2013 NBA Playoffs thread

See this is the stupidity people talk about. His ass saved in a game where he had a triple double including 17 in the 4th to get them in position, not to mention the defense he played.

Bringing in players like Shaq and Jamison? Now that is good shit. Shaq was a real productive player at that stage of his career wasn't he. Now he doesn't even get credit for winning he only "scraped" out these championships. What a foof.

 

Most of that is true, tony, but again, LeBron hit the 3 to cut it to 2 so that there was even a chance for Allen to tie it.

 

Yes, and Jordan played one on five and morphed into John paxson

 

I don't recall Jordan ever having the awful turnovers James had in Game 6 or the ones he had in a couple of the losses to Indiana.

 

If that's the worst of his foibles, tony, then it's really low on the list.

He scored 17 in the 4th in Game 6, and made the biggest shot that led to the biggest shot.

37 in Game 7.

 

if you are talking 1979 thru now I'd take Moses Malone or Olajuwon over Kareem, but only because Kareem had 10 seasons by 79.

If you're talking great players you've seen, the Kareem belongs on the list

 

The difference (so far) is that I don't think Jordan would have ever pissed away a chance at a title when he had the best team, as LeBron did twice (2010 and '11). Every year Jordan lost, they were indeed outclassed and by some of the defining teams of basketball history ('86 Celtics, Bad Boys etc.).

LeBron has grown up and put those early flubs to the side, and I don't think it's hard at all anymore to see him getting toward six championships. The MVP comparison doesn't sway me because any year Jordan didn't win it after 1987 is bullshit anyway, and if people had to be accountable for their vote back then the way they do now he would probably have had about nine. But the new LeBron? Took him longer to get there, but yeah he does belong in that stratosphere now.

 

If Lebron does get to six, people will just say Jordan would've had more if not for the hiatus. But that would actually be valid

 

This doesn't have to be about Jordan and James.

It is ridiculous for you to blame him instead of credit him for 17 in the fourth to put them in position to win.

Highest scoring avg in elmination and game 7's ever, but you're right, he's a choking dog bailed out by Jesus Shuttleworth.

You were probably one the ones lauding kobe Bryants 6 for 24 performance as "scrappy" and the stuff that makes him a winner.

 

In this Jordan vs. James scenario, there appears to be an assumption that somehow Jordan was a nice, loyal guy, and James a selfish asshole. There weren't bigger, more selfish assholes than Michael Jordan, and that was key to his "killer instinct" that James didn't develop until more recently. (And while Jordan didn't leave the Bulls for another basketball team, there was that whole "retirement to play baseball" shit.)

Also, if you look back on those Cleveland teams, they were total crap beyond James. Jamison and O'Neal? They were already over-the-hill (Shaq WELL over it) when they were brought in. James did not have a Pippen. Or a Horace Grant. Or a Rodman. Not even close. That 2007 team he brought to the finals would have been deep in the lottery without him.

"The Decision" was completely mishandled, and, really, there was no way that LeBron could leave Cleveland without the natives going ape-shit (again) that a local kid left town to do well. But it was abundantly clear that no big name was going to come to Cleveland to be second-fiddle to LeBron. No one. And they weren't going to get him in the draft. And Mike Brown sure as hell wasn't Phil Jackson (as Kobe Bryant later learned).

So I don't blame James for heading to Miami. Even if Bosh doesn't go, you've got a legit star to take some of the load off, and with Pat Riley, you've got a proven winner leading a solid organization that, yes, has a geographical advantage in attracting players. When there is a salary cap, and Cleveland can't shell out $50 million a year to keep him, suddenly all those outside factors start becoming bigger.

And now, James has established himself as the main guy, with Wade as a sidekick, and don't you think there are going to be more Ray Allens and Shane Battiers willing to take pay cuts to play with him? The scariest thing for the league is that he won with Wade and Bosh in clear decline.

 

Bosh isn't in decline -- they just aren't asking him to be a low post player in this offense.

Interesting what will happen with Wade. There obviously is a chronic condition which for which there are some short term fixes, probably pain shots, which can't go on forever. He's such an athletic player that I wonder how effective he will be in years to come.

 

Vindication!!!