NBA Friday (Monday) Wrapup *Updated Monday November 27th*

[Zoom]

Hey Indy, that was a good read!

I guess if it's ok with you, I will just have to put in my 2 cents on the following:

I think this is a very true statement. Evans is a guy that's never really found his niche and has never really figure out his game. You can already tell that he knows his role in LA. Leave to it Phil Jackson to get reel in a guy that is somewhat lost and give him an identity. Look for a good season from Evans.

You're right about this... even Evans said that he loves this new system in LA. The way the Lakers play, Evans will really be able to show off his athleticism and his defence and intensity/hustle will really be big reasons why he's going to get minutes backing up Kobe and playing at th SF spot.

And maybe I'm biased but my player of the week woulda gone to Lamar Odom. The first week of the regular season after a tough off-season with the death of his son... leading the team without three key players in Kobe, Mihm and Brown. The Lakers finish with a 2-0 record with wins against the Suns and Warriors. Odom averaging 28 ppg, 11 rpg and 7.5 apg for the week. Still, Dwight Howard is deserving of your award as you had justified.

And the Knicks as your team you will follow! Looking forward to that report! Personally, I think that they will surprise many people and get into the playoffs.

Love the Indy report but got one question. Saras is pretty old now, what parts of his game do you think he can improve?

[Drex]

I don't know where to post this, and it's probably spam, but...LeBron over Duncan in the 1st Just wow.

[volsey]

LeBron over Duncan in the 1st Just wow.

Shit son, just saw the replay, dang....

[Indy]

OK, if nobody has a problem with this, I'm going to do a weekly report on the NBA, and every friday I'll do a couple things.

1.) Player of the week
2.) Indiana Pacers report
3.) Report of 1 other team (I will watch every game of one team for one week and give a report on them for the season up to that point, but more specifically that week)
4.) Key matchups and previews for the upcoming week
5.) NLSC NBA quote of the week

I know this is a very early point of the season, and most teams have only played one game, but it will give you guys a nice feel for what this thread will be like.

This weeks player of the week is.....
Dwight Howard

The Bulls started the season on a high, but ended the week on a very low thanks to Dwight Howard. Dwight started off a season where he's really supposed to explode exactly the right way. 27 points 11 boards and 2 blocks on 75% shooting on the way to a 15 point route of Chicago. Howard was all over the place in this game, blocking shots, rebounding, and scoring in the low post. We already knew how good he was on the defensive side and rebounding, but if he can score like this all year the Magic are going to be an outstanding team.

Indiana Pacers Report

I don't miss any games, and I watch them all with the most emotion possible, so this thread will be a good measuring stick of how I'm feeling. In fact, each week I'll update my feelings towards the Pacers on a scale simlar to the Terror Alert color Codes. Here's how it will work.

Smooth Sailing- Everything is good, the team is doing great, I feel awesome.

Trucking On- Its a long year, and things aren't great right now, but I feel pretty good about what's happened so far and I'm optimistic.

Standstill- OK, we're in trouble, but we can still pull ourselves out, hope is not lost.

Deer in Headlights- Holy shit, I'm FUCKING FURIOUS!! We'd better turn this shit around pronto, or we'll find ourselves in the goddamn lottery!! FUCK!

Dead ass mutherfucker- Well, there's always next year. GODDAMN IT!

Right now we're at Smooth Sailing. We played a poor first half against Charlotte, but it just looked like it was nerves. We were just missing open shots, but it got turned around. There is a lot of pressure on these guys to have a good season, or a lot of the core guys will be gone, so they started out a bit queasy, nothing wrong with that. Sarunas has a lot of doubters coming in to this season but he did a good job to erase those doubts for now. When he was on the floor with Darrel Armstrong he looked fantastic. He played a very good game, and when he has freedom to play he does a good job, I'm a little bit higher on Sarunas then I was a week ago, but he needs to continue the progress, I'm not sold yet.

Darrell Armstrong might very well be the most important piece to this team. He is without question the leader and the president of this ballclub, I even saw him barking orders to Jermaine O'Neal. He will be the glue that holds these guys together, which is why I'm not worried about a distraction pulling this team apart. He may be equal to Rick Carlisle as far as power goes, these guys really listen to him. Not to mention the fact that he played a very good game, he knocked down 3 of 4 threes, and they were all big shots. He also played outstanding defense on Brevin Knight and Raymond Felton neither of which is an easy task.

I could go on and on, but I'm just going to leave at at that, the analysis of those two guys. There will be a lot more games to pick apart by next friday, hopefully I'll be in as good of a mood then too.

Chicago Bulls Report

The Bulls came out and moved the ball beautifully and mechanically took apart the defending Champion Miami Heat on Halloween. I was watching this game and all I could think about was how scary the Bulls could be this season if they played this well all year. Hinrich was the captain of it all, but really this game was won with a team effort. The thing that made the Bulls so good against Miami is that they exploited all of Miami's deficiencies on the defensive end. Miami is not particularly fast on that side of the ball, and all of the Bulls players were well aware of that thanks to very good preperation by Coach Skiles. None of the guys stopped moving once, they had a motion offense from the start of the game to the end and all that did was result in a lot of wide open shots, and the game was really won by early in the second quarter. The Bulls had a plan, they put it together perfectly, and that's how you beat the Heat. However, for as good as they were against Miami, they looked just as vulnerable against Orlando. I pointed out all offseason that they really hadn't improved their post defense, and that showed against the Magic. Dwight Howard ate up anyone who tried to guard him and showed an array of moves in the second half that really put the Bulls away. Jameer is going to be a very good player for Orlando too, and that one two punch will make them tough, but the Bulls still should have found a way to win. They looked tired from playing back to backs, but at this point in the season that's unacceptable. Ben Wallace looked like Ben Wallace does quite often when he is overmatched. He looked scared and weak. He is not a good post defender, and they got by against the Heat because Miami didn't go to Shaq enough, but it won't work often. The Bulls are going to run in to a lot of problems with Jermaine O'neal, Tim Duncan, Elton Brand etc. which is why they aren't a championship caliber team yet. If they had a guy like Carlos Boozer, they'd be my favorite to win it all, but unforunatley for them they don't, and they aren't.

Next weeks team: The New York Knicks.

Matchup of the Week

This week has some intriguing early season matchups but my favorite is on Wednesday November 8th. It brings the Mavericks to Staples to take on the Clippers. This is a possible Westeren Conference Finals preview, and I can't wait to see it. Sam Cassell showed he still has a lot in the tank against Denver, scoring 35, but he'll be facing a three-headed point guard monster in Dallas. Anthony Johnson was the best backup pointguard in the league with the Pacers, and now he's far and away the best 3rd string point guard in the league with Dallas. Sam I am will have to face Terry, Harris and Johnson which will tire his old ass out. The Mavs match up very well with the Clippers and will pick up a road win here.

Prediction- Mavs 103 Clippers 98.

NLSC NBA quote of the week:

This one came from Carmo in the Lakers thread:

I like Maurice Evans. I reckon he is a very underrated pick-up will have a large say in how the Lakers end up this season.

http://nbaliveforums.com/ftopic30266-19 ... ad6144a0ee

I think this is a very true statement. Evans is a guy that's never really found his niche and has never really figure out his game. You can already tell that he knows his role in LA. Leave to it Phil Jackson to get reel in a guy that is somewhat lost and give him an identity. Look for a good season from Evans.

Well, that wraps up the first Friday Wrapup, they will be more juicy in weeks to come, but I just wanted to see what the early response would be and whether or not I should continue with this.

[Tupik]

This is a cool idea, I'm gonna follow this!!!

[Cornerthree]

Nice recap, loved reading it...

It's goin' to be good if you're doing this every week...

[Indy]

It's goin' to be good if you're doing this every week...

I will be for sure. Friday is always a slow day here at the office and I always have a lot of time on my hands.

[[Q]]

damn, you missed a couple of things to talk about tonight... maybe you should wait to post this until the game are finished on Fridays?

[Zoom]

damn, you missed a couple of things to talk about tonight... maybe you should wait to post this until the game are finished on Fridays?

I guess it wouldn't make a difference if he talked bout this friday on next friday...

And any way we can put my post on the top of this thread below here somewhere? Hmm... I will go check out the NLSC Issues to see what's up with the different post times...

[Matt]

Player Of The Week IMO has got to be Lamar Odom......he lead his team to a 3-0 record which no one expected. He's been the key guy in all games, scoring, rebounding, playmaking and hitting shots from everywhere. 28ppg aint to shabby.

[nets4life]

i 2nd that, he has been incredible. But he has had help from players who have stepped up from last year ala Andrew Bynum, but still definatley my pick

[Zoom]

But he has had help from players who have stepped up from last year ala Andrew Bynum, but still definatley my pick

Although I'm sure that there's maybe a few arguements against this but I think it would be more accurate to say that Lamar has helped players like Andrew Bynum step up Granted that players like Bynum and Turiaf have had big games in their own rights but I see it as Lamar has actually had more of a role in this.

[Indy]

Player Of The Week IMO has got to be Lamar Odom......he lead his team to a 3-0 record which no one expected. He's been the key guy in all games, scoring, rebounding, playmaking and hitting shots from everywhere. 28ppg aint to shabby.

If I had incorporated this Friday's game in to it, he probably would have been. But at the time I wrote the report he had only played 2, and Howard had played that one game where he smashed the life out of a team that was riding in there very confidently. I think that one win by Orlando is more impressive then anyone of LAs wins.

And the Knicks as your team you will follow! Looking forward to that report! Personally, I think that they will surprise many people and get into the playoffs.

I agree that they will be a pleasant surprise this season, but they won't quite make the postseason. I have them ranked 9th in the East.

Love the Indy report but got one question. Saras is pretty old now, what parts of his game do you think he can improve?

Well for Sarunas it's just all about figuring out how to effectively play the NBA game. Players are smarter here, they will make adjustments to your weaknesses and exploit them. Saras needs to figure out how to handle the ball against pressure D and needs to be more consistent with his shooting. If he can do those two things and play his game, he'll be fine.

[Zoom]

Well for Sarunas it's just all about figuring out how to effectively play the NBA game. Players are smarter here, they will make adjustments to your weaknesses and exploit them. Saras needs to figure out how to handle the ball against pressure D and needs to be more consistent with his shooting. If he can do those two things and play his game, he'll be fine.

I get what you mean! Saras isn't one of those athletic type PGs so I would imagine if the other team put pressure on him while bringing the ball up, he could struggle and I guess that where making adjustments come in. Is Saras playing the 1 or playing at the 2 more?

[Indy]

With 7 days behind us, it's time for another edition of NBA Friday Wrapup. However, this thread fell pretty far down on the page this week, so if I fail to spark some discussion this week, I may just ditch it. As a way to try and spark more discussion I'm going to do a top 5 power rankings, and list teams on the brink. I would do every team in the league, but this takes long enough anyways.

Player of the Week
I'm going to get a lot of flack for this one, but there were a lot of worthy candidates. This week's player of the week is Zach Randolph. Zach led the bottom dweller Trail Blazers to a 2-2 record this week which is mediocre, but if Randolph plays this well all year and the Blazers play 500 ball, it will be an incredible achievment. Most impressively, Randolph led the Blazers passed a Laker team that's been playing pretty well in the early stages of this season, and he did it with 36 points, 10 boards with 52% shooting from the floor and 92% from the freethrow line. He cashed in a very similar game in a loss to the Clippers in which he scored 36, pulled in 13 board (6 off them on the offensive glass) and shot nearly 65% from the floor. These types of weeks are usually reserved for the Kevin Garnetts and Dirk Nowitzkis of the world, but major props to Randolph for being the player we all know he's capable of being at least for this week.

Week 2 Indiana Pacers report

Fan Code- Trucking Along
We got our asses kicked in Washington on Wednesday, but it really isn't an indication of how good this team really is. Jermaine sat out with a twisted ankle, and that's going to make all of the "haters" start ranting and raving about injury problems, but he was planning on playing untill 5 minutes before the game, when Rick thought it would just be best to sit him on the back half of a back to back, and Jermaine agreed. Probably he should have played anyways because I don't want to miss out on some easy wins early in the season. With all of that jargin out of the way, let's talk about the real big time positives. This team is actually built around Jermaine O'Neal, which is a fantastic thing. Everyone for the last few years has made a huge deal about how when Jermaine is on the floor the team does worse then when he's not. Well that's because the team has never been built to his strengths. For the first time, it finally is. The guy who really benifits most from JO is Stephen Jackson. Jack and Jermaine run this one play at least 5 times a game where the two of them are isolated on one side. Jack dumps the ball to Jermaine and cuts to the basket. Jermaine is actually being used as a pick setter while the ball is in his hands. JO has two options in this situation. He can dump the ball to Jack for the open layup, or keep it untill Jack is clear and go one on one. If he let's Jack clear and he has the ball in position that low, the other team is f-u-c-k-e-d. Jermaine makes his post moves quicker this year, and his midrange jumper is even better and he can make them further out. While we're on the subject of Jermaine, let's talk about his interior defensive presence. If any of you have watched any of the Pacers games thus far, you have seen how much Jermaine has improved his already stellar shotblocking skills. In situations where 99% of the league will pick up a foul because a guy has the ball downlow with position, Jermaine has picked up a block. He leads the league in blocks per game right now at 3.8, but that's not even a measure of how well he's blocking shots. He only had 1 in the season opener, and that's because he had some absolutley pathetic refereeing that got him in to foul trouble. However, even THAT doesn't tell the whole story. I don't think I've ever seen Allen Iverson afraid of anyone in his NBA career, but he was downright terrified of Jermaine on Tuesday. Allen would drive the lane and instead of drawing contact and getting the foul he would shoot some pussy leaner or floater that I don't think I've ever seen him take. Same thing with Andre Iguodala, not one in traffic dunk from Iggy. Even when Jermaine was out of the game, his presence was still felt. You could still feel the fear in the Sixers guys that usually get to the hole. If Jermaine blocks shots this well all season and continues his offensive dominance, he will be an MVP candidate and the Pacers will go deep in to the playoffs.

New York Knicks Report

The Knicks went 1-2 this week bringing their season record to 2-3, but the two losses they suffered came against good opponents, the Pacers and Spurs. I expected the Knicks to get off to a rough start and then make a run later in the season, but just miss out on the playoffs. I still believe that, but if I was a Knicks fan I would be encouraged by the start. The Knicks could very easily be 0-5 right now, but they've figured out a way to win a couple tough games. The key for the Knicks this season is consistency. This is the problem with the Knicks lineup. They are completely filled with guys who have great games every 5 or 6 nights. Crawford will score 30 for you one night, then go 1-15 the next. Curry will look dominant and in shape one night, then look sloppy, lazy, fat and just plain terrible at the game of basketball the next. I could do a short little quip for Quentin Richardson too, but that's actually who I want to focus on. I think the Knicks have enough chuckers. Marbury, Francis and Crawford chuck the ball enough for a whole team. They do not need Q-Rich roaming around the 3 point line and playing like he did in Phoenix. Quentin was a back to the basket post player in college, and he needs to go back to those roots a little bit. He was doing that early in the season, and was playing fantastically. That has to continue for the Knicks to have any chance of going anywhere, and he has to bring it night in and night out. Richardson will be the X-factor for this team.

Next weeks team: Atlanta Hawks

Matchup of the Week

Last week, I predicted this weeks matchup of the week incorrectly bringing my season total to a dismal 0-1. If this doesn't get turned around quickly I'll be shipped out of town, as my managment has told me I have a short leash.

This week my matchup of the week takes place on Wednesday, November 15th. The New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets head to the Palace of Auburn Hills to take on the Pistons. The Pistons have been inconsistent this year, and the Hornets were the last standing undefeated team untill they fell to the Warriors. This will be a great test for New Orleans on the road against a championship contender. I think the Hornets are a playoff team, but not much more. They are using Peja incorrectly, he doesn't perform well when you put him at the 2 guard. As he aged, he should have transformed in to a power forward not a 2 guard. It doesn't make sense to have him out there being defended by the other teams best player when the rest of his skills are gone, you want him to pull out the other teams power forward to the perimiter. Detroit will defend their home court.

Detroit- 96 NOK Hornets- 90

Top 5 Power Rankings
1.) San Antonio Spurs- The Spurs are back to being the toast of the league. Tony Parker just barely missed out on player of the week honors, because he's been fantastic. Duncan looks like his old self, and the new Centers look like they'll fit in well.
2.) New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets- Chris Paul is definitley the real deal. I didn't understand the trade they made for Chandler in the offseason, but I like it now. They would have been atrocious on the boards without him.
3.) Utah Jazz- Health is the key for them. If they stay healthy they'll be damn, damn good. They have a great all around team with strengths in every department. Only problem with Utah is that they are good at everything in a game, but they aren't great at anything, so they'll lose in the playoffs. They are one big free agent signing away from being contenders again.
4.) Atlanta Hawks- Isn't it amazing that these guys have the best record in the Eastern Conference right now? You have to give Atlanta their early season props, which isn't really a prop, it's more like a pr. But they deserve it nonetheless. What a gutsy performance by Joe Johnson over LeBron. He looked like the best player in the world that night, and LeBron looked like the mediocre player.
5.) Indiana Pacers- This spot was hard to choose from, because as of this point nobody really deserves it. People will probably call this a homer pick, and maybe it is to some extent, but I'm only basing this off of this seasons performance thus far. I'm not taking in to account a team's reputation or what they've done in the past, it's all about this season. The Pacers have a couple of road wins, and have played pretty impressive ball. We lost a game that Jermaine didn't play, and tonight against Orlando will be a good barometer of where we're at.
Just missed the cutCleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers.

NLSC NBA quote of the week.

This quote came from Matt in the the season thread. It's not that I think this is a great quote, it's just one more thing I want to adress.

Korver has been on fire.....in the Magic game he had everything going in. He scored a cpl in the post, off the dribble, coming off screens, catch & shoot. Tonight as well he was on fire, he took some difficult shots but they went in.

He was on fire coming in to the Pacers game, but we had a great tactic in shutting him down. First Stephen Jackson guarded him, and played him very physically, Korver did not score once. Then Granger and Rawle Marshall both guarded him, and he was expecting the physical D, but they just stayed in his face. He never got in to a rhythm, and his numbers of 14 ppg is skewed because he played during garbage time, which was the entire 4th quarter.


Just in time. I have a little bit of work to do, then I'm leaving early to go to Indy and heckle Dwight Howard. GO P'S!!!

[dada]

You should get these posted on the main page. I've always thought the NLSC needed more articles from members/moderators.

[maes]

Good stuff, hope this continues.

Team #4 should probably be the Clips, they're 4-1 and beaten Phoenix, Dallas, and Nuggets. ATL's best win was Cavs.

After CP's epic battle with Baron Davis, it's going to be interesting to see how he does against Billups. Is it me or CP have terrible shot selection but just makes them anyway?

[Zoom]

Another great report! Good work man!

And about next week's team of the week... The Hawks are surprising me. Joe Johnson has finally started to play at an All-Star type level and the players around him seem to be a lot more mature/seasoned so that lends to winning games. I didn't expect them to be playing this well. Hope I don't jinx them! I'm sure you will address this point but they seriously need a PG not named Tyronn Lue or Speedy Claxton. Chris Paul is a daily reminder of what they could have had...

[Jugs]

Thank God for giving Zach Randolph credit.

[Matt]

Chris Paul is a daily reminder of what they could have had...

Deron Williams too

I'm leaving early to go to Indy and heckle Dwight Howard

looks like you heckled him into 8 TO's....damn you!!!

[Indy]

I know Chris Paul had a great rookie season, and is going to be a great point guard, but I don't think Marvin Williams' career is going to make them wish they had picked someone different. I think Marvin will have a great career with a Hawk, and will be an all-star somewhere down the line, so its unfair to already label him as a bust. Remember, the kid came out after just one year of college.

[Zoom]

I know Chris Paul had a great rookie season, and is going to be a great point guard, but I don't think Marvin Williams' career is going to make them wish they had picked someone different. I think Marvin will have a great career with a Hawk, and will be an all-star somewhere down the line, so its unfair to already label him as a bust. Remember, the kid came out after just one year of college.

Well I wasn't implying that Marvin Williams is a worse player than Chris Paul. Just stating that at the time and with the roster they had, they needfed a PG like Paul more than Williams. In my opinion, the Hawks haven't properly addressed their PG issue.

[theflash02]

Yup.. Chris Paul will also do better in ATLANTA.. ATLANTA shouldve picked a PG to support the shooting of JJOHNSON.. But I think that's why they picked MARVIN coz JJOHNSON can play the PG position..

BUT MARVIN will become a better player as time passes with the HAWKS..

[Indy]

OK, I had quite a busy weekend, but I'm going to do it today. I actually think I might change this to Monday, but I'm not sure yet. OK, onward:

This week's player of the week is
After his team got off to a rough start by losing their first 3 Carmelo Anthony
has led the Nuggets to 4 wins in their last 5. Melo looks more confident then he's ever looked, and he is just simply in control when he's out there. The thing that makes this 4 of 5 stretch so impressive for Denver is that all but 1 of them have been on the road. Melo has been incredibly impressive, shooting the ball at almost 50% from the field, but what's more impressive is how easily he's gotten to the rim. Every time I've watched Carmelo this season, I've seen at least 5 or 6 effortless drives right by his defender to the basket. He is making people look stupid, and if he continues to play this way, Denver will eventually overtake Utah.

Week 3 Indiana Pacers Report

Fan Code- Trucking Along
There has been some bad, and some good. Some very bad, and some very good. With all the equality between bad and good for the Pacers, their record is about how you expect it to be, at 5-5. There are two key words for the Pacers so far, consistency and rebounding. Jermaine has been fantastic on the defensive side this season, blocking shots especially. He's the best shot blocker in the NBA right now, tied with Emeka Okafor, but if anyone got the chance to watch his 8 block performance against Milwaukee on Saturday, they realized the impact JO has on that side of the ball. In the 4th quarter people were afraid to go in to the lane on him. Nobody even challenged him again. That was the key to the Pacers comeback win. Now, that win was nice, but the 2 key words I mentioned were the reasons that it had to be a come from behind victory and not just an out and out blowout of a much weaker Milwaukee team. When the Pacers offense is clicking they are one of the elite teams in the league. When it isn't, they are by far the worst. I have never seen an NBA offense look worse then the Pacers when they've been playing poorly this season. It's a damn ugly sight to watch, and I get extremely frustrated. The key is ball movement. Sometimes it gets bogged down and becomes a snowball effect. This team sometimes needs to just get focused and buckle down, which is why they always come out firing and playing well in the start of the second half. Rick needs to use his timeouts better. That and time will fix this problem. The other problem is rebounding, and I'm not going to say much about it because it really makes me angry. There is one simple adjustment that needs to be made and the Pacers will rebound better. Boxing out. Its that simple. Nobody on the team, and that includes Jeff Foster has boxed out one time all season. That is a slight exaggeration, but it's very slight. We simply don't box out.

Some short notes about players I'm very happy with, and players I'm not. Right now I'm thrilled with Marquis Daniels and Danny Granger. I'm pleased with Stephen Jackson, JO, Jeff and Al. I'm not sure what I think of Sarunas right now.

Atlanta Hawks Report

OK, I was able to watch every Atlanta game this week, most of them I taped and watched at 4 in the morning, but I saw them all, and I was very intrigued by them. They may have fallen back to 500, and lost 3 straight, but last years Atlanta Hawks are not back. This is a far, far better team. Joe Johnson has really turned in to an elite scorer, and has a very complete game. I would trade Jermaine O'Neal for Joe Johnson right now, and I would almost always be against trading an elite big for an elite guard. JJ has championship moxy, and that will help the Hawks in the long run. Now, I've got more then just peaches and gravy for the Hawks. As hard as this may be for Hawks fans to accept, I think they need to trade either Josh Smith or Marvin Williams for a point guard. Speedy Claxton isn't the answer to their problems, and I don't think I need to even touch on Tyronne Lue. The Hawks use Joe Johnson for most of their ball handling responsibilities, but while he plays well in that role, he's more suited as an off the ball scorer. If only the Hawks still had Jason Terry they'd be in fantastic shape. It's too bad too, because a Jason Terry/Mike Bibby type point guard is exactly what they need.

Next week's team: San Antonio Spurs

Matchup of the Week

Well, last week I predicted the Pistons to beat the Hornets, but New Orleans proved they could pick up a tough road win against a good team, and so my dismal matchup of the week record falls even lower to 0-2. 2 more weeks like this, and I'll be lucky if the NBA lets me work at Denny's, because I'll most certainly be canned.

This week is the L.A. Clippers headed to Denver to take on the Nuggets. This will be the second time these teams have faced, with the Nuggets winning the early season matchup 96-95 in LA. Both teams have played well as of late, and this will be another interesting one between these two. The Clippers are on the back half of a road double header, and that's hard to do when you're playing at that altitude. I think it will be close but Denver will jump out to a nice early lead and they'll win it.

Denver- 101 L.A. Clippers 98

Top 5 Power Rankings
1.) Utah Jazz- Well, the Jazz are 9-1, and they've played fantastic. If Boozer stays healthy and plays like this all season, the folks in Utah will forget about that Karl guy.
2.) San Antonio Spurs- The Spurs continue to play with consistency, and they'll be right back in the mix of things at the end once again. They are my early pick to win the West. I know I'm really going out on a limb with that one.
3.) L.A. Clippers- The only reason they get the nod over the Cavs is because they play in the Bestern Conference while the Clippers play in the Leastern Conference. The Clips have a very complete team. Imagine how good they would be if they had a pure 3 point shooter who wasn't streaky? God would they be good.
4.) Cleveland Cavaliers- They've got a pretty good player by the name of LeBron. His supporting cast hasn't been bad either.
5.) Golden State Warriors- I've always laughed at the notion the Golden State would break out, because I think Baron Davis is such a horrible team player, but I have to give credit where it's due. They beat Detroit, they beat New Orleans, and they beat Dallas. I don't see how this spot can go to the Hornets or LA with the quality wins Golden State has had.

Just missed the cut: L.A. Lakers, New Orleans Hornets.

NLSC NBA Quote of the Week

Okafor has a better basketball IQ than Howard, thats why College makes you into a better player.

This one was a no-brainer. I just think that's a great discussion starter. I don't think it can be debated that college improves your basketball IQ, but does the NBA not do the same thing? Dwight averaged a double double right out of high school, is he not continuing to improve his B-Ball IQ in the NBA? Is Dwight not being productive while learning at the same time? I think he survived on his athleticism the first two seasons, and is now starting to develop a post game and learn when to pick his spots. Just wait for the 25/15 season that we are soon to see from Dwight. The guy is a future hall of famer.

[Indy]

This doesn't seem to be very popular, so I'm going to dump it.