2015-16 NBA Thread (feat. the Wives)

Curry and Thompson are each averaging around 14 a game.

 

Cavs are getting whupped because the Warriors are one of the best teams of all time. Simple as that.

 

So you mean teams matter LTL? Good god sports bring out the dumb in people

 

Unpossible

 

I think he's talking about how much of the media carried water for LeBron during his first stint in Cleveland, bemoaning his lack of help. When in fact, they mortgaged the future with stop-gap measures for short-term success (hello Antawn Jamison) because the anointed one wouldn't commit long-term. The "hand-picked players" he refers to would most likely be Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, two all-stars whom James colluded with to form a super-team in Miami. It might also refer to re-upping with younger, ascending talent in Cleveland under the guise of a "homecoming" in 2014. "Hand-picked" here means teaming up with superior talent through free agency in a weak conference. Maybe there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but when the narrative is that LeBron makes everyone better and he was justified in maneuvering to loaded teams, it's fair to question his shortcomings on the biggest stage.

It's not a one-on-one game, nor does it mean that LeBron "sucks" or that I'm a "hater." It's just that he's been coronated in some realms as one of the three best players in the history of the game when I'm not sure he's one of the three best players in the last 15 years. Maybe with the Peyton Manning, best-in-the-regular-season qualifier, but not overall. He can keep accruing Eastern Conference titles all he wants, but if he ever transferred out of the JV conference his track record in the Finals looks more like second-round chum than perennial contender. Either fawn over six straight Finals but poo-poo the four losses or recognize that he gets to coast through a woefully inept conference while multiple contenders slug it out in the West. But you can't have it both ways.

 

Jesus Christ. Please name 3 better.

 

Better off losing conference finals

 

Kobe and Duncan for sure. I'd probably say LeBron is third on that list, but if he and Kevin Durant swapped places for the last six years I don't think much changes.

Definitely no. That's like the idiotic argument that somehow Montana's 4-0 SB record trumps Brady's 4-2 mark. What I'm saying is that if LeBron played in the West, there's no chance in Hell that he makes six straight Finals. The East is, objectively speaking, historically inept. Those two factors take the shine off his consecutive conference championships. As does the fact that he's done this by maneuvering himself towards the path of least resistance even though we're continually reminded that he makes his teammates better.

 

If he played in the west hed have different teammates. Think if him and Curry switched teams the Warriors wouldn't win?
No, not Kobe and Duncan for sure, imagine an unselfish LeBron withShaq?

Stop watching sports.

 

But there's a difference. Cleveland's defense has been designed to shut down, or at least slow down, Curry and Thompson. But Golden State's system has multiple weapons. In Game 1, it was bench scoring. In Game 2, Green did most of the heavy lifting. And when the Cavs broke down, the Splash Bros pounced.

Cleveland's biggest problem may be in who they have to surround James, just like in his first go-round. To use a term I hate, Irving and Love can score the ball, but they're horrid defensively. The other two spots may as well be filled by Bozo and Krusty. Good enough to win in the East, but the West has been the dominant conference in the league over the last decade.

We've seen this show before, with Kobe. Won with Kareem, but struggled until they got Shaq. When he was gone, Kobe struggled again, perhaps most notoriously in 2006 in Game 7 vs. Phoenix. Add Gasol, and all is well in Lakers World.

 

Ah, the selfish Kobe meme. I guess Shaq won in spite of Kobe, Kobe never subjugated his game (and numbers) for Shaq, and Shaq's collection of burnt bridges after leaving LA didn't make people re-think their feud.

Did I say Kobe, Duncan, and Curry? I don't think Curry is better than LeBron. I just tire of people crowning LeBron as just the bestest after yet another Finals appearance and then lining up with "it's a team sport!!" excuses when his teams fail most of the time. Particularly given the other factors regarding LeBron I've mentioned.