Nitro

That sucks It's nice and clear here in NJ, moon looks pretty damn awesome.

Arroyo pretty much never plays well against really good defensive teams. As it is his offense isn't too impactful, and his defense is absolutely horrible. As Miller gets his rhythm back, I think we will see about 8-10MPG with Wade at PG, LeBron/Miller/Jones at the wing spots, and Bosh/Howard/[insert C by commite] down low. Wade can't be any worse than Arroyo defensively at the PG position, and Miller would give them an elite shooter, someone who can make plays for others and as you saw tonight, he's tremendous on the boards for a SG/SF. There can be so many variations to the lineup now that Miller is back that can really, really open up this offense.

http://www.ticketsolutions.com/blogs/intentional-foul/images/tebow316.jpg

In no way, shape or form should Ellis be over Ginobili. If we are assuming perfect health, then Ellis isn't even in the top 5. Kevin Martin is way too high. Give me all those other players, including Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Stephen Jackson and Vince Carter, over Martin. You can maybe argue that Roy and Arenas don't deserve to be ahead of him with their poor play this season, but I'd still take them over Martin. Martin scores and THAT'S IT. Going by how they are playing this year, I'd take JJ over Roy, and J-Rich and Allen over both.

Also, forgot to mention in my previous post, but why the hell didn't Spo play Dampier tonight? It's the first time since the streak started that he didn't play...coincidence? The most dominant part of their streak, the few games before and after the win at Utah, Dampier was getting double digit minutes. Since he's seen his minutes decrease they've played like crap 3 of the last 4 games. They barely got by the Cavs, crushed the Knicks, got lucky against the Wizards, and obviously lost tonight.

LeBron is the reason the Heat lost. His shooting was awful, he froze Wade (who I thought played far better than LeBron did offensively) out with his vice-grip on the offense, and every time in the 4th quarter where there was a rebound or loose ball to be fought for between he and Marion, Marion won the battle. Just a horrible, horrible game from LeBron, especially on offense. Mavs defense was awesome, and Terry lit the Heat up big time in the 4th quarter. As mentioned before, Marion was great on the glass and was beating out people for 50/50 balls left and right.

LINK I'm very excited to get a chance to see it tonight. FYI, the moon will look like this at around 3:15am EST: http://www.eclipsetours.com/darkertle.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUaFMOlPvgQ Wish all rap was like this *sigh*.

I think since earlier in the season Bosh has really excelled as a guy who can play off LeBron/Wade. His midrange jumper is absolutely money, and he is getting a lot of opportunities to nail that shot this season. He's still getting iso's, and still doing well in the face-up game, but obviously Bosh iso's aren't going to be a focal point in an offense with 2 of the 3 best players in the world on the roster. Because a major portion of his game is now more perimeter oriented than in past years, and because he's working harder on defense, he just doesn't have as many rebounding opportunities as in year's past. Still, he should be grabbing more than 8 boards per game, which has been his average since October.

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/ivanacuna_cpa/pillsbury_doughboy.jpg

ROFL.

Because he still is not a better player than a number of superstars that people claim he is better than, he is not a top 5 caliber player yet, besides scoring he does not make a significant impact on the game (Kobe/Wade/LeBron/Howard/Paul/Williams make a significant impact in at least 2 areas of the game, so if their scoring is taken away, they can still help dominate a game), and this season and in the series against the Lakers he wasn't even the best player on his own team. He's also being anointed as a player that he currently is not, with the reasoning always being, "He's the youngest scoring champ ever. He's humble. He almost upset the Lakers." All that is fine, but right now Wade/LeBron/Kobe/Williams/Paul/Howard have all gotten their teams further in the post-season, 3 of them can also win the scoring title while having much better overall games and the other 3 can be equally dominant as Durant is with his scoring in different areas (Paul/Williams with their playmaking, Howard with his defense), and to put it plainly Durant is simply not on their level yet. I'm too lazy to find the quote, but I'm 95% sure he said Durant was already the 3rd best player in the league.

Yeah when I saw that 2nd play yesterday, I was amazed he had the balls to try that. He almost really hurt James Jones on that play, as well as himself, so he should really reconsider his priorities before he tries that again.

Yes, if you receive considerably more hype than you are currently worth, that puts you in the "overrated" category. And last season he also had Westbrook tearing it up, Green playing extremely well, and a solid, motivated, young supporting cast who bought into the coach's gameplan. It was an impressive showing by Durant, but it doesn't warrant him being a top 5 player in this league as far too many anoint him to be, and it doesn't warrant all these insane hype he's been receiving. There may be a few other players who may be more overrated in terms of their hype in relation to their productivity, but because the media and fans magnify Durant so much, it stands out so much more. That same type of mindset is the same as the majority of the NBA media/fan population. As I said, there were analysts that were saying he maybe had passed Kobe last season. Kenny Smith said he was the 3rd best player in the league over the summer. Many, many people were acting like he was the 2nd coming of Jordan after the World Championships. To put him on Kobe/Wade/James' level is embarrassing, and I think it is quite far-fetched to call him a better player than CP3/Howard/Williams. Yep. I don't keep up with their race to the MVP rankings, but he hasn't deserved a mention...he's been very inefficient scoring the ball this season, has more turnovers than assists, and IMO Westbrook has clearly had a better season thus far (including carrying them to wins with Durant out).

Haha I am holding a Smith & Wesson with 30 .45cal bullets sitting by my side right now...who wants to [expletive] with Nitro? Bring it [expletive]gots I'll blow ya mother [expletive]in heads off and use the sticker from my fitted to cover up ya wounds.

He's 6'11'', plays 40MPG and grabs 6.7RPG. As I said, average to above average. He's not a great rebounder, he's not a bad rebounder...he's good. He averages more turnovers than assists...for a perimeter player, that's very poor. When you're putting him on the same pedestal as Wade, Kobe, James, Paul and Williams, that's a major detriment. He's not a great ballhandler, he doesn't have great court vision and simply does not know *yet* how to make his teammates better in that regard. It may come eventually, but right now he doesn't have it. Basically, that makes him a more efficient Carmelo Anthony on offense. That's certainly not a bad thing, but it doesn't make him a top 5 player in the league. And wherever he ranks among SF's in assists, you have to factor in he's playing 40MPG, where as other, possibly better playmakers, may be playing only 20-30MPG. He's a pretty good defender, but that's it. He's not as bad defensively as Melo, but he's not on the same level as Wade/Kobe/LeBron. First off, in Swish's topics ranking the best players in the league according to OTR, Durant is ranked 4th, ahead of CP3, and almost beat out Wade for 3rd. There was people in the MEDIA, who ride Kobe, saying that Durant may have surpassed him last season. I've seen a number of people say they'd take him over LBJ right now. So yes, people are making these claims. Secondly, who cares if he's only 22? Who cares if he's down to Earth and humble? It's like LBJ all over again, with people anointing him to be something he still hasn't shown he can be yet. I am not saying he can't be what some envision him as, but his play over the last year does not warrant the amount of hype he's been receiving.

Sure, I'll explain it. He's being labelled as a top 5 player in the league by many people, with a good number of people calling him better than Kobe last season, and better than guys like LeBron, Wade and Paul now. He's a tremendous scorer, but that's it. He's an average rebounder for his size, maybe slightly above average for a SF playing nearly 40MPG. He's an average defensive player who's length can give some players problems, but he isn't especially athletic and is a bit flat-footed, so he can be taken off the dribble, and his thin frame can be bullied by the stronger SF's in the league. MOST IMPORTANTLY, he's an average to below-average ballhandler, and he doesn't have the court vision or playmaking ability to consistently be a guy you can run your offense through. Because of this, he cannot carry a team like Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Paul and Williams do, and he doesn't make the kind of defensive impact a guy like Howard does to make up for that. Also, because of his below average ballhandling and playmaking ability, he's not the greatest option in clutch situations when the ability to iso and make the best possible play off the dribble is a premium...hence his poor clutch stats (according to 82games.com) over the last 2 seasons. And Hawks Fly High, yes, that does apply to Bosh as well, but Bosh isn't being called better than LeBron by a number of people, and isn't being called a top 5 player in the league like Durant is.

Dwight Howard. He should be in the top 5.

Mo and Varejao destroyed the Knicks in that OT. Mo was liting it up and Varejao was simply outworking Amare for boards. Great win for the Cavs, and tough loss for the Knicks.

The Heat had no business winning this game, although after that Jazz loss earlier in the year when Milsap went nuts, they were bound to get the benefit of karma.

This. I don't understand how everyone can say Bosh is the most overrated when, well, everyone is saying he's the most overrated. Most people were calling for his head just a few weeks ago, severely underrating his abilities. No, he is not the best PF in the league, and he is soft, but he's certainly one of the most talented and skilled big men in the league. I'd possibly agree if we were talking last season, but now he's being viewed as dirt by most people because of him being a 3rd option and having a poor start to this season.

I like the Arenas for Shard trade for both teams. Arenas was wasting away in Washington and needed a change of scenery, which he is getting. He will fit in with the Magic's system, and give them a guy who can create his own shot in the 4th quarter (although so can Hedo and J-Rich now). As bad as his contract is, Lewis' isn't any better, and I do feel Arenas is the better player with a higher ceiling for success in Orlando. As for the Wizards, getting rid of Arenas will help open things up for Wall, and Lewis will give Wall a nice, proven scoring weapon to work with who doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective.

I'm not quite sure why the Magic want Hedo back. His main strength with the Magic was his playmaking ability, but with Arenas now on the team, that role will not be the same. Also, they have to now deal with his crappy contract, although to be fair it isn't much worse than Gortat's. Love the VC for J-Rich swap, though.

How so? One of the main reasons the Wizards want to get rid of Arenas is because of his horrible contract. Lewis' contract isn't much better, and Carter is an expiring. Secondly, having Arenas makes Carter redundant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiEo9NT9t_w Great song.