Got to admit that I can't find much time for the NBA anymore with just the routine things in life ... and I used to be a very die hard. But I made a point to watch the game tonight.
Some observations from a guy who has been a bit out of touch:
*Shaq is going to pay huge dividends in the playoffs against the likes of the Orlando and the Lakers - if they meet in the Finals. The vision of the role they hoped they were going to get from him is playing out perfectly.
*What they lack in the size / physical department, Hickson and Varajeo seem to make up for it in the hustle department. And they don't play scared. Huge plus.
*LeBron has surpassed Kobe as the best in the game ... I've thought so for a long time now, but it's getting to the point where you can really tell ... case in point, switch players ... Lakers would win 70 games easy.
*Man, you can tell LeBron wanted this game badly tonight. I'm glad to see he wanted the ball with the game on the line, but he needs to make those free throws. Varajeo bailed him out.
*I don't like the LeBron 1-on-5 offense. I can see going to it in the final two minutes, but they went to it with almost 5 minutes left. I don't like it. I think this can hurt more than help most times.
*I just can't see LeBron leaving. This team is one piece away from being the perennial favorites, and they could still win it all this year.
LOL - The Rish will be upset with this news as well. KS just doesn't prioritize winning...
Quote: Got to admit that I can't find much time for the NBA anymore with just the routine things in life ... and I used to be a very die hard. But I made a point to watch the game tonight.
Some observations from a guy who has been a bit out of touch:
*Shaq is going to pay huge dividends in the playoffs against the likes of the Orlando and the Lakers - if they meet in the Finals. The vision of the role they hoped they were going to get from him is playing out perfectly.
*What they lack in the size / physical department, Hickson and Varajeo seem to make up for it in the hustle department. And they don't play scared. Huge plus.
*LeBron has surpassed Kobe as the best in the game ... I've thought so for a long time now, but it's getting to the point where you can really tell ... case in point, switch players ... Lakers would win 70 games easy.
*Man, you can tell LeBron wanted this game badly tonight. I'm glad to see he wanted the ball with the game on the line, but he needs to make those free throws. Varajeo bailed him out.
*I don't like the LeBron 1-on-5 offense. I can see going to it in the final two minutes, but they went to it with almost 5 minutes left. I don't like it. I think this can hurt more than help most times.
*I just can't see LeBron leaving. This team is one piece away from being the perennial favorites, and they could still win it all this year.
great points.
i have to disagree on the lebron and 4 offense tonight. normally i am with you on that, but when they went to it tonight, lebron had them in the palm of his hand, his jumper was hitting and when it is hitting, you can't stop the guy, the second you start playing up on him, he's going to destroy you when he puts the ball on the floor.
shaq was great tonight, exactly what we needed. he is the calming force on this team, you can always throw the ball to him down low when other options aren't working, because he opens up better options. he punked gasol too, dude wanted zero part of him in the 4th.
this team is damn good, but losing mo is going to hurt, 4-6 weeks is a big blow and this is a great start to that time frame.
delonte was great tonight too. how nice is it to have a guy like delonte, who can run your offense, defend most guards, and has experience running the offense in the playoffs, come in when you lose a guy like mo? he may not be able to rack up points like mo can, but defensively you have a better advantage.
everyone contributed tonight. for as much as people rip the cavs for not having name brand players to go alongside lebron (read simmons' article which i believe has been posted on here), they seem to get the job done. they are better than the experts like to point out.
it's a great win, and it shows that we are indeed better than last year, but if these 2 meet up in june, this all gets thrown out the window, just like most of us had said last year when we lost both games to the lakers. but you can certainly feel more excited because the cavs are truly a title contender and may be made favorites in vegas tomorrow.
Great game last night. From the mid 3rd til the end was just phenomial basketball. Really was enjoyable to watch, and the cavs sweeping the lakers is awesome.
"The medium for the bad news was ESPN, which figured. The network represents much of what is loud, obnoxious and empty in sports today."
windy is reporting delonte got hurt in the game last night, finger injury, he is gonna get an evaluation at the cc today. cross your fingers.
if that happens mike brown is gonna have to get creative. if i were him, and we lose d-west for a while i would start lbj at the point and start jawad at the 3.
that is, if we can't sign anyone who can run the offense.
Either way, he probably won't be playing tomorrow against the Thunder..
Thunder are a good team, and they have started to use Westbrook and Maynor together on the floor at the same time.. Having 2 quick guys like that out there together could really give us fits, especially with Delonte unable to go.. Gib generally has a tough time staying in front of anyone..
Quote: Gib generally has a tough time staying in front of anyone..
up until this year, that was completely accurate. but, did you see Gibby in October/November this year?
the game against Minny was his best...he completely destroyed the ultra-quick Johnny Flynn (including 2 pick-pockets in the 4th).
the biggest question will be if not playing much the last month has hurt his confidence or his defense...he looked okay last night, but is going to have to step it up even further now.
but i agree, i think mike brown should at least give boobie a chance to fill the void. if he can't you can put lbj at the point or go out on the street and sign a guy (i think tyrone lue is available, that would be a decent option to stop the bleeding)
it sucks, but this team has always shown resilience. they will get through it.
it is nice that they got what could have been an extremely brutal trip out west done, as mentioned before. we have a lot of home cooking coming up and role guys always seem to play better at home, and role guys are now going to have to become starting caliber guys, for the time being.
if shaq continues his solid play it will make life easier on guys like jawad, and boobie, and others who may see more time than usual. i wonder if we even see a little bit of danny green out there?
Quote: Gib generally has a tough time staying in front of anyone..
up until this year, that was completely accurate. but, did you see Gibby in October/November this year?
the game against Minny was his best...he completely destroyed the ultra-quick Johnny Flynn (including 2 pick-pockets in the 4th).
the biggest question will be if not playing much the last month has hurt his confidence or his defense...he looked okay last night, but is going to have to step it up even further now.
Haha, yeah No Logo, I was at the game in Minnesota.. And Gib did that against a rookie... I know Flynn is quick, but I have seen Gib's body of work, and I am concerned... Doing it in October/November is great, but I need to see it in March/April to be a believer.. Teams will begin to target him.. Guys like TJ Ford and Rondo have historically given him fits.. He is prone to foul and he tends to gamble on the ball too much and almost give too much respect to certain players jump shooting abilities, which leads to the player going right around him...
Another concern is his ability to handle the ball.. He has had trouble in the past not being strong enough with the ball when bringing it up the floor.. This has historically been a bigger problem for him on the road..
And I like Gib, but I feel he has to play smarter on D...
just wanted to make sure Gibson got his due as he really seemed like he elevated his defense this year from past years. then, despite that, his rotation time was cut short (though with Mo, Delonte and Gibson it was tough for 2 of them to be on the floor at the same time against any team with big gaurds).
well, we'll get to see what he can contribute now and hopefully what we saw earlier in the year was not a mirage.
(and completely agree that Rondo is a horrible matchup for Gibson. I'm not a Rondo fan by any stretch, but I'd be livid if I saw us put Gibson on him during the playoffs)
Man I loved that play when LBJ crossed over going to the lane and basically broke Kobe's ankle. Announcers made some excuse for Kobe but it was awesome. I mean he fell down LeBron's move was so good and fast!
Quote: Man I loved that play when LBJ crossed over going to the lane and basically broke Kobe's ankle. Announcers made some excuse for Kobe but it was awesome. I mean he fell down LeBron's move was so good and fast!
laker fan always has an excuse. i bet they're saying we only won because kobe was hurt. nevermind the fact that he was hot in the first half and his finger didn't seem to be bothering him then. the cavs locked down on him. they played him perfectly.
i don't like their team. they are good, but i still think they have that "soft" tag attached to them. gasol and bynum may be big, but they are both wimpy.
LBJ ... Lakers are definitely "soft". They do't match up well with physical teams. Last year, Houston was one of those teams, and they almost lost to them in the Quarters. When teams start playing tough, the Lakers start playing "dirty" ... mostly because the have no other answer to physical play.
Quote: Meanwhile the cavs are the most physical team in the L. Remind me of the pistons from a few years back, if not tougher.
the celtics when healthy, which is no guarantee right now are just as physical. but i love what we can bring every night.
shaq has proven that he could care less who it is, if you go up to the rim and he's near you, you are getting decked. and you can't do anything about it. his hard fouls are awesome.
i think the cavs are definitely the best defensive team in the league, even if they aren't in the ppga or fga categories. mike brown is brilliant with that. and even the offense is well over 100ppg, and actually, not many realize this, but their offensive output in the orlando series was one of their highest ever.
people rip mike brown for his offense because they have nothing else to rip the cavs for. when they lose, it's automatically his fault because the offense sucks. bill simmons loves doing this, and i respect his writing, but he's flat out wrong.
"On July 1, LeBron becomes a free agent. He will be able to play for any team he wants. You knew this already. You were also aware of the stakes. If LeBron leaves Cleveland, the franchise may never recover. If LeBron joins the Bulls, Knicks, Nets, Heat or Clippers -- the five most logical destinations -- that franchise becomes a top-five team regardless of players 2-12. Even the 3-37 Nets would be a 55-win team with LeBron. What will happen if he ever ends up with good teammates?"
sorry dude, but you're wrong.
they're the best team in the nba, and his scoring total has gone down. explain that one. and seriously, the clippers are a top 5 likely destination? come on.
I hear you. I think that play was one of the best moves I've seen LeBron make. It should be all over the highlights for the YEAR. But since it was Kobe that he schooled it won't be. It was the play where Kobe went down, and then Kicked LeBron for a foul as LeBron was driving to the hoop.
Quote: LBJ ... Lakers are definitely "soft". They do't match up well with physical teams. Last year, Houston was one of those teams, and they almost lost to them in the Quarters. When teams start playing tough, the Lakers start playing "dirty" ... mostly because the have no other answer to physical play.
denver too. denver could have easily gotten to the finals. i think they are a player away from being a team that is taken very seriously. they are extremely physical but just not that smart defensively.
The Nets winning 55 next season with LBJ is just laughable. There is no way they could turn around that far in one year due to one player, that team is just a joke. They would improve, but nowhere near 55 wins. Whoever wrote that must have been pretty high.
Quote: The Nets winning 55 next season with LBJ is just laughable. There is no way they could turn around that far in one year due to one player, that team is just a joke. They would improve, but nowhere near 55 wins. Whoever wrote that must have been pretty high.
don't forget, he followed that up with the clippers being a top 5 likely landing spot.
the clippers, as in the los angeles clippers. as in the team in LA that nobody cares about.
Something I noticed today ... Lebron's signature playoff highlight has been getting progressively better since 2007. Can't wait to see what he does this year to top everything before!
don't forget 2006, when he (in one series mind you) recorded a triple double in his very first playoff game, made 2 game winning shots with seconds left, screwed up gilbert arenas' career (guy has never been the same since lbj went to him at the foul line, and told him if he missed this free throw, that they were going to score and win, and then going on to almost upsetting a much better, much more experienced detroit team which they ended up upsetting the next year in 6.
also, 2008, his alley oop against washington where he almost hit his head on the jumbotron.
My favorite moment (or moments) was that 2007 game 5 OT win against Detroit that you alluded to. What was it? 29 of the final 30 points or something like that he scored? He single-handedly broke their backs. There was no doubt that we'd finish them off in game 6. The Pistons never recovered from that game 5 defeat.
And your either nuts or dont watch the NBA if you don't think LeBron could carry the Nets to a turnaround like that.
The Nets are young and inexperienced, but they dont lack talent, they have a great nucleolus, Devin Harris, Yi, Lopez, CDR, C.Lee, you throw a superstar like LeBron in that mix and they are surely a playoff team, 55 may be stretching it, but he carried that craptastic Finals team to 50 wins, so I wouldnt bet against it.
And the top 5 destinations he listed were outside of Cleveland. What are your 5 most logical destinations for him after Cleveland?
i don't see chicago on this list. it has been talked about very little around here. i know they have cap space and are trying to get more, but i just don't see them as a legitimate candidate. not to mention they may be firing a coach. and i can't see lbj going to a team who's got a new coach coming in. he is not gonna go through another rebuild as he starts to enter his prime.
i think the cavs are the odds on favorites to keep him. after that, i think miami is a small possibility, i can't really see the knicks as a realistic option.
try looking at it without being a cavs fan, it's hard to put him somewhere where he could be successful. the nets have a few decent players but they are not title contenders or even close to it. the knicks? they're still a joke and i can't see lbj wanting to play for dantoni who's system has proven it cannot win a championship.
i think there is zero chance lebron wants to play in boston.
i suppose the lakers are always a possibility but i can't see he and kobe co-existing.
the more i think about it, the more i realize he is probably not going anywhere. his team is too good right now and some of these other teams are downright awful.
i would definitely agree that the nets are probably the next highest chance. they have a few decent players, there is the entire jay z thing (even though he owns literally about 1% of the team) but again, you're talking about a team that has won 3 ballgames and it's almost february.
cavs fans should only worry about the present though, because we are about to be taken on one hell of a ride.
i believe the update on west is a fracture, but he is listed as day to day, and probably will not play tomorrow vs okc
and if anyone has not been paying attention to the nba outside of the cavs, the thunder are not last year's thunder, they are much better and kevin durant is playing his way into a spot as a top 5 player in the league. tomorrow is not a gimme by any means.
We established Shaq in the paint. Bring him back on the court and let him and Bron close this out. Stop playing 5 on 1.
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