Real Deal

Gasol is more skilled, and has proven he's a better defender (even at PF), and I'll need to see Bosh defend at the four in the NBA, not during international play, before I determine how much he has grown defensively. Post play, Gasol obliterates Bosh. Plus, Pau is a much better passer.

The 2008 USA team would CRUSH this 2010 team, easily. There's not a single guy on this 2010 team that can stop Kobe, Wade OR LeBron, and it would be an absolute mess. If we're going to talk about how they look against the teams they are playing, Spain almost took out this 2010 team...and Spain has been without Gasol, and they also had two injured players. Spain, with a full roster (including Pau) was so dominant in 2008, but they still fell to the US. Anyway...good blowout against Angola. It's expected.

Do you mean a five? C - Shaquille O'Neal PF - Tim Duncan SF - LeBron James (going to assume he's there right now) SG - Kobe Bryant PG - Jason Kidd

Game is on ESPN2 also.

You start here... You realized that he actually does shoot well from mid-range, so you say... Then you change it up and say... So are you asking for threes, or twos? There are plenty of guys who finish games well without being able to shoot the three-ball. Jordan was one of them for a good chunk of his career. Dwyane Wade shot .171 from downtown in 2006, the same season he became a champion leading his team. I just want you to know that Derrick Rose shoots .467 on jumpers alone. Carmelo last season? He finished at .410. Compare that to Billups at .491 and Kobe at .462, and even Wade at .393, and it's really hard to say that Rose doesn't shoot the ball well.

DUDE...lol, I thought about how pissed you were going to be right when Bird's shot fell. They were down what...15 or 16? It was a nice rally.

So many travels, so many NBA Jam dunks, and so many defensive lapses by whoever is playing it.

Yeah, and Tony Parker took advantage of the pathetic backcourt defense against Cleveland, also...but we know who led the team all season long, all playoffs long, and who was the engine despite not winning Finals MVP.

No. He doesn't possess the skills Bryant does. Sitting here and saying he can re-define his skills and get much better...I can say the same damn thing for any player in the league. Smith is a decent player that is decent doing a lot of things on the court, but not great in any of them. He's not among the smartest players in the league. He's not among the best shooters. He's not among the best defenders. He's not among the best passers. He's not among the best ball-handlers. He's not among the fastest players. Sitting here saying it's all in his brain? I don't buy that. He doesn't do ANYTHING great. He never did. Two different situations. Smith has never been on a "bad team" like Finley and Kevin Martin. He has had the opportunity to shoot 13-14 FGA per game (Gasol's average). He has been given the opportunity to be clutch, to start, to defend, to run the team, to do all of it as a second scoring option...and he did not play like the All-Star you want us to believe he is. Phil wanted Kidd and Marion in 1999 because Kidd was putting up 17/7/11 and was becoming one of the best players in the NBA, including defensively, and Marion was already showing how incredible of a defender he was going to be, along with the impressive first-year numbers. Phil was under the impression that he was going to get two superstar players for the price of one, and that Kobe was not a triangle player. He was wrong, and it had nothing to do with coaching him. Bryant even told Phil he was un-coachable. Funny part was, Kobe had "maturity problems" up until 2004, yet he was putting up 30/7/6 on 45% FG and flashing three championship rings, two of which he was co-leader for, running the triangle offense himself AND averaging 25-30 a game. Immature players (LeBron comes to mind, and the young Kobe) still show superstardom. JR Smith hasn't. He won't. No need to keep thinking otherwise.

Well, the idea brewing in Rudy's brain was that he could gain leverage by saying he was willing to sit for two seasons, then go back to Spain and ditch the league. He was hoping that would change Portland's mind about keeping him on the roster. Problem is, now there are 29 other teams who seem to be turned off by that, and rightfully so.

And before he says, "Those are just last-second shots," I'll add Paul Pierce and Tim Duncan to the list.

So you think that Monta Ellis (25.5 PPG) can finish games better than Derrick Rose? And you'd rather have the ball in his hands? Brandon Roy averaged 21.5 PPG, almost right there with Rose (20.8). Would you say that he can't finish off games? That maybe Danny Granger (at 24.1 PPG) is better?

What are you saying? (to Snake) Dude, Rose is a scoring point guard, not a pass-first. He's also an excellent finisher at the rim, and he's showing an improved jumper. Just because he's not a dominant scorer like Durant, Bryant or Melo doesn't mean he can't finish off a game. Otherwise, there are only five players in the league that fit your criteria (the three I named, Wade and LeBron).

The debate was over Snake's opinion that JR Smith is a potential superstar in this league. Not Kobe, of course, but a superstar...someone that can average 25 PPG or more and lead his team to the playoffs. I made it clear that Smith will not do that. If he DOES average 25 PPG (and I don't even think he'll do THAT), he'll be like Kevin Martin and his 17-win Kings (mentioned this earlier, actually). Smith is not a top SG in the league, let alone in the West, and he never will be.

So Rose isn't a legitimate star?

Team USA (5-0) vs. Angola (2-3) TIME: 11:00 AM ET TV: ESPN2, NBATV Re-air at 8:00 PM ET and 11:00 PM ET, NBATV.

I can go back to Kobe's prime and pick out four seasons where he missed 14+ games. Shaq has four rings, but he followed the same pattern, missing games. Boozer's last four seasons... 2006-07: 74 games 2007-08: 81 games 2008-09: 37 games 2009-10: 78 games I'd be happy about that. Basically, he missed a half a season, and was pretty healthy for the other 3 1/2 years.

Mbenga is actually a decent back-up. He was one of our fan favorites because of the effort he put out on defense.

He probably will, since he played in 78 games last season.

This is easy for me. I'd take the Clippers, because they are in Los Angeles (big market) and because they have Griffin and Gordon. I'd be successful because I'd immediately put Baron Davis on the block and would elect to start Bledsoe or Warren, despite both being rooks, and I'd keep Del Negro as our coach because right now, he should still be in Chicago. Simple plan, really...but the Clippers FO has no idea how to run a team.

By the way, Kobe didn't just come out and say all of this. Shaq was pushing him all summer long, going hard at him through the media and in practices, and Kobe did ask Phil to do something about it.

LOL.

It makes sense, really, because Bosh was not a five. Toronto has been seeking bigs, also...and it's only obvious they were looking for defensive-minded bigs by bringing back Johnson and selecting Ed Davis. Bargnani is a different story, but they have to have some offense, too. The Suns wouldn't toss Nash for a defensive-minded point, even though Nash is one hell of a matador on that side of the ball. I'd have to see how well they play as a unit, though. Teams can bring in the defensive talent, but help defense plays a pivotal role in how the team does overall.

Pretty soon, you'll hear interviews with players saying this... "I feel like I'm a really good pusher. I push the ball into the basket as well as anyone else in the league."

Got this from TLN...