NBA Season 2009-2010

[rtc3]

the sad part is that if lebron manages to beat the celts with back to back incredible performances, consequently making the media go ballistic, there'll be no way to verify my claims. note that i actually doubt that lebron intentionally tanked the game myself, but i wouldn't put it past him to attempt that kinda shit. we're talking about a guy who spent 40+ minutes in a blowout against the celts in game 3 despite an "injured elbow" just so he could pad his stats, after all.

it'd be hilarious if the celtics beat the cavs and then lebron's like "oh fuck cleveland they booed me i'm leaving" though.

EDIT:

EDIT: I shouldn't have to explain this, but there is literally no reason at all for him to publicly say that he's resigning with the Cavs. He is in a position of greater power over the team (and over other teams) if he doesn't commit either way and from a negotiating/contractual standpoint, he has nothing to gain from putting all of his cards on the table right now.

so he could come out and say that he plans on resigning with cleveland (like dwyane wade), but he won't because he's selfish and committing either way right now wouldn't benefit him at all. cavs fans become anxious, fans of other cities start to hope against hope, and the media goes crazy and finds ways to translate every miniscule detail about lebron (yankees hat for example) into an intent to sign with other teams. LeBron gets to milk this shit for all its worth while reveling in the speculation and attention surrounding him.

of course it wouldn't be a bad thing at all to tell the cavs he's gonna resign with them (if that's his true intention in the first place) but he won't cuz he likes the attention and it wouldn't benefit him (it'd sure help team and fan morale a lot though). ok.

 

[Phizzlax]

Two weeks ago I was sure Lebron would stay in Cleveland.

Today, not so much :(

Although if he leaves, I think the booing was just icing really haha. His teammates haven't learned how to step up at all and I wouldn't blame him if he left (depending on where he goes).

 

[HeroMasaki]

good job taking my argument out of context

I simply said Durant's SKILLSET was more suited to playoff basketball than LBJ.

First, how does LeBron have an inferior skill set? Secondly when since does skillsets and potential make you THE SECOND BEST PLAYOFF PERFORMER IN THE LEAGUE

sure, his second best player is a 6'8 tweener with no defense or rebounding and he has absolutely no depth (and don't even give me excuses about lebron's supporting cast)

Oh man because you know, Mo Williams is the best PG ever, Antwan Jamison makes Karl Malone look like a joke, and of course can't forget the big Diesel! Best supporting cast in the league amirite!? And you know, that Russell Westbrook kid blows eh?

yeah, because he was taking crappy teams to the playoffs his first few years

AND LEBRON HASN'T!?!?!?!?!?!?

let me know when dirk stops playing with shitty teams and for shitty coaches

.... HOW ABOUT THIS YEAR. AND TWO YEARS AGO. AND THE YEAR THEY MADE THE FINALS

show me his stats against elite playoff defenses, rather than 1st and 2nd round scrubs like the nets and hawks.

I'll repost this for your convenience

Kobe "no shows"

• Game 6 of the 2003 Spurs series: Lakers eliminated in a 32-point blowout (Kobe scores 20, commits seven turnovers).
• Game 3, Game 4 and Game 5 of the 2004 Finals: Kobe went 4-for-13, 8-for-25 and 7-for-21 as the Pistons finished off L.A.
• Game 7 of the 2006 Suns series: Lakers lose by 32, Kobe mysteriously stops shooting in the second half in a rarely seen Eff You To My Teammates performance.
• Game 4 of the 2008 Finals: Boston rallies back from 25 down to win in L.A. Kobe finishes 6-for-19.
• Game 6 of the 2008 Finals: Boston wins the title with a 39-point blowout, Kobe goes 7-for-22.
lebron was destroyed by the spurs, by the celtics, by the pistons before they systematically imploded in games 5 and 6, etc, etc. I'm looking at what he does against REAL teams not the dregs of the East.

Funny, Kobe has also been destroyed by the Celtics, Spurs and Pistons too! I guess he shouldn't be on your list then right

get off his nuts - he's NOT THAT FUCKING GOOD, certainly no where near top 5 all time, and i'm glad the celtics are exposing him for what he is - a guy with really one thing he does well, who racks up pretty assist numbers but doesn't really make the team better, and who will get shut down each and every time by good playoff defenses.

How about you stop trying to suck your own dick and stop talking out your ass? "Hey guys look at me, I don't like LeBron so I'm just gonna make up bullshit arguments about him with no factual support and biased opinions!"

CK, LeBron got to the finals against one of the weakest, if not the weakest, string of matchups a finals contender has EVER had to go up against. Round one was the Wizards sans Arenas and Butler. Round two was a mediocre Nets team. Round 3 was the Pistons on their last legs who eventually quit on their head coach. A supposedly transcendent superstar shouldn't get swept by San Antonio who was already showing signs of aging (it's hard to believe they're like 3 seasons removed from a title)

Biased opinion that totally ignores the faults of his merry band of amazing playoff performers

The Celtics would have wrecked them in 2008 if Ray Allen hadn't suddenly forgotten how to shoot the entire series. This year they're arguably better tbqh (the big 3 is slightly worse, but rondo, perkins and the bench is WAY better)

Oh so when the Cavs play good defense, its all luck. When another team plays good defense against the Cavs, LeBron is the worst playoff performer evaaaaaar

Comments in bold. Wow.. just. Wow

EDIT: One more.

Rondo has consistently outplayed Lebron in every facet of the game. This is FACT, not opinion,

Game logs for the playoffs - Rondo
Scroll Down all the way to the bottom to see playoff stats

Game logs for LeBron

Again, you should probably do a little research before talking bullshit

 

[rtc3]

Two weeks ago I was sure Lebron would stay in Cleveland.

Today, not so much :(

Although if he leaves, I think the booing was just icing really haha. His teammates haven't learned how to step up at all and I wouldn't blame him if he left (depending on where he goes).

Me neither. I think I'd actually enjoy seeing him thrive in D'Antoni's offense. As long he keeps on not winning rings, I'm fine. It'd be a bonus if he goes to a team with a superstar/coach who can keep his attitude in check.

 

[Mizuno]

Warning, tl;dr ahead.

Sheez what's with all the LeBron James hate? I'm not the biggest LeBron James fan out there, but I think it's pretty easy to see that he is a great player.

Let's start with the left-handed free throw/elbow thing. It's funny how most people are making such a big deal about this. Hey my elbow hurts, I'm up by four with a few seconds left, might as well try a lefty (and I'm pretty sure he is capable of doing so). Oh wait, that was just so he could make an excuse further down the playoffs? Well I have not seen it yet been used as an excuse (if I missed this then please someone point me to where I can see LeBron using as an excuse). And heck, even if it was, great players are always making excuses when things don't seem to go their way. I mean seriously, has anyone seen Kobe Bryant complain? Happens a lot during games. Wade, Dirk, 'Melo... these types of players play, have to play, with an extremely high level of confidence each night in order to be the stars they are, so of course they will do anything to keep that confidence level high. So LeBron did it out of game, so what, I don't care, as long as I am entertained when watching the games.

Which leads me to my next point, the LeBron/twitter thing rtc3 posted. It basically shows his mentality, which I think is the mentality of all great players in these league. You HAVE to believe you are the best, try to be better than everyone, otherwise you will not be successful. Basketball is a game where having confidence is a huge factor, and only those with confidence in their abilities become stars (ok this probably applies to most sports, but bare with me). Again I will use as an example Kobe Bryant. You can see it in this face every time he makes a shot, a sort of arrogance in his face that basically says "yeah, you can't stop me".

LeBron is somewhat one dimensional, yes, but he is such an athletic freak that it doesn't really matter most of the time. I do agree that he struggles against good defenses, and if you notice those defenses are teams with really good defensive centers (Perkins is really solid defensively, Dwight last year obviously), because they limit this aspect of his game more. Then he uses his jump shot more, which he has never been a consistent part of this game. However, you can't really stop LeBron the whole game, he is too good for that and will find a way to score or find the open man.

And I don't understand why people underestimate his passing game so much. He finds the open man, why is that so bad? Yeah I know some people make it seem like he a mini-Magic Johnson, but he is good enough to use his amazing athletic ability to get into the paint and find the open man. I don't see Kobe or Durant averaging ~8 assists per game, so yeah... :/

Yes, he had a horrible night last night. He looked out of sync and mentally not there. Most importantly, he didn't look like his usual confident self for whatever reasons. Sometimes you just don't feel right, and I mean mentally. So whatever happened, it happened. The Celtics also did a great job to keep him out of the game with superb defense. Happens to everyone, I'm pretty sure even the great Michael Jordan had a few bad playoffs games.

The blame, IMHO, is mostly on the whole team, not just LeBron. Unfortunately, the Cavs have absolutely NO ONE to pick up the slack if LeBron has a bad game. Antawn Jaminson is good, but has never been someone that takes over games by himself. Kobe has Pau, Durant has Westbrook, Celtics have 4 guys that can do it, Dwight has Nelson (sometimes Carter, eh), Suns have Nash/Amare and apparently Gordan Dragic heheh. They have given LeBron good pieces to complete the puzzle, but he is still missing that "sidekick". They have tried with Mo/Jaminson, but I think it's pretty clear they are not that type of players. So yeah, their offense revolves around LeBron, but that's because they have nothing else to rely on (and LeBron has done a wonderful job being the sole core of the team for this long).

One last thing, I somewhat agree with this article in that LeBron would have benefited from getting some experience playing at the college level, like 'Melo and Wade did. I think it's something interesting to think about and a fun "what if".

whew, that felt good, and was fun to write too. Looking forward to game 6! Go Celtics! :D

/end

 

[Ancien Régime]

Oh man because you know, Mo Williams is the best PG ever, Antwan Jamison makes Karl Malone look like a joke, and of course can't forget the big Diesel! Best supporting cast in the league amirite!? And you know, that Russell Westbrook kid blows eh?

notice how mo williams was a pretty good player before he got to the cavs BUT SURELY THE GRAT LEBRON JAMES CAN'T MAKE PLAYERS WORSE CAN HE

granted a lot of it is the offense he plays in, but for someone supposedly so great at making the team better, nobody actually...plays better with him than without him

Funny, Kobe has also been destroyed by the Celtics, Spurs and Pistons too! I guess he shouldn't be on your list then right

except kobe has 4 championships, 1 as the the #1, 3 as the #1A, and was the 4th quarter closer against teams just as good as the teams you mentioned, like, you know, younger san antonio teams, prime sacramento kings, jailblazers at their 60 win best (while pretty much bringing the lakers from down 15 in game 7 in the 4Q), won a title with shaq and the worst 3 to 12 rotation by any title team in the history of the game (the 3rd best player was fisher - did he even average 10 ppg that year?)

kobe is "great player having bad game"
lebron is "one-dimensional player getting shut down for an entire series" which he was against san antonio

.... HOW ABOUT THIS YEAR. AND TWO YEARS AGO. AND THE YEAR THEY MADE THE FINALS

no throwing together washed up former all stars that do not fit whatsoever is not a "great team"

and to boot dirk has never had a decent center until the last half of this year, and has NEVER played with an elite level player since the last year before Nash left, or I guess since josh howard was actually good for one or two years.

Biased opinion that totally ignores the faults of his merry band of amazing playoff performers

yeah because you need a team of all-stars to have a supporting cast, not just one that is perfectly tailored to you right? just like tim duncan and dirk have had, right oh wait.

excuses excuses

Lebron as a whole has performed much better than Rondo

No. He. Hasn't.

Look beyond the damn box score for once.

Rondo has an immense positive impact on the Celtics every possession, whether it's passing, scoring, defense, or rebounding. Even last night when Rondo started off slow statistically, he was still running the offense. Setting up players. Playing great D. Making the team better.

LeBron? Jacking up shots and racking up meaningless assists in an offense designed to get shooters open looks. I guarantee put him in the triangle or the Princeton his APG will drop 2 per game, because those offenses aren't designed to pad an individual player's stats.

I'd argue Game 1 as a push, but games 2, 4 and 6 go to Rondo, without a doubt.

, and making the comparison between James and Rondo is unfair because they are not defending each other. You can hold the blame on Williams on this one for being a pathetic point guard for cavaliers.

excuses excuses

Antawn Jaminson is good, but has never been someone that takes over games by himself. Kobe has Pau, Durant has Westbrook, Celtics have 4 guys that can do it

lol what

Jamison consistently took over games by himself on teams featuring Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

Jamison averaged 32/8 against the Cavs playing by himself and he's better now than he was then.

Pau on the other hand never has and never will be anything resembling a 1st option.

Allen is a complimentary player. Arguably KG is too.

I don't see Kobe or Durant averaging ~8 assists per game, so yeah... :/

Kobe and Durant don't play in an offense conducive to padding their stats. Or with biased reffing on a consistent basis (lebron STILL crab dribbles despite the fact it's a travel)

 

[Lakers]

Well when you talk about stats, you are basically saying he performs better than Kobe in the playoffs... When did I say that you said Kobe was better than Lebron. My point is that Lebron's stats can be padded a bit considering the offense revolves entirely around him. I didnt mention his 0-13 from 3 to take a shot at Lebron, its a point that if hes not on the offense isnt either. All three losses were by double digits, and if Lebron isnt hitting shots to space the defense then everyone else has a bad night. Lebron's a good passer, but they do still overcredit him at times. When a double team comes theres not much skill involved to kick it to an open man. Im not gonna get into that debate though, im just stating how sluggish the offense gets if the defense decides to play it tight on Lebron

 

[DerrickRose]

Sigh. Laker fans are just as bad as Cavs fans. Enough with this LeBron vs Kobe bullshit. It is pointless.

 

[rtc3]

Not much else to talk about currently though, considering all we get for a while is Cavs vs Celtics.

 

[Stallion]

The Cavs just lost :D. Aside from a Lakers title, this is probably the second best thing that could happen in the playoffs ^_^!

 

[frogbandit]

lol best win in knicks franchise history

 

[Eriic]

He's played his last game for the Cavs.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

When it revolves around spacing the floor and a passing big man, then yes I'd say Kobe isnt as important to the triangle as you think. The first option in a triangle is supposed to be the big man, but when you have Kobe he becomes the first option. Again, the offense doesnt revolve around Kobe. They werent 4-0 at one point in game when he didnt play for no reason. If it completely ran through Kobe then their offense would be lethargic once he exits the game

this is how i know you only watch basketball and not actually understand it. in the triangle offense, there IS NO FIRST OPTION. it's made to create openings and passes on a series of screens. if the big man is open, then he is the option after he sets the upscreen for the point guard as he passes to the wing. if the wing is open then he can take it on. if the defense is overloading on one side then you swing weak side and do a 2-man game. if yuo dont actually play basketball as well as watching, then it's best to ignore and keep quiet about anything that someone who does says

 

[HeroMasaki]

^Exception to the rule - Kobe Bryant circa 05-07, Michael Jordan period

They were always the first option.

 

[Aeroblacktyl]

considering the ball goes directly to the wing...i dont see how my point isn't proven? the offense always revolved around kobe despite of people's wrongly assumed knowledge of what triangle is

and the triangle offense wasn't even installed for the 05/07 seasons, when smush parker is your starting point guard, the offense is kobe bringing the ball down the court and doing w/e the hell he feels like

and mj did have triangle, of course not until when phil actually came onboard. it would just be run triangle for first 3 quarters and keep team close, then loosen up and freestyle in the 4th, and of course all the moves/greatest we would remember about mj came in the 4th. though i'd like to stay away from all mj topics considering all of us were what...around 10 years old or under when the time mj won his 6th championship and has his last relevent year of bball? (1998)

 

[HeroMasaki]

Oh yeah and I'm pretty convinced LeBron will leave the Cavs now just like how Shaq left the Magic.

And I think the New York Knicks will be the team. If you had asked me this just 2 days ago, I would've said he stays in Cleveland. But now I'm about 70% sure he leaves.

 

[Shinryu]

Though the Knicks certainly have the potential to pay him what, a billion plus the "historic" value of the team and the large staging area (that NY Magazine article was great btw), I just dunno...more than anything, LeBron has to be hurting for a RING as well, and the Knicks of all his likely suitors are the least poised to deliver that; they have a shell of a team right now (ie, everyone pretty much sucks on it) and a current pricing model that is based on the idea that they can somehow lure LeBron and 1 other high priced free agent (who btw would subsequently be paid significantly less than LeBron, which could cause resentment somewhere)...it just screams bad chemistry all around. And even if they could somehow lure LeBron and someone else to play for them, then what? There is no guarantee that they'll be able to deliver on anything worthy of contention, and it'll very likely be forced on LeBron to once again basically force his team into contention, much like the earlier Cavaliers playoff series.

But yeah, I'm not sure he'll be hanging around in Cleveland anymore; I think they pretty much blew it by trying to go all out this year, and when that failed...well, there's no plan C to say. Better start looking at the draft a few years from now when they're at last place for the next LeBron, so to speak. Or maybe a Kevin Durant...just not a Kobe.

NBA Conference predictions:

Suns over Lakers: FUCK LAKERS! GTFO Kobe nut-hugging fanboys!

Celtics over Magic: Eh, I'll admit I never paid...well, any attention to the Magic, but the Celtics have the better team I feel overall, and based on how the Magic rolled over and died in last year's championship game. Then again, that could actually be a good thing for the Suns...

 

[Ancien Régime]

Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown
And you point your finger
But there's no one around

Just want one thing
Just to play the king
But the castle's crumbled
And you're left with just a name

Where's your crown, King Nothing?
Nothing

No you're just nothing
Where's your crown, King Nothing?
No you're just nothing
absolutely nothing

 

[Lakers]

this is how i know you only watch basketball and not actually understand it. in the triangle offense, there IS NO FIRST OPTION. it's made to create openings and passes on a series of screens. if the big man is open, then he is the option after he sets the upscreen for the point guard as he passes to the wing. if the wing is open then he can take it on. if the defense is overloading on one side then you swing weak side and do a 2-man game. if yuo dont actually play basketball as well as watching, then it's best to ignore and keep quiet about anything that someone who does says

Yes, because, you know, I dont play/coach along with watching basketball? Im not going to continue a pointless argument on the triangle, my point again is that Lebron would not have these ridiculously padded numbers like he does on Cleveland if he played in the Lakers' triangle.

@Hero: There still could be a chance that he stays in Cleveland. When shaq comes off the books, if CLE still has the MLE available maybe Lebron could convince a guy to sign for that just for a year to see if they could just dominate the league. That wont happen though, and im pretty sure Wade might sign with Chicago considering thats his hometown and they have pieces to work with. If Lebron and Bosh or Lebron and Wade do come to NY, their both going to want the most money possible. I wish they'd talk it over and realize, if they both signed for about 7-8 mil for 1-2 year deals, then they could bring in Bosh and possibly another star to make a ridiculous lineup. Especially if they sign for decent money for 2 years, then they can bring in another big name when Eddy Curry comes off the books next season

 

[CaptKirby]

LeBron --> Chicago is the only reasonable option. Strangely the only two teams that can take him, in my mind, without making any other moves would be Chicago and...Milwaukee?! (LeBron/Salmons/Jennings/Bogut would make for an incredible core, and it is not like LeBron would be stepping on any toes by replacing Delfino and Mbah a Moute). If he goes to the Knicks and ends up with himself/Amare/Joe Johnson, then he is the biggest idiot he could possibly be. Chicago would be a much better fit as long as he can reach an understanding with Derrick Rose.

End of the LeBron Cleveland era was exceptionally fun...it just was somehow. Wheeee.

Suns/Magic finals baby! Both are by far the two hottest teams in basketball. Suns have played so much better than the Lakers since the all star break, I think they can seriously take this.

 

[DerrickRose]

Yeah, only if you think small ball will ever get you in the finals against a team that owns you on the glass and pounds inside.

Oh wait, OKC already tried that act.

 

[Lakers]

Even though CLE got knocked out, i still think these two matchups are the best right now for the NBA. That Bos/ORL series last year was great, and now with Garnett back this year this series is gonna be even better. On paper, the Lakers should win since their 2-5 are just better than the Suns 2-5, maybe a tie actually at 4 with Amare/Gasol. The Lakers' length is going to be a problem for the Suns, but Fisher on Nash scares me a bit. Nash has been on a mission these playoffs and he wants that ring that he deserves. Fisher did a little better last series, but he was still getting burned by D Will.

 

[rtc3]

Kinda late to the LOL Lebron party, though honestly he did better than I expected in Game 6. Imo it's 50-50 about him leaving right now, although as I've mentioned I'd love to see him gtfo of cleveland. Dwade has already expressed his intent to stay in Miami afaik, so that leaves NY with a possibility of ending up with any combination of James/Joe Johnson/Amare/etc

If LBJ really wants a ring though then he should just get out of his
contract, and sign with the Lakers for some change. If he wants to continue his trend of getting the #1 seed only to get continuously boinked out of the payoffs year after year though, then he can sign with any other team.

Also *SPOILERS*

Lakers in 6, Magic in 7. Lakers over Magic in 6.

 

[Lakers]

Kinda late to the LOL Lebron party, though honestly he did better than I expected in Game 6. Imo it's 50-50 about him leaving right now, although as I've mentioned I'd love to see him gtfo of cleveland. Dwade has already expressed his intent to stay in Miami afaik, so that leaves NY with a possibility of ending up with any combination of James/Joe Johnson/Amare/etc

If LBJ really wants a ring though then he should just get out of his
contract, and sign with the Lakers for some change. If he wants to continue his trend of getting the #1 seed only to get continuously boinked out of the payoffs year after year though, then he can sign with any other team.

Also *SPOILERS*

Lakers in 6, Magic in 7. Lakers over Magic in 6.

You know, as good as that seems I think that would be bad for the Lakers. 3-4 players on the same team that need their shots isnt going to work out very well, even if you have 2 HOF'ers and another All star. If LBJ really wanted a ring hed find a way to sign with the Magic for 1-2 years and play with Dwight. Imagine a lineup of Jameer/Carter/Lebron/Lewis/Dwight.

 

[rtc3]

i'd imagine we could sign him for a minimum contract, and have him as our #2 off the bench, after odom. he'd even get to tie kobe's shoes and pour the guys some gatorade. fine use of his talents tbqh


(yeah i'm really getting a kick out of this)