Real Deal

So Iverson was selfish because of his shot attempts? OJ Mayo took 15.6 FGA per game his rookie season, and 14.4 his sophomore year. Just one attempt less. Assists? He threw more, just barely, his rookie year. He attempted almost the same exact amount of threes per game. How did he go from "ballhog" to "unselfish" by doing that?

Ron Harper was a better player than both Horry and Prince.

Kobe must be the greatest role player, or even the greatest Robin, I've ever seen in my entire 27 years of life, to average nearly 30 a night and running the offense. Who was the "Robin" or role player during the 2008 Boston run? Who was Batman? There is such thing as having two Batmans... Just annoys the [expletive] out of me, that's all. Best defender, nearly 30 a night, facilitating the offense...and he's put in the same category as Tony Parker and Pau Gasol? Anyway...when you think of a role player, you don't think of an all-star, or even a star player. Andre Iguodala is a star...borderline all-star. Technically, today, he's still Philly's franchise player. Toni Kukoc was a role player. Ron Harper, later in his career. Robert Horry. Derek Fisher. Jason Terry. Basically all sixth men candidates, most fourth or fifth starters on a team (depends on the team, of course), guys that have a defined role in the offense/defense, but not expected to exceed their roles and carry the team on their backs.

I could RUIN YOU if I went and changed the topic title to "The Perfect NBA Role Player." Muahahahahahaaaaa!

Weird... http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/LeBron-James-popularity-plunges-but-Kobe-Bryant-still-more-disliked-athlete-091410

Dude, I keep forgetting you're a Nets fan. Add it to your team rep! And, this gave you a worse feeling than the Lakers sweeping the Nets? I think I'd be happier just knowing I had a chance against either of them, than witnessing a sweep. I was absolutely relieved that the Lakers won a single game against the Pistons in 2004. Had they not, it would've sucked even worse.

Of course, the Lions are last...a 30-team gap between the two.

No thoughts, except that the Trench Counter formula is ignorant. For one, had the Patriots played the Bills and completely obliterated them in the air and on the field, held them to hardly any yards and made them look like a college team out there, they would be ranked #1 on the list...for demolishing one of the worst teams in football. Instead, the Pats are penalized because they let their foot off the gas after dropkicking the Bengals in the first half, 31-3, showing they are one of the elite teams in the league (as much as I hate them). Makes no sense to use the Trench Counter formulas in rankings, ever...especially after the first game of the season.

If he wasn't so inconsistent, Lamar Odom...but I don't know if I can really say that, because if he weren't inconsistent, he'd probably be an all-star. I'm going to say Grant Hill.

Gordon is an excellent defender, better than Mayo...but he doesn't have the skillset OJ does on the offensive end of the court. When Mayo lights that match, he's pretty dangerous. In Gordon's biggest scoring game (against OKC, which is one that I watched), he got to the line many, many times. Did a lot of attacking. Mayo's biggest scoring output was 40 (similar to Eric's 41), but he put in just 2-2 from the line, shot lights out that night, 68% with 17 FGs. In fact, in every 30+ point game of his career, Mayo has shot seven or less free throws. In all of Gordon's 30+ point games? He's never shot less than seven, and 12+ free throws in three of them. Hell, Mayo has shot 10 free throws in three games...in his entire two-year career. Never shot more than 10. Why is that significant? Mayo shoots around the same percentage in a two-year career. Once it's instilled in him that he needs to be THE franchise player, THE attacker and THE 20+ PPG scorer he should be, he'll rack up more free throw attempts and light up opponents from anywhere on the court, and when that happens, he'll surely surpass Gordon.

If the Heat do find a way to rake in Dampier, they would basically be in the same boat as the Boston Celtics in regards to a stacked frontcourt with no direction. Not a bad thing, of course, but I don't know if that's a good thing, either. Bosh will take up the majority of the minutes at the four, which leaves Haslem with less than he probably wants. Anthony is probably going to start because he's the best defensive big on the team, but he will play less minutes than he deserves if both Ilgauskas and Dampier are playing musical chairs with him. Plus, I would think the Heat would give Haslem SOME minutes at the five, in a small lineup. He played 9% of the team's minutes at center last year. Not much, but it's still some (almost five).

Ha...well, it's not that big of a deal. Even if they were using proxies, I eventually find out who they are, because proxy servers store information about the original IP address, and I've worked with a lot of proxy sites to get that info, as long as I provide proof that they are spammers/trolls. That allows them to block those original IP's, and allows me to ban that member. Trolls are trolls because they aren't very smart, they aren't accepted as intelligent and contributing members anywhere else, and they don't have a life outside of their computers. There are plenty of them that will make accounts on Twitter and bash athletes, just to quench their boredom, and it's pretty weird.

Oops, wrong answer! But seriously, the trolling stops here, dude. Glassboro, New Jersey dhcp-eve-1-241-180.rowan.edu You're in the states. You watched the playoffs because it was in fact available...and, by the way, your fake struggling with the English language was pretty inconsistent. Where you'd type your question marks here and there, you'd miss others on purpose, and instead of saying "he play in NBA" you added a "the" in there, something you weren't doing in your other posts. Trolling was pretty obvious from the start. Kobe hater? I wonder who it is...lol. Thanks for playing, though. I should've just banned you earlier, but it was even better watching you slip up.

What a bunch of crap. Doesn't change that he was the best player in college football.

I'd expect him to hold onto the football if he were running with it that way, but not on impact. Seeing running backs take a hit to the back, and they lose the ball without it even being touched? And that's when they tuck it into their side, with those gloves, with strong and big hands. Love Calvin Johnson, though. He needs to come to a much-better team (like the Raiders). I just can't take up for him here (and I'm not even sure if he argued it after the call was made).

Ouch... Click for more

Awesome. Thank you.

Well, at the end of the day, if you can prove to me that he wasn't following the ball down to the ground with his hand, it's a completed pass. All indications (the sudden change of the direction of his arm, the closed fist) point to a loose ball. And plus, if he used the ball to break his fall, it's an incomplete pass on any part of the field as long as he's falling and not making a move after he establishes possession, especially when he doesn't pull the ball back off the ground. The referees made the right call, and I don't see very many professional analysts saying it was a catch. They may not like the rule, and I wouldn't mind if the NFL changed it for endzone catches only, but it's still in place. Had they used the rule for the Super Bowl last season, they would've called back another catch that ended up being a touchdown (if I remember right, they ruled it a touchdown despite the ball hitting the ground). Receivers go through years of learning how to catch and possess a ball. Calvin couldn't tuck it in because of the impact, didn't have his other arm because of the way he landed, and that ball was headed south along with his arm, little to no control, and the only thing he could do was follow it to the ground and act like it was no big deal. Should it be a TD? Yes, if they changed the rule. Is it? Nope. But I really don't care enough, because it's the Lions. If this was the Raiders, I'd argue it to death because we only score two touchdowns a year.

Can someone provide me with a link, please? I just now walked out the door and got a notification on my phone about it, but no link. :\ Who wants to bet he goes to Miami? EDIT:

Fine, just have someone throw you the ball, catch it on your toes and then fall back on your hip, keeping the ball out and up a bit, one hand. Point was, it's harder than it looks. I've done it before playing catch with friends, landed on my tailbone as I was stumbling backwards, and I lost the ball at the moment of impact. If I didn't have a personal experience like that, I would probably be arguing against the call...but that ball was loose in his hand, and the only way he was going to retain possession was to follow it to the ground. I've yet to see anyone argue about the closed fist, though. It's easily an indication that he lost his grip. One other thing I noticed was, right after his hip hit, his arm suddenly shot to the ground. He was actually holding the ball out on his way down, but right at impact, the ball and arm start coming down quickly...just another indication he didn't have control of his arm, and losing control of the ball. Find the spot on the video after the two feet hit, keep your mouse on it, and continue to click to go back, over and over again, from there until the ball hits the ground. It's clear as day, he was not spiking the ball.

I wasn't too surprised. Johnson killed us. Just a bit angry that we couldn't put up more points on the board.

Just to clarify...I have Kolb starting Week 2 (unless he doesn't play, of course), but I think Vick will eventually get the start by January. I think Vick will prove he's the better QB, but I don't think the Eagles should throw in the towel so soon. He's not JaMarcus Russell yet.

Haha, oops. Right when I typed his name, I should've known. I can't stand him and refuse to call him his "new name." Calvin Johnson. Sorry. Good catch, Kyle.

Herm Edwards nailed it just now on NFL Live (I think that's the show, haha). He stated that the rule has been put into place because receivers used to "spike" the ball as they were losing control of it, coming to the ground. That created a gray area where referees had no idea if it was a legitimate catch or not. Let me say this much: go outside, grab a football with one hand and hold it up over your head, jump in the air and land on your hip. If you don't feel any kind of release in your grip, you can argue that Calvin Johnson didn't, either. The biggest notification that he didn't spike that ball was the fact he made a fist. Pretend like you're spiking a ball. When you release it, your hand is open. Now grip a football tight, and let it slip from your fingers. You make a fist. He lost his grip after he hit the ground.

You guys really think the Eagles should toss Kolb aside so early into the season? Money wasted?