Real Deal

Bad pass, and Manu gave his best flop of the year there. It would've been best if he just went after the ball and fouled the hell out of Melo, or anything...not give it up like that.

Wow, JR Smith just created a poster.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5927137

I would just rather not have to divide the teams up even more. Contenders Playoff non-contenders Non-playoff bubble Tank city But, again, I would take the Thunder and Bulls both in a seven-game series. I just don't think any of those three (CHI, OKC, NYK) are contenders. The point of my initial comment was about putting those guys in the same group. If the Knicks don't belong, neither do the Thunder or Bulls because, basically, you'd be looking for all contenders. EDIT: I may have worded it wrong when I said they were as good as the Thunder and Bulls. What I meant was that they are in that same tier of teams that can make the playoffs, can get out of the first round if they play against the right playoff team (meaning, they aren't the worst playoff team in their conference), but they don't have it in them to get to the conference finals.

Never said they were better than the Bulls or Thunder. I would take both teams in a series. But, all three of those teams are playoff teams, not contenders, and I'm pretty sure the Knicks would take a team like the Thunder to six or seven games.

Man, now I regret having to be the one to deliver the bad news. The entire site is depressed.

A healthy and aggressive Manu.

Well, the Knicks aren't contenders, but you'd have to remove a few of those teams if you want the Knicks out of there (including the Thunder). I was looking for a reason to say the Knicks were playing easy teams and taking advantage of it, but after last night's fight with the Celtics and Amare's performance, you may have to consider the Knicks as good as the Thunder and Bulls.

Yeah, Gasol is restricted, and I doubt the Grizzlies let him go. They are more likely to let Randolph walk. They wanted to lock up Gasol, Conley and Gay, and explore trade options with OJ Mayo. As far as the other two options go, I'm not sure the Rockets can pull off a trade for an all-star with just expiring contracts. Yao Ming will probably become just that, and nothing more, and I can't think of many instances in the history of the league where a bundle of expirings were stuck together, with no other talent, to bring in someone who is already considered an all-star (Marc Gasol was the talent that Memphis wanted when trading Pau, so I don't even consider that).

For one, you get 14 alone out of the Boston dynasty (when there were about 10 teams in the NBA) and the Bulls dynasty (that's the greatest team of all-time). I wouldn't even count any of them before 1970 just because of the way the league was. Secondly, your argument is still flawed because the Heat have yet to play 82 games, and all of those SRS statistics are based on an 82-game season (with the exception of the lockout Spurs team, which you shouldn't have counted in your analysis). The SRS is based HEAVILY on the teams that you play. There's no point in using the system when you're 20-30 games into the season. The Heat have yet to play the Lakers twice, the Spurs twice, the Mavericks a second time, the Celtics two more times, the Magic two more times...and, well, you get the picture. Recently, in the last decade, the numbers show a decline. Recently, in the last decade, the league hasn't really changed as far as the number of teams and players go, and it's a similar league overall. Nice job getting the stats together, but I still don't see the significance, especially when it's this early in the season.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20101215_CHA@MEM

Yes, that's exactly what I meant.

The 23-point comeback by the Hornets is the best in franchise history. Bad thing is, they are still struggling...and they had to make that type of a comeback, of that magnitude, against the Kings.

Aldridge needs to learn how to put a hand in someone's face. He is trying to block Dirk's jumper...not a chance.

WHOA...huge foul on Miller that went uncalled.

I'm still trying to figure out how we can find the best team in the NBA based on the number of contenders they've wiped out. Didn't LeBron beat the Lakers twice last season? Ironically, one of those games was on Christmas.

The only time I've seen Amare play defense is against Tim Duncan (no idea why). He has a thing where, when he rebounds, he anticipates the board and jumps too early, and when he does, he seems to fling his body in one direction. Late in the game, this happened twice...and one of them was shown on one of those above-the-rim cams, where he actually bumped into his own teammate (maybe it was Fields) and allowed an offensive board and a very easy, uncontested put-back. That seems like one of the reasons Amare has always been average on the glass when compared to other bigs (never averaged 10 per game in his career), and giving up those boards also gives up easy put-backs, as mentioned above, not because he can't defend it face-up, but because he can't get back under the player in time to stop it. I really think Amare should be more physical boxing out. It seems like he's avoiding contact when he does try and get a box-out (not talking on frees because EVERYONE boxes out on the line), and I would think it could be because of his eye issue, but he hasn't really done it since coming into the league. About the final shot for Boston...Amare still contested the shot a little, and Pierce gave him the elbow shrug, but Stoudemire has to force Pierce to his left. Everyone knows that Pierce goes to his right and takes that shot from the right elbow. Anywhere else, center to left to corner, isn't really considered his shot. I'm not demanding that Amare becomes a perimeter defensive player, but every professional knows how to set their feet, to force players elsewhere, and there was going to be little to no help on that side of the basket to begin with. The defense was fine at the time of the shot, because he recovered well...but he played that drive by basically giving him his right side, and like any pro or even us casual fans, he has to know that a jumper near/on the right elbow is Pierce's forte.

Joey Graham should've done that back in Cleveland. Good fight, Cleveland. Close losses are still losses, though. Nine consecutive, at that.

Yeah, the refs blew it at the end of the game, when they didn't add the extra 0.3 to the clock. However, I don't think it would've mattered. Amare didn't even have his arm extended when the clock ran out. By NBA rule, 0.3 allows for a tip...which means very, very little contact AND very quickly, at that. So assuming you add 0.3 seconds (a tip) to the point where Amare was about to extend his arm on the shot...I don't think he would've gotten it off. I mean...hell, this one wasn't even close. I didn't even have to see the replay to know he didn't beat the clock. The true dagger came when Raymond Felton landed hard, laid there, and allowed the Celtics to rush up the court, 4 on 5, and get Ray Allen WIDE OPEN in the corner for the three. While Gallinari matched it back down the court after a good acting job, it really didn't matter because it put the ball in Boston's hands, with the game on the line, and everyone knew Pierce was going to take that jumper right when they got the switch (Felton on Pierce). The second switch was even worse, Amare on him, because it allowed Pierce to fake the drive and take the fadeaway from his little sweet spot. Amare should've played the shot all the way through, no drive, because there wasn't enough time for Pierce to hesitate and restart the drive to the rim. Stoudemire dropped that 39, but he is such a defensive wreck, it's hard to watch. Because of that, the rest of the team has to help him down low. They just stand there and watch (everyone but Fields, anyway). With an injured Rondo, and not having both Shaq or Jermaine, it was actually an impressive win by the Celtics. They had all of that to deal with, were on the road, and were playing a streaking Knicks team. Go figure they would win it, though. Hate Boston.

Haha, alright. 2010: Orlando Magic (nope) 2009: Cleveland Cavaliers (nope) 2008: Boston Celtics (yay) 2007: San Antonio Spurs (yay) 2006: San Antonio Spurs (nope) 2005: San Antonio Spurs (yay) 2004: San Antonio Spurs (nope) 2003: Dallas Mavericks (nope) 2002: Sacramento Kings (nope) 2001: San Antonio Spurs (nope) 2000: Los Angeles Lakers (yay) 36% of the time since 2000. Two championships in six seasons wouldn't surprise me. Great accomplishment, nonetheless.

If you're going to go that route, you might as well consider Drew 100% healthy, Kobe and Gasol healed up from their current injuries, and admit that the Lakers are the best team in the NBA. And don't ever give me an SRS stat, ever again. The Lakers were 5th in SRS last year. Boston was 10th. It's worthless. If you're going to go THAT route, go check out Miami's RPI (9th). http://espn.go.com/nba/stats/rpi

Well, I've been right about the last two Lakers championships, so you should!

...okay. Like I said, Cuban says a lot of things he doesn't mean, just to piss off the elite West teams. I'm pretty sure he thinks saying the Heat are the best team in the league would stir up emotions. But, cool, Cuban thinks the Heat are the best (or, says he thinks). How many people thought the Cavaliers were the best over the last two seasons? I really doubt anyone cares what Cuban thinks, unless they are living in Miami or rooting for the Heat.