Cheech Tremendous

I disagree with you Al. I think the All-Star game should be a small reward for players who've succeeded in the first half. Who cares if it's a small sample size. It's a meaningless game anyways.

I'd vote for Brian Roberts or Dustin Pedroia. BJ Upton and Placido Polanco have cases as well.

Well played, sir.

Anderson, Tully, Austin, Regal, Booker Tried to get someone on there from a couple different time periods.

That would be a good deal for both teams, I think. I don't know if it's a by-product of less creative contracts in the salary cap era or what, but it seems like there is potential for a lot of trades this offseason if teams decide they want to get creative. There should be a lot of potential suitors for the "names" out there (Randolph, Lewis, Marion, Stoudemire, Gasol, AK, Jamison, etc.).

Man, Billy D really fucked up this whole Florida to Orlando move didn't he?

which means she knows how to give good head. Well she once sucked ten dicks...

Did you catch that on hoopshype? Later in the article the author said it was pure speculation on his part.

I don't think Webber is going to be coming back and Wallace probably booked his ticket out of town with his playoff performance. That doesn't leave them with much in the frontcourt. McDyess? Maxiell? Mohammed? That doesn't create fear in the hearts of the eastern conference.

The Pistons are going to offer Chauncey about $13 million a year. The only teams with interest that the have cap money to sign him would be Milwaukee and Orlando. I'd assume that the Bucks are content with Williams at half the price. That leaves Orlando as a possible suitor and as attractive as it might be to play with Howard, I think he'd choose Detroit in that situation. There is always the possibility of a sign and trade. The Pistons need help in the frontcourt, but they also don't have any internal options to replace Chauncey at the point either. They'd need an excellent offer to do any sort of deal. Re-signing him is probably not as high on the list of priorities as it was six months ago, but as the chips start to fall I can't see him ending up anywhere else.

Is the new Ozzy album any good? Haven't heard a thing about it.

That's because you have Stephon Marbury running yours.

Okay, you make a fair point. I was only quoting Simmons because I didn't want to retype the information about his bad games. I'm not attempting to regurgitate his position. At the same time, calling him "Mr. Big Shot" ignores all the times he's come up short. I'm not into the whole clutch or not clutch thing. I do think Billups is a good player, but he's not quite elite. He has his faults and he's not a max-money type player. Detroit might be better served by letting him walk and trying to reinvent the team around Prince and Hamilton.

Stolen from Bill Simmons' article last week: I'm overreacting when I say he disappears in big spots, but I also don't know what he's done to get such a bullet proof reputation. Take away '04 and he's a slightly above average point guard. He has good games and bad because he's flawed like everyone else. I don't think he's a max contract guy and I don't think he's the type that you build your team around.

I have no idea what to think about this series. On pure talent, the Spurs should wrap this up in 4 or 5, but Lebron's been good enough to carry his team to at least two victories in this series. I've doubted this Cavs team all season and they keep enduring. I wouldn't be shocked to see them win this thing. But gun to my head, I'll say Spurs in six. Doesn't it seem like the Spurs always win in six?

Pedroia has an OPS+ of 135, which Mark Loretta only accomplished once in his entire career (136 in 2004) and this is after his abysmal month of April. He's also a far superior defender than Loretta who has no range at all. It's a small sample size, so I'm not ready to compare them to any large degree. But 2007 Pedroia is much better than anything I've seen out of Loretta.

Although they sort of get a pass for winning it all in '04, don't we have to consider these Pistons underachievers? Five consecutive conference finals appearances and only one ring to show for it? They were also beaten by inferior teams three times (NJ, Miami and Cleveland). Chauncey Billups just completely disappears in big spots and the team doesn't seem to have that second gear that is required to win big games. It might be time to blow this thing up. Billups isn't worth resigning, I could outcoach Flip in my sleep, the bench is paper thin and none of the core is getting any younger. I don't see how this team will compete in the east with Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, etc. all on the rise.

That's true, except that Pedroia is much better than Mark Loretta.

one game. You're all such a bunch of rubes. Booyah! I phrased that poorly Czech. I didn't mean to say that he is now a legend. I was trying to say that when we look back at his career this will be the game that they reference as the point when he made the leap. I'm not in the whole "instantly better than Jordan" camp.

Finally Pedroia gets moved up to the two hole. Only took anoher Drew injury to make it happen.

I think the Pistons are done. Aside from the bad coaching/decision-making, the Cavs have outplayed the Pistons in all five games. It should have been a sweep. And I agree, this is the game that takes Lebron from superstar to legend.

Jim O'Brien is the new head coach of the Indiana Pacers.

I was just listening to Ric Bucher on the radio and it doesn't sound as if this is a dead story. It may be more of a shut up while we try to work something out. Kobe has a fractured relationship with management and there is not a lot they can do to win back his trust. Could be a long summer in LA land. It's likely that Jermaine O'Neal will become a Laker after the trade moratorium ends. That's a good start but I'm not sure how much better it makes them if they have to give Odom+pieces to make the deal work.

Billy Donovan has been offered the head coaching position with the Orlando Magic. The contract offer is 6 years/$36 million and sources seem to indicate that he will accept before the end of the week. Good or bad decision?

John Dewan of the Fielding Bible ranks Hanley Ramirez as the worst defensive shortstop in the major leagues by a considerable amount. If that's true and he is forced to move off the position, he is going to be a far less valuable player. I'd take Reyes in a heartbeat.