Real Deal

I don't see why any team would want Fernandez at this point.

LOL, yeah...Fisher runs our offense. Kobe has never led the team in assists, either...not even in the dynasty years.

And the only thing that Smith has in common with Kobe is the height, the Western Conference, and his skin color...so if I can't compare Mo Williams to J.R. Smith, don't ever put Smith and Kobe (or any superstar) in the same sentence. Smith has not proven to anyone that he can run a team full-time. I already dropkicked that idea by providing you with what he did against the Lakers in the WCF, that you were so proud of. If Smith beat defenders with his dribbling, he'd be shooting less threes and taking WAY more than just two free throws per game. Pass with high accuracy off the dribble? He can't even reach three assists per game in a season, despite having one of the best scorers in the league on his team. What's the excuse for that? Typically, if you're such an excellent passer, you pass the ball. Billups: 5.6 Anthony: 3.2 Lawson: 3.1 Carter: 3.0 Nene: 2.5 Smith: 2.4 For being such an excellent player, he sure doesn't show it, passing the ball or shooting. His defense is average, at best. His attitude sucks. He has never scored over 26-27 in a playoff game. Shoots just two free throws per game. Attempts over 13 FGA per game despite coming off the bench and putting up 41-42% shooting nights. All of that, and this guy is supposed to tap into his potential and become a superstar after six full seasons of bench play? Haha...I'm done talking about this dude.

Yeah, Smith averaged 3.3 APG in that series, 2.17 turnovers. His best passing game was Game 3, when he shot 4-15 (.267) from the floor, 2-10 3PT. Six assists. His second best, Game 5, he was shooting 3-13 (.231) from the floor, 1-10 3PT, and he threw just four assists. When he was fire (you know, like in Game 6, where he shot 10-17 for 24 PTS), he threw zero assists. Just so you know, Billups averaged 6.0 APG that series, doubled Smith's totals, with just 2.33 turnovers a game, nearly matching Smith while handling the ball more. So...who was creating plays? Oh, and Billups wasn't as explosive? Wasn't as effective, I'm guessing? He had 48 free throws in the series. Smith took just 13 in those six games. Haha...please. Smith couldn't hold Billups' jock, in any NBA season. Overrating him again.

For future references, he's had four 40's and only two games with 9+ threes made. Kyle wasn't comparing Kwame and Smith, he was comparing their inability to "tap into their potential" (whatever potential is there). But if you want a comparison, go look at Mo Williams, who has racked up 2-3 games of 40+ points in his career, is a decent three-point shooter (I remember he hit 7-7 in a game just last year), catches fire just like Smith, and is probably best suited as a backup two-guard, just like Smith. Lack of mid-range, lack of post skills, doesn't run the point as well as he should (but much better than Smith). Difference? Mo Williams was able to average 17-18 PPG for three years straight, on a team with a superstar (like Melo) for the year he averaged his 18. He also did it shooting 46% or better from the floor twice in those three seasons. Also took nearly the same amount of shot attempts as Smith in two of those seasons. There's your comparison, by the numbers...and JR Smith doesn't even measure up to Mo Williams, let alone a real all-star, and especially a superstar.

Nightmare, for sure. It's not even close.

That's definitely not Wade in that picture.

Noooo, 50 Cent dropped the weight, for that new movie. They just mixed them up again.

And you're trying to tell us that JR Smith (yeah, him) can be a franchise player if he just worked on his game and "do as you say." Do you ever wonder why people don't agree with stuff like that? Why nobody actually thinks Arron Afflalo can average 20 PPG? Why nobody has come out and stated that Danilo Gallinari is a franchise player? Why nobody else on the site thought the Nuggets were going to beat the Lakers in 2009, and beat them in 2008? More people would be slamming him just as hard as I am if I wasn't covering everything. But to be completely honest here, this topic isn't even interesting anymore. Once it gets stomped on so many times, I start to wonder why I'm still talking about a guy that's just going to do the same thing every single year, even if his attitude improves (which it never will), because he doesn't have the desire or hunger to be that player you want him to be, let alone possess the skills on either side of the ball or the leadership it takes. When the 2010-11 season ends for Denver in April or May, you can go back to JR Smith's play and see what I'm talking about. And that's if Denver and George Karl (you know, the 900+ win coach that you suddenly give credit to) decides they want to keep him.

That's great, he's a playground passer. I can do all of that tonight when I go play ball. You have all of the answers, so you should be coaching the Nuggets and JR Smith. I mean, George Karl knows nothing, along with all other coaches in the league other than Phil Jackson, the only one that knows how to tap into mega-star potential that has yet to be shown from a average-IQ bench player with a bad attitude and an incomplete game. Name a two-guard who can pass better? LOL...I can name plenty.

Dude, JR Smith does not pass like a point guard, and he does not make plays. To make plays, you have to make good decisions on the court, and if he was making good decisions on the court, he wouldn't be chucking 14 FGA per game. He finishes among the best at the rim...in the dunk contest. Why is this even being discussed? That entire post is overrating him, and is exactly what you WANT Smith to be, not what he can be.

LOL, no. I could care less. It's JR Smith. I just think it's ignorant to think he can be a franchise player, let alone a superstar. Plus, Smith plays nothing like Bryant, at all, so the writer is really saying that JR Smith can be a superstar and a champion. Me saying I'd rather have Sasha is basically my stand against selfish players who chuck and do absolutely nothing else for their team. At least Vujacic tries to play defense, and he knows when to shoot the ball. Kobe, Gasol and Phil would slap the [expletive] out of Smith for trying to take 14 shots in our offense because, simply put, Smith is not a legit second option on a championship-caliber team. He has yet to prove he's a primary option on a pathetic team, yet to prove he's a consistent THIRD option on a playoff team (Denver). What do you expect from him? Well, you say 25 PPG. I can easily do the same thing you're doing with JR Smith, applying it to plenty of players. Josh Smith? Luol Deng? I'm sure you'd say the same about Ty Lawson. Rodney Stuckey? Danilo Gallinari? Russell Westbrook? Andre Iguodala? The list goes on and on. Fact is, Smith has yet to show me anything that leads me to believe he can be a primary option on a good team. If he would EVER average 25 PPG, it would be on one of the worst teams in the league, and I will take that to my grave.

Well, Denver doesn't want him anymore (there's a reason for it), and the only time he's recognized is when he's fighting someone, getting in car accidents, and just doing something ignorant to get into the papers. Word was that LA had no interest in exploring trades for him, despite us not having Blake or Barnes yet. Every year, we always wait for him to do something big, and he continues to fail, chucking more wide-open shots inefficiently and doing nothing back on defense. I don't know what else to say about him. Honest to God, repeating what I've said before, I would rather have Sasha Vujacic backing up Kobe.

He doesn't have a mid-range game because he's always sitting around, waiting for open threes. Free throw line? He attempts only 2-3 free throws a game. That's basically getting fouled one time in the penalty, and every other game, twice. Come on now...this isn't NBA 2K. For one, you can't sit and determine how many more points he's going to score by working on different parts of his game, quite frankly because he'll spend more time in one-on-one positions (using your scenarios) than spotting up for open jumpers. On a team with no other star players? Probably so, shooting under 40% and playing like Kevin Martin did for the Kings, winning 15-20 games. JR Smith shot 41% from the floor last season, took 14 FGA in under 28 minutes per game. Six of those attempts were threes, despite shooting under 34% from downtown. And this is with Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups on his team, feeding him wide open shots. There's no chance in hell Smith will be an all-star or franchise player. Not in this lifetime, no matter who's coaching him.

Smith is half of the player Bryant is. Yue is half of the player Smith is. I don't see why I can't run the same stake into the ground. It also has nothing to do with coaching. Phil Jackson doesn't tap into guards. He's a big man coach, and the only personal time he hands out are with his bigs (if we're talking polishing offensive and defensive skillsets). Otherwise, he manages egos. And if you think JR Smith's ego is the only thing holding him back from being a legit comparison to Kobe Bryant, then I don't know what to tell you.

The crowd is booing because we're still scoring points with over a minute to go on the clock. Shut the hell up before we send over Kobe and Wade.

Setting it up in Excel is brain-racking, haha...but it took me a couple of days to figure it all out, and then it's basically importing all of the topic/post data into the database. It would've been less to learn if I was just posting them one-by-one, using the board (like you guys do), but also VERY time-consuming. It took me 3-4 hours to post 256 football games, and there were 1,344 basketball games to post, lol...so we're talking days of it, or me sitting at the computer for an entire day, like a zombie.

"When the competition gets greater, and the brights get lighter..." LOL.

Fran: Tunisia has already won. Fran: USA is up, but Tunisia is happy, they already won. Fran: And because Tunisia has already won, USA is up 20. Fran: Tunisia is showing an offense to the USA team that they will play later in the tournament, but Tunisia has already won. Fran: Greece and Russia's winner will play Team USA and Spain, but Tunisia has already won this game. Fran: They are getting beat, but Tunisia has already won. Fran: Tunisia. Fran: Americans suck.

So...umm... Well, don't know what to say. If we lose this game to Tunisia, it's going to be pretty embarrassing. Every game should be a must-win for these guys, when you're playing for your country.

Rose is screwing up again. I really don't know what to think of our slow starts and stupid turnovers, every game.

I used to wear my watch every single day...but not lately. Basically, no jewelry for me...just a rubber band on my wrist.

Shaquille O'Neal - James' former teammate Delonte West - James' former teammate Jermaine O'Neal - Wade's former teammate Eddie House - former Celtic Looks like a rivalry is brewing. FUN.

They will find time for Granger at the four, and Josh McRoberts is still around (ha). Also, Indiana expects Magnum Rolle to get some minutes...maybe not big minutes, but for a rookie, he may get a good amount of playing time, granted it's the Pacers. Tyler may do well. It seems like he's been playing hurt forever now. I'm excited to see what he'll do when he's healthy. Not expecting 20/10 or anything, of course...but I do expect him to be a banger near the rim, doing all of the dirty work.

ESPN2 at 9:30 AM ET ESPN2 re-air at 12:30 AM ET