Real Deal

That will update itself. The team icons will all go to default (for everyone) once I add or subtract teams to the list...and I'm not sure why it does that, but it's basically me editing the drop-down list, not just an image. That's the difference.

I don't know. I like it because I have faith that DeRozan can develop a little more. It hasn't been the best environment, and I realize that's not a great excuse, but it's still legitimate. Sometimes, when I watched Toronto, I got the sense that he was out there needing to be their primary option...and it just reminds me of what Danny Granger has been doing for Indiana (and DD is no Granger yet). Both can be good second options, as long as they have that player to feed them, and if DeRozan can develop a jumper, to me, that makes this deal great. Sometimes, you have to write the check and cross your fingers...and to me, this is FAR different from the Landry Fields mistake. I guess, maybe last year, I would have questioned this...but now, I see OJ Mayo in Dallas, looking a little better, and having a better opportunity, possibly being that second guy behind an all-star and franchise player in Dirk. Mayo has the skillset, but DeRozan isn't at his ceiling yet...and when I go back and look at his second year in the NBA (when he averaged like 18 PPG and shot 47-48%), even though it's the numbers I'm looking at, he had flashes of brilliance when defending certain players (like when he was checking Kobe a few times), and it was just there. I have more of a problem giving that kind of money to Stephen Curry, honestly. Has DeMar missed double-digit games in his entire career? It feels like Curry has been having ankle problems since Davidson, as much as we hear about them now.

David West has been getting away with fouls for years. I have no idea how. It's kind of weird.

Nash has a shin contusion, colliding with another player. Never hurt his hand, and it wasn't because of his age. Howard isn't jumping as high. He'll get up there every now and then, but there are times where you sense that he's kinda hurting, and he'll barely get off the ground for a board, or he'll go to contest a shot and simply bail out of it. His first shot attempt (in the Mavs game) was a missed dunk, right under the rim...but, later on, he caught a nasty oop that he finished easily. --------- The "fire Mike Brown" comments aren't exactly because of the offense, but our defense. We haven't done anything on the defensive end for 10 games (including preseason), and people are fed up with him because he's a defensive-minded coach that has done three things: 1) has applied no visible defensive strategy to these games (or else we'd be seeing Kobe and Co. funnel to Dwight) 2) has relied on Eddie Jordan for all of our offensive needs...ALL OF IT 3) is putting rotations out there that are mind-blowing (Sacre, Jamison, Ebanks, Meeks and Blake...with a TON of clock left and a deficit not that big to overcome) Right now, quite frankly, the team's offense is decent. We land a different facilitator every game, it seems...which is expected in the Princeton. Problem is, on that end of the court, we aren't running the offense correctly just yet. We aren't getting to certain spots, relying on dribble hand-offs FAR too much to put the ball in the basket, cuts aren't being made, players are hesitating BIG TIME (even Kobe and Nash) when needing to pass the ball to a particular area or player, and it's causing a lot of turnovers. Those turnovers are the biggest (maybe even the only glaring) problem we have on offense. But defensively is where we are losing games, and it's not even in question. Nash is still as bad as he has ever been on the defensive end, and with Howard playing like he's hurt, that kills us right off the bat. Kobe has to roam, and then he leaves his man open for a three. Artest is doing the same as Kobe, and leaves guys like Batum open to launch. Gasol is being Gasoft. Jamison couldn't defend a sandwich from a single hungry ant...and that's Lakers basketball. We all saw it with the Heat. The only thing was, Miami wasn't even running an offense back then (in the fall of 2010). They were going ISO to win games. We continue to pound the ball into this halfcourt offense, and hoping that everyone will adjust and learn quickly. I know a lot of people want Nash to run, but again, I would rather see Nash adjust...the guy that has never seen the NBA Finals AND that has a high basketball IQ...than to see Kobe, Dwight, and Gasol adjusting to him. There was a play where Nash wanted to push last night, in the first quarter, and he had to slow it down because our guys aren't 23 years old...and Nash is nearly 39, but a small PG that plays 25 minutes a night, max. We'll be fine. Just not for a while. Kobe will be the first to break, every game (he was last night, was vs. Dallas), and Dwight follows immediately after...expected from those two, simply because they aren't patient and are superstars. Nash and Gasol would rather drain the clock to learn the offense when we are down 10 points, and that's good sometimes, but we also can't lose games spending 48 minutes a game running the Princeton.

This quote, from a Lakers fan, had me cracking up.

Painful, seeing Dallas rocked by so much, against a team that may not make the playoffs...right after they get an easy win against us.

Gasol and Gay were in LA for this game. Everyone else decided to stay in Memphis. Who would win in a brawl between Griffin and Z-Bo, though? I thought they were going to throw down, especially after Blake's suplex.

Welcome back, bro! I saw some of this game, but not enough to make many points. Did see the stats, though, and noticed that Lee and Curry were a combined 4-30 FG. Wow. Thank the basketball gods for Landry's big fourth, and other role players stepping up (my boy B-RUSH). Curry missed maybe six shots in a row when I was watching, and at first, I just played it off as him struggling through that ankle injury...but then, he was grabbing an abnormal amount of boards, so it was easy for me to assume that he just couldn't hit anything tonight.

I forgot Hinrich was back in Chicago...flipped on the game and was like, "Oh damn, it's KIRK." He plays like he's 38 now. Noah was making up for the complete ownage that was going on with Deng. Johnson and the Kings were sending him wherever they wanted on the court, and Deng just played into their hands. Rip looked uncomfortable out there, also. You can tell he's hating life without a superstar pulling that defense out of his hair. His off-ball play takes a hit with Rose out. T-Rob was pretty bad. That's all I can say.

It's just one game, but Harden and Lin looked as if they've played for about five years together. It helps a lot that both are very good passers, and Harden knows how to play off of teammates better than anyone else on the team. I was a little shocked, though, seeing him drive hard from about 30 feet out, go all the way to the rim, and finish so well through 2-3 players...but then I remembered: it was the Detroit Pistons. Interesting combo, no doubt. Houston could be one of those "fun" teams this year.

Lowry put in one of those games he contributed with last year in Houston, but I still wonder just how long that can last. I realized that his numbers fell pretty good partially because of injury, but that wasn't the only reason, and it looks to me like the Raptors will demand these kind of games out of him each night he's on the floor.

New Orleans needs Eric Gordon. Austin Rivers isn't going to make up for anything that Gordon can give them, at least not right now. Gordon is ten times better on both ends of the floor...maybe even an injured Gordon. You're right about Davis. He didn't stand a chance against Timmy, but I expected that due to the experience factor AND the weight disadvantage. Duncan looked more like he was 28 years old out there. I figured that Unibrow would get me out of my seat at least a few times, throwing a few shots and using his versatility to turn big plays into points, but the only exciting thing I saw from him was when he cut to the rim and slammed it home. I did like how he was trying to follow a lot of shots, though, and was active on the offensive glass, but he had trouble getting position (which didn't surprise me). Leonard is going to be something special. He's going to be their Shawn Marion, a much better player than Bruce Bowen ever was on offense, and just as good on the defensive end (if not better, since Bowen was dirty, and Kawhi has the size and frame for it). The Spurs did let the Hornets hang in there for too long, though...but a win is a win.

No defense. Nash hurt. Go Kobe!

World Peace DID NOT WANT ANY OF THAT!!!!!!!!

Well...14 FT attempts by Howard with 8:36 left in the second. LMAO.

Around the same amount Stephen Curry got from Golden State (a little less, actually)...and I like the deal for Toronto. Wasn't sure if they were going to give him an extension or not, but it sounds like it's a go. UPDATE:

Meaning...only for the four years he was originally offered by the Thunder (four years, $52 million). I figured he'd get max, but for those four only...not a five-year deal from Houston.

Nah, you misunderstood me. What I wrote in my post above is copied from that topic...I was expecting four years.

Beat me to it, lol. Overpaid? I figured he would get the max, but only for the four years.

He grabbed his shoulder. If you call that a clothesline, you need to go back to Kobe/Bell incident, where Bell brought his arm back, then forward, and clotheslined Kobe across the neck. You didn't hear Elton Brand calling Dwight Howard a punk, and saying he dropkicked him, for hitting him across the shoulders last night...and that was actually worse. And yes, LeBron took Wade's city in the summer of 2010, like I said he would. Miami was LeBron's the night he told the world he was going there. I'd be salty if I was Wade, also, if the NBA's villain came in and ripped off my Batman mask and gave me cat ears, high heels, and a whip.

He didn't do it that often, actually. It was going to multiple teammates, but Nash is a coach's player, so he's going to try and run the Princeton (or whatever the hell it was) before he ditches it. The only problem I had with him was that Nash wasn't doing much off the ball, and I think he can work wonders for us catching and shooting. Still need him to have it in his hands more, though, in the P&R at least...but it's only the first game. When we found ourselves down big, Kobe was the first to ditch, gave us about five or seven points to try and cut into the lead, but we didn't play defense. Our best play was near the end (offensively), when we weren't out there trying to please Eddie Jordan. Kobe was going ISO, Nash was making attempts at the P&R, Howard was catching down low, and it felt right...but again, our defense was just horrible, and we aren't going to beat anyone with those bad rotations and us giving up on screens like we did.

https://twitter.com/wwltvsports At least Rivers won't be playing the point right now.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2012/10/31/warriors-stephen-curry-agree-to-4-year-44-million-extension Well, that's still a decent amount, years and money-wise, for someone who seems to be hobbled every year by chronic ankle problems.

Yeah, but we've been down that road before...eight seasons of it. If Howard is going to shoot around 50% from the line, he's only going to hit four more in last night's game. Give Jordan Hill a couple more, and we're still losing. We could have shot better than 49% from the floor, honestly, and the 3-13 from downtown was also pretty bad, considering a lot of those were wide open. Plus, we took 77 total attempts, compared to Dallas' 85. In our last two championship seasons, we shot 77 times or less just 24 total times, 12 each season. That's us without Nash or Howard, and Drew was not the all-star he is now. We couldn't find a groove, weren't getting in the right spots (I had no idea what we were running half the time), and we drained the clock almost every possession, to the point where we nearly had to go ISO at the end of each. It reminded me of the old Miami team, when they were first put together (the big three)...which some will say is a good thing, except that we are trying to execute an offense that we'll most likely stick with, while they just didn't have one at the time.

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mikeborwnwhat_1.gif He really is confused, too. That's the problem.