TrentL2

If Lady Luck smiles at us and we get the 1st pick, it would be a mistake to trade it. LeBron will bring tons of excitement to wherever he lands. He may need to mature a bit, but the risk of him becoming top three, top five player in the league is too high to trade him.

No way Philly is going to trade Snow for scrubs, he's the 2nd best player on the team. He's consistent, averages 11.4 pts and 7 assists, plays good defense and does not make many mistakes.

You have a case there, Diesel, but I won't happen. Mark my words. Kidd does not play for San Antonio next season.

Well, I said we will win this one. Lakers are mediocre without Diesel. I didn't see the game either, but Ira's box score is impressive:

42 min, Pts 14, FG 5-10, FT 4-4, Reb 7, As 4, St 2, TO 1.

And he locked Kobe up, shooting 8-22 from the field.

Yes, nothing like defense.

My predictions are just the opposite of Diesel's:

Hawks lose in Utah.

Yes, we are more talented, but this is just a hunch.

Hawks lose to Kings.

They started slow and have some injuries, but they are very tough in their home court.

Hawks beat the Lakers.

Shaq may not be ready and this is our chance... Kobe will score a lot, but if we can shut the other guys, we can beat them.

I talked to some Portland fans and they were disappointed that they had to waive Amal. He does many little things which don't show in boxscore, and he's a big body in the paint. Good pickup IMHO.

I was looking for news about Tim Grgurich and run in to this topic in Azprosports.com:

http://azprosports.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=8794

What you think? Is Sunsfan still around?

Check this:

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/misc/1435670.html

I have to agree with Sam Smith. Lenny didn't exactly have an offensively talented squad while coaching Hawks, but still we averaged 49 wins per season during his tenure.

I admire your imagination, the way you pick up various explanations why your view is the right way to look at things. Diesel is the worst guy to argue with in this forum. I don't wanna take a side on this never mindpatricular subject. On the ohter hand, I'm pretty drunk right now, so never mind...

Not John Starks, he's done.

Forget about Raja Bell too, he has signed with Tau Ceramica in Spain - the same club where Hanno went. They have pretty strong squad: Bell, Mottola, Luis Scola (whom the Spurs are trying to buy out), Andres Nocioni (the argentine dunkster), Laurent Foirest...

I'd rather have somebody with 3pt range. Lenard would be very good.

Now that Stack and L8ner are back together, Wizards team chemistry is only going to improve...

>And sorry if my English isn't always that good, but hey, you try and write something in Finnish...

Tervetuuloa, Zarathustra.

Philly 3rd in the East? More like 6th, IMO.

I don't think the Pistons are out of the playoffs, but they won't win the Central this year.

I doubt that Grant Hill will ever be the same player he was 4 years ago. He can still be quite good, though. Just imagine how bad Orlando would be if T-Mac goes down with injury? That would be ugly.

My prediction:

East 1-3 (not necessary in this order):

Nets (better than last year)

Hornets (50 wins possibility)

Celtics (weakened, but still capable)

4-6:

Pacers (deep, deep squad with improved Tinsley)

Hawks (winning season ahead)

Sixers (42 wins, 1st round exit)

7-9:

Pistons (they could do better if everything clicks)

Magic (are they really committed winning now?)

Bucks (can Tim Thomas improve? I'm not sure)

The rest: Miami could sneak in, if they can score consistently. Knicks are improved, if McDyess actually plays... but I count them out, because I'm a devout Knick-hater. Chicago will be in playoffs in 2004.

Checking the stats for past Hawk teams get me to this...

Dominique Wilkins is the second-leading scorer in the NBA among players who hasn't won the championship, behind the Mailman (9th overall).

If Jordan plays next season, he needs 767 points to pass Wilt. That's 9.4 PPG / 82 games, though he won't play that much. If he averaged 15 PPG, it would take him 52 games to pass the Big Dipper.

The Dream is now 7th in all-time scoring list, mere 367 points behind Elvin Hayes and 463 behind Moses Malone. If he keeps last year's pace (7.1 PPG), he'll pass Hayes in 52 games and Moses in 66.

Patrick Ewing is 106 blocks away from joining Hakeem, Abdul-Jabbar and Mark Eaton in 3000 block's club (Russell and Wilt are the unofficial members), but I don't see him making it. Ditto the Admiral (157 away). Deke will likely make it, for he's got more left in the tank and his total as today is 2836.

Did you know there's only one known triple double-double in NBA's history? Check out Wilt's stats against the Pistons (020268):

Points : 22 Rebounds : 25 Assists : 21

- Trent

I hope that doesn't happen. I love KG and hate Knicks like poison.

That's right, good trade. I think the change was inevitable for the Bucks. They weren't going to get better, they needed more time for Tim Thomas, and while trading Robinson makes them weaker short term, it was a move they had to make.

Look for Hawks rebounding (22nd last season) to get better.