Hoopdream - 2012 NBA Champions

In 08 we edged Spain by 11. On Sunday by 7...

At this rate, we'll win by 3 in 2016 and lose by a point come 2020...the rest of the world is really catching up to the USA in basketball...

However the USA is still the preeminent country in the sport. We just need to make sure we send the right team to Rio...

Heres my squad

Kevin Durant

Lebron James

Kyrie Irving (unless he decides to play for Australia)

Russel Westbrook

Dwight Howard

DeMarcus Cousins

Kevin Love

Brook Lopez

Blake Griffin

Deron Williams

Chris Paul

Rudy Gay

I think the only issue we had was size (Chandler was the only 7 footer)

I think having decent size throughout the lineup will help a ton.

I also think that Cousins, Irving, and Lopez will be major stars by 2016

It was a pep-rally, all in good fun when this team came together...He was simply speaking about the team's ambitions.

We dont wanna just win one championship. What great player only wants one?

People act as though he promised 8 championships. He didn't. He simply said they are going to try to get as many as they can.

I think they'll get 1 or 2 more at best with Wade already being 30 yrs old...

I know this seems like a stupid question, but think about a few things

1) If OKC won, the coverage would have been more about how Lebron failed again as opposed to be ing about how the Thunder prevailed. Kevin Durant is a great player and he deserves to get all the glory when he leads his team to the title. It shouldn't be marred by Lebron critics.

2) This team was already extremely hungry. This pain is only going to make them hungrier, instead of being spoiled brats like Kobe was when he won a title at 21...

3) Seeing Durant cry BROKE MY HEART even though I was rooting for the Heat. You hate to see good guys lose. However I appreciate his tears because it showed how much he wants to win...The Kid will likely make more than $20million dollars this year, and isn't spoiled by it. You love to see that in your best player. The league is going to be his one day. He's 23 and already the second best player in the world. And he has a great group of guys behind him.

OKC fans and whoever was rooting for them, what do you think?

You mean Father Time? LOL I swear this dude cant talk.

Although the Celtics now down 0-2, I think Miami needed the win more than the Celtics

1)Rondo went off...imagine his confidence heading home after carrying his team on his back

2)Lebron played sub par basketball: Imagine Heat losing a game where Lebron shoots 35% from the field, and then having to go to the TD Garden.

At least Boston can chalk it up to Miami defending their home court and now having the opportunity to do the same and tie the series. But Miami needs to ride this wave of momentum to the Finals IMO...

RIP to user TWAS. He started the "DID YOU KNOW" series. I cannot fill his shoes, yet I will carry the torch:

Did you know:

Michael Jordan is compared to Kobe Bryant obviously with the exclusion of his time with the Wizards, so I'm going to go based only on those statistics.

In Jordan's career, he averaged 31.1 per game on 51%

Kobe has averaged 25.3 on 45.4% for his career

The most notable part of this is the field goal percentage: Michael Jordan's AVERAGE was higher than Bryant's BEST YEAR (46.8) by 4.2% points. Obviously Bryant took more 3s, but the numbers are telling.

Did you notice that of the states the have more than one NBA Team, the numbers are in order and ascending?: Florida has 2 (Heat, Magic) Texas has 3 (Spurs, Rockets, Mavs) and California has 4 (Lakers, Kings, Warriors, Clippers)

Lastly

Did you realize that with KG and Tim Duncan being left off of this years All-Star team, Kobe Bryant is lone leader in most consecutive selections, with 14. KG's streak ended at 14, and Duncan's at 13

IMO Carmello is starting to look like Tracy McGrady trying to make a comeback. A few flashes of former greatness, yet far from the same player.

The way Melo left Denver convinced me that he was a selfish player, and wile I viewed him as the best scorer in the game behind Kobe and Kevin Durant, I never viewed him as a "gut your team" franchise player like I view the old Shaq, the old Kevin Garnett, and the current Lebron James.

How do you leave a team that was two wins away from the NBA Finals to go to a team that hadnt made the playoffs in 7 years? Because its New York, and you care more about your brand than winning.

He's fat, his game is one dimensional, he doesn't defend, and doesn't make his team better.

Am I being to hard on him or do you agree?

The Miami Heat's starting lineup features the Big 3

Chris Bosh

Dwyane Wade

Lebron James

These 3 players were also teammates in the STARTING LINEUP of 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

Has any other group of guys been in the starting lineup of the same All-Star team and Regular NBA team?

Before the 80s, the league had been dominated by big men. Russel, Wilt, Kareem, ect...

However, the emergence of Michael Jordan brought the league into an era it never knew in its then 40 year history: The age of the high flying guards and forwards.

When Jordan was in the league, we also had Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Shaquille O'neal. 4 of the greatest PLAYERS (not just big men) ever, and yet, a team with no dominant center, led by the best guard the world had ever seen, dominated.

Now, the NBA is so weak at the Center Position that Marc Gasol and Roy Hibbert are All-Stars...

What do you think?

Welkers taking some heat from the media (at least, the article I've read this morning) For missing a pass that would have given the Pats a new set of downs and a great scoring opportunity.

But not to be overlooked is the fact that if Brady would not have grounded in the end zone, the Pats would have been up 4 instead of 2 (maybe even more had they scored on the 1 play drive)

With a 4 point lead they could have sealed the game by doing what they had been doing all night...stopping the Giants in the red zone...

So which play do you think had the more devastating affect on the game overall? I say Bradys, because it affected the scoreboard.

Swept by Dallas in the playoffs (0-4)

Swept by the Clippers in the preseason (0-2)

Beat by the Bulls and Kings (0-2)

Hmmm....

My fiance and I wanted to keep our wedding expenses down but its been kind of tough and although our wedding is nowhere near what most people pay, we've been paying cash no credit and have spent over $6000 so far. We've got rings, she needs a band though, we got her dress, a photographer, a reception hall, and our honeymoon down pat.

I need ideas on how to:

feed 200 people

Decorate a hall with 20 tables

Buy flowers

With less than $3500

Is it possible?

HELP thanks! Best idea get an invitation for you and one more if wanted! (Bayonne ,NJ)

My most recent question dealt with whos argument was more justified. (sorry for not putting a link, my questions & answers are available for public eyes)

I got some respectable and sound arguments that disagreed and agreed with my stand, which is that the owners are right on this.

Now my question is: Who needs the money more?

IMO, its the owners again. While players can choose to limit their consumption of the money they have, owners are at the mercy of the market, like any business. They have hundres of employees, and theyd like to keep the good ones, but if another team offers them more money, they can get locked into a price war. They have to maintain margains to stay in operation.

Some people say, "They shouldnt give bad contracts" but what really makes a contract bad? If fans come to see a particular player, whether he ranks in the top 15 or not, he makes the owners money, and they view him as an asset. A contract can "go bad" when the player declines, but that doesnt mean it wasnt a good decision at first.

Aside from the Knicks, the teams that have given the bad contracts are the small market teams- (The Rockets giving McGrady 24mil a year when he didnt practice, the Hawks giving Joe Johnson 120, Seattle giving Rashard Lewis 119, The Wizards giving Gilbert Arenas 118M, so forth and so on)

These teams overpay their star players because they feel that no NBA player who is also a celebrity demanding huge money is going to stay in a small market without a huge tradeoff. It would hurt his brand and limit his business choices while playing.

A player does not have the same value in the eyes of a fan as he does in the eyes of an owner. All we care about is how good the player is. Owners think about how many fans come to see them because of him, and how much revenue he generates for the team.

Do you think that without Chris Paul deciding to stay, anyone would even think about going to New Orleans?

The Bobcats are owned by Michael Jordan, but i bet money they wont win like Mike in this lifetime. No superstar wants to go to North Carolina

Its been so loong since I've been here. I miss you guys insights. But since we've had no basketball there hasnt been much to talk about. So my bq is:

Has the lockout made this section dead?

Now the real issue:

IMO I agree with the owners.

When the old collective bargaining agreement was signed, the economy had not toppled over the way it has since then. The fact that owners were willing to agree to a 53-47% spread in basketball revenues tells me that they understand the importance of the players to the domestic and international appeal of the game.

But now, with the economy in bad shape, NBA revenue may very well dwindle as people become more afraid for their financial security and stop coming to games. Owners should have the chance to recoup their losses from past years.

When it comes to an already overpaid (relatively speaking) athlete, he should understand whats going on in the world and also allocate his resources wisely. I cant help but think of a player in these negotiations thinking, "They want me to only be able to 1 Ferrari a month? Aint happening!" The affects of the owners losing money will ultimately affect, not only the owners themselves, but all team employees, businesses near stadiums, and one day, the players themselves. If NBA revenue were to drop 18% or so, regardless of the split, everyone takes a hit. Its more important for the businesses, the NBA teams, to stay solvent than for players to be able to bank on chasing an $1.1million dollar check every two weeks

A 50-50 split is fair!!

Who do you think is right and why?

The top 20 players in overall career earnings have netted a combined $2.9billion in a combined period of over 345 seasons.

Bill Gates earned 100Million more than this by himself last year alone.

Interesting right?

Alot of people are ragging on him, but in reality, Lebron James is on pace to be the best ever.

At 26, he has a scoring title and two NBA MVP awards. Two NBA All-Star Game awards, and All-NBA First team honors each of the last 4 seasons, not to mention the few others before that. But he needs the crowning acheivement- an NBA Championship.

Yes, Lebron has played longer, but Michael Jordan didnt get one until he was 28. Michael lost to the same team 3 consecutive years. Lebron lost to Boston twice than beat them.

Jordan lost in 3 consecutive years like this:

1988- Game 5 of the Conference Semis (second round)

1989- Game 6 of the Conference Finals

1990- Game 7 of the Conference Finals

Michael hadnt even made it to the Finals once yet.

Lebron has twice.

Are people just getting their shots in now because they know its coming?

He said he was a Pack fan when they won the Superbowl. And said he was never a Saints fan:

http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/lil-waynes-fig...

But in his freestyle to Walk it Out on The Drought 3, the concluding verse goes:

"I Eastside walk it out,

I bring New Orleans out,

I AM A SAINTS FAN,

oo yeah we marchin' now,

like were a Saints band..."

Huh?

Dallas had its breakout game. Every other win was just Miami being unable to hold a lead in the final minutes. In South Beach, will the Heat hoist the trophy or will Dallas steal one and the title