NBA Playoffs 2012 Running thread

As much as I want James to win and force many people to move on to their next "Man, that guy *seems* great but he'll never win a title" target, I think I want OKC to win tonight. This series has already seen four really great basketball games, but it needs to go 6 or 7 to be a great series.

 

LeBron is like Peyton Manning. And people always said Peyton Manning couldn't win the big one. Know why? Because he COULDN'T win the big one. Then he did and all that talk went away for the most part. I mean, it's still there when people put Brady above him for winning three Super Bowls to one, but he doesn't have the "can't win" mark against him.

Same thing will happen with James. But I don't think it renders all prior evaluations about him irrelevant, particularly the ones regarding the times when he came up short in very weird ways.

 

"Came up short in weird ways" is valid.

"Hasn't won a title" is valid.

"Can't win a title" is absurd.

 

Can't should be replaced by hasn't.

 

no. he'll fire off a press release about how sometimes the bad guys win but in the end the good guys will prevail. because this is Cleveland and we work hard and we love our fans and we'll do everything to bring home the championship next season.

 

Exactly. But some people fail/refuse to keep up with the change (up to this point anyway) in the LeBron storyline. Dude's having a beast of a series. And playoffs.

These 9 p.m. tips have GOT to stop. Hell, I wouldn't mind seeing Miami win tonight just so I can get more than 5 hours of sleep.

 

Oh, so Lebron should go to the free throw line every time he touches the ball? Yeah, that's logical. Oh man, Lebron only went to the line 8 times, something's wrong. He shouldn't have even gone 8 times. When you flop as much as he does, it's no surprise he goes to the line. I'm sure you want a foul called every time he cries like a little kid, just like every one else on the Heat does.

 

ESPN.com asks: Have LeBron and Kevin Durant reached legend status? Elite small forwards weigh in.

Legend? For LeBron, OK. For Durant ... don't know if he has reached Adrian Dantley status quite yet.

 

I think the Heat would be very relieved not to have to go back to OKC. I think they'll have a real sense of urgency tonight, unlike, for instance, the LA Kings in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup. I kind of expected a letdown by the Heat in Game 4, but now, so close to the title, I expect a good job and a good effort tonight.

 

Listen, LeBron is not somebody who turns insults or lack of respect into motivation for winning.
Rather, he appreciates being comfortable in his surroundings (in his own mind anyways).
I feel like Duncan is probably the same.
And even Shaq is someone who likes to be liked- he wouldn't be happy in a scenario where everyone hates him.
Fact is, Garnett only has one championship.
Kobe has five, but he was a beneficiary of being on the best team in the league with the best coach in history in every one of his championship runs.
We put too much emphasis into the super-competitiveness of players.
In every career in life, different people succeed with different mindsets.
Not everyone has to have Kobe's or Jordan's mindsets.
And LeBron is about to prove that.

 

I want LeBron to win because I want all his haters to shut the hell up.

He is a magnificent player, too bad so many people are blinded by intense hatred.

 

Well said.