Real Deal

Don't want to sound too biased, but Aldrich is already a huge upgrade over Dalembert. If I were a betting man, I would put quite a bit down that Philly takes a big...but hey, you never know.

Was I dreaming, or did I read somewhere that Brady had one or two broken ribs?

We were running them off the three pretty well, but they just kept getting too many easy looks inside. Plus, our biggest problem was our turnovers. Stupid turnovers, at that. Bad game for us.

- Draft John Wall.

Roy Hibbert and the Pacers read your article before the game tonight. I'm not a big fan of hardly anyone from the team, and I think Danny Granger will be better off as someone's Pippen...but Hibbert can be pretty good. I'm disappointed in Brandon Rush, who I thought would be a good starter for the Pacers, but his inconsistency has turned me away from his game for now. Indiana hasn't had much of a chance to rebuild through the draft, though. They aren't usually the team standing near the top of the lottery every year, more like in the middle (ex. Granger, Bayless, Williams, Hibbert, etc). But I think their PG troubles have actually gotten them in a hole. Waiting on Tinsley, the Pacers skipped over a player they were said to be looking at in 2006: Rajon Rondo. Even crazier, they were one pick away from landing someone they wanted in Brook Lopez, also.

I don't know, man. I saw one bad call against him. Those others were legit, especially that last foul that he was complaining about. Howard's weakness? A big and/or strong center that will take it to him in the post. Since the start of the season, Hibbert has gotten surprisingly stronger, quicker than I expected. With his ability to hit that jumper, Howard had no choice but to follow him out 15 feet from the rim, and when he did that, Hibbert used his speed to get to the rim, or Howard respected his post a bit less, and Hibbert used his strength to gain that respect back. I'm DEFINITELY not comparing Hibbert and Howard to the two, but it seemed like a poor man's version of Hakeem versus Robinson out there tonight, where Dwight just didn't have an answer for him.

The STUPID Raiders will probably take Dexter McCluster in the first, since he's probably the fastest player in the draft. Idiots. I know we need to protect Russell, and Campbell would help...but man, I just don't like what we have to protect to begin with. I just hope we select a QB, doesn't matter who as long as it's someone committed to playing and has an accurate arm. If we weren't paying JaMarcus so much money, I'd be more confident in us selecting a new one...but yeah...

You can definitely tell that Ben Gordon hates coming off the bench. It's too bad Gordon can't run the point, and that Hamilton is one of the best off-the-ball players since Reggie Miller (not as mean as Ray Allen, though). Maybe the Pistons could explore a trade, because I don't see their guard situation working out, long-term, and they could use another big.

Jennings has shot under 40% in nine of his last ten games. And it's safe to say that the Nets are basically the worst team in basketball, especially after seeing the way Devin Harris is playing.

Yep, Golden State was robbed tonight.

Three things lost this game for Orlando: 1) Vince Carter and his pathetic shooting. 2) Dwight Howard and his inability to stop a versatile Roy Hibbert. 3) The Orlando Magic and their hesitation to go inside to Howard. #1 and #3 will be devastating blows to the Magic if they don't fix that come playoff time.

Kobe has a bad game, the Lakers have a bad game.

Ah, good. That's what I wanted to hear. Now here's my problem: logically, because we play five guys at once and ALWAYS have a point guard on the floor, there has to be at least one of our point guards with a positive "adjusted" +/- statistic. Fisher: -6.19 Brown: -5.16 Farmar: -6.38 Vujacic: -1.04 (which is funny, by the way) Why is that? Because it is simply impossible to calculate what an individual player produces, and allows, on the floor based on five-man units and their non-adjusted +/- numbers. When adjusted, you're just taking the original inaccurate numbers from every player and applying them, individually, to each. This makes absolutely no sense if you're not using the exact time each player was playing with every other player on the team, the points scored and allowed in every single unit, in each second/minute those guys were on the floor together, and not considering what other players they were defending in those minutes as well, and the full five units from the opposing team. Once I see some genius giving me those detailed stats, then applying them, I'll change my mind about all of this. Just pushing different buttons for a moment...what happens if, as an example, Anderson Varejao ends up playing every minute of his time on the floor with LeBron? Let's just say Varejao's man usually scores 20 on him a night...while LeBron is averaging his 30+ per game (yes, all while Anderson plays his 40 minutes with LeBron). Can anyone truly explain to me why Varejao's +/- statistic would still be a positive number, in that case? Because it would be...but definitely not accurate, as Varejao's 10-12 PPG doesn't exactly cover what he's giving up, and his "importance" to the team isn't as great as the number states. And to top it all off and put the cap on the bottle here... http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers.php?year=2008-2009&team=LAL Check out Sasha Vujacic from last season. He's an "adjusted" +1.01, according to the site. Want to know what he did last year? He shot 36% from the floor, had some of the worst defense on the team, scored 69 points total in the playoffs, zero points in the NBA Finals, and averaged almost two fouls in 16 minutes of play. There is no stat on this Earth that can tell me Vujacic was a true, positive +/- on the court. Most of his minutes came with these lineups: Farmar-Vujacic-Ariza-Odom-Bynum (+46) Farmar-Vujacic-Ariza-Odom-Gasol (+14) Farmar-Vujacic-Ariza-Powell-Gasol (-36) Farmar-Vujacic-Walton-Powell-Gasol (-14) Vujacic-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Bynum (+25) Vujacic-Bryant-Ariza-Odom-Gasol (+0) Fisher-Vujacic-Ariza-Odom-Bynum (-1) Farmar-Vujacic-Bryant-Odom-Gasol (+26) EVEN FURTHER, check out Gasol's "overall rating" from last season, compared to everyone else's. Odom: 16.63 Kobe: 10.23 Fisher: 5.99 Gasol: 4.91 Walton: 1.24 Ariza: -0.63 Radmanovic: -0.88 Bynum: -1.55 Brown: -4.23 Vujacic: -7.71 Farmar: -8.33 Morrison: -9.12 Mbenga: -9.20 Powell: -20.29 Mihm: -23.59 Yue: -84.10 I know you'll love what you can read about Derrick Rose and his importance to the Bulls last season. Check out that "amazing" overall rating: http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers.php?year=2008-2009&mode=summary&sortnumber=21&sortorder=DESC&team=CHI Aaron Gray, Larry Hughes and Drew Gooden all more important than Rose? So inaccurate, it's not even funny.

Chicago's first-rounder would be mid-first, so you're talking Pittman, Cousins, Aldrich or Monroe (depending on how those guys rise and fall throughout the year). I doubt they go for that. And a future first wouldn't give Washington much, as I'm still a believer that Wade will be in Chicago next season.

"Since his arrival, Allen has done everything asked of him and has been an excellent teammate," said Sixers General Manager Ed Stefanski in a press release. :o No way!

Well, you couldn't explain Felton and really can't say why Deng is actually "ranked" high. Maybe the guy should've come up with a better explanation of his "rankings" instead of calling them just that? It goes back to Derek Fisher, really. Head over to 82games and check out Fisher's +/- stats. The truth is, Fisher is complete garbage on defense, and he's just terrible on offense...but because he plays most of the game with Bryant, Gasol and Artest, those three make him look like he's extremely important to our success. The one thing Fisher does for us is hit a big shot, last minute of the game. That's because he's too busy sucking for the other 47 minutes, causing us to be down late. On the other hand, Shannon Brown's +/- stats are ugly...yet, he's one of the best perimeter defenders we have, and he slashes to the rim and finishes better than the other two point guards on our roster (Farmar and Fisher). However, because he comes in with our ugly, disorganized second unit, his +/- stats are just as bad as theirs, and because Farmar plays more with Bryant and Gasol than Brown does, well, Farmar's stat is better. Every Lakers fan you'll run into will tell you this. It can be proven by individual stats, or just by watching the game...but the one thing that opposes it is the +/- statistic because it is far too team-developed. If you can give me a better explanation as to why Fisher's +/- is way too high, then I'll be done with this...but I can assure you that there is no explanation other than what I said above.

I swear, Morrison is not playing with a full deck.

Just an FYI for some of you who are unaware of the current situation with him, he is eligible for early release this year, I think around the middle of March or April...wouldn't be surprised if he got it, because according to some reports, he's been doing pretty damn good in prison. One of the biggest college-to-NFL busts I've ever seen, though. Him and Ryan Leaf. Back when he led Ohio State to that National Championship, I was 100% sure he was going to be the next great back in the NFL.

Ron is playing tonight, not sure if Gasol is or not (probably not).

I'm not sure if you guys would be able to do any better at this point. Butler has been so inconsistent this year, and he's coming from a team that's not impressive and still looking for a leader (and the most likely leader is Jamison). People blast Hinrich for not being able to defend Kobe Bryant. Well...uh, yeah...nobody can. If you want a very good defensive player and a smart combo guard that can actually run an offense, unlike Arenas, you take Hinrich.

First time I've watched wrestling since I was a young teen... TNA is terrible. I'm sorry, but the ring is whack, and the wrestlers are either rip-offs of old WCW and WWF wrestlers, or they are bums that were decent 10-15 years ago. TNA seems to be the hand-me-down toy of the WWE. And...that cage match SUCKED, worst idea for a cage I've ever seen. As far as Vince and the WWE goes...just too much effort trying to make people laugh, and what is up with these horrible gimmicks? The midget, that pale white Celtic...might as well bring back Bastian Booger and Papa Shango. Guess I'm just too old school. I wouldn't mind seeing powerhouses like Goldberg and Brock Lesnar fighting, and Stone Cold coming back with The Rock, a young Ultimate Warrior, a Rick Rude resurrection, and guys that were both entertaining, exciting AND the ultimate face or heel.

Putting Kaman on a poster isn't saying much. But then again, it was Juwan Howard, so at his age, that's a mighty feat. The Blazers needed this win, though...and it's too bad they didn't get it. San Antonio is rolling right now, and while Denver has Melo and Billups out, it's a good opportunity for Portland to build a lead in the standings.

He's right in saying that Dwight is a better pick and roll defender than Zo when he was coaching Mourning. He's wrong if he thinks that Dwight is a better overall defensive player than Alonzo was at almost any point of his career.

Done.

Yeah, just keep that one as a fresh start. I can change the display name for you (to Revis Island, or ClutchCityOwns). That's what I meant, anyways.