Nitro

This is ridiculous. Snake, I know you have a vendetta against Rose, but he's led the Bulls to 2 post-season appearances his first 2 seasons, and for the last few months of last year (after his injury) he was averaging about 23/7 on terrific FG%. He's a proven commodity with experience in both the regular and post-season. Don't get me wrong, Wall has loads of talent, but we have no idea exactly how he'll react to real NBA games. He may end up being ROTY, and I'd be a little surprised if he wasn't, but we also have no idea if he'll progress much after his rookie season (aka Elton Brand sydrome). I'm assuming he'll have a great rookie year and will progress to be a potential superstar, but Rose is already on that threshold and has proven his worth already. Until Wall proves something for a sustained period of time, it's foolish to say he's the better NBA player.

I wonder when people will finally agree with me that the only positive from a possibly healthy Arenas this season is to get his trade value up? The season hasn't even started yet and the circus around Arenas is already getting a tad bit out of hand.

I've heard of many stories where drug addicts kill FOR A SINGLE BAG. The type of lifestyle of a hardcore addict, especially serious addictions like drugs and gambling, involves stealing, killing and similar things. Gambling addiction is not special in regards to that. I am sure if you walk around a ghetto in the USA you will hear plenty of stories of addicts beating big-time dealers and getting they, or their families, hurt/killed as a result. First off, I'm 19. If someone gave me 110K, it may not have been gone in a single move, but it would have been blown through. And judging by my history, I would have probably been found dead somewhere in that binge from an accidental OD. I've had OD's when I've had little money (<$20), and when I've had no money at all (stole it). If I did make a move for $110K worth of drugs, just for myself, I'd more than likely end up in prison for many, many years. The issue is not everyone reaches this bottom. If it was so easy to just stop because life has gotten so uncontrollable, drug addiction would not be such a serious, life-threatening situation, and groups like AA and NA would have success rates much larger than the <10% they state is the case at rehabs. Also, I go to AA meetings and I've seen people who have been sober for 20+ years go out on one binge and end up 6ft deep a few weeks later. And those drug addicts who lost EVERYTHING and wound up homeless can't bring those things back upon becoming sober, either. Death is long-term, and you don't need to be homeless and sucking dick for crack before you can be taken by a drug addiction. I've had 1 friend, one year older than me, that died from a drug addiction. And do you have any idea the long-term effects drug addiction has on the body? I already have memory problems, issues with my eyes and sometimes severe depression from chronic ecstasy use. I have nerve damage to my pinky from screwing up shooting heroin. And that's just me, who's only been an addict for 2 years. And that's just on a physical level...the things I've put my family and friends to can NEVER be reversed. Another thing I failed to mention is the danger of an addict being severely intoxicated in regards to other civilians. Do you have ANY idea how many deaths/injuries occur annually from intoxicated drivers? Over 40,000 people a year in the US die from drunk-driving accidents ALONE...that isn't even including drivers intoxicated on other various drugs. It also doesn't account for various other felonies and murders caused by addicts during a blackout (where you don't remember anything the next day from the previous night).

Before I begin, let me first say I am a drug addict. Not the kind that smokes weed everyday...the kind that has completely ruined his life by shoving pills up the nose and sticking needles in his arm. Almost died twice, including one severe OD where my stomach had to be flushed with coal. So when you consider my replies to some of your comments, realize it is coming from the source. Yes...but the thing is that many drug addicts DON'T hit that rock-bottom, and end up homeless doing God knows what for drugs until they die, or they end up 6ft under from an OD a little sooner in the cycle. Either way, the fact that SO many addicts OD and die every single year should be the #1 factor in this whole discussion. Gambling addicts don't die from gambling too much, yet all it takes is one "hot" bag of heroin to kill you. Same thing with drugs. Everytime you get a hit of that *insert drug* you are winning, at least in your mind. That one hit comes before your family, friends, own well-being, etc... And speaking of money, I went through over 7K in 2 months over the summer on drugs alone!!! And I wasn't even at my worst! I wasn't physically addicted for the majority of that time, either...it was purely mental. I knew what I was doing to myself, others and my finances, yet I kept doing it...why? Not for [expletive]s and giggles, but because to me being high was the only thing that mattered in life. Hahahaha.... 1) All drug addicts start as being heavily mentally addicted. You don't become physically addicted to a substance after just a few times, and some drugs you don't ever develop a heavy physical dependance (like weed, ecstasy, etc...). You have to be severely mentally addicted to do drugs like heroin or coke everyday for weeks and weeks, and chances are that the person doing heroin/coke has been at least a recreational user of other drugs for quite some time. There are some exceptions, like patients being prescribed heavy amounts of pain killers for an injury, but the ones who take them as prescribed aren't drug addicts. 2) Recovering is NEVER easy, either physically or mentally. Take a bunch of Oxy's or heroin everyday for a few months, then stop cold turkey, then tell me it's easy. Kicking highly addictive drugs is very, very painful on the physical side, and mentally it's even worse. You become so used to doing everyday things on drugs that you forget how to do them without the drugs. It changes your entire world and you have to re-learn basic things.

Even though he's only about a third of the player he once was, KG is still the best defensive player on the Celtics without question. He still can lockdown most of the elite PF's in the league, and he is still an incredible help defender. Perkins is a very good, tough defender, but he doesn't offer anywhere near the versatility or energy that KG offers on a nightly basis.

Caracter wasn't exactly lighting it up in college when he did get on the court, either. He was projected so highly when he was in HS, but as we all know that isn't necessarily the best gauge. He does have incredible talent, though. I saw him throughout high school and ran with him in a scrimmage when I was in middle school at my basketball camp (which was ran by Kevin Boyle, the famous HS coach who Caracter played for).

Have a good resume, even if you don't have any past job experience. If possible, get approval from your dad to put on the resume you helped him at work with general stuff (like general assistance/cleanup/etc.). Put down all your volunteer/club experience. Basically, spruce and jazz it up as much as possible. When writing down the hours you can work, put down ALL available hours. Don't cater to your desires on this part of the application, just list every single hour your are available. In other words, don't make any weekend hours unavailable because you want some free time as this may eliminate you before you step in the door for an interview. Secondly, as travesy said, hand in your application personally to the manager in charge. Act enthusiastic, dress nicely and makes sure you let him/her know that you're very interested in the position. Lastly, apply to all major supermarkets/department stores. They are always hiring high schoolers, and will be flexible with your hours. Pizza places also often hire high school students. CVS/Walgreens and those drug stores are great places to work as well (I worked at a CVS in high school and it was great). Basically, apply EVERYWHERE. Even if you are waiting on call-backs, don't put all your eggs in that one basket.

My favorite movie of the year. Very, very well-directed with a great story, great acting and the bank robbery scenes were terrific.

If I were ya'll I'd hope he is dumped mid-season. He's awkard and boring as an analyst, and everytime the camera is on him he looks nervous as hell and doesn't know what to do. Liked him as a player, but he's not a great TV/radio guy.

It is, but could you change the fill of the text and silhouttes to maybe a black fill with that thin white outer glow?

When a huge part of Kidd's playing style is reliant on his size, it is a major factor in this discussion. We are discussing style, not necessarily effectiveness, and in that Stockton/Magic analogy they played two completely different ways as well. Good luck. Prepare for dissapointment. I was implying that breaking the 10APG mark is a pretty elite accomplishment. You have to have elite passing ability, and the players that have that tend to be MVP/superstar/franchise caliber players. There are certain exceptions, but Lawson has proven NOTHING to give off the impression that he will accomplish that feat. Rondo is an absolutely elite playmaker with amazing instincts for running an offense (and he IS the best player on a team that made the NBA Finals and the player the Celtics will build around the next 5-10 years). You don't need to be ultra-quick to be an effective transition player, you only need average PG speed. What separated Kidd was he would grab his own board, push it, stay UNDER CONTROL, and consistently make the right decision. Not many PG's are a one-man fastbreak off the rebound, and too many PG's force the issue on the fastbreak and cause the team a TO. Because of this, a lot of PG's walk it up the floor, or their coaches will pull back the reigns. I'm not implying stronger guards will murder him...what I'm implying is that Lawson's always going to be at a disadvantage because he's a smaller PG. Whether he is able to eventually overcome this has yet to be seen, but from my experience in watching basketball giving up 3-5 inches and 10+ pounds in the post is a very rare feat to consistently overcome. It can happen, but has yet to be seen. Regardless, his body isn't tailor-made to defend bigger post players, so I fail to see how the Kidd comparison is legit there. And EVERY fastbreak is contingent upon getting a defensive stop, so I guess Lawson is a mini-CP3 too! Kidd's style in particular is to grab his own rebound and push it, something you acknowledged Lawson won't do. Case closed. Kidd had average PG speed in NJ. AVERAGE. You can watch highlights, I watched the games when they happened. He was nowhere near one of the fastest PG's in the league. Yes, he was able to beat most other positional players on the break, but so can most average PG's. What made him different was he grabbed his own board and ran (or made a long outlet pass to an open wing player), which was a nightmare for defenses, and of course his insane court vision and IQ. Because of how good he was on the break, his teammates always ran with him, and that's why it was so effective. He was able to hit open layups, but nothing spectacular or special. He wasn't a guy that relied on quickness. Even after his microfracture surgery he was just as effective on the fastbreak because of his rebounding ability and basketball IQ. No. Dribble penetration, as I ALREADY MENTIONED IN MY FIRST POST, is just one aspect to facilitating in the halfcourt set. And just because Lawson can get to the rim better does NOT mean he is able to make better decisions and see certain players open that Kidd can... not even mentioning the actual pass which Kidd was a master at putting spot-on. And who said Lawson can match Kidd's effectiveness on the fastbreak?!? Being faster and better at finishing a layup does NOT equal being a better fastbreak PG.

For anyone out there willing to give it a try, could someone make me a sig of the Boondocks (tv show)? I'm not picky about how it's layed out or anything, but I'd prefer Huey to be the focus of it. If ya'll don't want to do much work, I'd be perfectly content with the image below (with the text/silhouettes cropped) with a thin white border, then a thin dark black border around that: http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/GOLDEN-BOONDOCKS-the-boondocks-409837_800_600.jpg

When did I say Lawson wasn't strong? He is, but compared to Kidd he gives up about 5 inches and 20lbs. That's a BIG difference. Kidd never used his size to to finish against contact and such. He used his size to post up smaller players on offense, and be able to defend multiple positions on defense. Lawson is incapable of either because of the size difference. Lawson is average to below averagely sized at the PG position. Kidd is/was one of the biggest/tallest/strongest PG's in the league. 3 major problems: -I am aware Kidd was a starter, which is why I used assists per 36min. -Stop overblowing Lawson's ceiling in assists. Every year only 2-3 players break the 10APG plateau. One is a two-time MVP, one is a guy that put up arguably the greatest statline a PG has ever had 2 seasons ago, another is a franchise player that led his team to the WCF in his 2nd season, and the last one is Kidd himself. -The fact that YOU JUST SAID Lawson is a PG that gets his assists by breaking down defenses with his speed is PRECISELY why he isn't J-Kidd like as a playmaker. Kidd has never been about blowing by defenders to get his assists, and dribble pentration overall was never his bread and butter. It's his impeccable court savvy, the ability to play in the post, ability to absolutely murder teams in the fastbreak by grabbing his own rebounds, the ability to see plays 5 seconds before they happen, and essentially is a master at making plays for teammates in any set. Once again, I never said Lawson is a bad defender. I said that due to his size, he's always going to be at a disadvantage. He gives up at least 3 inches and 10lbs to the best post-up PG's in the league...Miller, Kidd, Billups, Williams, etc... We are talking about play style, not effectiveness, and a big chunk of Kidd's defensive style and value was his ability to defend big PG's, SG's (on the Nets he was given the Kobe/T-Mac assignment multiple times), and on rare occasion some SF's. Lawson doesn't offer anywhere near that versatility. Their defensive games are completely different. Trust me, coming from a guy who saw at least 70% of the games Kidd played as a Net (including at least 20 of them in person), I'll tell you why Kidd was so dangerous on the fastbreak- He grabbed his own boards and was one of the greatest passers of all-time that could make ANY pass. It is the same reason Rondo can be such a nightmare, and Jeff Van Guny talked about that fact a lot in the Finals. When the PG is able to pull down his own boards, it makes igniting the fastbreak a LOT easier and more dangerous. And yes, Kidd is faster with the ball than without it, but his game has NEVER been predicated on speed. Never. He's always been average in that regard. He does his work off pure IQ and, at times, using his size advantage. Also, since he joined the Nets at least, he's been a pretty awful finisher at the rim in a halfcourt set. Lawson already is better than Kidd ever was at penetrating with the intent to score, as I said in my first post. Seriously, you have some balls to claim I don't watch Nuggets games when you have proven you know little to nothing about a guy that I watched play 20min away from me for 7 years. To claim Lawson is a mini-Kidd is a JOKE...they play nothing alike and Lawson will never, ever be as effective.

Then you clearly missed the entire bulk of the post. And Laker fans ALWAYS use excuses like that to prop up Kobe, from Shaq's defense/poor FT shooting during the first 3-peat, to his crappy teammates after Shaq left town, and more recently blasting Fisher's defense/Artest's offense/crappy bench. So please... Why? What makes Kobe on a totally different level from Wade? Whether you or I believe Kobe is better or not is irrelevant as the point is the difference is very minimal. Wade scores as much on better efficiency, passes better with a better AST:TO ratio (in recent years), rebounds at a comparable rate, gets more blocks/steals (yes, I am aware this doesn't prove or disprove who the better defender is), and has proven to be a prime clutch player and leader. For their careers, Wade averages more points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, and shoots a better percentage from both the field AND 3 in the post-season. Wade is also a champion. So why is Kobe on a different level? Because he can shoot a left-handed 3? Because he averaged 35PPG on 27+ shot attempts? Listen, I agree that Kobe is probably the better player (although at this point in their careers, it's arguable), but they've been on the same level since 2006ish. When it's all said an done MJ, Kobe and Wade will likely be known as the 3 greatest SG's of all-time.

Haha it's funny because a few weeks ago I burnt a new CD for my car and wanted songs I've never heard before, so I searched around and came across this song. Great stuff. BTW, my favorite Dilated People song/Alchemist beat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Z-4973tN4

Got this from a site who got this from another site, but anyway... Just saying :glasses:

I know what you mean about it getting ridiculous (it would end up being similar to the NFL where you can get .5 a sack, and it'd be .5 an assist per free throw made), but at the same time you'll often see players get hacked to prevent the easy 2 after receiving a great pass. How should that not be rewarded to the passer, while on the next play that same player can be rewarded on an assist by passing it to a well-defended teammate 35ft out and that player drains the fadeaway 3? But I do agree that they should keep things the way they are. It really isn't a big deal, everything tends to balance out and it makes comparing current players to past players a bit easier when considering stats.

Hahahahahaha....oh boy this is funny. 1) Ty Lawson is 5'11'', 195lbs, One of the things that has always characterized Kidd's game is his size and strength. Kidd is 6'4'' and was listed as 205lbs at the draft (since he came to the Nets he's been at least 220lbs...IMO). A huge part of his game is posting up smaller guards and overpowering them, both on the offensive and defensive end, which allows Kidd to be able to defend 2, and sometimes up to 3 positions. No matter how hard Lawson tries, he'll never be the physical presence Kidd is/was. 2) Kidd averaged 8.2 assists per 36min his rookie season, and has never gone below that mark in his career. Lawson was at a respectable 5.6 assists per 36min last season, but he just doesn't display a similar court awareness/savviness/vision that Kidd did at the same age. Kidd got his assists off being the ultimate floor general and knowing where each person would be 5 seconds before they got there. Lawson gets his assists in the more common (but still effective) dribble penetration. Lawson is a good, true PG, but he's not anywhere near where Kidd was at the same age, and does his work in a different style. 3) The difference in their rebounding abilities is astronomical. In his prime Kidd was pulling down 7-8 boards per game (in his rookie season nearly 6RPG), and it is what has made him the triple double machine he is known for and what always separated him from other elite PG's. He changed games on the glass, an area that Lawson will NEVER be a game-changer in. 4) Lawson is always going to be at a disadvantage defensively due to his size, and will never be an impact defender. Kidd was the best defender at his position for a number of years. 5) Lawson is going to be a better scorer, and is much better than Kidd ever was at dribble penetration with the intent to score. In other words, Lawson doesn't play anything like Kidd, not warranting the "mini-Kidd" title.

He was referring to the blown call as a 5th out.

Great to see Dwight working with Hakeem, learning from absolutely the best post player I've ever seen (skill-wise). Even in his 40's Hakeem's moves are quick and silky smooth. I really, really hope Dwight gets comfortable with a few of those moves and actually shows them come game-time. I was also very surprised to see Dwight actually had a decent shooting touch on some of those 8-12ft jumpers.

It's sad, but true. That's why this time I chose an Eminem song, but I guess since it doesn't feature Rihanna or Lil Wayne it doesn't compute for most people on here. <_<

Give me a +1 for starting the trend

No, THAT'S completely and utterly false. The average welfare check is about $600 per month, and you cannot qualify if you make around $700 per month. Keep in mind, they adjust the amount you receive based on if you have a job, and the welfare check eventually stops coming. Now, let's say you are making around $1200 per month between a job and welfare...that averages out to about $15,000 income for an entire year. If you know anything about finances, you'd know that is WAYYYYY below the point where you can afford "luxory" items. It barely, barely can afford you a decent apartment (which in northern NJ is about a grand per month), let alone the other stack of bills you have to pay for (such as cell phone bills, car bills, insurance, etc...). Please think before you speak, have actual knowledge about the subject, meet some people on welfare, and don't play off a stupid, unfounded stereotype that is blown out of proportion because of a few [expletive] people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-kl-sdJDZI Classic Eminem at his best. My favorite Slim Shady song.

LeBron has a huge ego, but it's guided in a different direction from Shaq/Kobe. LeBron has an ego of the Magic Johnson variety. He knows he's one of the 2 best players in the league, and has supreme confidence in his abilies. However, I don't think he has the same ego as young Kobe/Shaq, who demanded touches, shot attempts and the glory of being "the man." I think he'll be perfectly content with a decrease of shot attempts, but being able to showcase all of the incredible things he can do. As I said, if either Wade or LeBron had ANY concerns regarding shot attempts and being labelled as the clear-cut man, they wouldn't have made this trio happen.