whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:34 AM) Miami with 4 players is better than the Bulls? If three of them are Lebron, Bosh, and Wade, then they clearly are. The key for them is finding (very) cheap role players that fit, because that's what they need to be better than the top few teams in the league.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:28 AM) How about "Lillibridge" why does every s***ty player that comes through town need to get a nickname? It also doesn't f***ing count if you're brainstorming nicknames, it needs to be an organic process that develops over time. Thinking up a "good one" for a player defeats the entire purpose. If it's any consolation, I only call him bridge because I'm afraid i'm going to spelle "Lillibridge" wrong every time I attempt to spell it.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:30 AM) The Bulls aren't any closer to a title than they were last season.. Boozer is a nice player and all, but they aint gettin to the finals anytime soon as teams like Orlando, Miami, and Boston are still better than them even without knowing where LeBron is going.. you might add Cleveland or New York to that list too, who knows until tonight.. This I agree with. In fact, assuming LeBron doesn't come here, they might actually be further away.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:29 AM) Who cares? That's not a sufficient answer if you're trying to win the title.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:26 AM) Say this with me people: Chris Bosh might be the Heat's THIRD best player. I repeat, THIRD best player. They will be the team to beat until 2016. It won't be close. And they play in the east, too? lol. Who's their fourth best player?

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:26 AM) Nah, ide definitely say its the people who are sour that the Bulls didn't get anything out of this offseason and don't want to see LeBron and Co. own the league for the foreseeable future.. If LeBron doesn't come here, where he goes is irrelevant to me because regardless of which city it is, the Bulls aren't winning anything for quite a while.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:18 AM) Why do people keep saying this? The Lakers struggled against a Boston team who NO ONE gave any credit to here, now all of the sudden its different? If Miami gets LeBron they will be the best team in the league next year.. anyone who disagrees is either a bitter Bulls fan or a moron.. Just because no one gave any credit to Boston doesn't make them a team that wasn't any good. The only "morons" are the people that think Miami is just going to coast to the next 5 titles if they get LeBron.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:16 AM) They are just taking it easy on him. He'll be playing on Friday. Jones has been having good at bats and is seeing the ball well, he just doesn't have the bat speed that he did 4 years ago. Which is why he shouldn't be in the major leagues. On a happier note, lets get a sweep today!

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:15 AM) Thunder just finalized the deal for Aldrich. He will be a major help inside defensively. Yeah I don't think he'll be able to score much at all in the NBA, but they won't need him to. I still think they are a defender short in there though, it's their one weakness.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:13 AM) Joel Anthony is a very good defender, he just won't add much offense. Same with Dooling at PG, he is a great defender, but won't need much on offense. As for the minutes, LeBron already averages 40 minutes a game for his career. Wade averages 38, and Bosh 37. These guys are going to have plenty of games where the back-ups will be able to finish out the games. Here is my expected roster IF LeBron joins the Heat. PG: Dooling SG: Wade SF: LeBron PF: Bosh C: Anthony Bench, Bell, Haslem, Chalmers, and the 2nd round picks. That's good enough. It's not good enough to beat the Lakers. Even the old farts in Boston will be tough if they don't have body parts fall off before the playoffs. QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:13 AM) OKC needs to drastically improve their frontcourt before they can be taken seriously as a legitimate contender. Ibaka/Krstic at center and the undersized Green at the 4 isn't going to cut it. It'd also help if Westbrook improved his shot selection. Yeah Green at the 4 is certainly problematic defensively.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 11:09 AM) Varnado can play defense in the NBA right now He's going to get his head ripped off if he doesn't live in the weight room for a while.

I think one of the two big points you made there is the minutes. I think the top 3 might have to play even more minutes than that for Miami, and they're all going to get fouled constantly because none of them are really jump shooters (even though they all can hit jump shots). The other is the issues they have inside on defense, and I'm not sure how they'll address those.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:57 AM) Pretty sure I havent heard ONE person on the new even say Durant's name this offseason when talking about the top players in the NBA. Which is a shame considering he's the 3rd best player in the league right now.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:52 AM) The Thunder will be a real threat this upcoming season and many after that. Durant doesnt show any signs of slowing down and they have a bunch of young talent. Couple of picks and they could really make a charge. I do however think that the Heat picked up a few good pieces in this last draft that are being overlooked. It seems like a lot of people have absolutely no idea how good they are, let alone will be. No matter where LeBron goes today and Carmelo goes eventually, OKC will end up with the Larry O'Brien trophy at least once in the coming years. I actually agree with you on some of the Heat draft pieces too. But 2nd round picks could certainly flame out, no matter how good they look on paper.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:47 AM) Anyone who says the "Miami Thrice" and crap players would win titles need only look at the 2003-2004 Lakers. 4 hall of famers on that team and they couldn't win. I think Miami will be a really good team with all three, obviously, but it's not guarantee that they'll win a bunch of rings. Well that's not a great comparison because Malone and Payton were old men then. But I think your overriding point is correct in that this isn't a video game. Having great players will get you a long way, but it doesn't guarantee a ring. Particularly when their cap hits limit what help you can get them. QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:49 AM) I don't think they'd be better than the Lakers with a healthy Bynum. That's because they wouldn't be. I'm still not convined they'd be better than the Thunder if OKC continues their rapid development.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:45 AM) I love how quietly Durant signed an extension. He's probably the best scorer in the game and nothing about it on ESPN.com front page. That's how adults handle things. It doesn't get much attention these days if you just act like a grown up though.

LeBron may legitimately be the most hated guy in sports, regardless of where he goes. The only way I think he could even somewhat quell it is by going back to Cleveland, and even that would only do so much. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:42 AM) Page 60 for me I just can't deal with looking at threads that long for some reason.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:36 AM) So, let's get this straight... His tax bills are going to Chicago. He supposedly traveled to Miami to meet with Riley. And his announcement tonight is broadcast from a New York suburb, 9 minutes from the Knicks' training facility. Sounds like he's playing everybody to build up drama for tonight's show. Yeah, with those things in mind, sounds like Cleveland makes the most sense. Oh, and welcome to page 300 of this thread.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 10:33 AM) "The Bridge"? Really? Haha I don't like Lillibomb.

Everybody seems to take either the side that Miami Thrice would win 5 or 6 rings, or that they wouldn't win any at all, and I disagree with both. When you have a team that basically pays it's entire salary cap number to three guys, and only two of them are superstars, one isn't even a top 10 players, it's not a lock you'll win every year. But when you have two of the top 4 players in the league and a guy who's between 11 and 15 together for 5 years or so, you'll be able to piece together the right cheap and mediocre players around them to win a ring or two. I don't think there are the right players out there though (people aren't going to just come to Miami for nothing with the CBA coming up) to put alongside the big three next year for me to pick them against the Lakers or Thunder (who I think are going to be legitimately awesome) in a 7 game series though, but they'd be the favorites in the east. Oh, and I agree on staying away from Twitter, which has proven itself to be even more useless than I thought in this process. I always thought the only thing Twitter was good for was information, but it appears the only thing it's actually good for is misinformation.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 5, 2010 -> 04:01 PM) Gardenhire Guillen and then some....Leyland. This post sums it up perfectly.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 08:52 AM) You keep hitting on this, but its just not the case. Other than Jones, who always does that, the team has quite clearly been doing the opposite for some time now. In the middle of the run of wins, they went games on end with no home runs and a ton of singles. And no one other than Jones appears to be overswinging. I think perhaps you are stuck in 2009. Agreed. I think you could argue the guy taking the hardest swings on the team other than Andruw right now is The Bridge, and he's raking and can do whatever he wants until he remembers he's bad and stops hitting, so it's fine.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jul 8, 2010 -> 12:54 AM) Lebron immediately forfeits any chance he had at being the greatest of all time if he signs with Miami. Yep, and it kills the entire east if he goes to Miami as well as the LeBron brand. The league has no idea how bad this would be for them. It makes even more teams irrelevant than already are, as well as diminishing one of it's top 2 players.

I wonder if the NBA realizes how much LeBron to Miami would hurt them.

They just keep finding a way. Quick turnaround tomorrow, might as well get a sweep and make it worth it.