You kids and your Twitter. There's something about 140 characters to get your point across that just seems to make sense. The whole idea got me thinking that instead of dragging out some fantasy basketball column that you'll likely just skim over, what do you say I give you 50 fantasy basketball tips and observations in 140 characters or less. You have no vote in this matter, so you're getting them anyway.
These tips are not only designed for those of you who have yet to draft your fantasy teams, but they're also for those who are looking to improve on their post-draft squads. Hopefully this is a helpful way to get out as much information as possible while keepin' it mainstream.
The Celtics are a good team. This is, by most accounts, an understatement.
Boston finished with a record of 62-20 last season, despite the fact that the heart and soul of its defense, Kevin Garnett, missed 22 of the team's final 26 games with a knee injury.
Garnett missed the playoffs as well, but that didn't stop the Celtics from taking the eventual Eastern Conference champions to seven games in the second round, before their title defense ended two rounds earlier than they had expected for most of the season.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the NBA's race for a championship is far less interesting with Kevin Garnett on the sidelines. Nothing would have been better to see the Celtics defend their title at full strength last season, and nothing would be better than a full strength Boston squad -- plus Rasheed Wallace -- battling the Cavaliers and the Magic to come out of the Eastern Conference this year.
But while KG is indeed back to practicing with his teammates, as you'll see in the following video clip, his knee appears to be far from ready for the rigors of the regular season.
ORLANDO -- There is a good reason that Boston and Cleveland -- two of the three serious contenders in the Eastern Conference -- added proven big men to their roster this summer. They already know what's coming.
Howard has come to training camp with another 10 pounds of muscle on his well-muscled frame, up to 275 pounds. He also believes his 59 percent free throw percentage -- his only serious flaw -- will rise to 70 percent after a summer of sharpening his shot.
He expects to be both more powerful -- and more accurate.
There are plenty of new faces in Kansas City, but through three weeks of the 2009 season, the results are the same. The Chiefs are 0-3 under new head coach Todd Haley, and quarterback Matt Cassel has looked more like a former seventh-round pick destined for a career as an NFL backup than a cornerstone of the franchise.
After Herm Edwards' three-year reign of terror (the team won nine games and made the playoffs in 2006, but managed just six victories the next two seasons) most Chiefs fans had learned to deal with the weekly disappointments. Not all of them, however.
When Kevin Garnett first sustained his knee injury back in February, it didn't look to be something that would keep him on the sidelines for very long. He initially missed 13 games, then came back for some limited playing time in four contests, before he was shut down by the team, but presumably only until the playoffs.
Well, we all saw how that turned out.
A few weeks turned into the rest of the season, and here we are -- about two weeks before the start of training camp -- and KG still isn't back to playing full-court basketball.
Every Tuesday this offseason, two of our NBA experts will go at it on a topic. We came up with the catchy title, Debate in the Paint. This week: Which team has had the best offseason?
The Los Angeles Lakers started this decade with three consecutive NBA titles. They will finish it by winning the last two.
Anything less would be a surprise.
Although much was made of the summertime roster additions among the top three contenders in the Eastern Conference – Boston, Cleveland, Orlando -- it was the defending champion Lakers who orchestrated the most significant moves in the off-season.
Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?
If Ron Artest is a wild card when it comes to chemistry, and Allen Iverson is a tough guy to play alongside of, then who are the NBA's best teammates? Let's talk glue guys this a.m.
Here's one guy's Top 5 Teammates list -- players you want to play with.
The Detroit Pistons were a miserable team to watch last season, winning 20 fewer games than the year before while slipping from perennial contender to eighth-seeded afterthought.
It's easy to find scapegoats for what went wrong -- Joe Dumars, for trading Chauncey Billups; Allen Iverson, for not being Billups; Rip Hamilton, for not swallowing his pride; Michael Curry, for being in over his head -- but the most glaring problem was one for which everyone was responsible: a complete and utter lack of leadership, both on the court and the sidelines.
There's still some tidying up to do this free agent season. We still need to find out about Lamar Odom, David Lee, Andre Miller, Drew Gooden and a few more interesting names out there.
But there's already plenty in the books, so let's take a look:
Wallace is a perfect fit in Boston, playing alongside veterans Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. If Boston stays healthy, they'll likely have the best interior defense in the league: Kendrick Perkins, Garnett and Wallace.