Real Deal

He wasn't able to most of the season. You see how annoying it is when people play with stats?

Series over. The Celtics don't have the knees to come back from a 3-1 deficit, especially with Rondo (who was arguably their best player all season long) with one arm.

Traveling ass bitch. Someone needs to put LeBron on his back.

...best big man defender...aside from Bosh, who is super special! http://chrisrrau.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/chris-bosh-skree.jpg

Udonis Haslem was activated for tonight's game. If he's close to healthy, many have no idea how huge this is for the Heat. He's their best big man defender.

If Dwight is willing to leave, it would be in Orlando's best interest to deal him for the best players available. We saw the mistakes Cleveland and Toronto made with LeBron and Bosh. Denver decided to avoid that mistake, last second, and they got a nice package for Melo in the end. I'm not going to sit here and say it's 100% official that he's going to leave, but Otis Smith has put a lot of weight on his shoulders lately, and that may be the one thing that really forces him out the door. I didn't think the old Orlando squad could win it all, but removing the pieces they had and surrounding Dwight with even worse defenders and inconsistent shooters, plus the bad contracts? It wasn't the right move, at all. Can Orlando pull off a very good, one-sided trade to give him help? That remains to be seen, but it's going to require a dumb team on the other end, because nobody wants Gilbert, Hedo, or J-Rich without getting back an all-star player.

Iggy is considered a forward, but yes. Tony Allen is, easily, the best defensive guard in the NBA. Deng is the best defensive forward. Both should be on the first team.

Uh, actually, if you're talking about this current Lakers team, against Dallas, and any Jordan teams against the Mavs...Horace Grant is twice the player Gasol was in this series. That's probably where you've screwed up your side of the argument. Outside of Kobe and Drew, the Lakers didn't do a damn thing against Dallas, and none of that rests on those two players, and none of it would rest on Jordan, either. I'm not debating who is the better player. I'm telling you that you're wrong in your assessments. Jordan didn't have a 2009 Gasol to throw the ball to, but he's thankful he didn't have a 2011 Gasol, specifically the one that logged 13/8 on 42% FG in this playoff run, and was arguably the fourth best player on our team.

Whoever the Thunder, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Bulls or Hawks can beat. It would be nice if they both canceled each other out, to be honest. I guess Boston, now that Rondo is injured, because without him, they could be toast against the Bulls.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/110509kobebryant_alldefensivefirstteam.html First team... C - Dwight Howard F - Kevin Garnett F - LeBron James G - Kobe Bryant G - Rajon Rondo Second team... C - Tyson Chandler F - Joakim Noah F - Andre Iguodala G - Tony Allen G - Chris Paul ----------------------------- Honestly, I think Tony Allen deserves the first team spot over Kobe, and how the hell does Luol Deng not make either list? He deserves it over LeBron. First team should be Howard, Deng, Allen, Iguodala and Wade.

Pillow-for-pillow discussion...only I don't want the softest one anymore.

Before you go off and think you just trumped everyone, calling the debate over, you might want to do your homework. Jordan has been part of two sweeps. Gasol and Drew, combined, are not Dennis Rodman. The Worm is the greatest defensive player of all-time. You're disrespecting a legend. And, I'm sorry, but Horace Grant was just as good as Pau. If we're talking THIS Pau Gasol, from this season, he's better. You've obviously never seen Grant play. You're arguing for the hell of it. If you're going to do that, at least prove to me that you actually watched the Bulls play, and not just their highlights off of DVD's.

I'm embarrassed to support this trashy-ass team right now. Pathetic.

Gasol is the guy that needs to be dealt. He can't play alongside Drew, so we keep the real man among the two.

Keep Kobe and Drew. Blow the team up in the offseason. I honestly don't give a [expletive] who they trade aside from those two. This is unacceptable.

Highly unlikely. Gasol would have to step up, and I don't think that's going to happen for those four consecutive wins we need.

TIME: 9:30 PM ET TV: TNT

TIME: 7:00 PM ET TV: TNT

TIME: 8:00 PM ET TV: TNT

TIME: 3:30 PM ET TV: ABC

What indication did we all get to confirm that Kobe wasn't motivated to win Game 1?

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2011/5/7/2158991/pau-gasol-lakers-nba-playoffs-2011 You're telling me that Odom defends Dirk better than Gasol does? OMLORD, how did we not know this? Phil is said to be one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. Let's see it in Game 4. Most Laker fans have known how effective Odom is at defending Dirk for years. It's so sad that Phil has so much faith in this pansy.

Haha.

I would do everything in my power to make him the centerpiece in a trade that brings Howard or CP3 to Los Angeles. It's a stretch, but if we're willing to take on a nasty contract in the process (say, Gilbert) and dish out every pick we possibly can, give them Jeanie Buss, whatever...we need to do it. Just lay it out there. I understand that Gasol has helped us win two championships, but he was not the primary option, and there are guys like Ron who, basically, did as much on the defensive end as Gasol did back on offense last season (Kevin Durant, Paul Pierce...two guys who could've destroyed us didn't get a chance to). With Drew looking like he finally has his head screwed on right, we have to take the chance and bank on his health. We aren't trading him, we gave him a ton of money, and we'll probably keep him, so it's time we lean on him a little and build around him and Kobe, one last time, before Kobe is done.

WTF...Jordan didn't have a pansy-ass second scoring option that was having mental issues + physical instability. Would you like to put Gasol on Pippen's level? You might as well say Derrick Rose is the best player in the NBA right now, because he won the MVP award, and that Nash was the best player the two seasons he won his. LOL, I seriously can't believe you put that.