Dangerous A

I am not so sure about Coach K either. He gives LA the biggest coaching name in college right now besides Bobby Knight, but I am not so sure about the transition and how smoothly it would go. Most college coaches do not fare well on their first tour of duty coaching in the NBA except Larry Brown and he's a freaking B-Ball genius. While I am no Laker fan, I think Rudy T is their best option, even over Riley.

I read a review comaring F9/11 to The Passion of the Christ. You just change Christianity over to politics and then the comparisons begin.. -both movies generated a lot of controversy before they were released. -both directors are seen as zealots for their causes (Gibson for Christianity, Moore for leftist politics) -both movies either reaffirm your beliefs (either Christian faith or Bush hating) or will generate nay saying, some from people who have not seen the movie and will go off of what they heard. -both have parts of their movie that are hard to stomach (Jesus being tortured, dead bodies from the war in Iraq) -both movies have come up with accuracy issues (Gibson's assertion that the Jews were responsible for Jesus death, inaccuaracies in several of Moore's key points in his movie.

I agree with Jingus in that this is someone in middle management/ACT head person's fault. However I see Marney's point in that Kerry needs to disavow himself from this group now that they have fucked up since they are doing work in his name and to stop turning a blind eye.

One thing that'll come out of this is McGrady will be a better defender, possibly second or first team all defensive. Van Gundy demands defense from his players and before McGrady went to the Magic, he was starting to get a rep as a stopper on the defensive end the last 2 seasons with the Raptors. Then he went to Orlando and had to become "the man". With Yao in the back to help erase any mistakes, McGrady will be able to gamble more on defense and his length and athleticism make him look like a poster boy for what the Pistons championship team was built on.

Just finished up watching this one about an hour ago. It's good and very entertaining. Personally I didn't like how he gave pot shots at the military, but I was raised in a military family and am proud my father was in the military, but that is a personal bias. He makes an excellent case that the events of 9/11 ended up with a war in Iraq and how they don't really connect. I agree with Moore in that we should've taken action against Afghanistan earlier than we did and that should've been the focus of any war our government waged after 9/11. He also shows how innocent people are effected by war and makes a strong case about the Bush administration not being the most competant group of folks as well as not on the up and up. I do have some problems with the film however. I can say that there was a condescending tone with Moore, especially during his narratives. It's almost like he doesn't think we're smart enough to follow along, so he speaks down to us and says take my hand and follow me, I have the answers. Moore also has some of his big "Gotcha!" moments being questioned like the bin Laden family being allowed to leave soon after 9/11 without being questioned when they might have. The oil pipeline bit was reaching and as Newsweek pointed out, that project was something that was about to go down during Clinton's terms. I feel that Moore had a great oppurtunity to make clear that the reason we went to war in Iraq was bullshit, but his glaring ommisions of the truth and slant on everything, along with his obvious hatred for Bush cloud a good movie that had an oppurtunity to be great. Bottom line: A good movie that was highly entertaining, but to call this a "documentary" is absurd. It's an op-ed movie at best, propaganda at worst.

Intersting transcipt of an interview with Michael Moore and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/ThisWeek/En...re040620-1.html

Problem with the deal I see is Nash has to re-sign for it to happen. Nash is an unrestricted free agent, so right now this deal isn't happening until we start to hear that Nash is re-upping with the Mavs. Nash can go wherever the fuck he wants and could end up mucking the potential trade. I still don't see how it would benefit the Lakers to get Nash and Nowitizki anyway. Payton has already opted to stay and has just about driven Fisher out of town. Nash is going to want to start and should. As I pointed out in my original post, I see Dirk's effectiveness waning because he doesn't make guys better because of needing to be doubled and he needs the ball to be effective. With Kobe getting ready to have the gloves off (no more triangle) to play his "I wanna be like Mike" fantasy, Dirk is not going to see the ball as much as he'd like.

Until I see this on a credible site like ESPN or CBSSportsline, I will take this with a grain of salt. You have both upsides and downsides for both Shaq and Dirk. Shaq's upsides 1) He is still the top center in the entire league. 2) With the exception of Yao Ming, no one can guard him one on one and not get burned. 3) He is a winner and makes guys around him better because of him drawing double and triple teams. Shaq's downsides 1) He is aging, although centers tend to stay around longer in the NBA because good big men are very hard to come by, especially dominant ones. 2) Injury prone. Shaq hasn't had a full regular and post season without a major injury along the way. 3) Possible lack of hunger and desire. They guy already has 3 championships and doesn't work out as often as his team would like to stay in shape. Dirk's upsides 1) 7 footer with a long range on his jumper. Can go inside and out. 2) He's younger than Shaq. 3) Finally gives the Lakers the help they need at the 4 spot. Dirk's downsides 1) 7 footer with long range on his jumper. I know I stated this as an upside, but sometimes Dirk falls in love with the jumper when he should be trying to get in the paint. 2) Defense. Dirk suffers from the Euro stereotype of not very good defense. There is room to improve, but Dirk hasn't shown a whole lot of interest to improve on the defensive end of the floor. 3) Needs the ball to be effective. If this is going to be the Kobe show, Dirk can look forward to a lot less touches. That will effect the primary weapon he brings to the Lakers-his scoring. If I were Cuban or Buss, I would think long and hard about this deal. I know there are other guys to consider, but most of those guys are Mavs, so Cuban should be the one to think harder and longer. Again, until a credible source besides "The Times" reports any Dallas/LA deal, take this with a grain, make that boulder of salt.

This is from the Sunday news update from wrestlingoberver.com --Shelton Benjamin suffered a broken hand on Monday hand and wrist when he threw a punch and Garrison Cade threw a knee and the punch hit Cade kneebrace. No word on how long he'll be out. Credit wrestlingobserver.com Gotta love this. I wonder what the impact on current storylines will be.

Arroyo is the one I'd want if I were you. Barry is too old now and Hudson is more of a gunner than a guy who can run your offense. Arroyo is more of a traditional point guard that looks to get other guys shots before his own. With pieces like Brand, Maggette, and Richardson (if they re-sign) already there, Arroyo would fit like a glove.

Agreed about Lil Ze. Even when he was a little boy, the person they had playing him was creepy, especially the bit after the hotel robbery. Scary part is that he was real and a person that evil could really exist.

This free agent list is from nba.com A Name 2003-04 team Status Courtney Alexander New Orleans Restricted Rafer Alston Miami Unrestricted Chris Andersen Denver Restricted Kenny Anderson Indiana Unrestricted Robert Archibald Toronto Restricted Brandon Armstrong New Jersey Unrestricted Carlos Arroyo Utah Restricted Stacey Augmon New Orleans Unrestricted B Name 2003-04 team Status Vin Baker New York Unrestricted Matt Barnes L.A. Clippers Restricted Dana Barros Boston Unrestricted Brent Barry Seattle Unrestricted Jon Barry Denver Unrestricted Lonny Baxter Washington Restricted Travis Best Dallas Unrestricted Corie Blount Toronto Unrestricted Ruben Boumtje Boumtje Cleveland Restricted Bruce Bowen San Antonio Unrestricted Ryan Bowen Denver Unrestricted Michael Bradley Atlanta Unrestricted J.R. Bremer Golden State Restricted Jamison Brewer Indiana Restricted Kobe Bryant L.A. Lakers Unrestricted Mark Blount Boston Unrestricted Rodney Buford Sacramento Unrestricted Mitchell Butler Washington Unrestricted Rasual Butler Miami Restricted C Name 2003-04 team Status Marcus Camby Denver Unrestricted Brian Cardinal Golden State Unrestricted Maurice Carter New Orleans Restricted Calbert Cheaney Utah Unrestricted Keon Clark Phoenix Unrestricted Bimbo Coles Miami Unrestricted Jason Collier Atlanta Unrestricted Jarron Collins Utah Restricted Jamal Crawford Chicago Restricted Michael Curry Detroit Unrestricted D Name 2003-04 team Status Marquis Daniels Dallas Restricted Hubert Davis New Jersey Unrestricted Derrick Dial Orlando Unrestricted Vlade Divac Sacramento Unrestricted Michael Doleac Denver Unrestricted Keyon Dooling L.A. Clippers Restricted Ronald Dupree Chicago Restricted E Name 2003-04 team Status Obinna Ekezie Atlanta Unrestricted F Name 2003-04 team Status Desmond Ferguson Portland Restricted Marcus Fizer Chicago Restricted Tremaine Fowlkes Detroit Unrestricted Adonal Foyle Golden State Unrestricted Richie Frahm Seattle Restricted Lawrence Funderburke Sacramento Unrestricted G Name 2003-04 team Status Kendall Gill Chicago Unrestricted Manu Ginobili San Antonio Restricted Gordan Giricek Utah Restricted Dion Glover Toronto Unrestricted Horace Grant L.A. Lakers Unrestricted Tom Gugliotta Utah Unrestricted H Name 2003-04 team Status Darvin Ham Detroit Unrestricted Zendon Hamilton Philadelphia Unrestricted Jason Hart San Antonio Restricted Donnell Harvey Phoenix Unrestricted Trenton Hassell Minnesota Restricted Fred Hoiberg Minnesota Unrestricted Robert Horry San Antonio Unrestricted Troy Hudson Minnesota Unrestricted Lindsey Hunter Detroit Unrestricted Steven Hunter Orlando Unrestricted J Name 2003-04 team Status Mark Jackson Houston Unrestricted Mike James Detroit Restricted Britton Johnsen Orlando Restricted Anthony Johnson Indiana Unrestricted Avery Johnson Golden State Unrestricted DerMarr Johnson New York Unrestricted Linton Johnson Chicago Restricted Damon Jones Milwaukee Unrestricted K Name 2003-04 team Status Brevin Knight Milwaukee Unrestricted Toni Kukoc Milwaukee Unrestricted M Name 2003-04 team Status Karl Malone L.A. Lakers Unrestricted Sean Marks San Antonio Unrestricted Darrick Martin Minnesota Unrestricted Kenyon Martin New Jersey Restricted Tony Massenburg Sacramento Unrestricted Amal McCaskill Philadelphia Unrestricted Antonio McDyess Phoenix Unrestricted Stanislav Medvedenko L.A. Lakers Unrestricted Chris Mihm Boston Restricted Darius Miles Portland Restricted Oliver Miller Minnesota Unrestricted Mikki Moore Utah Unrestricted N Name 2003-04 team Status Mamadou N'diaye Atlanta Unrestricted Lee Nailon Cleveland Unrestricted Steve Nash Dallas Unrestricted O Name 2003-04 team Status Mehmet Okur Detroit Restricted Greg Ostertag Utah Unrestricted Doug Overton L.A. Clippers Unrestricted P Name 2003-04 team Status Scott Padgett Houston Unrestricted Anthony Peeler Sacramento Unrestricted Wesley Person Atlanta Unrestricted Morris Peterson Toronto Restricted Mark Pope Denver Unrestricted Joel Przybilla Atlanta Restricted R Name 2003-04 team Status Zeljko Rebraca Atlanta Restricted Quentin Richardson L.A. Clippers Restricted Sean Rooks Orlando Unrestricted Michael Ruffin Utah Unrestricted Bryon Russell L.A. Lakers Unrestricted S Name 2003-04 team Status Ansu Sesay Seattle Unrestricted Tamar Slay New Jersey Restricted Jabari Smith Sacramento Unrestricted Leon Smith Seattle Unrestricted Steve Smith New Orleans Unrestricted Darius Songaila Sacramento Restricted DeShawn Stevenson Orlando Restricted Rod Strickland Toronto Unrestricted Bob Sura Atlanta Unrestricted Stromile Swift Memphis Restricted T Name 2003-04 team Status Etan Thomas Washington Restricted Robert Traylor New Orleans Unrestricted Gary Trent Minnesota Unrestricted Jeff Trepagnier Memphis Restricted Jake Tsakalidis Memphis Restricted Hedo Turkoglu San Antonio Restricted V Name 2003-04 team Status Jacque Vaughn Atlanta Unrestricted W Name 2003-04 team Status Samaki Walker Miami Unrestricted John Wallace Miami Unrestricted Rasheed Wallace Detroit Unrestricted Rodney White Denver Unrestricted Chris Whitney Washington Unrestricted Mike Wilks Houston Restricted Eric Williams Cleveland Unrestricted Maurice Williams Utah Restricted Scott Williams Dallas Unrestricted Shammond Williams New Orleans Unrestricted Kevin Willis San Antonio Unrestricted Loren Woods Miami Restricted Please note that the above list does not include players subject to a team or player option for the 2004-05 season or players that have the right to terminate their contracts after the 2003-04 season. There are some interesting pieces in this crop of free agents.

Remember, Nash is a free agent as well an if T-Mac and Shaq ended up on Dallas, they wouldn't have the money to resign him. Then again, if you just got T-Mac and Shaq and still have Nowitizki, then you probrably don't need Nash as much, especially with the emergence of the young guys like Josh Howard and Marquis Daniels. My only thing is would Nellie be willing to part with some of his fun and gun offense to actually implement SOME kind of defense if he gets the right personnel? On a different note, the draft is looking weak on paper. Pick 25 can be as good or better than any of the lottery picks this year. Besides Okafor and Howard, I don't see much else in terms of immediate impact or star potential.

Thought that I should start up the OAO NBA playoffs/Finals thread since the regular season one is starting to look like a beat up old shoe. I figure here we can talk about match ups and what not, yet still have the regular season thread to talk about potential of lottery teams, reflecting on losing teams, who was disappointing, etc, etc. I was the TSM NBA beat guy until my father suffered a stroke and I couldn't fulfill my duties as a regular. However, I have still kept up with the NBA and now that the regular season has about 3 games left per team, I will give my finals predictions. LA Lakers over the Detroit Pistons in 6 games. The Lakers were my preseason favorites to win it all and they are my postseason as well (that is my unbiased opinion since I despise the Lakers). During the preseason I had the Hornets winning the Central with Detroit second and Indiana third. Shows how much I know about the East. What I know about the East now is that in a 7 game series, the only teams that can compete with whoever will come out of the west are the Pistons (because they have a lockdown defense) or the Pacers (they have homecourt throughout the playoffs now). Still, when it comes down to it, I can't see anyone beating the Lakers in a 7 game series, so here's to you Laker fans-

Time for the every other day resurrection of this wonderful thread. So Dynamite, have you seen it and what did you think? If anyone else has seen it, post your thoughts here.

I don't think Orlando and LA can do any business. On ESPN, they are reporting that Orlando wants a lot for McGrady. They want Stoudamire and Marion to do a deal with the Suns or Mobley, Francis, and Cato with the Rockets. They would want more than just Shaq it seems. I don't think a T-Mac/Kobe tandem would work out in terms of winning a championship. They couldn't co-exist. The other 10 guys on the team would get next to nothing in shot attempts. They already didn't get enough shots with Shaq/Kobe, but they would really not see the ball if T-Mac would go their way. Still, off season is looking to be pretty interesting already.

Nice thread I started here, eh? Thanks to all the regular NBA TSM posters who participated actively in this thread and made it enjoyable. I've grown despondent of wrestling as of late, but this folder has given me a reason to keep occasionally coming to TSM. Congrats to the Pistons. I originally picked the Lakers over the Pistons in 6 at the beginning of the playoffs and this thread. I was wrong. And I'm glad I was wrong. The Pistons brought back team work in a game where it seemed like the name on the back of your jersey was more important the the name on the front. As for the Lakers, well, it's going to be an interesting summer. Like a forensic pathologist, I've been examining the corpse left of the Laker dynasty and wish to share with you all my findings and try to figure out a cause of death. -There were deep bruise markings around the throat area. Speculation is to whether or not these markings were caused by the assailant (the Pistons) or self inflicted. -The front of the genitals and the legs were covered in dry urine. Some samples of the urine is as old as 9 days. -The anal cavity had been penetrated violently for several days leading up to death. -Amazingly, when the chest was opened, we were startled as to how this Laker dynasty could have even lived since we found no heart. Speculation is to whether or not it was ripped out by the assailant or if it was even there to begin with. BURN!! Thank you all, and I'll see you in the OAO NBA Draft thread!!!

Perhaps Chauncey and Rasheed should also guarantee victory so it offsets the guarantees and we get an evened out game that will end with 2 guys with egg on their face.

Don't be so sure about that, Dam. The Lakers have this thing about winning game 6's on their floor to push a series to 7 with a little "help". I am a Kings fan and do recall the Lakers winning game 6 on their floor to push the series to 7. The Kings were in prime position to take the game as it was close or within reach most of the way, then the Lakers shot 24 free throws in the fourth quarter alone. Most of the mainstream media couldn't even hide their thoughts that there was a bias there, but Laker fans attribute that to "being aggressive". Sort of like how the Pistons are being with the Lakers in this series. That's why I find it funny how Laker fans can cry about biased officiating and lopsided fouls being called. You want some calls, play defense with your feet instead of hacking and hip checking. You want to go to the line, take it to the hole instead of shooting jump shots. The Lakers shoot a shit load of jumpers and that is why they are not going to the line as much. The Pistons are moving the ball and getting penetration on pick and rolls. They are being the aggressor. However, for once, I might have to agree with OraleHolmes. If the Pistons don't take this on Tuesday, it is my firm belief that the Lakers will win the series in 7. I just get the feeling it will all come down to tommorrow.

In all honesty, I think the Pistons HAVE to win on Tuesday because of the format of the finals. If the Lakers take the game on Tuesday, they will get even more confidence because they know the rest of the series is in their house. I know the Pistons are a great road team and have no qualms about winning on the road, but this is the Lakers and they tend to shoot better and react faster at home. Add to that the favorable calls that will start to show up and you have the recipe for a momentum shifting, dramatic 7 game series. About the officiating. I will admit that since the series shifted to Detroit, the calls have favored the Pistons. The Laker-Hater/Piston fans will say that it is just Detroit being more aggressive, which is partially true. The other part is that the home team usually gets more calls in their favor and a lot of that stems from the home team usually having more energy on their floor. The Lakers get the same favorable calls at Staples. In a perfect world, officiating would be straight down the middle, no matter where the venue. However, it is hard to officiate an NBA game with a lot of things like fouls and such being a subjective call. Anyways, good luck Detroit. Help me realize my dream of the Payton/Malone free agent signing turning into one of the NBA's biggest tragedies come true.

I am loving this shit. Bring it on. Bring on your testimonials of one of the best films to come out in years. I will continue to pimp and bump this bad boy. I almost feel an obligation to share this extraordinary film with as many people as I can. NoCalMike is borrowing my copy of the DVD this week and I'm pretty sure he'll share his thoughts on the film here as well.

Another thing this movie will do will make you appreciate where you live a hell of a lot more. The film is based on true events and there is a documentary feature on the DVD that shows that what is going on in the movie is how it goes down for real. The ending credits also show this. That place is truly hell on earth. I swear it makes even the toughest hoods in the U.S. look like fucking Disneyland. It's that fucked up.

They aren't homeless, but live in a housing project that has the name "City of God". The title is ironic because this particular slum has got to be one of the most God-less places on the planet. It follows youths that lived there from the start of the housing project up through 2 decades. Through the years, you see the "City of God" decay from the struggle between warring drug dealers and the corrupt police. I am glad this got resurrected since I was about to start a new thread when this came out on DVD this past Tuesday. Brash with Greatness knows the awesomeness that is this movie. I can't pimp it enough. Do yourselves a favor and at least rent this gem. I believe after you've viewed it, you will want this movie in your DVD collection.

Holy ass whippin, Batman! Grab a shovel so we can scoop up what's left of the Lakers! In all seriousness, I did not expect this at all. I expected a close game with the Lakers trying to win this game with a big play or two. It didn't come anywhere near that. The Lakers do have injuries to Malone, Fisher, and George along with the fact that the Pistons are just flat out better athletes than the Lakers with the exception of Kobe. Everyone focuses on the Malone injury, but the Fisher injury should be just as bothersome to Laker fans. Fisher is/was the best on the ball pressure guy on the point guard on the team since Payton decided to stop playing. You could see that the Pistons didn't have as much trouble bringing the ball up the court against Fisher because of his knee injury. This allows Billups, Hamilton, and Hunter to get the Pistons into their offensive sets better. Plus it hurts them when they run pick and roll, which they did to death against the Lakers. I actually expected Malone to sit this game and see if the Lakers could steal a game without him. That would've given him 5 days of rest for his knee. The Piston defense is something to behold. Larry Brown doesn't put you in unless you are ready to play some "D". That vaunted defense is the primary reason the Laker bench has not produced anything positive except Walton in game 2. You could also see the adjustments Larry Brown made. He saw that Luke was killing them in the last game by doing little things, so Brown made his guys go after the rook and he ended up in foul trouble early and was a non factor. Detroit's work on the boards is also beautiful. Usually the Lakers make it a priority to outrebound the opposing team, but the Pistons aren't having it. You have to love the effort seeing all 5 Pistons either rebounding or scrambling for loose balls. It's something I wish I could see my beloved Kings embrace. I expect at least Kobe to bounce back and have a monster game 4. Guys like him just don't get held down like that for very long. I anticipate Kobe will go right at Tayshaun to try to get him into early foul trouble. Tayshaun has done a fantastic job on Kobe when he is guarding him. Everyone talks about his length, but I'm more impressed with his footspeed. Kobe is a very hard guy to keep in front of you. The Lakers should be concerned, but not panicked. They just need one of these next 2 games to get it back to LA. If that happens, the series can easily swing back in favor of the Lakers. Remember, no home team in finals history that has the three game block of the 7 game format has won 3 in a row and the Pistons are not the best home team. They have lost a home game in every series in these playoffs. However, there is a first time for everything too. The counter point to that is the Pistons are an excellent road team and have no qualms about going out and winning a game on the oppositions floor. The Pistons have responded positively to every bit of series swinging adversity thrown their way.

Game is about to start. I am looking to see if LA can keep the momentum going in their favor that they had from the end of game 2. Detroit needs to have short memories and focus on the game at hand. So far, Detroit has responded in the playoffs when it seems they suffer a setback. They lost game 2 in Milwaukee, then took the next 2 in Milwaukee. They lost that triple overtime thriller in game 5 against the Nets and responded by beating the Nets on their turf to force 7 and then spanked the Nets in 7. They backed up Sheed's guarantee in game 2 against the Pacers and then when they got blown out in game 4 in Detroit, they responded by winning another road game in Indiana and closing the Pacers out in 6. LA has history on it's side. Ever since the Finals format went 2-3-2, the team with the 3 game block has never won 3 straight. However, the road team has swept the 3 game block 3 different times, including the second Kobe/Shaq championship team. LA has to watch out though because they have been sub par on the road in the playoffs this year. I believe that whoever wins 2 of the next 3 games will win it all because I don't think that either the Pistons or Lakers will win 3 in a row against the other unless a major injury happens to one of the stars. I don't count Malone as a major star. He is important, but not as important as Shaq or Kobe or Rip or Chauncey.