Just John

I understand the mathematical possibility, but you'd think factoring in motivation would lead to a different result. Having a team so vastly inferior win in a post-season setting is much less likely than in the regular season where the good teams sometimes slack off against the bottom feeders.

Nothing like a 108 loss team taking a good team like the 86 Stros to 7 games... I have to question the validity of this simulator. That's like saying the Royals would've taken the White Sox to 7 in 05.

I don't think getting Kidd helps the Lakers that much anyway. He'll take shots away from Smush Parker, which is a plus, but the Lakers really need another scorer before they need another distributor. Kobe is doing well as the primary ball-handler, he just needs more guys that can finish, especially in the front court. While Bynum still needs to grow a lot, giving him away would be counter-productive, especially for an aging guard that they don't need. Getting Kidd might allow the Lakers to go over the Rockets or Jazz (which I don't think they can do now), but no way does it get them past the big 3.

I think Barkley made a good point that the Suns need to play more of their guys. Last year, the common excuse for their playoff exit was that injuries forced them to play a short rotation causing fatigue. So the question is why are they voluntarily committing themselves to a short rotation? They have 7 legit scorers and 2 good distributors, so there's no reason they shouldn't be able to go deep in the bench and give guys like Burke and Jumaine Jones minutes to rest their top guys. With the style the play, most NBA players should be able to hang for 5-10 minutes a game without screwing anything up. If they actually use their roster, only Dallas can match their depth. And, man, I didn't realize how bad the Nuggets D is. The only difference AI is gonna make is the difference between an first-round ass-kicking and a lottery pick.

Punk using the Go 2 Sleep as his new finisher is funny. I wonder if the road agents watched some KENTA footage and told Punk to copy his entire moveset. Nitro continues to impress me.

I was debating whether or not to spend my last 4 mil on Jeff Hardy or Umaga. Guess which one I chose.

When are we going to get the Raptors on national tv? I want to see them play before the playoffs. At least there's a Rockets game this week, and I might get another look at the Jazz.

Yeah, but sometimes they're at least competitive. This was an embarrassing squash. The East should be ashamed.

Nice job fantasy-webpage makers.

I don't think Howard got jobbed at all on his big dunk. Yeah he got the sticker 12'6 up on the backboard, but the guy is 7 feet tall. He's 7 feet and his arms have to be at least another 3. A two and a half foot vertical is good, but not super-duper exceptional at the NBA level. When Nate Robinson jumps 3 feet, he barely gets the ball over the rim, but everyone wants to give Dwight a 50 for doing the same thing? Come on. And I loved the judges this year. MJ as the "Russian judge" was great. I'm glad they didn't whore out 10's all over the place (until that last one) like they do every other year. While this dunk contest was better than last year, none of these dunks were perfect 50's. It's good to see judges being honest for a change.

The Rockets need another old guy about as badly as the Heat.

Looking at the matchups, I will be very disappointed if my series isn't the most embarrassingly one-sided sweep in baseball history.

I missed this in theaters, but I bought the DVD. Much like everyone else, I loved the movie. It's right up there with Inside Man for my top picture of 2006, though I know not as many people like IM as much as me. One thing that came up in this thread that confused me... I thought I understood everything, but then I hear people talking about this, and I guess it went right over my head.

What a brutal loss for the Rockets against the Mavs. They played exactly how they needed to in order to win for 47 minutes, but that last minute and change was just hideous. A bad defensive breakdown with Terry getting a wide open shot, and then Alston and Head attempting the "game-winners." Yuck.

Were JR's comments to the effect of "Nitro and Melina getting a convincing win over the women's champ Mickie James and Super Crazy. For anyone who thought Nitro was on a losing streak, I guess that rumor can be put to the rest." directly aimed at this rumor?

No one's defending his comments at all. It's just rare you actually hear a professional athlete give his real opinion rather than whatever he's "supposed to say." Being a closet hate-mongerer isn't any better than being an open one.

As stupid as what he said was, at least he spoke how he really felt instead of tip-toeing around it. I agree. To some extent, I do admire his honesty, but he deserves all the backlash he's getting. There's no excuse for that kind of hate-mongering. I imagine it's more of an attention-whoring thing in this case, but it's still a stupid thing to say and/or believe.

I'm too lazy to look on youtube, but during the Angle/Taker NWO match last year was the worst time-delay censoring job I've ever seen, in any form of entertainment. I'll transcribe what was right in front of the camera and clearly audible. *Angle stops Nick Patrick from counting UT out* Patrick: What're you doing? Angle: I wanna beat this motherfucker in the ring. *BEEP* Patrick: Well, go do it then. Angle: That's BULLSHIT! *BEEEEEEP* Cole: Angle saying he wants to beat the Undertaker in the ring... Another one I liked was from early 90s WCW when Brian Pillman was fighting Johnny B. Badd. As Pillman came to the ring, he looked at the camera and said "Johnny don't be bad, Johnny be gay!" Then JR had to go to the quick political correctness cover.

My top 5 would be exactly as they are in the seedings. Dallas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Utah, and Houston. The Lakers are finally coming back to earth and realizing they're not that good. Sure, you've got Kobe, but as has been the question since Shaq left, who else? Lamar Odom has always been inconsistent and isn't going to make or break a championship run. Smush Parker is fucking terrible. Bynum has potential, but he's still young and makes too many mistakes. When your fans are anxiously waiting for Luke Walton to return to the starting lineup, you probably don't have a real threat of a team. They're probably gone in the first round, no matter who they play. Dallas and Phoenix require no explanation. San Antonio is lazy right now, but they're a proven, veteran team that is capable of turning it on in the playoffs. They could still beat either of the top two. People are dismissing these guys way too quickly. I have them right behind Dallas as the best shot to win the West. Utah will get Boozer back, and they're still playing well without him. Though controversial and aggravating, their defense is among the most effective in the league. They're still young, but have good chemistry and veterans on their bench. They've also proven they can light up the scoreboard if the game goes that way, so you can't completely count them out in any series, though I'd give them slim odds against Dallas or San Antonio. When Yao Ming went down in December, I was just hoping the Rockets would tread water and stay in the 6-8 range before making a push at the end of the year. However, it looks like they'll finish no lower than 5, and are very close to catching San Antonio for a top 4 spot. Having injuries to both superstars at different times of the year could be a huge advantage if they're both healthy in the playoffs, as Van Gundy could go with lots of different lineups based around T-Mac, Yao, or both. Minus Rafer Alston, the role players offer consistency and defense. If Bonzi gets into good shape and you can put him on the floor with Yao, T-Mac, and Battier, you have a pretty killer starting lineup. I see them being one of the tougher matchups for San Antonio, though the chances of beating Dallas, and especially Phoenix, go way down after that.

Aw shit... If I hadn't already ordered a T-Mac All-Star jersey, I would so order one for Okur. That would be a super rarity.

So, who IS playing in the All Star Game? Sounds like we're gonna be seeing Smush Parker and Mike Dunleavy Jr. out there.

Not too bad of a pickup for Houston to avoid really running up the miles on Mutombo before Yao gets back. Padgett wasn't getting many minutes anyway since Chuck Hayes has become the team garbage-man, which is all Padgett ever did. The difference is Hayes is actually improving.

Naiwf covered MJ, but Phil's Lakers got plenty of favorable calls as well. A big example would be Game 6 of the 2002 WCF, which is similar to Game 5 of last year's finals in terms of horrendous officiating. The call that still stands out to me from that one was Mike Bibby getting whistled for impeding Kobe's swinging elbow with his face.

Phil Jackson has zero room to complain given some of the calls his stars have gotten over the years. And I'll say it again: Fuck Pat Riley. He's not even trying to hide the fact he only wants to be part of the team when its successful anymore.

Yeah, the Jazz will have trouble making it out of the 2nd round, and that's only if they get a favorable first round draw. No way the beat Mavs or Spurs in a series. Probably not the Suns either, but they have a better shot against them than the first two. I couldn't even see 'em going over the Rockets who would get just as physical, but would have the dreaded playoff superstar power with T-Mac and Yao. I'd give the Jazz a 50/50 shot against the Lakers, and they could probably beat whatever 2 lesser teams enter (Denver and the Clippers probably).