Andy Natalie's Philadelphia 76ers friend's fan blogs

1.  Julius Erving:  Dr. J

2.  Dominique Wilkins:  The Human Highlight Reel

3.  George Gervin:  The Iceman

4.  Ervin Johnson:  Magic

5.  Michael Jordan:  Air Jordan

6.  Pete Maravich:  Pistol Pete

7.  Larry Bird:  Larry Legend

8.  Karl Malone:  The Mailman

9.  Vinny Johnson:  The Microwave

10.  Earl Monroe:  The Pearl 

11.  Stacey Augmon:  Plastic Man

12.  Oscar Robertson:  The Big O

13.  Lloyd Bernard Free:  World B. Free

14.  Hakeem Olajuwon:  The Dream

15.  Charles Barkley:  The Round Mound of Rebound/Sir Charles

16.  Darryl Dawkins:  Chocolate Thunder

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Marion to the Mavs:  This move definitely helps Dallas.  I'm not sure how much, though....  I dont' think Dallas is a title contender, but they definitely have a better chance to make some serious noise now.  Will they now play Josh Howard at shooting guard and Marion at small forward?  Visa Versa?  Will Terry still come off the bench?  On paper, Dallas is very intriguing.

Anthony Parker to the Cavs, Varejao re-signs:  The Cavs have to be pretty happy.  They definitely didnt want to lose Anderson, because that would've left a gaping hole at power forward.  Andy V got 6 years, $50 million.  They overpaid a little bit, but he's their hustle guy, and they need a youngster next to Shaq on the frontline.  The Cavs also added Anthony Parker.  Now Parker's 34 years old, so he's not going to play a lot of minutes, but he provides nice mid-range shooting and a decent perimeter defender.  Pretty good day for the Cavs, they addressed a couple of issues.  Don't forget about Danny Green either, he'll help them.  

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I think the Houston Rockets are going to stink next year.  Here's why:  Yao Ming will not be there.  I think that's safe to assume.  We have no idea if T-Mac is going to be the same player after his microfracture surgery.  Ron Artest is gone.  That leaves Houston with a core of a questionable T-Mac, Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza, and Luis Scola...............sorry Rockets fans, but I dont think they're even a playoff team anymore. 

Continue reading "Why Houston Will Stink Next Year"

Rasheed agreed to a deal with Boston, but odds are, he'll be coming off the bench.  KG is their starting 4, and Perkins is their starting 5.  I don't see Doc disrupting that.  Hopefully Sheed stays happy with his role.  He's going to help the team, but I don't think this move makes Boston better than Cleveland.  This deal also probably means Glen Davis won't return to Boston.

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Hedo Turkoglu is now a Toronto Raptor.  Suddenly, Toronto looks like a playoff team again.  With a core of Chris Bosh, Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Demar DeRozan, and Hedo Turkoglu, they could make some noise in the east.  They can definitely grab a 7 or 8 seed, with potential to probably get into the 5-6 range.  Turkoglu was just the playmaker they needed to relieve pressure off of Calderon.  Jose no longer is needed to handle the ball all of the time.  Toronto's bench could use a little work, though.  Right now, they don't have one reliable bench player.

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Well, the Lakers and Rockets essentially swapped players.  For all intents and purposes, Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza are basically the same player, and bring the same skills to the table.  Sure, Ariza's younger, but neither LA or Houston got better from these free agent pick ups.  Both teams are in the same boat.  Both guys are good defensive small forwards who can shoot, and will take on the toughest perimeter assignment.  Ariza has more upside, so Houston has to be happy with that.  Overall, not much was accomplished from all of this.

Continue reading "Artest to LA, Ariza to Houston"

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Detroit just agreed to deals with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.  They now have a log jam of guards.  They're probably going to have to trade Richard Hamilton.  You can't have Hamilton, Stuckey, and Gordon.  You just can't.  One of them will be unhappy.  Hamilton seems like the likely guy to be moved.

I think signing these 2 guys helps Detroit, but not a lot.  Right now, Detroit is a playoff team.  But probably in the 6-8 seed range.  Detroit's nowhere near the level of Cleveland, Orlando, or Boston.  

Why is LA letting Ariza go?  He's a lot younger than Odom and still has upside, yet they seem to be choosing Odom over Ariza.  You've got to pay both of them what they want, because losing one of them is going to hurt their chances of repeating as champs.  Ariza's only getting better.  Odom's slowly starting to decline.   

Continue reading "Gordon, Charlie V, and Ariza"

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