Precious Roy

IGNORE ME They were tied for 13th best, 7th best in the east, I was looking at postseason #'s. But it also took them half the year to get their rotation together, If I could find the splits I'd bet they were better than 13th in the 2nd half But ANYWAY they've lost no major contributors, the team is improved, and every single one of their young scorers looks to improve

Al Harrington is a double-double guy? Could have fooled me. My point is they have 3 reliable scoring options in Hinrich/Gordon/Deng and reliable secondary options in Nocioni (the guy put up a steady 13 per and stepped it up to 22 per in the playoffs) and (supposedly) JR Smith. Plus the way they play defense and force transition, with several guys who can clean up on garbage points around the hoop, I don't think they have a problem scoring the ball. And how do they aquire and pay Al Harrington? Didn't they just use all their available cap room on Ben Wallace? Harrington won't sign for an exception. Plus he cuts into the minutes of Thomas, Nocioni and Deng...and Noc' and Deng especially should be getting over 30 a night Not saying he's a bad player, he's just completely unnecesary for this Bulls team for the ammount of money he commands

Deng can be a strong scorer. He averaged about 17 a game the last two months of the season. And he's only 21. He's younger than LeBron James. Nocioni is good for 10-15 a night. If they get JR Smith he can score in bunches off the bench. I really don't think they need an Al Harrington type.

There's no better offer, that's a maxed out deal. I can see LeBron waiting to see how the Cavs do next season, but ultimately I doubt he will leave Cleveland Bigger, but the real debacle was trading him to clear space for Wallace this offseason. And now Darko is going to become a very productive player in Orlando (he was blocking 2-3 shots and rebounding and shooting the ball well in like 20 minutes a night after the trade) and Detroit ends up with Nazr Mohammed. I don't see it at all. First of all, the biggest thing Skiles cares about is 100% effort and defense. Ben brings that. Second, Skiles has never had a championship tested all-star veteran leader on his team. He'll give Wallace the proper respect. He's not an idiot, just tough on his youngsters. I can't believe how everyone and their mother has turned into a Big Ben hater. The Bulls now look downright scary. I'm not sure how much they'll get from Tyrus Thomas right away but Wallace, Brown, Sweetney, Nocioni, Deng, Gordon, Hinrich, Duhon is a damn good 8 man rotation, and all a sudden the Bulls have fixed their biggest weakness (size) while keeping all of their perimiter versatility. Very well done by John Paxson.

I think it's a fair deal for both teams. Everyone wants to write off Telfair but he had a really good stretch at the end of his rookie season. And if it wasn't for the thumb injury early in the year last season which led to Blake/Dixon/Jack becoming the rotation he'd have had a much better year. When Telfair got back there wasn't a defined role or spot waiting for him and he struggled. But anyone who calls him a bust or thinks he'll be a career backup is way off base. The Celtics had obviously set their minds on a PG and felt that Telfair had as much talent and upside as any of the guys who would be there at #7 (Rondo, Foye, Williams). I can't say that I disagree. He's 20 years old with two seasons of pro experience under his belt and now a chip on his shoulder. I have no doubt he's going to develop into a really good player for the Celtics. The only way this looks bad for Boston is if someone like Roy drops to #7 and becomes an all-star caliber player. And for the Blazers, McMillian had soured on Telfair so they cashed in on a good draft pick. Now they can be comfortable taking Morrison at 4 if he's there and maybe grabbing a Cedric Simmons at #7. And if Atlanta goes through with taking Williams at #5 they'll end up with the option of taking a guy who was discussed in the top 4. How good would the Blazers look if they ended up with two home state stars in Morrison and Roy?

I don't know, Barbosa really came into his own this year and was pretty dope in the playoffs, especially against LA. Jones and House are nice, but Barbosa is so much better and he's just scratching the surface. He's got the talent to be a real star in the league, the only thing that's holding him back is his 'tweener' status. If he's really going to ask for a massive contract cut him lose, but the Suns shouldn't just give him away.

I call Knicks

It may be a case of addition by subtraction. I can see Marbury, Francis and Curry having career years playing for Isiah, in large part due to the influence that Larry Brown had on them, if that makes any sense. It seems like Crawford and Q-Rich were the only vets to really buy into Brown's coaching, and honestly I can see them both regressing. But overall Isiah is probably better suited for this particular roster than Brown was. If they'd given Brown a fair chance and made some personnel changes he'd have been fine, but what's done is done. In the short term this probably means a much more competitive team. Plus, I expect some movement, the team has way too many guards. There's not enough minutes for Marbury/Francis/Crawford/Robinson/Richardson/Rose, so at least one (ideally two) of them have to go

Did I mention that the Knicks are going to the playoffs next season?

On the surface that would be a bad deal for Phoenix, but I understand the mindset. Clear money to reup Diaw, add Lewis who'd be a perfect fit for their system, and get the #10 pick which with the parity in this year's draft could end up netting you a very good player. However, I think it would be foolish to trade Marion for anything less than another Marion, and losing Barbosa would hurt a lot, so there's no way I'd make the deal. Maybe if Phoenix was getting Watson or Wilkens back to offset the loss of Barbosa. But I doubt it will happen.

Bonner would actually be a good fit with San Antonio. He's a scrappy hustler and very good spot up shooter, that's all the Spurs need from a backup 4.

Isiah will take us to the playoffs

I wouldn't get rid of the guy if simply for the fact that if you're going to hire a guy you should give him AT LEAST 2 seasons to coach the team. But I wouldn't have hired him in the first place, it had disaster written all over it. I don't care about the regular season record, or how many Pistons made the all-star team....all that matters in the NBA is MAKING the playoffs and PERFORMING in the playoffs....and the Pistons performed like a team on cruise control that had no respect for themselves, their opponents, or their coach. The Pistons have a fucking great team, there's no reason for them to not be in the Finals, there was no reason for them to get dominated by the Heat the way they did, and there was NO reason for the Cavs to take them to 7 games.

The fact that I can actually remember that musical chairs segment, practically verbatim, validates it as a great moment of WWE TV in my mind. It sounds silly, but I pretty much agree that it was more inspired and well performed than almost anything on RAW since then. And starting the show with it just showed amazing balls. If only the Spirit Squad run show could have gone so well.

I don't agree with that. Some of the best coaches come out of nowhere. Pat Riley was a commentator when he was given the Lakers job. Phil Jackson was coaching in the CBA. AVERY JOHNSON has turned out to be one of the best coaches in the league, and the sweat hasn't even dried off his playing career. Scottie Pippen and Mario Ellie are looking to become coaches....who's to say they won't be great at it? There's bound to be some guys coaching college ball who are ready to make the jump. Of the name guys who are known quantities....ok, it's kind of thin, but creativity in hiring a coach often pays off. Flip Saunders was a very conservative pick, but you can't say his failures in Minnesota are a fluke anymore, he took a playoff tested, veteran team, probably the best starting 5 in the league....and they underachieved. If I were a Pistons fan I'd find that unacceptable...hell, I just find it unacceptable as a basketball fan.

A FLAWED ROSTER?!?! It was basically the same roster that won them a championship and got them to the Finals last year. Those teams never had great benches, just some capable veterans who knew their roles, and this year's edition was more of the same. Ben Wallace refused to go back in that game because he was obviously FED UP with Saunders. Do you think it would have ever reached that point with Larry Brown coaching the team? Or Rick Carlisle? Flip got outcoached by MIKE BROWN of all people. A guy in his second year as a head coach. And Pat Riley absolutely handed him his ass. If you can't match wits with Pat Riley you ain't winning a championship. Who should they hire? I don't know. But I do know they can do better than Flip.

Best heel in the company is either Booker T or Edge. JBL is a b or c level heel. He's working a damn southern territory gimmick in 2006, only it's reversed where HE is the redneck instead of the crowd. Great. I'd rather watch FOXNEWS. Hey John, Kayfabe is dead....it's called X-PAC HEAT. I'm changing the channel now. Hey, the O'RLY Factor is on!

- I think people forget that Masters is only like 23 or something crazy like that.....he seems older......but he's a really young guy. I also think that people get too caught up in the fact that he's a 'hoss' who uses a full nelson as a finisher to the point that they ignore when he's doing things well. The reality of the WWE is that big guys and guys with bodys get preferential treatment, and that guys get put on TV and pushed hard before they're fully ripe as performers. This isn't 1986 where Vince could poach ring-tested veterans, and I think people need to stop blaming some of the workers for being so green....like they have any choice in the matter. The fact is, Masters is one of the most competent 'muscleheads' to come down the pike in some time. I know a lot of people don't like muscleheads, irregardless of their competence level, but that's beside the point. What I like most about him is that he has shown gradual improvement and progression. He's still FAR from a finished product, but he's been on TV for what....2 years....and he's become noticably better over time. He's competent on the microphone, his talking works for his character, as does his arrogant demeanor and charisma. He plays dumb jock a little too well to write him off as one, you can tell that he understands his role as a heel....why he gets booed and what he needs to do to nurture that reaction. In the ring, for the purposes of his character, he sells pretty well. He doesn't noticably botch things. He's not necessarily graceful, but he does look fairly smooth in his movements, comfortable and confident in the ring. Again, he's FAR from a good and complete worker....but if you can't see the potential that is there you really have no business critiquing the WWE product. I look at Masters and I see a guy who's very young, improving, with the potential to be a main eventer some day. Whether that day is 2, 5 or 10 years from now doesn't matter to me. - About Carlito, I actually disagree about the in ring stuff, I think he's shown flashes of greatness in there, I think he's great at a lot of the little things...very good at bumping and selling....the offense could use some improvement, but generally I like what he does out there. But the mic work.....horrible....the staccato delivery....the horribly fake accent....the bad jokes.....it's just a disaster. I know some Puerto Ricans, and they DON'T talk like that. NOBODY TALKS LIKE THAT. At least with a guy like Osama Rodriguez it's so over the top and done in a humerous manner, he's a half-comedy manager, but we're expected to take Carlito seriously as a wrestler. I like the guy as a wrestler, his promos make me not want to watch his matches. This wasn't such a big problem when he was a heel, I could write it off because I was expected to dislike him anyway, but as a face now, even as an edgy one, it just doesn't work. And my dislike is made more palpatable not only by the fact that people FAWN over the guy, but by the fact that he obviously has the talent to be a great promo if he'd just stop being so fucking fake. Tommy Dreamer was a better promo than Carlito. Mark Henry is a better promo than Carlito. Knobbs and Saggs were better promos. THE LIST IS ENDLESS. As for the other stuff.... - Mark Henry has a great look and presence, he cuts good promos (I think some people expect a 400 lb dreadlocked BLACKER THAN A BLACK STEER'S TUCKUS angry looking motherfucker to sound like Shakespear. No, this is what they sound like), and he's WAY better than he's given credit for in the ring. If you don't like a Mark Henry match that's one thing, but the guy is good at what he does. Right now I'm absolutely loving his push where he's just reckless and mean and injuring people left and right, it works for him. It took a decade to find the right role for the guy, but they finally did it. - The Great Khali is a fucking freak of nature, just enjoy it for what it is. And his promos are hilarious. HE BEAT UNDERTAKER WITH A KICK! HOW AWESOME IS THAT! Undertaker is a joke anyway, so why should I care about how crappy and stupid his matches are? It's when they expect me to take him seriously that I have a problem. I could watch Khali squash cruiserweights all day, and I LOVE CRUISERWEIGHTS. I just hope that on the way down they let those guys get their revenge (fat chance, right?) - Shelton Benjamin not having 'IT'.....I'm actually going to back off this a bit. He's got some of 'IT'...just not 'ALL OF IT'.....and that's going to keep him from ever being the massive star that a lot of fans seem to think he's capable of. I like the guy, I just don't think he's got it in him to be a true main eventer, and I definitely don't buy into the theory that the WWE holds him back because he's black. They were ready to push the guy to the moon when he first moved to RAW, but they didn't like what they saw. He was actually REALLY bad for a long time, like he was just out of it mentally, but he's started to rebound somewhat. I think he's got a TON of work to do in the ring too, he's prone to some absolute abortions of matches with the wrong opponent. I honestly hope I'm wrong about him, I just haven't seen 'it' from him yet - Cena on pace to be better in the ring than the Rock.....I was talking about time spent in the WWE....it's been about 4 years for Cena and compared to 2000 Rock I'd put them on the same level, maybe Cena a little bit ahead of him.....I think, to be fair to Cena, Rock had a bit of a headstart being born into the business and all.....but I see Cena having every bit of charisma and smarts in the ring that Rocky had, I see him connecting with the crowd nearly as well, I see his execution of moves to be on roughly the same level (what looks worse, Cena's STF or Rock's Sharpshooter?)....basically, I see them as carbon copys of each other in the ring....the evolution of the Hulk Hogan model more or less, and I feel like John Cena does that routine every bit as good as Rocky did. I'll probably take shit for this, but I never thought Rock was that great of a wrestler....but what he did have was the presence and charisma and connection to make people care about what he did in there. His best matches were all about how he read and reacted to the crowd, not about what he did from an X and O standpoint. Cena is the same way....but I think he's capable of being better at the actual wrestling stuff. The biggest roadblock is going to be the WWE....because Rock got a ton of leeway to be himself out there....and I think Cena is still struggling to get that....and I think HHH is probably working against him in that respect (Rock would agree with me on this).....like the way Cena was forced to play the white bread face character even when it was obvious that it was polarizing the crowd because he had to be there to work with HHH's character....and like how his character got played for a total chump in the HHH feud. I don't blame that stuff on Cena, I blame it on the promotional machine that is handling him. I see it as more of a hinderance for Cena than it ever was for Rock. - Shawn Michaels.....just personal preference, I think he's become a joke in the ring and a joke of a character. He was NEVER that good of a solo face in the first place, always better as a sneaky, cheating heel...a 40 year old, balding, 175 lb wet man with a Jesus freak character who has a 'sexy boy' song and dances around like a homo....yeah, that's really gay. Those punches don't look like they could hurt my grandmother. Hey, I wonder if he'll do the flying burrito and nip up!?!! I'd play a drinking game where I predict every single thing he does in the ring 3 seconds before he does it, but my liver couldn't handle it. Maybe if he'd break out his absurd SummerSlam bumping more often I'd give him more leeway. Or just turn heel. Please. You're beyond stale. - Brent Albright.....poor man's Chris Benoit clone. He's basically copied Chris Benoit's moveset.....minus the highspots....yet he has none of the intangibles that made Benoit great. When Chris Benoit was Brent Albright's age he was probably the most intense wrestler on the planet, a virtual clone of the Dynamite Kid. Brent Albright is a bastardized post neck fusion Benoit. He's like some untalented guy doing a interpretive dance recital that in his mind is brilliant, but the audience recognizes as a pale knockoff of some guy who's actually good at dancing. He belongs with fake Kane and the fake Outsiders. Ok, I kind of took that one over the top, I'm cool with Albright, I liked him as the straight man to CM Punk's arrogant joker routine in OVW, but I do think he's pretty average, and I cry myself to sleep over comparisons to Benoit of Nazareth. Literally. I cry. You people make me cry. - JBL's promos all start the same way, they all end the same way....and somewhere in between he'll insult liberals and minoritys. Yeah, real must see TV right there. This is why I love the internet....I download SD and fast forward through his promos as soon as they become redundant.....which is generally within the first two minutes......and his average promo goes on for like three or four times as long. - Mickey James.....horrible images of roast beef haunt me....and I know some of y'all got issues....but the psycho character is a turnoff. Melina....man face. Great body, love the splits, love the scream.....total butterface.

So why do we have a gang of Pistons fans complaining about how he's stopped going into the post and become a 6-11 2 guard? He attempted 434 deep balls this past season. That's almost TWO HUNDRED MORE than the year before!!! Rasheed Wallace isn't the problem though. I place the blame for that squarely on Flip Saunders. He's a 'players coach' which is NBA code word for 'guy who can't coach for shit but he's nice to the players so they resist the urge to mutiny'. He's never gotten a team to perform to it's full potential, and players fall into bad habits under him. Larry Brown's problem in NY? Hoooooooboy.....we can start with the oil and water relationship with "the best PG in the nba" and end with the abortion of a front office.....but let's just say he was a better fit in Detroit and leave it at that.

He's an unrestricted free agent. The ever changing rules to make the game more offensive limit his value in the future. If they can get someone young(er) and talented in a sign and trade, why shouldn't they do it? Because without no Ben Wallace there IS no Pistons, and you sure as hell wouldn't have that championship from a few years back. Show the man some respect. That team ain't sniffing a championship without him. You can ignore the earlier hostility, I'm just bitter about the Knicks' situation and it's absolutely blowing my mind to see Pistons fans speak so casually about trading one of the greatest defenders of all-time. Anyone short of Tim Duncan would be a downgrade. You won a championship and made it to a Finals game 7 with Ben Wallace's limitations, why is that any different now? Oh yeah, again, you traded one of the greatest fucking coaches of all-time for a hack who wouldn't even be in the league if he wasn't Kevin McHale's roomate 25 years ago. And Joe Dumars may be severely overrated as an exec, but he's not RETARDED. He didn't trade Darko for an expiring contract so he could re-up RIP HAMILTON over keeping Ben Wallace. Please.

- Chris Masters, Mark Henry and The Great Khali are awesome - Carlito sucks on the mic - Shelton Benjamin doesn't have 'IT' - John Cena is on pace to be a better worker than The Rock - Shawn Michaels is the least entertaining character on WWE television - Brent Albright is boring and mediocre - I wouldn't piss on JBL if he was on fire. JBL promos are my ambien - Mickey James and Melina are unatractive You may now crucify me.

I must have missed the memo, WHY should the Pistons trade Ben Wallace again? I realize we're getting a lot of knee jerk reactions from bummed out Pistons fans here, but what exactly does losing the best defensive center in the game get them? You think dropping Wallace to max out their backcourt makes them more of a playoff contender? I didn't see his lack of offense and poor free throw shooting being such a problem when y'all were in the finals. So what's the difference? Oh yeah, you hired F'n FLIP SAUNDERS to coach your team. See you in hell you spoiled bastards. Oh, and remind me to smack Joe Dumars upside the head the next time I see him, for not only DRAFTING Darko Milicic, but basically giving him away for nothing before he ever got any run with the team. If they were to even consider moving Ben Wallace it should only be because they had Darko ready to go. And sorry, they're neither signing Joel Pryzbilla nor reviving Dale Davis' lifeless corpse. Hey, Vin Baker is on the market too! And back to Flippy, the only reason Rasheed Wallace has regressed is because FLIP HAS ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN. Why was Wallace so good in the post when he first got to Detroit? BECAUSE LARRY BROWN DEMANDED IT! It's the same reason why KG evolved into a jump shooter rather than the dominant post player he could be....Flip thinks big men shooting jumpers has all kinds of cache. It does, but not at the expense of good post play. Morons. I hate the fucking Pistons.

I don't know. I'm drunk, I haven't posted here in months, and these overrated/underrated topics always confuse me

I'm late but I want to gloat about the Yankees killing Wagner yesterday And the hate on Willie from the M-E-T-S fans is ghey, maybe he should have left Sanchez in, but it's not his fault that Wagner is a bum

Underrated: Lance Berkman Brandon Webb Roy Halladay Felipe Lopez Mark Buehrle Chase Utley Matt Holliday Jonny Gomes Grady Sizemore I consider most of those guys either among the best in baseball or perenial all-stars in the making. I suppose they're not "underrated" per se, but if you ask the average baseball fan about them they don't realize how good they are. Berkman, Halladay and Buehrle for example have been outstanding for several years now yet they're never mentioned in the same breath as other elite players at the same positions. Overrated: Blalock Edmonds Soriano Zambrano Pierre Beltre