Real Deal

Howard in New York, teaming with Melo, would be an upgrade, even if the Knicks didn't make any other moves from that point until the end of the season. You have to consider what the hell Howard has done for the team he's playing on right now to truly realize how big of an impact he can be for any defense (or offense, for that matter). Toney Douglas could get torched by Chalmers and Cole, and Melo can't hold LeBron to save his life...but on that end of the floor, the game gets five times easier with Howard in the paint. Still wouldn't give the Knicks a series win, but they wouldn't look like the Wizards, either.

Didn't see any of that, but I'm not surprised. Odom would give anything to be back in LA, probably even for the Clippers...doesn't matter to him. He should have taken a few extra days to think about his decision to be traded, instead of rushing into camp and demanding it.

This was Memphis' third game in four night, AND they play tomorrow night. Considering that, and being down 20 against a Warriors team that was shooting the ball and passing it very well...I really can't believe that the Grizz fought back in that fourth and won this game. HUGE fourth quarter, too...39 points. That's more than they had the entire first half of the game.

I actually don't remember it either...just that I was saying, "Pass the damn ball, Jack!" I think it would have had to be a lob, and Marco is no LeBron.

LMAO, the Lakers. Yeah, we defend very well...except the three, and transition. I believe we're bottom ten in three-point percentage allowed, bottom two or three in makes or attempts allowed...something along those lines, just perfect for Jimmer to come in and fire away. He won't be able to until March 2nd, though...so hold your breath and get prepared. Maybe by the end of the season, he'll be sick of the Kings, and he'll do it then. His final game is against us, in Sactown. No playoffs = time to Peja the Lakers.

That's 15 consecutive games of holding their opponents to under 100 points...franchise record. Dallas is getting it done on the defensive end, even without Chandler, and that's huge. With all of those talented defensive players, it's no surprise that they would buy into the same defensive scheme that brought them their championship last season. Marion is stepping up, by the way...start calling him The Matrix again. He's playing better now than Dirk has all season long.

Turned this game off during the second quarter...the Thunder were up by 30+ points, and they were making Detroit look like they were all 40-year old men. It was horrible...just a complete mess for the Pistons each time they missed a shot. OKC was right back down the court, quickly, looking for a break and a dunk/layup. I usually try and watch every quarter of every Thunder game, but this was just ugly, and there were better games on.

How did it feel to root against Rubio tonight? Good shootout between Martin and Love...probably the best part of the game for me. Didn't really know who to root for...probably going for Minnesota, just so they can further ruin that Hornets pick.

Well, Gordon has some sort of an option on his contract after this season (don't remember if it's a player option, qualifying offer, or what), so there's really no guarantee there. As you said, that Wolves pick won't be that early, and if the Hornets hang around the record they are at right now (could be a bit better, once Gordon returns), that just means they'll be missing out on Davis, Drummond, and Barnes. Duncan's GW reminded me of Magic's hook against the Celtics, haha. Thought he was going to fall on his ass, though. It's amazing how Tony Parker sucked in the Hornets' defense all night long. Emeka didn't bite too much, but damn, almost everyone else did, and people were getting easy buckets close to the rim. Except for Splitter, when Okafor swatted the hell out of him, lol. I don't know. I think Marco made a nice cut to the basket off of that "confusion" at the line, but I guess Landry was the best option from deep (ha...).

It's sad watching Bogut play against big men he should be tearing to shreds. Horford is a very solid defender...and while Pachulia knows how to use his size, he shouldn't be able to punk Bogut the way he did. And what's up with Ivan Johnson? He has to play consistent basketball...he looked like starter-material at one point, then just faded out.

Seeing Jordan Farmar play well against a defensive-minded Bulls squad makes me wish he was back in Los Angeles, despite how average he is this season (not really putting up that big of a year). I'd still start Steve Blake over Farmar, but it would be nice to see a PG who can actually run up and down the court with the ball, and lead our guys on a break. Pfft... Rip had a great game. I really thought he was close to being done, but he's getting easy buckets in Chicago.

One game...I'm just waiting for a Jimmer takeover. I have a gut feeling it'll happen this season, where he goes off. I'm just hoping it's not against the Lakers (more than likely, we'll let him hit 13 threes, to break Kobe's record).

Wow, if I were a potential NBA owner, I sure would love to buy this awesomeeee Hornets team. Nine consecutive losses at home, by the way. Jared Sullinger, here they come.

Just have to run in here and say that I'm really impressed with Iggy. He's putting a lot of energy into his defense and getting teammates involved, and I have the feeling he knows he's not a legitimate primary scoring option on a contender, so he's doing everything else to turn his team into one of the best in the East. Philly has been looking great, and I'm not exactly shocked...but it's nice to see them putting together these comfortable wins during the season. I have little to say about the Wizards. Blatche still sucks.

Sad night for the Magic. That game was horrible. You rarely see a game where every single player on a team shoots 40% or less, and Orlando pulled that off. When you have seven more turnovers than you do made shots...hell, there's no way you're going to win.

That's just it. A lot of those boards (bball and general sports) will go target active members from other sites...individually. It would be more difficult for you to find out about them because of the way they recruit. Plenty of boards just died out, due to inactivity...and I'm talking maybe 2-3 members on in a day (that bad). Twitter has been a big problem. Fans of the game would rather tweet everything from their phone, as they watch, instead of post in game topics...and where do many of us get our breaking news? Twitter, because it usually breaks there before anywhere else. OTR should have hit its flatline three years ago, but we have guys who continue to work hard and show at least a little activity here. I have tried new skins and banners over and over again, even a new board update, and it never proved to be the key in an increase of activity...just a lot of work for nothing. We have had guys come in and go haywire, posting topics and replying to everything, and yet, days later, we found ourselves back at this point. The little things...the spamming, for instance...and then Twitter and Facebook, those are tearing us up.

Here...Gasol's first four games of this season, without Andrew Bynum playing a single minute (he was suspended). http://i44.tinypic.com/24dmxrb.jpg He refuses to play down low. He pulls the ball out and thinks he's Dirk. It never fails.

Come on dude, Gasol is not a physical presence down low, and he's definitely not a willing scorer. He will not take that role. He didn't want to take 15 shots a night in Memphis, when Hubie was begging him to...and he hasn't done it in Los Angeles, even when Drew was in a suit on the bench. When Drew missed the first four games of the year, Gasol wouldn't take more than 14 shots. Our first game against the Jazz, he played 37 minutes, took 11 total shots...and Kobe had just 17 shots. Same against the Knicks...Gasol with just 12 attempts, Kobe at 17. No Drew in either game. Yes, it does. If he doesn't want to do it, he won't. Laker fans have been drilling this dude about it for years. Even with Drew sitting, and Odom in (late in games last season, almost every game, because Jackson would not put Drew in for the final six minutes or so), Gasol acted like he was scared to death of the low post. ----------- We needed that Gasol (the one you're talking about) against the Hornets and Mavericks in the playoffs last season. Even when Drew was sitting, he would not get into the low post, and he was pissed off when reporters asked if he was having issues with the Lakers. He played like utter crap for that very reason, and was a big part of why we were destroyed (aside from us not being able to defend a single shooter). I'd direct you to all of the game topics from last season (on a Lakers site), where fans were screaming for him to get his ass on the block when Odom was in there. I was a part of that. Hell, the dude won't even take the ball to the rim, even with Drew stepping out, despite having an advantage against a lot of PF's he plays against. I'm not saying Gasol would be bad in the post, because he's the only big we have that can create out of it. I'm saying he just won't do it, and Mike Brown asking him to...it won't work, even without Drew, because it didn't work out when Phil Jackson (master motivator and the guy that intimidates everyone on his roster) told him to take the low post and tear teams up in the final six minutes of games. Gasol, being near the basket, is only good for offensive rebounds. He holds the ball forever, and teams will not double him. What does he do then? He shoots a fadeaway from the post, or he passes to Kobe with seconds on the clock. This has been Gasol for a long, long time. He was big for us in 2009, sure...but in 2010 and last season, he ran away from contact and did not want any part of the low post, and this season, he came out and said he's actually wanting to take more shots from three...which is ridiculous, because he has a decent mid-range shot to begin with, and it only pulls him away from the rim even more. When he struggles, he says he wants more shots in the post...and what does he do? He isn't aggressive down there, and eventually takes the high post. Fail-proof with him.

Played a trumpet for years, ranked #1 (individually) in state for two consecutive years, took it to a JUCO and did nothing with it after my two years there...basically, I hated band, didn't really have friends in it, so when the band went on trips or had camp, it was me and some girl that sat and had hour long conversations about nothing. She was the only other person that felt the same way, haha. I got a lot of shit my senior year, when I tried to get back on the basketball team (after I shattered my ankle my junior year), and I kind of knew I was going to get in trouble, trying out without a doctor's note. I had to drop band (marching band) for the first part of the year, didn't really give a damn about it and worked my ass off for basketball. I ended up getting owned, wasn't allowed to play ball without the note, couldn't pass the physical (although I did, my doctor was being a punk and it was all about my diabetes, regardless of what he said), and my band teacher practically begged me to come back for the second semester. Doing that allowed me to combine a band scholarship with an academic one, so it worked out in the end, although I really wanted to find a way to play basketball again.

I'm going to restore my computer to Windows 3.1 and see if I can do anything productive with it.

Gasol openly admitted to Phil Jackson that he did not like playing center. I'll have to find the link later. Pau absolutely loves the high post. If you tell him he can take 10 shots at the elbow against the Clippers coming up, he'll do it. That's where he wants to shoot the ball. Having the bad hammy last year, and the injured shoulder this season, Gasol is not a low post player. What we need is a physical player that can be a threat to score all game long, for more than just 2-3 games (which means he will draw defensive attention in), but has the IQ to know when to pass the damn ball, instead of being a black hole. Today, there is really just one thing that bothers me about Drew, and it's that he is oblivious to his surroundings. When he's asked to wait for the double, and it comes, he is already trying to figure out how the hell he's going to score over it...rather than looking around. Pisses me off to no end.

Said quite a bit five days before the season even started (on TLN), and people just didn't want to believe it. Too early in the season, I guess. http://lakernation.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52391-the-lakers-offense-and-defense

Kobe passes up the potential game-winner, and Fisher throws the ball up to one of the bigs, and everyone is just standing there as the ball goes out of bounds. LMAO at this ignorant team.

WHY did Kobe pass up that contested jumper for a wide-open Barnes three? Wow...sounds funny, but he should have taken the shot.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120121_MIN@UTA