Warpticon

Trevor Ariza should start every game at SF. And honestly, I'd probably put the Lakers ahead of the Mavericks and Suns RIGHT NOW. But yeah, there's still a lot to prove. LA's February schedule is a freaking joke. 14 of 17 on the road.

Yeah, it's an odd move for sure. Who would play center in Camby's absence?

Looks like the Kidd to LA rumors are falling through, and the Nuggets are the most likely target, with Camby, picks, and who knows what else going the other way.

Same as I've heard, aside from the fact that the Nets aren't so hot on Radman. I'd hate to lose Farmar, but Kidd could make a large immediate impact. I'd do the deal as currently constructed. The presence of Javaris Crittenden makes it a lot easier to say yes to it, though.

Exactly. The West is 10 deep in good teams; somebody's getting screwed. I just think it's less and less likely right now. You heard any of the Kidd trade rumors?

This is wrong. While I don't think the Lakers have a serious chance to win a title this year or make the NBA finals, they're absolutely competitive this year in the West and I will be ticked, barring injury like last year, if they don't win a playoff series. This team was 23-11 last year at one point and was doing fine for a little while even after Lamar Odom got hurt. Even when he came back he was never completely healthy. They are a much better team this year with Bynum playing more minutes (and subsequently, Kwame Brown playing less before he got hurt) and Jordan Farmar playing instead of Smush Parker. This team has a win at Phoenix (by 21 points), vs. Utah, at Houston, vs. Detroit, at Indiana (by 20 points), home and road wins vs Denver, a win vs. Golden State, and a win vs. San Antonio (albeit without Duncan but it's still a win). They're 17-10 while playing one of the tougher schedules in the league. They also have the third best point differential in the West at +5.0 (behind Phoenix at +5.2 and San Antonio at +6.7). Only Detroit at +9.1 and Boston at +13.9 have better differentials in the East. Hollinger has them at No. 3 overall behind Boston and Detroit (which I'll admit is a higher than they should be) and Sagarin has them at No. 7 overall and No. 4 in the West (behind Phoenix, SA, and Dallas). Right now the Lakers are tied for the No. 5 seed in the West and would face either Dallas or Denver in the first round. I know they would be Denver in a 7 game series and think they could beat Dallas as well. I also think they could give Phoenix a tough series and definitely could win it if they play their best. San Antonio, not so much as long as they have Duncan healthy. If they don't have Duncan, that becomes a series the Lakers can win. I really believe that the Lakers, if healthy, are the third best team in the West. Yeah, I read that and was blown away by how wrong it was. To say they have no chance is to have ignored everything they've done this year through 1/3 of the season. And the only trade talk I'm hearing around the Lakers now is possibly packaging Farmar, a second player, and pick(s) for Jason Kidd. In any case, the Lakers a) were already a much better team than their record from last year showed, and b) are aleady significantly improved just from the development of Bynum and Farmar and the absence of Smush Parker. As for Kobe's attitude toward the team, I think he really likes hs team as it stands, but he's still perturbed toward management for essentially deceiving him. Continued winning will make a huge difference to that end, and with the schedule for this week (Phoenix, Utah, Boston) they'll certainly be tested. The only teams in the West I would say are probably better than the Lakers are San Antonio, Phoenix, and possibly Dallas. LA has pretty much played right with Houston and Utah the last two seasons, and they're better now than they've been since then. They're better than Denver and close to New Orleans. Portland may be the X-factor. In any case, I could easily see the Lakers finishing with a 3/4 seed, but also with a 6/7 seed.

How else are you going to grade a player, especially at the amatuer levels? I think it would make sense to stop pretending those are the 5 tools that matter, and implying they are of equal value. But one thing I've never understood is how somebody can be described as having the tool of being able to hit for average. I'm assuming that's just a matter of having hit for a high average in his career, but that's not scouting, that's looking at results. The hitting for power tool is self explanatory, you can see when a guy hits the ball he hits it far. Speed is easy. So's the arm. Defense is subjective, but I assume it's more or less watching a guy play defense and judging how good you think he is at it. Presumably, all those things pretty much translate, except for hitting for average. Anyway, how else could you grade a player? I don't know, but there has to be a better way. maybe by tweaking what is thought of as a "tool"? idk.. speed, defense, arm, power, and jersey cubs fan?

I'm currently writing a rap to say on air on the 27th so I can win free tickets to the Cotton Bowl.

This thread needs more Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis.

the strikeout argument always gets convoluted because the people who are discussing it are never talking about the same thing.

they both have japanese ties, who knows if they speak the language at all nihongo o hanashimasen

Maan, Bush's comments are so embarassing. More pregnant pauses and uhs than...well, than a typical Bush speech.

addendum: Jordan Farmar is also going to be really freaking good. Farmar, Bynum, and Bryant are the most important players on the Lakers.

I was happy that they didn't trade him for Jason Kidd at the deadline last year. 11 points and 11 boards in the first half so far tonight. So was I. I thought that trade proposal sounded terrible. Kidd is nice and all, but he's not going to help the interior defense, and he's not a shooter. And looking at what they have at the point in Farmar and Fisher right now, I'd say they're much, much better off.

Andrew Bynum is going to be really freaking good.

"Daddy, why are you a cheater?" "I'm not, that report is full of lies!" "Ok. Well...On a related note, why did you throw a shattered bat at Mike Piazza that time?" "Go to your room" That's how I envision that going. That'd work a little better if the original poster wasn't most likely talking about Koby, his 20 year old son playing in the Astros minor league system.

Arkansas put it on UT-San Antonio tonight, 67-42. Patrick Beverley had 10 points and 13(!!!) rebounds. Patrick Beverley is a 6'1" guard on a team that has six players 6'8" and up.

If the O's are getting Bailey in a package deal in return for Bedard, I'd think Bailey would be the focal point of that package. Why would they then send Bailey back to us because we're giving them Pie? We're not the only ones that know Bailey > Pie. Andy MacPhail

Kung Fu is China. Karate is Japan. [-X So are kendo, kobujutsu, aikido, ninjutsu, iaido, etc. Don't pidgeonhole him. ;)

I sure am glad I have you people around to tell me what strangers are thinking, because I sure can't do that.

1. Trade Marquis for Chavez 2. Release Chavez

Honestly, I'd probably rather have Petrino over Tuberville, who was supposedly Arkansas's #1 candidate. So would I, but Tuberville is an Arkansas guy, so he had that going for him.

We've been getting rumors of interest from Petino for a while, but there's been a little difficulty which I guess left room to pursue other coaches. This is absolutely the best case scenario for the program. Getting Petrino is huge. Press conference is tonight, which is a good idea seeing how the last few offers have gone. :P

How are people just now discovering Chocolate Rain? Especially when dude has been on TV off that and then this happened:

kamakazi :lol: