Real Deal

More +/- stats? Really? As I've said before, the +/- stats take more into account than just the single player's impact on the floor. They actually factor in the other four playing on the floor with him at the same time. If you need a great example of this...take the Houston Rockets. With Shane Battier off the court, Houston is a +6. With Trevor Ariza off the court, they are a +6.3. With Luis Scola off the court, they are a +4.6. With Aaron Brooks off the court, they are a +4.6. Those players on the court? Houston is at or under a +0 for each of them. So....seriously? Is Houston really better off without Scola, Ariza, Battier AND Brooks? I'm pretty sure the stat makes little to no sense when discussing individual player impact.

Too bad he didn't get that oop. THAT would've made it ten times better.

...and I can't wait.

Right...but a lot of guys should've known this, given his role in Los Angeles last season. Sad thing for Rockets fans? You're not even halfway through the season yet.

Texas fans: "But you still didn't beat a top ten, like we did...and Temple doesn't even belong in the top 25 to begin with!"

When your best player was on the floor for 31 minutes before fouling out...and your best player's name tonight was Matt Barnes...you aren't going to beat very many people. Howard had a total of seven shot attempts. That's not going to win you games. Vince, Shard, Nelson, Anderson...they all need to take a step back and realize they have a strong post player with his hand up, waiting for the ball. Even if his offensive game isn't as defined as, say, Yao Ming's...you can't deny him the ball for 40+ minutes.

This game sucked, really (for me, rooting for the Thunder). I was waiting and waiting for someone other than Durant to step up late in the game, but nothing. No defense, for sure. It was just garbage from the start. And I'll go ahead and say this now: Durant has to put on some muscle, soon. He's a hell of a scorer, but he needs it for his post play and his defense. Ah, and just another terrible night for Brandon Jennings, shooting-wise. Can't be shocked, though.

I'm shocked the Pacers didn't win this one by 50. It looked as if they could've at one point, up 28 at the half before Minnesota choked the hell out of them in the third, 40-25. Crazy thing is, the following players were injured and did not play for Indiana: Danny Granger TJ Ford Troy Murphy Tyler Hansbrough Jeff Foster Yet...they score 122 points against a team that beat Utah twice already, took out Denver in their building, and pounded the Kings.

I saw a TON of shots Gilbert should've passed on. Plenty of them that would've fell for Jamison and Butler, and even Haywood a couple of times. Yeah...the game was close, but I always had that feeling that Washington was going to lose it in the fourth. I turned it on when they were up by like 4-5 near the end of the third, and Arenas should've passed the ball instead of jacking up his three, and it just felt like it was over at that point, like Gilbert thought he'd just play "Arenas vs. San Antonio" in the fourth.

That's because neither of them were playing defense, and the Kings weren't pounding the ball inside. Evans and Martin would've gotten Bynum in quick foul trouble...which would've been a good thing for us, since Mbenga would've defended Hawes five times better.

Feel free to post some of your mixes here. I'm interested in what you can put out there.

Basketball is 48 minutes, not 60 seconds. Battier is a more dedicated defender. I'll take Kobe defending ANYONE in the final minute of the game, but I'll take Battier for 47 minutes. Ariza's defense has improved this season, and I'm sure his allowed eFG% says he's one of the best at his position as well, just too lazy to look it up. Good defenders can't defend all shapes and sizes: Duncan struggled against guys like Amare, too, but that never took away from his overall defense. Garnett was an excellent defender last year. This year, he has taken a step down. He's still a top two at that position, though, as his LEADERSHIP is still there, and his help defense as well...but man-to-man, he's struggling a bit, and I have to hand it to someone who is probably running a stronger allowed eFG%. Oden's current injury doesn't suddenly remove what he did for 21 games. He was arguably the best defensive center in the league.

C - Greg Oden I'm not completely sure, but I'm almost positive Oden's opponents shoot just as bad against him as they do against Howard, and their PER is probably lower. Oden is the better on-ball defender, and he's just as good of a help defender. PF - Kenyon Martin To me, this isn't even close. Garnett is the easy choice, but Martin can defend anyone from 2-5, and he's holding opponents to worse shooting percentages, while Garnett has taken a step back after his knee injury. SF - Trevor Ariza Just take a look at all of the struggling players' shooting percentages when he's on them. He's too long and quick to shoot over, and there aren't many small forwards who want to take players into the post all game long. SG - Shane Battier Best face-guarding I've ever seen, period. I'd pick Bryant here if he defended his opponents consistently, and Kobe can defend both quick and strong players, but he's not as dedicated to his defense as Shane. PG - Jason Kidd Should be the unanimous decision. Kidd can defend 1-3 and is still one of the smartest defensive players in the NBA.

Why does it seem like the Lakers lose games through three, or keep them close, on purpose...just to come back in the fourth and have Kobe hit a game-winner? Third one this season. And yeah, I already see people complaining about a push-off, a travel, or a step out of bounds. Please. The Kings' bench wasn't complaining about the sideline, the push-off was actually just Kobe running into Sergio (just take a look at it again), and there was definitely no travel. Thing was, we were down 20, and Udoka missed BOTH free throws with four seconds to go. You can't start placing blame elsewhere for the Kings' mistakes.

If he's going to be anything like Andrea Bargnani, I'm sure Raptors fans will be able to confirm that he won't be worth a top five pick. Even though Bargs can put points on the board, he allows just as many (or more, most of the time), and he'll probably never put on the weight or add the strength he needs to become a very good player in this league.

Detroit and Indiana have been bitten hard by the injury bug, so if Chicago didn't win those games, I wouldn't know what to think of their team. The New Orleans victory was impressive, but damn, getting Tyrus back proved to be big for Chicago. From what I watched of that game (since I get all Bulls games on WGN), Noah and Tyrus just DESTROYED West and Okafor, to the point where it made Chris Paul play a two-man game with Devin Brown...and there's no way in hell the Hornets were going to win like that. Chicago needs to start Noah and Tyrus together, and bring Salmons off the bench with Gibson, Johnson, Miller and Pargo. Thomas won't give you 20/10 every night, but he'll go after shots on the defensive end, and it would be a mess trying to drive the lane with both Noah and Thomas playing as vultures over your layups.

Ellis is the better scorer, but Rose is the better overall offensive player (which includes passing, ball-handling, and finishing at the rim). Both need Defense For Dummies, though. As far as who's going to have the better career, it's Rose. I really didn't have to think twice, either. I see Rose being that championship-caliber teammate to a LeBron or Wade, while Ellis could be that scorer on a decent to bad team most of his career.

Well, I mean...the only choice he has is to coach and to keep his mouth shut about what's being said. There are better options out there, and I'm sure he knows that, so running his chops won't land him much except for a nice box with all of his stuff packed inside of it.

Washington or Chicago. The Knicks would be a possibility, though. Nate wants out, and they really don't care what happens to their team this year as long as they have the cap to sign a big FA this offseason, and McGrady helps them with that.

I always thought you should change your name to ThisJustin. For real.

Cheez Wiz.

I wouldn't say that. We could blow them out, but don't be surprised if we act like we're playing a JV team and end up going down to the wire with them.

Wow, just get rid of him already.

Dude, stop. You don't know for sure LeBron is going to NY, so chill. Hope you guys had a great New Years (or will have one, for those of you still waiting, lol).