Cleveland wouldnlose a seven game series to any team in the league.
LeBron James...PROOF that Loyalty DOESN'T MATTER...
- Thread starter JCane
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jree
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Ummm, Cleveland would get booted outta the first round if this was March Madness
PHINATIC13
Practice Squad
jree,I agree with you,MJ didn't win S*** his first 7 years in the league(not counting scoring titles :D)...this is exactly why I felt LBJ should have stuck it out Cleveland(not hating on the Heat)...he and his "role players" imo were just starting to learn how to win "playoff" basketball. Players like LeBron and MJ and my Lakers MJ make the "average" to good players around them rise up and play better then their talent(to an extent)...LBJ's Cavs lead the regular season in wins the last couple of years because of this....I just feel James threw in the towel a little too early in Cleveland....
The funny thing is that if Lebron was starting to feel the "pressure" of not being able to win a title in Cleveland(which some believe)....I don't see the pressure being any less now he's paired up with argueably the second best player in the league in Wade(LBJ being #1)...JMHO...
jree
Active Roster
He did stick it out though. He played through his 4 year rookie contract and then his 3 year contract. Dan Gilbert is one of the worst owners. The best he could come up with in that time span was Shaq and Mo Williams. Big Z was one of his friends so I'm pretty sure he didn't like the trade Jameson very much. Boston, Orlando, Chicago, and New York all landed big names in FA while Cleveland didn't land any. Nobody wanted to play for the Cavs. Its not a market that big names want to play for.
Nobody on the Cleveland squad holds a candle to anything that surrounded Jordan. The regular season is one thing, playoffs are another. Seriously, if you watch games of Clevelands past playoff appearances, see how many times players just stand around and not want the ball. He was doing everything by himself. It was like all of a sudden basketball was a foreign thing for them and they didn't know how to play.
I don't think it was pressure which made him leave and I don't think it has anything to do with taking an easy way out. All of that is speculation. I think it is a realization that Cleveland wasn't going anywhere and Dan Gilbert was leading them blindly. As a dolphins fan, look at Gilbert like some of our fans would look at Steven Ross. Somebody with a bunch of money but doesn't know what to spend it on. Lebron said it best, something along the lines of him not wanting to be stuck with another long contract and then realize too late that the Cavs weren't going to accomplish anything.
The talent was very similar around Howard as it was around James and that buzzer beater was a great shot but lebron thought he won the title w/ that shot and espn treate it like it was the first buzzer beater in the history of basketball.
Game 3 he shot 11 for 28 including 1 of 8 from 3
Game 4 he shot 13 of 29 in a 2 pt loss in OT
Game 6 he shot 8 of 20 and 2 of 8 from 3 in the clincher
Shaq and kobe were known for playoff failures to that point. obviously Pippen wasn't better than Jordan but if he was as great as people think he would have beena difference maker for that ultra talented Portland team. They lost in the West Finals the year before they got and the West Finals the year they got him.
obviously no players on Cle around Lebron were close to Pippen BUT the NBA isn't as good as it was back then either.
My eyes would tend to give lebron the benfit of the doubt while bing more critical of Kobe since I have rooted for Lebron and against Kobe for most of their careers.
Boston stunk at the time they drafted Bird.
The Lakers moved to LA for the '60-'61 season and had ONE championship from '61-'79.
The Bulls had never been to an NBA Finals before, they were in the midst of 6 out of 7 playoff-less years. How many titles has that great ownership won since Michael left? It's interesting how in 13 years they made and won 6 Finals while in 32 other seasons they have zero title apps.
Cleveland is nto a great franchise, they are similar to the Bulls. if Michael never goes to Chicgao they are the same franchise as the Cavs, Michael willed them to 6 titles- that is what was expected in Cle w/ Lebron.
KC Jones was not a great coach, The lakers won titles w/ 2 different HCs while Magic was there. What did Riley do w/o Magic? he was failing w/ the Knicks and the heat until he sbaotaged Van Gundy and took over a ready made team to win a title w/ Shaq.
Brad Daugherty was a great player, he would have ben a HOFer if his career wasn't cut short due to injuries.
You are comparing Jason Taylor to Lebron? Lebron is in his prime, taylor was at the end and taylor was never considered the best player in the sport in a game where one guy can make all the difference. Taylor was trying to do it the Alonzo Mourning way by hopping on the backs of others but it didn't work.
lol at junc saying in July that Cleveland was a playoff team
I think I said they would be a playoff contender but i might have said they'd be an 8 seed. To be fair that was based on the talent they had around lebron which isn't the same now and they have had tons of injuries.
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
Well I guess the argument made its way back to the original topic easily enough.
Get over it people.......you'll forget it whenever he starts to win in Miami. Fans always do. Does anyone remember Jordan for all the crap he was in the media for before he won? Or all of Kobe's transgressions, trade requests, media rants, and immaturity that the tabloids feasted on?
Get over it people.......you'll forget it whenever he starts to win in Miami. Fans always do. Does anyone remember Jordan for all the crap he was in the media for before he won? Or all of Kobe's transgressions, trade requests, media rants, and immaturity that the tabloids feasted on?
jree
Active Roster
Alston, Lewis, Pietrus, Courtney Lee, Gortat, Reddick, and Turk were all better players than anything they had that year. You don't really do much against Howar/Gortat with Wallace/Zydrunas in the front court. Its what triggered the trade for Shaq
And sometimes its just human nature to celebrate a fantastic shot. Lebron is 30% from three and hit one of the greatest shots of his career. To focus more on the celebration than the shot itself is ridiculous. Especially when saying how ESPN covered it cause that outlet is one of the most annoying when it comes to stuff like this.
[video=youtube;p5WUOnTxwPw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5WUOnTxwPw[/video]
C'mon junc, you were the one that said not to just look at the numbers. He was getting double teamed and his own team wasn't hitting their shots. Lebron had to settle for jumpers which is what he does worst. Orlando clogged the lanes and closed out on Lebron. Clevelands perimeter guys couldn't do ****.
Orlando had average talent around Howard, Cleveland was the better team b/c Lebron the best player on either side and he came up small.
Jordan didn't get double teamed?
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Just a thought...
As I've been watching and keeping up with Nat'l Signing Day,I was thinking
We are all cheering and applauding these 17-18 kids,doing their stupid hat thing,
having news conf.and such to say what college they will attend,
But,we want to bash a All-Star like Lebron for calling a news conf and leaving
Clev. like he did.
Makes you go..."Hmmmmm".
And this is coming from a Celtics fan,..so take it for what it's worth.
As I've been watching and keeping up with Nat'l Signing Day,I was thinking
We are all cheering and applauding these 17-18 kids,doing their stupid hat thing,
having news conf.and such to say what college they will attend,
But,we want to bash a All-Star like Lebron for calling a news conf and leaving
Clev. like he did.
Makes you go..."Hmmmmm".
And this is coming from a Celtics fan,..so take it for what it's worth.
You don't see the difference btw kids picking a hat going to a school and the biggest star in the game making a one hour TV special to spurn his former team? I THINK(I hope) that even Lebron knows how he did was wrong. There still would have been some negative things said but if he did it in a normal way by informing the teams privately rather than dragging it out and maing this ridiclous TV show I don't think he would have had anywhere near the amount of animosity towards him.
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I don't like either one of the methods.
spydertl79
Active Roster
This is a great point... Guys like Lebron have had everything handed to them since middle school and probably don't even understand why some people are put off by their actions.
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
You know the only reason they do this is because the fans eat this **** up. Some people will blame ESPN for giving the platform but they're broadcasting it because they know it'll draw the ratings and that's what they're in business to do.
Fans love it. They either love to hate it or just love it, but either way they love it. Just look at how much time this guy has put into trying to convince people on a message board how much he reviles an entertainer's actions.
I don't blame espn, I blame lebron and his handlers. Why wouldn't espn air that train wreck? espn lost its credibility years ago and this was guaranteed ratings. All this did was damage the reputation of lebron but like you mentioned earlier, if he wins championships most will be forgotten.
Ferretsquig
Perennial All-Pro
Can't say I understand any of it, but then again this whole celebrity culture is beyond my comprehension. Why anyone would care about the reputation of someone else as defined by the media and fan......I find that more entertaining than the actions that cause all this outrage. The guy is paid to entertain and he delivered. Now everyone has to argue about what his legacy is or how they perceive his actions to be right or wrong. Why do you care?