This week in the NBA

[alfdogg 0]

Nice little pickup I made in the TSM league.

[Guest]

Yeah, I was going to pick him up, but couldn't get around to it before you.

 

LAKERS 2006!!!1!!!11

 

Until Phoenix gets a big man that can play defense, they will not win shit.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Yeah as much as I hate to admit it the Lakers are looking pretty good right now. I was impressed with them in the pre-season. However the interesting thing will be to see how Kobe's return will impact the team.

 

I liked them adding Farmar and Evans. The Bynum kid has been playing well since training camp.

 

Damn Western Conference is going to be a Battle Royal, it is easily the best in any American sport

[Guest]

Oh yeah, the Lakers are interested in Jalen Rose, going with the theme of the other thread. I'd only take him for the low level.

 

Bynum is my favorite player and Evans brings the energy.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

sounds like Jalen is going to Miami. Oy.

[Brett Favre 0]

Yeah, I was going to pick him up, but couldn't get around to it before you.

 

LAKERS 2006!!!1!!!11

 

Until Phoenix gets a big man that can play defense, they will not win shit.

 

Someone's overreacting.

[Guest]

Overreacting about what. That they have continually shown over the course of the past three years that they have no interior defense?

 

They address that, they're nearly unbeatable. It doesn't have to be a great defender, just someone that can get in the game and make a few stops.

[razazteca 0]

Yeah, I was going to pick him up, but couldn't get around to it before you.

 

LAKERS 2006!!!1!!!11

 

Until Phoenix gets a big man that can play defense, they will not win shit.

 

Someone's overreacting.

Wait until Kobe comes back and becomes the Terrell Owens of the NBA demanding the ball every position getting 60 points a night, losing games, and making demands that the team play better defense on talk radio and tv.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Don't know if this was mentioned anywhere, but Keith Van Horn turned down contract offers from the Nuggets and Celtics to spend more time with his family. You ofter hear a player say that it's not about the money. Rarely do they ever show it. Good for KVH.

[Guest Felonies!]

Look, I know the Suns are a contender, and Nelly Furtado wants to know if people's games are on par with Steve Nash's, but is it fair to give them two national games in two nights? It's not a Denver Broncos level of unwarranted overexposure by any means, since they do have some big names and they can be fun to watch, but still, change it up a little.

[Just John 0]

The NBA has a shortlist of about 8 teams they select each year to play national TV games. Occasionally one of the lesser peasant teams gets to leech on one of the big guns for a national game. This year, you can count on seeing lots of:

 

Miami

San Antonio

Dallas

Phoenix

Chicago

LA Lakers

Cleveland

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

To me, the Suns have gone from a young and exciting team to overrated in a hurry. They have a good team, but they aren't title contenders and I'm not really sure why they are being presented as such. I'm not even sure that they are the favorites in their division, but whatever.

[Red Baron 0]

I'm looking forward to see the Raptors debut tonight.

 

In a way I hope they win, but I wont mind seeing Vince Carter putting up 40 tonight.

[Brett Favre 0]

To me, the Suns have gone from a young and exciting team to overrated in a hurry. They have a good team, but they aren't title contenders and I'm not really sure why they are being presented as such. I'm not even sure that they are the favorites in their division, but whatever.

 

They've made it to the conference finals back to back years.

[Guest]

And they've lost because they couldn't keep teams from getting layups.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

To me, the Suns have gone from a young and exciting team to overrated in a hurry. They have a good team, but they aren't title contenders and I'm not really sure why they are being presented as such. I'm not even sure that they are the favorites in their division, but whatever.

 

They've made it to the conference finals back to back years.

 

Okay, so they are a contender in the sense that they've been to the conference finals two years in a row, and there's an above average chance that they will do that again this year. But I don't believe they are serious threat to the title because they don't play defense and they don't a have a real interior presence. Maybe if Amare returns to 04-05 form, but I think the chances of that happening are very slim. I can't seem them getting past San Antonio or Dallas with the style of basketball they play. I also think that they were on the cutting edge the past two seasons with the whole smallball thing. But now Nash is getting older, and other teams have caught up. Phoenix didn't really do anything in the offseason to improve their squad.

[Brett Favre 0]

They do have a deeper team this year. That only helps because you only had like 6 guys playing throughout the playoffs last year. Atleast this year, they'll also have Amare, and KT, along with Marcus Banks and Jumaine Jones.

[Guest]

Amare is dust. He's my favorite player not on the Lakers, but he's finished.

 

He still has enough to contribute off the bench, but not start.

[Brett Favre 0]

I didn't say he was going to be back to superstar form, although I never said he wouldn't either. Either way, he adds depth.

 

You're also jumping the gun with him. He had a decent game in 12 minutes, and in the preseason he wasn't horrible. I doubt you come out 100% out of the gate from surgery.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I didn't say he was going to be back to superstar form, although I never said he wouldn't either. Either way, he adds depth.

 

You're also jumping the gun with him. He had a decent game in 12 minutes, and in the preseason he wasn't horrible. I doubt you come out 100% out of the gate from surgery.

 

But Amare is like 10-12 months behind schedule in recovering from the surgery. I wish the guy nothing but the best, as he is a great, young talent, but expecting anything other than a minor contribution this year might be wishful thinking. If he successfully regains his form after microfracture surgery, he will be the first.

[Brett Favre 0]

I think Webber and Randolph both had the same surgery.

[Ripper 0]

First of all the surgery he had has a 18 month recovery time. He had his surgery on October 8, 2005. Not only is he not progressing well, considering that he had another surgery on the other knee last year, he is doing fine. Second, he played fine last night for 11 minutes.

 

And third, you all do realize it was the first game of the season. All of a sudden the Suns won't win anything and the heat suck because they lost ONE game out of 82.

 

Sure, lets forget that the real reason the suns have lost in the last two conference finals have been the lost of their best perimeter defender and one of their better shooters and killed their depth. SURE. Its because they didn't have a big man.

 

Whatever. This season does not depend on Amare. If he gives them 10-6, they are in better shape than last year. If they make it through the playoffs without injuries they are most certainly contenders. They will do fine. I liked what I saw in their first game. But it was just that. The first game.

[Guest Felonies!]

Jeremy Schaap is reporting on an ad campaign. Good for him!

 

Bulls trail Orlando by 10, last time I checked. I hope they're not getting complacent or something after one game, but I bet it has more to do with Duhon and Tyrus Thomas getting roughed up by Pat Riley's goons.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I think Webber and Randolph both had the same surgery.

 

Webber's surgergy effectively destroyed his career. He has never been the same player since returning from the surgery. He still has value as a player, but his skillset is entirely different than Amare's. Amare was athletic and explosive in the low post. If he has lost that, he's lost the trait that made him special.

 

By the way, I'm not burying the Suns because of one game, nor am I saying Amare is heading to retirement. I just don't think they have a realistic chance at winning the title, and I didn't think they did last two seasons either.

[Ripper 0]

You can say they didn't have a realistic chance and them going to the conference finals before losing a important piece to the team says not only did they have a realistic chance, they almost pulled it off. Twice.

[chaosrage 0]

And they've lost because they couldn't keep teams from getting layups.

 

If Raja didn't injure himself in the series, they had a damn good chance to win two more games against the Mavs. He went from having 20-30 point games to not being able to make a shot on his hurt leg. The Suns had such a shallow bench that they depended on the same 6 guys all the time. Not having Raja healthy or at all for 2 or 3 games crippled them. If they had won though, I think they would probably have been a stronger match up against the Heat than the Mavs.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

King, are you as excited as I am for this season? Let the Kobe-hating begin! Bynum is looking great, I'm sure he's been learning a lot. It's going to be sick when the Lakers get Kwame & Kobe back. And I REALLY hope Lamar Odom can keep it up... if he has a great season, it could be lights out for the rest of the league.

[Ripper 0]

I just don't think that Odom and Bryant can do that on the court at the same time. Lamar NEEDS the ball ALOT to be effective and Bryant likes the ball, ALOT to be really effective. ITs going to be tough. I have been saying for the last few years that they need to run the offense through Odom and not Kobe, and I do like Bynum. I didn't even know he was such a good passer out of the post. In his flashes last year I knew he was going to be a tough scorer and rebounder, but damn dude.

[Kurt Angle Mark 0]

Surprise

 

Sheed gets tossed for complaining to refs

[naiwf 0]

Surprise

 

Sheed gets tossed for complaining to refs

 

And many mooooooore