Real Deal

Houston is on and off, Toronto is losing ground to the Bulls...so I'm not sure who will come out on top here. I'll be rooting for Toronto, though. No Bosh this game as well, right?

Sorry Ben, I gotta root against the Suns, for the sake of the Thunder. Denver won't catch the Lakers, so I have to think about my second favorite team. Denver should win it, anyway. I don't see how they wouldn't be able to bounce back after Sunday's loss, unless they were tired.

If you're not a top four seed, all you should care about is the match-up in the first round. Now...if you believe you'll get out of the first round, well...maybe you should care. Cleveland would be your second round opponent if you end up with that 5th seed, so maybe grabbing the 6th or 7th gives you the best chance at getting to the ECF's, if you think about it. Hope for the 6th seed. You'll play Boston or Atlanta in the first, avoid the Cavs in the second round, and have a chance at the ECF's.

So you seriously just compared their stats, knowing LeBron plays most of the game? Come on. Oh well. LeBron is GOAT at everything.

Just hooked it up and connected today, and my PS3 is fine.

I wouldn't go that far. I don't think Bynum is intimidated by Shaq at all, honestly. Drew just plays like an idiot if he's not getting his touches, which is going to be tough to do while trying to gain post position on someone as big as Shaq, so he has to accept less. Gasol is not intimidated by Ilgauskas, at all. Big Z is a finesse player. Pau is more intimidated by someone like Varejao, who doesn't mind playing physical defense. That's why I was a little happy with the Jamison trade, rather than it being Amare. While Stoudemire isn't known for his defense, he HAS played physical on the defensive end when he's motivated (ask Tim Duncan), and he would probably cause Pau more problems at the end of the day over someone like Antawn, who I could probably score on. Having a healthy, 100% Shaq is what Cleveland needs in the playoffs, every round...even against the Bulls, who could really do damage down low (particularly attacking the rim). Rose is more likely to drive in on Ilgauskas than Shaq. Because the Cavaliers have excellent help defense, I don't think they need to be concerned with teams killing them on the pick and roll as much -- that hasn't been the case yet, at least consistently. Shaq doesn't play 40 minutes. Cleveland will be fine as long as they get him back by mid-April. Otherwise, they are going to have to cross their fingers for someone like Milwaukee in the first. Chicago probably couldn't beat them, but they would take them to six or seven...and I think the same can be said for Charlotte, as both teams would have to play four times in Cleveland. Problem is, no team wants to play six or seven in the first round, no matter who has HCA.

I understand Lopez because he's a good big man, but Lee and Harris? If you could trade those two for a really good power forward (possibly borderline all-star), and be lucky enough to get John Wall, you just jumped from one of the worst teams in NBA history up to a playoff team...and that's without signing a big-name FA.

Now that I actually think about it, I think Vujacic has done something like that. He looks like he's raping players when he defends them, so if I'm mistaken, he wasn't too far off from 3-4 fouls in a couple of minutes.

Landry had a solid game...seems like he's trying to fit in there pretty quickly. Sean May picked up four fouls in seven minutes. That has to be some sort of a record.

Durant continues to shine, and the Thunder continue to win. Their streak was snapped, but they look like they are back on track for another. Kevin is just too hard to stop.

Called the Kid's goal. I forgot the game was even on, flipped to it right when Team USA scored with 24 to go, and once it went into OT, I flipped it back to the Lakers/Nuggets and called it then. Once I turned the channel back, the game was already over, and they were getting ready to receive the medals. I figured sudden death would last a little longer.

Yeah, 82 games as a starter first. Starting for a full season is a different animal.

First five posts, all Canadians. I'll delete this if a different Canadian posts after this one.

Damn, tons of people getting owned. I haven't pulled my PS3 back out of the box since I returned home from Christmas. Just haven't had the time to play. Crazy, though...I was going to play it yesterday, but Jess wanted to watch some chick flick, and I coin-flipped my way into the movie. Watching one as we speak, also. BLAH.

Let's run through why this won't happen... 1) The Lakers don't have the cap room. 2) LeBron will not accept the MLE. 3) This is still Kobe's team. Now the reason why it could happen... 1) Cleveland would not want to let him walk, so they accept Bynum (to replace Shaq) and Odom in a sign-and-trade deal for LeBron. The Nets and Knicks don't have anything better to offer, and Miami would have to offer Wade (which means he doesn't get paired with him as a teammate). Slim, slim chance. If I were a betting man, my money would be on it not happening.

Their best, our best. I don't really see the issue. If we sent college basketball players over to play Spain, we'd get destroyed by 50.

So you believe JR Smith's defense on a 100% Kobe Bryant would force him to shoot 3-17 from the floor? Really? And it makes sense for Bryant to shoot 9-23 against DeShawn Stevenson? Bryant dislocated a finger against Cleveland last season, first quarter, and stayed in the game. He played with back spasms this season. Most every player sits. Come on dude, do you really think Kobe would sit if he wasn't over 75% for this game? He attempted just five shots in the first half. That's not Kobe, no way. He doesn't do that, even if he's struggling. We've been watching him for almost a decade and a half, and we all should know Bryant would not pass up destroying JR Smith if he was healthy, especially after Smith's Twitter comment. Kobe missed a lot of easy shots, a few open shots, and was actually standing around much more than usual, at the top of the key. He was declining to post up in the first half, didn't really do much of it in the third, either. After having one of the worst shooting performances of his career, yet shooting one of the best season averages of his career...you'd think there was something wrong if it wasn't against a prime Bruce Bowen, Shane Battier or Raja Bell. By the way he was moving around and not even contesting a lot of Afflalo and Smith's shots, it should be a no-brainer that he should still be sitting, but we can't afford that, not in the second half of the season. Yeah, yeah...people don't want to admit it, but Bryant doesn't have trouble with the Nuggets if he's not hurt. Just three weeks ago, he scored 20 points in the first 15 minutes of the game against them, before his ankle started swelling up. He plays hurt. If he wasn't playing hurt today, there's no way on Earth he would've shot 3-17 against Smith. Not a chance. The last time he did something like this, it was against the Bobcats two games before he decided to sit out for the following five, and right after he screwed up his ankle. In previous seasons? He hasn't shot under 20% since 2004, against the Grizzlies. http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=241220013 We know what healthy Kobe does to them in the playoffs. It wasn't that long ago...had just one of those six games shooting under 46%. Lakers fans know better.

Orlando is still a contender, about as much as Denver and Dallas...and I'd go ahead and give the Celtics the green light, because if Cleveland and Orlando somehow meet in the second round, and Cleveland loses, that might propel Boston into the Finals, and with Rondo playing the way he is, and Pierce back in the five, they would be a tough match-up for any West team. The two biggest threats in the NBA are the Lakers and Cavs, though. There's a gap between those two and the rest, but Denver and Dallas both have the potential to pull off an upset, and I think Orlando can probably knock off Cleveland. We thought this last season, actually, and we were waiting for that Kobe/LeBron Finals...but Orlando did them in.

This won't hurt Cleveland at all in the regular season...but if they play the Bobcats in the first round, and Shaq isn't back by then, I really don't know. Charlotte has all the goods to beat the Cavaliers, especially without the big force underneath the rim.

So players don't play hurt? LOL, Kobe played with a torn finger for most of this season (and it's still that way), and he played with back spasms. That didn't mean he was 100%. In fact, I believe he stated he was 80% or less, and also that it would be the best he was going to get for the rest of the season. Injured Kobe is better than no Kobe. He plays through his injuries. We've known this forever now. That doesn't make him 100%.

I never said it was all blocks and steals. I'm simply saying that he blocks shots and steals the ball just as well as LeBron. There's no "timing" statistic. Either you block the shot through good timing and anticipation, or you don't block the shot. Well, my proof is through watching as well. How many games have you watched of Brown? I've seen every single one of them this season. How many of LeBron? I've also watched every single Cavaliers game, because it's Jessica's favorite team. So...not sure where you want to go with your observations now, but Shannon Brown is every bit as athletic as LeBron James, and there's nothing you can say to disprove that.

No see-through tops, fellas.

You have no proof that James is a better help defender, and that's all that counts, in my book. Both trail the opposition and time blocks perfectly at the rim, both read the passing lanes very well, both are decent on-ball defenders, so for all you know, Brown is just as good of a defender as LeBron. Same with Josh Smith, who many would say is actually a better defender. So, yep, agree to disagree.

So Shannon's blocks and steals aren't quality defense? It's just making the highlight reel? I don't get that, at all. I think that's your way of not comparing the two. If you're going to call one defense, might as well call the other the same thing, since both are the same. Doesn't have the timing and anticipation? A blocked shot is a blocked shot. A steal is a steal. There is no half-block or half-steal. Nash makes better passes than Calderon, and that's VERY evident. Can you give me proof that LeBron's blocks and steals are better than Shannon's? I have a nice video, if you'd like to see it...maybe you can compare the two? Look identical to me. And yes, I know what help defense is. I also know that LeBron is not a defensive anchor, but you're making him sound like Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett. Simply put, you are telling us that LeBron is fantastic at everything on the defensive end but his on-ball defense, at which you say he is good at. Basically, he's the DPOY. Dwight Howard's man defense isn't even as good as Gortat's, so he's sitting right there with LeBron James, and because the majority will say it's either Dwight or LeBron, I'd say it would be your argument that it's true. LeBron, or Howard, is the DPOY. I think you're overrating him on defense, period. Yeah, he did defend Melo. Anthony lit him up in crunch time, with quick release jumpers that LeBron couldn't handle. It's the same thing Rafer did to LeBron, and it was the same thing Kobe was doing to him when he decided to take on Bryant last year, and that was with his dislocated finger he suffered that same game. LeBron is a good defensive player. He's not elite. Hell, Kobe isn't even elite this season. Until players start fearing him and getting locked up, and he becomes notorious for locking guys up, he won't be elite.

I'm taking the Jack signing. His impact on the team has been huge, in my opinion. It gave the Raptors the option to put Calderon on the bench. Toronto is 22-13 with Jack starting over Calderon, 9-13 with Jose in the five. I know it's not fully telling the story, but for me, that's enough.