DBAHO

Looks like Gareth Barry is going to be fit for England, which is a big boost to their chances, he's Capello's favorite holding midfielder in the 4-2-3-1 formation that he uses.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 26, 2010 -> 03:10 PM) Meh. The Suns are merely delaying the inevitable. I don't see them winning in LA. And their bench and that zone they're playing won't be nearly as effective on the road. PHX has at least beein in touch with the Lakers when they've played away. Not saying they'll win the series, but they've been close enough to at least make things interesting, especially with Bynum's knee the way it is, and Odom not reproducing his game 1 form. Lakers in 7 for mine still though.

IF PHX's bench keep outperforming the Lakers bench like they did tonight, that series is going to go right down to the wire.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 26, 2010 -> 11:17 AM) Out of curiousity did any of you see the Leshan Budda? I saw a special on it the other day on NatGeo. I had never heard of it before, and it seems like it would be amazing. No I didn't unfortunately, I was mainly based out of Nanjing for 5 weeks with short trips (for a few days) made to Shanghai and Beijing in b/w.

What was the best part about China wite? I was in Shanghai and Beijing about 10 years ago, but I imagine it's probably changed quite a bit since I was there last.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 26, 2010 -> 12:41 AM) Palmer's wife died in season 3. Are you sure you're not crossing seasons up? Season 2 was the first nuclear bomb plot combined with the cabinet-directed Coup against Palmer. Dennis Hopper...I really wasn't impressed with his eastern-European persona. Season 4 was decent but blah. Season 5 was a ride, between Palmer being shot and the whole deal with Logan, but I think season 5 really hurt them in that they killed off so many of their good actors/actresses/characters in that first episode that they spent the next couple years trying to find pieces that they could assemble to make a working cast. I probably am. For some reason I thought Palmer's wife passed in season 2 instead of season 3 like you said. Hopper's been my favorite villian on the show besides Logan, and there's been some bad ones over the seasons. Season 6 really sucked because they repeated some of the things they did in previous seasons (like the cabinet Coup), some of the storylines you couldn't really believe (Palmer's brother becoming president all of a sudden for example) and some of the characters were just terrible.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 26, 2010 -> 12:33 AM) Im not saying his job is in jeopardy, im saying he should start worrying about his teams current state rather than opining on the state of jobs elsewhere. I dont remember Phil Jackson commenting much on other jobs when the Bulls were in the playoffs/finals. I've got no doubt he would have been worried about how the Magic would have been playing. Jackson's history at dealing with the media, cheap shots at the refs etc. pretty much show he's not a guy who's going to stand up for other coaches in the league publicly. I think because obviously SVG got the rug pulled out from under him by Pat Riley, when he was doing a pretty decent job to say the least, he doesn't want the same sort of thing happening again to other coaches. I mean in what other sports league could you think of, where a guy who in the last 2 season has won at least 120 of 160 regular season games has gotten fired? It just doesn't happen that often at all.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 26, 2010 -> 12:26 AM) I still thought season 2 topped the seasons around it. That's interesting, because I mean there's always going to be different opinions about who was better etc. To me Season 1 just had great actors for the characters etc. (Hopper as Drazen for instance), and I'll never forget Elisha Cuthbert early on wearing that red top. I thought Season 2 became too confusing in the end (from what I can remember of it) with the different enemies etc. Killing Palmer's wife also, ended taking away one of the best characters on the show also. I thought Season 3 had a LOT of potential early on, but when the 1st 12 hours or so basically counted for nothing, that ruined a lot of momentum it had going for it. Season 4 and Season 5 were pretty meh I guess.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 26, 2010 -> 12:15 AM) If the Lakers think Shaw is their long-term answer at coach, and they think they might risk losing him if they waited another season (see: Kurt Rambis), and they think they might save themselves a substantial chunk of cash if they let Jackson walk, then I think it sorta does make sense for them. I mean it all depends on how much drop-off do the Lakers think going from Jackson to Shaw next season would make. And I think with Minnesota's struggles this season, it shows that unless you have good veteran players who are well skilled offensively, it's very hard to be successful early on with the triangle offense, so that could make teams shy away from Shaw. Sounds as if Casey's going to get the Atlanta job, Thibodeau's become the big favourite for the Hornets job (that's my sleeper team for next season instantly if that's the case) and with Collins taking the Philly job, that leaves Chicago, Cleveland, the Clippers, New Jersey and potentially Golden State if new owners come in, as the remaining available head coach positions.

I'm so annoyed that down here we're bout 4-5 episodes behind on 24, but at least they are showing the LOST finale tomorrow, even though I've already downloaded all of Season 6. 24 has never been as good as it was in the 1st season obviously (Season 6 was the death of the franchise IMO), but the main gripe I have about this season was of the lack of an enemy that you really hate. They waited too long to bring Charles Logan back IMO.

Hope the upcoming wedding goes all well for you Jason. Had a swine flu shot today for my upcoming move to London. Probably wouldn't have gotten one usually, but I was travelling around this time last year when it all went haywire (and I had friends who had to cancel trips to Tijuana, Cabo etc.) so I don't want to take anymore chances this time around either.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2010 -> 11:43 PM) The Lakers have all but said that he will have to take a pay cut to come back. Seems like they're pretty much ready for Brian Shaw to take over if that's the case. With what Jackson has accomplished, and now probably going to 3 straight NBA finals series, I don't think he deserves to be taking a pay-cut.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 26, 2010 -> 12:05 AM) Stan Van Gundy sure has a lot to say about other coaching situations when his team was --> Well he's pretty much a guy who's going to stand up for other coaches, and I applaud that especially when so many sports franchises are looking for the quick fix, and continuity can often be the best thing for the long - term. And SVG's job is probably one of the most safest in the NBA today. If we got swept, that was all on the players for the lack of effort and execution e.g Vince Carter.

1 thing that probably appeals to Jackson more than anything, is that Rose is probably the perfect type of PG for his triangle offense, because he's certainly tall enough at 6'3, can create his own shot if need be, and is a pretty good passer although this will probably only get better going forward. That said, there's no way I can see him leaving the Lakers unless he gets more money (and I mean quite a bit more) from either Cleveland or Chicago.

Or a worse version of Mike Knox.

It all depends on the Nelson / Rondo matchup. Nelson played badly 1st 3 games, and was pretty good tonight. Vice versa for Rondo. And Vince Carter has simply got to do better than 1 for 9 from the field. Redick played a good 29 minutes tonight, and he's a player we should use more often if Nelson is penetrating like he was tonight, because Redick's far more reliable from the perimeter and is crafty enough to create his own shot off the pick and roll. Murcie put it best when he said it's all on the Magic shooters to regain their touch. Mickael Pietrus for example who was clutch in the 1st 2 series, and has done nothing in these 1st 4 games, and he's capable of much more.

Tom Hicks has basically been screwed by the Credit Crisis. Him and George Gillett bought Liverpool (a big 4 EPL team) 3-4 years ago and borrowed a lot of money to do so, and now they are desperately trying to sell that as well. Financial mismanagement as it's best.

Nice to see some heart and effort tonight, although I thought towards the end of the 4th Q, we were going to find someway to lose it. We won simply because we kept Rondo in check and Nelson played much more aggresive, turned the corner and didn't settle for long jumpers until the end when we became stagnant. I don't think we can do that for another 3 games though and for Rondo to play so badly again. And SVG needs to start Redick over VC, VC's become a liability when he's this poor on offense. At least Lewis played much better.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2010 -> 02:04 AM) I got the impression he was at an advanced level, but very few people seemed to think he was the next Jeff Bagwell. More like an "average/replacement" level 1b who could keep the spot warm for a couple years if things went well. Yeah I guess when I meant advanced, I meant he was well pretty major league ready or close to it. He's not going to be a major impact guy obviously, although he might have a chance in Arizona in the long - term in that ballpark, but he'd need Laroche to leave also.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 25, 2010 -> 01:57 AM) I'd hate to be the team trading for Dampier. Dampier's contract isn't guaranteed, so you can waive him and it doesn't count against the salary cap. If you're a team desperate to clear salary like Wasington was with the Jamison trade, then it makes sense I guess, or you are trying to clear cap room to sign FA's.

Allen was pretty advanced for a prospect, although Pena's got pretty damn good stuff for a reliever. But KW's usually the guy trading a prospect to get a reliever, not the other way round.

And with all of the uncertainty going into the next off-season for 2011 with the labor agreement etc., any superstar's going to opt out and try to get a max long - term deal now for more money while they can. I don't think Dirk leaves Dallas though. If anything, they'll do a sign and trade with Dampier + something to get another star to play alongside Dirk.

No real surprise; My guess is, Brown ends up back at Indiana eventually.

Dirk's opting out now also FWIW. Would Bulls fans rather have Dirk instead of Bosh to join Lebron?

That's something KW may look at, but considering where the team is now and Fielder's likely to bolt as soon as he hits FA for the largest deal, I would rather just hang onto our good spects and try to develop em.