GM 3 predictions Spurs at Cavs

[westkoast]

Would you guys do me a small consession and stop posting the entire previous quotes so you can add one line?  One valuable line, i get it.  Just ixschnay with the previous 47 posts?

LeBron at 22 kicks ass.
Don't even try the Kobme comparisons.  Lebron with prime Shaq and Phil Winters coaching would do just fine.

1) No one brought up Kobe and Shaq.  It wouldn't make sense to do so because Lebron doesn't have a shaq.  It would be more fair to compare Wade and Bron then Kobe and Bron as Wade as played without Shaq being a big contributor in the playoffs.  Your Kobe obsession seemed to be on the decline, guess not.

2) Sorry but Lebron at 22 is a very good player but he is not kicking ass at all right now.  Regardless if this is his first finals or not he is playing poor.  Be honest here.  If this was any other players..especially your favorite Kobe you would be typing paragraphs about him playing poorly.   His team is getting beaten to a pulp because he is not 'kicking ass'.  The Michael Jordan comparisions go both ways.  If you are playing well you get to be called the next MJ.  If you are playing poor after being compared then you are going to hear 'that was not how Jordan would have played'  I am pretty sure Lebron will learn from this and try to improve in the off-season, however that doesn't mean he is kicking ass.  It means he has a lot to learn before he gets his trophy.

He and Jordan may have a lot more in common now.  Bron might also have to wait, like Jordan, until teams like the Spurs start to taper off.  Much like MJ couldn't win anything because of teams like the Lakers, Celtics, and Pistons in the 80s.  It wasn't until the changing of the guard he was able to win.  That seems like it has to happen for James.

[rickortreat]

It also took time for Chicago to build up enough of a team around MJ, to be competitive.  I would say that LeBron has an inferior cast around him in Cleveland.  He doesn't have a Pippen out there with him, or a Rodman!

This next game is put up or shut up time for the Cavs.  They have to win or else the Spurs will have the Trophy presented to them in Cleveland.

[Lurker]

Cleveland wins game 3 IF they ride the crowd from the start and keep rolling (like Jazz did in game 3).  The Spurs will withstand the early run and fight back by end of 1st.  Cavs have to pick up then energy in the 2nd qtr.  That has been the death quarter for Jazz & Cavs.  Then Spurs play about even for the 3rd quarter and let up in the 4th.

My bet...Cavs can't maintain the energy for 24 minutes.  The game will be close at half and the Spurs will win by out executing the Cavs down the stretch.

[westkoast]

It also took time for Chicago to build up enough of a team around MJ, to be competitive.  I would say that LeBron has an inferior cast around him in Cleveland.  He doesn't have a Pippen out there with him, or a Rodman!

This next game is put up or shut up time for the Cavs.  They have to win or else the Spurs will have the Trophy presented to them in Cleveland.

Agreed.  Bron needs a Pippen or at least a legit second scorer.  He has that in Hughes but he is playing at 70%.  While Brown has not put in the rook in his place is blowing my mind.  The Spurs don't seem to have much of an answer for him.

[Reality]

2) Sorry but Lebron at 22 is a very good player but he is not kicking ass at all right now.  Regardless if this is his first finals or not he is playing poor.  Be honest here. 

Being honest here.  My quote for him "kicking ass at 22" is not pigeonholed to only one Finals game of an entire playoffs,
but rather his overall career.  What other 22 year old has done the things he has done, have led their teams to the Finals with no star help, in a weak Conf or not?  Besides his 4 All Star selections and consideration for true (not media) MVP, his 25/6/6 last night is very good for a 22 year old, abc-espn marketing FTAs or not.

[Reality]

Nope only those filthy Londonites in England do that....and those filthier San Diegoans in California aggrandize it in their media. 

  I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to imply you were in any way shape or form involved or condoned mercy murders.  And it is crazy how the media loves to run, no sprint, no rocketship race to gruesomely bad news.

[Skandery]

The game will be close at half and the Spurs will win by out executing the Cavs down the stretch.

...there, I think that's what you meant Lurker.

[WayOutWest]

2) Sorry but Lebron at 22 is a very good player but he is not kicking ass at all right now.  Regardless if this is his first finals or not he is playing poor.  Be honest here. 

Being honest here.  My quote for him "kicking ass at 22" is not pigeonholed to only one Finals game of an entire playoffs,
but rather his overall career.  What other 22 year old has done the things he has done, have led their teams to the Finals with no star help, in a weak Conf or not?  Besides his 4 All Star selections and consideration for true (not media) MVP, his 25/6/6 last night is very good for a 22 year old, abc-espn marketing FTAs or not.

Keep in mind he's been in the league a few years.  Guys I can think of that lead their teams to great seasons and playoff success early in their careers are Kareem, Shaq and Bird.  I think LeBron is doing a very good job, in fact great job, of carrying his team at times.  The problem is he is not consistent nor does his talent show up on defense, although having LeBron shoulder the burden on offense makes it close to impossible for him to make much of an impact on defense.  As someone else mentioned before, most if not all the WC teams could have made it out of the East BUT IMO it was huge that the Cavs got past the Pistons.  I don't know if the Pistons played down to the level of the Cavs and got burned or what but my biggest disappointment this year is that the Spurs didn't face the Mavs and that the Pistons didn't come out of the East.

[westkoast]

Sorry but Lebron at  his 25/6/6 last night is very good for a 22 year old, abc-espn marketing FTAs or not.

No it wasn't Reality.  Having as many turn overs as assists as the play maker for the squad is not very good.  Same with that horrid shooting %.  The last two games have been poor games.  Why people are so afraid to say it, I don't know.  He is going to continue to get better.  By the time he gets back to the finals again I bet he puts on a wonderful performance.  Right now though people seem to still be on the high of his spanking of the Pistons in game 6.  He is having a poor series.  He has 12 turnovers and 10 assists.  How you can nail good anywhere near Lebron when it comes to this series shows you have other motives for it.  I am sure the board can guess what those are.

[Reality]

Lebron, Kevin McHale, Bob Parish, Dennis Johnson, Tiny Archibald/Dynamite Danny Ainge with Corny Maxwell or Billy Walton coming off the bench.  Yeah how would Lebron survive.

Lew Alcindor was indeed an immediate impact player.  Nonetheless he had Oscar Robinson, All Star Bobby Dandrige and 13rpg game ex Laker Bob Boozer, whom i think was Carlos Boozers grandpa.

As to Shaq,
Orlando went 41-41 and missed playoffs in Shaqs 1st year.  They also won the lotto, trading Webber for Penny H and 3 #1 draft pics!!
Lebron, Penny H, Dennis Scott, Horace Grant, I'll grant you would not be as good as with Shraq.  Nonetheless:


O'Neal was drafted as the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic. O'Neal's second season was even better than his first. He averaged 29.3 points and led the NBA in field goal percentage at 60%. He was also voted into another All-Star game and helped the Magic make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. On November 20, 1993, against the New Jersey Nets, O'Neal registered the first triple-double of his career, recording 24 points to go along with career highs of 28 rebounds and 15 blocks.

In his third season, O'Neal led the NBA in scoring, with 2,315 total points and, like his second season, averaged 29.3 points per game. Orlando won 57 games and won the Atlantic Division. The Magic made it all the way to the NBA Finals, but they were swept by the Houston Rockets. By O'Neal's own admission, he was badly outplayed during that series by Houston's more experienced superstar center Hakeem Olajuwon, despite putting up admirable numbers in the series. Nonetheless, Olajuwon saw enough potential in O'Neal that Olajuwon predicted that O'Neal would some day return to the Finals and win a championship[citation needed]. O'Neal has stated that this was one of only two times in his life that he ever cried (the other at the presentation of his check to the refs in 2002). His father also used the loss as motivation, saying to his son that "maybe you shouldn't have shook Mr. Olajuwon's hand" (in congratulations for his win).

O'Neal was injured for a great deal of the 1995-96 season, missing 28 games. The Magic won 60 games and won the Atlantic Division again
They sure sucked without him.

Lebron has not had 1 All Star beside him!!

[westkoast]

Really Reality?  That's funny because Ilg was an all-star in 2003 and 2005.  Larry Hughes has also made an all-star appearance.

And if you missed my post above.......

No it wasn't Reality.  Having as many turn overs as assists as the play maker for the squad is not very good.  Same with that horrid shooting %.  The last two games have been poor games.  Why people are so afraid to say it, I don't know.  He is going to continue to get better.  By the time he gets back to the finals again I bet he puts on a wonderful performance.  Right now though people seem to still be on the high of his spanking of the Pistons in game 6.  He is having a poor series.  He has 12 turnovers and 10 assists.  How you can nail good anywhere near Lebron when it comes to this series shows you have other motives for it.  I am sure the board can guess what those are.

Having 12 turnovers and 10 assists does not deserve a 'very good' or even 'good' attached anywhere near it.

[Reality]

Really Reality?

That's funny because Ilg was an all-star in 2003 and 2005.  Larry Hughes has also made an all-star appearance.

Whatever, Ilg has sucked.  And Hughes at 30%, these are both LeBrons fault?    Get real and lets see if they both have breakout games at home.

No it wasn't Reality.  Having as many turn overs as assists as the play maker for the squad is not very good.  Same with that horrid shooting %.

  He was 9-21 in Gm 2.  If the Lakers could have had a 22 year old put up 25/7/6 but with 6 turnovers this playoffs, think they would have taken it?
The Kobesters 2007 playoff turnovers read 6 6 5 for Games 1 2 3.
Gm 4 with a chance to tie Phx 2-2 the Kobester shot 5-13.  Is that a "horrid shooting %?"

[Reality]

Having 12 turnovers and 10 assists does not deserve a 'very good' or even 'good' attached anywhere near it.

Excellent!  Because the Kobester had 22 turnovers and 21 assists for the 2007 playoffs.

[westkoast]

Having 12 turnovers and 10 assists does not deserve a 'very good' or even 'good' attached anywhere near it.

Excellent!  Because the Kobester had 22 turnovers and 21 assists for the 2007 playoffs.

Who said Kobe had a very good playoffs?  Not us    Want to take this one back to the drawing board and try again?  And you said he never had an all-star player along side of him when he has had 2.  Hughes being hurt is not Bron's fault but that has nothing to do with you making a statement that was not true. 

But dont' take this off topic because you are wrong.  Nothing he has done in this series has been good.

[Reality]

I figured you'd skidadle after that.