Atlsportfanz

Only if Woody lets the team run like we did against Boston. If we play his usual snail's pace, there's no way we'll do it. But since we're probably among the top 3 most athletic squads, if we play uptempo ala Phoenix before Shaq, there's a slim chance.

I couldn't agree more about Law. We may say that Evans is our 6th man but if we are going to be a playoff team, I think it is Acie who has to become that true 6th man. If he could average 10 and 4 a night while locking down the other teams point guard, I would be estatic.

Grimes needs to be removed from starting cb. Hopefully, Foxworth can take his position. And sadly, I think we're going to have to start looking at DE's again unless Anderson can somehow turn it around. Hate to have his big contract sitting on the bench and not producing but that's probably the case.

On the demo, I was using the Lakers and controlling Fisher. I tried to pick Rondo's pocket and he took off down the middle of the lane. Both Bynum and Gasol left their man with Bynam getting the rejection. However, they leave late enough that you don't automatically have an easy assist if you make the extra pass either. So I'm really hoping that Josh and Camby will be able to get blocks especially user controlled. Last year, I struggled to average one a game with Josh and that was usually blocking outside jumpers not drives to the hole.

I played both of the demo's and hands down 2k9 was the bettter game. It was much more realistic and fluid. And they seem to have corrected (maybe overcorrected) the shot blocking play of last season. Now if you get beat off the dribble, your teammates try to help and either get a block or pick up a foul. Last year, you had wide open lanes to the hole. By 2k9, you'll be much happier.

I'd always been a live fan until last year I decided to try 2k9 and loved it. It like every sports game got a little redundant after playing it a thousand times but it is still enjoyable. I can't wait for the new one to come out. I'll have my basketball fix until the real season starts.

It's a little low but not too bad based on the rest of the ratings. Is Ray Allen really 3 points better? And does Tony Parker deserve to be a 90 in comparison? Doesn't matter to me since I'm gettting 2k9.

Well, the Braves simly have to pursue FA pitching. Which is something that most teams are not letting slip away. So the Braves might have to hope to hit on a couple of boom/bust type players like Sheets. I would prefer they stay away from him but if they are serious about being a championship team again, that's likely the road they are going to have to go down. They simply don't have the trade bait in their farm system to get any true #1 or #2 starters back in trades.

I usually play exclusively at Yahoo. Thought I would give ESPN a try. Didn't like the layout as much but I think my team is pretty strong. Could use a slightly better bench. Your Opinons? PG - Andre Miller SG - Tracy McGrady SF - Lebron James PF - Josh Smith C - Rasheed Wallace G - Jamal Crawford F - Danny Granger UTIL - Josh Howard UTIL - Chris Kaman UTIL - T.J. Ford BENCH - Samuel Dalembert BENCH - Al Thorton BENCH - Nick Collison

Yeah but Magic does TNT NATIONAL studio work. He doesn't do it exclusively for the Lakers or any other team. Once again, that probably speaks to his figure head status as well as Nique's.

Good luck Smitty. I also gotta wonder about Wilkins real value to the franchise if he signs on to do the broadcasts. How many frachise VP's do you have doing that?

Not a bad read. Not telling us anything we didn't already know or haven't heard elsewhere. At the bottom under Scouting Report, it had Bibby as perhaps the best pg in the East besides Billups and maybe Calderon. Surely a healthy Agent Zero would have to be there too. I also think that Flip and Mo can more than make up for the loss of Childress. They may not be the same offensive rebounders that he was but they should be able to stretch the perimeter something Chills really couldn't do which should create more space for whichever of the starters is left in the game with them.

In our system where Bibby won't be asked to score 20 a night or dish out 10 assists a game (though that would be awesome), he probably is about the 15th best pg. If one of our starters goes down (heaven forbid) he numbers would probably jump up and he would have the merits to be considered higher.

I would have TMac about 9 or 10 because he can't stay on the court. The season hasn't even started and he's already complaining about an arthritic shoulder. Per 82, he's great but he's no help if he's not on the court. I agree with you on Richardson. I'd tie him with Michael Redd. Both can score really well but don't bring too much else.

Switch Garnett and Howard. Garnett is a much more complete fantasy player. And Howard's turnover's and FT% absolutely kill you. No way should he be taken in the top 5.

I really believe that Al can challenge Dwight Howard for a rebounding title (avg. 13-14 boards a game). His unwillingness to give up I think was what motivated this team to make the playoffs. He's probably the team leader already and if not, I expect him to become that by the end of this season.

Olympic athletes for the most part have never received the kind of recognition that professional athletes do because 1) their only in the spotlight every four years and 2) before we had major network coverage, the internet for constant updates, youtube to watch an event again, and ESPN to replay the highlights over and over again, their name and acomplishment would fade away the day after their event. Or if it was truly signifcant, a week later. But now with professional athletes allowed to compete, it has brought more attention and world-wide acclaim to the olympic athletes.

For the Falcons to even have a chance to be a decent team, the Oline cannot commit any penalties. I mean none at all. They're going to struggle enough to move the Ball with a rookie QB. Putting in 3rd and long positions where the defense is going to be able to tee off on him is going to set him back even more. Hopefully, next year they can upgrade the oline some more and the dline, and the secondary. Let's face it; there's a lot of work still to do.

The only big difference in lineups that I would have would be Jason Kidd at the PG. He would give a one year away from the game Magic a lot of trouble. Quicker than Magic and certainly more focused on defense than Magic ever was. I would probably put LBJ on Malone even though Malone would dominate him and Anthony on Pippen. Pippen would abuse Anthony as well especially on defense. I would give a small edge to Howard over Pippen especially in the transition game. I don't think any C on the Dream Team roster could get up and down the floor with Howard. The Dream Team would want to slow the game down and use their physical strength and play a half court game something the Redeem Team has struggled at (see anytime someone went to a zone defense). The Redeem Team would have to get out and run. It would be interesting to see.

I think Woody is going to have to improve in several areas for this team to go further than last year. He will have to have more creativity in his offense than "Joe, make something happen." He'll have to use his bench more. I actually hope that the loss of Childress will force him to do this. Maybe a blessing in disguise. He's going to have to break his substitution patterns occasionally. If a player is hot, you don't take them out just because they normally come out.

Can I vote for option #3? I think Smith and Horford are fine at the PF and C positions but I do believe we need a quality big man behind them. That's why I was clamoring for Diop before his price jumped and he the the full MLE. I still think Jamaal Magloire would be a good pick up. Maybe Ratliff but I don't know how much he has left.

I honestly am not sure that Smoove is our best defender. He's certainly our best "help" defender. But he's not nearly as strong on the ball. I wish we had that Bruce Bowen, Ron Artest type of defender. Somebody you could count on to completely shut down his man. My hope is that Horford can grow into that. He might not be able to shut down the Howards, Yaos, and Amare's but the large majority.

If we do have any of the MLE left, I would go after Macgloire or Ratliff rather than Smith. Smith is a greater talent but we have a lot of wing players and I feel we are still one big man shy. If Morris can step up and play well, then we might be okay but I have a feeling we'll only ever see Horford and ZaZa on the floor.

I wouldn't qualify Bibby as a star. In Sacramento, he was with Webber, and Peja, and Vlade. Now, he's a mid 2nd tier pg. He could jump up to the top of the 2nd tier but I don't think he ever gets back to the first group of Paul D. Williams Nash Arenas Parker

I agree the raw numbers are attainable (pts, rbs, asts) but I would expect a slightly lower fg% (around 44.5) and 3pt % (around 29-30). More 3 attempts are going to knock down his field goal percentage so unless he is an absolute beast around the rim, he may fall short in those two areas.