do you guys think that in 2014 LeBron will really head to LA? That seems the forgone conclusion among the NBA literati.

I don;t know. If Wade is on a down-slope, and if the Heat cannot get someone else to team up with LeBronsky, would he really slap the champion Heat aside and head to the wasteland of LA?

that is very interesting, I didn't know shaq was living in Houston. I didn't particularly know where exactly shaq was living, but I didn't figure for Houston. By the way, in his career Shaq has earned over $250,000,000 (and that is just NBA salary alone, not including play-off/Finals bonuses, endorsements, and publicity events). I dare say he could live wherever he feels like it ;)


No. I been telling all my fellow LA Laker folks that Lebron will most definitely stay with the Heat for three reasons.

(a) He already got enough shit for leaving Cleveland, even though less than 30 players in the the history of the NBA have played on a single team for their entire career, so he doesn't want to get shit on again or have anyone argue against his legacy.

(b) Miami is quite literally LA East, with the parties, the money, the endless parades of gorgeous women, nice cars, great weather, a lot of brown skinned folks. Yeah, Miami= LA 0.875. That an technically Miami is a small-market town, less press, less publicity, less television market so its the best of both worlds for Lebron, he gets the small-market that he enjoyed in Cleveland while enjoying the big-time LA/NYC vibe.

(c) Miami Heat is run by Pat Riley, and Pat Riley is perhaps the most prolific NBA coach/manager NOT named Phil Jackson. In other words, he has no reason to leave. With Lebron on the team and Pat Riley wheeling and dealing in the front office, Miami will continue to attract top-rate talent and glue guys at a low cost (i.e. like the 1990s Bulls and 2000s Lakers), so if Lebron wants to keep playing on truly contending teams, Miami has as great a shot to keep that caliber of roster as any other team in the NBA.

LA will no doubt grab 2 or 3 other headline names, and 3-5 great role players, and 2 or 3 great draft picks, and in 2014-15 rise back up towards the top-5. This is LA basketball 101.

Besides, WADE IS FINE! Had the dude NOT BEEN ROBBED BY THE REFS and had his season average of six freethrows per game instead of JUST TWO (is average in the Finals) he would have had 22ppg and we wouldn't even remotely be suggesting the demise of Dwyane Wade. Now, if that ninja doesn't learn to age like wine and develop a great jump shot (like Jordan and Kobe did) he won't last at the top-tier for more than 2 more years, but if he does, expect wade to be a factor for five more years at least. The guy isn't even 32 years old yet, and Steve Nash is the starting PG at 39, Jason Kidd played 82 games at 40, and Tim Duncan looked 27 (at 37) in the Finals.

I have a friend who is a manager at one of Houston's largest aquarium and fish businesses and they are always installing tanks in NBA player's homes.

Nick Van Exel
Dream
Shaq
Ron Artest
Robert Horry
Sean Elliot
Marcus Camby

Bobby Sura
Yao Ming splits time
Steve Francis and Cutino Mobley split time
Rashard Lewis
Sam Cassell
Penny Hardaway
Clyde Drexler
Damon Jones
Shawn Kemp splits time
John Lucas
Robert Reid
Alan Level

First and foremost, you can't believe the "forgone conclusions" coming out of LA......it's all crap! Could LeBron choose LA - sure, but it has NOTHING to do with anything taking place now.

Many are already predicting (including Vegas) that the Miami Heat are the favorite to win another championship in 2014. If this happens, LeBron will be in a unique position to win a 4th championship in a row......something Kobe nor Jordan could accomplish when that rare opportunity was before them.
Again, IF that opportunity presented itself, I don't see LeBron walking away from it.

So lets say Miami loses in or fails to make the NBA Finals. Based on all the clamoring by SuchFrines about the Lakers being this and that and the "built in draw" other players supposedly crave, why would LeBron want to follow in someone else's shoes??? If LeBron wants to "walk on water," he will go win one in New York.

Lebron will NOT win a fourth championship in a row, if only because it will take FIVE consecutive Finals appearances, which is even more than Magic could muster when the Lakers went to 9 Finals in 11 years. However, a three-pete is so damned likely (Wade and Bosh will be healthy, Birdman will find his groove, we got at least another solid year from the no-stats All-Star Shane Battier, Ray Allen turned back the clock this year..) so as to say that many people will probably NOT watch the NBA next year ;)

As to Lakers, they will most certainly NOT get Lebron but they surely WILL snag up 2 or 3 top-tier players AND 3-5 great role players and more than likely 2 great draft picks. After all, their the fucking Lakers!

Notice Roy Hibbert was THE WORST SHOOTER IN THE PAINT THIS SEASON, that supposedly great center ;) HAHA.. "Roy Hibbert"

I was trying to tell all the haters to chill in that Pacers series, but they were too foolish to look into season stats to see that Big Roy ain't really that great (12 ppg, 8rpg for a 7'2" ???)

Imagine these two on a team together.


I think I just ejaculated.

wouldn't have worked. MJ was a ball hog shooter like Kobe (hence where Kobe learned that shit) and Hakeen was WAY to built on the fundamentals of the game, they would have clashed to the point of disaster. Hakeem's skill was handling the ball on the block with his phenomenal footwork, whereas MJ's skill was handling the ball at the elbows and either driving or opening up a mid-range jumper. Notice the Bulls never had a truly gifted big, and never relied on a big to win it all.

According to what I have read, in 1984, the Blazers offered Drexler and the 2nd pick in 1st round to Houston for Ralph Sampson. Hakeem says that could have had Drexler, Jordan, and Dream all on the same team. Houston Rockets woudl have had 1st pick and 2nd pick. (Dream, Jordan).

insanity what if...

You don;t think Jordan would have cream-dreamed playing far less hard D? he never had a reliable 1 to hold the paint.

(Dream talking about his introduction to B-Ball)
At the national stadium, the handball court is next to the basketball court. Every time the basketball coach would see me, he would tell me, “Handball is not your sport. Basketball is your sport.” The coach, Coach Ganiu, tried to get me onto the basketball court for a long time. When he finally did, the team was practicing. He called the assistant coaches and the rest of the team to one side of the court, and he called a point guard and me to the other side. He gave me the concept of my position [center] in basketball, of how important it is. It was unbelievable the way he described my role—I clearly saw myself doing it. He said, “This is the paint—you know, it’s painted red, because that’s blood. It’s very physical in there. And you, in your position, rule that lane. You rule the court. You rule the middle.” He gave me this concept of domination: Dominate the middle, dominate the paint, you know? Anything that’s in the paint, you’re dunking it on offense. You don’t think layup or any other shot. When you get a ball in the paint, there’s no different thought: You go in for a dunk. ES: That explains the Phi Slama Jama mentality at the University of Houston—you were already a dunking machine.
HO: Exactly. When you dunk on people, they start getting out of your way. And on defense, the concept Coach Ganiu gave me was the same: Anything that comes in, you block it. He told me to come back for two more practices. And during those he would stop everything if I didn’t get the ball. He would tell all the players on the team, “Anytime you see my big man run the floor, you have to give him the ball.”
ES: You were literally the center of everything.
HO: It was a privilege. I played the most important position on the team.







Dream tried to impart that "center is primal" mentality to yao. Yao was too nice. He was not made to demand anything. Yao could have been killin people on the court. 7'5" with a soft shooting touch? damn....

When I was ready for my turn and got in there, they immediately saw that I owned the middle, that I was a shot blocker. A shot blocker is like the police. Imagine you’re driving and you see a police car; you slow down. When the shot blocker is in the lane, it’s a different game. After two blocks, they’re going to change their shots. They know immediately that they can’t go through the middle. The way I play the game, they know that they have to be legitimate to score. If they’re not legitimate, they’ll be rejected.- Olajuwon

today's centers do not seem to have that mentality. that is why people loved an aging Mutumbo, even though his skills had diminished. he would HIT YOU

ES: You still like watching basketball?
HO: Except for the playoffs, I cannot watch a whole game now. Every time I watch it, I see people take bad shots. I see a lot of fundamental mistakes. These are pros. I mean, when you get to the pro level, your decision-making should be better. Your basketball IQ should be higher.





Dream always tells it like it is.

Rob - the info you have about the Portland trade is fact!

This is happening tomorrow

The Rockets’ deal to add Dwight Howard is not quite official, but they could not wait to show him off.

The Rockets announced a “fan rally” for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Root Memorial Square Park across from Toyota Center to make a major announcement. They did not specifically mention Dwight Howard in announcing the event, but the plan is to welcome him to a club of Rockets big men.

His predecessors – Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon and Yao Ming – will all attend the event. It is free and open to the public.

The Rockets had been unable to sign Howard until other transactions were completed. Their trade of Royce White to the Philadelphia 76ers had been held up while the Sixers completed their trade of Jrue Holiday to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans, however, announced a press conference for Friday evening, indicating that deal would be completed.

With that out of the way, the deal of White to open cap space could be made official, following by the signing of draft pick Isaiah Canaan, the remaining steps before the Rockets could sign Howard.

The Rockets will then be able to sign free agents Francisco Garcia, Reggie Williams and Omri Casspi.

But first, they planned a downtown celebration.

Hahaha.. just like I said, the Dream relies too much on fundamentals to play with MJ, which is why Hakeem taught this art to Lebron and taught him to shoot smart rather then simply to force shots on his athleticism. THAT is something Jordan would never have been able to accept in the long run. Fundamentals weren't Jordan's specialty..


Nope. They never had a reliable big in the paint because Jordan's style was a preview of the Small-Ball which has steam-rolled the Heat into 2 Championships, a 27 game win streak, and three consecutive Finals appearances.

Jordan's style would clash with a big, a big dude would just clog the lane for his drives and cuts to the basket. Further, it negates the power of Jordan's mid-range jumpers. Again, Dream wouldn't have liked it either, because he wouldn't have gotten nearly enough touches. Rodman thrived on the Bulls because he could care less about scoring, but Dream was a scorer, not just a bulk defender. It is interesting to me how the Bulls won 6 championships without relying on a powerful big in the paint, and yet conversely the Lakers with Phil Jackson ONLY won their five championships on the back of Shaq/Odom/Pau/Bynum dominating under the basket ;)

"I gave Michael [Jordan] the number for my bookie, and told him to be careful, but he never listened to me unless it had something to do with the triangle offense. That's why they killed his daddy." - Phil Jackson

That is just not fair. In fact, one of the biggest tragedies of Michael Jordan is that in all the hype and love for his six championships, people rarely talk about or even remember that his father was murdered. Its not a joking matter. It was a seriously horrible tragedy, one which should never be overlooked. Who knows what got his dad killed, but we should all pause and reflect on it. Even if just his dad had died of old age during those Championship runs would have been sad enough, but murdered? Shit was sad yo :(

nothing is fair in comedy

There has always been a very vocal undercurrent of claims that Jordan took his 2 year sabbatical because of a gambling suspension by the commish, but that it was treated as a "retirement" out of deference to the biggest NBA star.

There has also never been any closure on that Jordan father case, no leads, no anything. That usually speaks about a mob hit. organized crime can pay to have cases "forgotten."

After Kevin Garnett threw a ball into the crowd out of frustration and was ejected. They showed footage of the man that got hit by the ball being taken away in a stretcher and his daughter was crying. Charles Barkley commented that players take passes to the face all the time. He topped it off by saying: "You know why that little girl's crying? It's because she's thinking 'my daddy's a wussy'".

 

For as BIG as Hakeem played, he is small in the land of Giants:

Coach Kevin Mc Hale - it's my job to make Howard succeed: http://blog.chron.com/ultimaterocket...pid=sportshcat

Sure better be somebody's job, because if Howard doesn't find himself in Contending for a Championship in the next two years he will be another Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul. A fantastic season player, a dud in the playoffs. I got no beef with Dwight, I sincerely wish him well, and even before he came to LA I liked the guy, but his last year in Orlando and this one here in LA has put a bad taste in my mouth like Carmelo in New York. I hope he doesn't harm the Rockets, I actually like them and have been rooting on them for years as a counterbalance so I can hate on Dallas and San Antonio ;)

Dream was always more like 6'10" than 7' he was always listed at 7' for publicity purposes.

and he still could block anyone anytime.

Wear the hair: http://youtu.be/ONNlHlF_4Zo


Great pics from the D12 presser in Houston Saturday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dskillz...7634640116232/

Here is what a little kid from H-town has to say bout Shaq

http://youtu.be/UQqO2-s1cJ0

Houston Rockets fans always show up, even in the 100 degree heat, when a new piece is added to the puzzle.

HaHaHaHaHaHa!!!! The best part of Dwight leaving and Kobe's injury is that LA sports' writers quite literally don't have any idea what to say, think, or write. They are falling back on empty traditional "sports' writers" analyses which simply DO NOT work when analyzing the LA Lakers.

EVERY sports' writer I've read from across the country has written articles saying that essentially tanking is the most successful NBA strategy to build a team. Tank. Lose big and then win big in the draft. That only works for small and mid-market teams. These teams get big draft picks, develop them for two or three years, then trade up for some veterans. That trade up process is how the big dog teams like the Lakers pick up new talent. So when Plaschke says the Lakers should tank for the draft, or have no hopes for the playoffs, or should fire the coach, that is all bullshit, lame, know-nothing analysis. Rather, this is classic Lakers basketball scenario, where the team found itself in 1997, in 2005, and in 2007. Here we are again. Notice just after all those times the Lakers quickly bounced back and won a title within 2-3 years ;)

So the Lakers will not tank, they will continue to play their ass off, and the goal is to make the playoffs, not to tank. In LA, we make the playoffs every year, it is our bread and butter. Its how our franchise pays the bills, NBA teams make BIG money in the playoffs. Further, it keeps our rep for attracting trades and free-agents. When you come to the Lakers, you KNOW you are going to make the playoffs. We've missed the playoffs only FOUR times in the past FIFTY years.

So LA will be fine. Lakers may even surprisingly have MORE wins than last season, because ALL our guys missed 20-30 games on injuries last year, so just being healthy will increase our wins. We will make the playoffs, probably be a one and done team, but it will tell other players out there on the market and teams interested in trades that LA Lakers are still real deal.

To recap. Others team? Tank, build in the draft, become better. This is how the Thunder made it big. How the Rockets developed enough money and young talent to attract Lin-Harden-Howard over there. What the Suns or the Magic are gambling on. How the Cavs become relevant every 5-7 years since 1982. HOWEVER. THAT is not Lakers basketball. We win. We win consistently. And we attract the best talent because we win, and because we can afford to pay our players. So let Dwight go. We will not tank. We are NOT the Celtics. Lakers WILL make the playoffs, and while they won't nab Lebron, they will splash it big in the 2014 offseason..

Y'all remember the "Better Dead Than Red" Grateful Dead sponsored Lithuanian Men's National team in the Olympic?

That was Bill Walton's doing. He is buddies with the Dead and organized the whole thing.

Who wasn't/isn't friends with the Dead man?

<--- This guy!

Well, you sir, are just missing out!