Real Deal

Pretty obvious that Kitna is trash. Time to retire.

Man, it's crazy trying to pass the ball on Hall of Fame. I don't know how good everyone is here, but good God...you really can't make a risky pass. Flashy and risky passes get picked off 99% of the time, for me.

Haha, dude, my brother and I were laughing about that the entire game. He ALMOST did it with "Matt Caaassel" also...but he didn't extend it long enough, and I was pretty disappointed.

I don't think so, because Gasol and Odom are fully capable of playing 40 minutes a game in the playoffs, as long as they don't get into foul trouble (doesn't happen much with Gasol). Phil will not hesitate to play Ron at the four, either...dude is too strong in the post. Glen Davis had trouble with him. We're 3-0 without Drew playing a single second this season. Not that big of a bite yet, but we can definitely maintain the top seed in the West without him because Gasol is a better center than he is a power forward (statistically), and Odom is playing amazing basketball right now. Most of our problems with centers came when Fisher, Farmar and Vujacic were allowing their man to blow past them for layups. Farmar is gone, Blake is playing heavy minutes for us, and Vujacic barely gets a chance to play now. Also, Powell was garbage on defense. He's history, and we have Caracter, who would rather foul than give up a dunk. Mbenga was a fouling machine, and one of the worst offensive players in the league, so we couldn't play him many minutes. He's gone, replaced by Theo, who has a higher IQ, better offensively, better defensively. If Bynum is injured for a fourth consecutive time by the time the playoffs roll around, it's not like he's been vital to our success to begin with. Over the last two playoff seasons he played for us, limited minutes and production, he wasn't that great of a defender, blowing help assignments here and there, and losing his own man frequently.

Bynum didn't log a single minute in the 2008 Playoffs. In 2009, he was playing injured. Check out his Finals stats...four of those five games, Drew was pretty bad. In fact, he had more bad games than good ones in the playoffs that season... http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bynuman01/gamelog/2009 Last season's Finals, and the WCF, he was playing injured. Again, look at his lack of production in the last two games against Utah, a couple of games against Phoenix, and 3-4 games against Boston (including the last two games of the Finals, which were horrible). http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bynuman01/gamelog/2010 A fully-healthy Drew does much, much better than that.

Every team...lol.

Minor addition, but it'll help the new members find out who all is here with them. Seems like everyone knows each other these days, haha. Thanks for all of the activity and recruiting, guys. It never goes unnoticed.

Ah, I remember you from RST. Good to see another Nuggets fan on board. Welcome to the best.

Go ahead and answer the questions when you get the chance to. I'll put out a new one quickly after.

OTR is going to be different than what you're used to, I'm assuming. I know you were at RST, so you've been around the block (ha). It's going to seem like we have 400 Knicks fans now. Anyway, you really will find a lot of people you know here, and you're going to find a lot of members who will debate you until your brain bleeds, haha. Welcome to the best.

Copy and paste the code below, filling in the blanks. All correct answers get you five points. No late entries accepted. If you don't turn yours in by the tip-off of the first game, you miss out, no exceptions. Wednesday, November 3rd Milwaukee @ Boston (ESPN) Winner: Leading rebounder: LA Lakers @ Sacramento (ESPN) Winner: Player with most turnovers: Thursday, November 4th New York @ Chicago (TNT) Winner: Leading scorer: Oklahoma City @ Portland (TNT) Winner: Leading passer: Friday, November 5th Chicago @ Boston (ESPN) Winner: Leading rebounder: LA Clippers @ Denver (ESPN) Winner: Player that makes the most threes: Saturday, November 6th New Jersey @ Miami Winner: Player with the most turnovers:

If Boston happens to knock off Miami in a second round match-up, and Orlando advances to the ECF against Boston, they suddenly become contenders. LA was crushed by Denver in their 9th game of the season last year, 105-79. It was an issue, but we were without Gasol. So, we walked into the Christmas game, in LA, and were picked apart by the Cavaliers, 102-87, with a healthy roster. Three days later, the Suns beat us by 15. People were talking about how we were being exposed, and that it looked as if Denver, Dallas, or Phoenix were going to find their way into the WCF and defeat us. There were many that expected an upset in the first round, the way Bryant was playing in the second half of the season (with the injury) and the way our team finished the regular season (11-10 in our last 21). But, when JVG mentioned that the Magic were not a contender, he also mentioned (during the game) that the Heat were un-guardable. Not only that, but I'm sure you heard him say the Houston Rockets will upset the Lakers in the WCF this season, and go on to play the Heat in the Finals.

I did that up until December or so, then I added the sidebar because it took me forever to update team forums with records, standing numbers AND re-ordering them. The sidebar code is re-written a bit, but identical to the one last season (from the old skin). Then, mid-April, I started doing that for the team forums again for the playoffs...had 1-8 in the East and West, and non-playoff teams below, set up the playoff teams in sort of a bracket order.

SOURCES!

I think most saw this coming. It's smart for Portland, because Oden would be restricted (as stated in the article), so it's a win-win situation as of now. I say "as of now" because, possibly, this just pushed Oden out of Portland. I doubt it, but it's possible he's ready to leave...and if he comes back and stays healthy this season (don't remember when he's set to return), Portland may have screwed up. Unlikely, though.

Added the standings to the right sidebar, under the scoreboard. Look okay?

I was talking about how much Vince can open things up for his teammates, and how Orlando would've found room to benefit from it, eventually, instead of forcing up shots. That's 24 points in the first quarter, 25 points total in the second half. Five threes attempted in 18 minutes before his injury, 19 threes in the remaining 30 minutes. I shouldn't have to say that the Heat are the better team. We know. I clearly stated that Orlando lived and died by the three, just like they have every season for a few years now. They shot 4-24 (or something close to that) from downtown. Howard had all 19 of his points in the first half. The entire team was missing open shots like the Heat were missing them against the Celtics (and I distinctly remember those comments). But, well...Heat defense!

Arthur is really playing some good ball right now. I'm impressed. No Xavier Henry? Only two players shot 40+ percent for the Wolves, one being Love (under 43%) and Pekovic, who shot just five total baskets.

The scoring will drop once Boozer returns, obviously, but his assists may go up. Less of a role on the offensive end, yet having the ability to turn it on whenever you want...it's what a superstar player desires.

Lowry's defense, negated by his pathetic offense. Scola's offense, negated by his pathetic defense. In Houston, the Rockets needed this win. Harrington toyed with them, Houston decided they were going to chuck threes, and that's game.

Big three by Jennings. Dude is playing.

LOL, that's right, because saying I think they can make the Finals is really slapping the team in the face. Miami played some of the best defense I've ever seen in NBA history, and if they didn't let their foot off the pedal, they would've defeated the Magic by 60. Hope that's good enough for you guys.

That lob was way too easy. The Wizards have to pay more attention.

We want you guys to express your feelings towards sports and other things, but it's probably in the best interest of the site (and some of the members here) that we stay focused on OTR, like we always have. No need to discuss anyone else unless we have an affiliation with them.