Jordan4life_2007

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 11:41 AM) ...or the fact that he doesn't get his own shot. He's not a "superstar" by NBA standards. Is he an All-Star? Sure. Is he a star? Sure. However, you have to be exceedingly good at at least one thing to even be considered an NBA Superstar. He shoots less than 50%, can't create his own shot, doesn't snag 10 boards a game, and his blocks are sporadic at best. He's very, very good, but NBA superstar he is not... regardless of where he calls home. I'd imagine if that were criteria for making a superstar list, two players from Oklahoma City wouldn't be considered either. He can't get his own shot? What are you talking about? His low-post game is as polished as any big outside of maybe Gasol.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) Aldridge isn't a superstar. I tend to think he's a top 20 player. He might be top 5 among big men, but even then, you have Howard, Love, Gasol, Bosh, Randolph, Lopez, and Bynum as competition. Just thinking about it, he'd probably rank 4th or 5th in that list of guys. Howard is clearly #1. That's not up for debate. Is Love really 6'10? He doesn't look it. But yeah, I'd take him over Aldridge. Brook Lopez? No way. Until I see Bynum do it for a full season, I can't go with him. Gasol is older and has played like a b**** going back to last year. Bosh? I expected the scoring to be down. But there's no reason he shouldn't be rebounding more. Zach Randolph is just strange. He's fat and not particularly athletic. But he gets the job done.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 11:04 AM) Damn, well he's not a pot-stirrer then...just a moron. The thing is I'm a big fan of Westbrook as well (he still has a lot to figure out), but to call him top 7...and better than Kevin f***ing Durant...oye. He's been consistent in his belief that all Kevin does is score and that's it. He thinks Westbrook is the more "impactful" player and could come close to leading the league in scoring if he had free reign like Rose does. I don't agree at all. I'm just saying he's thought this for a while now. Just read his chats.

In my semi-defense of Ric Bucher, he's always LOVED Russell Westbrook. He's obsessed with the guy. This goes back to at least 2010. He didn't just throw him in his top 10 to make everybody mad.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 10:09 AM) Mike D'Antoni seems to be a good candidate to get launched this season, no? If they don't show considerable improvement between now and the end of the season, yes, he should be. Amare has missed a couple games and looked like crap in a couple others. But they've gotten torched by the likes of the Raptors, Bobcats and Kings. Unacceptable. In this awful conference, they should be no worse than a 4-seed with at least one playoff series win.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 09:08 AM) In what world is Dirk not thought of as a big man? The guy is 7 foot tall and has made a living in the post; even if it's an extended post. Dirk has the skill-set of a wing. He's nothing like the prototypical big man. Even by today's standards. He's one of the greatest players ever. I obviously wasn't referring to him when I said Howard is the only big I'd clearly rank over Aldridge.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 08:41 AM) I don't know where to begin. But he's a borderline top 20 player, and calling a player who has never made an all star team "damn close to a superstar" is a mistake. I don't know about you, but I would say superstars are should be the top 10 best and most recognized players in the league. Even then, there is a big drop in talent after the top 10-12 players in the league, no doubt about it. It's funny that 80% of the people at Realgm ranked Dirk as a top 3 player in the league after his performance in the playoffs last season. I know it's a shortened season, and the Mavs are saving him for a playoff run, and he might have lost a step, but he didn't fall behind Aldridge after just 10 games in the season. I also think that guys like Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, a healthy Andrew Bynum, a healthy Zach Randolph, have something to say about that. And hello Amare? We know what Bosh is capable of as the first option in Toronto. His stats has fallen because he has to play with two actual superstars, but if you put Aldridge on the Heat, he wouldn't perform better than the 20 and 8 Bosh is giving them right now. Aldridge should've been an all-star last year and should be a shoe-in to make it this year. He's elevated his game considerably the last couple years. Yes, they're only a handful of "superstars" in the league. Then you've got the next tier. I think Aldridge is in that tier. And the dude just turned 26. He could get better. As far as big men go, yeah, I should've been more clear. A "big" man today is not the same as 15 years ago. Dirk is an outlier. He's one of the most unique talents to ever play the game. I don't think of him as a "big" man. I was thinking more along the lines of 6'10 and up guys. And I don't look at Kevin Durant as a "big" either. Just in case you wanted to throw him out there.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 08:11 AM) Wow Wow what? I don't think he's a superstar. But he's unquestionably a top 15ish player in the league right now. Other than Howard, there isn't a big man in the game I'd rank over him.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 07:16 AM) The same thing can be said about the 76ers. The Sixers don't even have an all-star. They're a nice story right now. Doug Collins has done a nice job over there. But they're overachieving big time right now.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 12:42 AM) I should point out that I think very lowly of the Knicks and the Magic as I believe Howard will check out (tonight's foul-o-rama aside) while the Nuggets and Trail Blazers are built like the Bulls; deep team, just they have no superstar. If LaMarcus Aldridge is not a superstar, he's damn close. That Blazers team is no joke. Put them in the east and they're at worse the third best team and could give the Bulls or Heat a ton of problems in a playoff series with all their length/athleticism. Denver obviously doesn't have a superstar. They just out-depth you to death. I've gained a lot of respect for George Karl the last few years. He's a really good coach.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 11:19 PM) It's not surprising. Almost anyone could have told you that each name you mentioned would turn out to be a bad contract even before the signings. Not the I-hate-prospects because most of them bust guys.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 10:52 PM) Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando, and New York are all on the same level as Portland, Denver, LAC, LAL and SAS if you ask me. This has nothing to do with the Bulls. You're crazy if you think the West is more than a hair stronger than the East. Sure the East has the worst teams, but who gives a s*** about the bottom feeders, the East have the two best teams as well. LMAO@any of those teams being on the level of the Lakers. And where's Dallas, you know, the defending champion?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:57 PM) 90% this, 10% Obama thing. I can see why some would be upset. As a darkie myself, I imagine he was just messing around. I've got Mexican friends and whenever we go out to get some quick grub they joke that I probably want to go to KFC or Popeyes. Because black people=fried chicken.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:50 PM) But Manu's not healthy... Fair enough. I hate Manu. I always draft him in fantasy and I always end up regretting it. He's so damn good when he's on the court.

QUOTE (striker @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:40 PM) @FarrellBall Hearing Nadir Mohamed pulled the plug on the Floyd deal as ownership wasn't willing to spend anymore money on payroll.. #Jays #FarrellBall That's interesting. Floyd certainly wouldn't have put much of a dent in their payroll. I have to imagine they're not willing to spend money AND give up talent for a guy that might improve them by one or two wins at best. They're just in the wrong division.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:24 PM) There's no way the Spurs are better. The Spurs won 61 games a season ago. With Manu healthy, I don't see the case for Orlando.

Well, Q gets it. I'm not about to devote another 20 posts to explain why I think west > east. It's not that hard to figure out.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:12 PM) Hell, with Dwight still in Orlando I don't think any team in the West outside of the Thunder is better than them. lmao. Lakers > Magic Mavs > Magic Spurs > Magic Blazers > Magic Clippers > Magic Nuggets/Magic could go either way. The Grizzles aren't healthy. But they would definitely have a case. There's a reason Dwight wants out. And it's not because he loves Jason Richardson. Spurs depending on if Manu is healthy. But he's always hurt. So might have to eliminate them.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 09:08 PM) Which teams from the West if moved to the East would you pick over the Heat or Bulls? Don't see how this is relevant when discussing the quality of the conference from top to bottom.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:54 PM) I'm agreeing with J4L. The east has powers in the Bulls and Heat, but the Hawks (before Horford going down), Celtics, Magic, 76ers, and Knicks had a punchers chance in hell of taking the Bulls or Heat down. Meanwhile, the west has one power in the Thunder, but the Lakers, Spurs, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Clippers, and Memphis before (Z-Bo going down) could have all taken them down. Also, if Dwight is traded to the West, then Noah becomes the East All-Star Starter. Maybe he'll get off his ass then. This is all I was saying. But me saying the east sucks = me taking credit away from the Bulls, I guess. The Wizards, Nets, Pistons, Cavs, Bobcats, Raptors and Bucks are all awful. The Celtics are relics and running on fumes. The Knicks have depth and defensive issues (the latter was something I expected to be better). The Magic have a severely flawed roster around Dwight. The Hawks just lost arguably their best player (Joe Johnson sucks). Pacers and Sixers are nice little surprises right now. But nobody expects anything from them in the long run. When you can pretty much predict the conference finals after two weeks that's pretty much a combination of the top two teams being really good and the rest of the conference being extremely average to pathetic.

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:13 PM) I think the strength is determined at the top. Which the West seriously lacks besides OKC. Last I checked, 4 of the last 5 champs came from the west. This isn't even arguable. The west is clearly better from top to bottom. This isn't meant for Bulls homers to converge together to make the conference look better than it is to make the Bulls look better. They're beating the awful teams they should beat. Just as they did last year. The east still sucks.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:04 PM) Mort pathetic than what? The west and their 1 team? west > east And it's not really all that close. The strength of a conference overall is determined by the 5-10 spots. Put anyone of the Spurs, Nuggets, Blazers or Clippers in the east and their win total exponentially rises.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 08:02 PM) Also, f*** Luke Scott. Signing him would have pissed me off more than anything else that's transpired in the past year and I might actually renounce the Sox while he was on the team. Please tell me your hate for Luke Scott isn't inspired by the Obama thing?

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 07:54 PM) That's what happens when you're an idiot. Also, Horford, Lopez injured, Chandler isn't doing too hot. Joakim actually has a chance to make the All-Star team. What. Just heard about Horford. The east is even more pathetic now.

I really like Iman Shumpert. I see multiple all-defensive team selections in his future. But he's NOT a PG. My goodness he shoots too damn much.