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I really hope Vic can come back and play at the same level he was playing at. I was at the game where he got hurt and man you could hear a pin drop. I stopped caring a long time ago that he played at IU because the dude plays his ass off and is a hell of a player for my favorite NBA team. Hoping to a full recovery and hopefully back before Christmas.

Guns are not for everyone and without a doubt, you have to be careful how you store them with young children around the house. I have guns I view as investments, guns I view as adult toys, but first and foremost, they are tools requiring respect and basic safety rules to follow. My daughter got the speech about guns when she got old enough to understand. Then she got the speech about cars when she got old enough to drive. Along the way, she got the speeches about alcohol, drugs and sex, among other topics. As we saw dangers, we tried to warn her of them in advance. Short of rolling her up in bubble wrap and never allowing her to leave the house, we've done what we could to protect her, but we've also had to recognize that we live in a dangerous world. Some people won't have a gas stove or gas grill due to the potential danger. We have gas appliances, guns, knives, drive cars, fly in airplanes and hiked in areas where there were bears and mountain lions. Thankfully, we've not yet had a break-in or home intruder, but I did once late at night show a guy that I had a revolver holstered under my jacket when he started rapidly approaching me at a gas pump. He changed course immediately. He didn't say what he wanted but I felt the threat and was pretty rattled the rest if the way home. We live in a world of threats, unfortunately. Now, hopefully back to the entertaining aspects of gun ownership and use.... Living in the country and at the edge of an uninhabited flood plain, I have both pistol and rifle ranges right out my back door. I'm still, unfortunately too busy to get as much range time as I'd like.

Another interesting ranking. Nuggets are getting disrespected, imo. They're too low. P's at #11 strikes me as fair. Vic's return, assuming full health, should make them a top 3 EC team. The Harden/Westbrook show is going to be something. Something, but I'm not sure what. They could be really good, or it could just not work, or maybe it works some nights and not others. In that regard, the Thunder were really coming on last season before PG's shoulder issues/injuries. If Westbrook defers outside shooting to Harden/Gordon, they may shine. Stopping two of the best attacking guards will be hard for anyone. But the Rockets are a three-point shooting team and Westbrook is not a good shooter, and both want the ball. It will be -- something. Philly is going to really miss Redick. They're big, they're very good, but how much will the lack of outside shooting hurt? Bucks -- how much will Giannis improve? The guy is one of the hardest working players in the League, and he's a complete freak of nature. But they lost Brog (to the P's delight), that's a big loss, imo. Giannis will have to develop his outside game.

I'll Play 1. leBron- First full off season and will come out with something to prove 2. Kawhi 3.AD 4.PG I believe that LBJ will put up career highs. I can't imagine his ego likes all this talk about others being the best on the planet. He will have something to prove.

I hope so too. That team can go from good to great with him. Also they should have some nice tradable pieces to get a second star if they choose. I’ve just never seen this kind of injury before to know how anyone recovers from it. It has to effect his explosiveness and his aggressiveness this year but perhaps next he can get back to 100%. I too don’t care what school guys went to...Robbie Hummel is still one of my favorite people on tv so I feel you!

Weaponry I have...ammo too!

I really don't see Romeo getting much in the way of minutes with Brown, Hayward and Tatum on he roster plus Smart will play a lot at SG with Kemba on the team. I feel at some point the Celtics likely trade Hayward to strengthen other positions and balance the roster. I think relying on rookies Williams, Romeo and Edwards makes for a weak bench for a team that has such high expectations. They may also have to rely on their 2nd year big Robert Williams which just adds to an inexperienced bench and he is kind of knucklehead. Of course injuries change things up a lot but I expect Romeo gets a development year for the most part. Murray, White and Walker all spent their rookie year primarily on Austin for the Spurs and look to be quite a trio heading into this season. . After watching Kanter in the playoffs for Portland, I wouldn't call him soft. He may not be the best defender but he is pretty solid offensively. I think he rebounds well. At least his stats show he does. His PER has typically been in the 20's which really solid. I guess it depends on how Simmons is rated if he is considered overrated. IMO, he is an All Star player. At least he doesn't jack up 3's he cannot make and his PER has been pretty good at 20 in each of first 2 years. He is a solid defender. Whether he gives effort on that side of the ball all the time, I don't know since I don't follow all their games. IMO, playing him at PG is not the best idea.. Just let him run the show from the forward spots. I also think he needs to fix his FT % before worrying about the 3. I think on one of the summer league telecasts, they were discussing how the 3 point line should be moved back being something that might likely pick up steam in the next couple of years. Improving his mid range game and drawing fouls to get to the line would make him much more a weapon offensively if he shot 80% not 60% from the line. Simmons has played 80 regular season games and 10 playoff games each of the last 2 seasons. I would not play him in the summer league risking injury. He can work on strength, conditioning and shooting with out playing summer league games. I really like Denver. The playoff experience they received this year will be invaluable moving forward. Their young players will only get better. I'd like to thank the powers to be who put Westbrook and Harden on the same team. Now I only have despise one team in the league. LOL. I think OKC may be better than many think. Adams, Gallo and CP3 with SGA is a pretty good core. I thought the Grant trade was strange. He seemed like such a good fit with those other 4 as starters.