The Lone Granger

The only reason that contracts are going so high in the first place is because they will probably end up getting lowered and cash given back to those teams under a new agreement or something. Was hearing about that on the radio. Anyway, Weems has been very impressive so far in his playing time for the Raps. I agree that they should give him more minutes as long as he's producing with them. Also the comment you made about him not wanting to get as many shots up if he's playing consistent minutes is so true. When your not sure how long, or how often you'll be going into the game, then your going to try to put some points up when you get the chance. As for defensively, I think he could turn into a very good defender. He has the quickness, quick hands, and ability to make quick decisions that he could turn out to be someone like a Shane Battier in my opinion. On offense though is where I see him possibly having struggles. He doesn't seem to have that great of shot selection, and that's usually hard to correct. If he can calm himself down and play team basketball, then he'll be just fine. But I agree with Hollinger for once, that Toronto should give him more minutes and see what he can do. And I also agree with you that it would at least be an exciting back-court to watch.

Why wouldn't Boston be interested? They've had major front court injuries to the point where they had to play Marquis Daniels at power forward at times. Shaq isn't healthy, Jermaine O'Neal definitely isn't healthy with his knees, and since Perkins isn't available, and Erden just isn't quite ready for the NBA, I think Cousins would be a very nice fit in Boston. Orlando was the first team that came to mind for me. They only have Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson at the four, and neither of those guys should be a starter. Bass is good, and would make a great backup, but I don't think he can do much more than that. As for what they'd have to give up though? What do you think about a deal involving Pietrus or Redick, Ryan Anderson, and a pick? Who do you think the other two teams are other than the Magic then? If it's not the Celtics and Heat? I agree with your point on the Heat that they don't have anything to give up.

I'm guessing that the three teams are the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and then maybe a team like the Orlando Magic?

Nah dude your cool lol. Don't worry about it, I wasn't mad in the first place. Seriously though, she knows her basketball.

OK, so my fault on not making the sarcasm a little more noticeable. Lol, I was joking to, and it's cool I understand that when girls sign up on sports boards stuff happens lol.

Hmm, next time you talk to her you will treat her with more respect kid. Sorry, I would do this for any female on a forum, They are here to talk about sports just like we are, you don't need to act like a horny ten year old who just learned how to jack off. Thanks.

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/70072/20101113/haslem_questions_pierces_toughness/ I also agree with the statement that Pierce is soft, but still, don't talk until you beat the team. Let them talk, and once you beat them for once then you can come out and mock Pierce. The reason I think he is soft is because he flops and always is complaining during a tough part of the game about everything. Although I will admit that he is either one of the toughest guys when it comes to injuries, or he just over-exaggerates, which I wouldn't be surprised were the case as well. Thoughts?

I doubt it, but I chose I don't know man, wow. How can he not have won Coach of the Year yet? He's one of the best coaches, and longest tenured coaches as well. Very sad to see that he still has not won that award yet, they should just give it to him this year simply because he's deserved it on numerous occasions before.

Welcome to the site baby! Thanks for finally joining lol. Guys, she's legit with her NBA knowledge. In all honesty, she's probably smarter than I am, and a better poster. Be careful getting into arguments with her because she will win them no matter what, enough said. All that being said, I'll probably be in trouble for warning you guys, but you should thank me! Hope you stay active here , and are able to have fun!

Good point. I remember Wolves fans after that trade went down were livid. It seems like McHale was right after all, he made a good move for once. I think they'll get something done, because your right, I think both sides would like to be loyal to one another. As for Jefferson, I think they really showed Love how much they want him to stay, and how much they value him by doing that. They traded away a guy that when healthy can average a double double easily, and they kept Love, and now he's producing for them. I think Minnesota is making the necessary and right moves in order to keep Kevin Love happy, and keep him as a member of the Timberwolves.

So I'm just taking a guess here. MFFL41....does that mean, Mavs Fan For Life, and then Dirk's number?

Welcome to the best of basketball discussion man! Great to have another NBA fan join OTR. We are definitely looking to expand our member base, and increase our number of good NBA posters, so if you have any friends who you think would join, be sure to let you know! Hope to see you have fun, and stay active here! See you around the forums.

He'll be welcomed back as our backup center with open arms. I'm really sick of seeing Solomon Jones get any amount of playing time, and once Jeff is back, I think you'll see him get cut. He's done absolutely nothing for us this season. He is 6'10" and only has 1 block in 70 minutes. In my opinion that just tells it all right there. It's time for him to go. As for Foster, not only does he give us better defense, but the rebounding and even at times his scoring can be very solid as well. Assuming he can stay healthy, he'll be putting up a good 15-20 minutes per night, and will help us a lot off the bench. Thoughts?

If I'm the Blazers this more than worries me. It's sounding to me like a Jonathan Bender type of thing, except not quite so advanced yet. When the Pacers drafted Bender, he had the potential to be a star in the NBA, but he didn't have any cartilage left in his knees, and he kept missing time, missing more time, and then finally he was forced to retire because of the pain. Roy sounds like he's in a ton of pain, and dealing without anything to absorb the wear and tear of an NBA game on his knees, could be very difficult for him to keep playing through. Thoughts?

After the great start for Cousins where it looked like he was going to be that good teammate/rising star for Sac-Town, this has come very quickly and hard for fans to understand. What is going on with DC? Is he ever going to turn into what his talent says he could be? This is exactly the reason that the New Jersey Nets selected Favors over him. There was no question that Cousins was the better prospect, but he always had the potential to become a bust because of selfishness as well. Don't get me wrong, I'm not labeling him a bust at all, but he's definitely starting to have a negative impact in the lockerroom for the Kings. I mean really? He's arguing with coaches as a rookie. He needs to realize that he doesn't understand the NBA game yet, and he needs to learn from his coaching staff, not argue against them. What do you guys think will end up happening with the DeMarcus Cousins situation? Is there any chance that they actually look to deal him? Thoughts?

Sources: rotoworld The Stojakovic rumor definitely makes sense, but Thornton I'm not so sure about. I guess the fact that he's not in the rotation because of defense tells me something, so they probably are looking to deal him. What kind of trade do you think they can get if they package both of these guys together? Surely Thornton has some kind of value after the end to his season last year showing he can score the ball. Thoughts?

I would say that Monty Williams will get it if the Hornets keep playing like this. Scott would definitely be in the running, but I think it all depends on what the Cavs' end record is. Just making the Playoffs probably wouldn't be enough to do it. However, if they made the Playoffs as the sixth seed or higher, then I could definitely see it. Cleveland has always had this kind of a talented roster. First, what happens when you have a superstar player on your team? You get caught up in standing around watching him go to work. What happens when one player is taking the ball, and then when he needs his teammates they are just standing around watching? Turnovers and ultimately losses. And finally, what happens when that superstar is no long with the team? They realize that they have to play basketball as a team in order to win. I think that's what your seeing happen in Cleveland, and I think they will continue to play good, solid basketball. As for the Coach of the Year Award? I know Scott is going to be in the conversation, but with the way Williams' Hornets are playing, I really think he'll end up winning it. Thoughts?

There is no doubt that he is going to pass Jordan on the scoring list. I don't see him "shattering the record" and I don't think he even has a shot. Like Real Deal just posted, five years of 24.4 point per game, sticks him behind Malone for third all-time. I just don't see him being able to play long enough, and at the level he'd need to, in order to "shatter the record". As for how many points? Well, I think I'm going to say he ends up with 34,000, which leaves him at third place all-time behind just Kareem and Malone.

I really think that the Pacers should be looking into making a move for Thompson as well. He's only 24 years old, and would be able to step right in and become our starting power forward very quickly. He's an excellent rebounder, which just gives us one more big reason that we should be going after him. Honestly, anything gives us an upgrade over McRoberts right now, and apparently Hansbrough is not ready to start for some reason, so why not try to swing a deal for a power forward who is actually able to play the game rather than just be athletic. Don't get me wrong, I like what McRoberts brings to the table, but he's not a starter in the NBA in my opinion, he's a solid guy off the bench. Maybe we could do something like Dahntay Jones and Solomon Jones for Thompson type of deal?

Welcome to the best man! Hope you have fun and are able to stay active. See you around the forums!

No joke. It gets really annoying to see him pull a guy who is shooting the ball well. The way I've always been taught, is if a guy is shooting great, you don't take him out of the game no matter what. Another thing I really don't understand, is why do we play those guys like T.J. Ford and Solomon Jones so much? I understand that Ford can help your team, but I don't care what anyone says, Collison being on the floor gives us the best chance to win. As for Solomon Jones, that dude shouldn't even be on an NBA roster. What I hated about that play was that we all just stood there and watched him shoot the three. Not only is he a good shooter, but he's freaking shooting nearly 40% from behind the three-point line if I'm not mistaken? Why just stand there and watch? At least run at him and try to distract him. Definitely disappointing defense down the stretch. I wasn't too terribly upset about that. Granger was covered, and Collison actually got a very good look at the three. Collison a horrible shooter from deep? Really? The kid is 7-16 from downtown this season, which brings his percentage up to .405% which is impressive. Last season he hit 46-115 which is 40% as well. He's a good three point shooter, and that's why I didn't mind the game-tying look we got, we just didn't hit it. There were some bright spots to the game, but overall I was disappointed. Usually, we play a lot more aggressively down the stretch, and I have no doubt that if we were hustling and playing defense like we have in every game so far except at Philly, then we would have won this game. Brad MIller went off, and I can almost promise you that will never happen again this season. It was disappointing to see him kill us. And then just like I was assuming would happen, we still don't understand how to guard Kevin Martin. All I'm going to say is that we better pick up the intensity tonight against the Cleveland Cavaliers if we want to get back to .500. Very disappointing game. Some players I do want to mention from this game are Mike Dunleavy, Roy Hibbert, and James freaking Posey. Mike had another good game, scoring 15 points, to go along with 4 rebound and 6 assists. He looks like he's found his legs back, and he's finally shooting the ball well again. The sad thing is that we lost by three, and Dunleavy missed a free throw, and Ford missed two of them. We make our free throws it's headed to overtime. As for Roy HIbbert, he put up 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. He's really becoming a force to be reckoned with in the post, and it's great to see a center in Indiana transforming into a dominant center right before our eyes. And finally, James Posey came off the bench to score a Pacers game high, 19 points. He was 7-12 from the floor, and 5-8 from downtown. He's been a great addition to this Indiana Pacer team because of his determination on defense, veteran leadership, and ability to shoot the three which he showcased last night against Houston. Overall there were a few bright spots, but we need to play harder and smarter starting now. We have the talent to make a run at the Playoffs this year, but are we going to use it? And can we please get rid of Jim O'Brien, the dude is definitely not making it any easier for us to win games. Also htown11, hit me up about the avatar bet.

Welcome to OTR man! Glad you finally caved in and joined. From the looks of things, you've already started to enjoy the forum, so I'm hoping your hooked. Welcome to the best! See you around here, and hope your able to stay active.

Really? Lol, you guys don't even have a completely healthy roster. Your main bench player (Mike Miller), hasn't stepped on the court yet this season, Wade is just learning how to play with his team because he was injured all preseason, and are you kidding me? Implosion? They've played 9 games so far, that's nothing. They'll start picking up their play at some point in the near future. Whenever you put three stars who are used to having to shoot the ball on the same team, it's going to take some adjusting. I think people were expecting this team to just come together like the Celtics big three did, but it's a completely different situation. All the Heat guys are young, and don't quite understand what sharing the ball but still being a scorer means for their team. They'll get it in due time, but fans just need to be patient. I do love to see those bandwagon fans start questioning whether or not they should jump off that bandwagon.

Great game all around for Kevin Love. The Wolves really have a bright future assuming they can keep all these young, talented players on the roster, but that's going to be hard especially with a guy like Love. They need to do everything in their power to keep Love long-term, because assuming they keep building through trades and the draft on all this young talent behind Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, and even Johnny Flynn (who we haven't seen yet this season), I think they have a very good shot at becoming a good basketball team. That being said, keeping Kevin Love after the 2012-13 season when he's a restricted free agent is going to be difficult unless they want to match big offers for him. Teams are going to come after him hard, and it all depends on how much money Minnesota will have at that point in time. Personally, I would bet that they aren't able to match offers, and he walks to another team leaving the T-Wolves with more re-building years, but who knows. Maybe he has loyalty to the team who wanted him bad enough to trade Mayo for him? What do you guys think about all that as well?