Nitro

http://listentoleon.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/shaq-kazaam.jpg Shaq says hi.

It's the basketball media section, and I posted a video that a lot of people would be interested in and is relatively rare...what the [expletive] is your problem with this thread? And besides, your point is retarded as usual. What on the basketball court could T-Mac not do in his prime? He had the handles of a PG, had the court awareness and passing ability approaching LeBron/Pippen level (which is why he was running the Piston offense this season despite not being able to penetrate the lane and collapse a defense), had the footwork and overall offensive arsenal of a slightly poor-man's Kobe, and rebounded very well. The only real aspect of his game from a talent/IQ standpoint that he did not possess was defensive fundementals, but in his prime he was still one of the best shotblocking SG's since Jordan. Where he lacked was determination to work hard and improve. He did that in his final year in Toronto and first few years in Orlando, and that can be seen by how he evolved as a player. However, once he got to the point where he was only 1 of 3 SG's in NBA history to have a PER of over 30 for a regular season (Jordan and Wade being the others) when he averaged 32/7/6, he got complacent. He clearly had the capabilities of working hard to improve his game, as he showed earlier in his career, but he simply quit trying to better himself.

Love it, my new wallpaper. I actually have a shirt with that picture being the focus (the picture is saturated in a beige color on a black shirt) and it's sick.

I like the trade for both teams. Iggy has no future with the Sixers and in some ways has worn out his welcome. On the Clippers he'd be an awesome fit; he'd have a lot of offensive talent around him to where he can be a 2nd/3rd option and can handle some of the playmaking duties, while locking down other team's wing players. It also opens up a lot of minutes for DeAndre Jordan to continue to develop and reach his potential. For the Sixers, they get a big salary dump, open up minutes for Turner, and could potentially improve with a borderline top 5 center when healthy (which would just be a bonus as that's not really the focus of this trade).

Pretty sweet, of all the tracks on the new album I've heard (only a few) this is my favorite.

Jordan had more 40 and 50 point games his first year with the Wizards than Kobe had this past season, and that's despite missing 20 games, having not played in 3 years and was 38-39 years old. In his last season he had the same number of 40pt games as Kobe had this past season. Whatever point you're trying to make is plain wrong.

http://jockpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/skip-bayless-dougie.gif http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss174/Shkodran1/LeBrickBayless.png Tomorrow's 1st and 10 is gonna be EPIC.

Miami really blew it during those few minutes Dallas was playing zone. Turnover after turnover after turnover...they played dumb. IMO in those situations it is best to play through Bosh as he'll have an advantage on either side of the floor, and it'll be easier for him to create dribble penetration on the wings rather than Wade or James from the top of the circle. As great as Wade played, he really blew it on the missed free throw and fumble on the last play of the game. LeBron was just awful tonight. Last game he at least shutdown Terry in the 4th, but tonight he made no noise AT ALL offensively, and defensively he was getting burned by Marion and Terry. Everytime he got the ball in a position where he really should have taken the shot, he passed it off to a player with a worse look (such as the pass to Bosh at the FT line with 4 second left on the shot clock, but was bailed out by a Stephenson foul from behind). If the Heat want to win this series, he has to be a playmaker along with Wade.

Good first half by the Mavs, especially since Dirk was defended as well as he has the entire series. Terry was aggressive and made a lot of plays, Chandler has been very good defensively, and Stephenson hit 3-4 3's. LeBron really, really needs to turn on the switch and be aggressive...there is NO WAY he can not let the Mavs pay for leaving Kidd on him for long stretches.

I've already had me some rehab, and I'm still quite high off that :glasses:

Ha, give me a few pills and I'd break both your legs, give you an OTR-approved circumcision, ass-rape you until your shit looks like a creamy girl scout cookie, then shave off that stupid ass mustache and throw sulfuric acid on your upper lip and feed you your mustache hair through your upper lip hole. Then I'd just watch you for hours...and hours...and hours...then leave. I mean, umm, yeah....

Personally, no, I don't think it should. I think it'd be too difficult to govern, and there are too many shades of gray (i.e plays where there is contact but the players really sells it with the flop). I think what would work a lot better, and what would improve the overall officiating far more is adding another ref. This way each ref can have a more specific responsibility each play, and there would be less chance of a ref calling a foul on a guy because he sees a player flail his arms and fall out of the corner of his eye.

There's more than one way to get high...give me ecstasy and I'll be doing backflips into the sweet waters of friendship and trust.

Yep, sick move by T-Mac. Another one of my favorites that he used quite often (which Kobe eventually jacked and made a semi-regular move)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6c90zqlxE

High, easily. Getting drunk has a 'cheap high' feel to it, and I hate the actual drinking aspect of it. The only positive about drinking compared to other forms of getting high is how socially acceptable it is, and how you can go to any bar and club and get drunk with other people. But I prefer the actual feeling of being high, whether it be weed, ecstasy, opiates (heroin, dilaudid, oxy's, etc...), coke, acid, shrooms or benzo's (xanax, klonopin, etc...). The only drug I prefer less to drinking is DXM, also known as robo-tripping.

As I said before, that Rockets team was OLD, and yes injuries did hurt them...Drexler and Barkley missed a combined 50 games. If they played those games, don't you think there is a good chance they catch Utah for best record in the West? If they had HCA against Utah that post-season, a Finals appearance would have been likely. As mentioned before, 7 of their top 8 players that post-season were 33 year or older...that is extremely old. Once again, there is no point in bringing that trio up because A) they weren't at their best when they joined up, and B) 2/3 of Miami's trio are much better players than that trio's best, and Bosh is comparable to, or even better than each player in the Warriors' trio (I agree about Tim, but Bosh is comparable or better than Mullin and Richmond). You are SEVERELY overrating that 99-00 Blazers team...well, not so much the team as much as the individual talent. Besides Sheed and maybe Pippen, not a single player on that team was a star. Between Smith, Stoudamire, Grant and Sabonis, they have only 1 All-Star appearance in their entire CAREERS between them (Smith in 1998). Smith was an amazing shooter, but didn't offer much else, especially in Portland when Pippen and Stoudamire were taking care of all the ballhandling/playmaking duties. Stoudamire was a low percentage scorer who stat-stuffed on the Toronto Raptor expansion teams...he did very little in his career after those teams. Also, much like Smith, he was below average defensively as well. Grant is one of my all-time favorite players, but one of the best PF's in the game? Off the top of my head, I can name at least 8 PF's who were decisively better at the time...Duncan, KG, Malone, Sheed, Coleman, Webber, Brand (he was a 20/10 rookie), and Kemp. There are probably a few others I am forgetting. And Sabonis was a solid player for the Blazers, probably a perfect fit with his passing ability and craftiness, but he was in no way a star at age 35 (I can think of probably at least 10 C's who were better at the time). As for Pippen, he simply was not the same player by the time he reached the Blazers (or Rockets) that he was a few years prior. He lost a good deal of explosiveness and couldn't get to the rim or defend elite perimeter players (or play the passing lanes) like he used to be able to. Thus, his efficiency plummeted offensively, and defensively he wasn't quite the same. Don't get me wrong, he was still a very good player, but to say he was still in his prime is a joke...it's like saying Duncan is still in his prime. Also, as far as comparing them to the Mavs, I think it's a fair comparison. Dirk is a much, MUCH better player than Sheed was in 99-00, and while Pippen was a better 2nd option than what the Mavs offer, the Mavs have a few former, yet still productive All-Stars...Kidd, Marion and Peja, with a former 6th man of the year Terry, and a DPOY candidate in Chandler. The Mavs are proficient on both sides of the floor like the Blazers were, have great team passing and are primarily a jumpshooting team as well. First off, don't throw the "I'm guessing you didn't watch those games" line at me...I stayed up until 3-7am (which is when those game were broadcasted live in the US) EVERY SINGLE GAME in 2006 and 2008, and I watched the 2007 FIBA's as well (also the Team USA White vs. Blue exhibition where Kobe hit the GW). I almost take that as an insult because of how much endurance it took while I was juggling work and school around with it. If you go on BBW's old website, I have analysis of each game somewhere in there. 1) Either you believe the '90's had a much, much greater talent pool than the '00's squad, or those teams were built with better balance, because that can only explain the phenomenon you are talking about in that first paragraph. It's either the world quickly caught up with us (which is what EVERY respectable analyst who know the international game well)says), or we did a severe 180 and plummeted big time in terms of talent and capability. 2) We still beat Argentina (the defending Olympic champs) by 20...20!!! It doesn't matter if the team had a few lulls and the game was close for awhile, we still ended up blowing them out. 3) As I said before, I think you are severely undermining the importance of team chemistry. The main reason the Olympic team was so much better than the 02 WC, 04 Olympic and 06 WC teams was because they had a lot more experience playing with each other, and were able to build an identity, which was ridiculously good defense. And I don't even know why we are arguing this because the US still beat Spain in the Final game, and essentially blew everyone else out convincingly. Here's what you wrote that I initially responded to.... "Honestly I had my doubts about this team all year long. This for a simple reason, teams of stars usually doesn't work. Most of the best teams on paper haven't succeeded in the history of the NBA. Besides it happened many times that three superstars join forces in the history of the game and so far only the Celtics managed to get a ring. Yes Chamberlain, Baylor and West didn't win a ring together (the Lakers won the year Baylor retired), Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler failed too, same for Olajuwon, Barkley, Pippen. The 2004 Lakers with Shaq, Bryant, Malone and Payton (so four superstars !) didn't win as well, the 04 Mavs with Dirk, Nash, Jamison and Walker (okay Jamison and Walker ain't superstars but they were both stars at the time) failed too..." I was responding to the first line I bolded, and then to your comparisons of how those other "Big 3's" didn't work out. My whole entire point is that many of those teams, specifically Big 3's, were too old at that point to do what the Heat are doing now (whether the age showed up in their level of play or injuries, they are both huge factors).

Lol... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV52IrBoj90 ^Jordan with a prime Artest primarily defending him (the same Artest who destroyed Pierce in the playoffs the following season). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp__LVQvC7M ^41pts against a prime Shawn Marion.

Ellis is more efficient from the field, but Williams actually has a better TS%. Anyway, I don't like this trade for Philly. As someone mentioned, small backcourts simply don't work so well, and they'd be losing a lot of what got them to the playoffs this year...defense. Besides, I don't think Ellis is a great player for young teams. He doesn't make his teammates better, is a chucker and doesn't have much more upside than what we've already seen. Mix that in with the issue of his size, and he's a much better fit on an established playoff team as a Jamal Crawford type 6th man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8XvDImFE8 Absolute mastery of the midrange game. How he played here is a blueprint for how guys like Kobe, LeBron and Wade could go about evolving their games as they age.

As everyone knows, this is a must-win for the Mavs. They really need to find a new plan for defending Wade; whether it be giving Stephenson more minutes, or throwing hard doubles at him more frequently beyond the 3pt line. So far Kidd and Terry have been getting absolutely abused by Wade, specifically in the post, so Carslile needs to figure something out. I expect LeBron to have a big game tonight.

Well, tomorrow I'm either going to be released or violated from probation...court's gonna suck <_< BTW, sorry to hear about your cousin, Legacy. RIP.

There was simply too much to respond to in your post, so I'll just reply to a few things I have not touched on before... I never said those teams were too old to win, but those specific Big 3's (NOT teams) were not comparable to the Heat's trio because of their age. I am not necessarily talking about physical playing ability, either, but also the ability to stay healthy as well. I mean, look at Karl Malone in his year with the Lakers...the previous 20 seasons or so he had missed no more than 2 games in a season. With the Lakers? Missed half the season (which [expletive]s up team chemistry with that kind of project) and got hurt once again in the playoffs. You brush off the Barkely/Drexler injuries in '97, but 60 games into this season the Heat were on a 5 game losing streak and couldn't close out a game. Injuries from being older is a major factor, especially for these trio's that were only together a year. Richmond and Hardaway were drafted onto that team, which only had 3 years together...they were not in their prime. And in those 3 seasons, Richmond never even made the All-Star team. Also, that team had no player the caliber of Wade or James, and arguably Bosh either. So, once again, it's not a good comparison. A lot of stars? Only one player from that team was an All-Star that season, and that was Sheed. Pippen hadn't been an All-Star the previous few seasons, Schrempf was 37 and a role player, Sabonis didn't even get to the NBA until he was on the decline, and the rest of those guys were essentially glorified role players. They were a lot more like the current Mavs, with one star and a few former stars who are now role players. Not a good example at all. The 2006 squad was imbalanced and only had about 15 games together before they had to face Greece, who had been together for years. They also had to adapt to an entirely different set of rules as well as how the refs call the games. The reason the 2008 team did so well was because most of the team had 2-3 years of international experience together before that run to the Gold. And they struggled against Argentina? They beat them by 20. They destroyed Spain by over 30 the first game they played them, and every other game besides the Gold Medal game was a huge blowout. Even with those 3 years international experience, that team only had about 30-40 games played together. This Heat team has had training camp, preseason, an 82 game regular season and a long post-season to get it all together. Remember, it took them literally the entire regular season and a few games of the playoffs to get to the point where they are at now. That USA team did not have that same luxory, even though they had a bigger pool of talent. All my posts were not to refute your idea that the best teams on paper don't win it all...I didn't even think the Heat had the best team on paper before this season, I thought the Lakers did. All my posts did were showing how past "Big 3's" were not comparable to this current Heat trio. Also, you could make a much better case for saying the Heat should be up 3-0 as opposed to the Mavs. They beat the Mavs convincingly enough the first game, they had the biggest meltdown in Finals history in the second game, and almost blew another lead in the third game but pulled the thing out.

Mmhmm. What pisses me off more is how horrible the teams he led to the playoffs were. For a guy who averaged 29/7/6 for his career in the post-season, he should have had enough help at least once to get over the hump. He also had some really horrible luck with his teammates being injured come playoff time...Grant Hill with the Magic, Juwan Howard in 2005 (their 3rd best player), Wells in 2007 (a bit of a reach, but he was their only iso scorer besides Yao/T-Mac, and that specific team was horrible offensively), and then Yao in 2008 when they had homecourt AND considerably more help than the previous year where they pushed Utah to the last minute of Game 7. By the time 08-09 rolled around and he had enough help to make serious noise in the playoffs, his body finally broke down for good and he needed microfracture. He really is the most unlucky superstar I've ever seen. At his peak, one could argue he had as much raw talent as anyone in NBA history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1IY5ZFAxw Of course the Magic lost but still sexy.

Ripped this from RealGM, I'm sure the link is up somewhere. Anyway, glad to see him finally get a head coaching gig, although with no prior experience as an assistant I'm a bit skeptical.