AboveLegit

Love it, good work Guru and RD.

This whole downplaying regular season games is becoming so cliche now. It is an important game. It's one of the few times you have as a team to find out where you stand against potential playoff teams. I'll bet a good amount of money on the Heat facing the Celtics in the playoffs.

Sent. Just listened to a few of the songs, All Of The Lights is amazing. Love it.

What it comes down to is this: Bosh is a slasher. Lebron is a slasher. Wade is a slasher. What they need to do is find ways to get Bosh the ball less than 10 feet from the hoop. Even if he doesn't post up, if he can make quick face up moves to score some points and draw some defensive attention that will go a long way toward opening up driving lanes for everybody else. When I watch what Amare does for the Knicks and watch what Bosh does for the Heat I think that both teams should just trade them. Bosh is better at handling the ball in the places where D'Antoni is giving it to Amare, and Amare wouldn't get intimidated against Garnett and would score around the basket better than Bosh. Rondo had another fantastic game, as did Ray Allen. Greatest three point shooter ever. I think everyone on Boston had a very efficient game. Looking at the boxscore, Pierce was 10/16, Garnett was 6/8, and while Ray missed 10 shots, he still was 7/9 from three. That stretch where Nate came in during the third was huge as well, props to him, he bounced back after being on somewhat of a shooting slump the past few games.

Actually, I'd take the 2000 team before I'd take the 2001 Lakers team. People get a little caught up in how the 01 Lakers ran threw the West in the playoffs that season, but they were pretty flawed team. They payed two shell shocked teams in the Blazers and Kings who had convinced themselves that season (because of the previous year's mistakes) that they couldn't beat the Lakers and they face a banged up and over the hill Spurs team (they started Danny Ferry and Terry Porter, and played Antonio Daniels a lot) and finally took on a banged up Sixers team (who still managed to take a game from them based on a herculean effort by Iverson). They had a mediocre bench (really none at all) and got through the playoffs because no one could stand up to Shaq and they were facing teams whose perimeter defense was fairly sub par. I'd definitely take the more versatile 2000 Lakers. They struggled a little more in the playoffs, but I think they were ultimately the better team. Shaq was at his peak (and hadn't gone on his chicken and waffles diet yet), Kobe didn't think he was the man yet and thus wasn't just gunning, Rice was still a serviceable player, and Fisher, Fox, and Horry were all coming off the bench (only Horry was coming off the bench in 01 and none of them were in 02). And I agree, the 03 Spurs were probably the second weakest of the Spurs championship teams. Parker played poorly enough in the playoffs that Speedy Claxton was taking crunch time minutes away from him. I don't think they'd really stand a chance against the Celtics from this season. The 07 Spurs were probably the best of the Spurs championship teams IMO. I like Duncan in 03, he carried his decidedly mediocre team (in terms of championship teams) to an NBA title against the Nets. He was at the peak of talents then, it's just the rest of the team I don't think would be up to snuff. I think the Celtics have enough quality bigs to throw at Shaq and Duncan to somewhat contain them.

I got Boston winning again. We've seen how much the Heat suffer in the paint against good post players that are paired with great PG's (Garnett and Davis with Rondo).

Scola had a nice night as well.

BTW, he's the 3rd Youngest ever (behind LeBron and Odom) to get a triple double, and 6th-fastest ever in terms of games played.

I'm going to need some assistance. I still have a soft spot for Gil. You know you enjoyed every minute of it.

John Wall He's such a beast, I cannot say enough about him. He limited his turnovers tonight, played like a true leader, and was everywhere on the court. He was even hitting his threes, and he's hitting on that pull up jumper...just gotta stay consistent. Looks like Flip storming out of practice and yelling at the team motivated everyone. The bigs were great on the glass, Yi played amazing, he got rebounds, blocked shots, and was aggressive when he was in the paint. Dray was great as well, some questionable decisions here and there, but overall he was a force down low. And everyday I'm beginning to think Al Thornton is better off starting for us rather than Josh Howard. He's so strong, he's able to get rebounds through traffic, he has a nice midrange game, and doesn't force anything. I love his hustle and his attitude towards the game. I hate seeing Gil play limited minutes, he never really got into his rhythm, but oh well. Hopefully he develops it as the season progresses.

TAKE OUT HINRICH WTF

Best chinese player in the world! Wall 2 rebs away from a triple double.

Falling apart as always....

Good half for us, great half for Wall. 13 points 7 assists 5 rebounds. Amazing.

OMG WALL!

Great quarter, Dray has been playing well, Yi got a nice block, and Wall is looking awesome.

So far so good, Wall with two nice jumpers, and we've been great rebounding the ball.

Over 300 million watching in China.

http://oi56.tinypic.com/5bblk.jpg

This would be great for the league and for Middle Eastern countries. I hope the kid pans out the way he's expected to.

You've got to remember that there's one thing the Celtics did really well in all of the playoff series that post season, and that was keep the ball out of the post altogether. Despite Gasols FG% in the series, one of the main reasons the Lakers couldn't get anything going was because of the Celtics denial of passes inside, as well as their collapse inside. Again, that does not mean they could stop Shaq once he got the ball. And there's no way that the 2000 Lakers would get dominated on the boards the way this group did. But through Shaqs prime of 2000-2002, no one attacked him defensively, he always attacked everyone else offensively. Garnett/Perkins/Posey/Brown and Powe would have done everything they could to make sure that when they fouled big daddy, he felt it and didn't make his shots. That wouldn't help when Shaq decided to just dunk, which would still get him 30 a game. But anytime Shaq would get it with a body in between him and the basket, the Celtics would be putting him on the line without an and 1 (which most teams couldn't do). And you all know how effective Shaq is at the line. People tend to forget this (because of the myth that is Shaquille O'Neal in his prime, I guess) but he could be contained by teams with good interior defense, like the Spurs. He had good games against the Spurs, but by his standards, his great games against them were few and far between. The player who usually killed the Spurs was Bryant (why do people forget this?) because the Spurs perimeter defense has always been a bit suspect. But this Celtics team's perimeter defense is nearly as good as their interior defense. As you get further down the Laker's three peat, it gets less and less likely that that players on the perimeter would be able to make the Celtics pay because of their rotation. I'm not confident that the Celtics would win, this is extremely close and could be debated both ways.

I can't say for sure if the Lakers would have beaten these Celtics, because I can't guess what Shaq's reaction would have been after the first game of the series, after feeling the amount of intensity the Celtics bring. Lets face it, the 00-02 Lakers were bullies (how could you not be with Shaq). They pushed teams around and forced them out of their games. But they NEVER played with or against the intensity that the Celtics bring. I've NEVER in my life (not even the Jordan Bulls team) seen a team so focused on dominating defensively in every aspect of the game. Those little things lead to victories. Never giving up on a defensive play, like when you hear the whistle blow, see an opponent shoot up a practice shot, and watch Garnett or Perkins jump up and grab the ball out of the air, just to make sure you don't get a taste for the basket. Or having a hard foul called in which the Celtics defender made sure that their opponent couldn't throw up and easy and 1 basket and then James Posey comes in with hard contact of his own (yes, it is a cheap shot, but he gets away with it every time) after the original foul is called, because he knows that another foul won't get called. Those things weigh on a team. It affected the Lakers so much by the 6th game of the series that they just completely gave up by halftime. All of their whining all series long after the games, their frustration in the locker room and on the sideline, they were mentally broken. I'm not saying that Shaq wouldn't have stepped it up after playing a game or two against that intensity, but if he decided to take it easy like he did in the Pistons series in 03 against a milder version of that pressure, then the Celtics would have routed all three of those Lakers' squads. The Lakers teams were far more talented than the Celtics, but in the finals, its all about who can truly give 100% all the time (like playing with a desperate intensity with 4 minutes left in the 4th even though you're leading by 35 points, which the Celtics did in game 6, meanwhile, the Lakers blew big lead after big lead in the series because they got lackadaisical). Unfortunately, like all comparisons across season lines, we'll never know for sure. Yeah, KG has had trouble against Shaq-led teams but the other big men included Rasho Nesterovic, Gary Trent, Earvin "not Magic" Johnson, Mark Madsen, and the immortal Michael Olowokandi. I'd wager that Kendrick Perkins, PJ Brown, Leon Powe, and Glen Davis are a touch better than that group. This Celtics team has enough quality bigs to throw at Shaq (more so than any team the Lakers faced in 00-02 in the finals at least) that it would at least be able to hold Shaq a little and none of the teams they played and this Celtics perimeter D. I fully support the idea that the Celtics could beat any of the teams since 1999 (and embrace the idea that they'd have a leg up against any team since the 92-93 Bulls). This Celtics team wasn't just good defensively, they put up historically great defensive numbers (which carried them until they finally found their legs offensively in the playoffs against the Pistons).

Let's go Wizards! Wall is going to dunk on Yao for sure.

I don't use them personally, but it looks like a nice add-on to the skin. I say keep it despite what the poll may show.

MVP-Offense: Peyton Manning MVP-Defense: Clay Matthews Rookie of the Year: Sam Bradford Best QB: Peyton Manning Best RB: Chris Johnson Best WR: Andre Johnson Best TE: Antonio Gates Best O-line: Indianapolis Colts Best defensive lineman: New York Giants Best linebacker: Clay Matthews Best defensive back: Darrelle Revis Best head coach: Bill Belichek