ALTRNTV

The NBA regular season is only couple days way. Let's talk ball.

revat619

Boston seriously looks to be on its way to being a serious contender again. KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce....it will DEFINITELY be interesting. All of those guys are super hungry for a championship. I cant wait to watch them play.

My beloved Lakers wont go anywhere until they get serious about building a team around Kobe, but we'll see....maybe they'll surprise me this year. I doubt it, but they're my team. FOOOOR EEEEE VER.

I dont really care about anybody else. hahahaha

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ALTRNTV

Trade talks between the Lakers and Bulls have heated up lately. Whether or not Kobe leaves, the Lakers are still my team.

revat619

yeah same here. I hope he doesnt go to the bulls. I dont think Kobe will do it simply because Jordan was the greatest Bull (in addition to being the greatest ever), but you never know....if they throw him enough money, he may go for it.

they do have a better team though...

crap...

he probably will take it.

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OptionZero

Sweet, it's about time. I'm going to the Warriors open practice tomorrow nite (Free, 530 at the Oracle for those interested) and the home opener against the Jazz on tuesday.

If there's any Warriors fans...check out www.goldenstateofmind.com, i'm a moderator of the diary section there. We rock.

My forecast by tiers, since exact rankings are pointlessly random.

-West-
Championship Tier: Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio

Best of the west until proven otherwise, which means best in the NBA. Wouldn't be surprised if any of them came out on top, but the most vulnerable team is Dallas. They won a ton of games last year but were relatively fortunate in close games and had no major injuries. They did little to change the team and might have a psychological breakdown from the past two postseasons.

San Antonio is the best team because it maximizes the talent it has with a terrific system. They played their top 3 guys the least (about 5 minutes less for Parker/Manu/Duncan) compared to Phx or Dal, so they concede a couple regular season wins in exchange for postseason health. Repeat likely.

Phoenix went even smaller this year, which is either brilliant or stupid. Grant Hill will be useful as a backup point forward, hopefully spelling Nash more. Marion to PF will also rejuvinate him. Amare's knee bears watching but as long as he's good to go, the Suns will run past opponents all year.

Contender Tier: Denver, Houston, Utah
Any of those teams would be top tier in the East, but suffer from poor geography. Denver is the most vulnerable, their talent is high but their parts don't quite fit. Their frontcourt is dominating but fragile; Iverson and Carmelo don't quite go together. Neither has 3P range, preferring to operate in the midrange area. Carmelo is lightyears more efficient, but Iverson needs the ball . Without a good distributing PG to babysit, it will be rough. JR Smith is an essential piece because he has 3P range but is missing several neurons up top. Result? Too much talent not to make the playoffs, too volatile to take the next step. If they fell to the lower tier i wouldn't be surprised.

Utah is also a flawed team since Kirilenko is the only great defender in the lineup. Neither Okur nor Boozer play defense (they dont block any shots, horrible for bigs), which means Kirilenko will have to cover for everyone's deficiencies. Offensively they execute the pick and roll ridiculously well and have a true low post option, which makes them highly efficient. Lack of a 3P shooter at SG will prevent them from making "the leap", but they're otherwise a force.

Houston is interesting. They have two superstars and now the best cast they've ever had around Mcgrady and Ming. Adleman will install an open offense and up the tempo, and also get the most out of Bonzi Wells as a 3rd option. Scola is a productive veteran Euro that passes and shoots from the elbow extended well, so he is a good complement to Ming at Pf, something they've lacked. Francis and Alston suck, and Mike James is a shoot-first PG, but McGrady has sufficint point-forward skills to make it work, meaning James can just be another floor-spacer. Ming is a good passer from the high post, but I don't know if he'll be able to keep up the pace. Health is always an issue, but the talent is there. This year there should be enough pieces to get out of the first round, regardless of who they face. McGrady just ran out of excuses.

Fringe Playoff Tier: Golden State, Memphis, LA Lakers, New Orleans
New Orleans is the best squad here. Chris Paul is a beast, they rebound the ball, and Chandler defends the paint. Peja and MoPete finally give them some shooters. Julian Wright is a dynamic wildcard. Butler and MoPete give them perimeter defenders. Depth at PG/C is a big problem, so they need to pray Paul is healthy and Chandler/West don't get hurt. They should come out of this pack.

Golden State...sigh. They could win 50 or 35 and I wouldn't be surprised, which is why I'm picking somewhere around 42-44 and another 7/8th seed. Richardson only played 51 games and had an average PER of 15, so I don't get why people are citing his loss. SG is well taken care of among Ellis, Azubuike, and Belinelli (or even Stephen Jack). Biedrins will blow up this year; Patrick O'Bryant might finally give us a backup C. Barnes, Croshere, Hudson give us veteran depth; Wright and Lasme provide energy in the frontcourt. The pieces are there, but Baron's health is the issue. If he plays 75 games we take a playoff spot, any more and we watch for ping pong balls again. Ellis and the TPE mean Mullin has assets at the deadline, so a trade is virtually assured (Artest to the Bay to play PF).

I had Memphis ranked real high based on the raw talent level, but now I realize its just that...raw. Offensive firepower is there, but the defensive scheme is not. Iavaroni has to get them to buy into some sort of plan (best thing would be to funnel penetration to Gasol/Milicic ala the Spurs), otherwise they'll have lots of highlights and lots of losses. They have depth everywhere but alot of it is inexperienced. Ultimately, they prove to be a year away.

Lakers...just a mess. Bus deserves to get shot. No team will ante up until next year, so Kobe stays a Laker this year. He will have his moments at first, then the mediocrity of his surrounding cast and injuries to Odom/Walton will have its effect and he might pull a Vince Carter and tank it. Healthy, the squad has a chance, but they're never healthy. Trading for Jermaine would get them the 8th spot, but not much else.

Waiting for the Lottery Tier: Minnesota, Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, LA Clippers

No winners here.

The Clippers might be just good enough without Brand to get a worse draft pick than they'd like...which is just about par for this franchise. Maggette will be showcased, then dealt at the deadline (he's bound to opt-out). Thornton will be productive immediately. Otherwise, not much else to see here.

Seattle is deep everywhere but no one plays any defense except Kurt Thomas. Durant and Green are already hurt; Delont west is always risky. Thankfully they have Watson and Ridnour. They'll play Szczerbiak alot so they can pump up his trade value, then deal him away for picks and an expiring contract or two; possibly the same for Wilcox. Fun to watch, not many wins for now.

Portland...would have been a fringe playoff team with a healthy Oden, just because they'd have some semblance of defense, but with Aldridge looking fragile and Roy's heel problems...just a disaster. Still searching for a SF. PG depth will be an asset likely cashed in at the deadline.

Minnesota has a ton of talent but none of it will be ready for 2 years. Jefferson will be ungodly, Foye will show progress, and their wings will be too inconsistent. Might be Contender Tier in 2009.

Sacramento. Mess of a franchise. Should have dealt Artest and Bibby when they could have, now Bibby can't even be showcased by the deadline. Stupid. No backup PG, too many overpaid stiffs up front, and now Artest will rob shots from Martin. Sac fans, pray for Derrick Rose or OJ Mayo.

OptionZero

Now the East. Harder to predict since its actually more balanced up and down...

Contender Tier: Detroit, Chicago, Boston
Chicago has the most depth and young but ready talent. I like them alot, but lack of low post scoring and Skiles' odd reluctance to play the kids might hold them back. As they are a jumpshooting team that relies on motion to get separation, their offense will be pretty mediocre. Defensively few are better, and awesome shotblocking (Tyris, Noah, Wallace) might create more transition opportunities to help out.

I like Detroit alot because Sheed is hilariously badass. Billups is steady in the regular season. Starting 5 can hang with anyone, but injury to Stuckey hurts. Hopefully playoff exits motivate them again, because if they really tried they could do alot more damage than they've done the last couple years. Young kids Maxiel and Amir Johnson might not get the shot they deserve to provide a spark off the bench in the frontcourt.

Boston. The opposite of Chicago since they cashed in all that young depth for 3 elites. Garnett will be a beast since his passing actually fits perfectly with Pierce and Allen on the wings. All eyes on Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, since the Big 3 will shoulder the main load. All they have to do is play defense to help get the big 3 some rest on one end of the court. Depth is a problem, if one of the big 3 goes down...

Good but not Great: New Jersey, Cleveland, Washington, Toronto
New Jersey's big 3 just isn't that big. Kidd isn't an elite defender anymore, although he's excellent at everything else. Carter will be good when he feels like it , but now that he got paid it won't be often enough. Jefferson's lost alot of explosion since injuries, so he's shockingly average now. Krstic won't be 100% for a while; Magloire will be productive in the East, but not enough. loss of Marcus Williams hurts. No depth on the wings. Just plain not talented enough to emerge from middle of the playoff pack in the East.

Washington will score but they play no defense. No plan and no talent on that end of the court means they'll fall short again too often. I love Dominic McGuire. They seriously need to swap Jamison for a PF that defends (KIRILENKO!!!).

Cleveland. James will blow up this year, Daniel Gibson is nice, and that's it. Ilgauskis and Gooden are productive on the boards but aren't good enough, Varejao/Pavlovic situation robbed them of any quality depth. Hughes/Snow/Jones/Marshall boatanchors mean they won't be able to make any immediate improvements. Danny Ferry will be fooled by last year's lucky run in the playoffs and keep the squad together too long. James will want to leave.

Miami. Wade is that damn good, but he's out for a month or so. Shaq doesn't show up in the regular season anymore. I don't expect much out of them during the 82 first games because frankly, they don't really care about it. I love the Ricky Davis trade, since he's a viable 3rd scorer and also is an underrated passer. Alonzo is the best backup C in basketball, which is a good thing since Shaq will sit a dozen games at least. They need to deal Jason Williams and a pick for Ron Artest, move Wade back to the point...do something to be considered in Contender Tier. They'll stumble into the playoffs, and depending on health, will get into the second round, that's about it...if that.

Bears Watching Tier: Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta
Oddly, this tier is more interesting since it's much more likely that any of these teams improves and jumps into the Contender Tier than any of the Good but not great tier...mostly because these 3 teams are young and talented but just need to put it together, while the upper tier is old and on the way down. I hate conservative GM's (which the Good but Not Great tier all have).

Charlotte might be the next Detroit, since they have a starting 5 full of good to very-good players and no uberstar. Wallace/Okafor make for ungodly shotblocking. Felton and Richardson give them perimeter offense. Dudley, Carrol, and Hermann are quality depth. All they need is a backup PG and they'd just about be stacked, needing only internal growth.

Atlanta...ownership is in a mess, GM is retarded, but when you've been to the lottery this much, you end up with a ton of talent...and they got a ton of talent. Al Horford will be Elton Brand or Tim Duncan...a polished, skilled big with a legit post game. Josh Smith adds highlight reel shotblocking and transition offense; Josh Childress is your steady mistake-free SF, Joe Johnson is a terrific SG with PG skills. All they need is a point guard to put it all together...but they ended up with Acie Law instead of Chris Paul or Deron Williams. Billy Knight should be shot. Instead of extending Josh Smith, i'd spin him for Andre Miller and a host of picks and go to the playoffs.

Orlando is the least exciting of this group. Lewis/Howard will be a nice inside out combo, but Nelson regressed at the point last year. They still lack a SG. Defense will be a problem since Lewis and Turkuglu don't play any. Ariza solves that a bit, but he can't shoot. Halfcourt and slow the tempo, force it into Howard so he'll turn the ball over 3.5 times a night...or speed the tempo and spread the floor even though you don't have enough shooters? Flawed team. Spin Arroyo and Turkuglu for some frontcourt depth and a SG.

Lottery Tier: Philadelphia, Indiana, New York, Milwaukee

Milwaulkee will suck because they don't have anyone who defends for a lick, and their offense is all jumpshooting. Lack of depth on top of that = doom. They entered the draft needing a post presence on offense, a backup PG, or a starting small forward. They came out of the draft with another perimeter oriented PF that didn't even want to play for them. Genius. Go back in time, take Corey Brewer, don't waste your money on Desmond Mason, find a backup PF and backup PG. It's not that hard, but NBA Gm's make it so.

Philly has a ton of talent, and none of it ready now. Outside of Kyle Korver, none of them can shoot, which represents a problem. They would thrive in transition, but they don't quite have enough defense to do it...odd, considering they have a shotblocker (Dalembert) and a wing menace (AIx2). Andre Miller is a highly underrated veteran PG and will help the kids, but they just aren't ready yet. Trading for Reggie Evans was retarded, since he does nothing but rebound his own missed putbacks.

Indiana...dumbest team in the league. Took on the mammoth contracts of Murphy and Dunleavy after handing out their own mammoth contracts to Marquis Daniels and Jamaal Tinsley. They don't have any shooting guards and their PG is overpaid to suck. Jermaine is quality but injury prone and now, offensively challenged. Too many PF/SFs...the most expensive ones are the least talented (Murphy/Dunleavy), the best ones wont get enough burn (Diogu/Granger/Shawn Williams). Last year, didn't even have a draft pick, so no additional young talent to watch. Walsh/Bird should be fired. Move Jermaine, for the best you can get; package Diogu/Dunleavy or Granger/Murphy to ditch the contracts as best you can. Megafail.

New York, second dumbest team in the league. Pairing a low-post center that doesn't defend with a low-post PF that doesn't defend, surround them with perimeter players that can't shoot threes...and that don't defend either. Overpay for all of them. Doom all of your best young talent (David Lee, Balkman) to the bench. Insert one sexual harasser as coach/gm, all paid by a fool living off daddy's riches. "Poorly managed New York team"- it's not a cliche, its a way of life.

SoCalSilvia

good analysis, but you did forget Miami in your eastern conference predicitions. I tend to agree with most of it, but the one thing I absolutely disagree with you on is the whole "trade Josh Smith for Andre Miller and picks." I don't think you realize just how good Josh Smith is. You could make the arguement that he's a better overall player than Gerald Wallace. Add to that, he's only 21. Other than a potential contract situation playing out where he doesn't want to re-sign, there is no way they deal him. They have their PG in Acie Law. He's polished coming out of college so he's not as much of a risk as other PG's(see Crittenton). By midseason, he'll be starting, if not sooner.

Interesting that you mention Dominic Mcguire. You're from the Bay Area so I assume you followed his path to the NBA. If I'm not mistaken, he was highly recruited out of HS, signed with Cal, but then had to transfer to Fresno St. He has size and potential, but honestly, I don't see him as anything more than a career bench player.

Not sure that I agree with you on what Memphis should do either. Ivaroni is a Phoenix/Euro guy, so I think he will play an up-tempo game, push the ball with his quick PG's(Conley, Stoudamire, Lowry) and wings like Gay and Kinsay, have an outside spot-up shooter in Mike Miller, and big men who run the floor like Gasol, Darko and Warrick. Gasol has been very effective in half-court, but with Spain he shows he can run the floor, so he should have no problem doing it in Memphis.

New Orleans has a quality backup C in Hilton Armstrong(has been a beast in preseason when given minutes) and B-Jackson is definitly a serviceable backup PG. With Mo Pete around, Jackson wont have to play alot of minutes at SG.

I see you are a true Warriors fan, mentioning Azubuike. Most people haven't even heard of him, but I think he's a very underrated player who fits in perfectly in Nellie's system. He's supposed to be in the starting lineup until Jackson comes back from suspension. Wonder if Harrington will crack the starting lineup at some point in the season or if Nellie is gonna stick with an extremely small lineup.


Wow, anyways, like I said, good analysis. I think this year is gonna be entertaining.

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BOROSUN

i consider toronto contenders and maybe pull a playoffs 2nd rnd.

my team this year is nuggets but still watching out for my knicks. i like
watching nate.

nuggets can make the finals by just let everybody do their thing. what's with the lightyear efficient than ai? carmello is a turtle. also they dont fucking need a pg, wtf you talking about... they need a defender pg (like a little bowen pg)!
aslong camby, kleiza, najera, martin (finally back), and nene are steadily contributing and working inside the rest of the team will follow.

i guess jr is a essential piece, the whole team is! yeah he can shoot the 3pt range but, he misses more than he can make. even mello or ai has a better 3pt percentage ,right now. i'm just glad jr actually contributing numbers and hoping he keeps it up thru the playoffs. also making those 3's would be great.

p.s. that game with the suns was some lame ass homo 3pt bs shot.

and wtf is up with miami

and why the fuck they bring houston back.

Phlip

Michael Wilbon (or maybe someone else?) said it best last weekend;
Kobe Bryant to the Bulls would be a horrible look for him and the bulls at the same time, as the talent that they would have to give to get him would leave him with just as little around him there as he has in LA, which would in turn make them "The Chicago Lakers."
Personally, I am hoping that we get the Andrew Bynum that showed up to the last preseason game against Sacramento in Vegas shows up in Houston Tuesday night, and every game he is healthy thereafter.
This still won't be their year, and the time of coddling to the Mavericks is officially over now as well. With ZERO changes, outside of a wedding, to the San Antonio Spurs, they will still be the team to beat whether you love it or hate it.
Denver will need to either convince the league to let them play with 2 balls, or learn to properly share it... That and I PRAY that Kenyon Martin's knees are better and he can show us that explosiveness that he seems to have somehow managed to retain some of, I like that dude, always have, even back when he was at Cincinnati.
Phoenix will be Phoenix, they'll run really fast and score a bunch of points, Grant Hill, if he can stay healthy (HUGE if) will be a valuable 6th or 7th man, as well as a great mentor to DJ Strawberry who, if he plays as hard as he did at Maryland and shows off the condition that had him best at the draft combines for anyone his size, will be waiting impatiently to knock off Raja Bell for that 2-guard spot.
Houston will be the trainwreck they always are since Hakeem retired, they will get to the playoffs and somehow manage to fall apart, getting Steve Francis back may not have been that great an idea, considering that Tracy McGrady and Yao will both NEED the ball.
Nevermind the rest of the Western conference, really... Seriously, nothing to see here.
The east will be between the Bulls (UNLESS they trade for Kobe, see the beginning of this post for that), the Pistons (as usual), the LeBrons and the Celtics... Wait, when the fuck did the Celts decide to try and get good? I was always of the mind that 3-superstar teams were never a good idea, but when one of those superstars happens to be a 7-footer with amazing body control, rebounding ability, a willingness to share the ball and the 12-years of loyalty shown to a team that seemed to be most interested in miring him in mediocrity (I mean, Latrell Sprewell? come ON, people!!!) and you have a team that is, while unproven, a surefire contender.
Again, the rest of the Eastern Junior Varsity team will not much matter.

Personally, Tuesday is not coming fast enough, I'm getting tired of baseball news and shit.

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OptionZero

Miami
Forgot about them. I'll insert it in my Eastern Conference post.

Josh Smith
I'm quite aware of Josh Smith's talents, but I'm also aware of his pricetag and drawbacks. He's a turnover machine and thinks he's Joe Johnson (he's not). He SHOULD be attacking the basket and staying inside of 10 feet of the bucket, using his leaping ability and height, but he wants to be more. He's also had clashes with the coaching staff in ATL. I'll save my self the trouble of negotiating a $14m/year extension, and go to the playoffs with Andre Miller...who had a bigger impact on the Sixers than Allen Iverson. Along the way they could probably pry some extra picks out of the Sixers as well. Plus, Miller's gone in just 2 years, meaning they'll retain long term financial flexibility.

Al Horford is ready to play power forward now, he's basically Mini-Duncan. He played college ball for 3 years, he has a low post game, he has legit size, he boards, he passes, he blocks shots, he's mobile, he's a stud on a freakin' rookie contract. Start him and force feed him the ball. But I realize my suggestion is a drastic step, if you don't believe in Horford, its not really gonna fly. No biggie, I'm just not a fan of "tweener" players , which Smith is. I believe it's more likely he'll plateau as an athletic highlight reel with very good, but never elite production, where as a guy with a true position has a better chance (given equal raw talent) to be elite. If i'm paying $14M, I'd better get damn near close to elite.

Dominic McGuire
The Warriors will regret not taking him. Second rounders are no longer giveaways, you can get rotation players on the cheap if you're smart. The Warriors weren't smart- Stephane Lasme is interesting, but he's the 4th power forward on our team. We needed more athletic wings, and McGuire has the perfect skillset: he defends on the perimeter, he's a weakside shotblocker, and he'll rebound. Lasme is redundant; McGuire fills a need..and I think he has more upside anyways since again, he has a position (SF) while Lasme is a severely undersized PF (he's like 6'7, 6'8).

Memephis
Like I said, I love the talent, but there's something to be said about defensive cohesion, and they haven't shown a bit of it. Indiana dropped 140 on them, yeah, in preseason, but that's a team with Dunleavy and Murphy. It shouldn't happen. They just haven't played together enough, much less with Iavaroni, and I don't see anyone who can step up as a wing stopper. Gay has the potential but not the inclination. Since the loss of Shane Battier, it's a hole thats been pretty glaring. They went from an excellent defensive team to one of the worst ones in the league (if not the worst). I'll let them prove to me they're ready now before I hop (back) on the bandwagon. There's alot of talented offensive clubs with athletic players, but watching the Warriors made me realize how important a defensive philosophy and dedication to execution is. Nelson is a genius for making our players work hard to be #1 in steals and opponent turnovers (top 5 in blocks, too, strangely). Baron Davis lead the league in steals per game. We can switch or trap every pick and roll thanks to our speed, we rotate very well now, we get into passing lanes, we collapse into the middle aggressively, and we throw double teams at you at wierd angles at random times (ask Dirk, he's probably still looking over his shoulder for that 6th defender). It's only possible if you work at it and commit, Memphis hasn't shown that...yet. Thats why Washington, New Jersey, and to a degree, Denver, have similar offensive firepower and pace but have defensive shortcomings. No cohesion or scheme.

New Orleans
Jackson is a little too old and fragile for me to count as a quality backup. Last year their issue was the complete inability to shoot the ball; while MoPete and Peja will help alot, I wish they had found another perimeter scorer to help with the load. West is also a pick and pop big, rather than a low post big, so that might come back to bite them in the ass. They're still dependent on Paul to create shots...so while Paul is good enough...great enough, even, to carry the load, he'll only be carrying that load into the first round.

Kelenna Azubuike
JRich who? Azubuike was a better 3P shooter by percentage last year, he has a superior handle, is much more adept at creating midrange offense, and, if you look at his college rebounding numbers and what he did in the preseason, he should be able to rebound nearly as well. He makes less than $1M, J-Rich makes $12M. I'm pretty happy with the tradeoff.

In my mind, he's already made Monta Ellis trade bait. Ellis is a free agent this coming offseason and we do not have the cap space to retain both. I pick Azubuike who is a true SG and will make less.

SoCalSilvia

Strawberry definitly has the talent to succeed in the Suns system, even more so than their first round pick Alando Tucker. Funny thing is, I played pickup ball with Strawberry back when he went to Mater Dei HS down here in OC. He was on the same HS team that produced fringe NBA players Cedric Bozeman(UCLA) and Jamal Sampson(CAL). It was funny because dudes would get under his skin by callin him Darryl(his druggy dad).


Allan Houston got cut after only playing 6 minutes in 1 preseason game. He was spotted playing golf the next morning.

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OptionZero

Allan Houston was a PR stunt to divert attention from the MSG scandal.

yudalicious

Pretty good analysis Option, I agree with most what you wrote. /Thread.
The SW division is so tough, SA, Dallas, Houston.

ALTRNTV

Option, good in-depth analysis for people who wouldn't normally follow any of those teams.

Lakers-Bulls have been in talks about this trade:
Bryant to the Bulls
Deng, Gordon, Thomas, and Noah

I highly doubt that will go down because Kobe has the only no-trade clause (meaning he can veto the trade) in the NBA. His teammates there when he arrives will probably be worse than his current situation now.

I really can't wait to see Boston play this year.

02BRB20

People hate on the Heat but they forget 2 very big facts about last season:
1. wade, shaq, and riley played about 10 games together the whole regular season
2. wade wasnt playing 100% in the playoffs; you could tell he didnt want to damage his shoulder further.

they got rid of walker, thank god
Heat V Celtics for East championship

Phlip

I am not "hating on" the Heat, I am taking them for what they are; a team that happened to have come off on a weak conference, then rode Dwyane Wade to beat the Mavericks, who have never quite been what people seem to want them to be. Shaq has questionable work ethic and his age is beginning to show that, as far as his conditioning goes. At his size, Wade CAN'T go it alone and Penny Hardaway is not the answer... The Heat will be about where they were last year. I DO, however, agree that getting rid of Antoine Walker was a good look for them.

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revat619

+1

Couldnt have said it better myself. :bw:

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ALTRNTV

The Heat's championship was due to the complete and utter meltdown of the Dallas Mavericks. There are no other words to explain how the Heat won.

OptionZero

Yup. Riley learned too late to rebuild. Now he's stuck with Shaq's $20M/year boat anchor.

He still doesn't have a point guard or any wing depth and he hasn't replaced Kapono, who was pretty much the key to making Shaq worthwhile.

ManoNegra

I'm too heartbroken by the state of affairs with my beloved Lakers. I don't think I'll be following this season with much enthusiasm (if any).

02BRB20

Well, I still think the Heat are the no.1 team in the East, ppl are so quick to write off teams bc their memory only goes from season to season; they had the same team when they won it as they do now (save posey who isnt that great), shaq lost weight and wade's shoulder and knee will be back to 100%

They only really have to worry about the celts and bulls, but when Kobe gets traded to the bulls for Wallace and company; shit will be on lock.

OptionZero

Wow, not only can you predict the future but you're qualified to give medical prognosii as well?

Wade won't even be back for weeks, there's no basis for you to say he'll be 100%. Given the style he plays, the risk of him falling off is real. Were he a standstill jumpshooter or some stiff that doesn't move much, no biggie...but Wade is all about freakish athleticism, the loss of any physical ability (or even subconscious fear) will rob him of production. Shaq doesn't give a crap anymore, he won't even bother showing up till 3 months in. They still lack 3P shooters to space the floor for Wade and Shaq.

ALTRNTV

I really hope this doesn't go down. I'd rather have him traded to Chicago for 4 quality players, than Arenas.

ESPN.com Team Power Rankings
You're really going to write off the Piston's and the newly revamped Celtics, by saying the Heat are still #1 in the East?
Wallace is not in the trade talks, it's Deng, Gordon, Thomas, and Noah.

OptionZero

That package is what the Lakers want. Chicago would never give that up, Kobe's already said he wouldn't approve that trade because it'd leave the Bulls in a poor position to contend.

He also said wants to play WITH Wallace, implying any deal including Ben would be vetoed.

The Lakers should take Arenas, a pick, and filler (since Blatche can't be dealt for months) and call it a day. He'd sign an extension there willingly. Thanks to the 12350890 point guards that LAL has, Arenas can slide to his real position - shooting guard.

ALTRNTV

Kobe Bryant isn't going anywhere. The Lakers better make some key moves before he walks out next season and they get nothing in return.

NBA season tips-off tomorrow!

Vision Garage

Imma go hit up a few laker games. They better not disappoint. They did get fischer back to hopefully he can push the other players to step up.

"If im gonna dive for a mothafukken ball, you better dive for a mothafukken ball!!!!"

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OptionZero

Opening night baby

ALTRNTV

Kobe, get the fuck off my team already. This bitching and complaining is just pissin' me off now. I'd rather have people who play, instead of just "going through the motions" as he's doing lately. I never thought I would EVER say that.

Go Lakers.

Phlip

Time for the Spurs to get their rings, then demolish the Oden-less Trailblazers.
... then I will be a responsible adult and fall asleep on the Lakers' game.
I will spend the whole game wishing that someone would either shit or get off of the fuckin' pot.

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ALTRNTV

Gotta love Agent Zero. lol