Real Deal

Wow, that was one of the quickest fastbreaks I've seen in a long time.

Garbage title, and if they try and replace Ledger's Joker, they will fail.

Top three in the league.

True, except you made a mistake bringing up what Williams did against Denver, because as you noted earlier, Roy dominated the Rockets, who also had Yao Ming (who you consider a superstar), Shane Battier and Ron Artest (two of the best perimeter defenders in the league at that time), Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola and Carl Landry. Oden racked up 27 fouls in those six games, wasn't even pulling down boards, so I don't consider him much of an asset in that series. Outlaw was absolute trash...and it's not like those two were making up for it with their defense, either. Even Fernandez was bad on the offensive end, and we know he doesn't play defense.

You would think the Warriors could make the playoffs this season, even without playing defense.

Martin and Brooks are still in Los Angeles.

I can't put Roy and Johnson in the same sentence, never. Roy shoots 47-48% from the floor, can put up over 20 PPG, 5 APG and 4-5 RPG, and Bryant acknowledges that he's the absolute toughest player to defend in the league...and Ron Artest said the same exact thing two years back (and after Roy averaged 27 against him, it makes sense). I'm inclined to believe that if Roy had better players than just Aldridge (you know, like Boozer, a load of talented defenders, and a big center that can shoot and give you 17 PPG), he would've gotten out of the first as well. In Deron's first season, Boozer and Okur were tearing up opposing teams, and Kirilenko was a top defender in the NBA. I'm not going to say Roy is a better offensive player, but if you stick the pieces around him, he would accomplish almost as much as Deron Williams has with his team. In a few years, I think Roy will prove to be the better player, but that's really not the discussion right now, and that's strictly based on potential.

Haha, yeah, I saw enough of him in college. Hated the Sooners, but I went to watch him quite a bit just because I've been high on the dude since he started playing his senior year in HS.

Offensively, but on defense, he's still lost out there. That game last night was bad...couldn't tell you how many times he lost track of Lamar. That may be the biggest reason why the Rockets will need Yao for longer than 24 minutes a night. His presence alone changes shots in the paint.

I'm not sure if Rambis is right for this team. One game, yeah, but these guys aren't going to run that triangle offense. They ditched it numerous times. If this were Kobe and Shaq, it would be different...but the less success and more confusion, the less likely they'll be dedicated to the offense, and the more losses they'll rack up.

Brandon Roy belongs on that list, in my opinion, if you add Williams. Roy is easily the third best two-guard in the NBA, and it's only because Kobe and Wade are on that list, and I would take Roy over Williams right now, if I'm being asked to build a franchise. I'm not so sure about Nash. If you're adding him due to his impact on the offensive end, you have to stick Garnett on that list due to his impact on the defensive end (and because Howard is on that list as well). Other than that, I agree.

...and the dude can pass.

Amazing spin move by Griffin. Wow.

I wouldn't really say he's not a superstar just yet, nor would I consider him one. All-star player, for sure. Rose is going to need to play both ways, as a scorer and a facilitator, so this season, he'll need to find a balance. Expect it to be rough for a bit, especially without Boozer.

I'd consider both CP3 and Deron superstars, actually.

Boston seems to play really good against teams with a dominant superstar. Their help defense is excellent...makes Ray Allen look like Thabo Sefolosha. And, really, Allen's strongest defensive stand occurs when he's forcing his opponent into the help, so it makes sense. But, when you play someone like Cleveland...what player do you focus on locking up? Last year, it was LeBron. This year, you really don't know which player will go off for 15-20 points (at least not yet).

If you stick Reggie Evans on a small team, give him 15 fouls and play him for 48 minutes a game, he would average 60 RPG.

LOL, Kaman.

Blake has 4 offensive boards in the first six minutes of the game. WTF.

Wow, I'm excited to see Griffin play all season long. Never been this excited about a Clippers player in my life (not even Corey Maggette, Shaliq).

Right, but it's too early in the season to be fatigued, even if it's a back-to-back. Boston was cruising to a win last night, and really only played desperate for 75% of that second half. Either Boston has work to do, or Cleveland is better than many figured they would be. If Cleveland is a legit bottom-feeder in the East, Boston runs away with a win, easily.

Man, noooo. Durant can't be hurt. That was a nasty fall.

Whoa, I forgot all about Murphy. Didn't even realize he was sitting out.

Durant's defense is almost as good as it was with Team USA this summer. Ah...and he's got three steals in the last minute and a half. He's also distributing the ball well...struggling when it comes to scoring, but he's doing what it takes to get the job done. Close game.

Why is that? They've gone three seasons with Bynum hobbling around, playing injured in two playoff visits and missing one altogether, missing the second halves of seasons, and we have two rings and three Finals appearances out of it. And that's with DJ Mbenga being the only backup center. Ratliff was very good for us that first game, defensively. We don't need Dampier. He's a disaster...which is why no team wants him now.