Real Deal

Probably the worst 24 minutes I've ever seen of the Lakers to end the game. Turnovers killed us. Denver doubled the hell out of Bryant, and there wasn't a single player that could capitalize on that other than Bynum. Fisher sucked, Odom's statsheet doesn't tell you just how bad he played, Artest couldn't stay in the game long enough to matter, Powell was in Ron's boat, Walton forgot how to pass the ball, and Shannon Brown was throwing up bricks. Excellent defensive effort by Afflalo. Won't happen again, but he defended Kobe very well tonight, forcing him to a 2-10 shooting display (just against him). It was actually getting hilarious watching Walton defend Melo, and I don't know how many times Artest was screened off of him. Odom is a pathetic defensive player, and I'm not buying his "back injury" he is supposedly playing with, because he has no problem slashing to the rim and finishing with a layup, but he'll launch threes and not even jump to contest shots on defense? Monster game by Bynum, monster dunk by Lawson. Smith would be nothing without Melo...every shot he makes is wide open. Didn't see much from Billups at all...but Chauncey has been pretty quiet for a while now. Trashy game by LA. Great game by the Nuggets. It was bound to happen sometime, and it's not like it didn't happen against worse teams during last season's championship run, so I'm not too concerned.

Haha, bad shooting, but he actually played well everywhere else. Funny. I figured he was going to put his foot in his mouth.

Odom is choking on defense. Does he EVER contest a shot? Damn man. And we need to get the ball inside more, to Kobe in the post, and down low to Bynum. Ron is playing decent defense, but it's Melo...tough to defend, no matter who you are. I just think Artest needs to attack the rim more, and dish it off to Bynum or Lamar. Work more in the post, and defend the damn perimeter, and we win the game. Denver is a one-trick pony against us, but we're letting them perform the same trick over and over again.

I'm not for or against it...but none of the players you named had a better overall game than Michael. Each of them had a weakness or two, and there was no glaring weakness with Jordan after 1992.

Scream "OTRBasketball.com" really loud, so everyone can hear you. Sucks that I won't be able to watch the game, though. I'll be at my parents' house tonight, out of town, and that means no League Pass.

K-Mart has been struggling, and Billups doesn't even play the same anymore. I wonder how much Martin will have to defend Kobe in the post. That's going to be a huge issue for Denver, as it'll mismatch Afflalo with either Odom or Artest, and Kobe could post up on K-Mart just a bit away from the rim, enough to where he can't recover for those rebounds, and Bynum will eat Nene alive on the glass, along with Odom. Denver is going to have to do something about Bryant.

If you're a Cavalier fan, or pretending you are for a moment...how does it make you feel to hear LeBron answer the free agency question by saying, "We'll see," instead of adding that he wants to stay in Cleveland? Does it make you feel uneasy, angry, disappointed? Most big-name free agents have always stated that they would like to stay in the city they are in, despite it being the truth or not (ex. you're seeing that with Amare right now). When your franchise player...let alone the Ohio resident and the one that put Cleveland sports back on the map...is saying things like this, smiling about it, even after a big win, how does that make you feel?

Not Rafer, after what he said about payback.

http://thefreshxpress.com/freshxp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/allen_iverson_his_rookie_year030308122059gif.jpg

Called this one. He's getting traded, or he's just going to have limited minutes (meaning, hardly any). Cleveland should make a strong, strong push for Michael Redd, who should be on the block now that Brandon Jennings has ripped his jersey from the walls of Milwaukee. Even Richard Hamilton is available. Go after him. Not saying I want them to, though...haha...but those guys would thrive in the Cleveland offense, playing with both LeBron and Shaq (who are willing passers, especially to long-range shooters). It could be the difference between a second-round exit against Boston or Orlando, or a Finals appearance, and a ticket to keep LeBron in Cleveland.

There isn't a bookie system for IPB 3. In fact, I think it took forever for a developer to come out with one for the older version. Most all modifications come from non-IPB developers (unofficial devs, registered IPB owners such as myself, in other words). Same with vBulletin and phpBB. It would be sick to have one, placing bets on games...but I'm not that advanced to create one myself, and I haven't found one for the new board yet.

Good luck. Watch me say this, and he lights Nelson up for 30.

I wasn't exactly defending Kobe's abilities...I'm just saying, when a player defends a superstar that well for one game, you can't bank on it happening all the time. Kobe was getting a feel for Wright in that game, and he started to put up the points, but the Heat started doubling him before he got hot, and over the last two seasons, Kobe hasn't been able to split doubles like he used to be able to in 2004 or 2005, so it hurt him even more. Just as Kobe would, LeBron would find a way to adjust. People say that Shane Battier defends Kobe better than anyone...but do they really watch the games? All I ever see is Kobe draining shots with Battier's hand in his face, and Kobe's misses come because of Houston's zone. He lit up Battier, lit up Artest, dominated LeBron, and eventually, he would've done the same to Wright. Kobe, James, Wade...those guys adjust very well, which is why they are the three best offensive players in the NBA. At the end of the day, I don't think there's a single guy that can defend any of them consistently. Miami will need to double LeBron all game...even if it's with Wright and someone else, or Richardson and another...they have to keep the ball moving and out of LeBron's hands. Otherwise, they will see him get 30-40 each game against them, and that won't boil over well if they meet in the playoffs.

Well, he said it was his second choice because his second favorite player (Julius Erving) wore number six. Just putting that out there.

Over/under: 3,000 people at the game? Consider all of the female Korver fans...

Twenty-point loss in the making?

That's probably the main reason why you'll lose, really. I think Atlanta can hang with them if they were at home. But even with that considered, I can't write them off just yet, because the Hawks have been playing good basketball so far, and Boston did lose to a running Phoenix squad. If the Hawks would just RUN the damn ball, they would find more success against teams like this.

There's no way he spends all of that time in the post. Gasol and Bynum will be in the five, so Kobe will go back to perimeter play until Bynum comes out for Odom. You'll still see him going to work down there, though...but it won't be for the 40 minutes he's posting up right now (because I rarely see Bryant do anything else with Gasol out). This is the most I've seen a guard post up by the way....and I mean most ever. I'm really not used to that. Jordan did his share of it, but even he had mixed in perimeter play with Longley and Rodman on the floor in that second three-peat. Honestly, this might be my favorite year for Kobe, as an individual (not in team success). I did love 2005-06, though.

They just ended a six-game road trip, so I'm sure they are excited to be back in Denver. The Lakers did get some rest in last night's game, though...so even with it being a back-to-back, we shouldn't be too exhausted. I just hate the plane trip, the fact that they lose an hour...so the Lakers get there at a weird time, don't get much sleep, and have to gear up for a road game against a playoff team. It would be nice to have Pau for this one. Probably not going to happen, though.

Shoutbox = train wreck. It was mainly for talking trash on other people and promoting topics you just posted.

It's even worse that all five of Cutler's interceptions he threw were to five different players. How ugly does that sound? I watched this game for a little bit, then decided I didn't want to pass out on the couch.

Hate the Chiefs, never want to defend them...but having watched every [expletive] Chiefs game because of my girlfriend, Johnson got to where he thought he was Jerome Bettis, decided he was going to break everyone's bones on the opposition, and believed he could take out the wall of defensive lineman waiting for him. I rarely saw him follow blockers in Kansas City since he got his big contract, and unless Johnson is Barry Sanders, there's absolutely no way he'll make a career of doing that, doesn't matter where he's at.

Dorell's length bothered Bryant, but you wouldn't see that in consecutive games. Kobe would've adjusted if it were a playoff series, like he does with every new defender thrown at him. So that's the problem: Wright's length, put up against LeBron's physicality. It wouldn't have mattered. LeBron is like a beefed-up Grant Hill on the offensive end (pre-injury Grant, by the way). Teams are going to have trouble containing him because he can rely on another aspect of his game, heavily, if one isn't going his way. LeBron takes jumpers, Wright contests for a quarter. James will adjust, drive to the rim and get 15 foul shots. There's no difference between what Wright and Richardson would've done against LeBron, it's just that Richardson is not a man-to-man defensive player, but a help defender. The Heat needed to double LBJ to keep the ball out of his hands within 18 feet, not wait until he get it and drives. Big mistake. It seems like a lot of teams forgot how to do this out of that pick and roll situation. Let Anderson Varejao score 30 to beat you, on those rolls and jumpers he takes. There's a better chance of that not happening.

Well, I'm sure people are going to figure that in with the free agency period. There has been that talk about LeBron going to Miami, right? Well, I'm definitely not saying he will...but for the sake of discussion, what if he's changing his number BECAUSE he'll have to? I told Jessica (my girlfriend) that he was changing his number, and that's the first thing she said. She was like, "What teams in the NBA have #23 retired?" Presented an interesting topic to discuss, really. Hawks - Lou Hudson Celtics - Frank Ramsey Bulls - Michael Jordan Rockets - Calvin Murphy Heat - Michael Jordan Nets - John Williamson

He spoke about it after the game tonight against the Heat, said he was changing it to six next season, because he doesn't believe anyone in the league should wear Jordan's number. What do you think?