2015-16 Around the NBA

[Catlover]

I've never really bought into the idea that some great players don't make their teammates better. A rare few raise the bar beyond the reach of all others (Jordan and Magic IMO) but any great player makes their teammates better even though they don't all do it the same way. Some make their teammates better just by drawing double and triple teams and then making the right decision. Some do it by facilitating and some do it by driving them to excellence (in practice and games) and so on.

IMO Lebron may not quite be in Magic or MJ's class at making his teammates better but he is still one of the best ever at doing that. The only justifiable knock on him was his failures in big games or big moments. And winning a couple of championships should have put that issue to bed.

 

[WuRaider]

Chandler, Kieff, Tucker and the Cavs pick for Love and Mozgov

Cavs need complementary players to LeBron. Defense, rebounding, players that can be effective without the ball in their hands. That is Chandler and Tucker. They also need a player that will get in LeBron's face if he has to. Chandler is one of the few players in the league that will do that.

Kieff provides a backup for Thompson.

I am not sure if Love is a star player as in a "big three" type of player. But I would be willing to gamble on him.

Could also do Knight, Chandler, and Tucker and a pick for Love, Mozgov, and Mo Williams.

Great trade idea for both sides. Let's hope the Cavs keep struggling against elite teams before the deadline.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I've never really bought into the idea that some great players don't make their teammates better. A rare few raise the bar beyond the reach of all others (Jordan and Magic IMO) but any great player makes their teammates better even though they don't all do it the same way. Some make their teammates better just by drawing double and triple teams and then making the right decision. Some do it by facilitating and some do it by driving them to excellence (in practice and games) and so on.

IMO Lebron may not quite be in Magic or MJ's class at making his teammates better but he is still one of the best ever at doing that. The only justifiable knock on him was his failures in big games or big moments. And winning a couple of championships should have put that issue to bed.

bingo.

 

[Cheesebeef]

You can't really compare rosters from Magic's era (or earlier) to that of today. When Magic played there were several teams during that era that were just as loaded. Expansion and other changes diluted the talent level throughout the league.

Boston for example, in their first 80's championship had Bird, McHale, ML Carr, Cornbread Maxwell, Tiny Archibald, Robert Parish and they only improved that roster over the next few years. Philadelphia when they won the championship a couple years later had Dr J, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones and their version of Rambis (Marc Iavaroni). And during that same decade the Pistons put together their best team followed by the Jordan-led Bulls. And they weren't the only teams loaded with talent.

Boston was the only one that I think really stood in the Lakers class for the entire decade though. Philly had one really incredible year/roster, the Pistons, IMO, were much more a sum of it's parts then loaded with talent and the Bulls were post-Showtime. And... Magic never had to go through a number of those teams to win a title. They all beat up on each other in the East.

 

[GatorAZ]

The Lakers path to the Finals those years were cakewalks compared to Boston. The Lakers were fresh and the Celtics were run down by the time June came around. They were going thru the 76ers, Bulls and Pistons every year it seemed

Playing the Bad Boys in a 7 game series was really like playing 15 games lol.

 

[elindholm]

it's pretty obvious to me that either a) you don't watch many of his games or b) just can't admit that you're wrong.

Typical. Anyone who disagrees with you must necessarily be uninformed. I've watched most Finals games that James has played in, and there are plenty of instances when I've admitted when I've been wrong. They have, however, been restricted to times when I actually was wrong.

 

[hcsilla]

I know that bashing LeBron James for not winning at least 6 rings is a popular topic.

I never really got why.

Take for example the greatest of greats: Michael Jordan.

Please name one player of Scottie Pippen's caliber from LBJ's supporting casts.
Please name one coach of Phil Jackson's psychologial mastermind caliber (or of another coaching skill with the same caliber) among LBJ's coaches.
Please name one specialist of Dennis Rodman's caliber from LBJ's supporting casts.

If you come up with triple zero as answers to above questions, then it is maybe time to start to wonder if LBJ is really such an underachieving superstar.

 

[devilalum]

I would have never thought to say that Magic lacked killer instinct nor that he was in any way inferior to Kobe. Unlike today there were several great teams playing during Magic's run and yet he still led them to 5 championships. If you really think he falls short the killer instinct watch that series against Philadelphia where Kareem was out. Magic matched up against their center, the supposedly soon-to-be-superstar Darrell Dawkins and dominated him. Dawkins was never quite the same again.

It wasnt Magic that derailed Chocolate Thunder it was the nose candy.

They mostly say Lebron is more Magic than Michael. Magic had 8 or 9 finals and 4-5 rings? I forget. Lebron has 2 rings and I think 5 appearances? Magic and Lebron are great and have had Allstars around them, they just don't have the killer instinct like Jordan and Kobe did.

sent from a fone

 

[Catlover]

It wasnt Magic that derailed Chocolate Thunder it was the nose candy.

And you don't think there was any connection to him being embarrassed like that by a point guard? He was the most self-promoting athlete I've ever seen and his self-promotion disappeared after that series. He was a shell of the person and player that he had been. Much of the league used cocaine back then, only a small number turned their lives over to it. I guess we'll never know why he did that but like I said, the bravado was gone from that series on.

 

[devilalum]

And you don't think there was any connection to him being embarrassed like that by a point guard? He was the most self-promoting athlete I've ever seen and his self-promotion disappeared after that series. He was a shell of the person and player that he had been. Much of the league used cocaine back then, only a small number turned their lives over to it. I guess we'll never know why he did that but like I said, the bravado was gone from that series on.

I know he was a major addict but I dont know how that coincided with that series.

sent from a fone

 

[bankybruce]

I know that bashing LeBron James for not winning at least 6 rings is a popular topic.

I never really got why.

Take for example the greatest of greats: Michael Jordan.

Please name one player of Scottie Pippen's caliber from LBJ's supporting casts.
Please name one coach of Phil Jackson's psychologial mastermind caliber (or of another coaching skill with the same caliber) among LBJ's coaches.
Please name one specialist of Dennis Rodman's caliber from LBJ's supporting casts.

If you come up with triple zero as answers to above questions, then it is maybe time to start to wonder if LBJ is really such an underachieving superstar.

I'll name two, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Wade was the best player on a championship team and Bosh led his team to the playoff for handful of seasons.

 

[Catlover]

I know he was a major addict but I dont know how that coincided with that series.

I don't either. But his public persona and his on-court play changed immediately and I think that can safely be attributed to being dominated by Magic.

 

[Phrazbit]

One of the other things hampering LeBron is that I don't think he has ever played for a decent coach. The exception might be Blatt, we'll see how he does at his next gig, but that he required one of his assistants to manage all his time outs is pretty damning.

IMO Spo is awful. Those Miami teams were totally devoid of creativity on offense, you've got this superstar who is a wiling, generous and gifted passer and their offense was so plodding and slow that it made them brutal to watch. Mike Brown has a glitzy record but you throw LeBron on any team and 50 wins is a given.

Of the post Jordan NBA I think only LeBron and Duncan are players that you could surround them with just about anything and they'd win 50 games. They make the guys around them better, and they do every aspect at the game at the highest of levels for their position, or in LeBron's case about 4 positions.

The guy is arrogant, and his choice to go to Miami and the way he went about it was one of douchiest move of all time, and he is currently bathing in Blatt's blood, but I don't even slightly question his ability to elevate the talent around him. Other than the Miami seasons his career has been spent on teams that, without him, would have been contending for #1 picks.

 

[hcsilla]

I'll name two,

Two of what?

 

[sunsfan88]

I'll name two, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. Wade was the best player on a championship team and Bosh led his team to the playoff for handful of seasons.

Yea like 4 or 5 years before. The Wade that played with LeBron was a broken down, and injured Wade most of the time.

If your gonna count Wade then might as well count Shaq too since LeBron played with Shaq when Shaq was like 40.

 

[Catlover]

Chandler, Kieff, Tucker and the Cavs pick for Love and Mozgov

Cavs need complementary players to LeBron. Defense, rebounding, players that can be effective without the ball in their hands. That is Chandler and Tucker. They also need a player that will get in LeBron's face if he has to. Chandler is one of the few players in the league that will do that.

Kieff provides a backup for Thompson.

I am not sure if Love is a star player as in a "big three" type of player. But I would be willing to gamble on him.

Could also do Knight, Chandler, and Tucker and a pick for Love, Mozgov, and Mo Williams.

With the coaching change and the conflict between the Lebron team and the Cavs front office over not hiring Mark Jackson, it might not take more than a James injury to knock them out of the playoffs. The pick they owe us is top 10 protected so we wouldn't get much but another low lottery pick like Booker would be nice. But with them switching to uptempo and Chandler finally moving and playing well I think I'd ask for even more than Love. That pick becomes unprotected in 2019, I'd ask to have the protection removed a year or two earlier. Never hurts to ask (which probably isn't true).

 

[slinslin]

Love makes zero sense for us.

 

[bankybruce]

Yea like 4 or 5 years before. The Wade that played with LeBron was a broken down, and injured Wade most of the time.

If your gonna count Wade then might as well count Shaq too since LeBron played with Shaq when Shaq was like 40.

Please look up Wade playoff numbers the years they won it and then tell me if he looked like a broke down player. Just because he missed a 30 games a season doesn't mean he wasn't Pippen like during the playoffs, which is all that matters.

 

[GatorAZ]

Wade was a monster in the 2011 finals but LBJ struggled. It was the opposite when they lost to San Antonio in 2014.

 

[FArting]

Golden State takes on San Antonio tonight.

 

[Ronin]

Duncan will sit out tonight's game with a knee injury.


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[Ronin]

ESPN Stats & Info ‏@ESPNStatsInfo 1h1 hour ago
With a win tonight, Warriors would have 3rd-longest home win streak in NBA history (regular season)

Currently tied w/ 1985-87 Celtics at 38

 

[FArting]

Warriors win big

 

[Ronin]

DMC played out of his mind the past two games,104 points total in the past two games.

 

[Ronin]

@BleacherReport: UPDATE: Blake Griffin reportedly out 4-6 weeks after breaking hand by hitting staff member https://t.co/z10xnJThiI


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