SpongeWorthy

Wilt had 55 in a game. This was the most since Barkley had 33 in a 96 game. Everyone laugh @ the Knicks.

He finished with 31/31.

Arguably? How dare you sir.

And isn't the conventional wisdom that the first two Super Bowls were no bigger than the previous NFL championship games and didn't raise into "Super Bowl" stature until the Jets won SBIII? Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_Championship_Game,_1967 According to that wiki the Ice Bowl game between Dallas/GB for the NFL title was clearly more important than Super Bowl II a few weeks later.

Oh yeah, that's a big reason. The NFL was definitely the red headed step child of American football compared to college for a long time.

I don't think the devaluing is as strong as you make it out to be. The marketing hype isn't as strong because the Super Bowl is a very, very strong brand in its own right. But teams like the Bears, Giants, Skins, Colts, even the Packers are considered some of the banner franchises because of success in the pre Super Bowl era. Plus the greatest game of all time is still widely considered the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Colts and Giants. And if there's one thing that keeps the cache for the pre-color barrier/pre WWII World Series championships it's that the Yankees won so damn many of them.

I can't imagine why a Bulls fan would care about that, but Bulls fans are [expletive] nutjobs that can't get over MICHAEL 12 years later so I guess it makes sense. yea why care that our team holds the record for the most wins ever in a season? that's like, barely even an accomplishment. but holding onto a championship 12 years later is reasonable, right? Doesn't everyone think the '72 Dolphins are sad and pathetic? Yeah, but they whore themselves out to the media any time anyone threatens the mark. Mercury Morris would not shut up when the Patriots were on their undefeated streak.

Either obtuse means the opposite of what you think it means, or you don't get it. I'm just saying there are several statistic measures that indicate Miami, even now, isn't doing nearly as poorly as ignorant media pundits and schadenfreude-filled fans think they are. And you don't have to be stupid to believe it, either. And it's not just Sagarin, or just adding up individual PER's, either. Look at Hollinger's team ratings (which I promise you aren't doctored to favor the Heat), look at BP's SCHOENE projections (which, admittedly, costs money), or offensive and defensive efficiency, or adjusted scoring margin, or even basic scoring margin! At the end of the day, simply looking at W-L record has one purpose: whether or not you get into the playoffs. Beyond that, it tells very little about the quality of a team, the likelihood of a team winning, or even eliminate the possibility that the lesser team can win 4 of 7. And I'm pretty sure if you asked Sagarin (or even Hollinger), he'd give the Heat the best odds of winning it all, even today. However, even if those odds against the Lakers and Celtics were 55%, that still leaves a 45% chance they don't. Nobody's guaranteeing anything, here, just pointing out that the Heat are in fact playing better than their W-L record indicates. But you probably admit they wouldn't say the Hornets have the 2nd best chance of winning the title right? I mean maybe that's what their black box spits out, and that's why their models have value--because they don't fudge the numbers to their own eyeballs, but they don't REALLY believe that. The predictor is only taking this season's games into account. It doesn't take the last few years where teams like the Lakers and Celtics have clearly been superior to a team like New Orleans and where nebulous ideas about playoff experience, coaching, match ups come into play. I'm guessing the last ~200 games the Lakers and Celtics have played are a better predictor than just the first 7 New Orleans has played, especially when their core guys are still intact.

I'm guessing SSR had an adult beverage or 8 when he posted that.

I'm guessing if it comes out that Auburn knew they were playing a player that would be ruled ineligible that the punishments down the line would be more severe than if they got out in front of it.

I have no clue what you're trying to say because you're being intentionally obtuse about it. If Jeff Sagarin's life depended on predicting the outcome between a Lakers/Heat series, I very highly doubt he would pick Miami, at least at this point in time. I doubt he'd pick New Orleans over the Lakers or Celtics either despite what his predictor says.

If the "common sense" approach is seeing a 5-4 record and chuckling to myself while popping a bottle of champagne on behalf of the 1996 Bulls, I'll take the statistical model, thanks. Huh? So you think Miami is going 67-6 the rest of the way?

Oh, I see bukie is using the Sagarin predictor. Isn't it entirely possible that a statistical model with less than 10 games of data would be a worse predictor than a more common sense approach (whatever that means)? If the Lakers/Heat or Heat/Celtics were to play a 7 game series starting tomorrow, I know I'd pick LA and Boston in a heartbeat. Who would pick over New Orleans over either of those teams? Not many.

How clear is it if the Heat are still statistically the superior team in the NBA? Sure, it's fun to bask in the schadenfreude, but the reality is that if this is the "struggling Heat", they're going to lap the league when things click. Based on what? Are you talking about Hollinger's power rankings on espn? It's even worse than the BCS. Look how well he predicts NBA standings. He's no better than anyone else, and goes out on a limb about as often as Dick Vitale does when he picks NCAA hoops. The Bulls just crushed a Golden State team which just beat the Knicks on the road. Yet the Knicks beat the Bulls at home. so how does this factor into his ratings? I just don't believe you can easily distill basketball to stats. More than a lot of media guys, Hollinger seems to have an increased interest in the Heat, because he and his PER predicted that the Heat should run away with a title. Him and his PER will end up looking bad if the Heat are a flop. He predicted 68 wins. I also happen to believe the PER is stupid. A decent player on a bad team can put up big numbers (Chris Bosh). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he wasn't going to do it with the Heat. And no amount of math could replace common sense there. No, basically every predictive statistical measure has the Heat on top of the NBA right now. "Common Sense" is highly subjective, and everybody has an increased level of interest in the Heat. The statistics aren't massaged to make the Heat look good, the Heat look good, and it shows in the statistics. Four single-digit losses against good teams where they still played well aren't enough to sway them. The "eye test" is a far worse way of evaluating team performance than almost any statistical measure. As much as basketball can be a team sport, it's far less so of a "team is greater than the sum of parts" than the NBA, NHL or pro soccer. It is more team-based than baseball, though, so it has that going for it. How are the statistical models capturing how well the Heat "should" be playing? Are they going off of career numbers for guys like James, Wade, and Bosh? Because no one in their right mind thinks the Heat are the best team in the NBA, right now.

LOL

Naw, they've got first round picks for at least the next two years.

Joel Anthony will never be Perkins and Arroyo ain't Rondo. That I'm certain of. But I agree with what you're saying. They'll be fine and they'll add better secondary pieces moving forward. The MLE and draft will be big for them.

"You're a back up quarterback. You should know other back up quarterbacks."

72-10 will never be broken.

By the book, yeah, but the DB flopped a lot to try and buy the call...no way a guy just falls over that easily from a one arm push off.

Millen was "thinking" out loud that when the Ravens were driving for the go ahead score that Atlanta should just let them get a TD to preserve time on the clock. Of course you only do that if a field goal beats you...not when they absolutely have to score a TD to take the lead. God what an idiot.

I can only imagine how terrified this Turkish big guy on the Celtics is of KG.

Boston's passing is remarkable.

Atlanta's defense is quite good.

but it's all going to change when mike miller comes back! I'm just amazed that a guy like Carlos Arroyo can look all world in international competition but is D-league quality in the NBA.