alfdogg

We'll do the madness round(s) for those who don't keep three guys.

That's actually a pretty solid top 16. I think Randolph's game is really underrated (plus, he's a local and I feel I've got to stick up for him), but I just couldn't justify putting him in the top 10.

Have any of you actually sprained your ankle before? It's not exactly like stubbing your toe or hitting your funny bone.

Seven of those guys picked ahead of Arenas are already out of the league, too.

Here's your oops: The Rockets traded ALL of their first round picks (Jefferson, Collins, Brandon Armstrong) to get Griffin on draft night.

He's better than Parker or Jefferson, it's not even close. Gasol really improved his all-around game this year, and I'd rank him above any post player this year in the MVP running, outside of Brand. That's the only one that's arguable.

Never happened. The 1 seed itself has only lost twice. (Seattle in 94, Miami in 99)

Bump, wasn't sure if you noticed it was finished.

[i]Renegade[/i] hits and the arena fills with boos as the lights go out. The baseline hits, the spotlight comes on, and Reject walks through the curtains and towards the ring. COLE And it's time, this bitter feud between former tag team partners will reach its climax tonight! CABOOSE That's right, it's NO HOLDS BARRED! BUFFER [i]The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and there will be NO HOLDS BARRED! Introducing first, from NEW YORK CITY, weighing in at 235 pounds...RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREJECT!!!!![/i] Reject slides into the ring and gets ready. [i]God of Thunder[/i] hits and Thunderkid gets a nice ovation as he makes his way to the ring. BUFFER [i]His opponent, from Green Bay, WI, weighing in at 257 pounds...TTTTTTTHHHHHHUNDERKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID!!!!![/i] COACH He looks confident now, but Reject's going to make him sorely regret throwing that NHB stipulation in that contract! TK slides into the ring and poses on the buckles, then walks to the center of the ring, as does Reject. They have a brief staredown, talking trash to one another, before coming to blows! *DING DING DING* TK wins the exchange, and drags Reject into a corner. TK delivers kicks to the midsection, then whips Reject across the ring. TK charges, but Reject moves out of the way. TK backs out, and Reject dropkicks him back into the corner. Reject then whips TK back across the ring, but TK comes out with a clothesline! COLE TK EXPLODING out of the corner! TK runs to the ropes, and hits another clothesline! A third takes Reject over the top and to the floor! COLE And TK looking great here in the early going! TK follows Reject to the floor, and whips him into the steel steps! CABOOSE Remember, no disqualifications in this match! COACH Yeah, I know. Just wait, this will eventually play right into the hands of Reject! TK rolls back into the ring. Reject tries to climb back in, but TK hits him with a baseball slide and sends him back to the floor! TK goes outside again, ramming Reject's head into the steps, then taking him around the ring and throwing him into the timekeeper's table. TK stops to play to the crowd, however, and as he moves back towards Reject, Reject blasts him over the head with the ring bell! COACH OH, what did I tell you? Now the tide has turned! COLE TK's bell was just rung, and the tide has indeed turned! Reject grabs a steel chair from ringside before sliding back into the ring. He sits on it in the corner and waits on TK. COLE And Reject VERY arrogant right here... CABOOSE I don't understand this, why's he allowing TK to catch his wind? TK gets to his feet, and Reject picks up the chair, challenging TK to get into the ring. He does, but not before grabbing a 2X4 from underneath the ring! COLE OK, NOW here he comes! TK holds the 2X4 baseball style, and swings as Reject swings the chair! After three swings, Reject drops the chair and shakes his hands off. TK waits for him to come around, and grabs the 2X4 with both hands, clotheslining him to the mat! Reject rolls to the outside, and TK follows him out with a plancha! COLE TK over the top rope onto Reject! TK hammers away with right hands, then tosses Reject back into the ring. Reject, however, gets a hold of the chair, and slams it across the back of TK as he slides in! COLE Steel chair to the back! Reject holds the chair up in the air, receiving boos from the crowd. He then picks up TK, delivering a snap suplex, and goes to the top with chair in hand. CABOOSE Uh oh, what's this gonna be? Reject comes off the top with a CHAIR LEGDROP, but TK rolls out of the way! TK grabs Reject, picking him up in a PRESS SLAM~! and tossing him all the way down to the floor! COACH Come on, someone's gonna get hurt doing that! COLE That's the risk you take signing for a match like this, Coach! COACH But how was he supposed to know? He just signed the contract, he wasn't told beforehand of any stipulations! That's not fair! CABOOSE Life's not fair, Coach! Reject should have read the fine print before signing! TK goes to the apron once again, and pulls out a stop sign! COACH Oh, no! TK picks the sign up overhead and brings it down on the head of Reject! Reject staggers backward and falls over the security wall into the crowd! TK follows, and Reject tries to escape! TK and Reject end up backstage, where TK catches up to Reject, hammering him on the back, and throwing him into a stack of beer kegs, which then fall onto Reject. CABOOSE I don't think Reject's ever been to a kegger like this! TK follows Reject over to the stack, and picks up a keg. As he raises it overhead, Reject gets his hands on one and tosses it at TK, hitting him in the abdomen! Reject then grabs the keg and rams TK in the back with it, before picking him up and taking him back out to the arena. Reject carries a keg along in one hand, and nails TK with it in the aisle, before going to the side of the ring, and pulling a LADDER out from underneath it, drawing a pop from the crowd! COLE And we're breaking out the heavy duty equipment now! Reject slides the ladder into the ring, then rolls TK inside. Reject hits a snap legdrop on TK, then picks him up for a suplex. CABOOSE Uh oh, could be a suplex on the ladder here! TK blocks, then blocks a second time. He then picks Reject up, turns around while still holding Reject, and drops him with a SUPLEX ON THE LADDER! COACH NO! COLE And Reject sent BACK-FIRST onto the ladder! TK then rolls to the outside, and reaches under the apron. He crawls halfway under the ring to grab something, before coming out with a BARBED-WIRE BASEBALL BAT~! The crowd goes CRAZY! COACH Oh, come on now! Get in there, ref! CABOOSE Everything's legal here, Coach! COACH Yeah, but surely you've got to draw a line with this, don't you? TK waits for Reject to get up, then takes a HOME RUN SWING, but Reject ducks and hits a low blow! Reject then rolls over and grabs the bat. COACH USE IT, REJECT! Everything's legal here! Reject delivers a shot to the gut with the bat, then uses it to trip TK down to his back! Reject then gets down on the mat and begins to rake the bat across the face of TK, opening a wound on his forehead! COLE And Reject literally cutting open the forehead of his former tag team partner with that baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire! Reject then picks up TK, and delivers a snap suplex onto the ladder! COLE And NOW, it's TK who's back meets the ladder! Reject runs to the ropes and goes for ROLLING THUNDER~!, but TK rolls out of the way and Reject lands on the ladder! TK then crawls over and grabs the bat, and Reject turns around to receive a shot in the face! CABOOSE Wow, right in the FACE! COLE And Reject is down and now *he's* bleeding! TK drops an elbow on Reject, then rolls out of the ring and throws the keg inside. TK the rolls back in and lays the bat between his legs, as the crowd IMMEDIATELY begins to groan in agony. COACH Oh no, I can't watch this one! TK picks up the keg, and DROPS IT ON THE BAT, causing Reject to roll around on the mat in agony! Several fans in the front row can be seen holding their nuts and groaning in agony. TK sets up the ladder, then rolls outside the ring and grabs a TABLE from underneath! TK pushes the table into the ring, then rolls in and sets it up. By this time, however, Reject has recovered, and drills TK in the back with the beer keg! COACH But Reject's back in it now! Reject then delivers a shot to the head, and TK rolls onto the table. Reject walks around to the other side, and slowly starts climbing the ladder. TK slowly rolls off the table, and follows Reject up on the table side. TK catches him at the top, and the two begin to exchange punches. COLE These two former partners, jousting for position on the top of this ladder! TK wins the slugfest, then sets up a suplex! Reject quickly fires punches to the midsection, then thumbs TK in the eye. Reject climbs up a couple rungs, then flips over, POWERBOMBING TK THROUGH THE TABLE! COLE And THROUGH THE TABLE goes TK! What a powerbomb by Reject, but he can't cover! Reject lays on the mat for a few seconds, then inches over and covers... 1... 2... NO!!! TK gets a shoulder up! CABOOSE Still fight left in TK! Reject picks up TK, and hits a fisherman's buster! He follows up with ROLLING THUNDER~! COACH And Reject's setting him up now! Cover... 1... 2... Shoulder up again!!! Reject rolls to the outside, and finds another item wrapped in barbed wire, this time a STEEL CHAIR~! COLE And more barbed wire coming into play! Reject raises the chair, and SLAMS it across the back of TK! COLE Imagine the PAIN that TK must have experienced right there! TK rolls on the mat, rolling over to a corner. Reject waits for him to get up, then charges with the chair...but has kicked back into his FACE by TK! TK then comes out of the corner, and drops an ELBOW onto the chair, which is lying on Reject's face! COACH This is horrible, you guys! TK then grabs the chair, as Reject begs off. The crowd starts to cheer loudly, as TK raises the chair in the air! Reject rolls out of the ring, and TK gives chase into the crowd! They run past the beer kegs again, then back through the entryway, where Reject trips and falls in the aisleway. He begs off of TK again, when suddenly, someone grabs the chair from TK! TK turns around, and receives a headshot from...THA PUERTO RICAN??? COACH MY MAN!!! COLE WHAT? What the HELL is PRL doing out here??? The crowd boos LOUDLY as PRL looks down on TK and smiles, before throwing the chair down and going backstage. CABOOSE What is going ON here? COLE I don't know, what motive would PRL have to ambush TK like that? Reject slowly gets to his feet and takes TK back to the ring. Reject makes an immediate cover... 1... 2... TK gets a foot on the rope! COACH Oh, what a cheap move! Reject pulls TK's leg off the ropes, and hooks it... 1... 2... Kickout! COLE Still hanging in there! CABOOSE Wow, look at the wreckage in the ring, Cole! Reject grabs the barbed-wire chair, and stands over TK. He taunts the crowd, drawing ENORMOUS boos. He then raises the chair overhead, but when he does, TK sits up and delivers a low blow! Reject falls backwards to the mat, and TK rolls over and grabs the chair. He waits for Reject to get up, then tosses the chair into his hands, before hitting a BICYCLE KICK~! COLE TK again kicking the chair right into the face of Reject! TK covers... 1... 2... NO!!! Reject gets a shoulder up! COLE And now it's Reject, showing tremendous intestinal fortitude! TK picks up Reject, and delivers a belly-to-belly overhead suplex! Cover... 1... 2... Kickout again!!! TK charges Reject for another bicycle kick, but Reject ducks, and drills TK with a spinkick! Reject leans on the ropes to catch his wind, then rolls to the outside, grabbing a stuffed pillowcase. CABOOSE I've got a feeling that that pillowcase isn't filled with feathers, Cole! COLE Yeah, we're not about to see your ordinary average pillowfight right here! Reject raises the pillowcase in the air, drawing boos, then rolls into the ring. He grabs a handful of THUMBTACKS out of the pillowcase, sprinkling them on the mat, as the crowd buzzes. COACH HERE WE GO! Reject then grabs a handful and throws them on TK on the mat, before dumping the rest of the pillowcase out on the mat. Reject picks up TK, then goes for a bodyslam. TK slips behind the back, and puts a foot to the gut, setting him up for a powerbomb! However, Reject blocks, and BACKDROPS HIM INTO THE TACKS! COLE OH, backdrop, and TK's back COVERED in those tacks! Reject carefully drops a knee to TK's sternum, then positions the ladder. COLE Oh, no. What's this going to be? Reject climbs the ladder, stopping to pose once again at the top. He then steps over, and goes for a LEGDROP, but TK moves, and Reject LANDS IN THE TACKS~! TRIPLE C :o Reject sits there for a second with a wide-eyed look on his face, then jumps up, hopping around, until TK grabs him. TK delivers a FALLAWAY SLAM to Reject, RIGHT INTO THE TACKS~! COLE And Reject AGAIN meets the tacks! TK then picks up Reject...and plants him with the THUNDERBOLT DDT~!!!!!11111 COLE THIS IS IT!!! TK falls back onto Reject... 1... 2... 3!!!!! NO!!! REJECT GETS A SHOULDER UP!!! COACH WHAT ABOUT THAT, COLE? COLE I can't believe it, Reject just kicked out of the Thunderbolt DDT, the signature move of Thunderkid! TK sits there for a second, questioning the referee, then reaches down to pick up Reject. Reject reaches over and grabs a handful of tacks, using them to rake the eyes of TK, before hitting the EULOGY~!!!!!11111 COLE And now Reject with HIS signature move, the EULOGY~!!!!!11111 Reject can't cover immediately, but finally pushes TK over and drapes an arm... 1... 2... 3!!!!! NO!!! TK gets a shoulder up! COACH Come ON, REF!!! COLE And TK with the kickout! Reject slowly gets up, then picks up TK and carries him over to the tacks. Reject picks up TK, and delivers the PITCH BLACK INTO THE TACKS~!!!!!11111 COACH WOW! That's GOT to be it, come on, cover, Reject! Reject does cover... 1... 2... 3...NO!!! TK AGAIN gets the shoulder up! COLE And AGAIN! Where do these two get the strength? Reject walks over and grabs the barbed-wire bat, and scales the ladder. TK slowly gets to his feet, and Reject comes off the ladder, nailing TK right in the face with the bat! CABOOSE WOW, right between the eyes! Reject tosses the bat aside, and covers... 1... 2... 3!!!!! *DING DING DING* COACH YEAH!!! Reject rolls off of TK and lays on the mat, as [i]Renegade[/i] plays over the speakers. COLE And MERCIFULLY, this one is over! BUFFER [i]The winner of the match...RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREJECT!!!!![/i] COLE Ladies and gentlemen, whether you like these guys or not, these two men gave you everything they had in them! They gave their heart and their body, all to find out who the better man was! And in the end, it's that man right there, rolling out of the ring, Reject! Reject picks himself up off the floor and staggers back to the locker room as medics help keep him standing, and more medics rush around him to tend to the still unconscious Thunderkid. Reject stops at the front of the entrance to raise his arms and give a cocky grin, receiving a mixture of boos and appreciative applause. CABOOSE And Thunderkid just now starting to come to, Cole! The medics help TK up, and he receives a loud standing ovation from the crowd in Indianapolis as the medics help him to the back. COLE What an effort by TK, and what an effort by Reject, as well! CABOOSE I just can't see...how do you top this one, Cole?

What is the crowd chanting? EDIT: Never mind. "We want Corliss"

OK, I just saw the closing plays of regulation and OT, and saw *no* fouls whatsoever on the Lakers. I'm no Laker fan, but you guys seem to just be reaching for something to complain about with them over this game.

*offensive foul on Shaq* *replay* Walton: Easy play to call, you have to go AROUND people in basketball. other guy: Shaq's been going through people his whole career, and now they're whistling him for it, that's what he's complaining about. Walton: Interesting, but wrong.

The reason I went with just two keepers is because of how long it took to get through the madness rounds last time. This time, though, it doesn't look like we're going to have any newcomers. If you guys want three keepers, go ahead.

Mario Brothas

OMG, A FUCKING TRAVELING CALL

You mean, "by the time the first round is over"

I guess I'll give thoughts on IND-NJ too. I pretty much saw this loss coming. This is the third series in a row that it's happened, we take a 2-1 lead, go into game 4 with a big head and get ran off our home court as a result. Yet another pathetic showing from Stephen Jackson, 4-14 from the floor and six turnovers. PLEASE trade his ass this summer. Peja can take a long walk off a short cliff, too. Obviously only he knows how bad he's really hurt, but this is the fucking playoffs. Show a little fortitude. Not sure why Jeff Foster only played 11 minutes...I hope he's not hurt now, too. Fred Jones gets the start, and does NOTHING with it. Meanwhile, Croshere and Granger combine for 25 and 11 boards off the bench, including six threes. And yet another 20-point performance from Krstic on the other side. A couple more games like this and he'll be getting $60 million from the Knicks. We'll be lucky to even win another game, honestly.

I don't think Artest was trying to hurt Ginobili. That was a pretty weak shot. He still deserved the suspension, just because of the head/neck rule, but you're crazy if you don't think he could have hurt him if he wanted to.

We have to get Game 4. I think whoever wins that game will win the series. We were up 2-1 against the Pistons, too, so I won't predict victory just yet.

edit

The replay clearly showed Diaw reaching out for the loose ball, only to be elbowed to the floor by Kwame. His arms weren't even tangled, not even a little bit. To steal a quote from you,

I agree with you somewhat, iggy, I just think that after the suspensions of Artest and Posey, letting Kwame go unpunished for what he did would show some real inconsistency.

I can see the Suns bouncing back to take game 4. The next game is going to be called a lot differently from a physicality standpoint, and I think it will play right into the Suns' hands. I can see someone from the Suns, maybe D'Antoni, working the refs, perhaps taking a fine for it, to help that process, as well. It worked for Jermaine O'Neal, maybe it will work for the Suns. And that's not me complaining about tonight, that's just the way I see the next game going down.

I don't think Walton's foul was any worse then the Brendan Haywood foul on LeBron the other night. To me it looked like he was just late getting there, and did it out of desperation. It was a flagrant, sure, but I don't think there was any real intent to "send a message" or anything like that. If I had to make the call, I don't think he should be suspended. The play with Kwame Brown was just a cheap shot, though. I think he should definitely get a suspension, but don't think he will, either.

Suns are doing a good job of keeping it close against the eight Lakers on the court.