Precious Roy

Not a great free agent class but not terrible. I didn't realize Antawn Jamison's contract was up and I don't know if Washington can afford to keep him. Arenas did say he was going to opt out though. If I were them I'd seriously consider resigning Jamison and letting Gilbert walk so they can go after Jose Calderon. Marion, Maggette, Calderon, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Daniel Gibson and Ryan Gomes are all interesting names. And Artest if he opts out, I can't remember what he said about that. The Atlanta and Chicago situations are interesting as I doubt either team will keep both of their restricted free agents. I'm definitely expecting Seattle/Oklahoma City to make some sort of high profile signing, they're so far under the cap. Monta Ellis makes sense on paper, or maybe they decide to go after Arenas. Actually, Ben Gordon wouldn't be a bad fit either. Believe it or not I think San Antonio might go under the cap with Horry, Finley and Kurt Thomas coming off the books. I know Thomas makes like 8-9 million. They're a desirable location for veterans, they could definitely restock a bit. Would Maggette or Ricky Davis make sense or are they too me-first for the Spurs? I don't expect the Knicks to do anything. The Ron Artest pipe dream is probably out the window at this point. Maybe he can go to New Jersey. Any predictions on Kwame Brown?

Heh, Kobe had a 50 pt game against the same Suns team. I vaguely remember that one now, but all I really remember about Kobe from that series was his horrid game 7 performance.

Halfway through the 2nd and Kobe has 25 points. When was the last time someone hit 50 in a playoff game? I remember Vince Carter doing it like way back in 01 or 02.

I know they made a finals without him, but Cuban probably cost himself a championship or two by letting Steve Nash walk.

I saw Nas on a leg of the Rock the Bells tour and he had by far the best set. His rhyming was tight, nothing freestyled really but he was really energetic and passionate and he switched things up in the right places, and he had a lot of stage presence. Wu-Tang came on after him and they couldn't follow it, the crowd had already peaked.

I'm thinking San Antonio-LA in the WCF. Utah has looked really good, but I can't bring myself to pick them over the Lakers yet, nobody on that team can guard Kobe and I think they've got the matchups in their favor to disrupt the Utah offense. And I won't pick against San Antonio. They could lose in any round, but as long as they're in it they're my favorite.

If Hank cared so much about it he should have stepped in in the offseason and made sure we put some better arms in our bullpen. He signs the checks, he could have made it so our big bp addition wasn't 40 yr old Troy fucking Hawkins. As things stand right now he's wrong, and he's even wronger to speak out in the way he did.

Dude, I know the Wiz are getting the shit kicked out of them, but a bunch of people picking a #5 seed to beat a #4 seed that was playing .500 ball the past few weeks is hardly idiotic. I agree on the other stuff though; Washington's pissing me off with all this smack talk and nothing to show for it. It's idiotic to pick against LeBron this early. That's like picking Jordan to lose to the Cavs in the first round.

I prefer Joba as the setup man at this point for a multitude of reasons. First of all our bullpen is not very deep and removing Joba from the equation puts us back exactly where we were last season before Joba got called up where the pen cost us a ton of games and we had a hard time just getting Rivera into save situations. Right now we've got a lights out 8-9 combo and that's not something that comes along too often, I don't care what anyone says it's easier to fill a rotation spot with a serviceable starter than find a great intimidating reliever. Second, Joba has already proven himself a great reliever, we have no idea how he'll perform as a starter. Could be great right away, could take his lumps and end up being no better than a serviceable vet. And even if he's great, do we trust Farnsworth, Hawkins and Co. to protect his leads? It's just too big a risk to take right now. And the main reason the team is .500 so far is not because Joba isn't in the rotation, it's a sluggish offense and the fact that Kennedy/Hughes have struggled. Joba being in the rotation would probably have us at a worse record right now. Hank Steinbrenner was way, way out of line here IMO, and I'm worried that this is the start of him shoving Brian Cashman out the door.

*raises hand* Definitely send me an offer. Are you 'Toronto Dirtbags'? If so, I would be interested in Ian Kinsler and/or one of Byrnes or Hamilton. Webb, Chipper and my closers are off limits, but I'd be willing to trade just about anyone else. I probably won't look to formulate any trade offers before next week though.

I'm getting a real kick out of seeing the Wizards get the shit kicked out of them. Not sure exactly why since I like Jamison and Butler a lot and Arenas is a pretty entertaining character, but all that shit talking by their team combined with people actually picking the Wizards to win this series when I thought there was a snowballs chance in hell of that happening, plus all the anti-LeBron nonsense from a small but vocal group of fans (looking at you Damaretarded), it all really has me pulling for the Cavs to just stomp dudes. I mean, the Cavs beat the Wizards two years ago when Arenas was fully healthy and on top of his game and LeBron was a playoff newbie, and he ran completely roughshod on the east last year, why exactly did anyone think this Wizards team had a chance to win more than a game or two? Because of DeShawn Stevenson all of a sudden thinking he's something special? Please. DeShawn Stevenson is reminding me of Tim Thomas back when he was a Knick, mouth writing checks his ass can't cash. I sort of like Arenas because he's entertaining and fun to watch when he's on a roll, but Butler and Jamison play better without him, and he's a total ballhog, he makes it so his team can't win unless he's at his absolute best scoring. He's really better suited to be a 2 guard, he gets his assists but he's way too into dominating the ball and it takes those other guys out of the game too much. Plus he's not 100% and he's been out of the lineup most of the year, there's no way that wasn't going to mess with the chemistry of that offense. So in short, anyone picking the Wizards had no clue, and LeBron is the fucking terminator.

Lebron is such a freak athletically, with his size, strength and quickness, not to mention his basketball IQ, he draws so many fouls because once he gets a step toward the lane there's no other way to stop him. Wade was committing what were either blatant offensive fouls or just non-call situations with his pull up jump shots and getting it called the other way. He would drive the ball, initiate the contact with his body or push off with his off-hand, then step back into a jumper and get the continuation call. He got legit fouled going to the hoop too, but it was those borderline offensive foul but called on the defense plays that everyone was up in arms over. There's no comparison between that and LeBron, haters just love to hate.

Better late than never. For now he's remaining with the organization and reporting directly to Walsh in an advisory/scouting role, but that's just semantics at this point. He's owed something like 18 million on his contract, the Garden won't out and out fire him because of that, either they're quietly negotiating a buyout down the road or have to be hoping his ego can't handle the diminished role and he requests a buyout. But then again, it's not like there's too many doors open for Thomas at this point and it's not like his ego can take much more of a beating than it already has. If he gets paid 18 million to basically do nothing, so be it, I couldn't care less about the Dolans losing money at this point. I'm excited to see who the Knicks draft and who they hire to coach the team, but most importantly I never want to see Stephon Marbury in a Knicks uniform again. Please just pay him to sit at home too.

With the exception of Oswalt, who finally threw a good game last night, my pitching has been pretty awesome. And I somehow managed to get Gavin Floyd and Matt Garza from FA. I may be looking to trade a starter for a 2B or a starter/OF for an OF upgrade pretty soon. Anyone who's in the market for a SP let me know.

First, saying he comes in 2-3 minutes into the game on average is a complete fabrication/exageration/whatever. It's more like 4-6 minutes into the average game, and I wish I could find a log of that to definitively kill that argument but so far I can't find one. But just using common sense, do you really think Pop is yanking Finley two or three minutes in unless he gets into quick foul trouble? That completely defeats the point of starting him. 2nd, he played 50 games off the bench, that's almost 70%, how can you say he's not ACTUALLY coming off the bench? The NBA's rule is I believe more than half of the games coming off the bench to qualify, so it doesn't really matter if you think he shouldn't count because he started two dozen games. McHale started 31 games the second year he won the award. Ricky Pierce also started 31. Darrell Armstrong started 15 out of 50 in the holdout year. Plus, a lot of the games Manu started in was because Parker was hurt. I can't believe you're seriously advocating Kyle Korver. Do you know why Korver didn't start a single game this year? He's completely one dimensional. A dimension the Jazz needed, but the guy scores about 10 per game on jump shots and does nothing else. Ditto JR Smith. Just because they never started (again, a reason for that) they should get the award over a far, far superior player? Ginobili is a "starter" coming off the bench and as I said before the term and the award were created to honor exactly that. You're talking more about a "7th man" or "under 25 minutes per game" award, and that's not what this award is.

It's hypocritical. You have an irrational hatred of Kobe and LeBron due to the media hype or fan hype or whatever. It's fine to like all those teams and players you like, I like them too, but saying you won't watch if if the Cavs or Lakers are in it is just as bad as the fans who don't watch because the Spurs or Pistons or whoever are "boring", it's just a different side of the equation. As I said, most hardcore NBA fans love the Spurs and Pistons, and they also love Kobe and LeBron. I didn't say shit about sexiness or ratings. If you can't separate the talent of those players from the hype that surrounds them, and you won't watch a playoff series because of that, well, that's the definition of irrational.

Most hardcore NBA fans love the Spurs and Pistons. You're not an anti-NBA fan, you're an irrational NBA fan.

They were in I guess a mild slump after Bynum got hurt, but there was nothing "turned around". They were among the best in the west before and after the Gasol trade. And Kobe's been playing with an injury deemed worthy of surgery since before the all-star break. The Lakers taking the #1 seed clinches the MVP for Kobe

As far as Ginobili not being a "true 6th man" I think that's bs. John Havlicek is considered the prototypical 6th man, the freaking term was coined in regards to him, and Ginobili is to the Spurs exactly what Hondo was, a player good enough to start, a team leader and go to guy, but willing to come off the bench for the benefit of the team. The "6th starter". Kevin McHale is the other guy I think of, one of the best players in the game, could start for any team in the league, but came off the bench on a great team. He was like the poster boy for the award it's first few years in existence. So no, what Ginobili has done this year is exactly why we have the award in the first place. There's no one even close to him in that role.

One thing I'll say for the Bulls is that they had two of the very best perimeter defenders in Pippen and Jordan, which made up for not having an inside-out team defense. It's definitely crucial in the playoffs, moreso than having a great 5 man team defense I think, to have a great individual defender or two, as long as the rest of the guys can play off of that. The Houston championship teams weren't great one on one defensively, better on the first club with Maxwell and Thorpe, but they had the best defensive player in the league at the time in Hakeem, he was brilliant, and that alone allowed them to be good was enough. The Lakers teams in the 90's had Kobe to lock people down when it mattered and Shaq as the stopper inside, Fox and Fisher were pests but they were beatable, they weren't great defensive teams but they had the great individual defenders. "Defense wins Championships" rings true, but it doesn't mean that the "best defensive team" has the best shot at winning, which I think is what Ripper was getting at.

I really only listen to WFAN, and that's probably too NYCentric for most people. Mike and the Mad Dog get by far the best guests and can be really, really good when they have something to sink their teeth into, but other times when their isn't a good guest lineup or isn't a couple of hot topics to discuss they can be really, really tedious. Like the other day when they spent an hour speculating over the minutia of tv coverage for the Masters. One thing I like about them is they get into the business/politics of sports from time to time rather than just debating stats and opinions. Sometimes it's wankery, but sometimes it's really interesting. Joe and Evan in the midday is good too, they're the best with the callers I think, but they're really NYCentric. I like Tony Paige in the overnight because he tends to have really wacky guests, like random old ABA/NBA or MLB players that nobody's heard from in years, but that doesn't happen often enough. Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton have a pretty entertaining morning show. That might be the best bet for the non-NY fan. You can listen 24/7 at wfan.com

Dwight Howard paired with two great "big" shooters. Big meaning they're tall enough and long enough to get their shots off even without all the attention Howard draws. Howard is pretty much unstoppable one on one, it's just a deadly combination. Not that Van Gundy isn't a really good coach, but he's certainly got an MVP candidate on his team and 3 guys having all-star caliber seasons.

This stipend/bonus thing is weird. Obviously everyone involved should be fairly compensated and I suppose it's reasonable to extend that beyond their regular salary, and there's nothing wrong with what the Red Sox players did, but $40,000 per coach for a brief trip to Japan??!? Doesn't that seem like a shitload of money to anyone else?? Most coaches get paid in the lower end of the six figure range for an entire season! Even for the players that seems excessive to me. And no, I'm not buying that both teams are being put out by this or that it's some arduous task that they've been unfairly burdened with. They get to travel first class to one of the greatest cities in the world, be tourists, go to sushi bars and massage parlors, and play a game. Yeah, it's so fucking unfair, let's give them all $40,000 extra dollars to make up for this grave injustice.

I don't think my team is a contender this year unless everything breaks perfectly I like my quartet of starters (Webb, Oswalt, Maine, Greinke) but I'll need to add 1 or 2 more. I like my closers (Rivera, Isringhausen) but they are both pretty old and Isringhausen is an injury risk. I do think Rivera is going to have a great year though, Joba setting up for him should create more save opportunities. I love Broxton as a low ERA/WHIP, high K total, holds 70-80 inning guy, and he's next in line to close games. He's a guy I picked as a potential keeper at a reasonable value round wise. My hitting, as it did last year, has too many question marks and not enough big bats. Kazuo Matsui was only a keeper because the pick I gave up for him was worthless, but then I somehow managed to miss all my 2B targets and am stuck with only him at the position. That's bad enough, but now he's going to miss the start of the season with an injured ANUS and knowing how he sucked with the pressure of playing for the Mets, he'll probably suck now out of sheer embarasment. I'm also relying on a rookie catcher, a 2nd year SS with a lot to prove, a 3B who's legitimately great but has a ton of nagging injuries in season, and Carlos Pena who's got to be considered a big gamble. I do like Edwin Encarnacion as a backup for Chipper and potential UTIL man. I like my outfielders individually, but collectively I don't expect enough production out of them. They're all at best 2nd or 3rd outfielders, and other than Jose Guillen (who seems to always fall short of expectations anyway) there's not a power hitter in the bunch. I need 1 or 2 of Damon, Victorino or Cabrera to hit 20+ homers, which isn't impossible but isn't likely either. Hopefully Giambi has a good year and gets 450+ ABs. So my pitching should keep me respectable and I'll win a few offensive H2Hs here and there, but I'm probably playing with an eye on next year.

Jensen Lewis, RP, Cleveland DONE! Here's my team: P: Brandon Webb Roy Oswalt John Maine Zack Greinke Mariano Rivera Jason Isringhausen Jonathan Broxton Jensen Lewis H: Kurt Suzuki, C Carlos Pena, 1B Stephen Drew SS Chipper Jones, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, 3B Shane Victorino, OF Johnny Damon, OF Jose Guillen, OF Melky Cabrera, OF Andre Ethier, OF Kazuo Matsui, 2B Jason Giambi, 1B/DH I'd be interested in trading for another starter, throw me some offers if anyone has a surplus