Real Deal

Goooo fill them in! http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/forum/84-member-fanbases Season is getting closer. I need to see who all we need to recruit for.

Last night, which was a power failure, and that probably had a hand in the Apache problems this morning, if they were having trouble getting everything reset.

1) My comment about Yao was strictly an example of how ridiculous it was to judge a player based on how many people support him, but I guess that flew way over your head. 2) I started rooting for the Lakers because of Kobe, because I didn't live in or near an NBA city. Plus, I'm the type of guy who doesn't root for a team just because I was born near them, or my family does. I think for myself. Ironically, the Lakers were a 53-win team when I decided to root for them, and it was pre-Shaq (the night Kobe was drafted and traded), and also pre-Phil. Young Kobe, no Shaq, no Phil, no championships...guess I just knew Bryant was going to turn out to be the best player in the league, and the Lakers would have a dynasty. And we've already had our share of Heat fans on OTR that lack knowledge of the game. There are a couple that come to mind immediately, and they no longer post here. I'm sure I could go to a Heat message board I used to be affiliates with and find you many, many more. All teams have their share of ignorant fans. It's not my fault the Lakers have 20-25 times the amount of fans as the Heat do. Well, he didn't get into the playoffs averaging 35, so no. But asking if he could still put out 30 PPG and do it with one legit teammate? Sure...and he could drop 40's and 50's if needed...so that's why I still think Bryant is in his prime.

Sorry for the downtime this morning. The Apache service was down. Things should be fine now.

Ah, that's a pretty good point, actually.

...in other words, he's annoying you like you do our Lakers fans.

Kelly Dwyer is the biggest LeBron homer, and Kobe hater, I've ever seen anywhere. With that said, LeBron did have the best statistical season. I could argue Shaq at #1, but only because the Lakers won a title. But it's funny how far he dropped Kobe, like a sack of potatoes, while he was focused on a more intriguing sack (for him). He used PER as the foundation for his list, by the way...if anyone is curious. It puzzles me, though, when many say, "Yeah, he's damn right, LeBron is obviously the best," and it's those who have always thrown rocks when someone like me brings up stats in an argument, yet now they lean on stats to support theirs.

I think he's giving you a taste of your own medicine, Slaven.

Wow, I had no idea Nelson beat Frank Mir. I heard he used to be good, but I wasn't expecting him to be that good. See, I'm not a die-hard MMA fan like a lot of you. I loved the old UFC, the tourneys and such, and Gracie was my favorite fighter. Now I'm still watching the UFC, I like Diego Sanchez, Brock Lesnar and Anderson Silva...but I don't step outside of that box and see much of anything else, mainly because I'm still way too interested in basketball, haha. I have seen a few fights from Fedor, though...but nothing else outside of the UFC.

Yeah, I'm sick of the entire country of China supporting Yao Ming, also...and that's why I can't stand him...

Man, Raiders are getting no love! DET @ CHI CIN @ CLE SEA @ IND NYG @ KC BAL @ NE TB @ WAS TEN @ JAX OAK @ HOU BUF @ MIA NYJ @ NO DAL @ DEN STL @ SF SD @ PIT GB @ MIN

I'm not so sure about that. He still dropped 61 on the Knicks, and that was in just 36 minutes, through an injured finger, 31 shots attempted. Comparing that to the 62 he dropped on Dallas in 32 minutes (back in 2006, when he scored 81), I don't know. If the Lakers suffered through devastating injuries this season, and Kobe had to give a 70, I wouldn't be surprised one bit. 81 is a different beast. I'm not sure if Kobe or ANYONE in the league right now can replicate something like that, prime or not. Just a special night.

LaDainian Tomlinson v2

http://www.vimeo.com/6874411 Footage is from October 2nd (yesterday). Nobody here can convince me that he's fine. Not one person. After years of playing basketball with a destroyed ankle, I know exactly why he's running that way and acting like he wants to sit down.

Terry was bitten by a spider in the middle of the night, near his waist, and he had staph from it. Pretty ugly, and he was in quite a bit of pain, almost to where he couldn't work (because walking was difficult). He had to get some anti-biotics after he popped it, bled like crazy for 5-6 good minutes.

Granger is a very poor defender? I gotta disagree, more on that than anything else in this topic. Granger's perimeter defense is pretty good. He came out of UNM playing very good defense, and adjusted well in his rookie season in the pros. And the Lakers made it all the way to the NBA Finals without Ariza or Artest. In fact, I wouldn't call Ariza that good of a defensive player. His gambling paid off, but locking someone down is something he had trouble doing, against both Carmelo and Turkoglu, notably when it mattered most. The Lakers have enough up front to get to the Finals and win it all without Artest or Ariza, as long as Bynum stays healthy. Bryant's help defense has been better than his man defense because, quite frankly, the defensive lapses of Fisher and guys like Walton are negated by Kobe's help. Giving up a three here and there (which is what Kobe does) isn't that big of a deal if he's running over to disrupt a Billups three with little left on the shot clock. There is not one GM in the league that would think twice about an Artest/Durant swap, if they had Ron, even if the contracts for both were just a year long. If defense was THAT important, the Charlotte Bobcats would be world champs. The problem is, they don't have any offense, and that's the reason teams like the Mavericks and Suns have gotten to the Finals and Conference Finals, while the Bobcats struggle to win 40 games. But yeah, the combo wins it all. But an extraordinarily-potent offensive team, with good defense, will win it all before an extraordinarily-gifted defensive team, with good offense, takes it. See the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers for another good example of this.

I'm not going to back him up for this decision, because he needs to work with Kareem as much as he can (as Kobe just decided to work with Hakeem Olajuwon as a veteran player). However, the consistency in health and in stats, that's a different story. I understand he's been hurt, but when healthy, Bynum has been pretty consistent. That goes back pretty far, though, because since his second injury, he hasn't been healthy at all, including his playoff run. I can't call him injury prone, either, because both injuries happened due to another player's mistake. In medical terms, combined with basketball, being prone to injury means you're injured very easily and frequently. Bynum's knee injuries came from two teammates, really weren't his fault, and would've injured many big men in that same situation. There's no doubt in my mind that Bynum can produce 14/8 for a full season. He has the potential to do better, in fact, on a team that gives him more shots...but it would also be tougher to convert those shots and win games.

If you're banking on a team led by Bogut, Jennings and Alexander, you may be disappointed in the end. Jennings fell off the face of the Earth for a while after those pre-draft workouts, and for good reason: he just wasn't as good as the other PG's. The potential is still there, but it's just not as convincing anymore, and won't be if he doesn't put on some weight. The likelihood that he turns into an Allen Iverson? Slim to none. Bogut is a good center, but he's not a franchise player. As far as Alexander goes...I don't even consider him a big part of this team soon. Redd needs to be dealt, yes...but how much will you get out of him now? Once a 26-27 PPG scorer, he's not giving you much other than injuries and reasons to believe he'll never be that same one-dimensional, volume shooter ever again...and while it wasn't THAT great before, it's nothing to smile at now for sure. Draft and free agency is the way to go. I'm not sure what superstars will want to ride into Milwaukee in 2010, but if you can rake in just ONE, it would boost the morale of the team and the fans a bit more, and could lead to a 50-win season in a couple of years.

So you're telling me that the Lakers have a better chance of winning a ring with Artest than they do if they swapped him with Durant? I think Durant would be the better second or third option, let alone primary option. To me, the gap between Ron and Kevin's defensive abilities isn't as large as the gap between their offensive abilities, and that's why Durant takes it for me. As far as Granger goes, he's almost as good as Artest defensively, and his offense is much better...so, truthfully, I COULD put Granger ahead of Durant, even. I'll say this much: if we want to consider defense as important as an offensive superstar, Artest beats out everyone on this list besides LeBron James. And in that stance, Bruce Bowen (if still playing) would be a top five or six. I can't say any of that is true, though.

At least he has put on just enough weight not to fracture his foot multiple times, and be a true "puss" by not being able to play for an entire season. And obviously, that's not what I truly feel about Yao Ming, but your comments are a great way to spark that debate pretty quickly, and make people hate you even more.

Murder can affect the country. JFK?

Probably not, but why do they act like it? Did you see Kimbo's loss to Nelson? His stand up wasn't even good, let alone his pathetic ground game. But, to no surprise, Kimbo looks to be making his way back to the show, after a freak injury from one of the others. Is the UFC that desperate?

Well, I figured GSP would pick apart Alves much quicker. It was a decision, right? And I believe the groin injury happened in the third round? He should've had Alves finished by then. But that's just one man's opinion.

This hack hurt us, badly. I'm going to admit that, for some reason, the hack either scared off members, or convinced them to jet for other reasons. I don't know why. Basketball season is just around the corner, and I can't wait. We need November to be here right now. Soon, we're going to restart our podcast, possibly with a new name. I'll see about some changes we can make along the way (with the forums, maybe), completing the home page, and adding those player profiles and team pages. I won't ever raise the white flag. I just need some help from more than just a few of our dedicated members. The recruiting isn't even a big deal, it's that the activity is so low, it's hard to grasp anything and clutch onto it for this long without NBA basketball. Shifting to becoming an all-sports site is not an option, either, because to date, we and InsideHoops are the only true NBA discussion sites still going strong in regards to our basketball talk (during the season). I'll probably start writing some articles in the next couple of days, and promote them on AllDayNBA as well, and see if I can combine a blog site with the forums, promote both, and in turn, bring more traffic to OTR. I'll post them in multiple places and use Digg and other sources as well. Other than that, I don't know...but the forums aren't going to die on my watch. Not a chance.

Putting on more muscle weight will help him in the post, offensively and defensively. That's always a good thing.