Thanks Irish. PTI is the best. Ever watched "Around The Horn?" That is my favorite hor of TV!

Thanks Irish. PTI is the best. Ever watched "Around The Horn?" That is my favorite hour of TV!

I didn't think Yao would be putting up these type of numbers until last season. For the sake of the poor quality of centers in the NBA, I hope he keeps it up.

Nets 87 Atlanta 72. Nets go to 12-7.

Nothing a little home cooking can't fix. Four solid quarters for the first time in a while.

Jefferson scored 22 pts on 9-12 shooting, with 14 rebounds. K-Mart added 18. Most importantly, the Nets easilly overcame a 3-13 shooting night from Kidd, who averaged about 25 pts a game on the 5 game road trip, and, I believe, led the team in scoring every night as the Nets lost 3 out of the 5.

Nets played solid defense, too, holding Abdul-Rahim, Robinson, and Terry to a combined 31 pts, about half their season average.

Nice to see you back, Irishman. Don't get too excited about Jefferson yet. He's been in and out, and he cost them the Seattle game with two missed free throws.

Hey plawrence, I heard on the radio that Mutombo broke his wrist. Is that true, and if it is, how do you think that will affect the team?

No, I tried watching Around the Horn, but I just don't really like the host or the guys on the show talking. I at least like Mike & Tony on PTI. Instead of watching Around the Horn, I watch Judge Judy! She's funny!

As for plawrence, thanks for the welcome back bud. If Jefferson did choke, we just gotta either have him practice in some more of those situations (like shooting free throws after practice when he's good & tired), or let someone else step up. It's like Jason Williams for Chicago. Great player & I love him, but he chokes when it counts, like I used to!

It's not broken, "only" torn ligaments. The paper said he'd be out 3-4 months. It's hard to say how this will affect the team, since they were getting any offense from him at all, and he was averaging only about 25 mins per game. Obviously, his defensive presence against some of the bigger big men will be missed, but lets face it: there aren't too many of those around that are any good.

This will mean alot of playing time for Jason Collins and Aaron Williams. Collins is listed at 7 ft, but I have my doubts. He's not bad defensively, not much on offense. Williams is a decent player all around, but gives up way too much height when he has to play the middle. We'll probably see a little of Kenyon Martin at center in certain matchups, even tho he's only around 6'8" or 9". And with a roster spot open, I'm sure they'll be signing smoe journeyman big man.

Even without Deke, the Nets are still one of the better teams in the East. Hopefully, they'll be back at full strength come playoff time. Don't forget, Kittles is out also, with a banged up knee.

If Jason Collins is anything like his brother, he'll make the most of these minutes. I was impressed by the way Jason guarded Shaq during the Finals (way better then Williams and McCullough) and the Nets are hoping he'll be their future starter.

I hope you're right about Collins, Span Inq, but the inside word is that the Nets never projected him to be a 35 min per game guy, just a solid 15 min a nite back-up type. You're right about the finals last year; He did a better job on Shaq than McCullough or Williams, but that ain't saying much. Most of his playing time was because the Nets were using the "We have 18 fouls to give at center" strategy.

Even worse, the league never projected his brother Jarron (a late 2nd rounder) to have any impact on the league and he's made quite the impact. There's a good chance Jarron will be a starter someday.

Jason definitely has the potential and we'll have to be watching his production during these next few games.

On a similar note, what happened to the European center that the Net's chose in the 1st round? I haven't heard much about him since draft night.

Nenad Krstic. He's a 6'11" teenager--18 or so, I think, from Yugoslovia. I'm not sure how the rules on this work, but the Nets deliberately did not offer him a contract, and they knew they wouldn't when they drafted him. He's playing in a European league, but apparently the Nets retain his rights. By not signing him, they save cap room, I guess. But as I said, I'm not sure how the rules on this work and why they retain the right to sign him for next season.

Oh, i'm familiar with the siutation. My Jazz have gone through similair things with Andrei Kirilenko and Raul Lopez.

He's probably still under a contract with a European club and the Net's are waiting for him to finish his contract up, since they might not have enough salary cap to buy it out (as you mentioned) or they might just want him to mature and gain a little more experience before he joins the NBA.

Karl Malone scored a season-high 29 points, John Stockton played an excellent floor game, and Greg Ostertag held his own against Shaq as the Jazz beat a lethargic Los Angeles Laker team 93-85 at the Delta Center tonight. We're now 11-8 and have won 8 out of their last nine ball games. Our next game is at home against the lowly Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, who we should not take lightly considering the problems we had with them last year.

Yeah, now L.A. has gotta play my Mavs who are 17-1 right now, with a win last night against Portland. Man, something is up with that team up there! They've got the talent, they just can't put it together. Maybe it's all the marajuana they're smoking!?

Yeah, they should change their name to the Portland John Blazers. Also, Ruben "Mr.Nanny" Patterson can't stop from keeping out of the criminal spotlight with Wallace and Stoudamire.
They used to be the best team in sports, to never win it all with a great team. Now they are just a joke! Don't forget they once had Wallace, Stoudamire, Kemp and Isiah Rider on the same team at once. Sounds like an episode of the "NBA's Most Wanted."

What about the Portland Jail Blazers?

They've had like 20 arrests and 15 drug convictions in 4 seasons.

I like that, the Jail Blazers! With their record, they remind me of the Dallas Cowboys of old!

Haha! I like that, good stuff.

How about the "Potland" Trail Blazers?

How about the "Potland" Trail Blazers?[/b][/quote]No, I got it! Just combine both of your suggestions, the "Potland Jail Blazers!" Now that is fabulous!

So badguytony, what do you think about the Atlanta/Milwaukee game? I thought the Bucks would win, but I guess not. They just can't seem to put it together! They lost by 18 points 98-80, and it's pretty sad when Tim Thomas is the teams leader in points tonight with 17. Meanwhile, Robinson backed up his talk, leading the way with the game high of 23 points (not to mention he was injuried). I'm disappointed in Milwaukee & in Ray Allen, he should have done more!

Man, it's not looking pretty for them. They were in it in the first half, were losing 55-52 at halftime. Then, they only scoe 28 points in the second half! Geez. "Big Dog" rally wanted to play well and he played ok, even though he didn't shoot that great. I was wondering if something would happen between him and Allen, but nothing did. In the postgame interview, "Big Dog" basically said the fued is over and that they have seperate missions to accomplish. My hope is that the Bucks will get a road win vs. a quality opponent sometime.

The Bucks need to get rid of George Karl, whatever respect he had was lost in the World Tournament.

Nets 121 Magic 88. Nets go to 13-7

Aresounding win. Nets had7 guys in double figures. Brightest spots were Rodney Rogers, 17 pts on 6-8 shooting, and Tamar Slay, 14 pts on 6-9.

McGrady was held to 16 pts, on 4-20.

Well I'd like to give a BIG shout out & congratulations to the Mens Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team for beating the #2 Texas Longhorns today, 98-92 in the BB&T Classic championship! Again Texas falls! I never understood how they were ranked #2 anyways! Can we say, OVERRATED!? Go Irish!!!!!!!!

Irishman, from both the football and basketball boards, it seems like you don't like UT. Any particular reason why?

Certainly! Being a native New Yorker in Texas isn't always easy. These people down here are very proud & obsessed with their teams (training me to fight fire with fire!). So anytime that their team losses, I enjoy it! Also, I feel that both the football (maybe not as much), but definately this year's basketball teams are overrated! They always get ranked so high, and then choke! Plus I'm a Notre Dame fan, so how can I go against my team for some longhorns!? They're not as good as everyone says & I'm tired of seeing everyone wearing burnt oragne, holding up the UT logo with their hands! I don't know how else to explain it, but I just enjoy seeing them loss!

Do you guys think the Lakers' turned their season around w/ that comeback over the Mavs?

IMHO, the Lakers have "mentally scarred" the Mavs, like how they did the Kings, and Blazers.

It's amazing how heart and knowledge of "basketball runs" overcomes more talent.

I do think that the Mavs were "scarred" a bit by the comeback, but the Lakers are still below .500 and need to keep on winning. I think that their Christmas day matchup with Suckramento will show us what kind of shape the Lakers are really in.

Well the Nets won again tonight, beating the Phoenix Suns 106-93. My boy Jason Kidd led the way with 20 points going 8-13. Again, strong performances from Richard Jefferson (19 points, 7-12 from the field), and Rodney Rogers (18, 8-14 from the field). The Nets improve to 14-7, and move within 1 game of Philadelphia!