Nitro

Melo's been nothing special so far. He's playing hard, but his game still has a lot of holes. And until we see this team with a healthy/somewhat healthy Amare, it's impossible to say. Since Amare came to NY he hasn't had this level of PG play, 'nor the defense, veterans and depth that the Knicks are now stockpiled with. It will be a lot easier for him now to mesh offensively now that he's got guys like Kidd and Felton (who was his teammate when he was playing at an MVP level), and defensively and on the boards he's got plenty of guys to make up for some of his deficiencies. Or, it could all go to shit and he will 100% be the black sheep. But we need to see him with this roster for a good stretch before we make that assumption.

The gas arguement is so stupid. Gas was so low because the entire economy just crashed. Literally two months earlier gas was well over $4.00 here in NJ, which was by far the highest I've ever seen it.

Lakers just look awful right now. They are incredibly slow-footed and lazy defensively besides Dwight (who did a good job on that end last night), and offensively they are having trouble finding someone to collapse the defense besides Kobe (who has been awesome so far on that end). They are completely helpless when other teams push the tempo against them, and with Dwight and Pau clogging up the lane, and Mike Brown not playing guys like Meeks who can stretch the defense, the spacing is really ugly right now. As I've been saying for 3 years now, Artest needs to go. Give this team a guy like Ariza who will give them defense as well as the occasional explosive offense (fastbreaks and paint penetration), and everything will definitely look more cohesive and balanced. Right now, teams like Miami, OKC, SA, LAC and plenty of others can run laps around this team, and most of them have deepers benches. The Lakers will get it together with this roster at some point and be a championship contender and win a ton of games, but there are still 1-2 tweaks that need to be made for them to realize their potential. Miami went through similar problems their first season...getting Arroyo the [expletive] out of the lineup, stopped playing House and Ilgauskas, got etc... It takes a lot of work when you totally revamp a team and system to get everything to gel, which is why it is far from panic time. However, the issue of athleticism will kill them in the post-season, and that is the one area they really can't improve on unless they change the roster and/or minutes distribution.

I'm surprised Harden is starting out this hot since he had no training camp or preseason with Houston, but I knew he had the talent to put up big number. Not quite like he has the first 2 games, but he is of the Manu Ginobili mold...can adapt to a contender while not being the star, but has the skills to take over games when he is relied on to do so. Last season he was historically efficient in large part to how much he draws fouls, and that is continuing so far in Houston. He is very, very well-rounded offensively, and while I have doubts he can be a superstar that can win playoff games with defenses keyed in on him, I definitely think at the very least he is on prime Joe Johnson-level.

Moreso than the finishing, it's his ability to draw fouls and shoot well from the FT line that makes him extremely efficient. His FG% will take a dip this year, but overall he should still be an efficient scorer. I agree with everything else you said, though, 20/4/4 sounds about right.

Out of power. Rain hasn't been bad but the wind is really destroying the area I am in. Lots of damaged houses, things exploding and falling trees.

How are we ranking the top 5? Based on ability and skill, or production? Ability and skill? No. Those 4 guys plus Nash/Rose are proven commodities, and all but Westbrook have led very good teams as the #1 guy to the playoffs and farther. They also did it with big time production and leadership. Irving could very well blow up and do the same types of things this season, and he certainly has the talent. He is not Tyreke...he is not stuck between position like he was, and he's a lot more polished and well-rounded as a scorer and passer. He just needs to learn the in's and out's of the game and how to be a great leader. He's capable of both, but those other guys are proven and have done a lot as franchise players. Production? Definitely. With Rose's injury, and Parker not being as heavily relied on to make things happen as Irving, I can definitely see him being top 5 as far as stats go.

...and so it begins. Doesn't matter how talented the kid is. With his injuries and attitude, he's never gonna be a true franchise player. Something is gonna have to change with those two areas before he will live up to his potential.

Linkage? Heard good things, at least as far as a mainstream album goes. I can actually tolerate Meek so I'm interested.

Only listened to this song, just now for the first time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCAV6tonYh0 Holy shit so much better than Section 80. Please someone hook me up with linkage!!!

Non-torrent linkage, anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxo9LSWFbLw So G.O.A.T.

Overall, Jordan is more talented and when he's on he makes a far bigger impact on both sides of the ball. However, a lot like players like Javale McGee, his play is bi-polar. On a bad day his FT shooting gets horribly exposed, he is not engaged, and his need to go after every block can expose his defensive flaws and lead to easy baskets. Gortat's ceiling isn't as high, but he's more consistent and stable. People tend to underrate his ability, but he is a very capable defender, rebounder and has decent offensive talent.

Amare isn't a one-dimensional isolation scorer. He is a tremendous PnR player who also can make strong cuts to the rim off-ball. The whole thing I'm getting at is he hasn't had a true PG on the team really since he got to NY. Without that, he is relegated to iso scoring, and if you add in the injuries and extra weight/position change that he had last season, it is a recipe for a down season. I am not say make dramatic alterations...he doesn't have to. For that matter, neither does Melo, at least offensively. Kidd is 39 years old. He no longer can effectively guard quick PG's. He can no longer finish on drives to the rim. He no longer can play 40MPG. What he still can do is orchestrate an offense, run PnR's, distribute the ball in a balanced way factoring in talent, and hit the occasional 3...that is what the Knicks need offensively. Having him will give Amare totally new ways of getting the ball in sweet, efficient spots without having to iso, which he hasn't had with the Knicks for the most part. With Dallas his usage was bound to be low because of the offense they ran. This is a totally different team with different coaching. Kidd will be of a lot more use with NY than he was with Dallas. You live and die by superstars. They can't get rid of Amare's contract, and trading Melo is very risky. The only chance any team has to make noise nowadays is with strong play from multiple superstars. NY hasn't had the talent around these two that they have now, 'nor have they even had a full training camp before this year. One down year from Amare shouldn't mean putting up on the bench, especially considering all the circumstances.

I didn't say moving Chandler to the bench would be a wise choice, but that's how crazy moving Amare to the bench would be. Amare had one down year. He played much of it without a real PG. Before last year many considered him a top 10-15 player, and just 2 years ago he was a legitimate MVP candidate for half the season. To move him to the bench now would be premature and insanely risky for the reasons I mentioned in my last post. The fact of the matter is if they did kill his psyche, the Knicks would NEVER be a contender. Only with his talents along with Melo do they have any chance. The Knicks ain't moving his contract either, so breaking him mentally would be suicide for the franchise. I am not ready to say they absolutely can't coexist. As I said, since they came together they've had such little time with a true PG (and I don't even consider Billups to be that). When you have two scorers who aren't strong playmakers you NEED a very good PG to figure out how to make it work. They may not be the ideal combo, but Amare proved with Nash he can be elite without being extremely ball-dominant, and with Kidd and a little work I fully believe Melo can develop some off-ball skills. I remember the first year of the new Miami Heat, and when things were going rough early on people were suggesting Wade come off the bench. He is naturally an alpha male, and even though in many ways it made sense, they didn't do it. And eventually Wade, and the rest of the team adapted, from LeBron to Bosh to the role players to Spo. Amare has that same personality, and there is too much talent on the Knicks to give up, even if in some respects bringing him off the bench makes sense.

$8M is about right. He is a very talented defender and has decent rebounding and occasional offensive capabilities, though those skills are maximized with the talent he plays as well as Thibs awesome defensive schemes. There are other players in the league that could have made a similar impact that he does on the Bulls, but because of their situations their skills weren't maximized or noticed. So, players equal to Gibson (maybe not proficient in the same areas) will command millions less.

Hahahaha funniest part of any debate I've ever seen.

Obama's doing a great job so far, though this debate is a little unfair for Romney. Foreign policy is one of those issues that is really hard for a guy who hasn't been in the position to debate, way moreso than domestic policy. Also, Obama has done a lot of the things Americans wanted (getting out of Iraq, getting Osama) when he was a candidate in 2008. Romney isn't doing a bad job and is saying a lot of good stuff, but Obama is winning this one.

Obama, and no President would ever JUST kill their way out of the Middle East, and I thought it was a bad mis-step to make a big deal about it and then as a rebuttal make that the first thing you bring up.

Amare is a max player that still has a ton of talent, but is coming off a down year...to stick him on the bench already could be disastrous to his psyche. And, IMO, the smarter move would be move Chandler to the bench. Either way the minutes ratio wouldn't be too different, and Amare at C is proven to make him a lethal offensive player. But the whole symbolic effect of moving THE guy who chose NY in the 2010 offseason and revived NY basketball to the bench is just wrong.

Lol Romney opens up by saying that we can't kill our way out of the issues in the Middle East, then as a response to Obama saying his strategy is all over the place the first thing he says is, "My objective is straight-forward, to kill the bad guys."

Foreign policy has a direct impact on many of our domestic issues, including the economy.

In theory he'd have to post up less. At the 3 he has the physical advantage against his opponents, so posting up is the better, more efficient philosophy. However, at the 4, his strength is his quickness and taking his opponent away from the paint, which opens up lanes for his teammates. The issue, at least from his perspective, would be the defensive side of the floor. It's basically the same as the Amare situation at the 4/5.

I think Philly's defense, slashers and Bynum's ability as a #1 guy mesh well enough to be a slowed down, grind it out team when they aren't getting out on the break. Of course they aren't the Celtics when it comes to halfcourt execution, but I think the flow of the team, from offense to defense, works more when things are slowed down and organized. I don't know if the team is smart or explosive enough offensively to be very effective playing a Denver-style game. With GS, I think everything about them besides Bogut is finesse. They are suited to be an offense that's free-flowing and quick with shooters, and a defense that takes chances to ignite open court offense. They have opportunities to be explosive on offense, but I think that will largely negate Bogut's abilities and what he can offer them offensively. Defensively, he is a very good shot-blocker, but I have doubts about how well he can make up for their other players' deficiencies. He is not a Ben Wallace, Kevin Garnett or Dwight Howard defensively, who have/had the agility to cover up mistakes all over the floor. Will he improve their defense? Certainly. But I still think they will be average at best. Same with the offense.

Long rebounds tend to hurt offensive rebounding for legit 7 footers with Bogut's physical attributes, especially quality ones around the rim which allow for tip-ins and quick putbacks. However, if you put Bogut on a team with a few great slashers, he'd kill it on the boards. I was going more by their early season start when everyone, for the most part, was there and healthy. I remember their offense being significantly slowed down in Mark Jackson's system to begin the year, even with Monta and Curry. Bogut will definitely help in that regard, but without the defensive talent around him I don't see him being able to make the kind of impact Bynum will. My point was basically how well Bynum fits in with the Sixers as opposed to Bogut in GS. Bynum fits in well with their defensive philosophy, will help ignite fast breaks, and he fits in their methodical halfcourt sets as a viable first option. Bogut's defensive attributes will not be maximized, and I don't feel he is a good #1 option and I question how his style of play will fit in with the Warriors. Unlike Philly, GS's supporting talents will work best IMO in a free flowing offense ala Denver. However, I doubt Mark Jackson will implement that type of offense, and I don't think Bogut is good enough to be the offensive anchor for the team.