maninblack

Thanks for the link, Trey. The Knicks are now seventh place in the East. I'm skeptical about them stinking that badly to drop down to eighth, let alone out of playoff contention. On another note, seeing the Celtics get blown out by the Rockets was crap.

Those teams also had in their primes Nash and Marion along with Stoudemire and Johnson. Find me another team with four all star level players in their 20's/early 30's that never made the Finals in the post Jordan era. Aside from coaching the current Heat or any of the last few Lakers teams, there's no team that had more individual talent at or near their prime than the Suns did during 'Antoni's time there and he still didn't get it done. If he'd made the Finals and been swept I'd have much more respect for him as a coach, but to have never made it with that much talent is pretty much inexcusable. Chris Webber's Sacramento Kings, maybe? :shrug: I agree changes need to be made for the Knicks. But I'm skeptical if replacing D'Antoni now is going to do much for them this season. They seem to be taking about as much time as the Heat to get their act together, and this is without the benefit of training camp.

D'Antoni did coach the Suns to deep playoff runs, though (and beat the Lakers ). A Joe Johnson injury and a Robert Horry hipcheck in different seasons probably kept Phoenix from getting to the finals.

This Big Three version of the Knicks has only been around for three weeks, though. And Billups was injured for several of those games. Miami took about 20 or so games before they figured out they were supposed to be a great team. Both want to be like Boston, but Pierce/Garnett/Allen were already at that point in their lives where they were willing and able to change their game to get their rings.

The question is who can they get to replace D'Antoni if he gets future endeavored. Can one of his assistants, if promoted, be trusted to do things differently? A few of the big names other Knicks fans are throwing around include Jeff Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan. JVG probably still has bad blood with Dolan though, and Sloan may have decided that retirement is a good thing.

Spoelstra's pretty much an extension of Pat Riley, but I can't see why Riley would not want to have another go coaching the Heat again. Especially if it means proving his nWo Heat will actually work. This is assuming they can stay in contention for a berth. Getting blown out of MSG by the Pacers doesn't make it all that encouraging.

So why should we actually care that the Lakers beat the Spurs? Like you said, it's only a regular season game.

Maybe he was traumatized by an owl when he was a kid. A really big owl.

Ashley Cole shoots somebody. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/886622/ashley-cole-shoots-chelsea-fan---report?cc=4716

I'd have to agree with this. Boston trading away Perk and Nate was not a good move at all.

Hopefully this doesn't mean Isaiah Thomas returns as GM

Kudos to the Knicks for finally getting rid of Curry! I'm on the side of the fence which thinks they gave up too much to make the trade happen, though :-\

Again, call me when the playoffs start. I'm not saying the Lakers are unbeatable, but the regular season does NOT matter for them. They can win in San Antonio, they can win in Miami, they can win in Boston. I'll start worrying when someone wins three playoff games against them. That'll be along the lines of it being too late to worry, though. Not saying they won't be able to successfully defend their title. But unless it's a Phil Jackson ploy to swerve everyone else watching the NBA, the Lakers do look vulnerable.

Egads, I knew Roy had health problems, but I thought that just meant a more limited role. Not prematurely ending his career. The Lakers should never have traded away the Machine >_<

Didn't political pressure from the Spanish government play a hand in Contador getting cleared?

Damnit, Fedor's handlers should have been more willing to do a deal with UFC. At least that way, Fedor's final fights (IF he opts for retirement) would have been on a bigger stage.

Speaking of former Knicks, Starbury's second season in China has so far been rocky. His team lost by more than 20 points yesterday. And Steve Francis is now playing for the Beijing Ducks.

It's hard to talk a lot about a team that never won consecutive titles, especially when the Lakers had a 3-peat in between Duncan's first two titles and have made the Finals 3 straight times since his last one. It's amazing to think that Kobe's won 5 titles and lost two other times in the Finals during Duncan's stellar career. The Spurs never were able to string together a couple of years where they were the dominant team like LA did and that's why they get lost in the shuffle. I'd also partly chalk it up to the Spurs not having a big media market to boost their image. The Lakers and Celtics have their dragon's horde of NBA championships AND that rivalry between them, but they also have the benefit of playing in cities with a huge media presence that amplifies the importance of their achievements. Much like how the NY media amplified how terrible the Knicks were.

I think it's good that they're doing away with the ban on team orders. I wouldn't be surprised to see them revisit this a few years later when some team inevitably abuses this.

I look forward to seeing Israel qualify for the 2022 tournament.

Because...it's football. So of course the English are the favorites OK, the Mideast gets 2022.

Damnit Blatter, get on with it already.

So, does this mean they run a Tetris world cup concurrent with the footie one?

Russia gets 2018.

Hmm...the Celtics pummeling the Heat in the first half of opening day. I'd be surprised to see the Heat lose badly in this game, but it's just the first day. EDIT: The Celtics win it.