- New Jersey is 9-12 with their Big Three and slipping, as everyone awaits a major transaction...
- Four other teams besides the Nets likely to make a move of significance before the trade deadline: Bulls, Sixers, Grizzlies, and Knicks...
- Three more teams that need to be looking for trade partners: Heat, Kings, and Cavaliers...
- Multiple THUMBS DOWN to ALL Jazz fans for booing Derek Fisher, the epitomy of class, during his first game back in Utah as an opposing player...
- 29 other teams would absolutely love to have Shaquille O'Neal and his 15 point 7 rebound average, but at $1.3 million...
- Surprising to say but Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony averaging 25 apiece for the Nuggets is NOT gonna get it done...
- On the other hand, the Lakers have four players averaging in double-figures and two more right under 10 ppg with Jordan Farmar and Vlad Radmanovic at 9.8 and 9.4 respectively. Watch out, it's only the beginning...
- Lebron James, hands down, is the MVP of the NBA right now, with Hammer Howard second...
- Josh Smith is the best team defensive player in the league, while Kobe Bryant remains the best one-on-one defender in the game...
- Just imagine if Kobe and Smith were on the same team...
- Like I said after the second week of the season, by Christmas time the Clippers would be back in their old true form...
- Most suprising team is Orlando while Miami is the most disappointing...
- San Antonio, in its quest to repeat as champions for the first time, is serious about gaining home court advantage throughout the postseason and having the best regular season record in the NBA...
- Sleeper to win the Western Conference has to be the L.A. Lakers and the sleeper in the East has to be the Cleveland Cavs...
- Most likely teams to be disappointed in the playoffs: Phoenix and Detroit...
- My TOP 10, with special mention in parentheses:
1) San Antonio (12-0 at home)
2) Boston (10-0 at home)
3) Phoenix (10-3 on the road)
4) Orlando (11-2 on the road)
5) New Orleans (only 6-5 at home, but 8-2 on the road)
6) L.A. Lakers (above .500 both home and away)
7) Detroit (above .500 both home and away)
8) Utah (only 5-7 on the road)
9) Dallas (only 4-6 on the road)
10) Denver (only 4-5 on the road)
And Finally...
A team that considers itself a title contender and then loses to the Minnesota Timberwolves (worst team in the NBA and is on the verge of threatening the all-time record for futility) is probably not going to win the championship anytime soon. Boy I can't wait for Christmas Day...
This is where bloggers and the rest of you sports freaks can spread more rumors. We all love to speculate about potential deals just as much as we'd like to know if there are aliens residing somewhere near the Kuiper Belt. Last I heard, the aliens did not create the rings around Saturn...
In L.A. word around town is that Maggette will be dealt soon. But to whom? Golden State has some moveable pieces, as does Sacramento who would like to reunite Bibby with Webber. My Lakers have a chance at a number four seed if they continue improving but could win it all if Buss finds a way to land K.G. and managing to keep Odom at the same time.
Rashard Lewis may be on the move in Seattle. Minnesota may look to add someone to help Garnett instead of trading him if only they could find takers for Ricky Davis, Mike James, Mark Blount, and Troy Hudson, who are all locked up long term. Portland always has pieces to move since they haven't won anything since the infamous 4th quarter meltdown against the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2000 West Finals. Jerry West and Mike Fratello don't see eye-to-eye so a shuffling of personnel may be imminent in Memphis.
The East is loaded with trade-bait. Ty Lue in Atlanta, Antonio Daniels in Washington, Stephen Jackson in Indiana, Luol Deng and Ben Gordon in Chicago to name a few. There is also talk that Paul Pierce is getting impatient, and Richard Jefferson isn't feeling the same way anymore. In Gotham you can trade just about anybody, including Isaiah Thomas. If Herb Williams is still there, trade him too. Milwaukee needs help and is one solid player away from making the playoffs. Who will go and who will stay?
UC IRVINE graduate and proud to be an ANTEATER. My claim to fame is having played against the likes of Tayshaun and Tommie Prince, Jacque Vaughn, and Charles O'Bannon, plus getting dunked on by Schea Cotton in a CIF second round match in the nineties.
WIDELY KNOWN on FOX as one of the most biased LAKER HOMERS in blog history, highly criticized for hating on the PHOENIX SUNS fan base, and has been told on more than one occasion that LAMAR ODOM isn't worth the suit he's wearing.
Believe that "excellence is not an act but a habit."
Believe that the things you do and the things you don't do, they all send a message.
Believe that in order to know the world one must first know thyself.
And believe that it's the journey not the destination.
Finally, as the great Bruce Lee once said, "Man - he is constantly growing and when he is bound by a set pattern of ideas or way of doing things, that's when he stops growing."
This is the Way of the Dragon. Embrace it.
