Real Deal

I doubt anyone will say that Wade was horrible, but him dropping 22/5/5 isn't going to topple Bryant's 28/5/5, even if he's more efficient (his TS% isn't much higher, anyway). Bryant still has more range, he's still receiving more defensive pressure than Wade is, and he's got a better post game...and I'll take Kobe's contested jumpers over Wade's any day of the week. Playoff numbers were similar to regular season in that Kobe averaged 30/5/4, while Wade was at 23/5/4, but both shot a 53% TS%. There's nothing there that tells me Wade was better last season back on the offensive end, and their allowed eFG% and allowed PER were probably similar, also (if I recall correctly, they were close, within 1% of each other), so there wasn't much there on the defensive end, either.

Adam Morrison 2, LeBron James 1. Okay.

Well, if Dirk, Garnett, and Duncan were all younger...suddenly, Love wouldn't be top three anymore (and they all played together in their primes, so let's just pick a year...2003). It goes back to my argument in that topic: can you say that those three I named would have been better playing the "Robin" role in their prime, or were their respective teams smart for building around them? Kevin Love could be a better Robin, and if there's any doubt that he can't have a team built around him, I just can't call him a legitimate, set-in-stone franchise player. As it stands, Stoudemire is playing second-fiddle to Carmelo back in New York, and Bosh is the third wheel in Miami. Gasol is in his thirties. You can't take a step back and call any of them franchise players right now. You can still make an argument for Dirk, but he's coming off of a poor season (when compared to his others), and he's entering the upcoming season with a different squad.

I'm just waiting for the next team, and fanbase, to say that Curry is rejuvenated, is in great shape, and will be a productive player off the bench. Brooklyn has to look elsewhere.

Might as well stick this one in here, also...I thought it was hilarious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1AJcRw2N2Q The Melo one wasn't that good, but it's below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avj4Tjh40XU

1) Dwight 2) Bynum 3) Duncan 4) Chandler 5) Garnett I wanted to add Jefferson to the list, but he's definitely not the overall player Garnett is, and Chandler's impact on the defensive end (and his high efficiency on offense) trumps what Jefferson does on the floor, in my opinion. Gasol puts up similar numbers to Garnett, and while he's a good defender, he's not the elite anchor Garnett has been over the years (and still proved he could be just last season), and if I need a guy to take over the game between those two, it's most definitely going to be KG (who played center all season long for Boston, just in case you're wondering why he's on my list).

Garnett was a full-time center last year for Boston, and likely will be again this upcoming season, so I can't add him to the list. This is a tough one, though. I had to look back on my post about Love not being a franchise player, and now I'm realizing he's arguably the best PF in the game. That's hard to swallow...doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but with that said, I can't say that any of these younger guys are franchise players (even Blake). 1) Kevin Love 2) Pau Gasol 3-5) Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, LaMarcus Aldridge I'm undecided on the last three, because honestly, I'm not sure how these guys are going to play with the additional teammates they've landed. I have a general idea of how Gasol will perform in the Princeton, but I'm clueless about Nowitzki's numbers. Griffin isn't skilled enough to be a top two PF right now...just a wreck on the defensive end, and his rebounding was inconsistent last season. Amare's numbers dipped quite a bit from the 2010-11 season, so I can't ignore that. Can't add Chris Bosh to the list. He played a bit more center than he did PF last season, especially when it mattered most.

No complaints here...probably the easiest list to make. Like ABL, I'd add Iguodala if we were basing it off of last season, but otherwise, Gay would get the fifth spot over Luol Deng. The first four are a lock...can't even find a good argument to reorder the top four in any way.

I wanted to come in here and laugh at the comment, but then I remembered him saying something similar about Manu Ginobili, who slipped past every team in the NBA and was selected 57th in the draft.

Whether he will or not isn't really my concern...it's more along the lines of whether he HAS TO. In the offense, Nash will get his shots when he's not handling the ball. He'll have many opportunities to hit open jumpers. Dwight will get as many looks as Drew, sometimes fewer. Gasol will get as many looks as he did last season. So, I'm going to assume Bryant will (and should) average around 24 PPG, like he did in the 2003-04 season (Kobe, Shaq, Malone and Payton).

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3axxk8Lp61rnjfjfo1_500.gif He just needed to say this as a "pick me up" because, unfortunately, nobody cares about him at this point. He just won a championship as a starting point guard, yet he's receiving the Derek Fisher treatment. Rondo CP3 D-Will Nash Rose Parker Irving Westbrook Lawson Wall That's ten PG's (no particular order). What makes him think he's better than any of those? I left out... Rubio Holiday Kidd Jennings Teague Curry Conley Lin I can argue all of those over Chalmers, if I really wanted to.

Uh oh... http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/223886_10152092878145305_1377616369_n.jpg And they finally convinced Pippen to be in the game, so now you have the full Dream Team. http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c0.0.843.403/p843x403/539287_10152090045320305_39098771_n.jpg

It really depends on how P&R-heavy our offense is, but if we stay in the Princeton, for the most part, I'm taking Bryant for the simple fact that he'll still be our go-to guy, especially late in games, and I think he'll either have a very efficient season or a stellar defensive stand (would be nice to see both, though). Tough to say, though.

Check this out:

This looks incredible. Watch the entire thing, especially the last 2-3 minutes.

Before reading the post, Uncharted 2+3 came to mind (I never did play the first one, but I imagine it was good). Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (Arkham City is amazing) are good choices. I didn't think I'd like a Batman game, but I was wrong. I always loved Motorstorm. Pretty fun. My brother thought Heavy Rain was unique. I didn't get to play it, but it's supposedly really different from any other game. I'm waiting on The Last of Us (which is supposed to be nuts) and the new GTA.

I can't see Dwight winning it over Kobe. I'd be shocked if that happened. Then again, I'm shocked that Kobe/Shaq only have two combined MVP's.

Yes, I removed it when we did the re-install of the board (after the hack). On the old OTR, we had far too many reported posts...and a lot of them were posts that came from heated debates, especially in Lakers topics. It was overwhelming.

Ha...had to dive back into that topic and pull this from it: I know I said that over and over again when I was at TLN, but I didn't realize I said that here.

I think more people were pissed off that Miami had a championship celebration/parade in the summer of 2010, and they told everyone they were going to win seven or eight rings (lol). This is entirely different. Kobe is going for #6, Gasol for #3, and we actually have an offense, with four all-stars that are completely different players (entirely different). James, Wade and Bosh were all three ISO players, two of them nearly the same player (since LeBron didn't rely on his post game much at that time), no true offensive strategy to begin with. In a way, dismissing the Lakers (what you're doing) is sort of being a hypocrite, also...since you were among those who thought Miami was going to win it all before the 2010-11 season started.

You can't have free reign in the Princeton, and apparently, you never did get to see Showtime basketball. A dominant pass-first PG doesn't mean everyone else becomes spot-up shooters.

I actually believe that Stern was forced into blocking that trade for the simple fact that the new CBA was yet to be signed, and the owners were refusing to sign it without the veto.

They were worried about Dirk, Terry, Kidd, and Marion, also. The only thing we are concerned about is Dwight's back, and when he'll be available (if it's November or January). That's it. Nash's role in the offense won't be as stressful as it was in his seven-second offense, and better yet, it also gives him an opportunity to be a spot-up shooter (like Mike Miller and Ray Allen were, guys who were Greg Oden'ing it out there and still getting shots up). Nash will be okay. I'll never worry about Kobe.

He shot 39 free throws (surpassing Wilt's record) against the Warriors a year or two ago, just because he was near the rim every single time the ball was dumped into the low post. He was going to dunk every chance he had. You do realize Drew only has two post moves, right? Everyone likes to talk about how good he is, offensively, but apparently, nobody really sees him play. He literally has two post moves, and Howard developed one that he learned from Hakeem. If Dwight's offense was bad enough to be a problem for the Lakers, it would have been absolute hell for the Orlando Magic...but teams were so afraid of Howard, they doubled him instantly, just to keep him from dunking the ball, and it led to the ball swinging out and around the perimeter (the four out, one in offense that SVG installed), and that Orlando team found their way into the Finals with just one superstar. You guys will see.

I remember how much better LeBron was than Dirk, also...and just how bad Dirk shot in the 2011 NBA Finals (around 42%). I'm not going to rule out Boston winning the East, either, but they will be in a dog fight against Miami, and it's going to be up to Bradley, Rondo and Garnett (their defense) to contain Wade and Bosh. It's going to be interesting to see how the Heat defend the Princeton, when it contains two superstars and two all-stars, with legitimate big men that can play the low and high post. We already had this conversation in another topic, though.