Real Deal

If a player's role isn't going to make much of a difference, why should their team success matter? You're penalizing Deron Williams because the Nets were a bad team, basically...but you and I both know Westbrook is no D-Will. When Williams had legitimate teammates that WERE NOT superstars (like Durant), he was able to lead Utah to the WCF. There is most definitely an excuse as to why Williams' TS% dropped. He didn't have a supporting cast, period. Do you expect Andrew Bynum to be more efficient in Philadelphia? What happened to Odom's efficiency, and overall play, when he was in a Lakers jersey? Williams was shooting more threes than ever (I believe highest of his career), and he was playing more like a scoring PG with little passing abilities, and that's very easy to defend unless you're someone like Rose or Westbrook (and both of them have teammates who can take the load off of them at any given time, especially Russ). Rose is also ahead of Westbrook...so unless you're giving him a kick down to the very bottom half of that ten because of injuries, I can't agree with Russ over him, either. In the NBA, you have to prove yourself to be somebody. Westbrook has proven he can be a viable second option on a legitimate contender, possible championship team (and that's just an assumption, as they lost to Miami). Rose is a former MVP and a primary scoring option that also ran the offense in a 60-win Chicago team. D-Will had a similar role with his Utah teams, although he had a bit more help on offense than Rose (and I don't like saying Boozer was the man, because Williams did a lot of spoon-feeding and creating). I won't even dip into the Kobe/Westbrook debate. It will be me repeating what I said above, and while Kobe has indeed lost a step, he's still the better overall player. Westbrook can't hold his jock right now. I'll put it this way: you eliminate Perkins and the P&R from the equation, stick Kobe on Westbrook...and suddenly, Russ is shut down. Thank God for Durant, though...and that's the difference between a superstar and an all-star caliber second option (similar to the difference between an all-star in Westbrook, and a sixth-man and borderline all-star in Harden). A big difference. The Thunder would not be able to function for a full 82 games and postseason if their roles were reversed. In 1999-2000, Kobe was more Westbrook than Durant (alongside Shaq). Eventually, he became a superstar, and it led to a nasty run of games where he completely dominated when Shaq would struggle, sit the bench in foul trouble, or when O'Neal was out there with him...didn't matter. He would rack up his nine-consecutive 40+ point games, 7-2 record (Shaq in just two of those games), 13-consecutive 35+ point games, etc. It all started in 2001, second championship run. We have yet to see Westbrook turn himself into a superstar...and it can be done with Durant as his teammate, too. Even if you want to argue that Durant could be holding him back, there's still no proof that Westbrook can do what Rose, Williams or Kobe have been able to (even today) as a primary option, and that's a big reason why he's not going to reach that plateau in my rankings. It's also the same reason why Andrew Bynum isn't in my top ten. He's the second best big man in the NBA, but because he was a second option in LA, I have no reason to put him over most of the primary options and true, legitimate franchise players. --------- EDIT: I also know you don't think Love is a better player than Kobe. Come on. Love was inefficient for a big man, plays very little defense, struggled greatly without Rubio, and is a poor man's Dirk (but a better rebounder). No way. Having a career year doesn't mean you give them an extra boost on the list, or else you would have ranked Drew higher.

Kobe is still in the five. Can't put Rose in there. And Love can't be over Wade or Williams, and Westbrook can't be over D-Will, either. I don't get how primary options can be tossed aside like that. Westbrook has yet to prove he can lead a team to anything, anywhere, as a primary scorer...so as an all-star and NOT a legitimate superstar OR a proven franchise player, why does he fall in front of Williams?

I know a few of you remember those. If I were to find one compatible with our board, how could we use the modification, exactly? If I recall correctly, a few of you wanted it back. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it allowed for the community (all of you) to create "teams" (or groups) that you can add/subtract members from. We just never found a way to use it effectively, and it became outdated.

Of course they don't, but it's also usually not that obvious, especially when the intended receiver (I guess I should say the guy who ends up catching the ball) is the one pushing the opponent in the back and to the ground right before the catch, and out of the pile a bit (which is what made it obvious). It didn't help that the referees had two other horrible games on Sunday (at least), and that they have been calling PI very questionably to begin with. I definitely don't agree with all of these players tweeting these things (maybe being pissed off, but not tweeting how the NFL is shit), and Clay posting Goodell's number, but taking everything into consideration, I can see why they'd be mad. I think my biggest problem was the fact that they went to replay, and still didn't get it right. That's huge.

I think Tate had his left hand on the ball the entire time, actually...but Jennings caught the ball with both hands, tucked it near his chest as he was coming down, and Tate's other hand came in after he was pulling on Jennings' right arm during the catch. That's an interception. But, even before that, there was the offensive PI that wasn't called, and also, I believe there was a block in the back near the line of scrimmage that also went unnoticed. When you put those three missed calls together, all on one hail mary play in the final seconds of the game...holy shit.

I'm going to manage the Twitter page for a while. I'll ask questions on there, try and get others to RT and answer, things like that. I don't know. And yes, we'll go back to Tapatalk. I completely forgot about it, once I changed the URL.

Don't forget about our Facebook page, also. http://www.facebook.com/discusshoops Some of you "liked" our old OTRBasketball page, but have yet to flip over to the new one.

Hey, only I'm allowed to argue a point I don't believe in for the sake of discussion. Not saying you are, but since it was mentioned...that's my job, and mine alone, lol. -------- Assuming you really do feel like Bynum and Jrue are a better duo, it's probably because you feel like the Clippers underachieved. I mean, I have trashed Pau Gasol so much over the last few years, sometimes where he does deserve it (like the last two playoff runs), but I've gone on to say that he's not a top five PF, and that wasn't true...just out of anger, or venting and trying to make sense of what happened. Bynum isn't a proven #1 option yet, but really, Blake doesn't feel like one. I'd probably take Drew, only because he's a legitimate big man and he plays defense (he's really a better big man than Griffin, as Blake plays more like a small forward). The difference between Jrue and CP3, though, is far more significant in the debate...and there's quite a difference. I like Jrue, but he's not CP3. I was praising D-Will for being the best PG in the NBA over the last couple of seasons (when he was in Utah), but I almost forced myself to believe it because of Paul's injuries (I mean, look at Drew and how he was). CP3 has been outstanding.

Okay guys, if you have Twitter, please help the site out. I'm going to go off and try to gather a lot of followers, see if we can recruit through that. There's really no better way, unless we spam a board, and that won't happen. If you follow and retweet the last thing I wrote (aside from the replies), it could help us out quite a bit. Here's the tweet: Also, if you follow the page, let me know that you're from here and I'll follow back.

Gotta have the name on the front of the jersey. It just doesn't look right without the team or city name.

Just putting this out there...did you ever have your soccer ball taken away because you continued to kick it over the fence and out into the street? Because if you did, maybe we did go to the same school.

Elementary school recess, not prison recess. I actually played a lot of soccer up until the 4th grade, since almost everyone else did. We had a full court for basketball, but we could never get a game going, so it was boring to me. Fourth and fifth grade, we were able to play tag football, and that was my thing. I was always the QB, haha. Sixth grade (which was the last time we had a recess), it was all basketball. Different school, three different courts, and football wasn't allowed because we basically had it banned the first week because we were tackling, lol.

Shaliq, hahaha...that post was awesome. I wasn't trying to be funny, either. ------------- This had me rolling. I saw this today on Facebook: http://i46.tinypic.com/vfurd4.jpg

http://downloads.malwarebytes.org/mbam-download.php

Around here (and I'm in Kansas, won't need to explain why that's significant), most blacks vote Democrat...doesn't matter his color. They are simply feeding on the fact that Republicans favor the rich, and that's really what guarantees their opposing vote. They hate Bush and Romney, love Clinton and Obama...to say it was about color is your way of NOT acknowledging just how irrelevant the middle class (and the poor) mean to your party. After two terms of Bush, the black community was more than eager to vote in a Democrat. I'm sure you can cite examples of a black man probably stepping out and saying it was all about getting a guy in office that they can relate to...but then again, the main course was not color, but focus.

Well, he's not that bad of a rebounder in the limited minutes he was playing, and you have to consider he was a rook, but his stamina (and just being a liability on the floor) put him on the bench, for the most part. I mean, a guy can average four boards in 15 minutes, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can grab 10 in 40 minutes of play. He's decent at spreading the floor, but he also doesn't take that many shots per game, and I'm pretty sure he shot under or around 40% from the floor his rookie season (because that's what he was slapped in the face for in one of those Rookie Ladder articles I read), so he's not efficient for a big man. In limited minutes, you'll get a few boards and six fouls from him. He's not much of a defender against actual talent...not so bad in garbage minutes, though.

This is Josh Harrellson we're talking about. You guys were excited for Eddy Curry, too. Miami paid for another six fouls, that's it.

You look at Oakland last week, and you get a hunch that they can beat Miami. This week? They can't even beat last year's Colts.

Already expected. We had discussions about Howard actually missing the first two months of the season. For us, we have a good enough team to hang on to a top spot (Gasol is actually a better center than he is a PF) and wreck teams once Howard puts on a jersey.

The "strong bench" that OKC had last year got them in, right Robert? Harden is basically a starter, so...it was Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha? I'm pretty sure Horry told us that San Antonio would find their way to the Finals because of their strong bench, also. I remember him saying it. Did those LA teams...the ones he played for...did they have a strong bench?

Wall is capable of much more than he has put out, of course...but Irving is special. Have you seen what Kyrie Irving "inherited" from LeBron James? I remember you blasting the Cavaliers more than almost anyone else, once LeBron left, because supposedly, they gave him absolutely nothing to work with. I mean...Alonzo Gee, Omri Casspi, and a 36-year old Anthony Parker started for Cleveland last season, as did Tristan Thompson. Manny Harris started a few games as well, and does ANYONE on this site know anything about Donald Sloan? He started 11 games. Outside of an injured Antawn Jamison, who should be a sixth man rather than a starter, Irving had nothing...much less than LeBron, actually.

I was going to say the 2K2 intro, also, lol. Also, the WCW/NWO Revenge intro, for some reason.

I figure he will get in a month's worth of games before the end of the season. Can't be too certain, though, because with an injury like that, things can go back downhill very quickly with the slightest bit of pain. It's going to be interesting, though. If Chicago can hang on to a top eight seed in the East without Rose, or be on the bubble and grab the 8th with his return...well, it makes for a very, very interesting first round series, assuming they would play the Heat.

Yeah, but the playoff Big Baby was launching shots, too. I don't remember him shooting the ball too well. Honestly, I see Davis being in foul trouble far too much, getting plenty of opportunities on the offensive end but shooting a low percentage (for a big man), probably grabbing 8-9 boards a night (assuming he plays 35+ minutes a game), and being frustrated quite a bit. No Van Gundy, no Howard, and having to figure out where Harrington and Afflalo will fit in...the Magic are going to suffer, especially if they are going to run with Davis at center the entire season (and I'm assuming they will). Right now, Arron Afflalo appears to be your best scoring option...and he's going to be handed a far bigger role in Orlando. Looking at the depth chart, I'm not even sure what offense would be best to run. SVG was running the "four out, one in" with Howard...but that's not going to work now. I'm honestly not really sure how you can maximize Glen Davis' abilities on this team.

To answer the title only...just having a damn season, lol. Following the lead... Los Angeles Lakers 1) Having a PG that can actually pass the ball. We haven't had one since Gary Payton. 2) Having a defensive anchor that can defend pick and rolls. We haven't had one since...uh, forever ago. 3) The Princeton offense. General NBA Season 1) Watching the rookies perform (notably T-Rob, MKG, Unibrow, and PJ3). 2) The new-look Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets. 3) The Western Conference battles for the top four seeds.