Nitro

Wade carried them in that first half. 18/5/4 on 7-10 shooting in just 13min.

That's one bad-[expletive] band.

I'm down if it reaches me before 12/21/2012.

That's horrible. I was wondering why he didn't have microfracture yet, but that answers it. I feel so bad for the Blazers and their great fanbase. First Walton, then Bowie, then Oden, now Roy.

Can be taken one of two ways: 1) Kobe's screwing up games by not playing within the offense and taking too many shots, which freezes out his teammates. 2) The team is falling behind in games which forces Kobe to go out of the gameplan and try to take over. Both views have truth to them. I don't know if Phil meant it to have double meaning or it just came off that way, but I wouldn't look too much into it. Phil knows Kobe extremely well and knows how to handle him better than anyone, so he knows what he is doing. It's just the usual regular season Phil Jackson mind-[expletive] for when the team isn't playing well.

To add to this, it was also his 10th straight game with 20+ points. To put that into perspective, the best rookies I can recall in recent memory, LeBron, Melo and Tyreke, never achieved that feat in their rookie seasons. This kid is amazing.

Rose over Dragic is way too low, and the first Griffin dunk is way too high.

I haven't gotten to see any of this game, but a quick look at the box score reveals the answer to the Lakers' problems: Rebounds: 39-32, in favor of Memphis Turnovers: 17-9, in favor of Memphis Shot attempts: 80-62, in favor of Memphis Anytime you let another team take 18 more FGA, you are going to lose.

The Rams coach blew this game in the 4th. Some absolutely awful decisions...

Get a bunch of drugs, stick 'em in a balloon and shove 'em up your [expletive], then go through the scanner...if you don't end up in prison, please report back to OTR so I'll know what to and not-to bring on my Miami vacation in a few months.

Pun had a more complex rhyme scheme, switched up his flow more, had a much larger vocabulary and poetically he was a lot deeper. L's whole style was a lot more structured, he was the best I've ever seen at perfectly rhyming multiple words (like "leavin' token blacks with broken backs and open caps"), he was a lot more consistent, and IMO his slower delivery and voice made him easier to understand and really take in what he was trying to convey. Personally, I like L better.

Doe or Doe is an absolute classic, basically Illmatic Lite. One of the best rap albums of all-time. 9 Lives is also mad good.

Not bad. Mostly stuff I think people know, but if more of us actually practiced these principles, we'd see some change. Thanks for sharing.

Best: Watching my drunk-[expletive] girlfriend (at the time) raping some drunk virgin chick in the back of my car at 1am on New Years day for 20min with me watching rubbing my [expletive] in the driver's seat. Worst: Getting arrested for the first time in my life on cocaine possession.

ROFL...so I lost a bag of dope today and was FREAKING OUT about where it was. Over winter break I'm staying at my grandpa's, which is where my mom lives, and I didn't want them to find it (my mom is an ex-dope head). So, I decided when everyone fell asleep I'd search around, and found the bag sitting in my MOM'S [expletive]ING SHOE!!! LMAO. Evidently it fell out of my coat pocket, which was hanging up in the closet, and fell right into her shoe. That could have ended very, very badly. Now I'm all happy and high :glasses: Sweet start to 2011!

He has so many damn mixtapes, a few of which I haven't listened to yet, but Sharades and Moment of Silence are probably my favorites. You can find all his mixtapes here: http://www.papoosenyc.com/downloads.html

Creativity? Jay is pretty clever, and has put out some creative tracks (like 22 Two's), but his creativity isn't anything special compared to some of the greats. Nas is a much, much better example of an extremely creative rapper (I Gave You Power, Rewind, etc...). Wordplay is a part of lyrical ability. Eminem, AZ, and Big Pun all have vastly better wordplay than Jay-Z, and there are other rappers like MF Doom (but shouldn't be mentioned in a top 10 thread IMO) who also have superior wordplay. Some examples: Big Pun: "Dead in the middle of Little Italy little did we know that we riddled some middleman who didn't do diddily I rub your face off the Earth and curse your family's children like Amityville drill the nerves in your cavity filling Insanity's building up pavilion in my civilian The cannon be the anarchy that humanity's dealing" AZ: "My verbals rip [expletive] Brains give birth to thoughts in triplets [expletive] it I'm on some flip [expletive] Ready to let my clip spit, dramatical Vocals release shells like automatics do Music's magical causing any battle to be tragical I got styles sick as hell, sicker than sickle cell anemia Slaughter your circulatory like lukemia Filled with larceny, who want parts of me I'm vicious, mad malicious Cause it's real on this road to riches I got this mastered, other rappers'll craft it Weak and wicked camoflauged as killers How they speak and kick it Peep this uniqueness Nonbelievers I'm leaving speechless Left to choke and skunk smoke was coming through the speakers" Production? Jay doesn't produce his own tracks, and the production has no bearing on the quality of what you're spitting. I agree about his longetivity, but that's about the only arguement you can make for Jay being a top 5 rapper. I personally pay more attention how they were at their peaks, which is why I have 4 rappers who died in their 20's in my top 10. From a rapping standpoint, I think IT on Revolutionary Pt. II and Mos Def on BoBS and Blackstar were better than Jay ever was.

This year's Cavs aren't substantially different than last year's squad and they've won 1 game this entire month. LeBron led arguably the worst Finals team in NBA history, brought them to the ECF another time (averaging 38/8/8 in that series loss, including 2 insanely clutch performances in the 2 wins), and led them to back-to-back 60+ win seasons. His career post-season averages of 29.7PPG/8.4RPG/7.3APG/46% shooting are among the greatest in NBA HISTORY. Now he has the help to have a legit shot at winning a title. In Cleveland, he did not. Individually, his career post-season numbers are better than Kobe's (pre and post Shaq), Wade's, Howard's, Paul's, etc... He consistently led his team deep into the post-season, and over the last 4 seasons his Cavs were beaten only by teams that either made it to the Finals, or won it all. So, yes, he does have an amazing post-season track record individually. To even suggest that he's had a problem over his career choking or underperforming in the post-season is ridiculous and downright delerious. That game 5 against Boston doesn't erase an otherwise spectacular post-season resume.

Got about 2 hours to go here in NJ before New Years. I wish everyone here a wonderful New Year, and please be safe if you go out drinking!

Oh, and the other thing about Jay-Z is many of his greatest lines are ones he bit from other rappers. Here's 7min of him biting other rappers rhymes... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEZF4Vbe3A

Not true. I remember all the way back on X-Mas day 2003 the Magic wore their black uni's at home vs. the Cavs, and I've seen many, many teams use their away/alternate jersey's at home since then.

LeBron's track record in the post-season has been amazing for his career. And you're a troll because you constantly hate on LBJ, troll threads about him, avoid facts and go off your misguided emotions.

2Pac: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWPnDdj2lLo Rakim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFOeJOtq_xc Biggie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rogvlB2SP4k Mos Def: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycJ5m5Mt9JE /thread

Out of all the videos you could have posted, you posted THAT one? The one where Jay-Z got RIPPED in his own song? Royce Da 5'9 spit better verses in the original Renegade with Em. In Renegade Jay got ripped just like in this freestyle... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYfKMIdoJL0 I posted a few Canibus videos and that Big L one, and you posted Em blowing Jay away in his own song, but here is at least one song from each of the rappers I posted before that blow Jay's verses in Renegade out of the water... Nas/AZ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCnqDvvZrcM Immortal Technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M72zVuBNpEA Big Pun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLdAIyC6hYc

1) Agree. 2) Disagree...I'd say Utah or OKC is more overrated. 3) Right now, I agree.