The Perpetual NBA Thread

[ILuvDetailing]

Well at least Kobe plays hard and is so competitive. So competitve at the expense of his teams success.

I don't really like VC's playing style, more hype than substance, take away his hops and he becomes an average player at best. His floor game is suspect and rellies to much on his God given ability. Jason Kidd's presence will surely help Carter's game, just ask Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson. Problem with Jersey acquiring Carter, they gave up their frontcourt.

How about the Suns, averaging a scorching 109 ppg. and a 21-3 record. Such a fun team to watch, Steve Nash is truly the motor that runs the team as he did in Dallas, he's a perfect fit.

[stinkaboy]

what a wasted foul wallace gave to MILES, and billups 3pts was wasted too for the even. Maganda sana kung may OT. Portland won, anyway.

[qman]

Bryant would apologize to Shaq for comments made to police

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Lakers star Kobe Bryant wants to apologize to former teammate Shaquille O'Neal for mentioning his name during a police interview last year.

Bryant appeared on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" and "NBA Shootaround" on Wednesday and said he never meant to bring up O'Neal's name when he was being interrogated by police officers. The interview came after a woman accused Bryant of raping her.

"I would apologize for any harm that I brought him and his family," Bryant said of O'Neal.

The Heat will play the Lakers on Christmas Day, the first meeting of the two teams since O'Neal was traded. Bryant wants to speak to O'Neal then.

Bryant was accused of ***ually assaulting the woman at a Colorado resort where she worked in June 2003. The Lakers star maintained they had consensual ***.

Prosecutors dropped a ***ual assault charge against Bryant on Sept. 1 after the woman said she no longer wanted to participate in the criminal case. She had filed a civil suit against Bryant about three weeks earlier.

During Bryant's interview with investigators, he said he heard O'Neal had paid up to $1 million to various women to keep quiet about situations like his own. O'Neal, who now plays for the Miami Heat, dismissed those allegations as "ridiculous." There have been no published reports of O'Neal ever being accused of any *** crimes.

The former Lakers center was informed of Bryant's allegation last September, and the relationship between the two was strained throughout the 2003-04 season. After the season, O'Neal demanded to be traded.

"I never intended in any way to mix him into my troubles and difficulties that were going on at the time," Bryant said Wednesday. "Things kind of got blown out of proportion and people really ran with that stuff. I just apologize to him for that."

Bryant said he has passed the word to O'Neal through a mutual friend that he would like to discuss the matter.

"December 25 sounds like a good day to me to kind of talk to him and tell him I never meant in any kind of way to bring any of his personal business out," Bryant said.

Bryant also answered questions Wednesday about the recent spat with another former teammate, Karl Malone. Bryant has accused Malone, who is recovering from knee surgery, of making a pass at his wife at a game last month.

Malone's agent said last week that his client didn't plan to return to the Lakers because of comments Bryant made in a radio interview questioning Malone's intent in rejoining the team.

"To me it's water under the bridge," Bryant said Wednesday. "I just kind of want to move on from it. We just go our separate ways."

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yah right

[kimpOy]

about the troika in the "brooklyn nets"
carter is not anymore concern about points, he;s more focus now on winning with Jkidd and RJ. pressure is off him now, so kahit kainin ni RJ ang minutes and points ni VC eh ok lang.

[pajerokid]

hmmmm.... more O and even less D?

[kimpOy]

yap, pero what is important to the nets right now is make JKidd Happy,
imagine mo na lang kidd should have sign with the spurs last year, because they promise him a contender, then what next...they did not sign kittles...they got outsmarted by the denver for Kmart..Signing Motumbo/Alonzo big bucks for nothing...and so on...

[ownertype]

The nets lineup with Kidd, Jefferson and Carter looks so damn good. They also got rid of Mourning's contract on their plate. These 3 wouldn't mind sharing the scoring chores for the nets as long they make it to the finals. Still they weren't able to address their need for a big man to man the paint. They lost Aaron and Eric Williams who are both decent defenders and rebounders. Mourning is also making a comeback and nobody could deny that's he's working his ass to get back to his old form. The nets are left with 2 centers Collins and hardly used Krystic. Scalabrine will be their power forward which is a total downgrade for E. Williams. There will be no fast breaks if there will be no defensive rebounds. If they ever reach the playoffs, who's going to take care of big daddy shaq?

[ownertype]

For toronto. Its hard to ever win if you have a disgruntled star playing on the floor. he maybe Mr. Basketball of Canada but for me he's the team's stumbling block for success. With Carter out, expect Rose, Peterson and Marshall will have big scoring nights. Marshall doesn't need to pretend to be a power forward and Bosh as center because they could immediately insert Mourning to do the muscling and banging inside.

[pajerokid]

That's if Mourning suits up for them. Apparently, even if Mourning puts up a no-show, Tuloy pa rin ang deal

[aann]

for me, despite carter's sub-par performance and half-hearted effort this year, i think he still deserves a "standing ovation" from Toronto. I hope he doesnt get booed when he plays there. I am not a big Carter fan, but for me VC was the one who brought basketball to Canada. I dont think the sport would be that popular there if it weren't for him.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=1948464