The Lone Granger

Manning with the costly mistake. I haven't seen him make a game-losing mistake like these past two games in his entire career. That being said, I'm not one of those guys who is all, "Manning's career is probably coming close to an end. He's just lost a step and you can just watch his game slip away." What this means is that it's hard for him to play his game without Clark, and the rest of his guys being 100% healthy. I'm not a Colts fan, but they still have a very good team when completely healthy. Good for them to see Collie and Garcon starting to look like they're getting healthy, but they're still not back yet either. Great win for the Pats though.

Going to CP3 here. He's easily better than Durant in my opinion. Paul can do so much more than just score the ball. He can pass to teammates, play defense, rebound as a point guard, and he makes his teammates better. I don't think you can put Durant ahead of Paul in all honesty.

Blake Griffin for me as well. 16.5 PPG and 10.5 RPG? That's insane. He's put up monster games like, 10/27 vs. Portland: 20 Points, 14 Rebounds. 11/5 @ Denver: 26 Points, 10 Rebounds. 11/6 @ Utah: 16 Points, 17 Rebounds. 11/12 vs. Detroit: 18 Points, 18 Rebounds. 11/17 vs. Minnesota: 26 Points, 17 Rebounds. As a young big man, he's only averaging an incredible 2.9 fouls per game. That's very impressive. Wall has been great for Washington as well, but he's also averaging 4.38 turnovers per game as well. If he can cut down on the turnovers, then I think he probably takes away the lead from Griffin and they are about tied, but I really don't think you can choose wall over Griffin at this point. Just my opinion.

Welcome back man! I was once in your shoes being given a second chance because of spamming, but that was a long long time ago. I changed, and everyone forgave me, and treated me like a quality member again. Over the years I've learned a lot, and started posting a lot better. Looking forward to seeing what you can bring to OTR man . Welcome back once again! Looking forward to seeing you around the forums!

Yes. We need a power forward very bad, but what kind of deal would you be wanting? I know we could give up a deal like Dahntay Jones, Josh McRoberts, and a pick or something for him....but I'm definitely not sure that that's close enough to pry away Scola. If he's out on the market, you can count on it that Bird will give the Rockets a call about him, because if we get a legit power forward, then that finally completes our team. Would love to see him on our roster.

I've been saying this all along. When Davis comes back, I really believe the makeup of this Raptors team will change quite a bit. You put an energetic, and defensively minded Ed Davis out on the court, and you get a lot better right away. In my opinion, the reason Toronto brought him in in the first place, is to have the defensive mentality, and also have a guy who has solid moves in the post and can score the ball from the paint. I'm looking forward to see what the young big man can do following in the footsteps of Chris Bosh. I think he can step in and be a very nice starter for the Raptors.

Most Surprising: Mike Dunleavy In all honesty I think I have to go with Mike so far this year. Over the past couple years he really hasn't been able to help us out too much. He's had knee injuries that have hampered him down, and now that it appears like he's finally getting healthy, he's starting to play like the Mike Dunleavy from a few years back that averaged 19 PPG. His shot has returned, and he's hitting threes left in right. Also, he's still moving extremely well and moving without the ball. Defensively he's still a liability, but he's working hard and that's all you can ask. Rebounding wise he's really stepped up for us as well. There's no doubt in my mind that Dunleavy has been the biggest surprise so far this year for the Indiana Pacers. Most Disappointing: Josh McRoberts I've been very disappointed with the way Josh has been playing so far this year. It doesn't look like he's worked on much at all on the defensive end, and very little on offense. He still commits very stupid, touch fouls, and also hasn't improved in his post game, or mid-range game. I can't count the number of times that teams have left him wide-open from 15-18 feet, and he hasn't been able to knock it down. I will give him that he's improved drastically from behind the arc, but still, his all-around game really needs to improve.

There's no doubt that Phoenix should give him an extension for the reason that Newman just gave, they can't lose anymore weapons. Richardson is one of the only guys they have who can create his own shot effectively, and they can't lose that. $7-8 million sounds about right for him to me as well. He's definitely earned it so far this year, and I expect to see something get done in the next couple weeks.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/70163/20101119/artest_wants_shot_at_nfl_after_nba_career/ I actually think that he could make it in the NFL. He's a very strong guy, works hard, and like he said, he's very athletic, so why not give it a shot? What kind of player do you think he'd be? What position would he play? Thoughts?

This is a very interesting, and confusing situation in New Jersey. Murphy is a very solid player, who will put up a double-double every night out there if you give him minutes, but apparently Avery Johnson doesn't like his game or something. Did the Nets really ever intend to play Murphy? Or did they just trade for him so they could acquire a large expiring contract and trade it away to relieve some money? Why don't you think Murphy is playing at all? Just a very confusing situation in my opinion. Now comes the question, what teams would be interested? I wouldn't be surprised if the Pacers were interested in re-acquiring him. We could give up some kind of deal involving our first round pick. We'd get our power forward, and also a large expiring deal to have during the offseason to sign a free agent or two. Makes sense to me, but I don't know if Bird has any interest. Thoughts?

I wasn't on last night because I had basketball practice . Great game for us last night! Picked up a good win (even though it was against the Clippers). Ford played very good in place of Collison, only turning the ball over one time! Also, A.J. Price is showing that he should be allowed to play by O'Brien, putting up 14 points and 6 assists. Honestly, I'd prefer him to back up Collison over Ford, no offense to T.J. So we won by 27 without two of our starters, Collison and Dunleavy. Very good win for us. I'm also very pleased with the way James Posey has been playing lately for us. He put up 12 last night on four threes, and not just on the offensive end, but he's playing great on-ball defense, hustling, and boxing people out and getting boards. Great to see this Pacers team playing as a team for the first time in a long time.

Why not? The kid still has loads of talent, and during those few games that he was completely healthy you could see that he could become a very good center for Portland. Yes, he's been injured way to much, but why give up on him right now? He's still very very young, and has a few years to get stronger, and hopefully get better and stay healthy for his career. I'm guessing he's getting hurt because of how young he is, and how much he grew and his body is still getting used to it. Good move by Portland to come out and support their young center.

I'm definitely a huge fan of Real Deal, htown11, AboveLegit, and BFT as well.

Personally, I think he has a shot, but I don't see it happening. He's got the mid-range jumper, the strength, rebounding, and defense to become a great all-around player. The only thing that I don't see him developing is becoming a consistent scorer every night and winning games for his team. He'd have to really work on his offensive game so he can put up 20-25 PPG per night in order for me to call him a franchise player. All-Star? Yes he will become an All-Star in my opinion, but nothing more.

We got screwed by Stern in this entire situation. How does Ben Wallace get such a light suspension? Yes Jackson and Artest deserved their suspensions, but O'Neal for 25 games simply because he punched a fan who was running on the court coming at him and his teammates with fists? Really? And Reggie even got suspended for breaking up a fight. Complete BS, and we've never fully recovered honestly until this year. Way to almost ruin an entire franchise.

Update Looks like we're going to have to endure another night of T.J. Ford....

This was a very disappointing game. Ford like you said, doesn't understand how to play defense. We need Collison, or at least start Price over Ford please O'Brien. Disappointing loss right here. Hopefully we win tonight vs. the Clippers.

Welcome to the best man! Thanks for joining! Hope you have fun and are able to stay active here at OTR. See you around the forums.

I'm in. Why not?

Byron Scott easily. No offense to Kuester, but he's not that great of a head coach. See what's happening in Detroit? Already his teammates are getting into arguments with him, and he just doesn't know how to handle things. He's almost like a Hitler when he's coaching. From what I've seen, he doesn't let his players have any say in what they run (see the Tayshaun Prince issues), and I think he's losing his team already. Scott on the other hand, has really taken control in Cleveland, and he teaches his players. You see what he's done with Chris Paul? Darren Collison? And even what you're seeing with Daniel Gibson? The man knows how to coach his players, and especially young players. I just don't see how Kuester even comes close to being as good of a coach as Scott is.

I'm in for sure. Sounds like fun though.

It's Bonner in my opinion. He's a better three-point shooter, as in more consistent. Other than that, Bonner can actually put the ball on the floor a little bit as well.