Nitro

I think Amare has also rounded out his game on both ends of the floor, he's scoring more than Rose on a much better TS%, and while Rose has had to deal with injuries, his team was well-equipped to handle them. Last year Rose started the season off very slow due to injury and they still ended up .500. In the off-season they made some minor upgrades aside from Boozer, so when they started the season off without Boozer, they were still a much better team than the .500 ballclub from last year, and same for when Boozer came back and Noah went out. Meanwhile, the Knicks are a completely new project with 0 experience in winning besides Amare (and Felton to a degree), and because they had so many new pieces they got off to a 2-8 start. Despite that start, the Knicks have a similar record to the Bulls, and overall even with the injuries the Bulls are still a lot deeper and more well-rounded than the Knicks are. And as I said, I think the fact that Amare is doing so much for a franchise that has been in a decade worth of turmoil, along with his vibrant personality, does play a major factor. But, in all honesty I completely forgot about Rose in my first post, though I do think Amare should be ahead of him in the voting.

Haven't listened to the song in awhile so I don't know the full context which means I'm not sure about the first line. Second line means I hope you were sent from heaven and can't go to hell (or the hells of the Earth, like gun shots and whatnot).

I suppose. I just think that what Amare has done for the Knicks franchise and putting up some pretty amazing stats since his slow start puts him at least ahead of Rose. I think the Suns' rough start and the Knicks' huge resurgence really showed Amare's true value. I'd also put Dirk and Dwight ahead of him (Dirk because of the Mavs' record, and Dwight because of how he anchors a top 5 defense with so little supporting defensive talent, while putting up 20+PPG on tremendous efficiency), but not Rose. Even though Rose probably has the gaudier all-around stats, his team has more depth, talent, and I really think the whole story of Amare rebuilding the Knicks' franchise should and will affect MVP voters. LBJ and Wade cancel each other out IMO, and if you take one of them off you still have a 50+ win team with Bosh as the 2nd option IMO. You can see my arguement for Amare in the above quote in regards to those other candidates. And who cares how a D'Antoni playoff team will do in the post-season? MVP is a regular season award and the Knicks are like 18-3 since the slow start on the back of the league's 2nd leading scorer.

Who would be your pick? He's at least a top 3 candidate right now...at the absolute worst. Very entertaining game when I was watching (I was going between this and the Heat/Bucks game). This was an important win for the Knicks because it showed they can not only keep the game competitive with an elite team, but beat them as well. On the Spurs side of the ball, I think they and Pop know against young and energetic teams like the Knicks who can match their high-octane offense that they should slow it down and let their defense have a better chance at slowing them down.

Yes sir :glasses: AZ's problem is he was always in Nas' shadow, and came up in hip hop's strongest era. Still, his flow, wordplay and all-around lyrical ability is unbelievable, and apparently still is! My only gripe with him is that in terms of subject matter he doesn't have a wide range of topics to discuss, and he's not the best story-telling rapper out there. Nontheless, one of my 10 favorite rappers ever without a doubt.

I like, I like. Has he released any good albums/mixtapes I should download?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVmGme4m9og Awesome. I'm SO excited for this album!!!

You said he wasn't at fault for ANYTHING in that game. That's being a homer, especially since HIS team got blown out at HOME against an inferior team when he was one of the players in the game playing below his standards. I'm not asking Kobe to grab 10 boards...but he didn't even grab half his season average, the entire team got out-rebounded badly by the Grizzlies, and on the Grizzlies' side they didn't even shoot 46% so there were in fact opportunities. If Kobe could grab 15 boards in Game 7 of the Finals against the Boston freakin' Celtics with Gasol also dominating the boards, then there is no excuse for 2 rebounds against the Grizz. Assists are a two-way street, but he still had below half his season average, and racked up more turnovers than assists. You can't skew that to be a good thing. And the Lakers couldn't hit anything? They shot 47% from the field that game, 2% better than the Grizzlies did and 0.5% better than the Laker season average. Besides Kobe, the Lakers shot 5-11 from 3. There certainly were opportunities for Kobe to rack up the assists. And what about defense? Gay, Mayo and Allen all had good, efficient offensive games. If Kobe isn't going to take over the game (not just a quarter) with his scoring, isn't going to rebound, is going to rack up more turnovers than assists, then shouldn't he at least be playing some lockdown defense? We are talking about supposedly the best player in the entire NBA...A SUPERSTAR...if all those things, for the full 48min, aren't going his way HOW THE [expletive] does he not deserve a solid portion of the blame for the loss?!? In the bigger picture, Kobe going into "Kobe mode" every game won't work because he is not physically capable of it, and it'd freeze out his teammates and take the team out of its rhthym. However, for this specific game, where he needed to go into Kobe mode, those 3pt shots were poor shot selection since he didn't have it going from out there while he was on fire from inside the arc...that's ALL I'M SAYING. Also, in the bigger picture, his 3pt gunning is a detriment because he's shooting the worst percentage from out there since 2001-2002, and he's actually taking more 3PA than the last 2 seasons while taking less overall FGA's. That's a big problem individually, and his 3pt shooting will likely not get much better with his arthritic finger and continued loss of athleticism, which makes his jumpshot more flat. And yes, I don't think it's even a question that Kobe is slowing down, and I can't fathom how anyone can call him the best in the league anymore. LeBron is even smoking him from beyond the arc this season.... That's why Kobe's in decline. In the past he was able to turn it on and off and have a strong all-around game; being able to carry D-League level teams for months on-end. He can't do that anymore. And if he can't do that anymore, then he will HAVE to do what LeBron and Wade did to Bosh earlier this season and force Gasol to do what he does best, and hope and pray that the Lakers will be able to make a trade or have the Celtics/Heat/Spurs suffer some major injuries. If those things don't happen, the Lakers will not win another ring.

Off the top of my head, all the ones listed in the OP and Doe or Die 2 by AZ.

My fault, you're right. I actually heard that song a little while ago too.

I don't know, but besides that and his FT shooting the guy does pretty much everything extremely well. Even his passing is amazing for a big man (3.2APG to 2.7 TO's, with mutliple 5+ assist games). I've only seen a handful of full Clipper games and didn't pay much attention to his defense, but he leads the team in defensive win-shares, and is 3rd on the team in Drtg (behind DeAndre Jordan and Kaman, who has played only 10 games). His opponent counterpart statistics are also decent as well (giving up a 15.6 PER with 21/10 on 47% EFG per 48min). So, he's obviously not a horrible defensive player, and I am sure his shot-blocking will come along.

But they weren't down by 20 with 4min left...we're talking the 3rd quarter of a single-digit game. Quick look at the game log shows Kobe shot a 3 pointer at the beginning of the 3rd and missed...no big deal since he made 1-2 in the first half and they were down by 11. In the next 4min, Kobe made 4-4 from 2pt range, and got to the FT line which cut the lead into 2. Then he launched a 3 which missed (those momentum 3's I was referring to), which led to a Rudy Gay floater 10 seconds later. Then after that, he got to the line once again. Next trip down, he makes another 2pt shot, and in the next minute makes yet another 2pt shot and got to the line yet again. Then after that, he missed another 3pt shot which led to a fastbreak for the Grizzlies and 2 Conley FT's. So, it appears to be exactly what I said it would be without even seeing the game or play-by-play. He got red-hot inside the 3pt line, then he made the mistake of taking those heat-checks which directly led to Memphis fast-breaks and momentum swings. He went away from what was CLEARLY working for himself and the Lakers...also known as "The T-Mac." I *COMPLETELY* understand why he took the shots he did. Most superstar wings do once they get it going...but it doesn't make it smart shot selection, and they did help swing momentum in the Grizzlies favor. Don't be a homer. When you get destroyed at home by an inferior team and your superstar shoots below 50%, scores below 30pts, grabs only 2 rebounds, and has more turnovers (3) than assists (2), then he HAS to be a major source of the criticism. Certainly not the only source, and IMO definitely not the biggest source of the problem, but he was at fault for a nice portion of that specific game. I'm sure he, Phil, and almost anyone who watched that game would agree.

None that were released or leaked as far as I know. Oh please, Nas did tracks with prime AZ, prime Canibus, was the first non-Wu Tang member to appear on one of their albums, did an official remix on one of Pac's best songs (Thugz Mansion), rocked stages with Biggie...he ain't afraid of Em.

T-Mac vs. Kobe woohooo!!!! Even though this will be more of a geriatric version of the classic duels, it's always an entertaining matchup. It also might just be the first time in about 5-6 years where T-Mac is on the same plane as Kobe athletically, which is a win in my eyes :glasses: Also, if I were a Lakers fan I'd keep a close eye on Prince and Mac tonight. If the Lakers keep struggling, I could see them making a move for one of those guys (T-Mac in a backup role, Prince as a starter).

You have to look at the bigger picture...7 shot attempts beyond the 3pt mark, 1 make. That means he was 9-15 inside the 3pt line. His stubborness to continue to shoot that 3pt shot, when he was making 2pt FG's at a 60% clip, brings me to the conclusion that he had pretty poor shot selection. I don't even need to watch the game to know what happened...I've seen it from Kobe for years, from T-Mac for years, and to a lesser extent LeBron and Wade. They start to feel it, get on a streak, then go for the homerun. When those homeruns fall through, it's a major demoralizer for the opposition. However, if it doesn't fall through, it can kill momentum, lead to long rebounds and often times fastbreak opportunities for the opponent, leading to 5 or 6pt swings. Either way, when you're shooting 14% from 3 and 60% from 2, taking 7 3pt shots doesn't qualify as smart shot selection.

One thing I never understood is why Nas and Eminem never did a collab. They have a lot of respect for each other, mention each other in songs, both have obvious Dre connections, and they are two of the best lyracists of our times. My only guess would be Nas/50's beef, but I think that's a distant memory by now. http://www.ddotomen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/eminem-nasir.jpg DO IT!!!

Well, when 1/3 of your FGA's are 3 pointers (in Kobe's case, 7 of 22), and you miss 6 of them...that's not exactly good shot selection. Not saying guys like LeBron don't have those kinds of nights, but it's still poor shot selection.

Not saying it's impossible, but the plane would have had to leave within an hour after the game ended (unlikely), and then LeBron would have had to make it from the plane to that bar in about 15-30min (also highly, highly unlikely) in order for it to be physically possible.

Henderson was primarily on Wade.

With the potential lockout and new CBA, I find it hard to believe he'll get overpaid. I truly believe he's looking to going to a contender/borderline contender, and if he does I doubt his role will exceed being a 6th/7th man (unless the Bulls still have Keith Bogans starting, then he might just find a way into a starting gig). Anyway, against the Jazz tonight T-Mac was 1 rebound away from a triple double!!!! 11pts, 11ast, 9reb, 1to, 5-11FG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L82_EchHzr4 Statline: 28pts (12-19 FG), 20reb, 9ast, 8blk, 1stl So disturbingly dominant. Keep in mind that series he was matched up against a Larry Brown defense and was going head-to-head against the DPOY, Dikembe Mutombo.

If your two starting wings combine for 69 points (on strong efficiency) and 20 rebounds...you'll probably have about a 99% winning percentage.

I agree that his teammates need to get better, but Kobe not being the same player he's been the last few years, along with certain glaring weaknesses (Fisher/Artest) and the fact that the Celtics/Heat/Spurs are so strong will make this year's title run very, very difficult.

LeBron's taking over and the defense is stifling. They've held the Bobcats to 1-20 shooting in their last 21 attempts.

That's his point. He can't carry the team for 4 quarters for weeks and months on-end anymore. His injuries and general decline in athleticism prevent him from being capable of doing that anymore.