Real Deal

Thornton is definitely expendable. I've seen him take some ignorant shots and make dumb decisions on the floor, but he has talent that other teams would be seeking. DeAndre Jordan? Well, he needs a few years...so I wouldn't stick him out on the block just yet. His game needs more time to develop in the pros. Assuming they keep Griffin, Jordan, Gordon and even Thornton, I can say that the Clippers have a lot of potential, possibly being a better squad than they were a few years ago, when they fought the Suns in the second round of the playoffs. But, if they can trade Thornton and bring in proven talent at the small forward position, that's a big plus.

Spurs, definitely, if Manu is healthy. That would be a seven-game series. I can't say I'm worried about Portland, because for one, we'd have home court...and also, it's an inexperienced team (in the playoffs). Things change drastically. Dallas will be tough, but I can't say I'm too concerned because Josh Howard isn't the all-star player he used to be, and Marion will always have trouble with Lamar. Utah and Denver don't have that player that can really tear us apart. New Orleans has Paul, but he's not enough to get it done, and none of those teams have an answer for Kobe or Gasol.

Did anyone get to see Blake Griffin against the Spurs? He did pretty good in limited minutes, and played well against Duncan. Not bad for a rookie. And Blair is impressive. :o

Arenas actually did pretty good. He may not have shot the ball as well as he should've, but he's actually looking for his teammates. Hope he proves me wrong. I've only banned one member since we were hacked. The staff and I haven't had a single argument in over a year. Ask Smitty, who I've butted heads with in the past. Good luck elsewhere, bud.

Wow, so I FINALLY found a way out of the D-League and onto the Spurs. They just signed me with a 10-day contract. My glitch is OVER WITH! But now I'm playing behind Tony Parker and George Hill.

DARRELL ARTHUR! I really hope he does good this season, even if he is backing up Randolph. I know Zach is the better scorer, and I also realize that Arthur isn't ready to start, but I hope he proves to be a legit starter, and pushes Randolph aside. All of that garbage about his health was BS (during the draft)...made me sick to my stomach, and it dropped Arthur from a potential top 10 pick to the bottom half of the first round. Hell, he was a top three projected pick months before the draft. I'll be rooting for him.

Yep, the injury has sidelined him for the rest of the preseason, which tells me: 1) Iverson is finished, should just retire, and 2) the Grizzlies will win 5 games, and should sell their franchise

Yeah, that's what I figured, Sean. Smith would be fantastic to run with. I'm just not sure why they stopped. Just for kicks, the Hawks were 6-0 to start the season, although Smith did miss the last two of those first six games. The Hawks were also 6-7 without Smith. They were also 34-18 with Horford, Johnson, Smith and Bibby in the starting five, which is on pace to winning 55 games.

From what I've seen of them, they do run, but not as frequently as a team like Phoenix. They do bring the ball up and act like they are playing half court basketball with Duncan in the post, sometimes.

Coaches experiment with their lineups by centering them around their most dominant players...so it's understandable if Durant is the one playing with the worst lineups, while guys like Westbrook and Green get most of their minutes with Durant. Makes a lot of sense. In addition to that, because I've watched a lot of Thunder games already, I can say that I see Westbrook on the floor defending bench players more than I see Durant, and that's because anytime Durant is in the game, the opposing team makes sure they have their best defender or best player in there as well, which crushes KD's +/- stats. Nobody else on the Thunder get that attention.

Go with him. I'm ready to start booting people. Let's get a reminder of the lesser-defined rules here. 1) If you have something to say about a team or player, be ready to take a dose of your own medicine, and don't whine when it sticks you a little too hard. 2) Three members run the forums as admins/owners. There are 3-4 active moderators. That's it. If you aren't one of those, you don't act like one, and you don't stick your nose in anyone else's business, especially when you've been around here for less than a year. Just two. I'll add more if necessary. Back to the topic at hand, or I'll just hand out the suspensions as I see fit.

If CDR starts, it would be over Lee, I'm assuming...and I don't see that happening. Unless, of course, the Nets want to play him or Lee at the three. How is Terrence Williams looking? Box scores don't really tell much other than the numbers, since these guys are playing limited minutes all over the board.

Experience counts. I take Pierce right now, especially when he gets the ball a foot or two beyond the elbow. That's an automatic shot for him if there isn't an excellent defender in his jaw.

I don't have a wife, I have a girlfriend. And OTR has no 7-12 year olds. I don't run TLN anymore, either. I stepped down to spend all of my time on OTR. Good luck in your future endeavors, Snake.

It doesn't matter if JaMarcus has a line or not. If he doesn't get sacked, he throws passes 10 yards away from the receiver, behind him, or just completely off route. It's ridiculous. Put Frye in. Forget Gradkowski or where he's at on the depth chart.

Yeah, his production (on and off the ball) doesn't make up for his attitude. I'm not sure what his problem really is, but it seems like he's forcing his way out of Golden State, and that should be all the more reason to help him pack his bags. If those Bosh/Biedrins rumors are true, which I've never believed them to begin with...what if they do come true with Jackson involved?

I don't know, because Westbrook and Green are already capable of giving you 15 points a night, and Durant will be producing his 25-30. Offensively, Harden may find it a bit tough to score the ball because, quite frankly, he may not get the opportunities to do so, or at least not as much as he deserves. Defensively, he can be good, but as Durant's defense improves, and Westbrook is also practicing his defensive skills, it may leave Harden the lesser-dominant offensive players, so he won't be showcased as much. If Harden does break out and become the best player out of the draft, it might be on a different team, or with different teammates. A trio of Durant, Green and Westbrook seem to be enough once they reach their primes, but adding Harden could work, so I won't rule that out yet. They could be following in the footsteps of the Blazers, who stacked young talent and are now planning on keeping them all together through their prime years, which is sort of scary. On another note, that would be nice, seeing the Thunder become a contender. Durant has the ability to be one of the best players in the NBA, and guys like Harden, Westbrook and Green certainly have the potential to be his sidekick during that journey.

Right, but that doesn't change my perception of him until he proves it on the court. It's good though. I don't like how players have Twitter, but I guess it's cool because they interact with fans...the problem was always how Arenas promised things and talked mad game through his blog, but then failed to back that up, that's all. But props to him for not wanting to blog anymore, and focus on the game. Will he change his game? He may have to, in light of the news about his finger...but that doesn't have anything to do with the blog in the first place, in my opinion. Blogging or not, Arenas has to change. With all of that said, he still has to talk to the media, even if he gives them BS. That's on him. Kobe used to do it all the time, where he was quiet and gave them BS to write down (practically nothing), but he was criticized for it, and he changed.

With eye problems, especially a previously detached retina, he can't work out as hard...and he never will be able to. It doesn't take much to move that scar tissue around, and that will begin to pull on the retina again. That's why it's so dangerous to play sports, especially a physical sport such as basketball...and especially on a professional level. He's lucky to even be playing, just as Kareem was.

Just heard on ESPN that Jackson dropped his team captain role. Not good.

Most definitely, unless Josh Smith puts on 35 pounds and hits 6-11. They need to use Smith as much as possible, flash him to the rim and put the ball near it. Josh would flourish with someone like Nash in the Suns' offense, and that's what the Hawks need to run with (no pun intended). It helps that Bibby can hit from long range, also. In a way, you can say that you have your poor man's version of the Suns, with Smith being Marion (defense, slashing, hybrid PF) and Horford (undersized center, scoring, no defense) and Bibby (point that can shoot, no defense). Honestly, a solid coach could be the missing link.

Bucks aren't playing TOO bad this preseason...but 82 games? I'm really not sure how those guys will hold up. Not only will starters play 40 minutes a night, but the games will be more meaningful, and the season is long and rugged. I would be excited to see the Bucks do good, as it really doesn't matter to me but I couldn't put any money on it. They need discipline on defense, and they need Michael Redd to do much, much more when it counts.

For the last time, it was using your example of Billups' leadership (from just months ago) against you, since you told us all he was the reason for all the changes in Denver (including clothes and the way players act). When it backfires, you retaliate, as expected...and suddenly, Billups can't control his teammates anymore, because "he's not their daddy" even though he apparently was just last season. Either way, do what you wish. Don't worry, I don't have time to argue it anymore OR stop you from leaving. Enjoy the season.

He's got a point depending on how you want to look at it, but you still have to talk to the media. Journalism is reporting the news, not always just for entertainment.

Not on the shooting hand, right? So it shouldn't bother his shot TOO MUCH, although it will still give him some discomfort when shooting the ball. Raising an injury over your chest, then back down, multiple times...it will cause pain. But the problem actually comes into play on the drive. If he has only one hand to dribble the ball effectively, he's going to be limited in his slashing abilities, which cuts his passing down a bit. Gilbert isn't exactly one to play very well with nagging injuries, so this could be a problem in the second half of the season, as he may look to change his game according to how his hand feels...and that's not a good thing. But maybe it will heal quickly. Who knows.