Oliver P

Oh yeah right because of the storm... Man, they didn't even talk about it during yesterday's games, it didn't even occur to me that they would obviously cancel that game.. Bummer. Although it's just a baksetball game, the life of the people who live in the East coast is obviously more important and I hope that every DH member hasn't suffered too much from that storm. And that there won't be too much damage where Sandy is going. It was really sad to see New York after that storm.. I hope that New York will get back on its feet ASAP. I know it will.

The least we can say is that the Heat were quite impressive last night. They were in control the whole game and did not even need LeBron in the 4th to conclude the game.. Ray and Lewis are exactly what this team needed and they are now almost flawless (almost cause they might need another true big man as they got only Udonis and Bosh, but nothing's perfect anyhow..). If they stay healthy it's gonna be really hard to beat them this year. It was great to see Green back on court in Boston (well we saw him in the preseason but still, it was his first official game since 2011..), the C's sure are gonna need him at his best this year as they are a bit light inside since Perk's departure (Bass and Sullinger are nice but they don't make up for the loss or Perk). Jeff was not particularly great yesterday (that's the least we can say..) but he looked very good in the preseason and I liked the comparison that Scalabrine made during one preseason game, when he compared him to Worthy, the two players definitely look alike, Big Game James was faster and Jeff is a better shooter, but other than that they have a lot in common. This year might be the best season of his career. As for the C's they have a very nice team, and a better bench, but I doubt that even all the guards they have now can make up for the loss of Ray Allen. We'll see. It was great to see the NBA back anyhow, I even watched all the games yesterday. And they were all quite entertaining. Even Cavs-Wizards, with a huge Varejao. He's definitely the heart of the team now, he does all the dirty tasks and he's essential to the Cavs. And Kyrie is really impressive.. He's already at his best, in his first game of the season. I also loved Dion Waiters, this guy can become a very good NBA player. Still too early to tell but I think that this team might have a chance to make the playoffs. And I know that a lot of people are upset by the Lakers' loss and start to jump to easy conclusions... But let's not get carried away it was only one game (and I don't care about preseason games, it doesn't mean anything to me ; I don't know how many times I've seen teams being terrible in the preseason and play great in the regular season, and the opposite). All the players have to learn to play with each other and they all have to learn a new offense... It's gonna take time. We will only be able to judge this team in at least a couple of months. But they sure have a lot of work to do right now. As for the Mavs they were quite impressive yesterday, the new additions already fit very well, they already developped quite a nice chemistry. They played extremely well despite the fact that Dirk, Kaman and West weren't there... Well West is now waived so we will not see him in a Mavs uniform again (sadly.. I've always been a big fan of this player) but when Chris and Dirk will be back the Mavs will be scary. If Dirk gets rid of his knee troubles for good and manage to get back to his 2011 level, the Mavs can definitely win another ring. Anyway glad to see the NBA back, I'm really pumped for this season ! Man I love basketball so much... No one likes bball more than I do... As much ? Maybe but, pardon my French, it's just [expletive]ing impossible that someone loves it more than me. And I'm particularly pumped for Knicks-Nets tomorrow, our season opener. My favorite team vs my second favorite team. Yes cause the Nets are now officially my second fav team since they're in New York (I know that they were just across the Hudson river before but still, New Jersey ain't New York). Second but definitely not first though, I have been a Knicks fan for too many years to change now... The only way for the Nets to become my favorite team would be if the Knicks were moved to another city... And I hope it will never happen. Anyway I feel that this season is gonna be great. P.S. : I know that I talked about the three games in the Heat-Celtics topic but I just didn't feel like posting three times to talk about yesterday's games.. Sorry about that.

Seems that a lot of people in this thread think that Love is better than Dirk, or at least that a case could be made for Love.. Which does not surprise me as I've seen a lot of people saying the same thing the entire last season. Well I agree that Love is a terrific player, and he's had a terrific season, and I would agree that a case could "eventually be made for him" if it was all about the regular season but the fact is that.. it's not. I think that most people just totally bypass the fact that "IT'S IN THE PLAYOFFS THAT WE TRULY SEE WHO THE BEST PLAYERS ARE". That's a fact. And so as Love has not even been in the playoffs yet, he just cannot be in the discussion yet. Purely and simply. Now I understand that Dirk did not play at his true level last season but, as I said, one season just ain't enough to judge a player. ESPECIALLY that Dirk had a good excuse not to play at his best last years due to his back problems. Furthermore I would add that he was not as bad as people made him to be, actually he still had quite a good season (many players would love to play the way he did last year), he rather had a "medium" season. In fact I am sure that many people blame him for the "bad" season that Dallas had, well it is VERY important not to forget that the Mavs had a tremendous roster change in the 2012 season, they lost some valuable pieces, and as real life just ain't a video game, it is normal that this team did not have a great chemistry last year and Dirk just cannot be blamed for that. So I will only agree that a case can be made for Love if the two following things happened : Love makes the playoffs and shows that he can be as amazing a leader as Dirk showed he could be, OR if Dirk had another "bad" season next year (which would confirm that he wouldn't be in his prime any more). Then and ONLY then I would agree that a case COULD be made for Love. But right now it is just totally impossible. I repeat : RIGHT NOW Dirk Nowitzki still CLEARLY is the best power forward in the world.

Love and Griffin are still extremely young and have a lot to prove to be in the discussion (Love has not even made the playoffs yet). Amaré is older but he still has A LOT to prove as well nonetheless.. Pau is a second option. Chris Bosh is a third option and can be at best a very good second option but he's just no first option material. KG is clearly past his prime to be in the discussion now. And Lamarcus is getting up there but he still has a lot to prove as well, only been to the playoffs three times, only one as a first option, and never passed the first round (and was only once All Star). Now Dirk did not play at his true level last year but that's mainly because of injury problems (and he still wasn't that bad..), and one year clearly is not enough to judge. If he doesn't play well next year then we'll see.. (But I'd bet that he's gonna be back at his very best next season). The fact is that Dirk CLEARLY is the best power forward in the game RIGHT NOW.

Man I totallly forgot about this topic.. Well apparently the least that we can say is that this topic wasn't very succesful lol. Anyhow I'm still gonna give my opinion about it ; here it goes : I'd like to say that it's definitely impossible to give a 100% accurate answer to this topic. The 90's Bulls have not played in the 80's and never will so we will just never know... But I have to say that I agree with what's been said here, my personal feeling is that the Bulls would have won a couple of rings too. But I think that they COULD have dominate this decade the way they dominated the 90's though. The only thing I don't think that would have been possible is that they would have ended up ringless. I can't imagine that. But the other two possibilities could have happened IMO. Yes I think that the Bulls could have dominated the 80's indeed. This because of this : defense. Now I want to precise that I know that some people think that there was no defense whatsoever in the 80's but I'm certainly not one of them. I want that to be clear. I've watched many games of that era and it is definitely absurd to me to say that there was no D back then. Some of the greatest defenders ever played in that era, players like DJ, Coop, Alvin Robertson, Dumars, Bobby Jones, Moncrief, Cheeks, etc... But the fact remains that the defense was not as good as what it became in the 90's. And the 90's Bulls were in my opinion, not only the best defensive team of the 90's but one of the very best defensive teams ever. A case could even be made for them as the best defensive team of All Time. They had three of the very best defenders ever : Jordan, Rodman and Pippen. Many people even consider Pippen as the best defensive wing player ever and Rodman as the best defender ever. A strong case can be made for them indeed. They might be the two most versatile defenders ever. Pip could defend on any PG, SG and SF with the same efficiency, he could even defend on PFs. And Rodman could defend any player, no matter the position, from PG to C. And let's not forget about the Bulls' PF during the first Three Peat, Grant, who was a great defender too, he was the key player of the defense inside. The defensive intensity that this team had was just outstanding. Especially during the second Three Peat. Even Ron Harper, who had never been known for his defense before (he was a pure scorer before his Bulls years) became a key defender during the second Three Peat. This team's defense could literally annihilate any offense. Also I heard some people say (on other forums) that the 80's teams were too strong in the middle for the 90's Bulls, well I have to say that I don't entirely agree with that. Cause who were the truly best centers of the 80's ? Ewing and Olajuwon weren't in their prime yet, Jabbar started to decrease at the beginning of the 80's (ever watched the 84 Finals for example ? Jabbar was still valuable to the Lakers, don't get me wrong, but he was nothing to what he was in the 70's), Parish was a very good defender but on the offensive end his only weapon was his mid range jump shot (he was a star but clearly not a superstar), Gilmore was clearly not as dominant as he was in the 70's... Only Moses Malone was truly at his best. The centers were overall clearly better in the 90's to be honest, Ewing, Olajuwon, Robinson, Mourning and Mutombo were all at their prime and the young Shaq who was already a beast and, contrary to what most people believe, clearly dominated Olajuwon during the 1995 Finals (The Rockets won, but Shaq had clearly better stats than Hakeem, and to this day I still belive that had Nick Anderson made one free throw the Magic would have swept the Rockets). Yet the Bulls dominated easily despite that fact. So because of that and of their great defense and, as we all know, defense wins the game, I definitely think that the Bulls could have dominated the 80's. But as I said my personal feeling is that they wouldn't have though. Why ? Well because, as it's already been said, the best 80's teams were so stacked with talent that it's still hard to imagine any team dominating them... Besides, if the Bulls were clearly better defensively, it's the opposite on the offensive end. The 80's best offensive teams are IMO the best offenses ever. Especially the Lakers and Celtics ones of course. And I would like to add that the offense that impressed me the most is not the Lakers one, the showtime was the most spectacular one but I'm more impressed by the Celtics' offense, as a matter of fact the way that team played basketball is to me the way that basketball is supposed to be played. Bird and DJ are two of the greatest bball IQs that I ever seen. Possibly the greatest IQs I ever seen. And McHale's post moves were literally outstanding, I don't think that any big men had better post moves than Kevin in the history of the game. There's a reason why Jordan and Barkley said that he was the best big man of the 80's. I could talk about the Celtics, and the other best 80's teams offense for hours, there is no doubt in my mind that it's in this era that we've seen the best offensive teams ever. The Bulls offense was not as good IMO, I mean they still had a terrific offense (after all they had the best scorer of the history of the league) but their offense relied too heavily on Jordan and Pip. Contrary to the 80's teams who had overall a more collective game.

It seems that Big Shot Rob has a very, VERY short memory... In 2002 the Lakers won a ring with ONLY one good player coming from the bench : Devean George. And I'm not even exaggerating. I'll always remember it cause it's one of the weakest benches I ever seen. It's simple : Hunter was washed up, Shaw was washed up, Richmond was TOTALLY washed up (barely even played), Samaki Walker was.. Samaki Walker, and Medvendeko and Mad Dog barely played. The bench was so weak that Phil had to start Horry at PF, which he hated to do as he preferred to have him on the bench. George was the only DECENT player they had on the bench. And they won it all. While this year's Lakers have Jamison, Blake, Duhon, Hill, Meeks, Ebanks or Clark, their bench is better than the 2002 one by AT LEAST A MILE. So sorry Horry but that's definitely one of the stupidest things I ever heard. Now I'm not saying that the Lakers will make the Finals for sure, and I agree that the Thunder and Mavs definitely have a good chance to make it to the Finals as well, but there's one thing for sure : if the Lakers don't make the Finals, it will CERTAINLY not be because of their bench.

I usually only drink one bottle of Coke a week. On week ends. I used to be a heavy soda drinker when I was a kid, I drank soda at every meal, but not any more, I always drink water when I eat now (or wine when I eat a fancy meal, yeah cause it's just impossible not to drink wine to FULLY appreciate a fancy meal). I got used to a bottle a week a little more than ten years ago. Sometimes I can drink soda during the week but it's very rare. And Coke basically is the only soda I drink, Canada Dry (the only brand of ginger ale we got in France) and Schweppes Lemon are my other favorites but I mainly drink Coke. I would love to taste root beer or Mountain Dew though. You can't find those where I live... People here don't even know that root beer exist. The first time I heard about root beer was in the game Toejam and Earl, I had no clue what it was.. and thought it was like regular beer. I know better now but still haven't tasted it. Actually I've been wanting to taste it for around 20 years now lol. That's the first thing I'm gonna do when I'll be in New York : order a root beer. Hope I won't be disappointed.. I'm sure I won't. As for milk I like it but I don't drink a lot of it, I only drink a glass of hot chocolate per day, for breakfast. And I can't drink milk without cocao powder.. I don't drink as much alcohol as I used to too, now I only drink bowse on week ends. And not as much as I used to, only a few beers then a couple of glasses of wine during lunch on Sunday, and a glass of whisky on Sunday afternoon, with a cuban cigar. There are exceptions, I can drink bowse during the weeks but it's rare. Actually what I drink the most is water. And green tea. I love that stuff, I usually drink 2 or 3 cups of green tea a day. I also drink coffee but I prefer green tea, I only drink one cup of coffee per day. As for water I usually drink regular water but I also drink a lot of carbonated water, Perrier is my favorite.

It is purely and simply preposterous and outrageous that they stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles. But not because Lance didn't take any drugs.. but because everybody else did. Let's face it, doping is a huge part of today's sports. Now I am not saying that every professional athlete in every sport take drugs (although I ask myself that question sometimes..) but there is one thing I know for sure, it's that there are at least two sports in which EVERY single professional athlete uses doping drugs : bodybuilding and cycling. I have a friend who's an excellent cyclist, he was in a cycling club when he was a teen and he told me that most everyone used doping drugs. Important thing to consider : those kids were all about 15 ! My friend was one of the few who did not take drugs and of course he, as well as the few other ones who did not use drugs, simply did not stand a chance against the other kids.. One time, during a race, most of the kids took the wrong way and lost precious time, my friend did not make that mistake and so he should have won easily but the kids who took drugs managed to catch up with him and finished the race ahead of him.. Scary. So anyway if most KIDS in a little cycling club already take doping drugs, you can be 100% sure that EVERY single professional cyclist takes drugs. Here's how it goes in cycling when you wanna be a professional : every athlete has his personal doctors and they FORCE them to take drugs ; And teach them how to pass drug tests. If you want to stay clean you'll just have to get back home. Cyclists simply HAVE NO CHOICE at all. Those anti doping agencies are absolute jokes and serve no purpose at all. It just seems that they pick some cyclists at random sometimes, just to bother them and show the world that they both serve a purpose and that most of cycling is still clean.. Which is a huge lie. It's time to stop with all this hipocrisy and tell the truth about cycling and doping once and for all. They should even officially legalize doping for that sport for that matter, that wouldn't make any difference except that things would be clearer at least. The sad thing in that story is that they're gonna strip Armstrong of his titles to give them to someone who also used doping drugs.. And most people who have no clue of what's going in this sport will believe that Lance was a dirty person and a cheater... Whereas he was truly a great champion (he took drugs but, again, everyone else did so he didn't have a particular advantage on anyone and beat everybody, so yeah that's a great champion to me). Preposterous. Simply preposterous.

I have to say that I just could not believe it the first time I heard about this.. The Lakers got Howard for almost nothing. And now their roster just is totally amazing. I don't think I ever seen a team more talented than this one in the NBA. Very impressive. The most impressive thing about this roster in my opinion is how complementary all these stars are to each other. As a matter of fact most of the teams of stars we've seen in the past were made with players who always were the first option, the primary scorer, the leader of their team, it was the case with the past two seasons' Heat, the 08 C's, the 04 Lakers, the 96/99 Rockets, 67/71 Lakers, etc.. But this time only Kobe has a true scoring mentality. Yes, as we all know, Nash is a true PG who thinks first about passing the ball, Gasol was the first option in his Grizzlies days but we saw that he was clearly more fitted to be a second option as soon as he arrived in LA and he never had any problem with his new role, quite definitely the opposite, and Ron never was the first scoring option of his team, even at the time he was a more efficient scorer, he always was first a defensive minded player. Now it's true that Howard was the Magic's leading scorer since his second season in the league, has clearly improved offensively since his beginnings and is among the best scoring big men every year, but he's still not what we can call a pure scorer and he has never developped a truly efficient offensive move. His offensive game especially relies on his impressive athletic skills. He is and will always be first of all a defensive minded player. Which is why I am sure he will not mind share the ball more in LA, and focus more on the main strenghts of his game : defense, rebounds and blocks. Quite the opposite. So basically not only the other stars won't mind letting Kobe be the main man, the leader, but they'll certainly do all what they can to help him as much as they can. There shouldn't be any hierarchy problem in that team, and Kobe will certainly have the best help he ever had. Therefore, compared to the other teams of stars they should have less problems to adapt to each other's game. And, on the paper, this team seems to have everything. They got the best defensive inside player in the world, and the most dominant in the paint, and probably even the best defender (not the greatest man to man defender ever but clearly among the best help defenders of all time, and his presence alone has a huge impact on the defensive event of his team) (Howard), the one who got the best post moves in the world, who's probably the best passing inside player in the world, and who can shoot from anywhere on the court (even from behind the ark at times) (Gasol), one of the best PGs of all time (at least on the offensive end), who's among the very best passers and shooter of all time (Nash), one of the best defensive wing players in the world (even if he's not as good as he used to be, he can still make a difference on the defensive end) (Artest), and of course one of the best scorers and the best leader in the world (yes I believe that, despite the fact that he's SLOWLY getting out of his prime, Kobe still definitely is the best leader in today's game, I know that many thinks that LeBron is now the best leader but I highly disagree with that, best player maybe, but not best leader, some people now overrate him because of his ring ; he managed to get a ring as the best player of his team (and I give him credit for that) but this alone doesn't make him a great leader, the fact is that during that last championship run, and despite the fact that he had a huge impact on his team of course, he was at the same time never really tested in the clutch this time, he didn't lost it and kept cool during the last minutes of game 2 on the free throw line but that doesn't make him a true clutch player, he didn't have a great clutch performance (and didn't have to) à la Kobe, or Jordan, or even Nowitzki the year before during that run, and I just don't think he'll ever become the leader that Kobe is). Another great thing about this team is that they already have quite a good bench, and won't have to worry too much during the season about getting more depth like the Celtics, Heat, 04 Lakers or 96 Rockets for example. Well anyway I don't think I have ever seen a more impressive starting lineup. They're all not only true NBA starters but NBA stars (well except Ron who's more like an above average role player now but still). Up until today the most well balanced team I've seen were probably the Sacramento Kings, even if they ironically didn't win a ring. But they were not as impressive, on paper, and contrary to this team they lacked of a true leader (C-Webb was no leader material and Bibby had to step up in the clutch). They were not strong enough in their heads. This team shouldn't have the same problem. This team's main problem could be, in my opinion, injuries (Howard's not at his best yet and Nash, even if it doesn't seem so, is still getting older every year, and we don't know when he's gonna decrease, after all Malone didn't look to get old at all until.. he joined the Lakers and had to retire due partly to a bad injury ; it would be a terrible coincidence if the same happened to Nash this year) and maybe the lack of true shooters. Their only pure shooters are Nash, Blake and Meeks right now. Although when Kobe gets on fire he can be as good a shooter as Ray Ray (as we saw once again during the Olympics). And Jamison and Artest (although Artest tend to get crazy and think he's a pure shooter at times.. which he's not) can shoot from long distance. So it shouldn't be a problem. Especially that they still have a lot of times to sign other shooters anyhow. Another problem could be how Nash and Kobe are gonna play together. As a matter of fact Nash is not a scorer but he needs the ball in his hands to be efficient (quite normal as he's a PG) while Kobe is not used to play with a true PG, he's used to get the ball up court quite often, and he's gonna have to get used to the idea of not getting the ball in his hands as often as he's had during his career. Although Kobe has more relied on his teammates these last years, he's usually let his teammates play in the first three quarters and taken over in the last one. Besides both Kobe and Nash are very intelligent players so that shouldn't be a problem. Anyway it's important to remember now that the favorites to win it all this year are still the Heat right now (the champions are always the team to beat, except because of injuries or when they lose their leader or.. all their players) and that the team to beat IN THE WEST are still the Thunder. Besides, as I always say it myself, talent is not everything and the paper and reality are often very different things.. But honestly, this time, I have to admit that it's hard not to have this team as my favorites to win it all, even for me.

I honestly don't know what to expect of that game. It may be a blow out for the US, a very close win for the US or a win for Argentina... Really don't have a clue. Of course the most logical outcome would be a huge win by the US, no other team comes close to them in terms of pure talent.. But after the last game, and what happened during the last decade, I can't say that I would be surprised if Team USA lost that one. Just like most people I suppose.. We can now assert it : even if they've now taken the international games more seriously, even if they now have a solid preparation for the Olympics and the World Cup, even if they've now showed more respect towards the international teams and players, American players just don't know how to deal with the zone defense. The real one. Yes I am perfectly aware that the zone defense is now allowed in the NBA but it is important to know that this zone is not a REAL zone defense. Because in a real zone defense, the one they use in FIBA games, every player is allowed to stay in the paint for as long as they want, no matter how far away a player stands from their direct opponent. The five defenders can all remain in the paint at the same time, for as long as they want. Which makes scoring in the paint really hard, and basically force the opponents to shoot from long distance. And that is why I was strongly opposed to the introduction of the zone in the NBA the first time I heard about it. Fortunately they decided to change it a bit (as we all know) and in reality this introduction of the zone was only a good excuse to get rid of the "illegal defense" that no one seemed to know when and why they were called, it even seemed sometimes that the refs called it randomly... And so the zone D didn't have a big impact on the NBA games, definitely not as much as some people might think it had.. If the real zone had been introduced it would have had a HUGE impact, and a very bad one if you want my opinion, cause I've never been a fan of this defense, it's because of it that there is not enough variety offensively in the FIBA game, and that international players tend to shoot too much from long distance. Which is why I would love it if they used the NBA rules everywhere in the world (at the exception of the basket interference maybe, the only FIBA rule I would like to see in the NBA). But anyhow the fact is that, because of that, American players still ain't comfortable with real zone defenses. We saw that in the last game, when when all they did was to penetrate and pass the ball to a wing player for a three pointer.. and most of the time a missed three pointer. That's what they did the whole game long : iso and long range shots. Personally I just couldn't believe that they didn't try something else. That was just ludicrous. There's something very important to understand : you can't use isos in the FIBA games. You HAVE to PASS the ball. All the time. Well you can use isos, but only once in while. And Team USA has a lot of problems with that. Why ? Because they're all superstars, NBA superstars that are used to use a lot of isos. And have troubles to get use to play differently. Now there were only superstars in the Dream Team too, it didn't keep them away to play a perfect basketball. But the fact is that players back then were way smarter, they had a much bigger basketball IQ and they all mastered the fundamentals of basketball. They didn't need to have a heavy preparation to get used to the FIBA rules, they figured them out almost rightaway. And that's where we see the difference between basketball at the time and today's basketball. Now it is true that the international basketball has improved all over the world too, but definitely not as much as most people think.. And teams like Croatia, who the Dream Team destroyed in the Olympic Finals, were much better than most of the 2012 Olympic tournament. Also I think that there are too many superstars in Team USA. USA basketball staff seems to be totally obsessed with superstars. Personally I've been saying it for years, I've been saying that Team USA need to have role players in their teams. I think they should get 3 or 4 superstars (maybe 5 but no more) and fill the rest with role players. They don't have any 3 points specialist for example. How can you play a FIBA tournament without any three point pure shooters ?? Sure Durant, Love, Anthony are very good shooters but I wouldn't call them 3 points specialists at the same time. I think they would need a specialist like Novak, Korver or Ray, someone who gets on the court ONLY to shoot from behind the ark and can get on fire any moment. This kind of players would be terrific in the FIBA game. USA basketball staff seems to be so obsessed with stars that they prefer to pick a superstar wing player than a average center to replace stars like Bosh and Howard. And so they now have only Chandler and Love inside, two very good inside players but one is only a defender while the other spends too much time behind the ark on the offensive end. No back to the basket player. And their only other inside player is a rookie that they don't even use.. Total nonsense. Why couldn't they pick a DeMarcus Cousins, a Greg Monroe or a Paul Millsap, a talented inside player who brings size, rebounds and can score. That's much better than using Melo inside. Well anyway I think that tonight's game's gonna bring a lot of answers. It's gonna be very interesting to see how Team USA reacts to what happened in the last game. I said before that it could have a positive impact, as it reminds them that they need to play their best every game to get that gold medal, but it could also have a negative impact. As now they know that they can lose, it can trouble them and actually make them lose.. We're now see what these players really got, and how tough they are inside their heads. And no matter what they're now gonna have to change their games and PASS the DAM BALL ! Passing the ball is very important with FIBA, they have to understand that. Especially that LeBron won't be able to save them like he did in the last game every time. Team USA was actually lucky that Lithuania didn't have great players inside, cause I am personally sure that LeBron wouldn't have scored that easily in the paint against Spain and the Gasol brothers and Ibaka. Iso on LeBron wouldn't have saved them against Spain. Well there's at least one thing for sure : Argentina is a good team but they definitely are not as good as they were the last decade and Team USA SHOULD win that one by AT LEAST 20. But honestly I will be happy if Team USA wins that one, no matter if it's a blowout or a close one.

I'm glad the US finally won that game but I certainly don't feel like celebrating.. Really expected the US to show something else in the second half but they didn't. They just didn't play well in that game. They didn't play well but they won though, so it ain't that bad.. Anyway this game can only have a positive impact on the team though. It will remind them that anything can happen in one game and that it's not because you're the most talented team that you will get the win. And that they have to be at their very best every time to get the gold medal. Especially that Lithuania is not even the best non American team, Spain and Russia are both CLEARLY better teams. This kind of "under" performance should not happen again (I sure hope so). By the way is there still anyone who think that this team would beat the Dream Team ? Cause I'm sorry but anyone who thinks that clearly hasn't watched the 90's (no offense intended, that's really what I think). Not only the Dream Team was much better inside (obviously) but they had a much better passing game and a way higher basketball IQ. And defensively they had two of the best defensive centers ever, one of the best defensive PF ever and the two best wing defenders ever. Everyone's entitled to their opinion but I have watched the 90's and personally I have no doubt that the Dream Team would blow out this year's Team USA. Anyway I hope that Team USA will get back to their best against Argentina in two days.

Lithuania has played quite well but Team USA hasn't played very well.. That's the least we can say. Team USA's defense has been an absolute disgrace. They basically played no D at all.. And they shot too much from long distance. Well Lithuania's zone D is the first reason why, and the fact that US' major offensive threat inside (Kevin Love) loves to take 3's doesn't help.. Still they gotta pass the ball more (MUCH more and better) and play more in the paint. I can't say that I'm very surprised to see the US in trouble so far though, cause the fact that they literally destroyed Nigeria didn't help them, it gave them too much confidence in themselves. And they clearly have forgotten that they always need to play at their best in this first half. Yes Lithuania ain't as good as they used to be but they are not Nigeria or Tunisia, they're a much better team and Team USA should be at their best against them. I seriously expect to see something else in the second half. I don't want to see Team USA lose again. Especially that, as I said, Lithuania CLEARLY is not as good as they were the last decade. So a loss today would REALLY be outrageous. Team USA has to wake up as soon as the second half start. Let's go USA !!!!

Been fine man. It's been a while right haha ? Well I'm busier than ever in real life now and to be honest I prefer to spend my leisure time doing sport, hanging out or reading than being before a computer screen.. Still try to check out the forum once in a while. What about you ?

I won't be able to watch this one, just like the next one against Nigeria (it's too late here, gotta wake up early to go to work). But I ain't gonna miss much.. Anything can happen in sports but still, Tunisia and Nigeria are clearly the weakest teams of the tournament, no way they stand a chance against Team USA. No team stand a chance against the US anyhow.. Well Spain might have a little chance.. they're a very good team, and at the exception of the US they're clearly the best team of the Olympics. But if the US play at their best no one can beat them (no matter if Spain's better inside). As usual they are their own enemies. They're just way too much talented for the other teams, they should never lose a game. And always win by at least 20-30. I would be very surprised if the US didn't get the gold medal and Spain the silver one. After them it's gonna be between Argentina and Lithuania for the third place IMO. Both teams are clearly not as good as they were in the last decade but they're still quite good nonetheless. But clearly not at the same level as Spain and especially, of course, the US. I'll still be watching USA vs Lithuania on saturday. It should be a blowout but it sure will be more interesting than the games against Tunisia and Nigeria.. and I don't work on week ends. Let's go USA !!!!

Lol you don't have to tell me that Chuck, I know you were. I know you always root against the US... You're a sell out to your country man. Although I can't blame you as I am kinda a sell out to mine either.. Man if we could trade our citizenships I would do it in a heartbeat. You can trust me on that one.

I honestly love all of Seinfeld's moments and episodes, they're just all great. I can watch them all other and other again without ever getting tired of them. But if I have to pick only one I'll definitely go with this one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb5CAutu6wA

And you were right I am French indeed lol, but I've always loved the USA and it is actually my dream to one day become an American citizen. And to live in what I consider to be the greatest city ever : New York City. So I definitely root for Team USA. I always have. And no one was happier than me to see Carter posterize Weis in 2000 haha. Besides the NBA is the only league I am REALLY interested in and all my favorite players are Americans (except Dirk) so I would root for them even if I didn't love the USA that much.. So for all these reasons I am 100% for Team USA in this Olympic tournament. As I always have been.

Team USA should win that one by AT LEAST 30. And I sure hope that they will. C'm'on let's kick those dam frogs' ass ! USA USA USA USA !!!!

The first thing I would like to say in this thread is that LeBron James definitely deserves to be MVP this year. There is no doubt about that. Although I have to admit that I have a problem with LeBron as the MVP which is that I think that Durant would have deserved it even more. First of all I want to make it clear that I am not an anti LeBron, a LeBron "hater" (or anyone hater for that matter) so that is not why Durant was still my 1st choice for MVP this year. As I said above I have no problem with the pick of LeBron, he definitely deserves it (just like Paul, you could not go wrong with Durant, James and Paul for MVP this year, no doubt about that) but I just think Durant would have deserved it "a bit" more. Why ? For a very simple reason : because MVP does not mean the most talented player of the league but the Most Valuable Player. Not the same thing at all.. And in order to get this trophy you need three things : first you need to play in a top team, second you need to be a top player of at the same time your team and the entire league and third you need to show how important (valuable) you are to your team. LeBron has those things (which is why I agree he deserves it), but so does Durant. And there's an important thing for me that shows that Durant would have deserved it more, it's that he is more valuable to his team. Let's face it, without James the Heat would still be a top team in the league with Wade and Bosh (they were a top 5 team in the East with Dwayne alone, surrounded by a bunch of role players and washed up veterans before the arrival of James and Bosh) while without Durant the Thunder would certainly not be. I certainly do not think that they would suck at the same time, I believe they still would be a playoffs team (although in the West it's far from being certain.. they'd be a playoffs candidate at least) but they would have 0 chance to win a ring.. or even to make it to the second round. While the Heat could still make the NBA Finals. So Durant clearly is more valuable to his team than James is. Besides there is another point to take in consideration, it is that Durant has already shown that he is already a better leader than LeBron, this despite being way younger. Sure LeBron is more talented overall, he is the most talented player in the league (but not by miles though, players like Rose, Durant, Paul, Howard or Kobe (who's clearly not washed up yet contrary to what some people might think) are right behind him) but talent is not everything. And even if James has both the stats and the team results to be MVP, he does not have the "attitude". What I mean by the is that I will always have trouble to give this award to a second option. Which James exactly is. Yes because even if I think that all the hate that LeBron received because things like the decision and other "off the court" stuff is totally ludicrous (I could care less about all this) it's still important to consider that James has flaws, which a lot of people seem to totally bypass.. Actually that reminds me to what I told a Cavs fan (with whom I had a discussion) once, with LeBron you either have haters who only focus about his bad sides or lovers who only focus on his good sides. Personally I try to be as objective as possible.. Anyway I heard a lot of people saying that the problem with LeBron is that he still is ringless and that he will instantly get more consideration once he wins a ring.. But I am sorry but no, in LeBron's case it's not a matter of ring. I said it many times anyway, teams win rings in the game of basketball, it is a collective game, no one will ever win alone. Rings are not the problem here. If the Heat won a ring last year there is no way I would think differently about LeBron cause what matters the most is that he just did not play like a leader, and actually never did during all his career. The problem here is that LeBron is no leader material. He is a Pippen, not a Jordan (which is very good nonetheless). He is a second option. And he has to accept it. Jordan was over criticized before he started to win a ring, and it all stopped once he started to win, that is true, but it was WAY different cause Jordan showed as soon as his first years in the league that he was a true leader. That he was not afraid to take the last shot, that he was not afraid to take his reponsibilities. He scared the mighty Celtics (when he was still only a second year player) ALL BY HIMSELF, and Larry Bird even said that it was God disguised as Michael Jordan that day, then he destroyed the franchise of Cleveland ALL BY HIMSELF thanks to The Shots Part I and Part II, he never ever gave up and the only reason why he didn't win earlier was because he didn't have the right teammates.. And when Pippen and Grant finally matured and that Jordan was finally correctly surrounded, he finally won a ring. But we already knew who he was before that. Just like we know who James is. Yes he is the most talented player in the league but he is not a leader, he is no clutch, he is not cold blooded... We saw that once again the whole year just like we saw that once again in the game 2 against Indiana. Funny cause when LeBron went to the free throw line I said to myself : "I am sure he is gonna miss them both.." No lie. He is not a leader. That is a fact now. Not only that but he even quit on his teams many times, something that Jordan would have never done... A ring will not change anything. Pippen has six rings too. But no one considers him as the best player or even a top 10 players of all time.. Yet Pippen was as talented, and actually maybe even MORE talented than Jordan (yes he was a better shooter, defender (very close though), passer, rebounder than Mike.. way more versatile, Mike was only better at scoring). So why most people think that Jordan is the best player ever and that Pip is not even a top 10 players ? Simple : Pippen was just not clutch, no leader material, while Jordan was a true leader and is one of the most clutch players ever (the only one I could put over him is Larry Bird), which is why a case can't simply even be made for Pippen over Jordan. Talent is not everything. So rings will not change the fact that LeBron simply is not a leader. And that despite his huge talent it will always be impossible to compare to the Jordans, Magics, Birds, Ervings, etc... Cause he just is not in the same category. LeBron can become the best lieutenant ever (along with Pippen and Robinson) but no more than that. And in order to win a ring he's gonna have to accept that role now. And to let Wade be the first option. Just like KG accepted that Pierce was the first option in Boston (despite the fact that Garnett is definitely more talented than PP). And that's another reason why Durant would have deserved even more than LeBron to be MVP this year in my opinion, because, even if Kevin still has a lot to prove as a leader as well, at least he has shown that he was clutch, and was never afraid to take the last shot. He never shirked his responsibilities at least. And let's not forget too that his team won one more game despite the fact that the Heat are overall more talented as well. So congratulations to LeBron James, again he deserves this award (I am not denying that) but yes, I definitely think that Durant would have deserved it more.

Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Chandler Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving Coach of the Year: Gregg Popovich Most Improved Player of the Year: Jeremy Lin Sixth Man of the Year: James Harden All-NBA First Team C - Dwight Howard F - Kevin Durant F - LeBron James G - Kobe Bryant G - Chris Paul All-NBA Second Team C - Andrew Bynum F - Blake Griffin F - Carmelo Anthony G - Tony Parker G - Rajon Rondo All-NBA Third Team C - Tyson Chandler F - Kevin Love F - Dirk Nowitzki G - Dwayne Wade G - Derrick Rose KD, LeBron AND Paul (which is unfairly forgotten when talking about the MVP) are the top 3 players for MVP this year, Kobe's shown that he's still clearly the best SG in the league and there is no center that can even be compared to Dwight right now. I do not think a case can be made for any other players against those five ones for All NBA First Team. Bynum has showed that he is now clearly the second best C in the league and Chandler's impact on the Knicks D has been absolutely unbelievable this year. He's changed the defensive mentallity all by himself and yes I agree that he should be the DPOY. A case could be made for Love in the 2nd Team but the fact is that team results are very important as well which is why I eventually put Griffin over him. As for Melo he's been very criticized this year but since the arrival of Woodson he's showed that he was a fantastic player, a true leader and it's thanks to him that we will be in the playoffs this year. I am glad that, contrary to many people (too many) I never doubted him. As for Dirk many people might be surprised by this choice but he's gotten back to a great level lately and it is just totally impossible for me not to mention him here. A case could be made for Pau but, even if he got back to a better level lately, he's just not the Pau Gasol we saw two years ago any more. Parker and Rondo have been fantastic this year, they've played the best bball of their career and no case can be made for any other G against them for the 2nd Team IMO. Especially cause Rose and Wade spent too much time on the injured list this year. But they still have to be on the Third Team. Rose is the reigning MVP and it's impossible not to have him among those Teams, even with all the injury problems he had this year. All-Defensive First Team C - Tyson Chandler F - Serge Ibaka F - Luol Deng G - Iman Shumpert G - Rajon Rondo All-Defensive Second Team C - Dwight Howard F - Kevin Garnett F - Andre Iguodala G - Tony Allen G - Chris Paul Eastern Conference Finals (team vs. team) Chicago Bulls vs Miami Heat Western Conference Finals (team vs. team) Memphis Grizzlies vs Dallas Mavericks NBA Finals (team vs. team) Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks 2012 NBA Champions Dallas Mavericks Here's the explaination for my choices and my overall views for this year's playoffs : EASTERN CONFERENCE : At the beginning of the season two teams were the clear favorites to make the ECF for me*: the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. And to be honest I still expect those two teams to make the ECF despite the fact that Rose is now injured. Although other teams have a chance to make the ECF. Let's take a closer look at this : The Heat are clearly a favorite to win it all this year. There is no doubt that they are good enough to win. But contrary to many people I don't consider them as the VERY favorites to win. I actually never have. I remember not so long ago, when James and Bosh arrived in Miami, that many (too many people) were 100% sure that not only the Heat would easily win rings (their only question was how many rings in a row can this team win..) but that they would beat the Bulls records for sure. Even Jeff Van Gundy said it.. And at the time I don't know how many times I tried to explain to these people that it's not because the Heat are the most talented team that they would win for sure, that anything can happen in sports and that, as ironic as it might seem, teams of stars usually do not work. It's been almost two years since and not only the Heat were far from being the Bulls records but they haven't won a ring so far and they actually didn't even end one of their two first season as the best team in the league or even in the East for that matter. So I hope that those people have learned their lesson by now. Anyhow the Heat are nonetheless a top team in the league. And it certainly would not be surprising to see them win it all this year. But I personally still have my doubts about this team. As a matter of fact we saw last year what were the obvious flaws of that team and the fact is that they still have the same flaws this year, in fact they were already at their best last year and didn't improve since. Once again how many times have we seen them lose games in the clutch*? Their main problem is that they have no clear hierarchy. They have two leaders. Which is very confusing, you need a clear hierarchy in order to win a ring, you need one true leader to carry you in the money time. So the fact that they have two is actually a problem.. Problem that could actually be easily solved IMO if James accepted once and for all to give the leadership of the team to Wade. Cause we can say it for sure now*: LeBron might be the most talented player in the world right now, but he is just not clutch and cold blooded enough to be a true leader. We saw that again many times this year. For me he rather is second option material. Another problem that the Heat have is that Bosh never succeeded in playing the role he was supposed to play : take care of the dirty work. Not only that but he spends way too much time in the perimeter for an inside player, especially that the Heat are already loaded with wing players and certainly do not need their inside players to play on the wings as well.. And Bosh has no post moves. The Heat have no true post players. And Bosh, Wade and James are too similar to be a real efficient big three. So they might be the most talented team in the league but I definitely still have my doubts about them. Contrary to the Heat the Bulls definitely improved this year. They depended too much on Rose last year. They just couldn't win without him. But this year they can. And they have. Which is bad news for Rose in a sense, as he has now no chance to be MVP, but great news for the team as they are now a real team who have a true chance to win a ring. And even if most people weren't convinced by the signing of Hamilton, he actually brought them a lot of things, even if he spends too much time on the injured list. Last year their main weak point was the SG position but now with Hamilton, Korver and Brewer the least we can say is that this position is full. The Bulls are a much better team than last year, no doubt about that. But, as we all know, they are now without Rose. Rose has had a lot of injury problems this year , there were a lot of questions considering his health and it's not that surprising to eventually see him out for the playoffs. And if the Bulls showed that they can win without their leader this year, the playoffs are an entirely different season and it's just totally impossible to win in the playoffs without your leader. So the Bulls just have now zero chance to achieve anything this year IMO. If Rose was healthy and played at his best level during this playoffs, the Bulls would have been my favorite to win the Eastern Conference this year. But now that he's out I doubt that anyone in this conference can stop the Heat. It is still possible to see the Bulls in the ECF this year though. Most people thought the Celtics were done this year. But they've shown that they're still here. After a slow start the C's got back to their best and it ain't gonna be easy to beat them in the playoffs this year again. Although, even if I admit that it's possible to see them in the ECF, or even Finals for that matter, I personally don't see them passing the second round. Because even if they got back to a very good level KG, PP and Ray just aren't as young as they used to be.. And the three of them are injury prone. And because of their age KG just can't dominate defensively as he used to be, Pierce can't carry the team on his shoulders the way he used to be.. Rondo is now clearly the best player of the team. But can he be a true leader ? He's still very young, he still has a lot to prove. And let's not forget that he's been injury prone this year too.. So to be honest I think that the Celtics should quite easily beat the Hawks in the first round but after that it will all depend on what Rondo can achieve as a leader and on the team's health. If the C's stay healthy and Rondo definitely asserts himself as the leader then the Celtics will be a major threat and they could eventually make the ECF, or even the Finals as they played quite well against Miami this year. But if not I don't think they'll beat the Bulls in the second round. Even without Rose. The Knicks were just horrible at the beginning of the season. A major disappointment considering how talented they were. The Linsanity got us back on track for a while but when Carmelo came back from injury it was obvious that we had now to make a choice between Melo and D'Antoni. And fortunately for us Mike made the right choice himself. I kept saying it all year long*: it was now clear that D'Antoni was not the right coach for us. Personally I think that all the hate D'Antoni received as a Knicks was uncalled for, which is why I always stood up for him, despite the fact that I really dislike his style (I've always been first of all a fan of huge D, 90's Knicks forever). Besides it was totally unfair to judge him during his first two years as a Knick as we were a starless team at the time. But after that we got Stat, Melo, Chandler.. But we didn't play at the level we were supposed to play. The fact is that D'Antoni has had his chance. But he failed. And he just had to go. He was clearly not the right coach for us. At the time D'Antoni resigned the hate that most people had for Melo was.. just unbelievable. And disgusting. I personally always stood up for Melo. And I knew that, with a more suited coach, Melo would show us how terrific a player he was. I was 100% against the trading of Melo. And the fact is that I was right. I was more than happy for Jeremy Lin during the Linsanity but I just couldn't believe how overrated he got at that time.. The fact that some people actually thought that he should have become our leader instead of Melo was incredible to me. Lin showed that he was a talented player but it's important not to forget that he had those stats thanks to D'Antoni's system. Which is the perfect system for Lin who's a Nash like PG. But the fact remains that despite the huge stats and the wins we got at that time, Lin is basically a rookie and he still has a LOT of things to learn. It was obvious that the Linsanity wouldn't last and that Lin couldn't have led us anywhere in the playoffs. One day maybe Lin will be a top PG in this league but right now he's just a very talented young PG who still has a lot of things to prove. Anyway it was then clear that D'Antoni and Melo were totally incompatible. One of them had to go. As a matter of fact D'Antoni is all about full court offense and quick shots while Melo, like all true superstars and leaders for that matter, is all about half court offense and isos. If D'Antoni stayed we would have only relied on Lin, so basically a rookie. We could have become a top NBA team but, like the Suns, with no defense and half court offense I doubt that we would have ever had a chance to achieve anything. While with Melo and a more defense minded coach we can definitely have a chance to win a ring in the next couple of year. Personally I always thought we had to keep Melo and fire D'Antoni and we can see now for sure that it was the good solution indeed. Besides with Lin injury I have no doubt that we wouldn't even have made the playoffs this year... But now with Melo and a better coach it seems that we have a bright future indeed. I don't think Woodson is the real answer though, cause even if we got by far better with him, he's too much about isos (isos are essential to win in the NBA but it's important not to use too much at the same time cause it will kill chemistry otherwise) and if we have the opportunity to sign Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy or Sloan for example there is no doubt we will have to take it. Anyway everyone who doubted Melo is now proven wrong, just like everyone who thought that Denver won the Melo trade is proven wrong as well (Denver has a nice team but they have no leader and once again you just can't win without a leader in the NBA, and real leaders are certainly not that easy to find..). We have now a very nice team overall, and we definitely can frighten the Heat (despite the fact that they easily won game 1). But I don't think we will pass the first round this year, we had too many trouble this year and we need more time. But I definitely think that we can win two games against the Heat. As for the four other Eastern teams they have in my opinion 0 chance to win a ring this year. The Sixers have a wonderful chemistry but they have no real leader, the Hawks won't win anything with Johnson as their leader, the Magic surprisingly won their first game against Indiana, surprisingly not only because they don't have Dwight but mainly because they've seemed like a total mess lately but I don't see them going to the second round nonetheless and wouldn't be schocked if the Pacers won the four next games in a row, and finally the Pacers could win a couple of games against Miami or New York (but rather Miami) in the second round, but I would be very surprised to see them in the ECF. WESTERN CONFERENCE : In the West it's for me very hard to come with two main favorites for the WCF. Many teams can make the WCF. Let's take a closer look at them : The Spurs have been fantastic this year. Their staff have once again made a great job and found young blood to improve the team. Their roster is very impressive, and the addition of Boris Diaw was an amazing move, he's absolutely perfect for this team. Not to mention the return of Jackson.. Honestly if Duncan was still at his prime, I think that a case could be made for this team as the best Spurs team ever*! But... Duncan is not at his prime any more... It is not surprising that the Spurs staff found some great players to improve their team, they've done that for quite some time now. But the fact remains that the big three is getting old year after year... And if the Spurs are still good enough to be among the top teams in the regular season, the fact is that, once again, you need a leader to carry you on your shoulders during the playoffs. And, even if Duncan seemed to be a little better this year, the fact is that Tim just cannot be that leader any more. Ginobili never was and is not leader material, he's too crazy (you can't get him under control) to be a true leader. He can get you back in the game but also easily can get you out of it because of his crazyness. Besides he is, like Duncan now, injury prone. So the only player who can be the Spurs leader now is their best player : Tony Parker. Tony has had a fantastic season, certailny his best season so far, but we still have to ask ourselves this question : can he be the Spurs leader*? Being the best player of your team and being a true leader and two entirely different things... And it's in the playoffs that you see who the true leaders are. I personally said it many times, I don't believe that Parker can be a true leader. I don't believe in him. Sure I know that he was Finals MVP in 2007, but being Finals MVP and being a true leader are two different things. For example if you think that Maxwell was the Celtics leader in 1981 you're just kidding yourself. Duncan was still the clear leader of the team that year, there is no doubt about it. So we're gonna see this year if Parker can be a true leader. That's the Spurs' only chance to win a ring might I add. And, again, I don't believe in him, that's why I don't think the Spurs will win this year. Even if I admit that it is possible.. I don't think the Spurs will be eliminated in the first round like last year though, but I see them losing in the second round, WCF at best. We'll see. The Thunder have been fantastic all year long and they are now a true contender. No doubt about that. And the addition of Fisher was great as he brings them something they didn't have : experience. But I'm still not sure about this team either. First of all they lack of scoring inside. In the NBA history only two team have won a ring with so little scoring inside : the 75 Warriors and the 90's Bulls. Besides I am not sure that Westbrook is the second option that Durant needs. He's had a great season but once again the playoffs are totally different.. It might be not enough. And finally there is Durant himself. Fantastic player, no doubt about that. But young, very, very young.. And still a lot of things to prove. He's not at his best yet (which is scary in a way). So yes the Thunder could win it all this year, but I personally still have my doubts about this team. The Lakers had a tough beginning of the season. Which is why Kobe played that great this year in a way, he didn't have to play like that those last seasons, he could rely more on his teammates. This year the team was not as great and Kobe had to bring his A game again. And he did. But the team is not as impressive as it was two years ago. They eventually got better by the end of the season though. Bynum has had his best season ever, and Gasol is back to a great level. But the rest of the team is quite weak. Besides it's great for them that they eventually found a decent PG in Sessions but still it would have been better if they didn't have to let Fisher go. Fisher is not any more starting PG material, that is true, but he's clutch and is a leader and there is no doubt IMO that they will miss him in the playoffs. Well if the big three keep playing at a great level in the playoffs they definitely have a chance to win, no one can deny that, but I personally don't think they will beat either the Thunder or Mavs in the second round. With the addition of Paul the Clippers got to the next level. Paul showed once again this year why he is clearly the best PG in the league. The Clippers are now legit. But can they win it all ? Might be hard the first year... Especially that Billups is out. Many people doubted that Billups was the answer as the starting SG but he showed them otherwise. Not only did Paul and Billups played PERFECTLY together but Billups asserted himself as a true leader once again. And every time Del Negro experimented Paul, Billups, Mo at the same time on the court it was a success as well. When Billups got injured the team wasn't as great, and it was no surprise at all... They got back to a better level recentely, and the addition of Young was quite interesting, but I still don't think they're as good as they were with Billups. With Billups I think that they would have had a better chance to make the Finals. Besides they're now playing Memphis in the first round, they don't have HCA, and it's gonna be very hard for the Clippers to beat that team. The Grizzlies have had a tough season. Lot of injuries. But now they're back to their best. And they have a true chance to do something. The main change this year is the change of leader. Because of Zach's injury Rudy Gay has been the leader of the team for most of the year. And Randolph was now a sixth man. I am personally not sure about this. Rudy has done quite a good job as the leader this year but Zach might want to be the leader again in the playoffs. It might be a problem for them. What if Zach starts playing like he did last year ? When he was unstoppable in the playoffs ? Could Gay accept to become a second option ? On paper this team is certainly the most complete team in the league. But this leader thing might be a problem for them. We'll see if they can handle that. But if they can it wouldn't be surprising to see them in the Finals. After all they are the most complete team in the league. Most NBA fans now do not believe in Dallas. But I do. The Mavs have had a lot of troubles this year. Dirk was not himself for a couple of months, there were some major changes.. But the fact is that Dirk eventually got back to his best, and the new players seem more and more comfortable in the team. Besides the only important departure was in fact Chandler. Barea and Stevenson were important for that team in the Finals, don't get me wrong, but they were not essential at the same time. Dirk, Kidd and Terry were the three best players of the team and.. they're still there. Sure no one can have the same impact on the defense as Chandle had. But Mahinmi and Haywood can get the job done at C. Mahinmi clearly improved this year and he clearly had his best years so far. Also Delonte West is a much better player than Barea was, just like Carter is clearly better than Stojakovic.. The loss of Chandler is important but overall the Mavs are more talented this year. So they can win this year again, I'm convinced of it. But they've had so many ups and downs this year that it wouldn't be surprising to see them out in the first round at the same time... In my opinion either the Mavs will lose in the first round, either we'll see them in the Finals. That's what I think of them. We'll see. Also I would like to add that there are several similarities between the Mavs and the 95 Rockets, who won despite the fact that no one believed in them after a disappointing season : - both teams had just won a ring the year before - both teams had/have trouble during the regular season - both teams had major roster changes - both teams had lost a valuable inside player (Chandler for the Mavs ; Thorpe for the Rockets) - no one believed/believes that they could/can repeat (except Chris Webber for the 95 Rockets and.. me for the 2012 Mavs) - both teams were more talented overall than the year before but were also not as well balanced We will see if the Mavs will repeat like the Rockets did in 95. Never underestimate the heart of a champion. As for the Jazz and Nuggets I think that they are the only teams in the West that don't even have a slight chance to win a ring. The Nuggets are like the Sixers of the West, great chemistry but no leader... While the Jazz are slowly getting back to the top but they're still a little young and unexperienced to expect achieve anything this year. Anyway the least we can say is that the playoffs are very open this year. No one is a clear favorite (at least for me) but many teams have a chance to win it all this year. I think that the last time I saw so many teams who had a chance to win was when Jordan retired for the first time... Honestly OKC, Miami, SAS, Mavs, Lakers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Boston, or even the Knicks (I don't think we'll pass the first round but we never know, after all we got one of the deepest teams, if not THE deepest, in the league), they all have a chance to win it all. It's just too bad that Rose got injured in the first game... But those playoffs are gonna be great nonetheless, I feel it.

I think that we have now no choice : we have to get rid of either Melo or D'Antoni. As a matter of fact it is now clear that Melo and D'Antoni are just totally incompatible. Which is not surprising as D'Antoni is all about full court offense and quick shots while Melo prefers half court offense and isos (like most superstars anyhow). If we wanna win one of them has to go. And if I owned the Knicks I would definitely get rid of D'Antoni. I've been thinking that for quite a while now, and I haven't changed my mind even during the Linsanity thing. It's simple let's see what would happen if we'd get rid of Melo : D'Antoni's system could work almost to perfection again thanks to players like Stat and Lin who's a Nash like PG (but certainly not as good as Nash YET..). And we could become, with time, a Suns like team, a team with a lot of offense, quick shots but with also no defense and no half court offense. So we certainly would improve drastically and could a top NBA team again but with no defense and no half court offense I doubt that we could ever get a ring. Now what would happen if we'd get rid of D'Antoni : well it depends on what kind of coach we would get of course. But I hope that we would get a defensive minded coach this time. No matter what I don't think we could get a worse coach than Mike.. Cause honestly I've defended him a lot but now I'm just tired of this guy. I have some respect for his system and the success that he had in the past, I give credit when credit is due but he has a lot of major flaws nonetheless. Besides his system D'Antoni has nothing to bring on the table. He's terrible at adjustments and is just like Mike Brown in the money time, he tells his star to get the ball and do something with it and that's it. That's not what you want from a real NBA HEAD coach. And it is definitely clear that he doesn't belong in NY. At least for me. And with a real head coach, a coach who knows about defense, half court offense and how to create a real chemistry between his players, I am 100% sure that our team could become a REAL contender just as it is now. Melo is not the problem. Quite the opposite we NEED players like Melo to win games. Isolation is not always a negative thing. Everyone who watched the Jordan Bulls know that there was no triangle at the end of games, it was all about "give the ball to Michael" (except that Jax would CREATE something for Michael and not tell him "get the ball and do something" like D'Antoni...). Same thing with all the greatest superstars, the greatest leaders, like Bird, Kobe, Duncan, etc... You NEED isos in the NBA. Not too much isos, definitely not, but you need some at times, there is no doubt about it. So I have no doubt that the team would improve drastically without Melo but we would have no chance to win a ring without him. We would have lost our leader and you cannot win in the NBA without a true leader, a true superstar. That's what we saw in Phoenix anyhow (neither Nash or Star are what I would call a real leader). A player that can carry his team on his shoulders when it needs it the most. A player that knows how to be collective of course but also knows to use iso. Actually a player who knows WHEN to be collective and when to use iso. Which is why I HIGHLY disagree with the people who think that the Nuggets won the trade last year... Cause as good as they are now they also have 0 chance to win without a leader. And it's hard to get real leaders today in the NBA... We have that player now. So even if we're not playing very well now we are nonetheless WAY much closer to a ring than the Nuggets. As weird as it might seem. So for all these reasons I would get rid of D'Antoni right now. Personally I would love to get Riley back to NY but... I know that it'll never happen. Phil said he doesn't want to get back but we never know... In the mean time, if I owned the Knicks, I'd offer Jeff Van Gundy the coach job. He's my second fav Knicks coach ever and I would love to see him back. Or Ewing actually, why not ? He played for both Riley and Vun Gundy, he deserves a chance as a head coach, and it would be a great way to show him our gratitude for all the great years he offered us as a player, after all he is the best Knicks of All Time. Besides I clearly remember that we started to suck right after we traded Ewing in 2000 and Shaq said at the time : "this is what happens when you trade a legend"... So maybe we need our legend back to start winning again.

EASTERN CONFERENCE : In the Eastern Conference there are only two true contenders right now in my opinion : the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. The Miami Heat is an obvious choice as they are the East Champions. Besides they are the most talented team in the league on paper. But as I said the whole year long the last season, pure talent is not everything. And the most talented team is not necessarily the one which wins. There are many example of that in the past (I already talked about that many times) and we saw that once again in the last Finals as the Heat lost to a team that was clearly less talented. Which is why I was not convinced that this team would win it all for sure last year (contrary to most people) and why it was not a shock to me to see them lose. I had my doubts about this team and I still have. First of all I am not sure (never was) about the Wade, James, Bosh big three. Those three players are too similar in my opinion. Even Bosh cause, even if he's a big man, he has the game of a forward, he has no post moves and relies too heavily on his jump shot. In terms of pure talent the Rodman, Jordan, Pippen or Bird, McHale, Parish big threes were not as impressive for example. I mean Bird and Jordan were superstars like James and Wade but Pippen and McHale were not. They were second options. And Rodman and Parish were role payers, you couldn't have built a team around them the way the Raptors built a team around Bosh. So in terms of talent the Heat big three is definitely above. However the Bulls and C's big threes were better overall. Why ? Because everyone knew perfectly his role and was the best at it. Parish and Rodman were role players, but they were among the best role players ever, they were perfect teammates, they knew exactly what their team needed and brought exactly that to them. They couldn't do much things on the court, the way stars do (especially for Rodman who was terrible offensively), but they were among the best at what they did best (especially for Rodman who might even be the best rebounder and defender ever). McHale and Pip were second options, they never succeeded as the first option of the team, but they are probably the best second options ever (that's what I think at least). Jordan and Bird were the clear leaders of the team while it is still not clear who the Heat leader is. And that's a problem. I think that might explain why LeBron was so good against Chicago and then was terrible against Dallas, and the opposite for Wade, last year. A lot of people think that it's great to have several go to guys, that it's a big advantage cause you have more option in the money time, I highly disagree with that. Everyone can have a bad night, everyone can make mistakes but I think that it's important for a player, if he screws up one time in the money time (happens to anyone, happened to Jordan or Bird several time..), that he still remains the leader of the team and that he still gets the ball in the money time. He might lose all his confidence otherwise... Mental is important in basketball, anyone can lost his confidence the way LeBron did last year in the Finals, but the only way to get your confidence back is to keep trying and so, for a leader, keep getting the ball when it matters. The Heat didn't do that last year, Wade was so good in the Finals that they couldn't do otherwise anyhow. And that's a problem. And why the Heat seemed so lost last year in the Finals but at other times also, and why we still saw them being lost in the money time this year again. And I why I still have my doubts about this team. I know that some people are still 100% sure that this team will win this year (as they were last year..) because they made the Finals in their first year, so they can only get better their second year together. Well I am still not convinced cause in my opinion the Heat were already at their best last year and so they cannot be better than they already were. Their only problem is this « leadership » thing and I am not sure that they can solve it. Besides last year there were not really a true contender in the East, the Celtics became REALLY old, the Bulls were not ready yet (they depended too much on Rose and Derrick was not himself in the playoffs) and all the other teams were not good enough to be contenders. So I think that the Heat are a favorite to win it all, don't get me wrong, their big three is one of the most talented we ever seen and I certainly can't say that I would be surprised to see them win. But, contrary to many people, I still don't see them as THE favorite because of all of that, they are a favorite but other teams are as well, just as much as them. The Chicago Bulls were already a fantastic team last year, well they are even more impressive this year in my opinion. First of all they still have the MVP, Derrick Rose, who truly is an unbelievable payer. He literally carried the team on his shoulders last year, the reason why the Bulls were the best team in the East at the end of the regular season was Derrick. And this year the good news is that his teammates are clearly better than last year. We saw that in the last games, when Rose got injured but the Bulls kept on winning. That would have been totally impossible last year. They have developped a real chemistry and this year they are very impressive. They have also solved their SG problem with the signing of Richard Hamilton. Which will also allow the team to be better offensively. However I still think that Rose is not a true PG and that he would be more comfortable as a SG (just like Wade, Dwayne was a PG in his first seasons but he was really more efficient at SG) and so that it would have been better to sign another PG and move Rose at SG instead. But this said Rose can get the job done at PG of course and Hamilton is a very nice acquisition. With this addition, and their better chemistry I believe that the Bulls now have all what they need to win it all. And they are this year my favorite to win the Eastern Conference. We still have to see how Rose will play in the playoffs this year though. But as he has better teammates he'll be able to rest more during the regular season this year, and he's an intelligent man I would be surprised if he wasn't great during this year's playoffs too. We'll see. The New York Knicks have the talent to be a top 3 team in the East this year but they are still far from being a contender right now nonetheless... Everyone focus on their PG's problem but that's not their main problem. As a matter of fact the second three peat Bulls won three rings without any PG. Harper was a pure SG, Randy Brown was also a SG despite his size and Kerr was listed at PG but he was not a true one either, Steve was only a shooter, that's the only thing he could do on a court. They had no PG but a lot of players who could get the ball up court, like the ones I mentioned plus Jordan, Pippen or Kukoc. It's the same for the Knicks with Melo, Douglas, Shumpert, Fields and they even have a true PG : Bibby. And soon they'll have Davis who, even if he's getting older and is still injury prone can still get the job done and clearly knows how to run an offense as we saw the impact that he had on both the Clippers' and Cavs' offense lately. So anyway that's still a problem (not everyone is the Bulls, not everyone can win without a PG, especially a team who doesn't use the triangle..) but that's not THE problem. The problem is the chemistry. This team has none. It's that simple. They don't know how to play together and most of the time it seems that Melo plays alone against the opposite team. Let's just say it : this team is a total mess. And the one to blame for that is the coach. So D'Antoni. Honestly I've always stood up for Mike, cause people kept unfairly attacked him since he's in NY. The people who called him terrible since he's in NY are the same who called him a genius when he was in Phoenix.. Which is totally ludicrous to me. Besides it was unfair to judge him as the Knicks were the only team without even ONE star in his first two years. So I stood up for him. Despite the fact that I don't like his coaching, never did... I never considered him to be a genius. Far from it. I didn't like that all offense system. I'm a huge fan of defense. But the fact remains that Mike has had some success in his career, both in the NBA and Europe. He won four champsionships in Europe (as a coach) and he led the Suns to the WCF twice. Not only that but I am convinced (as well as many others) that his Suns would have had a very strong chance to beat the Spurs without the Horry/Nash thing during the 2007 Suns-Spurs, and had they won this series they would have probably won a ring as they were clearly better than the Jazz and Cavs. So it's impossible to deny the man's success. And he's not as terrible as some people make him to be. Just like he's not a genius, he has major flaws (he's quite bad at adjustements and giving confidence to his players for example). Anyway I've been patient with him, I give him credits to what he's accomplished, but it is now clear to me that he is not the right coach for us. I repeat he's the first one to blame for our terrible situation right now. I know that many people rather blame the players, many think that we should trade Stoudemire but I highly disagree with that. It's true that Melo and Stat are quite similar but it still could work. Pippen and Jordan were very similar for example, yet many people consider them as the best duo of All Time... I think that it would be a mistake to change this team now. This team deserves another chance with another coach, a coach more suitable for it. If we still had troubles with another coach, if it became obvious that the Melo-Stat duo couldn't work, then and only then we should make a change in our roster. But not right now. It wouldn't be fair. It's impossible to deny that D'Antoni has been terrible lately. Honestly 11 of our last 13 games, what did Mike do during that time ? Did he try any adjustments ? No. Nothing changed. It's obvious that we have a PG problem (again D'Antoni's system needs a PG, maybe we wouldn't need one with another system..), we have only ONE TRUE PG : Mike Bibby. Not only he barely plays, but when he does D'Antoni rather use him at SG ! That doesn't make any sense to me. And in the money time D'Antoni seems to do with Melo what Mike Brown did with James : he tells him « get the ball and do something with it ».. Many times Melo seemed to be alone against the entire opposite team this year. And D'Antoni uses too much isolation for Melo and Stat. You can use isolation at times but not that often, it just kills chemistry ! Especially that when we really want to play together it ain't that bad.. We just can't build a chemistry with all those isolations. It's ridiculous. Oh and Riley wouldn't have let Iman take 15 shots in one half... No this all situation is definitely totally ridiculous, we need another coach, it is now obvious, and I just can't understand why we don't have a new one already. It is too late to become a real contender this year but we can still do something this year, we could still at least go to the second round, and there's only solution for that : fire D'Antoni. The Pacers and Sixers have been very impressive so far. But it's definitely too early to call them contenders. And I don't think that they will be this year. Granger still has to prove that he could be a real leader and the Sixers have a terrific chemistry but they have no one to carry them in the playoffs. And without a true leader you just cannot win a ring. I don't believe in the Magic, Celtics and Hawks any more. The Celtics are just too old now. They're always dangerous, it will never be easy to beat them but their last chance to win a ring was two years ago and now they're just too old to win IMO. I think they could go to the semis at best, but they have 0 chance to beat teams like Chicago or Miami IMO. As for the Magic and Hawks, well those teams have reached the maximum of their potential and can't improve the way they are now. And they're just not good enough to win. Howard is still fantastic, he's a professional, but it's obvious that he's already not a Magic any more. And it is obvious that the Hawks need a better leader than Joe Johnson to achieve anything. Besides they lost one of the best sixth man in the league, Jamal Crawford, and replaced him with the old and injury prone McGrady. Nothing good can come out of this. I like the additions of Glen Davis for Orlando and of Ivan « The Terrible » Johnson for Atlanta but both won't be good enough to make those teams contenders. I see the Hawks in the second round at best, and I don't think the Magic will pass the first round. WESTERN CONFERENCE : There are only two real contenders in that conference right now IMO : the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder is an easy choice, they improve every year, they were in the WCF last year, and they have the best record in the league this year. They are a fantastic squad and we will certainly hear a lot about them in the 2010's. However, if I don't deny that they are a true contender, I personally still have my doubts about this team. First of all they still lack of something inside. I mean Perk, Ibaka, Collison and Nazr are four very solid players but the fact remains that none of them is a star. Yet only one team (if I'm not mistaken) have won a ring with no star inside, it was the Warriors in 1975. Besides they clearly lack of scoring big men. And only two teams have won without a big man averaging at least 10 PPG, those were the 75 Warriors and the second three peat Bulls. Another thing that bothers me about this team is that I'm not sure that Westbrook is the right second option for Durant. He tends to take a lot of bad decision and I see him more as a third option. I know that many people don't believe in the Mavs this year but I definitely do. Well I was already among the only ones who believed in that team the whole year long last year, so I'm used to it.. The fact is that the Mavs are the champions. And the champions is always dangerous (unless he loses all his players during the summer), it's always the team to beat. Sure the Mavs lost some important pieces this last summer, like Barea and especially Chandler, and I don't deny the importance of Tyson, certainly not, but still the fact still is that Chandler is not Nowitzki. And the first reason why the Mavs won last year was because of Nowiztki's amazing performances in the playoffs and the Finals. And the Mavs still got Kidd, Terry or Marion too. All of them very important part of last year's team. So let's not act like the Mavs lost their best players. Sure the loss of a quality big man is always important, especially nowadays as it's harder and harder to find real good big men. But at the same time the Mavs still got Haywood and Mahinmi. None of them is as good as Chandler but the fact remains that Haywood is a very good defender too and that Ian is clearly improving this season. And has done quite a good job as Haywood back up so far. I am convinced that it can be enough to make up for Chandler's loss. Let's not also forget that the team is overall more talented that it was last year. We all know what Odom did when he was in LA and all that he can bring to Dallas. And if Vince is not the player that he once was he's definitely not done and can bring a lot to that team too. He could be a decent second option for Dirk for example. And Delonte is a terrific back up for Kidd. When Kidd was out this year Delonte did a terrific job. The Mavs haven't been themselves this year so far, especially because Dirk hasn't been himself. He's looked tired (because of the EuroBasket) and has had a bad knee injury. But he's slowly getting back to his best. I have no doubt that Dirk will be at his very best after the All Star game. And once he is, and once the new players are totally used to their new team, this Dallas team's gonna be really dangerous. They definitely can repeat. The Los Angeles Clippers are not a contender yet. It's way too early to tell, they still have a lot to prove. But I am personally convinced that they will be a true contender by the end of the season. I know that many people still have doubts about this team but I think that they definitely have a good chance to win it all this year. The reason why many people have doubts about them is because they think the Clips need a true SG to win. Which I disagree with. When Paul was traded I saw many people say that the Clips should get a SG, I always disagreed with that. Cause I clearly remember that Chauncey was a SG at the beginning of his career. And never had any doubt that he could get the job done as the starting SG. Especially that, if he's not the Detroit Billups any more, he's still more than decent and is still a good defender. And to be honest the Billups-Paul combo is even better than I thought it would be. The two players just play PERFECTLY together. And the Clippers backcourt just couldn't be better than it is now. Besides even if the Clippers had a true starting SG, Billups would HAVE to be the SG in the money time no matter what. Mr Bigshot is still one of the very best closers of the game today, he has to be on court in money time. The Jordan, Griffin, Butler, Billups, Paul lineup is the one that has to end the games. Now it could be nice to have another SG to start and to use Billups as the sixth man of the team, which could be great as Billups could be both that SG and Paul's back up. I would agree with that if the Clippers didn't have Mo Williams. Cause excuse me but Mo is absolutely unbelievable as the sixth man, and as both Billups and Paul back up. So the fact is that the Clippers do not need Billups on the bench and he's just perfect as the starting SG. Also it is important to note that Del Negro has used the three PGs Paul, Billups and Mo at the same time on the court many times and it just works surprisingly well. Those three players just work perfectly together. And the Mo, Chris, Chauncey small ball is the best one I've seen since the Iverson, Snow, Mckie small ball. And let's not forget about Randy Foye too, he's played very well this year so far. The Clippers backcourt is just perfect as it is now. The only problem that the Clippers had at the beginning of the season was solved by the arrival of Reggie Evans. As a matter of fact Reggie brought them all what they needed : energy, defense and rebounds from the bench. And now the Clippers have all the pieces they need to win a ring. They have a perfect starting lineup, with both youth and experience, a true leader in Chris Paul (clearly the best PG in the league, he's always in control, always seems to take the right decision, contrary to Rose and Rondo for example who are still a bit young), and a solid bench with Mo, Reggie, Gomes and Randy. And as if it wasn't enough they now got Kenyon Martin, who's gonna bring scoring inside from the bench, and is also a very efficient defender. I repeat they got all the pieces they need to win. And if I admit that it's too early to call them contenders, again they still got a lot to prove, I am sure that they will be by the end of the year. And I personally see them in the WCF instead of OKC, against the Mavs. The last game between the Thunder and Clippers showed exactly what I said earlier, the Thunder are still a bit weak inside, Jordan and Griffin did all what they wanted against the Thunder big men. There's no one in OKC who can stop Griffin or Dirk and that's why I rather see a Mavs-Clippers in the WCF. As for the Nuggets and Blazers well I just don't believe in those teams. They both have talent and the Nuggets have an unbelievable chemistry (like the Sixers in the East) but they don't have the leader that a team need to be a real contender. Everyone seems to think that the Nuggets had the better deal in the trade that sent Melo to New York but they forget that as good as they are the Nuggets will not achieve anything without a leader like Melo. And that it's gonna be hard for them to find a player like that again. And it's true that the Blazers got Aldridge but he still has to prove that he can be the leader that the Blazers need now that Roy is retired. I don't believe in the Lakers and Spurs any more. It is true that the Spurs are younger than they used to be, the Spurs staff has (once again) done a great job to find new young talented players, but the fact remains that their three best players are now too old. Especially Duncan. Tim just cannot carry the team on his shoulders like he used to do any longer, he just cannot be the Spurs leader any more, and neither Many or Parker are leader materials. And that is why that it just doesn't matter if Many is healthy or injured, until the Spurs get that leader they now have 0 chance to win a ring IMO. Contrary to the Spurs or the Celtics, I cannot say that I would be surprised if the Lakers went back to the Finals. I can't cause after all they still got their two best players, Kobe and Pau, and that contrary to what a lot people say Kobe still is a top three players right now. So I can't say that I would be very surprised but I still don't believe in them nonetheless. Cause honestly they have a lot of problem : the loss of Phil Jackson, the loss of Odom, the fact that they tried to trade Pau (which made him lose his confidence and he already had a confidence problem before that, he's certainly not on his way to get back to the level he was playing at a couple of years ago...), Kobe's divorce, Fisher and Barnes are no starting materials, McRoberts and Murphy won't make up for the loss of Odom, Artest is outta shape and not the player he used to be... Is that enough ? I doubt they can solve all of this. I doubt it a lot. Besides a lot of people were very impressed by the performances that Kobe had this season, I wasn't. Cause I knew that Kobe could still play at this level, it wasn't a surprise to me, the reason why he didn't was because he didn't, he could rely more on his teammates. And now he can't. The team is weaker now and Kobe has to play at this level to make his team win. And he can't play at this level every night. Kobe's great performances just showed us how weaker the team is now. I also would like to say a few words about the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now of course I certainly don't consider them as a contender, I am not crazy, but there is no doubt in my mind that they will be one in a couple of years. This team is absolutely amazing and the Rubio, Williams, Love big three is the big three of the future. I hope now that all the people who thought that Ricky didn't want to play in Minnesota know better now. As I said many times the reason why he didn't join the team earlier was because he couldn't, not because he didn't want to play in Minnerapolis... I already clearly explained why and kept talking about that other and other again I am not gonna repeat myself here. Also I hope that all the people who thought that Ricky couldn't play in the NBA know better now. Not only he definitely can, but he's already one of the best PGs in the league now ! And mark my words : one day Ricky Rubio will be the BEST PG in the world. That kid is amazing, just amazing. I really enjoy watching this young Wolves team and I hope that they'll make the playoffs this season. Edit : I wanted to add that for me (I might be the only one) THE favorite to win it all this year are the Dallas Mavericks. As Rudy T said it in 1995 : "never underestimate the heart of a champion". About that I noticed that there were many similarities between the Mavs this year and the 95 Rockets : - both teams had just won a ring the year before - both teams had/have trouble during the regular season ( so far for the Mavs) - both teams had major roster changes - both teams had lost a valuable inside player (Chandler for the Mavs ; Thorpe for the Rockets) - no one believed/believes that they could/can repeat (except Chris Webber for the 95 Rockets) And the Rockets won their back to back in 95. Will the Mavs do the same this year ? We will see.

Yeah it was a very impressive dunk, clearly the best of this season so far. But I heard many people saying that it was the greatest dunk of all time... Let's not exaggerate. Although people didn't exaggerate as much as they did for the LeBron dunk on Lucas.. I mean I even heard some people saying that this LeBron dunk was better than the Carter one on Fred Weis.. Which is proposterous. I mean sure LeBron was very high, it was impressive but let's not forget that it was on John Lucas the third.. While Vince posterized a 7'2 center. That LeBron dunk is very nice, clearly one of the best of the season, but certainly not among the greatest dunks of all time. Anyhow back to Griffin it was a very impressive dunk, definitely the best dunk that we've had this season so far as I said, I think we could say that it was one of the greatest dunks of all time in this case but it's not the greatest one. Besides we've had so many great dunks in the history of the game, can we really assert that one of them is the best of all ? Also to be honest it's not even my favorite Blake Griffin dunk to be honest. I feel the exact same way as illwill, his dunk on Gallinari is my personal favorite of his dunks so far. Very impressive dunk nonetheless, I'm sure Perk will never forget that one.