TheOriginalOrangeGoblin

"Dallas @ New Orleans, 8:00 LA Lakers @ Phoenix, 9:00 ESPN" Now those'll be a couple of games to watch. Especially Shaq's debut against his old team.

The Raptors winning the Atlantic Division was something I'd call a huge upset last season. No one saw it coming.

Not to mention Shaq's constant references to beating the "Sacramento Queens". That was a pretty good legitimate rivalry for this day and age in the NBA. My pick for best current rivalry is Pats/Colts. The fan bases hate each other and, unlike most rivalries, every game lives up to the hype for the most part.

Thriller - Michael Jackson - The most listenable album I've ever heard. I can go through it endlessly without skipping a track and often find myself liking different things about different songs on every listen. Featuring everything from ballads to straight pop dance numbers to a bit of rock, 'Thriller' is the complete package and perfect mainstream album.

I'd be shocked. Thomas is the one guy who's always been an anti-steroid advocate and has always been the first guy to talk to any investigators. He was the one guy to co-operate with Senator Mitchell. So yah, he would shock me.

I'm looking for FG and FT% and blocks. I'm willing to trade anyone barring Iverson, Redd and Chandler.

Explain. Other than Lemieux vs Gretzky, this would have been a four game sweep. I second this. Also, it's a bit of a stretch for 'dream final', as the Pens were out in the second round that year. Lemieux vs Gretzky is the primary reason I found it to be appealing. The Pens would've destroyed LA but, then again, they would've destroyed the Habs too. They just choked against the Isles. I think the Rockets with Hakeem, Barkley and Drexler at the tail end of their primes would've been a fascinating match-up for the Bulls. Especially with Barkley and Drexler trying to get rings and avenge previous losses while the Bulls would be trying to beat the only other team in the 1990's to win consecutive titles and the guy called the best in the NBA during Jordan's absense.

This has the potential to bet he most interesting playoff season in forever. Some of these line-ups (on paper at least) are mind-boggling: LA: Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Bryant, Fisher Phoenix: Shaq, Staudamire, Hill/Diaw, Bell, Nash Dallas (assuming the trade happens): Dampier, Nowitzki, Howard, Terry, Kidd That's not to mention the always dependable Spurs (Duncan, Parker, Ginobli), Hornets (West, Chandler, Paul), Denver (Camby, Anthony, Iverson), Houston (McGrady, Yao) and Golden State (Davis). Unbelievable amount of star power.

My list will be first voted out but hey it sounds fun. I'm in.

- Rockets/Bulls 1997 - Heat/Suns 2006 - Penguins/Kings 1993

Here's one: What'sthe best finals match up that ALMOST happened (eg. Vikings/Broncos if Minny doesn't choke)?

Rumors have it as Harris, Stackhouse, George, Diop, Ager, cash and possible draft picks for Kidd. I don't see this helping Dallas at all. They're losing their only bench scorer and their most consistant big man defender and a point guard who is a LOT younger and cheaper than Kidd. They'll be the ultimate "starter" team with an amazing core (Dirk, Howard, Terry, Kidd) and NOTHING else. I'd say this trade hurts them more than helps them and definetely lowers their chances against the Suns or Lakers (who do they have now that can cover Shaq or Bynum? Dampier?).

Nope. Speaking of which, Greatest all-star game (any sport) you've ever seen?

Hit the game winning, buzzer beating 3 pointer to defeat the Lakers in double overtime in game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

This is a terrible trade on paper but it could work. COULD is the key word. I won't be too shocked if Shaq "miraculously" recovers and becomes good again. And if that happens, big if, Phoenix is better suited to fight the Spurs and Lakers. Plus, realistically, Nash has 2 years left anyway so it's not like they're mortgaging their future. They'd be rebuilding soon either way. Nonetheless, they could've gotten better for Marion, I have no doubt in my mind about that.

Great game for the Raptors last night. They are on another level when Bargnani is playing good since there is, literally, nobody like him in the NBA. The whole team delivered last night and if they continue rebounding like that then they'll break out of the mid-East pack from Cleveland and Washington and jump onto the Orlando level. From seeing how strong the Raptors have played Boston and Detroit this year and how they CAN dominate Washington, I can see them going quite far in the playoffs. Only team they can't seem to figure out is Cleveland. For whatever reason, Lebron always REALLY goes off against the Raps. I was really hoping the Raps would get Stoudamire but now that he's gone, they need to find another back up PG. Without Ford, they have nobody to anchor the second unit. They have so many expendable guys that would draw interest (they are deeper and have more solid role players than anybody barring maybe Portland) that it would be inexcusable for them not to make a trade.

Football all the way. Baseball's not in my top 4. And I would have rather seen Sanders win it since Marino atleast had chances. Barry got stuck in a black hole called Detroit and didn't even get a chance at it. Here's another NBA one: Best NBA team that never made the NBA finals (ie. the Kings in the early 2000's etc.)?

Interesting. I think a case could be made for Shaq and Kareem (with either guy being above the other) but I think Hakeem is clearly above Kareem. Olajuwan was unstoppable in his prime to the point that he destroyed every other great centre of his era offensively (Robinson, Ewing, Shaq - although not in his prime etc.) and could change any game with his defence. Here's a question asked on ESPN recently: best NBA player to never win MVP?

I'm curious, in your opinion, whose above and whose below him out of the usual guys in consideration (Russell, Wilt, Hakeem, Shaq)?

I'm in sounds fun.

No. He's not the most dominant big man (Wilt, Shaq and Hakeem have him beat), not the best scorer (he's 14th in PPG and MJ and Wilt each played over 500 less games than he did), not the best rebounder (not even top 20 in RPG) and has never carried a dynasty like MJ, Magic and Russell have. So yah no case can be made. On a similar note, what are the all-time NBA first and second teams (players can't play out of position)? I'd go: 1st: PG - Magic Johnson SG - Michael Jordan SF - Larry Bird PF - Tim Duncan C - Bill Russell 2nd: PG - John Stockton SG - Jerry West SF - Julius Erving PF - Karl Malone C - Shaquille O'Neal

The 1980's. The amount of star power in the league in the 1980's will never be topped. You had 2 of the 3 or 4 greatest teams of all-time (Magic's Lakers and Bird's Celtics), you had the most dominant playoff run of all-time (Moses & Dr. J's Sixers), you had the development of the greatest player of all-time (Jordan), you had the team that defied all the other top teams and were the "villain" of the league for it (Pistons), you had some of the highest scoring teams ever (the Nuggets in the mid-80's, Trailblazers in the late 80's), you had pretty much everything you could want. Not to mention guys like Dominique, Hakeem, Malone & Stockton, Drexler, Ewing, English, Aguirre, King and many more all playing at high levels. And, unlike the 1990's, the playoffs were hard-fought and featured classic series every season. In the 1990's, it was almost always about one thing: beating Jordan. In the 1980's, there was no one alpha-dog team that everyone knew was going to win. There were always many teams that had a shot. Sticking with the NBA, who is the best point guard of the last 25 years (excluding Magic)?

I'd say the East has more than 3 good teams. They have 6 teams that can do playoff damage (not against the West though) and all but one of those are good TEAMS with depth (the Cavs are basically Lebron and thin air). So the East isn't just 3 teams and then nothing.

I'd see Michael Jordan in his prime over anyone else. The Bulls/Celtics playoff game in 1986 or one of his games against the Suns in 1993 would have been phenomenal to see live.

A boring Orlando Magic/Milwuakee Bucks game in 2004. It was my first live NBA game ever so I'm happy I went but it was a terrible game. What is the biggest "what if" scenario in sports history?