Walton was a starter, Farmar could well have been by this point, Odom played significant minutes off the bench...Let's compare the combined stats...Looks pretty even to me, and if you take into consideration that Farmar could well have been starting and that Walton had started to play more minutes the Lakers have a clear advantage.
Lakers:
Odom:
PPG: 9.1
RPG: 6.2
BPG: 1
Farmar:
PPG: 7.9
aPG: 2.4
SPG: 1.1
Walton:
PPG: 3.4
RPG: 1.9
apg: 1.8
Combined:
PPG: 20.4
RPG: 9.3
apg: 6.6
BPG: 1.33
SPG: 2.56
Cavs:
Ilgauskas:
PPG:
13.1
RPG: 7.1
BPG: 1.3
West:
PPG: 12.3
apg: 3.5
Combined:
PPG: 25.4
RPG: 10.2
apg: 4.8
SPG: 1.88
BPG: 1.52

Odom played in that game lol...

ah, true. But Kobe was at 70% for most of the game...

All I'm saying is all credit to the Lakers, they came out and dominated, and they should get all the credit they get. Do keep in mind that the Cavs were missing two HUGE pieces though and we'll still be missing them on this road trip. And also Szczerbiak needs to be dealt ASAP.

Delonte West isn't what I'd call a huge piece, he's easily replaceable. But Ilgauskas is a big blow but no bigger than Farmar, Walton and Kobe and ODom not at 100%.

Delonte is the best outside shooter on the team. You fail to recognize that Z is the one major scoring threat from the 4 or 5 positions in Cleveland. Walton and Farmar are easily replaced on the lakers, and Kobe and Odom were still there at least. I'd take Kobe at 75% over just about anybody.

Yeh, I'd say they were both missing the same amount of production, it's just the Lakers are deep enough to survive, the Cavs aren't.

Proggy, what do you think of the Lakers trade?

Before I respond I'd like to point out that I actually hate the Lakers, I'm a Warriors fan.
Eh, I like Brown, he's a tough nut, Morrison is a smart player who fits in well with the Triangle but overall it's just meh. The advantage goes the Lakers though...On a side note, goddamn, Biedrins is out now?

I would not have guessed that you were a Warriors fan haha. Anywho, I really don't see this trade paying off for the Lakers this year. Morrison can be good once he settles into the rotation and regains his old form, but I don't see that happening this year. As for Shannon Brown, well I guess he's played well in spurts, but there's a reason the Cavs opted for Bobbie Gibson over him...

Wow, O'Neal to the Heat for Marion and Banks. To me this makes the Heat the clear #4 to the Magic, Celtics and Cavs in the East. Thoughts?
Edit: Jermane O'Neal of the Raptors that is.

Jermaine O'neal is past his prime, hes injury prone, hes failed to put up any consistant numbers this season. I thought the Raps got the better of this trade although Im not a marion fan at all. I just dont think at all that O'neal is gonna bring much to the table for Miami.

I do. Sure he won't be a superstar, but he basically plays the same position as Bosh, so his offensive numbers should improve and his defense is still good along with his rebounding. Think 17, 8 and 1.5. But that's not really the point of the trade, his contract goes off the books in 2010, that gives the Heat enough dollars to land some like Bosh or Melo. Or, alternatively, a solid veteran with an expiring contract will be an extremely valuable trading chip come next season.
Heat players with contracts that don't expire before 2010:
Cook
Beasley
Chalmers
Note: all rookie contracts

I don't see it playing out too well for the Raptors... I just don't see where they're headed. As for the heat, yeah they got O'Neal who's size is greatly needed but he's still not a legit center and now they only have 1 big threat to score. Double team D Wade and who's gonna hurt you?

Chalmers and Cook can both rain down from long distance, Haslem has an underrated midrange game...

Yeah but none of those guys are on par with The Matrix.

The Matrix, that who was scoring 12 a game? Oh, sorry...

Who's your MVP Proggy/Laces Out? Mine is LeBron, but I am a biased Cavs fan.

Wade, I think they're equals as players but Wade's having a better season.

Really? You're giving it to Wade under the same criteria that LeBron lost the award under last year? Kobe I understand, but D Wade not so much.

Kobe's not even having a season on the level of Wade and James, LBJ was my MVP last year.

Yeah but Kobe's the leader of what is clearly the best team in the NBA, which is more than enough for some people.

Anyways....

Sortable Roland Rating NBA Player stats

Plus I believe LeBron's defense to be a bit better. Wade reminds me a lot of the LeBron of 2 years ago; he takes a lot of risks on defense, but his tremendous ability makes it ok and it usually works out.

Only reason LBJ has better defensive stats is because the team he's on is much, much better defensively.

I'm talking about him being more of an on-ball defender. Statistically i think Wade might actually be better in some categories.... not sure. I know Wade has an obscene number of blocks or something.

He has more blocks and steals...Lebron can guard more positions but I'd say Wade is better at guarding the 1 and 2 spot.

kobe all the way for mvp. His team is awesome and his stats are almost as good as lebron and wades. The lakers are going to win 65 games this year, and probably win the championship. I say he repeats.

Lebron should get MVP this year. However, I think if I had a vote it would go to Kobe. There's no reason he should only have one MVP award. That second Nash year? Please. And Dirk's good, but he did not score 80 points that year.


The argument I can't stand is
Isn't that what the championship trophy is for? Shouldn't the MVP award go to the... most valuable player?

I just look at it like what would happen if you took that certain player off the team. That's the best way to vote for an mvp. Period. Getting involved with stats is just stupid. That's why nash won 2. If he was taken off the suns, how many games would they have lost?

Yeah, I get that logic. But the thing is I think the Suns were a boss team with or without him.

The requirements for it are so vague. But I think if it was best player those years, Kobe would have taken it. And I think Lebron is the man this year, although it's very apparent the impact Wade has on his team.

Wade's team still isn't going to win over 50. LeBron did the same thing Wade is doing now for the three previous years. The Lakers are still a playoff team without Kobe, so that takes him out of the conversation imo. Well that and Kobe isn't up with the other two statistically. LeBron vs. Wade is statistically close but the Cavs are much better, and it is mostly because of LeBron's presence. I've seen LeBron shut people down on defense for entire games. I haven't seen anything like that from Wade.

Wade is a better on ball defender of guards, Lebron has more versatility in who he can guard man to man. Trust me, Wade is better, not only is that the general consensus but I'm guessing I've seen Wade play more.

Trust him, he knows everything..

Having grown up in Cleveland (years ago) and living through many years of mediocre basketball teams, it is fun to see the Cavs doing as well as they are now (yes, I still pull for them). LeBron is a "hoss". Some friends and I were talking during the NFL playoffs when the commercial of him as a football player was running...could you imagine being a defensive back with him coming at you with a full head of steam (like he does coming down the lane)? At 6'-7", 260lbs or whatever he is, he would just run (or jump) over whoever got in his way.

He would probably be an awesome football player. As a basketball player, he's alright (ha!).

As a Clevelander, the Lebron playing football argument is all too common. He's a tremendous athlete, but people need to realize that there's a reason 6'6" or so is the tallest people get in the NFL. The knees are way too exposed for taller athletes, and Lebron, as great as he is, would be very vulnerable to knee injury.

As physical as LBJ is for a basketball player he'd get tossed around like a rag doll by most NFL linebackers.

I wouldn't go that far, but it's not like he'd be a running back or anything. He'd clearly have to play receiver, where all but a few get tossed around like rag dolls.

A couple crossing patterns and he'd have a career ending injury.

Exactly why your Randy Moss's and Co. DON'T go across the middle. He wouldn't be running crossing routes.

Randy Moss does run crossing routes, a lot of plays require every receiver to run a slant or another route that puts them in a vulnerable position in the middle of the field.

Randy Moss does not run crossing routes. He slowly jogs them with his head spinning around looking for those line backers.