Boy, do you think the Blazers rue passing on Durant (same as the Knicks passing on Kobe????).
Did anyone notice that Portland dropped Greg Oden a couple of weeks ago after earlier restructuring his contract. Looks like his career may be over before it started
Conventional wisdom is that guards are a dime a dozen and big men that can actually move are a rarer commodity. Unfortunately rare doesn't translate to valuable very often in the PF and C slots. You still need the Gs to break down the defense and get the bigs their touches in their comparatively small comfort zones.
Every great big has had a strong point, SG, or SF to make them shine. Stockton/Malone, Shaq/Penny/Kobe, Duncan, Olajuwon, Moses Malone, and yes especially Kareem. Ewing didn't have much backcourt support compared to these guys so they were always bridesmaids in the East to the likes of Chicago and even Iniana. Yet we see teams go all the way with Centers that are purely role type players.
The problem with guards is that their positions require more adjustment from amateur ball to pro ball.
It's a great feeling to see a 'giant' run the court and do awesome things over their smaller opponents. That was THE show. I remember 7"4" Ralph Sampson dribbling the ball down the court like a point guard, and that alone was a spectacle. And NBA teams would draft tall men with height but lesser skills like Manute Bol and when he scores, the crowd goes wild. I recall in our local basketball scene we would recruit 'imports' from the US to beef up our local teams and those 6'9" behemoths would wow our crowd with their power plays. That's the entertainment part. Of late, we have to crack our heads on which player is playing the 1, 3, or 5 to complement each other.
Don't forget that Jeffries, one of their top defenders, is also out with a bum knee. OTOH, though he's no Amare, this kid Harrelson has been impressive in limited mins. Kids really only a soph (college) and they seem to have a diamond in the rough. Shumpert is playing well for them and now Carmellow has to step up his game. Knicks will live and die for the rest of the season on their D.
The Celtics are looking terrific today against the Heat Phil. You must be loving it but so are all we Heat haters
The 2nd year guard is finally blooming to be show why he was drafted in the 1st round 2 years ago. Now the C's are using 2 point guards at the same time in the starting lineup, and that is pretty fast backcourt combo. Garnett and Pierce have suddenly picked up their offense too. C's now 15-5 after the all-star break. Agreed, Steve, the C's won't win the title this season but I sure will be happy if they can spoil the Heat's run if they meet in the playoffs. I'm gonna love watching the replay of today's game later on. 
