Precious Roy

I think people looked at the Lakers taking the Suns to 7 games last year and assumed they could do it again, but the reason the Lakers did so well last year was that Odom was able to dominate inside. The Suns were playing f'n Tim Thomas at center!

A kid like Telfair would be crazy not to carry a gun around when he's in New York. Now driving without a license is stupid, and having an unregistered gun if that's the case is real stupid, but it's obvious the Celtics are just using this as an excuse to get rid of him because he didn't pan out as a player. They stood by Tony Allen through his shit and their ownership wouldn't make those statements if it was Paul Pierce or Wally Szerbiak in that situation, so boo to the Celtics for the way they handled this. I still think Telfair can be a quality NBA player, but Boston turned out to be a horrible fit.

just you 359/461/469

Yeah, and a 6-3 lead with 1 out and 2 on in the 8th in APRIL shouldn't be one of those situations. Christ. I'm not that upset about the game, we've got two more in the series and it's too early in the season to worry about this stuff, but there's really no reason to ask Mo to get 5 outs in that situation, especially the way the game had been going up until the 8th, and when you've got Bruney and Farnsworth in the pen for exactly that situation. Does anyone have real confidence in Farnsworth? I guess not. Is Bruney proven? Not really. But fuck, if they can't get a shot to prove it now how can we ask them too when it really counts? And if we're never going to use them in an "important" situation and ask Mo to be the 1-2+ Superman reliever all the time we're not going to win. I've still got all the confidence in the world in Rivera, but fuck, I really hated the way the bullpen was used in that game. The first thing I probably would have done differently is leave Proctor in. He got 2 quick outs relieving Pettitte in the 7th, I don't like pulling him for Mike Myers in that situation when you're just going to pull Myers after the Ortiz AB, I'm hate micromanaging a bullpen like that with a 4 run lead, and with hitters like Ortiz and Manny it's like you're playing right into their hands. You play it tight when you've got a lead like that and it gives them confidence, we've seen it too many times in these games. And I didn't see Thursday's game, but based on how he struggled and how many appearances he's had I don't like using Luis Vizcaino over Bruney or Farnsworth. We didn't lose because of Rivera even though he didn't get it done, or because Kevin Thompson was up there with 2 outs in the 9th (even though pinch running him for the DESIGNATED HITTER JASON GIAMBI was a superfluous move), we lost because the geezers in the dugout fucked up the transition from Pettitte to Rivera

This is the weakest half of a bracket I think I've ever seen

I'm not watching the game or listening on the radio, so I'm trying to figure out why the fuck Andy Pettitte pitched an inning of relief today....

Don't forget about the Rockets. Yao is 26, T-Mac turns 28 next month, Battier is 28, and they've got a couple good young role players in Luther Head and Chuck Hayes. They're in prime position to contend for the next 5-6 years.

I benched Salomon Torres in favor of Zack Greinke because I was worried about hitting 28 innings, and Torres goes out and gets saves in the first two games. I love weekly rosters!

99-00 Payton averaged 24 pts, 9 assists, 6.5 boards, 2 steals, shot about .45% and led the NBA in 3's made. Who was better than him? Sam Cassell had a great year, 20 pts, 10 assists, 4 boards, 1.5 steals, Kidd had a nice year of 14-10-7-2 which came along with his typical 40% shooting, Stockton was at around 12-9-2, Terrell Brandon had a good year for Minnesota, Steve Francis had a nice rookie year, Nick Van Exel had a good year in Denver....but Payton pretty clearly had the best year, and there is no fucking way he's not top FOUR.... 96-97 Payton went for 22-7-4.6-2.4, shot .475, made like 120 3's. John Stockton, Rod Strickland, Kevin Johnson, Tim Hardaway, Penny Hardaway, Mookie Blaylock, Mark Jackson, Terrell Brandon and Damon Stoudamire all had really good years, but if you look at the stats across the board, the good shooting, the minutes/games played, the combination of offense and defense, and I'm not seeing anything that keeps Payton out of at least the top 4, if not the #1 spot. I think all of his accolades and the respect he gets from people in and around the game speaks for itself, Just admit you don't like GP and we can move on

Yeah, that's pretty much not true at all. Even if you were more of a Hardaway or KJ fan you can't argue that either one was clearly better than Payton in any of his prime years. Who else was out there? Rod Strickland, Mark Jackson, Kenny Anderson? Jason Kidd in the late 90's, sure, but come on. Saying Gary Payton was NEVER one of the 4 best PGs in any year is ridiculous and shows some pretty clear bias against the cat. Also not to be overlooked is that he was an ironman, averaging close to or 40 minutes per for most of his career, and routinely playing 82 (9 times to be exact). Aside from the strike year, he's never played less than 77 in a year! For 16 years! That's incredible. He's 6th all-time in assists, 3rd all-time in steals, top 5 in scoring from the point. Kevin Johnson had 9 "really good" years, but never once played 82 games. From 92-96 he played in less than 70 every year, failing to break 50 a couple times. He never averaged 40 minutes a game. He's not in any career top 10s. He was a really good player, but I can't take you seriously if you're going to look at the entirety of their careers and say he's as strong of a candidate as Payton. Same goes for Tim Hardaway. He had like 7 or 8 really good years, but had a handful of seasons where he missed 15-20 games. Longevity and consistency matters in a HOF discussion, and Payton has a decided edge on both of them when it comes to that. Penny Hardway had 5 or 6 really good years, ya know, let's nominate him now! I've got no problem with saying that in their primes and healthy those 3 were neck and neck as players, and that it's a pick em on who's game you liked best. I think Payton was the best all-around of the 3, better defender, more versatile offensively, that's me. I can see why someone would prefer Hardaway or KJ, they were fun to watch, but neither one is a hall of famer. I'd probably put Webber in, BTW. I also think Ray Allen should be a lock, and will be with another year or two near his current pace, but I don't think too many people would argue with that.

Possible because he won a ring coming off the bench way past his prime? Please. He could have retired 5 years ago and been in. He's a first ballot lock.

Right, I'm just saying that the limitations seem overly restrictive without any real benefit to anyone. I get why you would do weekly changes and have a minumum innings thing, but if it's going to be 28 innings and we only have 7 spots it's stupid to have both saves and holds count. Either the innings should be lower or we should have another P spot. Anyone who goes with just 3 starters will be running a high risk of not qualifying their stats for the week, so it's pretty much impossible to go for the win in both saves and holds....and what's the point in having two categorys that are so simmilar that you have to take an either/or approach to them? 3 starters, 2 MR, 2 CL and you may not hit 28. 4 starters, 2 CL, 1 MR or vice versa and you're just dealing with luck in one of the categorys. When MJ Styles was asking about categorys before the draft I favored holds, but with this setup they don't make any sense. The point of a minimum inning mark is to prevent people from just starting relievers or going for an unfair advantage in WHIP/ERA, not to handcuff everyone and invite people to punt a category. Everyone has to deal with it, I just think there's a better way to have things setup than "everyone deal with this shit and if you try to win all 6 pitching categorys pray you get lucky enough to hit 28 innings". I suppose I'll have to punt on holds now, which is lame, but whatever

With weekly lineup changes the starting roster spots for pitchers are too limited. You pretty much have to play 4 starters if you want to assure yourself of hitting 28 innings, but then you only have 3 spots left...that's not enough to compete in both saves and holds. If you're doing weekly roster changes with a minnimum innings number there should be like 9 pitching spots. I guess it's too late to say anything, but I kind of assumed the setup would be more logical.

Yeah, change the settings so we can play our guys on Sunday! EDIT* weekly roster changes suck, btw...

Kyle Davies

Jose Guillen

So, with Wang out the talk is that Carl Pavano might start the season opener.... This fascinates me. If he pitches a gem or even pitches well enough for the Yankees to win, something like 6 innings w/ 2 runs allowed and a jam or two pitched out of he goes a long way in getting the monkey off his back and buys himself some time with the Stadium crowd. The fans will gladly get behind him if he performs, but they will boo him off the mound if he struggles, especially if he struggles early. They'd really be throwing him to the wolves, and I'm not confident enough in the guy's mental toughness and resolve to think that he'll respond positively....

' Awesome signing. He's the first guy I can remember getting signed right out of college like this. Even if he doesn't pan out it's not much to spend on a guy who'd easily be a first round pick if he were draft eligible. Isiah Thomas' campaign for GM/Coach of the year continues! EDIT* The real question is, can he suit up for the Knicks right now? That would be quite the piece of trivia, first dude to play in the NCAA tourny and the NBA in the same month...

What the hell is wrong with the Texans? They needed to have a good offseason after the PR blunder of passing up Vince Young and Reggie Bush, so they not only make a hilariously bad trade, but leave themselves in a position to get jackshit for their one time "franchise QB"? I mean seriously, what the fuck? It's not like another team was going to give up more than that for Schaub, so sit on the deal and get SOMETHING for Carr. Texans fans should be calling for blood.

Zack Greinke

Salomon Torres

David Lee had to be the favorite for 6th man before he got hurt. And now he might be out another month, so he's got no shot. Barbosa will win it, I think Jerry Stackhouse is his only real competition for votes and he's had an up and down year. Curry is another most improved player candidate. I think it's a tossup between him, Al Jefferson and Kevin Martin. Andris Biedrens is in there too. Comeback player of the year has to be Amare Stoudemire.

Hey, maybe I WON'T get to pick tonight

He's scamming on your sleepers, don't do it!