Nitro

It's cool, just chill when it comes to the insults.

LeBron came up huge in clutch situations the first 3 rounds, had better number than Z-Bo, and helped get his team within 2 games of the championship. I know where you're coming from, but don't overrate Z-Bo or overlook the fact that in a quarter of his post-season games he had 11pts or less, and in none of those games did he grab double-digit boards.

He wasn't being a prick, he was just explaining why the Kerr thing won't happen, and he did so politely. You're the one who overreacted and was a prick. Even when you were being a prick he was being respectful and thorough, even though he should have just told you to [expletive] yourself.

It's a high price to pay, but with the way the economy is, it's needed. If you start taking away from the welfair system to save money, then you open yourself up to the domino effect of other issues it will cause (poverty, homelessness, spike in illegal activity, etc...). There needs to be a balance. I think taking measures to cut out some of the deadweight in the system that abuse their benefits is a good idea in theory, but things like drug testing does indeed cost a pretty penny in itself, and you will be wasting a huge chunk of that money on all of the people who DON'T use drugs and collect welfair. And as I said before, many of those addicts will still be able to beat the system. So, is paying for all these drug tests worth it considering the majority of the people they are testing aren't using drugs, and quite a few of those drug addicts will still be able to beat the system?

All of this is assuming the Heat will have the MLE. If the Heat have the MLE, there is no need to bring in 3 old vet-minimum contracts like they did last off-season when they split the MLE with Haslem/Miller. As I said, if they bring in Oden for the minimum, cool, then that's a low-risk/high-potential deal. However, if they have to spend any more than that for a guy that has serious surgeries in his past and has played only 1/8 of the last 2 seasons, then that's too risky for a team that's so close to winning a title. They need to spend that MLE money on proven, durable talent that they know will be reliable and improve the product they put out in 10-11.

See my posts earlier in this thread about Oden. Unless he comes for the minimum it'd be a big mistake.

What does this have to do with anything? I am not interested in a liberal vs. conservative debate, I think both sides are [expletive]ing retarded and the reason we are in this huge hole. I wasn't the one who brought the Bush thing up, Flash did. I take issues case-by-case, and in that case I'd much rather see money going towards AMERICANS who need it rather than a failure of a war, even if some Americans choose to abuse the system.

Haha E-Thuggin' it.

In principle I agree, however out of all the positions in the NBA, finding a quality center for the MLE or lower is damn near impossible. If you do find one, they are likely to be severely flawed in at least one important area. And finding one that can score is an ever bigger challenge. Ideally the best fit for the Heat would be Tyson Chandler...I always envisioned him being the perfect fit. However, after this season he will likely command a contract worth more than the MLE, and I doubt he'd leave Dallas seeing as how he is so valued by that organization after this year's championship run. I think Dalembert would be a pretty good fit for this team; I mean, if they got away with Big Z and Dampier so long, and then Anthony/various PF's throughout the last 2 rounds, I think he'd definitely be a signficant upgrade.

Good, I'd rather it being going to our own people than to a senseless war that is killing our people.

LeBron's an amazing passer and finisher around the rim. He has those capabilities to do those things out of the post, it's just a matter of getting used to it during games. If he practices some in the off-season, and more importantly Spo calls for more sets with LeBron in the post throughout next season, I really believe he will be very effective in those situations this time next year. He can get by without great footwork or turnaround jumper, which is what most perimeter post-up players need, and those are the hardest areas to develop. The things he needs to improve to be effective have to do with comfort, not actual ability.

http://thedancingcrab.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/attack-of-the-crab-monsters-300x237.jpg WE ARE THE CRABS...THE MONSTER CRABS....

They'll get Kwame Brown and Marcus Fizer with the 1st and 4th picks.

Yeah, I was talking about the Game 6 offensive foul. He started backing him down around 18ft out, the Mavs gave no help, and LeBron was SO uncomfortable in that situation. It was embarassing and caused an offensive foul. In that kind of situation once LeBron has Barea on his back he's gotta make a quick move to the basket because no way is Barea getting position to defend that. However, Barea is one of the biggest floppers in the league, and backing him down from 18ft out all the way to the rim is asking for a foul. There is no excuse for letting Kidd defend LeBron in the post. Wade was tearing Kidd up, backing him down as far as he wanted, and then making an easy move to the rim or a quick shot over Kidd. LeBron doesn't need any fancy footwork or turnaround jumper with Kidd defending him...just get comfortable with finishing point-blank shots in those situations and get more comfortable with passing out of the post.

I know he wasn't quite the same player in Detroit/Memphis/2nd time in Philly that he was in his prime, but if he was taking 20+ shots per game he would have been getting his points at the same crap efficiency he got them in his prime. As I said, in 07-08 he had arguably the best individual season of his career. If he was willing to come off the bench and hadn't gone through all that crap he did in his last season, he'd probably be an important piece to some team in the league. Well, I don't think he's ever developed a post game because he felt his iso on the wing/PnR style of play never really warranted it. I think getting punked when trying to post-up guys like Barea or Kidd will make him realize it's an area he could really be dangerous in. I don't think he even needs to develop great footwork in the post; I've seen him backdown Artest and Pierce with disturbing ease. However, when he gets close to the basket he gets very uncomfortable and misses point-blank shots that are a 1 on the difficulty chart compared to some of the layups he hits off dribble penetration. It's all about getting used to being in that position...that can be done in a single off-season, and then Spo can use it as a regular set in the regular season so by the time the post-season arrives, LeBron will be well-prepared.

Oh, and I also find it hilarious you say this... ...then go on to say this... Seems like a contradiction. You admit that having 2 HoF players on the team doesn't necessarily make you a great team and that a team like that can be beat with a stronger collection of player, yet in the next quote you completely dismiss that fact.

Eh, Iverson is out of the league because of what's inbetween his ears rather than basketball ability. The only big difference between him in his final 2 seasons and when he was in his prime was volume of scoring. In 07-08 he had arguably the best season of his career statistically. Anyway, I do think Wade has a chance to prolong his career longer than most expect because of his post-game. If you recall, during the Philly and Dallas series he was near-unstoppable down in the post, and it's a damn shame they didn't exploit that more. If Kidd could improve his shooting 10 years after entering the league, then I am confident Wade and Bron can do the same. However, the point of this topic was to show that the change in LeBron's game is coming a lot sooner than most people expected.

Wow, can't believe I missed this thread before...some ridiculously retarded logic going on here. I really don't know where to start. Some of my post will have to do with the MJ-Kobe debate since that's all ECN keeps bringing up. -MJ didn't make his teammates better offensively? The Bulls went from being the 2nd ranked offense in 92-93 to the 14th ranked offense in 93-94, including a decline in team FG% and 3pt%. Most of the Bulls team in MJ's last season before retirement had a down year in terms of shooting percentages, but the previous few seasons Pippen and Grant had much higher FG% than any season without MJ, and guys like Armstrong did take a hit without MJ. In the 93-94 post-season, Pippen, Grant, Armstrong, Paxson, Cartwright, and Williams, all of the main players from the 93 championship team, had a decline in shooting percentage from the previous post-season with MJ. The Bulls barely made the top 10 in offense the season MJ came back for 20-30 games, and the next time MJ had a full season with the team they shot to the best offense in the NBA. FYI, the Lakers have NEVER finished as the top ranked offense in the league since Kobe came into the league. Oh, and what often goes overlooked about that 94-95 team was they were only .500 and barely in the playoff hunt before MJ came, and then they ended the season on a 17-3 (I believe) run, even with MJ very rusty and out of the game for a year and a half. -He got carried to the championship by Horace [expletive]ing Grant and Dennis Rodman? You have got to be kidding me. Neither Grant or Rodman ever made an All-Star team, or All-NBA team during any of MJ's championships. Rodman was an all-star twice in his career (late '80's/early '90's with the Pistons) and Grant made 1 in his career (93-94). Both played vital roles in those championship teams, but MJ was far and away the best and most important player. If you are going to say MJ was carried to his titles by those players, then what the hell do you call what Shaq and Gasol did for Kobe? Shaq won an MVP with Kobe on his team, won all 3 Finals MVP's, had the better regular and post-season numbers, and had higher recognition at the time and in retrospect. Gasol was an all-star who led the Grizzlies to multiple 50-win seasons, and you can make an arguement he should have won the 2010 Finals MVP (though I'd disagree). -Almost every stat, either basic or advanced, shows MJ was better than Kobe. Single-season and career PPG, single-season and career APG, single-season and career RPG, single-season and career FG%, single-season and career SPG, single-season and career BPG, single-season and career TOV%, single-season and career PER, single-season and career WS, single-season and career WS/48, single-season and career TS%, single-season and career TRB%, single-season and career AST%, single and career post-season PPG, single and career post-season PPG, single and career post-season APG, single and career post-season RPG, single and career post-season SPG, single and career post-season BPG, single and career post-season FG%, single and career post-season PER, single and career post-season TS%, single and career post-season PER.....the list goes on and on. -While playing one less season than Kobe, MJ has one more championship, 4 more Finals MVP's, 4 more regular-season MVP's, one more DPOY, one more All-Star appearance, one more All-NBA 1st team, 8 more scoring titles, same amount of All-Defensive 1st teams, and 1 more ROTY. In other words, he'll never reach MJ in terms of accolades. -MJ got All-Defensive teams he didn't deserve. Maybe, maybe not, but I can tell you first hand Kobe has not deserved the majority of his in the last 5-6 years either. For him to be ahead of guys like Tony Allen, Wade, Sefolosha, and Bogans at the G positions is ridiculous. From 05-07 he was lazy as hell defensively and consistently got burned, but got his 1st team selections off reputation, just like you are saying MJ did. And I can tell you when MJ was locked in, he was a better one-on-one defender than Kobe ever was, and he made more of an impact in the passing lanes (led the league in steals 3x) and with weakside blocks as well. Those are just the facts I presented. I can give you an actual analysis of MJ and Kobe, their actual games, if you prefer. But, I think when it comes to MJ's greatness and overall what he's done in his career, it clearly outshines what Kobe has done...that is something that CANNOT be argued. The only arguement you can make for Kobe is over hypothetically what they are capable of as players, but there is no question MJ dominated the league and acquired the kind of stats and accolades that Kobe never will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofMwRzJynnc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G6Wd8IZZjM I saw a few of these topics on RealGM throughout the playoffs, and someone linked to this video but I didn't decide to post this until now. That video is from last year's playoffs, and while I don't think LeBron's vertical has changed much, I do think he's lost a step in the speed department. He just doesn't have that same speed off the dribble anymore, whether it be first step or full-steam. It really makes you wonder just how much longer he has until he really needs to further develop his jumper and post-game because he has played an incredible amount of minutes his entire career, mixed with some deep post-season runs, and he's only going to go downhill. Looking at this video (and other from years past) and it also seems that he was a tad bit heavier this season than past years, which may have also slowed him down a bit. Just an observation. EDIT: The first video I linked was the wrong one, but that also offers some plays that show the difference in his speed from then 'till now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmJfOf3Vag

The MLE can be a long-term deal. Considering Arenas' and Hedo's histories, it's not unreasonable to assume Dwight isn't the problem there. And there is only so many things you can do with words when it comes to being the leader of the team...talent and coaching is what makes a champion, and the Magic do not have enough talent to compete (even if they get Smith and keep Richardson, who is a FA I believe), don't have the flexibility to sign any real star to put alongside Dwight, and the jury is still out on SVG. In other words, Orlando is not a great situation to be in for Dwight...not with teams like Chicago, Miami and NY on the rise in their own conference.

No way do the Nets trade Williams for Howard, it's a lateral move. They will give up Brook Lopez, picks and the ability to take in one or two of the Magic's massive contracts (Arenas, Hedo). Brook Lopez isn't the prospect Bynum is, but he's still a young, talented center who doesn't have the injury history Bynum does, and a half-season of playing with Williams will definitely increase his stock. If the Nets start making subtle moves this off-season, they can equip themselves with a few more draft picks and whatnot.

Dwight was saying these things DURING the season, in regards to his teammates and how it's either hit-or-miss about their desire to win. It's nothing new. It says in the article how some of them crumble when they get criticized by their teammates. I don't know what more you want. And on the court he was incredible last season, arguably a top 3 player in the league. He still has a few holes in his game (ability to pass out of the post consistently, free throw shooting), but he was absolutely dominant last year. Smith is a FA this summer and probably will only command the MLE.

Who would give them a decent player in return for either of these players? And they had a legit shooting guard this season, Jason Richardson, along with those 2 players and they still couldn't get past the first round. Parker isn't worth the full MLE. He'll be 36 next season and doesn't offer anything besides shoot 3's at a solid clip and defend. He'd be a nice addition for close to the minimum, but giving him the full MLE would be the Magic once again overpaying for a role player, which is one of the things that got them in this position to begin with. He averaged 27/16 on 63% shooting against the Hawks in the playoffs and they lost in 6, so obviously it'll take more than just Dwight.

The Magic have continued to [expletive] themselves over since they gave Rashard Lewis that massive contract, and they are in this position by their own doing. I don't see how they can possibly make a move to give Dwight the 2nd superstar needed to compete in the East, so they must trade him before they get the Cleveland/Toronto treatment. The Lakers have a huge trade chip in Bynum, but his stock will rest on his health from now up until the trade deadline. They also could dangle Odom or Gasol in that trade as well, which is the luxery they have from having such a talented/deep frontcourt. The Nets have Brook Lopez, who is a reliable, proven 20PPG big man, and also the cap flexibility to take on big contracts and also provide draft picks. OKC has Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka and Perkins (assuming he resigns) they could use as trade bait, however they are in a market that Dwight may not approve of. Chicago has Noah who may be of interest for the Magic. And if the Heat panic, they might just consider doing a straight LeBron for Dwight trade. I am sure NY will be in trade discussions, but they have 0 prospects they can offer. It's gonna be interesting. Those teams, besides NY, all have pretty lucrative pieces the Magic can take back.