Real Deal

Yeah, we get it, the NBA revolves around the Heat. Most of us don't [expletive]ing care. The hard cap proposals have absolutely nothing to do with the circus in Miami right now.

I really doubt this happens, and if it continues to be part of the new CBA negotiations, you'll most definitely see a lockout. A hard cap will eventually restrict where free agents choose to go. If all contenders are at the cap, or a hair below it, big-name players will literally be forced to go to a struggling team, or in many cases, a small-market team. And in restricting team availability, it will force salary cuts. Someone like John Wall may be a deserving max player, but the only teams that could offer the max are the Bucks, Cavaliers, Pistons and Pacers...and assuming they are all struggling, and they aren't Los Angeles, Miami, or New York (where all big-name players want to go because of the market), Wall will have to look to a team like Denver, who may have a little less money to offer, is a better team, but not exactly cream of the crop (yes, Melo has left). So, really, a free agent really won't be free anymore. Also, you create a problem come draft time, if a team is maxed out and has a top pick. That's $3-4 million they will need to shed off of their roster just to sign their top pick, which could mean some deserving player ends up out of a job because his team had to waive him. Most all contract lengths will be shorter (much, much shorter) for guys like Oden, Yao and Bynum, who have been suffering from injuries over the last three seasons, because teams know they will NEVER be able to get out of those contracts once they write them up. How many times will you see a team offer expiring contracts in deals for non-superstar players? It would be much easier to pick up a superstar through free agency, with the hard cap, so teams will more than likely keep their expiring contracts, even of those players who are barely logging minutes. Could lead to more teams tanking seasons, keeping useless players on their rosters just to have an extra $18 million for the following season. You drop the luxury tax, and suddenly, the NBA doesn't make money off of it. I could go on and on.

The discussion of a hard cap has been ongoing long before LeBron and Bosh were even free agents, and serious talks about one were going on last offseason.

Bosh stated that he was waiting to see what LeBron was going to do, so it's sort of up in the air for me...not really sure how they would look today. Assuming Bosh did go to Miami, regardless of LeBron's decision? AND they signed everyone else? Miami would be under Boston, Orlando and maybe Chicago, so fourth best team in the East.

Haha...well, I'm not going to say Melo sucks, but I'm starting to think the Nets should just stick with Favors and Harris, see what comes out of it.

Ford and Woj were talking about it a LONG time ago on Twitter, which means I'd have to go back to February or March (when Amare was in trade rumors), because they were discussing how Amare would rather not sign a short extension with Phoenix, then look to sign as a free agent later, when contracts are lower. If you use Twitter, you know how impossible that would be, lol. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/07/02/cba.proposal.ap/index.html http://www.nba.com/2010/news/02/11/CBA.proposal.ap/index.html http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-labortalks020610 The initial proposal (talking about just max deals, nothing else) was to drop them to $60 million, and hell...that's a 50-55% salary cut, which is significant. Ford and Wojnarowski had posted it on Twitter, and they were stating that it was likely those cuts would see anywhere between 25-35% by the time serious talks were in session, that 50% was not even up for discussion at the end of the day.

One team stated they would trade for Melo regardless. If I recall correctly, that team was the Warriors. EDIT: http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2010/09/20/warriors-may-want-carmelo-bad-enough-to-not-require-extension/

Once you're 27 and you go back and look at all of the mentally-unstable chicks you've been with, you'll realize how less shallow you should've been. Got with a girl during our senior campout (this was nine years ago, lol), and she walks around to this day thinking she's hotter than fire, probably going to be single for the rest of her life. I can name six guys who have hit it since me, no telling who before me. She might have the smallest brain in the world, too. Got fired from Blockbuster because her friends (I guess) were sticking burned copies of movies back into the drop box, and she would open the cases and close them back up, stick them back on the shelves as if it was nothing, and she ended up telling the manager (who I know) that she honestly thought the Blockbuster DVD's were all burned copies, and that's why they have so many of them (no joke, by the way). And no, I'm not throwing her under the bus for any particular reason other than she's the super slut...one of the better bodies I've seen around school back then, beautiful face, and absolutely nothing else.

See poll.

If you were the GM of the Detroit Pistons, what would you do at this point? C - Ben Wallace | Jason Maxiell | Chris Wilcox PF - Charlie Villanueva | Greg Monroe | Jonas Jerebko SF - Tayshaun Prince | Austin Daye | DaJuan Summers SG - Richard Hamilton | Ben Gordon | Tracy McGrady | Terrico White PG - Rodney Stuckey | Will Bynum

LMAO, another problem...

It would be easier to get out of the first round if you were in the East. After that, though, it would be a struggle to get to the conference finals out East. Winning regular season games? It would be easier out East...aside from the superpowers and teams like the Bulls, Hawks and Bucks (and even two of those aren't too difficult to beat), you can't really say it will be a struggle.

I don't see why they would boo him, really. It's not like he chose to ditch the franchise.

Denver needs to just take what Golden State has to offer and run off like bandits, because they won't get a damn thing in July. Trade him to the Warriors, and then let him play a full season there without that extension...see how stupid he is for wanting 30% less money.

I think the same as you guys. The only problem with this, down the road, is that the Kings will be "breeding" him as a center, yet they want him to lose weight. So, with the advanced post moves he seems to show, and a shot he's wanting to develop, it's sort of hard to determine where he belongs right now, and we all know how important it is to NOT get a potentially dominant rookie off the wrong foot.

Didn't stick Romo or Cutler in there because they either haven't racked up the 400+ yards this season, they didn't hit 500+ yards before (like Big Ben and Brees), or they aren't on the same level as Brady or Rodgers. I eventually ran out of poll choices, lol.

I think the problem arises when Arenas promised everyone he was going to be more passive when he returned...yet, he wasn't. He was still chucking up shots. Disregarding the injury history (which I really don't want to do, but whatever), you're asking one to defer to the other, or just completely ignore Blatche and Josh Howard. No rookie point and a chucking two-guard will get into the playoffs shooting 18-20 shots each. Wall will have to become a traditional point, and it's very, very rare that it happens in 2-3 seasons. Not only that, but Arenas will need the ball in his hands. Dumars was able to play off the ball very well. Gilbert has never, ever proven he can, and in the past, he has been stagnate when he's not running the offense. Definitely no Ray Allen. So, not only will the Wizards need one player to change...they will need both to, and that's asking a lot, and it could be ruining Wall's development as a dominant point guard in this league. I don't think Arenas is worth that.

The last time I checked, Cousins is 6-11 and 270 pounds. However, he seemed to play more like a strong power forward back on offense, but I'm not sure if he's cut out to defend mobile fours (ex. Bosh). Samuel Dalembert is in Sacramento, and the Kings drafted Hassan Whiteside, who could be a very good defender in this league. Carl Landry is capable of starting at the four, and Jason Thompson is a legit backup. Should the Kings try and experiment with Cousins at the four, Landry backing him up off the bench, or should they just keep Cousins at the five?

Regarding the clutch stats, they don't mean much to me. LeBron has the higher FG%, we all know that, and he didn't have much help in the fourth quarters...right? There was a season where Bryant averaged 10+ PPG in fourth quarters alone, and that was around the time he didn't have Shaq or Gasol, if I recall correctly, and nobody had accomplished that since Wilt or Jordan. But, according to 82games' clutch stats, sorting +/- stats, you'll find that Mo Williams is on top of everyone. In fact, five of the first six players are from Cleveland, +/- stat leaders. Williams, James, Parker, West and Varejao, in that order. You'll also find that, among non-bigs, Delonte West has the highest FG%, at 66.7%. It really doesn't mean much to me, in the end. Down two, five seconds to go, a prime Scottie Pippen defending my best forward/guard...who takes the final shot? Bryant, and nobody else crosses my mind unless their name is Michael Jordan (and I take Bryant over Jordan as well).

I said what I did about Chalmers, Fisher and Bryant because it's true as far as a coach's standpoint goes. When someone says the words "point guard" or "one" and they are relating it to who's on the court, I think of plays drawn up. Basically, there were a lot of times where LeBron was said to be playing the point in Cleveland last season, but he was never actually the point guard. Brown actually stuck him at the four when he ran three-guard lineups (which wasn't too often, but it happened), and LeBron was considered a four on plays ran during that time. When I played ball, I was always considered a two or three, even though I brought the ball up many times. In leagues, I had coaches call out plays that had me bring the ball up, asking the two-guard to facilitate. Never, ever called me the one, no matter the role I had, because there was a real point guard (or combo guard) always out there on the court with me, even if they weren't creating for others at that time. In Wright's case, Chalmers, Arroyo or Alston was always out on the court when he was in the game, or Wade (who is a combo guard). When Spo drew up plays, I can say with 100% certainty that he called Wright a two or three. A "1-4 Pinball" would not initially involve Wright scoring the ball, even if he's bringing it up court. The point (the one) would take the ball at the top of the key, receiving it from Wright, and the two and three would shoot to the corners, and the one takes his man off the dribble and either looks to draw a foul, or dish it off to a big (usually the power forward). Wright would be the two-guard, or small forward, awaiting the shot. Of course, it works best having two shooters on the court, but it's just a random play that popped into my head.

Most of his were game-tying shots. Someone already pointed it out on another site, and listed them. Just sticking that out there. 82games.com isn't exactly accurate when it comes to a lot of their stats. Plus, a topic over at RealGM (I'll find it later) proved that a lot of those FGA were counted even when the game was out of reach, so when someone like Atlanta was losing by 7-8 with 24 seconds left, and Joe Johnson just shoots a three, they count it as a missed FGA and game-winner attempt.

http://i53.tinypic.com/206lkci.jpg http://i55.tinypic.com/4twrwn.jpg

We got enough of this stuff going on already, no need for more. Plus, the GIF is in the Funny Images topic.

Ha...it won't last. I had a decent Week 3, though. I did my picks really late (made them Saturday), so maybe that helped me out a bit. The first two, I was picking pretty early.

Just ten.