DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Cavs Continued

I think this game will be the only game Pops plays his starters, he'll probably rest them the second game unless somehow memphis pulls off a win and SA has a chance to get the one seed, which would totally flip the bracket for the west.

Win 1 game and the 1 seed is locked up

Healthy and fully loaded Warriors vs Spurs

Here we go.

He can talk about it , he can emphasize it in practice, film, and game planning, but it really comes down to player effort.

If they want that coach to have any credibility, they better back him

They already back LeBron all the time.

and we will continue to have the issues we have as long as that continues.

If our "issues" include making the NBA Finals every year... Then I'm fine with that..

I was referring to the issues we have had this year.

Its all a big power play by the narcissist Lebron

the narcissist is the only reason we even get to talk about the playoffs in the first place.

Yeah, it's kind of a damned if you do or don't scenario. Sure we could back the coach and tell Lebron to get in line, but you've seen how many games we've won without him in the lineup.

Ok, and??

So he should run the whole organization??

Do you want to win?

Kyrie
Waiters
Wiggins
Thompson
Verajao

That's our starting five if LeBron doesn't come back.

We'd basically be a lesser version of Toronto, just waiting to lose to whatever team LeBron would be on..

That is not a playoff team.

In the East it is.

6-8 seed.

Getting swept in the first round.

Sounds fun.

Nobody is saying the team would have been better if LeBron didn't come back. That would be crazy talk. I don't agree that would have to be the team, other deals surely would have been made but regardless, obviously LeBron coming back made the team much better.

I would rather LeBron just do his thing than for him to leave in free agency again (if it were to come down to that). That kind of rubs me the wrong way but I watched enough terrible basketball from 2010 to 2014 to just accept that.

Ideally, LeBron would yield more to the coaching staff and front office. I think that would be the best for all involved. Let people do their jobs and it would free up a lot of time and emotional energy for LeBron. Being an NBA player, head coach, general manager, and businessman has to be tough for anybody. I'd rather him focus on his game, sounds crazy to say given how great of a player he still is but the first order of business would be to rebuild his broken jump shot.

Either way the point is the same. Let LeBron do whatever he wants or be not good? The choice is not that hard.

But when whatever Lebron wants to do is hurting the team as a whole, there is problem. Lebron can not win a title on his own. The team does, obviously he is the leader, and most important part of that team, but there is a coach and a GM for a reason, and it to do what is best for the team to win. Not stroke baby Brons ego.

Don't stroke his ego? He is not on the team anymore. There is a reason he is only signing one year deals, it gives him all the power.

hes not on the team anymore??

Indiana win tonight means LBJ gets 4 games off

...and the Bulls are eliminated from playoff contention. Detroit owns the tiebreaker against Chicago.

I was worried the Bulls would sneak up to the 8th seed. I know they're flawed but they owned the Cavs this year and were really banged up.

Meet Ron

http://es.pn/1TGSffz

It's like they were so obsessed with trying to beat Lebron that they forgot how to beat everybody else.

The Blaze pizza marketing campaign has begun.

(There is a Blaze about a block from my house and it is very good.)

You are correct. However, I get what king is saying.

LeBron is a great player. We would not be that great w/out him. However, had he bought into Blatt's system, the way Curry buys into Kerr's, or the guys in San Antonio buy into Pop's, this team would have a much better chance of winning the championship than they do currently.

LeBron wants to have it all his way. He rips players. He stares them down. The bad thing is that he does it when they do the same exact same things he does. No one walks back on D after turning the ball over more than LeBron.

I know the world is changing. But, we used to have a saying that you should lead by example. We also used to say that your actions speak louder than your words.

I truly believe the Cavs have the most talented roster in the entire NBA. Does any team have a higher payroll? I don't know...just asking. What they don't have is the team chemistry that other teams have.

I said this earlier in the year and I will stick to it.........having LeBron is like being married to the devil. W/out him, you have no chance. With him, you compromise your principles and it's doubtful you are going to win it anyway. The guy has quit in too many big playoff series for my liking. That crap against Boston when he was w/us was disgusting. His quitting in the Miami/SA series was embarrassing.

So yeah bro........you're right, but as usual, there is more to the story.

J/C ......

Until Lebron either signs a long term deal, or diminishes to the point where he is no longer a major factor in winning, he will hold power on any team he is with.

Lebron is on a series of 1 year deals with the Cavaliers. Who wants to intentionally do something to tick him off, and be the one who shoves him out the door again? Lebron is going to get massive leeway.

Further, as we saw last year, he is a beast in the playoffs. His will to win drives a team. He makes a team believe in itself, even against all odds. We probably should not have even won 1 game in the Finals last year, yet we had Golden State, a completely healthy team, sweating whether or not they would beat us. (for a few games anyway)

Opponents would never admit this, but unless it's a truly elite team, guys question and maybe even doubt if they can beat Lebron in a 7 game series. The guy has been to the finals 5 years in a row. Proof is in the results. It's very, very hard trying to beat him. He's the boogeyman of the Eastern Conference.

I think the one year deals allows flexibility for both lebron and the cavs. If he decided he wanted to take a paycut if he could get one of his buddies here, he's already said he would. Or if he could take a pay cut to help solidify the bench, if he thought that gave him his best chance to win, i think he'd do it. He's shown in the past he will do this. Of all the things lebron says/does. I believe winning a championship for his hometown team is his priority. He realizes what it does for his legacy. Money will never be hard to come by for him.. He makes his salary in endorsements many times over.

People who want to be billionaires don't willingly give up bug chunks of money.

LeBron has been signing these one year deals to keep control over Cleveland and because he can sign the super max once the cap goes up.

lead nailed it though. lebron's intention is to make it flexible to keep this team in finals contention. he does that through these 1 year deals.

and obviously you forgot the lifetime deal he signed with Nike. He's gonna be a billionaire anyway, as his net worth was already 300 mill BEFORE the nike deal.

James' list of sponsors includes Kia, McDonald's (MCD), Coca-Cola (KO), Samsung, Beats by Dre and Chinese Internet provider Tencent, among others. Forbes estimates his endorsements pay out $44 million a year, a figure that is sure to climb with the new Nike money.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/12/09/news/companies/lebron-james-endorsement-billionaire/

these little nba contracts are nothing for him.

Thats basically it, the money he makes in the nba is nothing compared to the money that building his brand and legacy will bring for years after he stops playing..plus all the partnerships he has with warner brothers, starz, Klutch Sports...his brand isn't just about basketball, though that's what built it.. another championship brings much more return than his one year salary.. hell he made 30 million just from beats being bought out by apple. Plus his time warner and turner projects and his new pizza chain. Lebron isn't hurting for money. Greatness only lasts so long in sports...you do that when you can no matter the sacrifice.

on that note, looks like Bulls are picking Noah over Gasol. I'd throw the MLE at gasol. He'd be an upgrade over what we have at center

just a note on Lebron's nike contract, though they haven't given specifics, they said it easily surpassed Durants 300million contract

Hubie Brown looks like death.

Our bench is horrible

I said this all year..it will be the reason we don't win anything this year..its just bad..Mozgov looks like the worst trade in history right now. Jefferson looks 80 years old and delly is just delly. That leaves Iman "I think I have kyries handles" Shumpert and Frye as our bench that provide points. I'm not 100% on the rules, but i'd totally bring up quinn cook from dleague to replace mo since he's obviously done this year

Steph Curry is 1/10 from 3 so far. Warriors down 9 at the end of the 3rd.

Man that love dunk got our team amped up!!

That got a "Damn!" out of me.