The Sports Headquarters

Today we unveil another new feature here at TSHQ.  Some of the funniest things is reading the “experts” opinions on certain subjects.

So we decided to take some of the comments made by these “experts” and put them into a little debate we call “Fact or Fiction”.

Today we have Bryan and K.M. giving us their highly entertaining views on these topics.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

And if you would like to be apart of an upcoming Fact or Fiction, let me know.

1. Even with some other teams having great records, the west is still the Lakers and then everyone else:

K.M- Fact. Insofar as it was a fact to start the season. The great records of the Spurs, Jazz, or Hornets (LOLOLOLOLOLOL!) should not concern the Lakers one bit. The Lakers are just on cruise control right now, and it’s working like a charm for them. They’ve played 11 games so far as of me typing this, and how many of those games did Kobe and Pau actually play in the 4th quarter? 4? I’m just guessing, but it seems that way. The Lakers are just beating up scrubs with the B team right now most nights, not caring at all about winning every game, just concerned about winning when winning counts for something, the playoffs.

But the Lakers still have to deal with the one team with the size to match up with them, Dallas. Dallas is a pretty solid 7-3 and is looking really good so far this year. Consider this: So far this season, Dallas is second in eFG% (which for those of you that don’t know, is what smart people use instead of FG%) and is 1st in lowest eFG allowed. That’s strong. And Dallas has the best defensive FGA/FT ratio, meaning they do not put their opponents on the line. If you allow the lowest eFG, don’t put your opponents on the line, and have the highest eFG% on offense, you are strong. The Lakers are great at taking care of the ball and crashing the O glass, the Mavs are great at hitting shots and making you miss shots, these two teams make for a very intriguing matchup.

Dallas has always been the only real threat to the Lakers. The fast start of other teams hasn’t changed that fact one bit. How Dallas and Los Angeles plays out this year will decide the West. The Lakers are a heavy favorite to be the better team. But the Lakers are a lock to be better then everyone else. So this is the only Western storyline we have.

Bryan- I’m going to say this is still a fact at the moment but strongly reserve the right to change my mind. The one team I want to keep my eye on, despite not being as high on them as most now is San Antonio. New Orleans, Utah, and yes even Dallas who my colleague points to as a threat to the Lakers, are all off to strong starts but none of them will beat the Lakers. The Lakers own the Jazz. New Orleans has proven me wrong this year. I’ll show them some love but I still can’t see them getting past a 6th game with LA. And Dallas….Dallas? The Buffalo Bills of the NBA Western Conference. How many times do we have to watch this team fail in the postseason before we stop calling them a threat. They remind me of the Texans right now. Every year they are a trendy pick and yet every year they fail. There’s nothing about Dallas’ history (which as you know I’m a big fan of) that suggests to me they can beat the Lakers.

San Antonio is the one team with the history and core that I can picture beating LA and that’s big for me. I don’t consider Duncan an elite player anymore. Yet, it still wouldn’t surprise me if he had one more top-notch run in him. As of this very moment, I’d put the Lakers on a different pedestal from everyone else, but San Antonio is the one team who maybe if they get their full rotation together healthy for a playoff run could give the Lakers problems. I left out Oklahoma City which I just realized now as well as Portland but I’d put both of them in the same class as the previous 3 I mentioned last paragraph. Kmvenne is a stat-guru. There’s no question about it. And you know what I think about stats. They are for losers. And that’s what the Mavericks have always been. Until they start turning some of those great stats into big-time wins then they do nothing for me. If your looking for a team to beat LA, I’d lean San Antonio. But I wouldn’t lean to far, you just might fall over.

Looks like they agree here.  The Lakers are unquestionably the team to beat in the west, and that hasn’t changed one bit. 1-1

2. Steve Nash should be traded to a contender for a shot to win a ring.

K.M- Fact. Of course this is fact. Who wants to see Steve Nash not have a shot to win a ring? You got to be cold blooded to not want to see one of the NBA’s greatest competitors have a shot to win a ring. Steve Nash has left his mark on the NBA, a 2 time MVP, the greatest shooting PG in league history, and he deserves a chance to play for the title. Now, it’s his own damn fault he’s in the situation he’s in, playing on a team with 11 small forwards, because he signed the contract extension. But sometimes people are too loyal for their own good. Nash could raise a team like the Hawks, the Magic, the Blazers, and the Lakers (perish the thought!) to another level, and honestly teams like the Bulls, the Bucks, and the Grizzlies could also make a leap with Nash playing point. FREE NASH!

Bryan- 100% FACT . I could sit here and give you a long in-depth answer about why he should stay. How our training staff can prolong his career. But for what? He’s been with 3 cores that were on the verge of a Finals and the Suns management blew all 3 up. He’s been a standup citizen his whole time in Phoenix and letting STAT walk this summer (despite my louder than anyone else’s pleas to keep him) was the last straw in my mind. This team should be looking to build for the future around Dragic, Lopez, and for another couple seasons J-Rich. The Nash era is over in Phoenix. We can keep him and maybe battle for a 7-8 seed where we will lose quickly in the first round, or we can do the right thing. Look to move Nash to a contender, a man who has played more playoff games than anyone else without a Finals appearence, and give him a chance that Suns management passed up on time and time again this past decade in order to save Sarvar’s pocket. There’s too many great players that never get to play on the greatest stage in their sport. There’s no guarantee the team Nash would go to would get there, but I guarantee in all likelihood they’d be a lot closer than the Suns are. That opportunity walked with Amar’e Stoudemire, Joe Johnson, etc. this past decade.

2-2 It pains me to see this, but it is true.  Get this guy a chance to win a ring and get out from under the terror of Sarver.

3. Greg Oden, on the right roster, can still be a starter in this league when he gets back to health.

K.M.- Hell yes this is fact. Greg Oden, on almost any roster, can be a starter in this league when he’s healthy. How many teams honestly have a center better then a healthy Greg Oden? 3 tops? Healthy Greg Oden is actually a damn good player, he’s good for a double double in about half a game of action. You just don’t get that in today’s NBA. He can start for any number of teams if he’s healthy. Will he ever be healthy? It doesn’t seem likely at this point. It seems like the most likely case for his career is “lost cause”. But that’s not the question I’m presented with. I am to assume he’s back to health, and asked if he can start. And at least 25 teams in this league have a starting center worse then Greg Oden. Even if he loses part of his game, he’s got some game to spare. The only thing he doesn’t have to spare is health, and that’s the only thing that will keep him off a court for his career, because he does not need to worry about slipping so far on the court that what he can do on the hardwood would make him a backup center. Not in today’s league of watered down big men. Not a chance.

Bryan- If I could I would just copy and paste K’s answer. Like K said, the only question is whether he can ever be completely healthy. Guys like Spencer Hawes have started in this league. Greg Oden coming out of college was a dominant shot blocker and rebounder. Even if he regressed at this level in the NBA, you really don’t think he could start for 2/3rd’s of the league? How many teams have a 7’0 with strong defense, good rebounding, and a respectable post game? I’ll tell you….not many. I’m just going to cut this answer short because there’s really nothing left to say that K hasn’t already covered. This is a definitive FACT .

3-3 Easy answer here since IF Oden is healthy he is an automatic top 5 C in the league defensively.  He doesn’t need to be effective offensively on the right team, unfortunately we may never know.

4. Kobe Bryant’s appearance in the “Call of Duty” commercial was not offensive nor should any action be taken against him by the league.

K.M.- Fact. I would noob tube Kobe into tomorrow if he ever stepped to me in Call of Duty. Which I do not play, by the way. I heard a friend say that. I assume it’s a thing. Call of Duty is what people who don’t know how to play Civ 5 play.

Listen, anyone that thinks that Kobe’s appearance in that Call of Duty commercial was somehow offensive or detrimental to the retards that we call our future, or as you call them, today’s children, can contract AIDS and wither away. That commercial is notable for three things A) it’s pretty cool, B) it has quite possibly the definitive Rolling Stones song on it (don’t give me Satisfaction people, nobody honestly likes that song anymore), and C) it has NOTHING to do with the “horrors of war”, the “poor children”, the “terror of guns”, or whatever liberal fake outrage people are spewing these days. You want to know what George W. Bush got to lead this country for 8 years? Because America does not give a damn if Kobe Bryant is in a commercial for a video game. And America gets REALLY pissed off when bleeding hearts make a big deal about things that are awesome and tell us how bad they are. All the outrage about this commercial serves to do is desensitize America towards whatever faux-cause these people who are causing a fuss about this commercial apparently decided today to care about, before they go back to saving the whales or the snails, the trees or the bees, you get the idea. You liberal hacks are your own worst enemy. Enjoy your last 2 years of socialism. Because you’ve pissed America off to the point where you might not be able to come back from this.

In the end, it comes down to two words, personal responsibility. It’s the reason it’s a travesty that I don’t have a kid. Because I’m one of the few that has any idea what that means in regard to parenting. If you are offended by this ad, I think you are a tool and probably not very educated. That’s just my opinion, but as usual, it’s one that’s usually right.

Bryan- To be completely honest I haven’t even seen this commercial. Maybe I’ve seen a short second of it and don’t remember but nothings coming to mind. I know the game, never have played, not a big video game guy anymore outside of occasional Madden or something, but I can’t imagine what the uproar really could have been about. Gilbert Arenas brings guns into locker rooms. Is a video game really that big of a deal? Sorry for not being able to add much more, but like I said, not sure I’ve ever seen it

I don’t even know what to say on this one.  K.M gets a standing O for making me laugh like 4 times though.

SWITCH!

5. Outside of the Celtics , the top teams in the east are not as good as they were billed to be in the off-season.

Brayn- I’d say fiction but then again it depends entirely on what others billed them to be. I’ve felt since Day 1 the Magic and Bulls were 2nd-tier top teams in the East and so I don’t see anything in their game this early in the season that is moving me off that stance. The only two threats in my opinion to come out of the East are Boston and Miami. Miami has started slower than I expected (bks’ prediction they wouldn’t lose till Dec. if they beat NO a few weeks ago looks horrendous) but at the end of the day, Im not concerned about them going forward. As I said weeks ago, they are playing an 82 game exhibition season to work the kinks out and get ready for the playoffs where they will be a tough team to beat 4 times in 7 games. The Celtics are the only contender in the East that have lived up to expectations so far but come April Im sure they will have plenty of competition to get back to the Finals. I just personally believe the Heat are the only ones with a chance to stop them. After all, I can’t worry about a middle-tier team like the Bulls when their best player has yet to win a playoff series and was outplayed by Rondo last time they faced off in a series.

K.M.: Fiction, because I submit the Celtics aren’t even as good as they were billed to be in the off-season. The entire East is a huge dissapointment. The Celtics calling card for the most part is wins over the Heat, who are just pathetic at the moment, and have some bad losses on the resume. How can the Heat be a benchmark when the Pacers can beat them in Miami by double digits? The Magic have very little to brag about, the Bulls have not been as impressive, although without Boozer, it’s ok to take a wait and see apporach on them, the Bucks were overrated from the start, and I was all over them as about a .500 team, the Bobcats were never going to be as good as they were last year, and the Knicks are 6-8, which seems good for New York, but they have only played like 4 tough games so far, they are more dissapointing then the record would indicate. The entire East is not as good as we were told. The NBA as of this point is the Lakers and everyone else, with all due respect to the Spurs, but East teams don’t belong in the elite conversation. The more things don’t change, the more they stay the same.

4-4 The East sucks?  I had no idea that the top 3 in the east would struggle this much.

6. Andre Iguodola will be the first “big” name player dealt this season.

Bryan- I’d say fiction. I don’t see a ton of teams that would be desperate for his services. He’s at his best when he’s controlling the offense and very few teams have both an opening on the wing, plus a PG capable of playing off the ball more. Who will be the first big name traded? Too early to tell. If Denver stays mediocre, it could be Melo. I don’t forsee any big name players being traded anytime soon so 10 games into the season is a little early for me to be predicting something of this nature, but overall I think Iggy will remain in Philly for this year. Short answer but really what else do you want me to say about it?

K.M.- I’ll go out on a limb and say fact. And I’ll reference my previous answer for proof. Iggy can be had, and that’s of course a crucial part to this equasion. And the East is so bad right now, perhaps a team might make a move for him. Could Iggy make someone like the Cavs a top 6 East team? Maybe. It’s worth a chance if Philly is foolish enough to covert J.J. Hickson, who is average at best, as I’ve been telling people for a long time. Could the Pacers use Iggy? They for sure covet a 2 guard given the struggles of the sorry Mike Dunleavy. Duke players struggling in the NBA? Perish the thought! Could Utah use Iggy? Probably not, but would they try it? They might. Some other contenders for this award is of course Melo, who should see some rumors once the December 15th date comes around and free agents who switched teams can be traded (and Raymond Felton is really upping his trade value with his exceptional play in New York so far, one has to wonder if his large minutes are a effort to get his stats up and increase his value), Caron Butler, who is playing nothing short of terrible basketball this year for a team that is willing to make moves in Dallas, and even Gilbert Arenas might be forcing a market for himself if a team needs a gate draw with his good play so far this season. But AI is the most actively shopped name in this group, so he’s the favorite, maybe not a majority favorite, but I’ll guess he’s the one that finds a new team before anyone else.

4-5 WooHoo, they disagreed finally.  This is obviously a nice topic to debate, would love to get the fans opinions on this.

7. John Wall is already a top 5 PG in the league.

Bryan- (Laughing). O wait this is a serious question? My god, lets slow down here. FICTION. The kid has played 10 games and while his numbers have been strong so far, I’m by no means calling him a Top 5 PG in the league. Just like I said in our preseason Roundtable, he’s got the Tyreke Evans situation this year. He’s a talented, young PG on a bad team where he gets to have a ton of control allthewhile not under heavy pressure to win games. He’s in a situation that plays to him having good numbers. So Im not going to praise him too much for doing just that. No, the top 5 PG’s in the league are in no order: D-Will, CP3, Rondo, Westbrook, Nash. Give me any of those 5 over Wall. I can’t give too much love to a player who doesn’t have pressure to win games on him. Everyone knows Washington is in a rebuilding phase and are looking down the road to build around Wall. Plus, teams and coachers figure things out about players after a while. Its the same with Jennings dropping 55 early in the year last year. He caught the league by storm and then as the league got more of a look at him, they started making adjustments that could slow him down and while he was still a good player (ROY in my eyes), his level of play did regress as the season wore on. Give it time. Wall will be fine, but he’s not going to put up the numbers he’s been putting up on a regular basis this season.

K.M.: I too get much laughter at this stupid question and feel insulted I have to tell the reader this is not just fiction, it’s a premise that Iaaac Asimov finds laughable unrealistic (Dennis Miller just hired me as a writer after that esoteric reference!). Listen, I love John Wall. I think he is a Hall of Famer in the making. He’s twice the PG that Jennings is in my world, due to his defensive ability, his speed, and his passing. But Bryan is dead right about who the top 5 PG’s in the league are, that man is no fool, he knows what a quality PG is, which I think is probably the best test for how smart a NBA fan you are. And John Wall isn’t on that level yet, period. PG is the deepest position in the NBA right now, and to be a top 5 PG is a serious statement. Everyone treats the top 5 PG in the league question like Dickie V treats the question of “Who is in or out of the Big Dance?” at the end of the college basketball season. That is to say, they have a top 5 that has 8 or 9 names on it. Top 5 PG is a serious compliment, and Wall, despite all his serious, serious potentional, is not there right now. And there is no shame in that, the kid will have the league in the palm of his hands soon enough. But let him earn his accolades.

5-6 Back to agreeing with each other here.  John Wall is going to be good, but let’s respect the deepest position in the NBA.

8. Cleveland is the biggest surprise in the NBA thus far.

Bryan- Its one big Fiction-fest so far for me. I’d say the surprise of the season has been the New Orleans Hornets. Whether you thought this team was a lottery team, bubble playoff team, or even a playoff lock, I don’t think anyone expected them to come out of the gates this fast and have one of the best records in the Association. Chris Paul, though again its extremely premature, is making a strong case for MVP with his revival of the Hornets. They’ve had their fair share of easy wins but also have taken it to a few of the top teams in the league. They right now would have to be considered the 2nd best team in the West even if you don’t think they will end the year that high. Monty Williams has turned them into a pretty stout defensive ballclub and gotten top effort out of the team on a night-in, night-out basis, something that is difficult to do in a league full of egos. They certainly surprised the hell out of me and we’ll see if my colleague on this segment gives them the same respect and apology that I have forced myself to give them. GoHornets must be dancing in circles in his dorm nonstop given the relevance they have brought him back to. The Hornets to me are the biggest surprise of this young season.

K.M.: I’m going to let my main man Adolf answer this one for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MLry6Cn_D4 Thanks, Furher! Cleveland is a suprise? In what regard? They are 24th in O rating, 21st in D rating, they are 27th in expected record. They are terrible. Are they one of the 3 worst teams in the league? No. I guess that’s a small surprise. When the East is this bad, how can you be that surprised that some bad teams have mediocre records? When bad teams play bad teams, one bad team has to win.

But teams like San Antonio, who is managing to play exception offense this year despite their advanced age, or New Orleans, who are actually winning games for some unfathomable reason, are actual surprises. Cleveland sucks. That’s just expected.

6-7 And we end on agreeing as well.  Thanks for your time and we will see you next week.