alfdogg

You can go ahead and stick whoever you want in the last spot.

You wouldn't happen to have brackets in mind, would you?

Milwaukee has traded Steve Blake to Denver for Earl Boykins and Julius Hodge.

I've changed my mind again. I want to go with Caron Butler in Pierce's spot. He's been fantastic.

Tony Allen tried to showboat on a dead play, and came down and hurt his knee. What a dumbass.

Dallas apparently likes him, as well.

I think it comes down to Nash, Kobe, & Dirk, with Gilbert Arenas possibly being a darkhorse. ESPN keeps mentioning Boozer, but I just can't see him getting enough support from the voters, with him not being a "name guy" and all. Of course, this is all just my opinion, they'd probably give it to LeBron before giving it to Arenas. And he does have an argument, since his team has a better record.

Depends on how many matches you're wanting me to write. I shouldn't have a problem with the Rumble. The first few weeks of class are pretty light, so I should fiind enough time for it.

6 in a row. Pacers are 10 minutes away from being 3 games over .500!

Word is now that Webber could be bought out in a matter of days, and the Knicks are also rumored to be in discussions to buy out Steve Francis. Even more bizarre, it's rumored that Francis could go to Philly and Webber to New York.

Well, work aside, I am pretty much open the next two weeks. The class is only on Monday nights, and we we'll be off for MLK day next week. I was able to test out of my other class. It was pretty overwhelming at first, but after letting it soak in, I don't think it will be as bad as I thought. Feel free to do what you want with the six-man titles, but I would like to try and hold onto the HL title for now. I should be able to handle that, at least.

One problem I've always had with the over/underrated wrestler awards, is that it really just becomes who is the most over/underpushed wrestler. If that's what you're going for with that, that's fine, it's just that it's easy for everyone to say Batista/Orton are overpushed, etc. I think if, when voting, we were looking at the wrestler's ability as opposed to their pushes, it would make for a lot more interesting discussion. I don't know of anyone who thinks Batista is a good wrestler, so he can't really be overrated. Just something to consider for future awards, perhaps.

So, I just started a class tonight, and it looks as if it's going to be pretty time consuming. As in, I may have to drop out of the OAOAST for a while. Me and EWC had already come up with a plan for the X-title, so that's good, though he may want to see if someone else can take on my share of the tournament matches. The other titles I have, you guys can do what you want with them. I'm just not sure how much, if any, time I can put into this between work and class. I will try to get the other Anderson Cup match done, but after that, I just don't know. Sorry.

So, I just went to HoopsHype, and see the headline "Big trade coming?" And the teams mentioned are Portland, Atlanta, and Washington. So I'm thinking, maybe Zach Randolph could be involved. No, it's just yet another Jamaal Magloire rumor. In case you're interested, the rumor has Magloire going to Washington, Brendan Haywood and Jarvis Hayes to Atlanta, and Lorenzen Wright, Salim Stoudamire and Esteban Batista to Portland. There's also been rumors that the Sixers may buy out Chris Webber.

I bet Vujacic doesn't hit that many shots in a game the rest of the season.

1. Dallas 2. Phoenix 3. Utah 4. LA Lakers 5. Houston 6. Cleveland 7. San Antonio 8. Washington 9. Chicago 10. Detroit 11. Minnesota 12. Indiana 13. Orlando 14. Golden State 15. Milwuakee 16. Toronto 17. Denver 18. Sacramento 19. New York 20. Miami 21. LA Clippers 22. New Jersey 23. Portland 24. Seattle 25. Boston 26. Charlotte 27. Philadelphia 28. NO/OK 29. Atlanta 30. Memphis

And sure enough, the Lakers take them out tonight, 101-98, with Sasha Vujacic of all people hitting the game-winner.

I guess he expects Walsh to just trade him away for junk. Obviously I don't expect to get equal value for him, but like you said, it's hard to see him winding up in a better situation than the one he's in. The more time goes by, the more I think that trading Ron Artest was a mistake.

I think the best case scenario for the Lakers, out of the big three (Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix), would be to get Phoenix again, honestly. I think if Bynum is able to hold his own against Amare, that's a plenty winnable series for them, though I'd still pick the Suns to win. I just think Dallas has too many weapons. They obviously can't guard Dirk. If Terry's on, they won't be able to guard him. I don't see them really slowing Howard or even Stackhouse if they go to him, either. Do the Lakers even have a "stopper", so to speak? Or is Smush Parker supposedly it? As far as the Spurs go, I just think it's funny when people say "they're a year older, they're on the downswing", etc. I've seen no evidence of these guys slowing down, and if not for the Fisher shot and Manu's foul on Dirk last year, I'd be willing to bet that they're going for their fifth straight title right now. I still expect them to win every series until I actually see them lose, honestly.

If you guys don't mind, I'm going to move this discussion to the Roundtable thread.

Sun, Jan. 7 Washington @ Toronto, 1:00 Houston @ Minnesota, 3:30 San Antonio @ Memphis, 4:00 Boston @ Orlando, 6:00 Golden State @ Phoenix, 8:00 Miami @ Portland, 9:00 Dallas @ LA Lakers, 9:30 Mon, Jan. 8 LA Clippers @ NO/OK, 8:00 Houston @ Chicago, 8:30 Milwaukee @ Denver, 9:00 Tue, Jan. 9 Detroit @ Philadelphia, 7:00 Atlanta @ Indiana, 7:00 Toronto @ New Jersey, 7:30 LA Lakers @ Memphis, 8:00 Portland @ San Antonio, 8:00 Dallas @ Utah, 9:00 Seattle @ Phoenix, 9:00 Cleveland @ Sacramento, 10:00 Wed, Jan. 10 Chicago @ Washington, 7:00 NO/OK @ Atlanta, 7:00 Indiana @ Boston, 7:30 Philadelphia @ New York, 7:30 Charlotte @ Detroit, 7:30 Toronto @ Milwaukee, 8:00 LA Clippers @ Minnesota, 8:00 LA Lakers @ Houston, 8:30 Portland @ Dallas, 8:30 San Antonio @ Denver, 9:00 ESPN Miami @ Seattle, 10:00 Orlando @ Golden State, 10:30 Thu, Jan. 11 New Jersey @ Chicago, 8:00 Cleveland @ Phoenix, 10:30 Fri, Jan. 12 Milwaukee @ Philadelphia, 7:00 Dallas @ Indiana, 7:00 Toronto @ Boston, 7:30 Charlotte @ New York, 7:30 Detroit @ Atlanta, 7:30 Minnesota @ Memphis, 8:00 Washington @ NO/OK, 8:00 ESPN Sacramento @ Portland, 10:00 Houston @ Denver, 10:30 ESPN Orlando @ LA Lakers, 10:30 Miami @ Golden State, 10:30 Utah @ Seattle, 10:30 Sat, Jan. 13 Philadelphia @ Charlotte, 7:00 Boston @ Detroit, 7:30 Washington @ San Antonio, 8:00 New Jersey @ Minnesota, 8:00 Memphis @ Chicago, 8:30 NO/OK @ Milwaukee, 8:30 Miami @ Utah, 9:00 Orlando @ Phoenix, 9:00 Houston @ Sacramento, 10:00 Cleveland @ LA Clippers, 10:30 I'd love to see Dallas come in on Friday with their streak still intact and give us another crack at it, but I bet they go down to either LA or Utah. We almost had them on Thursday, though.

Who will they beat in the semis?

He'll be coaching them within a year. Bank on it.

And Pat Burke with the icing on the cake.

No offense to Amare, but when he's beating you on a break with a behind-the-back dribble and finger roll, it's about time for Gary Payton to hang it up.