Poe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhvx4T8fNxE&feature=sub "If anybody expects to see the same guy from two years ago, you're kidding yourselves because he's coming off a major injury and hasn't played a five on five for fifteen months. So I've been encouraged by just the fact he's out there... he's just going to get better." It sounds like Yao's still got quite a ways to go, but it's good to hear he's come this far. His comeback to form once the season starts will definitely be a gradual thing.

No wonder the release date got set back..... LOL.

Landry is their second best scorer at 18 ppg. He needs to start. Cousins may be their third best player this year, so he needs to start as well. It also matches up better defensively if Cousins plays center rather than power forward, plus Thompson fits better as the PF off the bench rather than the C off the bench.

That could very well happen, and on the flip side they could find a way to play well with each other. All I'm saying is to wait and see, then decide if Arenas needs to be traded if he does prove to hurt Wall's game.

Wright - Wade - Richardson - Beasley - Anthony is a lineup sometimes used from Spoelstra when the opposing team had a bigger guard like Baron Davis or Tyreke Evens. I remember specifically a play against the Kings where Wright brought the ball up the court, fed it to Richardson at the wing, who fed Wade the ball in the post. Wright ran around some screens that got him open at the top of the key for a midrange jumper. There were other times that game where Wright brought the ball up the court and immediately went to a pick and pop with Haslem. In that game, along with bringing the ball up and calling the plays, he was defending the opposing PG, who was Tyreke when Udrih was on the bench. There were games where Wright wasn't playing point guard but was playing the 3 and sometimes was in a point forward role with Wade/Cook and Arroyo/Chalmers on the floor. These games he was not the point guard. But anyway, I think positions are a bit overstated in basketball. For the most part, they are just labels. Often times, players can be overlooked because of their inability to fit into a particular position, even if they are high level basketball players. The important part is to have players that can handle the ball, players that can score, rebound, and defend the opposition, regardless of what positions are filled.

Read it for the third time. Still talking about the past, and still doesn't answer my questions. He's had injuries that's prevented him from playing, and slowed him down when played through them. He's recovered from those injuries. He played well without Wall back when he was a healthy star. We'll see how he and Wall plays when they are together. Again, 1) Why is it not worth giving a chance? 2) Why is it so imperative to trade Arenas right away?

Why is it not worth giving a chance? Why is it so imperative to trade him now than later? You haven't explained these things. You've only talked about his past (which all hurt his trade value more in the recent future than the distant future, like I've stated a few times now). I've made my case for why the team needs to wait on this decision.

+/- is based on teamplay more than it is based on the play of an individual. And LeBron has a higher FG%, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals in total numbers in comparison to Kobe anyway, so of course he'll average more in the end portion of a game as well. The overall numbers don't necessarily make him a better overall player, or else Jordan wouldn't say Kobe is better, which would mean that these clutch numbers don't necessarily make him a better clutch player.

Nevertheless, they were both scorers that took a good number of shots, and they won a championship together. If they could do it, Wall and Arenas might be able to play well together. It still has yet to be seen.

You probably want to put "- SRV" at the end. I know it's a minor detail, but it's good to give credit.

1988-89 Pistons won a championship with two ball-dominant guards in 6'3'' Joe Dumars and 6'1'' Isiah Thomas. Dumars took 19 FGA per game in his prime, and Isiah took the exact number in his own prime. Isiah was a terrific passer, though. John Wall may develop into one. We'll have to wait and see.

I was just making an example of some things that aren't entirely accurate. And stats never tell the whole story anyway (call me a hypocrite if you want, lol). LeBron exceeding other players in clutch stats could simply mean he takes more shots in crunch time than other players do, for example. While Kobe has a good second option in Gasol to rely on in crunch time, LeBron is the only reliable shot creator on his team. Odd because RD made the exact same example: But anyway, that's getting offtopic.

Guarding the opposing PG (Fisher, Evens, Billups, Davis, etc) and setting up the offense (dribbling up the court each possession and call the play) = playing point guard. And that reminds me, your probably bringing up Kobe because RD did in another thread. Chalmers doesn't play much point guard (offensively at least). He'll defend the opposing PG when Wade is on the court, but he usually sets up at the wing while Wade handles the ball. When he's playing with Arroyo (which became more and more often as the season progressed), the Heat often go into a zone on defense, and the amount of times he sets up the offense is even more rare. He's a point guard on defense and a 2 guard on offense, because his ball handling and decision making is poor. Iverson is the same way as far as positioning goes. 2 on offense, 1 on defense. Though his were for different reasons. But technically speaking, yes, Chalmers is a point guard, and so was Wright in certain games. Gotcha. I'm not worried, either. All I'm saying is if Spo is to draw up an inbounds play for a particular player for the last shot, it would be for the player with the more favorable matchup.

Watching that third video, Paul Peirce does that odd motion with his hands every time a shot goes up from the opposing team. Very odd. Must be some sort of tic.

We don't know that. That has yet to be seen. Whether Arenas should be traded now is based on how he plays and co-exists with Wall, like I said in my first post. We don't know if Arenas will "stifle the face of the franchise" or if he and Wall will become the best guard duo in the league. Again, the team needs to see if Arenas should be traded based on his play before making any decisions about their future.

I don't think 82games is accurate on a lot of things. They can give you some interesting stats, but I wouldn't base too much off of them. According to them, Dorell Wright has never played point guard. I know that's wrong from watching the games. Now, on who should take the last shot, I don't know if it should be LeBron every time. I think it should be more based on match ups and/or who is playing well that game. Like against the Lakers, I'd prefer if LeBron went at Artest than see Wade go at Kobe. Or against the Celtics, I'd rather see Wade 1 on 1 against Allen than LeBron 1 on 1 against Pierce. Both can score very well against any matchup, but I'm sure Wade is more likely to against Allen than LeBron against Pierce, and LeBron against Artest is better than Wade against Kobe. And as for defensive stops, it depends on the matchup. If it's a smaller player like Chris Paul or Gilbert Arenas, I'd prefer Wade on that matchup. If it's a bigger perimeter player like Danny Granger or Carmelo Anthony, I'd prefer LeBron.

I don't understand why you bring up the history of injuries and the suspension then go on to say that because of that, this is their only chance to trade him. If anything, the longer we are into Gil's contract, the easier it will be to trade him. The longer he proves he can stay healthy, and the longer he proves he can stay crime free, and the less amount of years are left in his contract, the more likely teams will be interested. Right now, teams are disinterested in him because of the recent history behind Gilbert. But if Gilbert plays well enough in comparison to his contract and does everything stated above, the only reason that teams may be disinterested later on is because of the CBA, from what I can tell about it.

I think the time off may have helped Arenas, since he could entirely focus on his health and not be pressured to play at a high level. Now that he's gotten that out of the way, there's no excuse to not perform to the best of his abilities. So there are two questions to the situation. 1) Will Gilbert Arenas regain his 29 ppg scoring form he was four years ago, or at least close to it? And 2) How well will he co-exist with John Wall? Based on how well he plays and how well his game compliments Wall's and vise versa, that should determine whether he remains in the Wizard's longterm plans or not. If one or the other fails, then they may need to trade him. The Cavs and the Raptors both have trade exceptions to get his contract off Washington's shoulders.

Yea, I'd be disappointed had Wade left. But like I say over and over again, I wouldn't hate the guy for leaving if Riley had failed to bring the right pieces around Wade.

I second that. Well said. Except for one thing, though. I wouldn't be pissed if the Knicks managed the rumored trio. I'd be ecstatic.

By actually building a good team around their franchise player, like a better second option than TJ Ford or Antonio Davis. But more importantly, they need to create a better organization from within. They need better coaching and better staff to make better use of their talent.

Yes, the world will bow before the mighty Heat and their awesome basketball play. I don't recall. Then I guess every professional sports team has annoying fans, if all it takes is to find five. So what's the point then? In all fan bases, the fans vary in basketball intellect and personality. You'll find the good and the bad with every team. The only reason you'd single out the fans of a particular team is if you have a reason to hate the team they are rooting for. It's their motivation. If you don't like their tweets, don't look them up. If you don't like what Wade has to say, change channel or switch internet pages. They have full right to say what they want no matter what they have or haven't done, or whether you are annoyed or pleased by the message. ...why? What's with these quotes that have never been said? I really want to know. Do you want to find reasons to hate Heat fans? Cause you seem to be looking hard for them. Okay.

So answering a question makes him obsessed? I wouldn't be worried either way. Reflecting on the past isn't a bad thing. Sooner or later, the Raptors will get another Chris Bosh or Vince Carter caliber player. Hopefully the third time around, they'll learn from their mistakes.

That's never been said out of the blue. You asked me specifically how many championships the Heat would win in the next 6 six years, and I said the Heat might be able to win all six under the right circumstances. There was another thread where a member asked who was better - Kobe and Shaq, or LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. I gave my honest opinion and backed it with facts and reasoning. Very odd you'd leave the asking bit out, and only make it out to say that Heat fans in general are making wild claims out of nowhere and call the general lot "annoying" because of it. Superstars like Kobe get media attention all the time. Don't tell me that you didn't expect double the attention when two are on a single team. The fans don't control the media, give me a break.