They are experts.

Read more about it and other Lakers insights at Lakerhead.com

http://lakerhead.com/2009/01/04/lakers-become-the-best-team-in-the-nba/

"I’d give it to Kobe. What he’s done this whole year, to carry that team to the No. 1 team in the West right now. He’s playing his best basketball all around. I’ve watched him the whole year. I saw it last summer when I played with him with USA Basketball and the sacrifices he’s made for the team and he’s done that with the Lakers."

—LeBron James

Kobe4MVP.com

More Kobe Bryant hotness over at nikebasketball.com/kobe »

Well here is comes, countdown.

This team is ready.

The real tournament starts Saturday, when the Americans will face Puerto Rico to open up Group D action. And with all due respect to Carlos Arroyo, Yao Ming, and (insert Slovenian superstar here), but the real test for Team USA isn't in the preliminary round. It's in the knockout stages, where the team will first likely meet Turkey or Lithuania, and then either Germany or Spain or France or Serbia. When it's down to eight teams, that's when the team has to perform at or near its peak to win.

And that's exciting. Yeah, the Dream Team was great. But you knew Angola and Australia had no shot. There was no drama. (Well, except for wondering if Christian Laettner would get into the game. Always a crapshoot.) There's going to be drama in early September. Whether it's self-inflicted or caused by a team on a roll (Spain), a young team finding itself (France), or the defending gold medalists asserting their will (Argentina), it'll be something we don't typically get out of international basketball.

Here are my predictions for the tourney. The top four teams from each group make it to the knockout stage, and I've listed them in the order I think they'll finish. After that, it's pretty self-explanatory. The pairings for the knockout rounds can be found here.

losers bracket. Okay, what the hell. Brazil beats Japan, China beats Germany, China beats Brazil for 5th. Germany beats Japan for 7th. And Turkey beats Spain in the third-place game.

The best game of the prelim round will be Spain v. Germany, unless France gets its act together and puts up a fight against Argentina. (They had better hurry - this game is Saturday.) In the round of 16, I look forward to possible matchups between Germany and France, and Brazil and Puerto Rico. If the semifinals end up as I predict, that will be some damn exciting basketball. Hell, even the third-place game would be awesome!

Let's hear your predictions in the comments.

I read all four and I suggest you do the same, especially if you're like me and thirsting for more NBA content. I'm not just saying this to set the stage for when the Detroit edition appears — there are a lot of really talented writers out producing quality coverage for blogs, and it's always nice to see when the national media puts them in lights.

Red, green, and a reindeer -- it's official, the Bucks are Santa Claus's team in '06-07.

And with Charlie Villanueva joining Andrew Bogut and Bobby Simmons in the frontcourt, Santa & the Cheeseheads are going to have quite a lot to cheer about.

The Bulls signed Ben Wallace (and acquired P.J. Brown and one year of his contract for Tyson Chandler's enormously long/overpriced deal)
The Hornets went insane and signed Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, and traded for Tyson Chandler.
The Lakers signed Vlad Radmanovic.
The Clippers signed Tim Thomas.
The Hawks signed Speedy Claxton.

Like I said...a whole new NBA. And the free agent signing period hasn't even officially began.

Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images

We pretty much think Larry nailed what he was going for -- Odessa, Texas meets Miami Vice. Our two observations about Larry's attire are --

1.) If our country's economic prosperity were accurately represented by the amount of bling on the arms and necks (and ears) of NBA draft picks, then America would have come a really long way since 1991. A tiny wristwatch with a leather band? They won't even let you into the NBA with that anymore.

2.) The lowtop Nikes with dark socks -- a very nice touch. Obviously Larry knew this was a special occasion, and he showed respect by goin' with the dress socks. Good call LJ.

What's really unfortunate about the picture is that they couldn't find anything besides the emerald green backdrop for him to pose with. And whatever happened to a jersey or a team hat?

Still...you've gotta love Larry Johnson.

NEW YORK -- According to several sources in the coaching and management levels of the New York Knicks basketball team, Knicks President Isiah Thomas has "no coherent plan or strategy of any kind" to remove the Knicks from the long series of defeats they have suffered since Thomas began his tenure in late 2003. Enlarge ImageIsiah Thomas

"People are reluctant to use the word 'quagmire' around here, but let's face it: The Knicks are suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of intractable opponents who keep coming back with renewed resolve," said Larry Brown, who is recovering from injuries received as a direct result of struggling to coach the Knicks. "Perhaps the worst part is the diminishing support we're getting at home. And yet, the president is staying the course… I don't know how long he thinks this can go on."

Report: President Isiah Thomas Has No Exit Strategy For Knicks [The Onion]