LAST WEEK: 19.0 ppg | 11.0 apg | 1.0 spg

Wherever he ends up on this list at season's end, Holiday has a great shot at Most Improved Player honors. He tallied a career-high 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting from the floor (1-for-2 from deep, and he was 6-for-8 from the line) to go with 13 assists and three rebounds in Sunday's win over the Suns. The Sixers are thriving right now and Holiday is fueling them.

According to an NBA source, while ‘‘The Return'' to the court for NBA games is still up in the air for Rose, the all-everything point guard could be just weeks away from practicing with the Bulls again after surgery on his left anterior cruciate ligament last May.

‘‘That's the belief that a couple of [the Bulls'] players are under,'' the source said.

Can Chauncey Billups be fined for this?

Poor Mo Williams. First Chauncey takes his job, and now this. He should make sure to never let him meet his wife.

What kind of hilarious trainwreck of a season would a team have with Mo Vaughn as it's point guard?

I'm sure Stern's going to love that...

Reports are out saying the hornets are changing their name to the pelicans

So I am watching Wolves vs. 76ers. STEAGLES, somewhere, is sad I suspect.

it is what it is. i think i said it in the last thread, but if i didn't i'll say it here: the sixers just aren't very good right now. it is what it is.

As much as Odom has helped out in the locker room -- giving players books to read like his former coach Phil Jackson once did -- the Clippers didn’t trade Mo Williams to get a good locker room guy. They need him to be a productive part of the team to be successful, and it seems Odom has turned a corner this month.

Phoenix's defense: we make you wonder why lots of guys aren't hall of famers.

I hope it's just an indirect way for New Orleans to become the Jazz again. Utah can pick up the Hornets.

The NO ABA franchise was called the Buccaneers, BTW.

I hope it's just an indirect way for New Orleans to become the Jazz again. Utah can pick up the Hornets.

Hornets is a specific reference to a revolutionary war unit.

I hope it's just an indirect way for New Orleans to become the Jazz again. Utah can pick up the Hornets.

Pfft. If that's their plan, New Orleans can suck it! ;-)

Up above a poster referred to "Hack a Big Whining Baby." I assume that means Howard. What is it about him that makes him so unlikeable?

Nah, they can have the name if they give up the Unibrow.

Look at Dwight after the Lakers lost their second straight game to open the season. From Kevin Ding at the OC Register:

"It'll all come together at the right time," Howard said late Wednesday night in the locker room after the Lakers got blown off the court in Portland.

Before that, Howard turned on some pleasant music so he could groove in front of his locker while he got dressed, his teammates all already long gone to the bus. Before that, he asked a Lakers staffer if hitting his free throws meant he could have his Halloween candy. Then he asked again. And again.

Before that, Howard mooned a TV cameraman whom he suspected of having his camera on while Howard had his underwear halfway down. Howard responded by sticking his rear end farther out, saying: "I've got a wide shot for you." And he giggled.

The season's less than a week old and Lakers writers are already tired of this ####.

?@ZachLowe_NBA
Picture it: A Pelican mascot dive-bombing from the arena ceiling into an inflatable pool at midcourt, coming out w/ enemy mascot in mouth.

I was totally wrong about Ryan Anderson. He's not a nice complimentary player, he's Kevin Love Lite.

He was averaging 18 and 8 with like a 60TS% before this game.

He was averaging 18 and 8 with like a 60TS% before this game.

So...wouldn't that kind of sort of make him something like a Kevin Love-lite?

So...wouldn't that kind of sort of make him something like a Kevin Love-lite?

I can't believe how badly Odom missed that 3-on-1 layup. He looks done.

If so that is almost unbelievable. He was basically as good or better than he'd ever been in '10-'11 and then boom, toast.

If so that is almost unbelievable. He was basically as good or better than he'd ever been in '10-'11 and then boom, toast.

Part of the reason why I think the Spurs bench shouldn't be held against them in regards to playoff aspirations is their bench can bury your starters. It was a tie game in the 4th quarter and then the Spurs bench went crazy the first 6 minutes of the 4th against most of the Milwaukee starters.

Kareem is obviously the best based solely on his work in Airplane, Game of Death, and Baseketball.

OTOH, I don't see the West looking anything like the current** version. I'd bet on 3 of the 8 right now not making it

By neglecting to evaluate the contrails of offensive rebounding events, we shortchange our understanding of the game. Take, for example, the game's best pure rebounder, Kevin Love, who has recently become a more prolific 3-point shooter. However, when Love takes a 3-point shot he is obviously not in a great rebounding position. As a result, Love's 3-point attempts elicit fewer offensive rebounds and Kobe Assists than those of his teammates. Over the past two seasons, the Wolves have rebounded their own 3-point misses 26 percent of the time. But this number for Love is 20 percent — it's 30 percent for Luke Ridnour. So, while looking at the surface of field goal percentage, Kevin Love seems to be a decent 3-point shooter, but when we examine the sequential nature of the Timberwolves' 3-point shooting his attempts are less efficient than many of his teammates.

So, seems like that even though Love is a great rebounder, this means that you might want a guy who is good on the OGlass out there with him.

I can't imagine why anyone would think it would help the NCAA to be more like the NBA.

Yeah...its nowhere near capable of doing so. I think the question is more of "How do the rules help or hinder the creation of a quality product."