No, because Dallas doesn't play defense.

Whats your point?

Oh, I forgot. Miami has Shaq, so despite their 15-12 record they are WAY better than Dallas, who is a mere 20-7. Thanks ESPN.

They are 5-2 since Shaq returned. Shaq plays defense. ZO plays defense. DWade plays defense. Payton plays defense. Haslem plays defense. Hell, even Williams and Posey play defense. Walker, obviously, does not. 7/8 of their key players play good defense.

The Mavericks don't currently, never have, and probably never will play defense. Their sole strategy is to score as many points as they can and maybe they will make up for their shitty defense.

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com...ball_ny152.jpg

BTW, that was called a foul.

Why do the Heat even have Antoine Walker? He can obviously still be of value to some teams. It was an awful decision to bring him in in the first place, but why not offer him around, they could easily get a helpful guy for him.

Kobe Bryant: ten million FGs, 37 pts, Lakers lose. Selfish.

Good thing Miz watched the game

I still can't get over the fact that the two best teams in the NBA over the last three years get stuck at noon while we get two barely-over-.500 teams in the "main event" game. Just goes to show that the average fan doesn't give a shit about good basketball. They just want to see if Kobe and Shaq get in a fight.

I'm convinced that the Lakers are one decent center away from having a really good team. Mihm just simply isn't good enough, but Kobe and Odom are.

Well, Miami/LA was better basketball and a better game, but I see what you're saying. I'm sick and tired of everyone still talking about the Shaq/Kobe deal. Shaq obviously doesn't care about it anymore, and it looks like Kobe doesn't either. Anyone see the interview with Shaq after the game? The woman interviewer asked him why he didn't shake Kobe's hand, and he said Merry Christmas to everybody and left. It happened two years ago and people are still pissing their pants over it.

Agreed. It's the media of course that clings on to anything like that.

In a related note, the Heat still won't get past the Pistons.

To be honest, I don't think Shaq has ever cared as much as it's been made out to be. I mean think about it, the Lakers were on the downfall, if the Lakers had kept Shaq but left Kobe go, they would probably have been a playoff team but not a championship contender. At the same time, there was a couple teams that Shaq could put over the hump, the Heat being the best. So by making the big dramatic exit out of LA, he got put into one of the top teams in the NBA while still holding some credibility in LA, because after all Kobe and the Lakers are the bad guys, right?

Nope. Just Kobe.

And Crimson, neither will anyone else. :D

I don't want to get into this again (I'm sure Outlaw agrees) but if you remember back to the original reason Shaq said he wanted to leave, it was because the Lakers said if they had a choice, it was Kobe over Shaq. So Shaq said "fuck you" to the Lakers, "I'm not going to wait around to see if you can or can't sign Kobe, trade me now." It was after that when everybody turned on Kobe.

Most people, yes, but I just never liked him for whatever reason. Just a personal opinion, but it doesn't matter who they surround him with or how happy they make him, I just don't like him.

You mean Kobe I assume?

I do indeed. But, again, just an opinion.

Hey loop. Just a thought i'm throwing out here. I dont think Indiana has a shot in hell to beat the Pistons in any amount games of a series, but i do think the Nets can beat the Pistons. Am i wrong?

Fucking almost 10 years and Kobe still hasn't figured out there are other people on the team?

The Nets are playing pretty good basketball right now (second-longest winning streak in the league behind Detroit, I think) and they would cause some match-up problems that most other teams wouldn't. For example, who do you put on Carter? He's bigger than Hamilton (an inch shorter, but more muscular), so he could post him up. He's faster than Prince, so he can take him deep. I think that if they can put up a string of great games, they are capable of knocking them off.

The Pistons are the best team in the league, but they're not invincible. Obviously, it's too early to tell, but if the playoffs started right now, I'd be nervous about a Detroit/Jersey series.

Charles Barkley said the only three teams that should even consider going after Artest are: Miami, Phoenix, and Dallas.

Couldn't agree more.

Rumored trade on a few sites

Lakers get:
F Ron Artest
G/F Jalen Rose

Raptors get:
F Austin Croshere
another Laker player

Pacers get:
F Deaven George
another Raptor player
Raptor draft pick

Fucking good deal for the Lakers

I like both Artest and Rose on the Lakers, but then you have the Caron Butler controversy. Kobe is technically the shooting guard and Odom is the power forward, although you could argue that they both play a small forward type game.

I really can't understand why the Heat aren't offering some deal of like Antoine Walker and James Posey or something for Artest. Dallas definately has players to spare as well, maybe Van Horn and somebody else.

I don't think I would complain with that trade for the Lakers, but Jalen Rose is kind of pointless to have in the deal.

If that one player was like Morris Peterson or somthing i would really really like that trade.

Bosh please.

Raptors will not be trading Bosh

i can dream cant i?

Actually I wouldn't completely rule trading Bosh out, but I would rule it out at this point.

Unless I missed it, I'm pretty sure he is a FA after this year, so if by the deadline they haven't proven to him that their young players are getting better and he doesn't seem happy, I could see him moving.

Seems like L.A. would be a great fit for him?

The Raptors will be real good next year. Bosh, Villanuava, Mo Pete, Mike James is coming along big time as a PG. Jalen Rose has sweet one-liners...

Now if Gene Kaedy becomes head coach. They'll contend.

Bosh isn't a FA. He was drafted in '03.

4 of the top 5 draft picks in 03 are stars on their team Lebron, Melo, Wade, and Bosh.

I thought they got three year contracts usually? 03-04, 04-05, 05-06?

My bad, Bosh is still signed for next season and then has a qualifying offer for 07-08

James and Mo Pete will probably be gone next yhear. James is hav3 ing a typical contract year and gonna get overpaid like a bitch

lol Vince slapped Mo Pete and the refs didnt see it, then Mo slapped him back and got ejected. Vince is a little bitch

It was a playful joke though. Vince slapped him as a joke, ref doesn't see it, Mo Pete slaps him back as a joke, ref sees it and ejects him. Vince even pleaded with the refs. Too bad, Mo Pete was playing pretty hot defense.

My first response to the whole thing when I read about it was, Vince is a little bitch

I heard Mo Pete was pissed when he slapped Vince, that he wasn't playing around. I can't blame him. Vince is definately a little bitch.

sticky*

LOL yeah those slaps were a joke. Can't believe he got tossed.

Melo beats Phoenix in 3OT

Unbelievable game. Best basketball game I've ever seen. Melo is the mang.

Melo :cool:

lakers would be one badass team if they got artest and rose

Fred Jones im telling you.

Kobe is 2sicc sometimes.

Glen Taylor hinted to Sid Hartman that Okowokandi will be traded within 72 hours, but no idea for who. The Wolves need more scoring.

Warriors :(

A little late ..but I know i posted around here somewhere last year that Bob Weiss would get fired midway thru the season. I'm a profit godamnit.

If you were a player who doesn't mind getting some shots and wanted to get out of your own shitty team, as if you'd go to the Lakers.

Olowokandi for Blount from Boston according to foxsports.com

CHICAGO (AP) -- Knicks forward Antonio Davis climbed into the stands out of concern for his wife and was ejected without further trouble Wednesday night during the Chicago Bulls' 106-104 overtime victory against New York.

Ben Gordon hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer and scored 32 points for the Bulls, but Davis' dash over the scorer's table and into the stands during a timeout in overtime -- evoking memories of last season's brawl in Detroit -- became the flash point of an already wild game.

"I saw my wife being threatened," Davis said in a statement released immediately after the game. "I felt I had to act. I did not have enough time to alert security."

Davis did not elaborate on why he ascended about 10 rows of seats to reach his wife in the stands. There was no physical confrontation after he got there, but several people were pointing and shouting for a few moments before security arrived and Davis was ejected.

United Center security later escorted a group of people from the area.

Knicks coach Larry Brown said Davis went into the stands because he saw his wife "falling back," but didn't explain further.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=260118004

Just saw the clip of it, nothing in it. He felt his wife was threatened, he didn't charge unneccessarily into the stands, he didn't hurt someone. Just shows they need better security around players families.

He'll get a suspension, but he shouldn't. He's got a clean record, President of the Players Association, probably only get a game or two.

72 game suspension RAWR! :foc:

Yeah, it was because of some drunk Chicago dude. You could see in the replay the guy yelling at Davis. Are people really this stupid?

5 games

Even Stern said he'd have done the same thing if in AD's position.

I felt like Davis did the right thing and shouldnt have got suspended.

Nah, he should be suspended even though I see nothing wrong with what he did. 5 games is pretty harsh but they have to have a precedent set

OK, Larry Bird really has to make a decision on Ron Artest already. It's getting old

first place Utah Jazz. Fuck you all!

So, now it's coming out that Davis's wife attacked the fan, and this isn't the first time she did something like this.

Davis then released a statment that he found out "after" the guy was drunk.

The guy has threated to sue for assault and defemation of charecter, but his lawayer now says they wont sue if they get

1) A public apology from both the player & wife.

2) They make a donation to a charity for abused women.

Yeah, if he felt his wife was in danger he did the "right thing" still doesn't change the precident and he HAD to be suspended.

LOL suing for 1 million last time I heard?

I saw the video and looked like the dude wasn't really doing anything.

That was the original threat... but now his lawyer says he just wants a public apology and money donated to a charity of his choice, I think he wanted it to go to a charity for abused women last I heard.

Sonics are a bunch of faggots

Wow, Kobe "Mamba" Bryant scored 81 pts tonight.

I thought after 62 in three quarters a month ago that Kobe had missed his once in a lifetime chance to truly record history.

Um... I guess not. Seriously, what the hell man. That was ridiculous. :eek:

Good thing we won tho. Woulda been sad if we'd lost.

Kobe is pretty good.

absurd

Kobe scored 81 and the Lakers only won by 18 (allowing 104 total). Anybody think the Lakers should start focusing on defense?

It is kind of funny because in the last issue of ESPN the Magazine, Sports Guy that was saying how stupid Kobe was for sitting out the last quarter against Dallas and how people only care about the number, not about the sportsmanship.

All I can say is that is just plain rediculous. He could score zero points for three games and still be averaging 20.

Last night, I was watching the Pistons/Rockets game, and down the stretch, T-Mac had an opportunity to take a contested 3-pointer to cut the lead to two, but instead he made a sweet behind-the-back pass to Luther Head for the three.

As they were running back on defense, Fred McLeod (the Pistons' FSN announcer) said something to the effect of "Not a lot of superstars in this league would have passed up that shot." As he said it, I thought *coughKobecough*, and then I get up today to find out that Kobe dropped EIGHTY-ONE points!

I may not like the guy, or the way he plays the game, but damned if that isn't one of the most impressive individual sporting efforts I've ever seen.

I'm not going to say it's not impressive, but it is downright greedy. Especially in this day and age. The guy put up almost 50 shots!

Is this going to be the game that sparks the Lakers? I don't think so. The Lakers need to play team ball, not give the ball to Kobe and let him go off ball.

The Lakers are lucky they're getting a couple of days to rest. If not, who knows if Kobe would have enough energy to go next game and score even 10. And how embarrasing would it be if the Lakers score less than 81 next game?

It's true that he was playing against Toronto, but if I recall correctly Kobe went 28-46 from the field, 7-13 from 3 point land and 18-20 from the line. Those percentages come out to 61% from the field 53% from 3 point land and 90 percent from the line. If a guy can go out and shoot 61% for FG's in a game, then I would let him shoot 75 shots.

Whereas some people look at as ball hogging or whatever, I look at it as a defense that could not stop an elite scorer. If the Toronto coach was smart, he would have put 2 and 3 guys on Kobe and not just 1. Even if they did and Kobe had to pass and give open looks to guys there is no guarantee he would have made it. This was a result of poor defense and not great coaching, but more importantly an offensive explosion from one of the best in the league

I'm not saying that the Lakers shouldn't let Kobe shoot. The Lakers need Kobe to shoot. They've only won one game this year when Kobe wasn't the leading scorer. But to let him shoot as much as he does game in and game out is ridiculous.

Back to another argument I was trying to make. The Lakers need to work on locking down their defense. They've scored 4032 points total this year and have given up 3945. That's a difference of 87 points. I wouldn't call that getting the job done.

Also, It doesn't really seem to matter how many points Kobe scores (as long as he leads the team.) The Lakers are 11-10 when he scores 35+ and 12-9 when he scores under 35.

So you are saying that last night, when Kobe got the hot hand, you would have made him pass up shots because the team needed to get more involved?

I'm sorry buddy, but scoring 40 points on 40% shooting in a losing effort is one thing, but 81 points on 60% in a winning effort is another.

Nope, not saying that at all.

What I am saying is Kobe shouldn't take as many shots as he does. It doesn't matter how many defenders he has on him, he still shoots. There has to be some open opportunities for other players. He doesn't find them because he doesn't look for them.

My argument isn't just about last night. It's about the Lakers season to this point. They need to play better defense, and they need to distribute the ball more on offense.

I doubt the Lakers will make the playoffs this year.

That's the exact point I've been trying to make.

81 points is sick. Might be more impressive than Wilt's 100.

best NBA day ever?

pistons fight off hungry rockets 99-97
steve blake leads blazers back to over time but eventually loses
sonics beat suns in 2OT 152-149 with a bomb at the buzzer
kobe bryant has EIGHTY ONE points in win against the raptors
wizards lose to memphis who they own at home
the other AI on 76ers tip shot beats minnesota

ESPN is reporting that Artest will be traded for Peja straight up pending league approval

If you compare the stats of the two games, Kobe's 81 meant a lot more to his team.

I say it was more impressive than the 100 point game.

Eh, I don't like the Kings, but I always liked Artest and the Pacers, but now I don't know if I like Artest on the Kings and I hate Peja on the Pacers.

Artest says he doesn't want to play for Sacramento and now the Kings have backed out

81 points is an amazing performance, but Kobe will always be a professional loser until he finds a way to involve his teammates.

Wonder how Peja feels, he was all but gone until Artest backed out. Gotta think he's on the market now. As a Bulls fan, knowing Chicago is a place he'd go to, I reckon we have to go after him. Could use a strong scorer instead of relying on 15-20 from three or four guys a night.

The 81 wasn't better than 100.

1. They played defense back then. Not many teams play good defense these days.
2. Wilt shot nearly the same percentage from the field and went 28/32 at the free throw line, which is amazing for him.
3. They played defense back then.

I would rank it on up there, but I would easily consider putting MJ's 63 against Boston in the 80's above this one.

Vince Carter critisized Kobe's 81 point game. That's rich coming from him.


Carter warns kids: Don't be like Kobe
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/5275220

Haha Carter talking about being a team player.

LOL yeah, youd think this is Chauncy Billups talking not Carter.

Vince Carter is just jealous. I guess teaching kids how not to give it 100% in a game in order to force a trade would fair a lot better. Also..since when does it begin to be Kobe's fault..after he scores 50? or 70..75? idiot.

In response to Outlaw, I don't have the stats in front of me but, the fact that Wilt had all those FT's, and he was like a foot taller than the opposing centers in those days, let's face it...i would think the points came easier. Kobe with all his J's, not as many freethrows, maybe a little harder? But the if the Raptors had any clue maybe they coulda doubleteamed here and there.

Did you watch the game? It wasn't like they were triple teaming Smush Parker and giving Kobe uncontested jump shots, Kobe was just that good

1. I don't think Outlaw knows enough about the 100 point game

2. Kobe was a professional loser until he won three straight NBA Championships

I've never seen someone spell Shaq "he"

BCWWF you've said like 3 really dumb things in your last few posts.

1) Wilt Chamberline was a tree playing with bushes. He was tall and 260 pounds. That was unheard of in his day. Kobe Bryant is a shooting guard playing in a big mans league.

2) Kobe was only in the league for like 2-3 years before he won some rings and i dont care what anyone says. If Kobe wasnt there. They dont win those rings. I specifically remember one Kobe Bryant taking over in Game 4 of the finals while Shaq was fouled out on the bench with 7 minutes to go. If the Lakers dont win that game. Indiana might have a title.

3) About 75% of the league players dont have rings. Maybe more then that. Does that make them professional losers? Cmon get off it.

81 points... that's nice... would have been nicer if a guy who was shooting 59% passed a bit more.

yeah. this wasn't a case of a "great night" if he shot even 75%, I'd feel different, this is simply a guy that took too many shots.

Ummmmm....if I said some pretty stupid things, how come you agreed with both of my points?

I know a pretty good bit about it. He shot 28/32 from free throws. He hit 38/63 shots or somewhere around that number. The thing is, you know that whole Hack-a-Shaq method? Wilt was a not so good free throw shooter, so people would do the same thing to him. Another interesting tidbit, Guy Rodgers had 20 assists that game. The whole Lakers team had 18. Just something to think about.

Kobe was a professional loser? Seriously, I dislike that whole argument that you are defined by rings. Karl Malone was one of the best players there has been in the NBA. But, since guys like Tayshaun Prince, Darko, Lindsey Hunter, etc. has a few rings, Karl Malone is a professional loser and the rest are winners. Get out of here.

But, you're right. HE won the titles. Had nothing to do with the MVP of those Championships, had nothing to do with Phil Jackson, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Devan George, etc. etc. Get off me with that.

Again, watch the game. A good portion of the fourth quarter was his team mates passing him the ball at every opportunity. That accounts for a fair amount of shots.

So, every time he gets a Pass he's supposed to shoot?

yeah, I'm sure in the 4th, he was what, in the 60's so at that point it was a joke, and they decided just to see how high they could get him, but what was his % before the 4th?

I dunno what his numbers were before the 4th quarter, I'm just saying that it was a an example of why some of his numbers were inflated. As far as the rest of the game, its nothing to see a guy take a lot of shots when he is feeling it.

In other news, the Peja-Artest trade is back on.

Great way for Artest to start a fan base in Sacramento