AboveLegit

lol... the only good defender on the Wizards now is Wall, and even then he's still learning the ropes.

But you're acting as if Kirk has been a great defender this year. I haven't been as impressed with him this year as I have in years past. Rondo has surpassed him in my eyes simply because he does more on defense than any one PG in this league. When you factor in all of that, how can you not say Rondo? Kirk has him beat in man to man defense due to his size, but even then it's pretty close. You're not going to find defenses built around attacking the ball with bulldog defenders like Payton and Pippen, because of the rule changes limiting the effectiveness of guys like that it's all about defending the paint with help defense and rotating. Guys like Rondo and CP3 create extra possessions for their team by forcing turnovers and crashing the boards. And does it matter if Rondo is not as good of an on ball defender? 75% of PG's today can't beat him off the dribble regardless. We can't keep discrediting Rondo because he plays for the Celtics. I see it way too much regarding his offense, but now we see the significance of him in the lineup now. On defense it's the same way, if he's out of that lineup, they aren't the top defense in the league. And let's not use the logic of saying if you want one player guarding Wade... The answer is obviously Kirk because he managed to lock him up before...

It also indicated LeBron looking to find his teammates more than looking to score.

RD is a huge Hinrich fan so I'm sure he has seen plenty of his games over the past few years.. And one video does not solidify your argument.

You realize that straight man-to-man defense, for point guards, equates to about 25% of the total possessions over the course of the season? There are maybe 5-6 point guards in the entire league capable of breaking someone down off the dribble without the help of a pick. Being able to disrupt the high Screen-Roll game is so much more important for PGs than straight man-to-man defense, and Rondo is far and away the best in the league at that, with Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook behind him. It's ridiculous to say Rondo's success is based on how good his team is on defense because of all the things Rondo does individually. And Kirk is not a lockdown defender, I don't think I've seen him lockdown anyone this year. But that's a stupid way to look at it because Rondo would never be asked to guard players like that. It's like judging Wade vs. Kobe defensively based on how they would stack up against Dwight Howard.

I used to say Kirk, but I'm going with Rondo now. One of the biggest responsibility for a PG on defense is defending the pick n roll. Rondo is without a shadow of a doubt the best in that regard, and he's considered elite or near elite in a few other defensive categories such as creating turnovers, grabbing rebounds, doubling post players, etc. Kirk has him beat with man to man defense because of his size and versatility, but other than that, Rondo is better.

http://twitter.com/#!/ESPNForsberg/status/41613423842304000

Wow, amazing play there by Horne, I think that's game. Great win for St. Johns.

Big shot by Hardy, he's having a great game so far.

Lol, I'm watching both bruh. Great game from Jimmer. Despite having an off day in terms of shooting, he had 9 assists and constantly attacked the basket looking to score. This kid is a special player, and IMO has the player of the year award locked up.

He's an average rebounder right now and for every blocked shot he has, there's a goaltending violation on him. I don't think anyone is questioning whether or not he will have a job in this league, he's a promising young player, but there are a ton of holes in his game.

Eh, I don't know if JaVale will ever be a star in this league, maybe a reliable starter, but nothing more if you ask me. I think you caught him on one of his good days, he's that inconsistent. He hardly knows what to do on offense, and when he does, rarely do you see him making good decisions. On defense, he's a solid help defender because of his length, but even then he makes poor decisions. Nick is turning into a very reliable scorer, I love his shot selection, and despite what the stats may see, he's far from a chucker. This kid has major potential if he develops other aspects of his game. Right now all he can do is score, hopefully he can turn into another playmaker in this offense. When his shot is off, he doesn't have the talent to contribute to the team like other stars do. As for your comment regarding Flip, I don't know. He's not very good at developing young players, and he makes a lot of questionable decisions. I still don't think he's our coach for the future.

http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/nba/154194/basketball-headlines?r=1

SDSU is doing an excellent job on Freddette right now, really playing tight D on him an clogging the paint whenever he drives in.

While I agree with this statement (and I'm still against trading Perkins away), the C's and Pierce will benefit from having him guard LeBron, Kobe, etc in the playoffs. That will be a huge plus for them, and it will allow Doc to go with the small line up of Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Green, and KG in the fourth quarter.

Great effort tonight, the guys responded after Wall called them out for being uninterested and giving up early in games. Tonight proves why Blatche is the one that needs to go, he didn't play tonight and it was clear JaVale benefited from Trevor being in the lineup. Wall had a monster game as did Young, if Nick hadn't gone out of the game, I'm sure he would have dropped at least 45 points, he was on fire (as was Wade). It really threw him off his game when he got out, he missed a shot or two when he came back in, and soon we just stopped going to him.. big mistake there. JaVale played good, but he's just so undisciplined on defense. He's really hurting us with his low bball IQ, he had 2 three seconds in the lane calls against him, and had numerous goaltending violations...that's just unacceptable. The coaching staff needs to bring someone in to teach him the ropes, hopefully he works on his game more and more in the offseason. As for the three new guys, I liked what I saw for the most part. Jordan seemed too eager to get in the game and make a good impression, and it didn't serve him well as he ended up air balling his first shot, and missing a shot in the paint on his second attempt. But his game looks promising. Mo seems like the next James Singleton for us, just a hard worker that just wants to play ball. Hopefully he sets an example for the rest of the young guns out there. Bibby had an off game, he had some open shots that he missed and really just seemed out of it. Hopefully he picks it up tomorrow against Dallas.

They kind of remind me of the Grizzlies team back when Hubie coached them. They run 10 deep (and Mozgov and Forbes can help them as well). They also have two very intelligent players running the point, which allows Karl to let them run. If players get tired, they have the luxury of bringing in a legitimate sub off the bench and really not lose a step. They will run into problems once teams shorten their benches in the playoffs, but they should be ok in the regular season. Don't be surprised if this team wins 50 games.

Considering Austin is probably going to be a top 5 pick, and the Clippers will be better next year, I don't think so.

Apparently they offered 2 first rounders, 1 second rounder, and Ronnie Brewer, and the Grizz declined. I don't know how much more they could have offered.

While Chris Bosh will likely not have a game as bad as he did tonight, I do expect him to struggle against a much more physical frontcourt of Chicago's. He was absolutely getting dominated in the low post against Boozer, and it clearly effected his mentality. If they meet up in the playoffs, I don't expect him to be much of a factor. That being said, this match up is extremely close. Both teams are great on defense, probably the two best when it comes to closing out on shooters. Once Noah gets back into shape and starts to get comfortable, this team will be dangerous. When you see LeBron and Wade scoring almost every point in the second half, you know you're in trouble. That frontcourt of Chicago will give them a TON of problems in a 7 game series.

LUOL DENG!

All I need to know about +/-

He's already said it's winning this year or he's leaving. Now it's not a guarantee that he does, but after seeing multiple superstars leave for larger markets, I don't see why he wouldn't. Not everyone is going to pull a Carmelo and publicly state that he wants to go to a specific team... There's a strong possibility that they do. Brook Lopez is an enticing piece that's still on his rookie contract. Williams has stated that there's a strong possibility that he does sign, so if he does, it only makes the Nets a more attractive option for future FA's.

I'm not the only one who has proposed the idea of Dwight coming to the Nets, Rich Bucher stated the possibility earlier today, and it just seems like a logical fit given his current situation. I don't understand how it is unlikely at all.

http://twitter.com/#!/alanhahn/status/40956169275052033