You pretty well summed it up.

What do you think about the Faried for Shumpert trade rumor? I know you get a lot of energy and effort out of Faried, most of his offense comes from hustle. Haven't really watched the Knicks so not sure how Shumpert has been playing. Looks like it would make some sense in that the Knicks would get help in the frontcourt with Chandler out and the Nuggets already have J.J. Hickson who is pretty much the same type of player as Faried.

I like Faried as a player but he really doesnt add what they need. He cant defend bigger post players and struggles with wings as well. He also has no offensive game outside of putbacks and dunks. Shumpert for whatever reason seems to have landed on the trading block despite being the Knicks only above average defensive perimeter player. It isnt going to help the Knicks much IMO especially when Chandler comes back. The Knicks are so poorly managed that you get to assuming that any deal they make is going to be a poor one. Why Dolan looked at this roster and thought championship is beyond me. They are old, slow, dont particularly play smart or hard, cant shoot or rebound. Thankfully Brooklyn isnt playing well either though I can rarely watch since they are blackd out on League pass in South Jersey.

Paying Chris Smith and him taking up a roster spot because of who his brother is was pretty bad. Did they really need to do that to keep J.R.? Is it worth it?

Yeah, I posted that link earlier in the thread.

Looks like another stellar defensive effort by the Rockets tonight.

Early thoughts. The Nets suck. The Grizzlies suck. The Timberwolves are a very solid team.

It just shows the dysfunction of management. Smith is hardly someone who should be catered to. Of course when the owner is an idiot who thinks the team is a contender despite obvious shortcomings the staff unfortunately has to operate in that manner. Which is why the Knicks will probably never win anything.

The Suns really play hard, Hornacek sure has them competing especially on the defensive end. Good luck with your over, you have to be happy watching the effort they give...they don't look like a team content on tanking for draft position.

Looks like Brandon Jennings didn't like the signing either lol. Then again Jennings should worry about his own game and team...the Pistons are playing terrible right now.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/stor...istons-twitter

Josh Smith = the classic case of subtraction by addition. He is far and away a better player as a stretch 4 who can create a mismatch against bigger defenders with his speed and athleticism and with his size against smaller wing types. However pairing him with Drummond and Monroe who have no wing skills pushes him to the 3 spot where he unleashes his dreadful perimeter shooting game. He is a lifetime 28% shooter on 3pt attempts yet is averaging almost 6 attempts a game this year! He is headed for career low in rebounds and assists and he isnt getting to the line because he suddenly thinks he is Kyle Korver.

Yeah you called this happening before the season started. I saw where he already got benched the other night against Golden State...you were spot on with Josh Smith. On another note they haven't won a game since Jennings was inserted into the starting lineup. Not sure Maurice Cheeks is the right guy, but I still think the Pistons will be OK.

Hard to judge a coach when he is handed a team like this. Shoot first PG, loose cannon as a big FA signing, not extending Monroes contract...

Dumars has made a bunch of questionable signings the last 5 years though he has drafted pretty well. Just trying to figure out who they want to be.

Starting in
2008-2009
Drafted Chase Budinger (Decent NBA starter when healthy) in 2nd rd and traded him for 2nd rd pick
Traded Amir Johnson (pretty good NBA starter) for a bum
Signed Ben Gordon (6th man/scorer type) for 5 years/50 million
Signed Charlie Villanueva (NBA bench player)

2009-2010
Traded Aaron Afflalo (solid NBA starter-averaging 21 pts a game this year) for 2nd rd pick
Drafted Monroe (Good NBA starter)

2010-2011
Drafted Brandon Knight (solid young NBA starter)

2011-2012
Waived Richard Hamilton after refusing to trade him for 2 years.
Traded Ben Gordon AND 1st round pick to Charlotte for way over the hill Corey Maggette

Drafted Andre Drummond (potential star player)

2012-2013
Traded Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye for 1/2 season rental of Jose Calderon.
Drafted K Pope


2013-2014
Signed Josh Smith to 4 year 54 million dollar deal.
Traded Knight and spare parts for Brandon Jennings.

So they could have a team of
PG Brandon Knight
Wing-Aaron Afflalo
Wing Chase Buddinger
PF Greg Monroe
C- Andre Drummond
Rotation player Amir Johnson
Rotation player K Pope

With just players drafted and have a TON of cap space to make moves. They right now are 3 million over the cap and dont have any real chance at getting help.

Some really questionable moves and decisions made by Dumars when you spell it out like that...jeez. But yeah you have to give him and his scouts credit for the draft selections...been really solid in that area. Cheeks does have Sheed on his staff to lean on.

...and the Blazers are for real.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...njury/3684687/

This certainly changes things

Yeah...that sucked. I really hope it's not serious, but the way it's being reported doesn't look good. You have to feel bad for Rose, all the work he put into his rehab and now this.

Yeah it is a bad break for Chicago too. Marc Gasol left game last night but supposedly is only a strain. AI popped his hamstring too. Tough night

From twitter...As @KCJHoop first reported, Chicago star Derrick Rose has a torn meniscus and will undergo knee surgery, league source confirms to Yahoo.

Tough break for Chicago as they are not the same without him.

Really cool and innovative feature being unveiled by the NBA:

http://www.nba.com/2013/news/11/25/n...s=iref:nbahpts

Portland just shredded the Knicks last night. Not that is a major accomplishment at this point but they are playing really well.

Yeah they're on a roll right now. Olshey brought in the perfect group of veterans for the Blazers...early on it's a terrific match for the young players from last year's roster. Robin Lopez has been great, Mo Williams and Dorell Wright have been playing well...even Earl Watson, when he's been pressed into playing time because of Williams' ejection and suspension has come up big.

The biggest thing I saw regarding how close this team is, was when Freeland and Bogut got into it the other night and Aldridge was one of the first ones to jump in there...grabbing people and going after Bogut...that's not really his M.O. At that point down by nine and losing both Williams and Matthews to ejections, the Blazers went on a 41-20 run, constantly going to Aldridge down low...they end up winning 113-101 and Aldridge finished with 30 and 21. Obviously early, but I really like what I see out of this team. I hope it continues so Aldridge sticks around.

Pretty incredible...only 3 teams in the Eastern conference have a winning record right now. The obvious...Pacers and Heat, along with the Hawks who are 8-6. While at the same time in the Western conference, there are only 3 teams with a losing record.

Chuck how do you feel about Indiana? Will they beat Miami in the playoffs? No other team in the East matters, at all.
I was way wrong about Clevland. Looks like Waiters will be gone very soon also.

Its unreal how no team in the East matters at all other then Indiana and Miami. What other team has any prayer of defeating those teams in a series?
In the West you have 5 or 6 teams that could be in the Finals.

I hope this is it now. When fully healthy he is not that good anyway. Fraud MVP. And when I say fully healthy I mean like 3 years ago because he was always banged up before the first knee.

He was only a fraud MVP in so much as James was the clear best player in the league. Sort of how they gave it to others when Jordan was playing. But other than James, Rose was as deserving as anyone else. More actually.

Yep it has been crazy...and when you look at it the Suns should really have beaten them 3 times so far this season. As far as them being the worst in the West, that was before the season started and any games were played. They play too hard to be the worst.

Indiana is very good. If they stay healthy they certainly challenge Miami

I'm not so sure that the market for Waiters is that hot. Cleveland probably wants more than they can get.

He was a top 3 PG in the league full of really good PG's.

Utah is far worse than the Suns because they seem to be outright tanking. When you look at the results some nights you just shake your head though.

Unless there is a fatal plane crash there is zero percent chance the eastern finals isn't Indiana/Miami. It will be humorous to watch the 3 to 5 team scrum to see which teams with between 30 and 35 wins get in the playoffs in the east.

Pacers 5 Game West coast swing started today with win over the Clippers. Some real competition coming in this group so we'll know more after this swing is over. Reminds me of the Reggie years when we had to get past the Knicks and finally did so. I think we will have Miami's number this time since it looks like we will have home court.

Portland is for real. Aldrich just dominated Ibaka in the 2nd half tonight.

That was a great game tonight. A couple of huge wins this week against two of the top teams in the league Pacers and Thunder.

Clash of Titans tonight

Knicks vrs Nets

Not that I care but, Deron Williams out tonight.

JR Smith may be out too

I know they've had some injuries but man the Nets are brutal. Whose idea was it to hire Jason Kidd as a head coach, when guys like Lionel Hollins, the Van Gundys and Nate McMillan are out there.