I'm gonna have to disagree with the defense/rebounding comment. While D'Antoni hasn't won a championship with the way he runs his teams, they have come very close. I could see a team consisting of Felton, Melo, and Amare with the right pieces making a solid run at a championship. That said, all their players are much better defenders individually than D'Antoni's Phoenix team. Melo is a very good defender, Felton is 10x better than Nash, and Amare's defense has improved a lot this year as well. I won't speak about anyone else as I don't know who would still be around if they are to land Melo before the deadline.

Only time will tell.

I do think Orlando could very well be a true contender with the new additions of Turk (who plays VERY well in Van Gundy's system), Arenas, and J-Rich.
Also, although usually I wouldn't usually call Dallas contenders but they seem to have added a key factor which they have been missing for past years. They've always had talent to be contenders, but they've lacked toughness. They seem to have solved that problem with the additions of Tyson Chandler and, laugh if you want, DeShawn Stevenson. The loss of Caron Butler is huge though and I expect Mark Cuban to make some moves before the trade deadline to try and fill that void.

Been a big Suns fan so watched all those "very close" games. Yeah they were close, but they often lost because of their glaring weaknesses, or due to their lack of D they let the games get close and then bad breaks (every team has em) cost them games. The Duncan 3 is the only aberration, the Amare suspensions were unfair, but they were the "rules" (albeit retarded)

Melo doesn't defend, he's never shown that he cares on defense. There's not evidence to support Felton is "10x" better than Nash on D, in fact Nash is a good positional defensive player, just lacks the physical attributes. Amare is better defensively yes, but what good is it to go from defensively retarded to special needs defense? He blocks now yeah, but he still doesn't box out nor rarely rebounds with two hands. Oh yeah the Knicks play 8 guys tops, if they get Melo they'll prolly lose Chandler/Gallo +more, that'll thin up their bench even more.

Orlando is a gimmick team now. They lost their size, gonna get punished by the Celts and they're not that much bigger than the Heat now. Turk playing "VERY well" doesn't mean shit when his playing well is due to Howard shielding his major flaws, Arenas is a 20mil jumpshooter who doesn't go to the line anymore. They have no back-up bigs, and they're still a jumpshooting team. Seriously, their chances are slim.

Melo does play defense when he cares, and he cares is when it's playoff time. So you cannot say that he won't necessarily play defense.
Steve Nash's positional defense means nothing when the Suns have shitty team defense to begin with. Felton is a far better athlete and has the ability to stay in front of his man, thus making him 10x times better...I LOL'd at your Amare comment but wouldn't call his defense "special needs" anymore. Yes, on occassion, his opponent makes him look retarded but not nearly as much as when he was in Phoenix.
Again, I don't know who the Knicks would give up to get Melo so I can't comment on that, however, I would think that Eddy Curry's expiring contract would be a major component in what they give up for him. If they were to give up Chandler, they are better off just picking Melo up off free agency.

Yes, Orlando lost a key back-up for Dwight in Marcin Gortat, but the loss of him and Rashard (who, btw, is probably just as much of a pussy as Turk) makes room for Bass who can be a beast on the offensive glass and is a perfect compliment to Dwight as he can step out and play the mid-range game. That said, they still lack any size in the 2nd unit, but you have to think they have another trade or two up their sleeve to make up for that before the deadline.

Who cares if Dwight is shielding Turk's major flaws, that just means they compliment each other....Yes, Arenas is still a jumpshooter but he's also become a great facilitator and hey, he makes for a great 6th man anyway.

With 1 more trade to simply make-up for size as Dwight's back-up, the Magic have a solid chance at doing some damage. I would say they are better than they were when they made the finals 2 years ago, and though the competition may be stiffer now (Miami, Boston, Chicago, etc.) than it was then (Cleveland, Boston), I still think they have a decent shot, though it is obviously significantly less of a shot than that of Miami and Boston.

You're right about Melo, but D'Antoni hasn't given a shit about defense since he's been in the NBA, and he never practices defense during team practices, so really, they're just a different phx suns team. Amare is still pretty bad on D because he tries too hard sometimes to get the blocks and not playing good/great d, which often means you don't get rewarded on the stat sheet.

If they just gave up Curry, its not enough salary cap wise (salaries in trades must be within 25% of each other) and talent wise (for obvious reasons). They would certainly have to give up more, like Anthony Randolph, who Denver would consider had he not turn into a corpse this season, and also a throw-in like Anthony Mason Jr, you MAY get him. Let's say they gave up Chandler/Curry/Mason/Randolph + money + picks for Melo/Martin (they gotta eat up another bad contract to appease Denver or else there's really no point for Denver to help NY out). So you'd have Felton/Melo/Gallo/Amare/Martin.........with shitty Toney Douglas as ur backup.....

I don't think it matters what Orlando does. They're front runners.

I'm pretty sure Landry Fields or Gallo would be their 6th man, not Toney Douglas, but yes, I see your point. Any word on when Azubuike is due back from injury?

And do you said "They're front runners" about Orlando, did you mean to say "They're NOT front runners?"

deandre jordan 19 blocks over his last 3 games..

When was the last time Azubuike played? lol

more blake griffin in action....
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=348198
:fuckyea:

And good fg% to go along with great rebounding alongside a monster in Griffin as well. This guy seems like a beast in the paint on the defensive end, the next Marcus Camby if you will?

Early last season with the dubs, unfortunate because he was rounding out to be quite a good player. Hopefully he can fully recover and continue to grow.

Yeah, alongside Serge Ibaka, JaVale McGee, and Brandon Jennings.

Not sure what to think about the field. I'm not gonna talk about the LeBron James' and the other superstars that we always want in the field but never happens because it simply really won't ever happen. That said, I am disappointed that they don't put in some guys who actually have HANGtime...Guys who can actually stop at the top of their jump some how, sit up there for about a week to actually think about what they should do, figure it out, and finally execute it on their way down.

A guy like Nick Young comes to mind

^ I've never seen a Jennings dunk highlight, sure he's dunked in game, but its nothing that suggests hops. McGee might just pull something retarded and break a leg.

didnt jr smith or somebody did something similar? 360 behind the back and dunk

Dunk contest looks fresh this year

The only thing Griffin needs to do is a couple of windmill dunks or whatever and he will still win..I guarantee it.. he's got that "hype" on him this year..no matter what he does, he wins.

I don't even know why Brandon Jennings is on it... Isn't he injured right now? I'm surprise that the bucks would let him join. lol

I see it as McGee and Griffin in the finals... which COULD actually turn out pretty darn good.

And what happened to LBJ saying on National TV that he will be joining the dunk contest...lol...

Good to see Kobe and the boys win in back to back nights too!! hell ya!!

Heres the McGee !

rondooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

the slam dunk contest has been bunk since the jason richardson days, not saying the dunkers suck, just that almost everything has been done before, theres just no more amazing, yet new, dunks

bring back the old rules too, where dunkers can only have like 3 attempts, seeing them try over and over again for like a minute sucks away the "wow" factor

i hate "gimmick" dunks too (aka blow out candle on cup cake on the rim), that shit is weak

best dunk contest is still 2000 with Carter McGrady and Francis, Carter was a beast! "ITS OVA!!!"

took off alittle far from the hoop!, is he capable of a free throw liner?

I'm sure he is, as it would be even more dumb of him to attempt it in a game if he hasn't done it before...

But then again McGee is a retard so who knows.

hahahah,, he does come across as a "lower IQ" type of player

Yeah this proves it :haha:

I dunno who is dumber, McGee or Blatche. McGee is athletic but raw as hell (and as we found out....delusional), Blatche has small guy skills but he takes the worst possible shots and does retarded things. Good luck Washington.

QFT

nate robinson basically won cuz he wore green shit and dwight won cuz he put on a gay ass cape. this is a fuckin dunk contest, not halloween.

the battles between desmond mason and j-rich will be the last memories i had of the dunk contest that i actually enjoyed. how the fuck does nate robinson win 3 times...

they need to bring back guys like j.r and rudy gay. maybe even rudy fernandez (he got robbed... compare his dunks to nate's).

mcgee, ibaka and jennings? come on now... no one wants to see that shit.

double post.