Hornets beat Mavs in Game 1

[bluecrew]

I think Paul, West and Chandler in particular played great yesterday.

I told y'all from the beginning once the Mavs were eliminated I'd be pulling for the Hornets and I was!

I was just taken aback by Chandlers defense. He did a great job. 10 and 15 and defense like that is awesome. I still don't think he gets enough credit.

As far as West goes he did great. I was shocked they let Oberto guard him as much as they did. When West started to go off I would have put Duncan on him and switched Kurt Thomas and Oberto to Chandler more but maybe Pop was worried about Duncan picking up fouls. He only had 1 or 2 the whole game though.

I still don't think West deserves to be an All-Star, not in the West. I'm sorry. He did play great on Sat. though. Looked solid. If he plays like this throughout the playofs though I'll eat a little crow for you guys and admit I was wrong.

Well I'm glad your pulling for the hornets.

The West you saw saturday and in the first round was David West has been doing 80% of the season. I hope Duncan guards him..West will still get 20-25.

[jlam]

I think Paul, West and Chandler in particular played great yesterday.

I told y'all from the beginning once the Mavs were eliminated I'd be pulling for the Hornets and I was!

I was just taken aback by Chandlers defense. He did a great job. 10 and 15 and defense like that is awesome. I still don't think he gets enough credit.

As far as West goes he did great. I was shocked they let Oberto guard him as much as they did. When West started to go off I would have put Duncan on him and switched Kurt Thomas and Oberto to Chandler more but maybe Pop was worried about Duncan picking up fouls. He only had 1 or 2 the whole game though.

I still don't think West deserves to be an All-Star, not in the West. I'm sorry. He did play great on Sat. though. Looked solid. If he plays like this throughout the playofs though I'll eat a little crow for you guys and admit I was wrong.

I understand you have a tendency to stick by your opinion, but, honestly and objectively speaking, who would you have put in the All-Star game over West? No one here has said he's the best PF in the game or even that he should start. Duncan made it, so he wasn't left off. Dirk made it as did Stoudamire and Boozer. Who else is better?

I'll say this, the only player I think got absolutely hosed on the All-Star considerations this season from the West was Deron Williams. But he's playing at the absolute most stacked position in the most stacked conference, so one of those very, very good guards was going to get shafted no matter what.

[bluecrew]

I understand you have a tendency to stick by your opinion, but, honestly and objectively speaking, who would you have put in the All-Star game over West? No one here has said he's the best PF in the game or even that he should start. Duncan made it, so he wasn't left off. Dirk made it as did Stoudamire and Boozer. Who else is better?

I think West is better than Boozer.

[jlam]

I think West is better than Boozer.

At this point, I agree. However, that's beside the point. Boozer still made it, so for Bigdog's arguement to be valid there would have to be someone not on the All-Star roster at that position who he thinks is more deserving.

[Tech77]

The big question is: What are the chances Hugo will get to jump through the ring of fire again in Game 2?

[jlam]

The big question is: What are the chances Hugo will get to jump through the ring of fire again in Game 2?

Damn that was dumb. You'd have thought the stupid ring was about to go nuclear the way that fire department dude ran out there immediately after the CO2 extinguishers didn't work and whipped out the chemical one.

Also dumb is "Super Hugo" IMO. It's a dude in basketball shorts and jersey and a giant, full body covering, teal leotard. Seriously. What does that have to do with anything?

[Bigdog13]

At this point, I agree. However, that's beside the point. Boozer still made it, so for Bigdog's arguement to be valid there would have to be someone not on the All-Star roster at that position who he thinks is more deserving.

Yeah, I can't remember which one but they listed either Duncan or Dirk as a center so they could get more PF's on the roster. Neither of them are really centers. On the Spurs Kurt Thomas and Oberto actually play center. And Dirk is obviously not a center either.

If you want to add as many PF's as you can then you could have 10 PF's on the roster.

I think Gasol, Duncan, Dirk, Amare, Boozer and Al Jefferson are better. When he is healthy (not this year) Elton Brand is better. West is younger then Brand though so I would actually rather have West on my team as I think he has morelong term upside though. West looks better than LaMarcus Aldridge now but Aldridge is 5 years younger. As far as all-stars go though I would easily pick West over Aldridge right now.

You guys make it seem like I am saying West is terrible and he sucks. Not the case. When he does well I compliment him. He had a good game the other night against a tough team.

[jlam]

I believe it's Amare that you're thinking of. They listed him at C and West, Duncan, Dirk, and Boozer at "F". Keep in mind that it's just G, F, and C so depending on where the talent lies you can have more of one position than the other. Usually in the Western Conference there's an abundance of SGs and PFs.

Amare is not a C, I wouldn't dispute that at all. Gasol, however, is. They may play a "twin towers" lineup or whatever when Bynum finally makes it back, but that just means they're playing two centers.

Interesting you bring up Jefferson. He's developing into a very, very good player. He's undoubtedly more athletic than West and a better rebounder (though he doesn't have Chandler around to hog all of them, either). I just don't think he has West's consistency from midrange yet, especially with a hand in his face. A year or two and we may have to revisit this because he's young and definitely talented. Like it or not though, the team has to be somewhat successful for recognition to come and Minny was not somewhat successful this season.

[Bigdog13]

I believe it's Amare that you're thinking of. They listed him at C and West, Duncan, Dirk, and Boozer at "F". Keep in mind that it's just G, F, and C so depending on where the talent lies you can have more of one position than the other. Usually in the Western Conference there's an abundance of SGs and PFs.

Amare is not a C, I wouldn't dispute that at all. Gasol, however, is. They may play a "twin towers" lineup or whatever when Bynum finally makes it back, but that just means they're playing two centers.

Interesting you bring up Jefferson. He's developing into a very, very good player. He's undoubtedly more athletic than West and a better rebounder (though he doesn't have Chandler around to hog all of them, either). I just don't think he has West's consistency from midrange yet, especially with a hand in his face. A year or two and we may have to revisit this because he's young and definitely talented. Like it or not though, the team has to be somewhat successful for recognition to come and Minny was not somewhat successful this season.

Yeah, I think Minnesota did all right with that trade. Jefferson obviously doesn't have the KG name but he is turning into a very good player. I think in a few years KG's career will be windining down and the T-Wolves fans will be very happy with that deal.
I agree on West's mid-range. He's VERY good at that. I also agree that Chandler probably keeps West from averaging more rebounds. I have made it no secret I am a big Chandler fan. If he keeps working hard there is no reason he can't turn into a 7 ft version of Dennis Rodman. (on the court that is :icon_wink Super Tough Defense, Rebounds, lots of hustle and a little bit better offense. He is limited offensively but with Peja, West and Paul they don't need him scoring a lot of points.

[hambone29]

Crazy that you give Chandler props, yet say West isn't an all-star. Chandler was on his way out of the league until he played with CP3, and West has been an all-star in the making for the last two years with or without CP3

[sik-m-boi]

i believe that both amare and duncan were listed as centers...but really, it is all-star roster making. they just find spots to put the stars. and really, at the time in the west, duncan and amare could be more productive as a center than most genuine centers.

[Bigdog13]

Crazy that you give Chandler props, yet say West isn't an all-star. Chandler was on his way out of the league until he played with CP3, and West has been an all-star in the making for the last two years with or without CP3

I am not comparing the two of them at all. Chandler doesn't get a enough props in my opinion. The tough defense he plays doesn't get measured like West's points or rebounds and Pauls points and assists. Me complementing Chandler has absolutely nothing to do with my opinion of West.

What's actually crazy is you saying Chandler basically wasn't good enough to play in the league until Pauls arrival but West just got good on his own and his improvement had nothing to do with Paul. Nice double standard there. The truth is Paul has benefitted them both greatly and I think they'd both be the first to tell you so.

[altadawg]

Chris Paul is Isaah Thomas X 2 or even x 3.

I love the Jazz and D-Will..but ive seen enough. Chris Paul is the best PG to enter the NBA since Magic...

The problem will be that they have nobody who can deal with Kobe. But make no mistake, Chris Paul is the future... And the Hornets could(hopefully) have a HUGE impact on the N.O. area...even more than the Saints. Every playoff home game is huge revenue in the playoffs, and if you go deep your talking 8-12 home games, unlike the NFL, where you are talking usually 1 or 2 tops...

[jlam]

i believe that both amare and duncan were listed as centers...but really, it is all-star roster making. they just find spots to put the stars. and really, at the time in the west, duncan and amare could be more productive as a center than most genuine centers.

Nah, the rosters list Amare as the C and Duncan at F. I went and checked. I agree totally with the rest of your post though.

Not that it's a big deal - it's really not - but why does everyone insist on calling Duncan a PF? He's a center and has been almost exclusively since Robinson started declining and was removed from the starting lineup. You're really going to look me in the face and tell me that, last night, Kurt Thomas was the playing the 5 and Duncan was at 4? Please.**

**This is not directed at anyone here, just a general rant. Stand down.

[sik-m-boi]

Nah, the rosters list Amare as the C and Duncan at F. I went and checked. I agree totally with the rest of your post though.

Not that it's a big deal - it's really not - but why does everyone insist on calling Duncan a PF? He's a center and has been almost exclusively since Robinson started declining and was removed from the starting lineup. You're really going to look me in the face and tell me that, last night, Kurt Thomas was the playing the 5 and Duncan was at 4? Please.**

**This is not directed at anyone here, just a general rant. Stand down.

good call. here's the rosre for anybody interested: http://www.nba.com/allstar2008/players/

i agree with you duncan assement. if everybody would just stop calling him a pf nobody would think he was by the style he plays.