The LeBron James Thread

[SteelersFreak]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Anyone catch this right after the game last night?

How does Nike give it the go? Or did they have one both ready for Kevin Durant?

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hjvn0oR5uEY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

They probably had them both ready.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

I'm positive LBJ "could've" won a title in Cleveland. If we play the what if game, what if James closed out that Celtics series strong? Not sure if they beat the Lakers that year but they're on the court. What if he had the same Cleveland team last year? Not good enough to beat the Bulls or the Mavs? Not sure I can say that with 100% assurance. This year brings even more mystery. Could that Cavs team beat the banged up Celtics (would've had the bigs to limit some of the offensive damage they did and the C's offense with the banged up playoff team was shaky)? Are they losing to the 6ers, Pacers or Rose-less Bulls?

That Celtics series exposed CLE to the fullest. They had absolutely no match-up advantages outside of LBJ at the 3. Mo Williams was faded and blended by Rajon Rondo in that series and the same goes for the Garnett/Jamison match-up. Those were the two guys that were suppose to take on some of the score and creating load. They were skinned and dressed. As for the Mavs and Bulls teams from last year, 100% sure might be pushing it but 99.99% is a safe venture. You're talking about a less refined LBJ with a mediocre supporting cast, a coach with an inept in game philosophy going up against two teams with both superior coaches and players with-in the schemes they ran.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

And this is the problem I have the most with all of this. The fact that this LeBron is what fans have craved for his entire career and while he was in Cleveland. Throughout the first three rounds of the playoffs the Miami Heat were the Miami Cavaliers and LeBron did what he had to do to get his team to the Finals. Guys were walking corpses through three rounds of the playoffs just like the Cavs and LeBron put them on his back playing more minutes per game than he did in his 60 win seasons in Cleveland. He played his *** off and literally carried them to the Finals. That Game 6 against the Celtics LeBron won pretty much single handedly.

Mike Miller came in last night after literally doing nothing but stealing money for two years and was hitting threes even with hands in his face two feet behind the three point line and guys are talking about Mo Williams wouldn't have ever helped LeBron? Guys are talking like matching up against the Lakers none of those guys would have ever been able to do anything to contribute? Don't buy it.

Nobody can take away what LeBron has accomplished here. He's a champion, period and he put on a helluva show en route to doing it. His perfomance in the playoffs and Finals was amazing and just as a pure basktball fan a joy to watch. But let's leave it at just that a joy to watch. This wasn't redemption. This wasn't deserved or none of this other stuff that we're trying to classify this as. This isn't a case of some unfortunate series of events just randomly befalling LeBron that knocked him down and he got back up from. This is a self inflicted gunshot wound that LeBron did to himself and the fact that he had the opportunity to do what he did last night three years ago and he flushed it down the toliet by quitting on his team cannot in my mind be stressed enough.

I know the Star Wars analogy has been used before but it is soooo very much fitting of this situation it's not even funny. LeBron was seduced by Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade into turning his back on everybody that believed and supported him through everything. Through every Skip Bayless tirade, through every sideline dancing controversy, every handshake ducking debate, confiscated dunk tape misstep and further he was supported and he let a guy swoop in just like a predator and prey on his biggest fear. Not winning a ring in his career. Just like Palpatine was able to prey on Anakin's fear to seduce him to the dark side, Riles and Wade preyed on Bron. Congrats LeBron, you're a champion. You cheated yourself a much greater reward had you done it in Cleveland like you promised them, but you're a champion. You won it for a group of people that will discard you just as quickly as they discarded Dwyane Wade in favor of you if you're not repeating this in a few years. I hope it was worth it.

/end rant

This is wrong on just about every level I can think of. The level that LBJ is playing right now is the kind of level that most all-time greats reach at his age. The guys who are supremely talented and who put in the work usually see the height of their powers from the ages of 26-32 (that both from a physical and mental standpoint). So saying that the LBJ we saw this year should have always been is horrible premise. His production has been extremely similar to his days in CLE but thats about it. The way that he's gone about getting this team over the top couldn't be more different. In CLE everything he did was initiated from the 3pt line going toward the basket because of the coaching strategy and because of his skill-set. Either a straight iso or pick and roll. This year we saw him scoring in all kinds of situations. Making cuts off ball, getting into sets as the screener, posting ect. His leadership is also a factor that stands out a hell of alot more than it did in CLE. It also helped that Spoelstra finally figured out how to align his rotations to cause cross-matches among other things.

I'm not going to do much with the Riley/Wade cabal theory because I think its mostly garbage. The bottom line was this after that humiliation he was handed from Boston: Stay and keep coming up short or leave and try to create the best possible scenario for winning. His only mistake was the foolish and crude way he left.

(As for the Miller/Williams comparison...Miller is a bench player who doesn't have much responsibility. Mo Williams was his starting point guard who was suppose to be able to shoulder some of the scoring load. Williams "couldn't" help in the sense that against high talent players he wasn't of much use. Which is why he's coming of the bench on a Clippers squad that has Nick Young ahead of him in the rotation.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Welp, I guess they're not stopping after all.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

This is wrong on just about every level I can think of. The level that LBJ is playing right now is the kind of level that most all-time greats reach at his age. The guys who are supremely talented and who put in the work usually see the height of their powers from the ages of 26-32 (that both from a physical and mental standpoint). So saying that the LBJ we saw this year should have always been is horrible premise. His production has been extremely similar to his days in CLE but thats about it. The way that he's gone about getting this team over the top couldn't be more different. In CLE everything he did was initiated from the 3pt line going toward the basket because of the coaching strategy and because of his skill-set. Either a straight iso or pick and roll. This year we saw him scoring in all kinds of situations. Making cuts off ball, getting into sets as the screener, posting ect. His leadership is also a factor that stands out a hell of alot more than it did in CLE. It also helped that Spoelstra finally figured out how to align his rotations to cause cross-matches among other things.

I'm not going to do much with the Riley/Wade cabal theory because I think its mostly garbage. The bottom line was this after that humiliation he was handed from Boston: Stay and keep coming up short or leave and try to create the best possible scenario for winning. His only mistake was the foolish and crude way he left.

(As for the Miller/Williams comparison...Miller is a bench player who doesn't have much responsibility. Mo Williams was his starting point guard who was suppose to be able to shoulder some of the scoring load. Williams "couldn't" help in the sense that against high talent players he wasn't of much use. Which is why he's coming of the bench on a Clippers squad that has Nick Young ahead of him in the rotation.

Yeah, heard all of that before and the fact still remains unchanged at the end of the day that despite the lack of matchups as you say during that whole series they were RIGHT there with the Celtics in every single game and beating them was not this impossible task that revisionists like to try to make it seem. They didn't beat them because LeBron quit and the rest of the team minus Shaq followed his lead.

[jeebs9]

Are we still saying he quit?

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[BringTheHeat]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

At this point I hope D12 leaves Orlando and has a party and all that jazz, just to get people off of LeBron. Seriously, it was 2 years ago, Cleveland was a bum-*** team. I don't agree with how he left, but seriously, he left, won a title and MVP.

Move on

[utexas]

Next time, let us handle the moderating.

Been a member of OS too many years not to express my honest opinion. Not trying to do your job or anybody just stated what I felt just like he did. I will continue to express my opinion in a way that doesn't violate any policy. It was my opinion that his post should warrant at least a second look. So is voicing my opinion a violation?

[utexas]

The shame of it all is hatred/blindness/bitterness is causing some to not be able to really enjoy a once in a lifetime talent. As a bball fan you have to be able to spot when a man's game matures. The scary thing is he is just entering his prime at 27. What free agents will flock there to get those open looks because of the pressure he puts on opposing defenses? This could be a modern day dynasty that is built around defense and fast break styled offense. If Ray Allen decides to sign there or a Jason Terry, man...

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

You can be "right there all you" want it doesnt change the realitly of the situation. LA was "right there" with OKC for the most of that series. They "could" have been up 3-1 themsevles. The true fact of the matter is that your flaws are exposed in situations where there is high pressure/high stakes. People normally revert back to their core habits or tendencies. All "right there" means is that you've put yourself in a place where you'll live or die by the truth. And the truth is that Boston was better than CLE that year (both in terms of coaching and rosters) and LBJ hadn't developed the skills (both physical and mental) to make up the difference. I dare anyone to make an honest argument which states that those CLE teams were built to win titles considering the the structure of those rosters, MIke Brown's coaching philosophy, and LBJ's skill set and age.

[Cavsfan4life]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Many thought those teams were built to win a championship. We had offense, defense, and depth. The only thing bad about our roster was if LBJ played bad, our team most likely lost(something that can said about a few teams.) If LBJ isnt passive in game 5, we win that series IMO. Mo was solid offensively, as well as Shaq. Yes, Mo and Twan could not stop anyone, despite we still had a great series against BOS up to game 5. I do think that there was a problem though with how we continued to build our roster though. We added Mo and Twan for offense, but their D was terrible, something for the most part a problem that MB didnt have enough time to solve with injuries and the trade deadline. At that point we had to many one way players, either offense or defense. Despite all that, it shouldnt have kept LBJ from being disengaged on offense or defense, alot like last year. We saw this year him playing great on both ends, not just pick and choose. It wasnt about his skillset or age, it was about his effort.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

The problem with those CLE teams is that they weren't built to win playoff series against high level talent and high level coaching. The weaknesses that team had were in fact highly magnified by what the playoff atmosphere changes about the game. Good playoff basketball involves consistent excecution on both sides of the floor, a gameplan thats expansive enough to endure chamges, a roster with players that are versatile enough to respond to gamplan adjustments and a coach with the ability to inspire his players and put his players in position to succeed a high percentage of the time. He also needs to be able read and react to the opposing side's changes in strategy in real time at best or worst case after each game. When I look at the Cavs roster and its coaching staff (both then and now) I dont see how anyone could think they are/were title ready. That teams was built for what it accomplished.

[Sam Marlowe]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Also, aggression usually follows from having confidence in one's own ablilty versus the situation one faces. If you don't know what to do or if you do know what to do but don't have the skill-set to do it only two possible outcomes are available. You shut it down and concede or you attack with what you have and suffer the beating. In either case failure is the end game. We saw a different LBJ this year because he now has the abilities (both mental and physical) to deal with most any situation on the court. This wasn't the case as early as even 2 years ago.

[wheelman990]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Sad story Lebron couldn't get it done in Cleveland. Would have been something special. Lebron would have went down as a hero for Ohio, like Jim Brown was. Too bad he killed his image here with the decision special. Dude had so much support and loyalty here. Guess that's just the buisiness anymore. To bad it's not about winning one for the team

Bad move all around IMO. Glad he got a ring, but can't help but feel it was done the easy way. With wade and Bosch it was more of a can they manage not to win thing....

[Pared]

Re: The LeBron James Thread

Been a member of OS too many years not to express my honest opinion. Not trying to do your job or anybody just stated what I felt just like he did. I will continue to express my opinion in a way that doesn't violate any policy. It was my opinion that his post should warrant at least a second look. So is voicing my opinion a violation?

If you continue to take this thread off-topic it will be.

Use the PM system if you need to discuss this further.