Greeley in the house!

I said it this summer in Vegas when it was very unpopular to do so in some circles, I wrote it last Sunday before the season started, and I'll maintain it today: Lawson is absolutely the rookie Denver needs.  He is as quick as any guard in the league and is a major "tempo-changer."  He's also an extremely smart player who is a winner.  What's not to like?  He's still got a lot to learn, but he's a quick study.

I agree that rebounding is a relative weakness for this team.  I love David Lee as well, but I think that ship has sailed.  I'd love to see this team pick up a Udonis Haslem or Jeff Foster prior to the trade deadline.  Not sure it happens, but those are the kind of guys I believe could really help put this team over the top.

Great question.  I would be shocked if Nate doesn't make that move pretty quickly.  I know Andre failed the preseason conditioning test, but it's time to worry about winning games now and not some silly test. 

Andre has missed three games during his entire 10-year career.  Enough said.

Dude comes to play every night. How he peformed on some test a month ago is irrelevant. 

It's time for Nate to put Andre in the starting lineup as that gives the Blazers their best chance to win.

Truth be told, I don't think Kenyon was trying to foul Oden.  Kenyon is a crafty veteran who constantly tries to gain a physical advantage.  He also understands that refs often swallow their whistles late in games.  As such, I think he was trying to get away with a little extra.  That said, I'm sure he understood that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he fouled Oden.

As for it being a dumb move to have Oden in the game in 4th... you can certainly make that argument.  However, you can also make the argument that Oden needs a chance to get experience playing late in games at some point and the second game of the regular season isn't a bad time to have him in there to gain some experience. 

Sure, I think if Corey passed the ball more it would help.  Problem is, that's not how Corey plays.  Corey's a guy who shoots quick jumpers as soon as he sees daylight and/or puts his head down to try and get to the basket.  He did that so frequently when he was a Clipper that there were nights where I thought Mike Dunleavy was going to try and choke him.

Therein lies the problem for the Warriors: Golden State has a team that doesn't fit together all that well.  They have a lot of nice individual pieces, but as a whole, they just don't function that well together. 

I would be very surprised if the Warriors made the playoffs this season.

Yes.  The Lakers are my preseason favorites to win it all.  If Bynum stays healthy and keeps playing well, I think it's a wrap.  I think Artest will get more and more comfortable as the season progresses. 

I would keep my eyes on Boston, though.  I think Sheed was a great pickup for them.  The question for the C's will be durability throughout the entire campaign.  If they stay healthy I think they could give the Lakers a run for their money.

I think the Bulls have the potential to be a sleeper, no doubt.

As for a Blazers-Bulls NBA Finals... it would be fun but I don't see it happening.  I think both of these teams could make things interesting, but I don't think either team has quite enough to knock off the two or three kings of the hill in each conference as things stand now.

Two very nice wins against divisional opponents.  Nuggets' fans should feel great about the way Carmelo Anthony is playing.  I said in my chat a month ago that Melo would have a HUGE year.  I needed just one day of practice to see that he was playing on a different level than I had ever seen him play.  I think the other encouraging thing is once again Denver's defense.  They have the ability to really lock teams down, and this is a quality that all great teams have.  Combine that with Denver's ability to get to the free throw line and you have a team that will contend.

All that said, there's still obviously a long way to go.  After Sunday's home game against Memphis the Nuggets go on the road for seven straight.  They'll be playing Eastern Conference teams they should beat most nights on that trip.  If they can go 5-2 or 6-1 on that trip that and come back home on the 13th of November and knock off the Lakers that would be one hell of a start to the season.

In theory I like the idea.  The issue is that Nellie is owed a ton of jack through 2011.  Of course, Jax is due a lot of money, too, through 2013. 

Here's the question I think you have to ask yourself: will Jax stay if Nellie is fired? 

In other words, does Jackson's beef with the organization run deeper than Nellie?

If the Warriors fire Nelson and Jackson still wants out, I'm not sure it solves any problems for Golden State.  In fact, it might even create more problems.

All that said, I think the Warriors should have pulled the plug on Nelson prior to last season.  He's not a great developmental coach and doesn't have the talent to win a title in the next two seasons. 

Then again, what do I know?  :)

Be well, TLC.

It's an interesting idea.  Certainly Boozer's expiring contract would be good for Charlotte and Camby would be great as the first big off the bench in Utah.  However, I'm not sure Wallace would be a great fit for the Clips. 

LA was alternating Al Thornton and Rasual Butler as starters in the preseason with Thornton eventually winning the job.  I actually liked what I've seen from Thornton so far, too.  I think the Clips might like to keep that extra depth up-front given the injury history of their bigs, at least at this point in the season with Griffin already out.  This could be a deal worth revisiting as the trade deadline gets closer, though.

What you're looking at is a trade exception worth about $3.3 million.  Trade exceptions can't be combined with other TPE's or players.  So the player has to make ~$3.3 million or less.

Just spit-balling... here are some names that come to mind that would fit the above criteria:

Joe Smith, Atlanta Hawks

Chris Wilcox, Detroit Pistons

Mikki Moore, Golden State Warriors

Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry, Houston Rockets

Joel Anthony, Miami HEAT

Francisco Elson, Milwaukee Bucks

Sean Marks, New Orleans Hornets

Fabricio Oberto, Washington Wizards

Not sure any if any of these guys are the answer or not, but they could all be had with the Chucky Atkins' TPE if these teams were willing to deal.  Also, it's worth noting that historically most TPE's expire prior to being used.  Denver will certainly look to see what's out there, but I think the odds are always against a team finding a trade with a TPE.  The only benefit a team trading with Denver would get in the deal is cash savings and/or a draft pick if Denver were to include one. 

Just something to think about.

The Charles Barkley theory, huh?

I think it's a part of the problem, but I also think the team is learning how to play with Shaq.  It's almost like they are trying to force him the ball at times at the expense of getting others involved.  This is a common response from teammates the first time they play with Shaq.  It will improve as players get used to his presence a bit more.  I think it's way too early to say the sky is falling in Cleveland.

For my height, huh?  Next time you might as well break out the "best writer pound-for-pound" cliche.  :)

I think Damien will see a lot of time on him tonight.  I'd expect Corey Brewer to see see some time on him as well, and perhaps even Ryan Gomes.  It will, of course, be more of a team concept than anything else as is the case when trying to defend all great players.

Regarding the vernacular... I guess I watch too much Walt "Clyde" Frazier.  :)

While I like Chandler's game, I don't think he's as efficient as he could be.  He shot just 43 percent from the field last season, and even though he had 21 points against Miami on Tuesday, he only made 7 of his 18 field goal attempts.  If he becomes more efficient, he very well could lead the Knicks in scoring.

It certainly looks like a possibility based on your start to the season.  To get there you're going to have to knock Kobe off the top of the mountain, though.

That's going to be one hell of a chicken fight.

Losing Blake Griffin was a huge blow to the Clips.  I actually think Davis has looked pretty good, but if he gets frustrated, he's likely to check out like we've seen him do in the past.  It's just two games, which means the Clips have time to recover.  That said, given the group the Clippers have, a negative tsunami could level this team faster than some others.  You have to believe Mike Dunleavy's chair is already warming up.

As for the Nugs, I think they are contenders.  I also believe you've nailed it in your assessment.  They need more length as we saw in the playoffs last season.  I expect the Nugs to try and address that between now and February's trade deadline.

I think the way Carmelo Anthony played and the way Denver defended at critical times sent a nice little message.  However, it was just two games.  Denver's still got a lot of work ahead of them.

Well, I know the Jazz has had interest in Corey Maggette for years, so I actually don't think it's outside the realm of possibility.  Honestly, I'm not exactly sure why the Jazz has coveted him as I don't see him being a great fit in Sloan's motion offense.  But obviously Sloan and O'Connor would know better than I.

So in summary, I wouldn't do the deal but the Jazz just might based on their pursuit of Maggette in the past.

If he wins a scoring title playing like he has the first two games, it would absolutely be a good thing.  Melo hasn't been forcing very many shots at all, and he's scoring when the team needs him to.  Let's not forget that he also had eight rebounds and five assists in Denver's first game, too.  The only way it becomes a bad thing for Denver is if Melo starts forcing shots, which is something he hasn't been doing.

It's really paradoxical in that a couple of three seasons ago Melo was trying hard to score to prove a point.  Now that he's focused on just winning, his scoring numbers are actually going up and he's scoring in the flow of the game.  It's funny how that works.

I said last season that I think Nate could benefit from turning the reins loose a bit on offense.  I saw that at times during last night's game and that's when Portland was at their best.  I think defensively they are in pretty good shape.  Offensively, though, I'd like to see Nate turn his athletes loose a little more.

You're also correct in your assertion that the Blazers run a "four-low" for Roy quite a bit at the end of games... and sometimes for most of the fourth quarter.  Even as good as Roy is that's not something that a championship team runs as frequently as Portland has throughout the last couple of seasons.

Not sure this means Nate is on the hot seat.  I actually think he's still in pretty good standing.  However, if the losses pile up that can change for any coach in a hurry. 

Last season was all fun and games for the Blazers as they had nothing to lose.  This season they have to live up to all of the hype they've generated the past couple of seasons when most everyone was talking about how good they would be in the future.  All of a sudden the future is now in Portland.  It will be interesting to see how they respond to that challenge since it's a challenge this group hasn't faced before.

Don't hold it against me for not being morbidly obese, okay?  :)

I think Bird looks a little bit out of synch and I have made that comment to a number of people.  He doesn't look quite as sharp rotating from the weakside.  Is it specific to a post-contract drop-off?  Not willing to go there quite yet.  Let's see what the next three weeks or so bring.

One thing I think that is happening is that teams are accounting for his presence.  In other words, teams aren't going straight at him as much as they were last season.  Last season teams didn't get the memo for quite awhile with regard to how much he brought to the table defensively.  This season I can tell you from talking to other teams that he is very much a part of the scouting report.  Since he jumps at virtually every thing, expect to see teams use a lot more pump-fakes to get him off his feet and into foul trouble this season.

I've been touting Melo's scoring ability for some time and folks have called me a homer.  Now the world is seeing it.  There's no doubt at all in my mind that he's the best scorer in the league.  Great jab-step pull-up jumper, great off the dribble, amazing one-dribble pull-up, and I could go on and on.  He's an almost impossible cover.  He's too quick for those players as strong as he is and too strong for those players as quick as he is.  When Melo gets himself into trouble is when he starts settling too frequently for jumpers and stops taking cats inside.  This season he seems to have developed a really nice balance.  If that continues, he'll be in the MVP discussion.

All in and all done, folks.  Thanks for the great questions and commentary.  You can get at me again next week if I missed you.  Enjoy the games this weekend!