Ya, I did. I gotta quit drinking and posting. I leave words out. Flash and Shaq will be a force in the East this year. Shaq is guaranting a Championship this year. He also said he got 4 years left on his contract with the Heat and then he will retire. Lebron has a couple good players around him.... NUM PLAYER POS HT WT DOB FROM YRS 6 Shannon Brown G 6-4 205 11/29/1985 Michigan State R 21 Daniel Gibson G 6-2 190 02/27/1986 TexasR 90 Drew Gooden F 6-10 242 09/24/1981 Kansas4 32 Larry Hughes G 6-5 184 01/23/1979 St. Louis8 11 Zydrunas Ilgauskas C 7-326006/05/1975 Lithuania8 33 Luke Jackson F-G 6-7 21511/06/1981 Oregon2 23LeBron James F 6-824012/30/1984 St. Vincent-St. Mary HS (OH)319Damon Jones G 6-319008/25/1976 Houston8 27Dwayne Jones F-C 6-1125106/09/1983 Saint Joseph's12 4Donyell Marshall F 6-923005/18/1973 Connecticut12 14Ira Newble F-G 6-722001/20/1975 Miami (Ohio)6 3Aleksandar Pavlovic F 6-721011/15/1983 Serbia & Montenegro3 31Scot Pollard C-F 6-1126502/12/1975 Kansas9 20Eric Snow G 6-320504/24/1973 Michigan State11 17Anderson Varejao F 6-1024009/28/1982 Brazil2 4David Wesley G 6-120311/14/1970 Baylor13 Wheres the "weak" link?
The weak link is the fact that half the time they are all just standing around watching Lebron. Big Z isn't the player he was 4-5 years ago--injuries and age have slowed him a great deal. Larry Hughes was supposed to come in and be Lebron's Scottie Pippen (a strong defensive player who could score 15-20 a game and take on the other team's best scorer to allow Lebron to focus on offense). However, he injured his hand and is just now getting back to 100%. He may never get his full range of motion back in the finger (and it's on his shooting hand). Drew Gooden is an okay-solid player, but it's been reported that he often loses focus and still doesn't understand the offense completely. Then there is Donyell Marshall, a 6-10 PF who thinks he's a SG. That's not even the bad part, which is that he only shoots about 30% from 3 point range--which is where about half his shots come from. Outside of these guys its a bunch of scrubs who are just glad they get to spend enough time around Lebron to get his autograph--which they can sell on Ebay. If Larry Hughes can stay healthy and get his shooting touch back, and if Big Z can put together one last run, the Cavs have a shot at winning the East. Lebron is that good, and the East is that bad. I think Miami has lost all motivation. Of course D-Wade cares, but outside of him I don't know. I find it hard to imagine the glove, antoine, and shaq really giving 100% all year. Detroit should be good, but who knows how much the Wallace loss will affect them. Plus, I don't trust Flip Saunders. The Bulls are an enigma as well. Who knows what kind of effect Big Ben will have on them. They also need Deng and Gordon to step up huge. Watch out for the Nets. When Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson are all healthy, those guys are almost impossible to stop. However, if Carter goes down they are screwed. Jefferson's numbers end up looking good, but he turns the ball over 10 times a game. Krystic's development will also be a deciding factor. In the West, I like the Spurs. Duncan will have a HUGE year. I really don't see Amare coming back anywhere close to 100% this year. Next year will be the Sun's year.
Kobe is worth about 20-30 losses, u mean. Dude makes players around him worse, not better. That's the essential problem with the Lakers, and will be as long as the Kobester suits it up for them.
I wouldn't walk across the street to see an NBA game unless they'd let me officiate. There would be no air dribbles (leave at the top of the key,take 4 steps and dunk), there would be no bullchit with the officials, I'd call numerous techical fouls, and the highlights would be honest. The league officials say the fans don't want to see it my way. Fine. I don't want to see it their way, on TV or with a ticket. The NBA wants to be bigger but they can't seem to figure out that there is more of a market out there, those beyond the MTV generation. From my vantage point, the NBA's marketing is failing. Miserably.:dis:
Well, the Heat got spanked like a who....on bourbon street for $5 last nite. The bulls looked pretty impressive. Was good to see a highlight on ESPN from Chris Duhon, the local hometown dude. I still think the East goes thru the defending champs. Also, Kobe has been working on making himself more of a team player. Kobe got the talent, when he learns to be like Lebron or Jordan, the Lakers will be alot better. I got faith that Phil Jackson is working hard on that. Kobe is getting to the age where he is thinking about his legacy.
