Real Deal

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq The Sixers are pushing for it. Do they really think Amare will want to stay in Philly after the season is up, or is this a desperation move to get way below the cap?

...according to Chad Ford. http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq So maybe they are trying to keep Beasley after all? I wonder if they are talking to Houston...

Chad Ford thinks so, if they land the Amare deal... http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13214/is-cleveland-big-enough-for-amare-and-shaq

Bryant is twice the defender. LeBron shows up, defensively, on weak-side blocks and steals in the passing lane. Problem is, there won't be a weak side in this game, nor will there be passing lanes. Both healthy, Kobe takes him. This will happen for at least another year, also...but I don't expect it to be that way much longer.

Fish7718 - 1 Rondo - 2 iBoldin - 3 Swish - 4 Confidence - 5 Dee - 6 Yugo - 7 Legacy - 8 .50. - 9 Smitty - 10 Riot - 12 Dabearfan101 - 13

It's going to be whoever gets the "lucky" number. I figured it wouldn't be as fair...and the best in the competition shouldn't be too worried about it in the first place.

2009-2010: 47.8% (with healing Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2008-2009: 47.7% (with injured Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2007-2008: 44.6% (with Garnett, Perkins, Rondo) 2006-2007: 51.6% (no Garnett) 2005-2006: 50.5% (no Garnett) 2004-2005: 49.7% (no Garnett) I know you see what I see. Those are allowed eFG% by Pierce, season-by-season. See how they decrease? Now do you know why Kobe had so much trouble against the Celtics in 2008? Do you really think it was all Pierce? It's easy defending guys that can't drive to the rim because of defensive monsters waiting for them. And I never said Pierce wasn't in the top ten...but he's at the bottom of that list. He sure the hell isn't up there with Bird, Russell, McHale, Cousy and Havlicek. All were better overall players. And I'm sure I could make an argument for Dave Cowens. If you're so interested in Defensive Win Shares, check out the 2005-06 season for the Lakers. Smush Parker was at 3.0, right behind Bryant's 3.7. Really? Smush Parker was pathetic on defense. How about this season, though? Bynum is third, Gasol fourth...and Artest fifth? Yet, that doesn't exactly match up with what the "people who make millions to analyze games and players" are saying. To them, Ron Artest is arguably a top five defender in the NBA. And every Lakers fan knows how pathetic Bynum has been on defense as well, to the point where the Lakers are considering benching him this second half. Guess who is just one point from Paul Pierce in career defensive win shares? That's right...Dirk Nowitzki, someone who has been known for being an average defender all his career. I bet you can't guess who is just two points behind Kobe Bryant. It's Allen Iverson, who has been a matador all his career as well. Career scoring average is also a bad way to look at it. If a two-point gap is too close to call between Bryant and Pierce, you wouldn't mind the two-point gap between Pierce and Michael Redd...and we know how one-dimensional Michael Redd is. But maybe it has more to do with roles on a team...like Pierce's with Boston, as he was their leading scorer for most of his career, not having to pass the ball to very many, just as Redd was for Milwaukee. Bryant, on the other hand, was benched for a couple of seasons, then running an offense until around 2001, then was given the role to run that offense AND score 25-30 a game. You can say all you want about Pierce, but don't compare him to Bryant, in any aspect of the game. Pierce is a top ten Celtic, but Kobe is a top two Laker, top ten player of all-time (top five or better once his career is done). Pierce isn't even on that planet.

Wow, that's awesome Sean...pretty interesting. Good job, Wade. He played big tonight...well deserved MVP. With that said, Karl is an idiot. Nice going, giving Melo the final shot. That ball should've went to Dirk, simple as that. Stupid...but you already knew he would draw that up. I hope Dallas crushes Denver in the playoffs.

Shaq dominated the decade for six years. Bryant had it since 2002. I would give it to both guys, though, for the simple fact that Shaq was more dominant at his position...but you have to consider his position as well. How many dominant centers, from 2000-2009, challenged him? I like Duncan, and I think he's the overall best big man (overall skills, at least) since Hakeem...but he wasn't dominant at his position. When a guy scores 81, outscores a team through three quarters (62 vs. Dallas), averages 35 PPG in a season, has four consecutive 50+ point games, nine consecutive 40+ point games, 13 consecutive 35+ point games, facilitates the offense AND scores 25-30 PPG in three of four championship seasons, plays defense and has an MVP, Finals MVP and three all-star MVP's to show for it, you can't ignore that.

Basically. He tried doing that already, though, by trading them Shaq for cap room. He's probably still happy that the Cavs franchise was the first to actually give him a chance in the NBA, also, when he was in his 3rd or 4th year in the league.

This is merely an idea of the blogger's, nothing more. Detroit has been hit up by a few teams regarding Rip, including Cleveland...and I'm sure that Cleveland offer included JJ Hickson, who would be much better for Detroit than Dampier (or his contract).

Butler over Terry? Kidd is an all-star.

Minus the jerseys, they've done this already, with the wheel. I think that idea was tossed when Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson both had to do Dr. J's free throw line dunk. Crash did a weird version of it, and Richardson can't jump off one foot. I forgot who it was, but someone also butchered Dr. J's "Rock the Baby" and the guy that drew the Statue of Liberty dunk couldn't palm the ball, so he performed something that didn't even come close to it.

The only argument you're giving me about Billups is that he's an incredible leader, but there's nothing to really prove that. It's simply your opinion. Hell, Derek Fisher is a good leader, also. Saying this Denver team would win 54+ games with Prince replacing Melo does show your extreme bias for Billups, though...because that is one hell of a comment that nobody on OTR would agree with (and you can test that out with a poll, if you'd like).

You can't be serious. And your examples are bad. You can't compare those two Detroit teams, because they had a logjam at the two-guard position and they were experimenting with too many lineup changes, and you also failed to mention they were coached by a rookie head coach who lasted just one year (and probably won't coach in the NBA ever again). And you ignored the part about Denver getting Nene and Birdman back, and bringing in Dahntay Jones (who is doing very well in Indiana now). You can't just hand over team record comparisons without giving the details. That's like me saying Derek Fisher was the MVP of the Lakers in 2007-08 because, when he returned to our team, we went from 42 wins to 57.

The one thing I do like about this, for the Lakers at least, is that Gasol will dominate Amare in the post. This means less time for Varejao, whatever way you want to swing it, and that's a good thing for us. While it does give them more offense, it also takes the ball out of LeBron's hands just a bit more. That's not exactly good for about 90% of the teams in the league, but the Lakers are excellent in the passing lanes, so the more we can get James to pass, the better off we can be. I'm getting a little more confident regarding how it would alter our play against them (the Lakers), but if Cleveland does get this deal done, they are headed straight to the Finals, no question about it.

Pierce and Allen were on Bryant, together, and Garnett was lurking when he drove. You seriously can't say that Pierce defended Bryant by himself, can you? And as far as being a top ten Celtic of all-time, just take the list and see how far it drops from the top five (where Paul Pierce is nowhere near)... Larry Bird Bill Russell Bob Cousy John Havlicek Kevin McHale Robert Parish Dennis Johnson Dave Cowens Bill Sharman Sam Jones You can stick Pierce somewhere near the bottom of that list. That doesn't make him an "A" defender, and it doesn't make him the offensive player you claim he is. If he was both of those, he'd be right there with Larry Bird, and I hope you really don't think that's true.

I have a feeling it's going to happen. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4913305 Updated by Chris Broussard at around 3:00 AM EST. Other notable sections in that article above...

You quote this article, which says: And that's your argument as to why Billups should've gotten it over LeBron, right? Well, why did you say this nonsense? Kobe had more wins AND rings over Chris Paul in 2008. And, as you know, LeBron has more wins than Durant...and he's also been in the Finals once, has more individual achievements, and he's the better defensive player. So, really, you're contradicting yourself here. If Billups should win an MVP because of his "wins and rings" at that time, why doesn't that apply to everyone else? The fact is, Billups came into Denver when Chris Andersen and Nene BOTH returned to the Nuggets' lineup, and they added a very good defensive player in Dahntay Jones. What happened? Well, Denver added just four wins to their previous season's total, and lost to the same exact team that beat them in 2008. I don't see the difference, really. I think Denver's bigs (Nene and Birdman), and Jones' defense, was a huge factor that many Billups fans are overlooking.

Clippers added. Oh, and Troy Murphy is added to the Pacers banner. :o EDIT: Grizzlies finished.

Well, Jordan was one of the best jumpshooters of his time, and you can't ignore how well Kobe shoots with two players in his face, with the best defenders on him, and even with the best "face-guarding" the league has ever seen (Battier). That slides Bryant into the top 10, actually. Jordan is sitting outside of that, along with guys like Mark Price, Jeff Hornacek, and John Stockton...but you can make a case for any of them in the top 10. A guy doesn't have to restrict his game to shooting to necessarily be one of the greatest shooters ever.

No order... Larry Bird Reggie Miller Ray Allen Bill Sharman Rick Barry Kobe Bryant Chris Mullin Steve Nash Craig Hodges Pete Maravich

Well, I figured I'd end up doing teams like that last. McGrady wouldn't be on Houston's banner to begin with, though, so I went ahead and added them. I knew Dallas wasn't going to trade their big three. Boston will keep everyone, more than likely. The Lakers won't trade their three or four best players. But teams like Washington...yeah, I'll hold out until the 18th. Arenas won't be on the banner, though, as he's done for the season (just like Yao and Houston). I thought about Butler and Haywood, but ironically, both are history...so more than likely, it will be Howard and Miller. If Jamison goes...well, they rebuild, so I'll rebuild.

Here's the list so far. Too many delays. I gotta get these finished once and for all. Three players each, with the exception of the Lakers, Celtics, and Magic (conference champs last two seasons). Hawks Celtics Bulls Cavaliers Mavericks Nuggets Pistons Warriors Rockets Pacers Clippers Lakers Grizzlies Heat Bucks Wolves Nets Hornets Knicks Thunder Magic Sixers Suns Kings Spurs Raptors Jazz Wizards I'll update once another team is completed.

In addition to that, I'm one of the biggest Durant fans on OTR, and I consider him an MVP candidate...but he's not better than LeBron, offensively and definitely not defensively. And Pierce sure the hell isn't better than LeBron. It's not even close.