And yes, the fact that Wade does get to the line more than Rose is a major factor, just like it is if you're comparing Rose to LeBron or Durant as well. I mean, once again, just 2 years ago Wade LED THE LEAGUE IN SCORING and did it on far greater efficiency than Rose, with a worse supporting cast. Just last season Wade averaged 34PPG on 56% shooting against the Celtics in the playoffs, who managed to lockdown LeBron and Kobe. Back in '06 he averaged nearly 30PPG on 70% shooting against the Ben Wallace Pistons in the ECF. I don't know what more he can do to prove he is CLEARLY a better scorer than Rose.

Dwight does nothing for his teammates?!? Did you know the Magic this season were the 3rd best defensive team in the league, and that's with Richardson, Hedo, Arenas, Nelson, and Reddick playing major minutes, and for the majority of the season only having one legit Center, Dwight. He had a Drtg of 94 this year...the next closest guy who played more than 25 games was Ryan Andersen at 101...that difference is astronomical and practically unheard of. In other words, besides Dwight that team is horrible defensively, yet they rank among the league's elite because Dwight is a monster defensively and is able to clean up all their mistakes. On top of the actual defense, the Magic were 6th in the league in rebounding with nobody grabbing even 6 boards per game besides Dwight. Offensively, he 's the only player on the team that can score in the paint. Without him, they're strong 3pt attack would drop significantly...not to mention he's not only a player who takes attention away from those guys, but he drops in 23PPG on ridiculous efficiency as well. LMAO...Melo and Dirk have complete games and Dwight doesn't? Melo and Dirk aren't dominant on both sides of the ball like Dwight, neither of them are exceptional passers like a LeBron/Kobe/Wade, and neither scored as efficiently as Dwight (even when factoring in FT%). They may have more complete offensive games, but Dwight's the best defensive player in the league along with being one of the best rebounders and post scorers. Lastly, Shaq never needed to score past 6ft away from the basket, yet he's one of the greatest players of all-time. Dwight scored 23PPG this season (.1 less than Dirk, and around 2.5PPG less than Melo) and did it on ridiculous efficiency...bottom line is he got it done. Yes, I said second best...for the past 3 years Wade has produced more than Kobe (on greater efficiency) as well as played better, far more consistent defense. I've always swallowed my tongue when it came to that because Kobe usually came up big in the post-season while Wade was stuck on crappy teams and didn't get to advance to show what he could do, but now I think he is clearly more effective than Kobe. As for what the Heat did when he was putting up those numbers...about as much as the Lakers did when Kobe was at his peak and putting up huge numbers. When Wade had good teams in the past, he got them deep in the post-season along with having stellar regular seasons (24/7/5 in 04-05, 27/7/6 in 05-06). As for Rose being less efficient because he takes more 3's...this season Rose shot 48.0% on 2pt FGA's while Wade shot 53.0%. And before you use the LeBron excuse, Wade shot 51.0% on 2pt FGA's in 09-10 (which was a down year for him in the efficiency department).

I'm so, so happy for Roy. His knees may be shot, but he certainly has enough polished skill to be a borderline all-star...it's all about confidence. Hopefully these last 2 games carry over for him.

As I said during the last game, this will go down as the closest 5-game series of all time.

In their primes? T-Mac for me. People forget how good he was before his injuries started destroying his career...he was a 32/7/6 player at one point, and even though he never had success in the playoffs, he was individually spectacular (consistent 30/7/6 the first 4 series' he was the main guy, before the injuries caught up to him). Also, even though he wasn't known for his defense, when he exerted himself he was an above average defensive player, and in 2005 he locked down Dirk in that series. Overall, when he was healthy, he was a better all-around player than Nash, and could dominate games on a more consistent basis than Nash could.

Jordan. Kobe's a more versatile scorer, but he was never as good around the rim as MJ, and he's always been a much streakier scorer due to his poor shot selection. His ability to get hot from 3 allowed him to go off for 81 and those other big games, but I value consistency far more than those rare explosions (especially considering that Jordan had a lot more 'big' scoring games in the post-season than Kobe has had). Besides being better around the rim, he was also a better post scorer than Kobe due to his strength advantage against most SG's, and he was more dangerous in the mid-range game because he used it a lot more often than Kobe ever has. Even if you put prime Jordan into today's league, with zone defense, he'd still be a more efficient scorer than Kobe because of how good he was inside the 3pt line, and how rarely he would go on a streak of taking poor shots like Kobe does. Oh, and if zone defenses can't stop Wade from getting to the rim and to the FT line, do you REALLY think it would stop a prime MJ?!? It wouldn't.

Umm....what? Just 2 years ago he averaged 30.2PPG/7.5APG/5.0RPG/2.2SPG/1.3BPG while shooting 49% from the field (.575 TS%), he has been deep into the post-season multiple times (lighting up some of the league's best defenses, including the '06 Pistons and '10 Celtics), has a ring, Finals MVP and scoring title, yet he has never really been discussed as even the 2nd best player in the league. That screams overrated to you? If people are overrating anyone due to flashiness, it's Rose, who even now scores less than Wade on lower efficiency, who isn't near Wade when it comes to defense, and besides a better outside jumper doesn't have the same polished game that Wade does. And I don't even know how you can say Dwight's overrated anymore since he's finally built up a strong post-game that allows him to score in elite volume while maintaining insane efficiency...on top of his elite rebounding and being the most impactful defender in the NBA. I'm sure you been paying attention to the 33/18 he's been averaging against the Hawks so far...