Real Deal

CP3, Dwight, Gasol, Boston's big three, Monta, Iggy, Parker...hold on to your hats, should be a fun ride. Trade everyone. I've been bored since the Lakers were cremated by the Mavs.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/264230_10150220691338463_8245623462_7277841_7919438_n.jpg About 20 years ago.

LOL. "I'm watching the 1996 NBA Draft. After that, it's the 1998 Draft. I went to see if they were going to show the 2003 Draft later on, but no, it's going to be THE DRAFT OF KWAME."

I agree, I would make the trade every time it was offered...I'm just trying to make sense of the quote. McGee isn't that big of a deal.

I think there's probably a bit of uncertainty there, though. Cleveland has worked out Derrick Williams, and rumor has it that Cleveland and Minnesota are the only two teams he'll be working out for. If Cleveland takes Williams at #1 (who really knows at this point?), where would that leave Washington at #2? They wouldn't need Irving or Knight. Would they be okay with Kanter? I don't see why.

Because the Wolves think their superstar point guard is going to lead the team next season.

I agree. I just don't see the obsession with Rubio. It almost sounds like Kahn wants to do anything and everything to make him happy, and bringing Gasol on board makes a lot of sense (in that case), and tossing Love aside would make even more sense, especially if he's already mouthing off about Rubio on Twitter, feuding with Rambis, and will be a free agent after this upcoming season.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=20154 Two things: first off, are the Wolves more interested in Gasol than Love? It makes me wonder how intrigued they are with Enes Kanter, too. Would Minny be content with a five of Kanter, Gasol, Beasley, Johnson and Rubio? Also...do the Lakers want to take back Ridnour and Milicic's contracts? Obviously, Minnesota would want to throw them out the door in this scenario, and in the past, Jerry Buss (who has basically handed the team to his son, Jim) has cut down deals for players like Kirk Hinrich, who he didn't want to pay twice as much for (luxury tax). Pretty interesting. Gasol for Love is a no-brainer for me, though...don't really care what else that includes from Minny.

I'm assuming that's why everyone on Earth lives in Houston. Not everything is simple. When I lived in Cali for 2-3 months, I wasn't getting any work because everyone else (individuals and small businesses) were taking it all from me. Didn't matter how much I knew, what I've done, etc. Moving back to my smaller hometown made a difference. But for what I do (which is not what I consider true hard-work/manual labor), I get paid better than my own dad, who gets just as much or more money busting his ass here than he was offered in Nashville, working for the same exact company. It all goes back to what people assume are "easy outs" and handouts. Yeah, it may sound nice to a lot of people, but there are a ton of businesses that will put all of their Hispanics on the cutting line, all of their blacks in janitorial positions, and the older white men in manual labor, while the youngest guys work in air-conditioned offices, getting paid more than most for doing things like ordering parts (which takes absolutely little knowledge...I could go in and do it) and logging machine usage. Definitely not me making it up. Wayne Spears (who is rich) has been to Coffeyville many times, talked to my dad about it, and has no problem admitting it before he jumps back on his private jet and takes off for his weekend of Spears Auto Racing. People should come see how things are over at Amazon.com's main distribution center, which is located in my town. Spears would hire every single Hispanic in my town, and put many people out of jobs, if they really wanted to. They dropped the wages on the cutting line, and now, almost 90% of those working on it are Hispanic, men and women both, who don't care about the minimum wage as long as they are getting paid and have health insurance. There's much more to the book, but I'm not going to get that deep into the conversation because it's really all irrelevant to me. I can't do anything about it.

Your definition of hard work is different from mine. Hate to be honest with you, but there are a LOT of people that work far harder than you've ever seen anyone work, and yet they are struggling because they aren't getting paid enough. Hell, there are people getting paid minimum wage for dumping five-gallon buckets of sand for eight hours a day, something that would basically kill me having to do that five days a week, no matter the shape I'm in. And if knowledge was the problem there, my dad has about 30+ years of electrical knowledge under his belt, drags around 150 pounds of wire throughout a massive plant, works in the building, above it, and below it, and still doesn't get enough money to brag about four cars and a 52-inch flat screen. The people you know and see, and your location, aren't the same as everyone else's.

I'm not applying it to scholarships, it's more about the kids growing up. There are certain students that are part of the minority, that are also bright young kids, that don't have a chance to get into a decent elementary or junior high school due to the money (this could be mainly geared towards private schools). Because of it, those kids are less likely to have opportunities to get into a big-name college later on in life, get the advanced education they are basically already on par with, and I feel it's wrong. It needs to be applied in that manner. Things aren't done the right way, there's no doubt about that, but there can be modifications and improvements. People look at it as positive discrimination, and it shouldn't be regulated in that manner, nor should it be defined that way. The negatives do come from the workforce, and from universities...but if AA is going to be used, it needs to be used the right way.

The league may not return until 2012, so it's all good.

http://www.nba.com/live1/?ls=iref:nbahpt1 Also on NBATV. Heard that Cuban paid for the entire parade, too...haha that's awesome.

Affirmative action is beneficial to things like education. When it comes to a basketball team (or any competitive event or sport), it's a different scenario because it's not about giving that opportunity to be diverse, it's about succeeding...and not on an individual level, but as a team. I'm sure people can give pros and cons for affirmative action in the workforce (I'm included), but there are things that it's applied to (such as education) where it does FAR more good than bad, and instead of trying to prove it should be applied to a sport, this guy should just list the cons to it being applied to jobs. There are reasons why sports are exempt from it.

I actually wrote about what Jalen Rose said on the SVP show (on my FB). He stated that Dirk was the best player in the NBA today. His reason? It's because he's the Finals MVP, and the champ. Now, I'm sorry, but who was the best player in the league in 2004? Chauncey Billups? Doesn't make sense.

Warrior has maybe four total moves he's ever used, not including his finisher: a clothesline, shoulderblock, bodyslam and bearhug. I don't really count the test-of-strength as a move, lol.

Bump. Anyone play the full game yet? Blockbuster STILL doesn't have it where I live. Someone let me borrow it if you have it.

LOL, just bought a new one last week for $330 at Wal-Mart (yeah, taxes suck). I wanted to get the 320GB with the PSMove Sports package, but it would've pulled another $100 out of my wallet.

Let me just put it this way: if Dirk's Mavs played the 1997 or 1998 Bulls, Dirk wouldn't have a Finals MVP, and he wouldn't have a ring. Rodman would've taken care of part of that, and Jordan/Pippen would've handled the other part.

I can't put Dirk over Malone. There's nothing that convinces me to. Duncan and Malone are #1 and #2. If Malone wasn't an exceptional defender, scorer AND rebounder, it would be different...but overall game, Dirk doesn't touch him. Nowitzki may have played better defense this season, but it wasn't even close to what Malone was doing, and while Dirk can shoot lights out, Malone was just as unstoppable. Championships are for teams, not individuals. Malone would've had two if it wasn't for the Chicago Bulls and Mike, and it didn't help that he was also playing in eras with Magic and the Lakers, Hakeem and the Rockets, Kemp/Payton and the Sonics, teams that were so well-constructed and led by dominant players, they were offensive and/or defensive juggernauts in the playoffs.

He's in rep recovery mode. It happens with many superstars who say something stupid, or act ignorant in the moment. It doesn't make him a classy guy, it makes his PR guy classy (or, well, just intelligent).

I agree. I actually wonder how much of that has to do with Wade not being more of a Ray Allen, and LeBron being too confident in his champion teammate? Let's face the facts: any player would rather pass to Dwyane Wade over Mike Bibby and Mike Miller. The Heat found a lot of success this season, but I wouldn't put much of it on their role players. All three loved isolations, mainly because they are used to them being called since they came into the league, and using the P&R creates the mismatches they want, and basically gives them the green light to attack their opposition. It would be difficult for me to dish the ball out to someone like Bibby only because I'd have two other all-stars on the floor, and I would look for them first. Of course, I'm not making excuses for him, because you win with five players on the court...but this seemed to be the problem, especially under the big lights. It's really hard to pinpoint what was going through his head in the Finals, but when you have a teammate that is so similar and that needs the ball to operate (Wade is better off the ball than LeBron, but he's not Ray Ray), then it's like having three teammates on the floor, not four...and those three usually just sat around and waited for their shot. It really almost felt like it was the 2010 Cavaliers out there, at many points of the game. If LeBron develops the post, and he utilizes it and figures out how to draw doubles out of it (because, honestly, teams will need to double quite a bit if he gets to that point, especially if they decide to stick a big PG on him -- like Kidd), the Heat will be a nasty team to knock out of the playoffs, if they weren't already, because not only will they be able to run, but they can also play a halfcourt game, slowing it down when they want, and controlling the tempo for the entire 48 minutes.

Again, I really don't support what he's doing, but I understand why he'd be happy IF all he's going to do is worry about LeBron's future, because the 2006 Mavericks were also just two wins away from a championship, then proceeded to lose in the first round the following season, then get dropped from the playoffs three more seasons before winning it all this year. Thing is, five seasons from now, Wade will be around 34-35 years old, and all of the trio will be in their 13th NBA season. Getting close doesn't mean you're going to be even closer the following year, no matter who you have on your side...and, well, maybe Gilbert believes he can find two jewels in the draft with those picks, and seeing that his Cavs took out Miami in late March, just half a month away from the playoffs that they nearly dominated, he could be pretty confident in a first-round match-up against them in 1-2 years.

That's just it, though...if he can't finish shots like that, and he doesn't know how to pass out of the post, he's not going to be able to post up any good post defender without getting called for a charge, a walk, or trapped into help D along the baseline. Sure, he doesn't have an excuse for it, but that's because he SHOULD be able to do all of that. Because he can't, well, it's understandable. And Wade has a better post game than LeBron, sadly. Hard to really believe it, since the one that needs work is four inches taller and has about 400 pounds more muscle, but it is what it is, and we'll see if LeBron comes into the next season with something new or not.

I SEE YOU REPLYING. BRING IT NITRO!