Nitro

Anyone ever heard of them? It's Del tha Funkee Homosapian (Ice Cube's cousin) and a few other producers. I ran across them a few months ago and love their style... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijPE7fe4XTg

I'm going with yes. He was very good for a long time, was considered eltie at one time, and is the greatest dunker in NBA history. Very few players have ever been as popular as he was with the Raptors. The sad part about VC's career is that everyone tends to overrate what he did in Toronto, and severely underrate what he did in NJ because of how he kamikaze'd his image with how he left Toronto. It's a shame because he was a great player in NJ, and did a lot of things that really went unnoticed and unappreciated.

Kobe having only one MVP seems kind of crazy when you think of how good he has been for so long, but it's justified. He was with Shaq during his early prime, was on crappy teams during his prime, and has started to decline while being on great teams again. He only had a 2-3 year window to realistically win the award...one of those seasons he ended up winning it, and the other two he was beat by LeBron, who was putting up more impressive stats and led his team to more wins with less supporting talent. This season, with the Lakers' strong late surge, Kobe has another really good shot at winning it, but the Bulls still have a better record than the Lakers (with Rose having less supporting talent than Kobe), and Rose has been comparable individually to Kobe. Mix in the fact that Rose is the new flavor-of-the-season, and Kobe probably won't get his second MVP. Phil winning COTY only once is astonishing. I mean, I understand to a degree just because he's had all-time talent on every single one of his teams, but the man has been coaching for over 20 years and has 11 rings to his name.

They should give Pittman a chance, he has legit size at the C position and can finish plays around the rim much better than any of their other big men. Eddy Curry would be absolutely retarded; he's the exact opposite of the kind of player the Heat usually build their teams with (hustle/energy/tough players).

The thing about Haslem is he isn't a great post defender. He's good, but he's much better on big men who can stretch the floor like Dirk, KG, etc... And honestly I feel that LeBron is as good, if not better than Wade at on-ball defense. He's very underrated defensively by people who think all he does is those chase-down blocks. He is very smart, and locks down most SF's. Because Wade likes to help so much, there are a few players with quick releases or are great at moving off-ball that torch him (Gordon, Crawford, Allen, etc...). LeBron is more disciplined in this regard, and doesn't make as many fatal mistakes as Wade does while defending his man. Against iso players like Kobe or $JJ, Wade is the better defender. I'd personally put Bibby on Allen. Wade always has a hard time with guys like him, so they'll probably have a better chance at slowing down the backcourt with that cross matchup.

Besides being a great 3pt shooter, he is a smart veteran who plays at a steady pace, does some of the important things that go unnoticed and can help run the offense. As you said, Arroyo didn't stretch the floor, wouldn't take a jumper unless there was no one within 20ft of him, and he played too slow and careful. Chalmers is too inconsistent, makes too many dumb, avoidable mistakes, and he's not a great 3pt shooter. Bibby is a great compliment to James/Wade/Bosh. Wade and LeBron are both better defenders than Haslem, but he will be a major upgrade over Howard, and he'll be able to play spot minutes at C when the Heat are able to play small.

He's still better than Arroyo on that end of the floor, and lightyears better offensively than Chalmers. Huge upgrade. Also, since Bibby joined the Heat, they've given up 100pts only 5x out of 15 games, with the Heat replacing a huge chunk of Chalmers' minutes with House for 3 of those 100pt+ games, which is a recipe for defensive struggle. They'll be fine, although getting Haslem back for some of the post-season would be a huge boost.

As I've said before, the Heat have crushed the lower-level teams all season long, and beat the Cavs the first 3 meetings...that loss won't shake their confidence or destroy their psyche for the playoffs. The Heat have an easy schedule remaining, and one final chance to beat the Celtics and move past them in the standings (they are currently tied or like .5 game behind for that #2 seed). The Heat have a few players with championship experience, and a few others who have made deep runs in the post-season, so I really don't think they will remember that Cavs game when the playoffs start (their close losses against the Bulls and the huge leads they blew against the Jazz and Magic will haunt them a lot moreso).

The two games make an equal impact to the standings when the seasons ends. They'll be under more pressure in that final game because they realize what's at stake, but in actuality it comes with the same importance that the game back in December had.

Nothing new about this, it's something Shaq and Dwight always bitch about. It's something you gotta deal with and move on.

I can understand someone saying that about cigarettes, especially someone who has never had a daily habit. But you don't know how someone can spend money on weed? There's only a few things in this world that can get you high, and weed is the least addictive and cheapest option out there. It's also a way to socialize with friends and relieves stress. It'd one thing to say you don't like it, but it's another to say you can't understand how other people do.

I hear what you are saying, but in the grand scheme of things a loss on the road against the Cavs means just as much as any game not against those teams I mentioned. The Heat have destroyed the crappy teams all year, so I don't think a loss against the Cavs will shake their confidence at all, especially since they won the first 3 matchups. Now, losses against those contending teams do hurt them a lot more, both in terms of getting HCA and proving they can win a series against them when they matchup come playoff time. But the Cavs? Doesn't mean much.

It was as important as the other 81 games on the schedule, excluding those against Boston/Chicago/Orlando/LA/SA/Dallas (teams they could face in the post-season where homecourt would matter).

I don't understand how Evans is a tweener. He's 6'6'', 220lbs and is played out of position at PG. If he's a tweener, then D-Wade has to be considered a tweener as well, because they have similar play styles and Evans actually has some height and muscle on Wade. I agree with Ellis being a tweener, and Westbrook/Curry not being tweeners, but I don't think being ball-dominant should be the make-or-break criteria. In the NBA, there are a number of SG's who have the handle and playmaking ability to run an offense for large chunks of the game, and I don't think they should be labelled a tweener because of it. Likewise, there are a number of PG's who have a strong ability to score the ball, while their playmaking ability isn't quite up to par yet...once again, I wouldn't necessarily label them a tweener. To me, it all comes down to the player's mentality...some just look to score, some just look to make plays for others. That's where you can draw the line when it comes to the backcourt positions. The frontcourt positions are a little easier. Either you get beat up down low/in the paint, or you don't. If you get beat up down there, then you are either playing out of position or simply shouldn't be getting minutes. If you don't get beat up in the paint but have a lot of the abilities of a SF, then you are simply a versatile player. If you don't get beat up down low but can't play outside the paint, then you are in correct position. Anyway, tweeners can be very beneficial to a ballclub, especially if they don't exposed too badly on either end of the floor (i.e undersized SG's getting burned defensively, or undersized PF's/C's getting killed on the boards). If you can play the game of basketball well, there is always a place for you on a good ballclub, regardless if you're a tweener or not.

I don't understand why the defense has been suffering so bad since the first few months of the season. Even though they've finally found some offensive fluidity and added firepower with Bibby, defense is this team's strength and how they will win a championship. It is also what starts their transition offense, which is where they are at their most dangerous. Spo has to get the Heat back in tune to that side of the ball like they were when they won 21 of 22 games or whatever.

I wear really basic shit...plain white tees (or cotton T-shirts with cool designs like my 2Pac/Big L/Joker shirts), basketball shorts or baggy jeans, and a pair of beaten-up Jordan 12's that don't really match any of my clothing. I shave my head and keep a neatly trimmed beard. If I have a fitted, I wear that backwards because I have a light-bulb shaped head which I prefer to cover-up. If a bitch don't like it, I don't care because they'll [expletive] me whether they give me the consent or not.

Ok, I have a little time on the computer today, so basically I spent 53 days at a rehab in Deerfield Beach, Florida. At the facility there were about 60 guys and 25-30 girls, and we were split up into two apartment buildings (they looked like beach hotels, and rehab patients were the only residents on the premises). The guys weren't allowed to talk to the girls, and we'd get yelled at if we even stared at them for any extended amount of time. Of course a few guys and girls got kicked out because of violating these rules. We were allowed to walk all around the premises in our free time, each building had its own pool, and we had a public cafe right next to the girls building where we could buy food, cigarettes or whatever. 3x a week they took us to the gym (I gained 20lbs and got my bench up to 180 10x while I was there), and 1x a week they took us to the beach. During the day we had 4 total hours of group therapy, and an hour-long A.A/N.A meeting. The rest of the time we were allowed to do whatever. Each person shared an apartment with 1-3 other people, and each apartment had a TV (w/cable), oven, microwave, bathroom w/shower, and 2 bedrooms. We weren't allowed to leave property except for the gym and beach, got to use the phone only like once every 2 weeks to call 1 family member, and weren't allowed to leave our rooms past 11pm. Anyway, I met a lot of crazy [expletive]ing people while there...like people who have been to prison for 10x years and killed people, people who have been in gangs and kidnapped other gang member's mom's for ransom, people who have been stabbed by their father for being gay, tried shooting themselves in the head and when their friends tried to wrestle the gun away they accidentally shot their friend's toe off, etc... While I was there I learned how to give a jailhouse haircut with a razor and comb, had a loaded gun pointed at me by some inbred redneck cuz I was staring and sticking my tongue out at his daughter while on my way to the gym one day, realized that half the state of NJ is in Florida rehabs (like over 1/3 of this place was from NJ), and learned that people from Boston suck and we should have sent cruise missiles there instead of Libya. Overall, I learned a lot and met a lot of cool (albeit crazy) people. Now I am in a halfway house in Delray Beach, which is basically just an apartment where I have a curfew. I am currently looking for a job, and still going to AA/NA meetings. My dad's coming down for business on Sunday, so he'll bring my computer down and then I'll really start being able to post. I don't plan on being down here past May, but we'll see.

His explosiveness is gone, and he doesn't have the court savvy to be an effective player without it. I do think he still has a lot more talent than people give him credit for, but he has to adapt to his limitations and new role. He also has to get his confidence back, and that may take another off-season of hard work and a fresh start to a new season to get to that point. He is probably a lost cause as far as this season goes (although he still has the ability to be a game-changer in any specific game in the post-season).

Back a few months ago I said LeBron should have won it, but the fact that the Bulls jumped up to 1st, including beating the Heat twice in the last month or so has made me change my vote to Rose. His stats aren't as good as LeBron, and he quite frankly is still at least a notch or two below LeBron's level. but he's done more with less and his team is on top of the East. I picked Dwight to win it before the season started, and it's a damn shame the Magic haven't played up to expectations because he has been absolutely ridiculous this season. Of all the superstars he is the most valuable to his team.

It always changes, but right now, in no particular order... Going Through Changes Brain Damage Infinite Kill You The Way I Am

I'm back I can't really start posting 'till next week cuz I still dont have my computer, but so ya'll know I'm doing well and still in south Florida (Delray). Peace.

If it wasn't for Duncan's BS fadeaway off the glass from like over 20ft out, the Lakers wouldn't have needed that Fisher shot anyway. And had it not been for Horry's ridiculous Game 5 in the 2005 Finals, that Pistons team (which wasn't as good as the previous year's squad) would have probably beaten the Spurs without HCA.

03-04 Pistons. They had a much better defense than this Spurs team does, and a better, more experienced bench.

Well, I'm heading out to Florida tonight for rehab, which should last about 30 days. After that, I'm not 100% sure what I'mma do, but I'm probably going to be staying down there for 2-3 months after the rehab. If I'm allowed to bring my phone I'll text Real Deal every few days sending an update, but if not then I should be back here around early March. Hope everyone stays well. PEACE