Corkscrew_Senton

???

I really can't wait for tomorrow. The first two days of the Dance are better than Christmas. LET'S GO WINTHROP!

Well, for those who missed it:

+ = Me.

It's possible. Dirk seems to have most of the support right now, and he wouldn't be a bad choice, but it only takes about ten seconds of a Suns game to see how incredible Nash is. That team would die without him at the point. The NBA would be wise to institute a Player of the Year award in addition to the MVP. The MVP would be given based strictly on value, with the POTY for performance. I mean, LeBron averaging Oscar Roberston numbers last year would have been perfect for that, and Dirk would win it this year.

Could Nash not win out of the "Jordan didn't win three in a row" principle?

I'm not Ripper, but I'm sure he's getting tired of this argument, so I'll give this one a go. 1. They had the best record in the western conference and made the conference finals each of the past two seasons. This year's teams is even better, but unfortunately still trails Dallas by a couple of games. That qualifies them as a championship level team. With a couple of breaks they could have had a championship by now. 2. As I pointed out earlier, they are near the top of the league in defensive efficiency. Defensive efficiency measures how many points you allow per 100 possessions. That's how you measure defensive ability, not by rebounding (which is inversely related to your team's field goal percentage). You are far too caught up with the talking heads version of the Suns. The Hollinger index has them at 7th defensively. Not at all as bad as I would have thought. Still behind Dallas and San Antonio, and I think that's what the Playoffs should boil down to, how they stack up with those two teams. I'm not interesting in talking heads, I'm interested in what I observe watching games. If anything I'm more hung up on the Playoffs, having watched Parker in '05 and Terry last year average 3 or 4 points higher than their average against Nash. Admittedly my following of the NBA is spotty until after the college season, I'd be lying if I said I didn't base a great deal of my opinion watching them the last two postseasons.

I'll certainly give Nash his due, that was a pretty incredible run at the end of regulation.

Shades of UAB-Washington '04?

There's no disputing the Suns do very well against most all of the league with their style, but as they are proving right now they're not in league with Dallas or San Antonio. What has Phoenix done to prove 1. it's a championship level team or 2. that it's good defensively? Ripper, you dispute that they're bad or even mediocre defensively, so I'm assuming you think they're a good defensive team. What have they done to prove that?

You know what? Last place in the league and first place are only separated by a few rebounds per game, and the same goes for FG percentage. Those few boards and few FG percentage points really do mean a lot obviously since they're the difference between wins and losses. It doesn't matter how much you lose by, how much you get outrebounded, etc. Close isn't the same as getting it done, period. No one gets an award for being close. Call me wrong all you want, but the proof is in the pudding so to say.

If a hemmorhoid were to become human, its voice would be an awful lot like Doug Gottleib's.

The opponent PPG is deceiving, yes, but the mediocre opponent FG percentage and the awful rebounds per game stat aren't deceiving. Those are both rather telling of why Phoenix isn't all that viable a contender. And there's no problem with this statement since the discussion was about Nash's defense, not his offense. He's a fantastic offensive player and no one would ever dispute that, but both Terry and Parker average considerably more PPG against Phoenix than they do the rest of the league, particularly in the postseason. If you're going to talk about what Phoenix lacked in '05 (Joe Johnson) and in '06 (Stoudemire), then you also have to consider that in the regular season at full strength Phoenix has been owned by San Antonio the last three years and Dallas this year. You're right to say Phoenix winning a title would erase doubt, but people are right to doubt them when they've come up short both in the regular season and postseason against the upper echelon teams. Maybe they'll win the title this year, but when your defense is so-so and your rebounding just plain sucks, observers are right to have doubts. Maybe you can win a championship relying mainly on outgunning your opponent, but history would say otherwise, and Dallas' rise would reaffirm that.

Very true. I should have said "bad for a considered contender." To me the most telling stats when it comes to Phoenix's defense are opponent field goal percentage, which ranks 12th (from lowest to highest) and rebounding. The Suns for all the up-and-down play only average 40 boards per, which ranks in the bottom third of the NBA.

Their entire starting five averages in double-figures, and that's WITH a true superstar in Law. There's a lot to love about this team. It's not like Texas who's likely boned if Durant gets doubled and Augstine isn't playing well.

Now that's announcing your presence with authority. Yeah! Good.

Well Nash by himself for sure, he gets torched by guy's like Terry and Parker anytime he faces them. They give up more PPG than all but 5 teams, and while that's indicative of their style of play, their opponent's FG percentage is middle-of-the-road. I think they rank like 12, which isn't that good. I should have qualified my statement a little more -- they're defense is mediocre, which is bad for a supposed Finals contender.

Ah yeah, Bell's a solid defender. Thomas, I dunno...he's not bad, but when he's one of your top three or four defenders on the roster, that's not a good sign. I just think when you've got San Antonio, the No. 1 overall defense and Dallas, the No. 3 overall looming in your conference, being ranked 25th in defense isn't a good sign of your postseason hopes.

The Suns to me are telling of the NBA's current state. The Suns now are the Denver Nuggets in the '80s, the difference being the league was too good to let a team like Denver be more than first or second round playoff fonder back then. Those Nuggets team were all run and gun, with no semblance of defense or half court set offense. They aren't really comparable in any sense other than they score a lot of points. By the way, those Nuggets teams made the playoffs every year from 1982 to 1990 and had appeared in the conference finals once and the semis three other times. They weren't exactly chumps in what was a pretty tough conference. Didn't say they were chumps, said they were first or second round fodder for the Lakers and Rockets team...and those semis appearances would be second round. The Suns may run a better halfcourt set, but with the exception of Marion and maybe Stoudemire, the Suns' defense is bad.

The Suns to me are telling of the NBA's current state. The Suns now are the Denver Nuggets in the '80s, the difference being the league was too good to let a team like Denver be more than first or second round playoff fonder back then.

Now that's announcing your presence with authority.

Bill Gillespie can coach. Good defensive team, and Acie Law is a bonafide stud. Plus I think that bracket has the weakest 1-seed and the second weakest 2.

I believe it's French for "Douche Bag." And so I'm actually contributing, I've got UNC, UCLA, A&M and Maryland in the Final Four. I like UNLV to make a deep run, Winthrop to get to the Sweet 16, and VCU to beat Duke.

Oh god... Midcards squash people, sure. But as the build to Wrestlemania? TWO WEEKS before Wrestlemania? The only purpose this serves is for WWE to thumb its nose at someone who dicked them around. And as far as Snitsky squashing two jobbers, you say that as if it's something I'd get behind, or even care about. Snitsky's a crappy wrestler on a crappy brand, and they're trying to repackage him. MVP on the other hand has a great gimmick and is slated for a big match at Wrestlemania. They're on completely different wavelengths right now.

WM X7. HHH vs. Angle: Scrap the HHH running down Austin angle and have Hunter as the face against Angle in a feud over Stephanie. That's an angle that was hot and never resolved. Play it up as no one knows who she'll align with. Either you get the happy ending with Steph choosing face HHH, who then feuds with heel Austin for the belt, or Steph chooses Angle, Hunter snaps and turns heel afterward. UT/Kane vs. Edge and Christian (tag titles): UT and Kane would win the belts later anyone, so have them destroy these two at Mania. Hardyz and Lita vs. Dudleyz (Bubba, DVon, Spike) Eddie vs. Benoit: The boiling point of the Benoit vs. Radicalz feud. Jericho (IC champ) vs. Regal (Euro champ) Title vs. Title Jerry Lynn vs. Dean Malenko (Light Heavy Title): Dean's long run comes to an end in a good match. Don't need any build, just have a great match with Lynn going over. Big Show vs. All comers (Hardcore): Big Show says he'll face anyone in a Gauntlet match, taking one challenger after the other in a 15-minute time limit. Rhino comes on last and beats a winded Show in the final seconds. Shane vs. Vince: WCW champ Booker T debuts, putting Vince down to setup Shane's big elbow and begin the WCW vs. WWF feud with a bang. Rock vs. Austin: Wouldn't change a thing about this match.