Real Deal

So if you're not going to give credit to the Thunder's defense, I might as well say...if Harden was hitting his jumper, the Thunder would have won this series in four or five, but he just wasn't on, for some reason (maybe it was the food). Teams beat LeBron by forcing him into jumpers. Dallas did it in 2011...that's why you guys lost that series. LeBron barely got to the foul line, because Marion, Kidd and Stevenson were forcing him to take jumpshots, and he averaged under 20 PPG because of it.

That was the best one I've seen them do, although I still love the Randy Moss one.

That was the point. A very good Finals performance, but Kobe didn't even have a top five.

If it was all about an NBA Finals series... LeBron, 2012: 28.6 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 7.4 APG, 4.0 TO, 1.6 STL, 0.4 BLK Kobe, 2009: 32.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 7.4 APG, 3.2 TO, 1.4 STL, 1.4 BLK So let's not go overboard here.

I'm not discrediting LeBron. I'm also not on my knees, facing his direction. James had a top 10 Finals series, if you don't count anything before the 1980's (because a lot of those numbers are inflated). A top 10 Finals series doesn't place him on the same level as Jordan, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, Wilt, Kareem, Duncan...it just makes it easier for him to reach that goal someday. Nobody has forgotten the egg he laid against the Mavericks last year. What if LeBron and the Heat drop the ball and lose to Chicago in the ECF next season, or get smoked by a Thunder team that acquires someone like Iguodala for Harden (not going to happen, but still)? Will people still use this Finals series to say he should be up there with Jordan? This is everyone's problem. Fans can't look at a player, over an extended amount of time in their career, and make a judgment based on both how they play AND who they are playing with or against. They are too influenced by the media, or are desperately looking for the next Jordan (Kobe), or the next Kobe (Durant), or the next Magic (LeBron), the next Bird (Dirk), the next Hakeem (as of today, Anthony Davis). When the players fail, they absolutely suck...and when they win, they are suddenly basketball gods. James has one ring. The help he got tonight, and in maybe 3-4 games of this series, was similar to what he was getting in Cleveland...the perimeter shooters catering to his game, knocking down shots, and guys like Battier and Chalmers playing defense (like you saw with Varejao and West, who were completely forgotten on the defensive end, for some reason). Add Wade and Bosh, and for sure, LeBron is going to win something someday because, as bad as Wade played every now and then, teams could not ignore him or Bosh like they could Mo Williams and JJ Hickson. LeBron went to Miami for help. You're now saying he didn't have it? You remove Bosh from the equation, and the Celtics win the ECF in six games, and I would put this entire site on it.

His shot wasn't on for five games? LeBron is not a stellar shooter. Boston nearly beat Miami because of that, until Bosh came back and gave Garnett someone to defend. Imagine if Shaq was able to hit threes.

No player does. If you've worked your ass off playing the game of basketball, you'd never, EVER say something like that.

http://i45.tinypic.com/2m7ubfm.jpg This is what happens when your best perimeter defender (Thabo) is too short to defend LeBron in the post...and when your best shot-contesting perimeter player (Durant) is too skinny to body LeBron in the post. It does make me wonder, however, just how big of a deal someone like Iguodala would be for the Thunder in this series (strictly on the defensive end, not taking into consideration his willingness to create for others).

Hardly bitter. I really don't care. People were foolish to think he would go without winning at least one ring, once he joined Wade and Bosh in Miami. Only three times have I been pissed at someone winning a ring: Boston in 2008, Miami in 2006, and Detroit in 2004. I've been giving LeBron props most of the year, actually...especially on the Lakers site I run (TLN). Wade was his Robin, Bosh was Alfred, yeah, yeah. Jon Barry just stated that LeBron is on the level of Michael Jordan. Magic said he wasn't there yet, but is on his way to become the greatest player of all time. I don't care who you are, don't care what team or player you root for, don't care what legend you hate...those two statements are ridiculous. Jordan had 3-4 Finals performances that blow LeBron's out of the water. Magic had one, Bird had one, Shaq put up 38/17 and it crushes LeBron's. Kobe had a big one against Orlando, may not have been as big, numbers-wise, but it was close. Zeke had one during his two-peat with the Pistons (28/5/7). Hakeem put up 33/12/6 in one of his Finals series. I've been through every MJ championship, every Kobe ring, every championship since the late 80's. Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, Wade, Dirk...none of them received as much credit as LeBron is getting right now. Jordan was close, in his first three-peat, when he averaged his 41/9/6 against my favorite team at the time (the Suns), but Pippen and Rodman were given a lot of credit during the second run, especially since Jordan was shooting 45% or less in those three (struggled in three games vs. Seattle, four vs. Utah in 1998). I know it's the IT thing to do right now, to roll with the punches and turn LeBron into The King...but come on, as great of a player as he was in this series and all season long, you don't say some of this stuff YET.

Hell of a performance by LeBron. ESPN says he shot 14-26 from three, 121 PTS, 41 REB, 25 AST, 8 STL, 7 BLK.

Easily Miami. Boston was lucky enough to make it to the ECF's, and would have lost that series in five if Bosh was fully healthy. Chicago won't have Rose for a while, and I can't really speculate and say they'll be on top of their game (or he will be) once he returns...whenever. The Pacers, Knicks, Magic, Hawks, Sixers...they won't knock off the Heat. Brooklyn could make life difficult if they do indeed get Howard and Deron to join forces, but it kind of depends on who else they can rake in as their role players. Howard and Williams fill the two positions the Heat have trouble with, and if the Nets can find defenders (and shooters) to fill the rest of the team out, who knows...

I doubt you will. Whatever happened to you waiting for the Houston Rockets to get their next ring? Thread closed.

No they aren't, because I read through the topics, to make sure you weren't replying to specific posters. Most of your current posts AREN'T in response to anything...and they are appearing in game topics that have nothing to do with Kobe. Most of the LeBron hate is based on how he acted, celebrating early and the way he left Cleveland. Few hate on his game, and if they do, it was only in the clutch, up until this point (when he proved he can be clutch). Everyone on this site knows you bait Lakers fans. It's not just Kobe. You've been doing it for years, and you were suspended twice for it. Mods have complained many times about it, and you have FIVE old warnings in the warn system (warning descriptions) that have something to do with it, four not given by me. If you'd like more of a run-down of what you've done over the years, let me know...or maybe the members will help with this. It's no coincidence that everyone here thinks you're trolling. If BFT made this topic (just pulling someone out of the air), nobody would flinch...and he wouldn't make the statement in the manner you did, either. For reasons I've listed above, and in the previous post, you're the complete opposite, and it looks like you will never change.

You're more obsessed with Kobe than any member that has posted on OTR over the last seven years...and there are FAR more posts than that. I pulled those quotes, randomly, from five pages of your posts, and I had the search limited by number.

Stop being a troll. Your topic lands on our Facebook and our Twitter pages, not as news, but made from someone who is trolling...which equals a bad representation of our site. http://i47.tinypic.com/14trifb.jpg If that's what you're aiming for, well...I'm sad to see that.

If you need me to, I can run it...not a problem at all. If you want to drop in and do the scores, that's fine...and I can rake in the mocks. Whatever is better for you.

I can't believe LeBron said the things he did in those two short interviews (playing with hate his first season with Miami, going back to basics and not celebrating until the job was done, etc). This is the LeBron that was my second favorite player back in the early part of his career. I absolutely HATED the one we saw in his final two seasons with Cleveland, and his first season in Miami...celebrating for no reason, dancing around, stupid shit like that.

I agree. ^_^ I'll have to stop replying to you on here AND Twitter, at the same time, lol. No point in that.

Well, right...I'm just saying, if the Nets want Howard, they can get him. I just think Woj is speculating, when it comes to the draft night prediction. I'll put it this way: the trade can be agreed upon, and Orlando can go ahead and make their pick at #19 (say they select Fab Melo), and even make an additional trade for a first-rounder, all based on the fact that they KNOW Howard is gone and they are ready to rebuild. Then, when free agency begins, that's the green light for Orlando to deal him to Brooklyn. Although...Lopez, Humphries, and Morrow get the trade done (something around that). It's not going to be THAT difficult to pull off. They can definitely match.

Nets have the cap room to absorb Howard's contract, so they won't have to match salaries.

That's true, unless you're the Thunder or Spurs, and you draft like you're Nostradamus. I think these small market teams need to spend a little more time and money trying to find excellent scouts, and concentrating more on the draft than free agency, but that's just me. Nah. They have six team options next summer. If the luxury tax threshold hangs around $70 million, the Wiz will be approximately $10 million under it next season...and that's with Blatche still on the roster. The following season, you're looking at a payroll around $42-43 million (with Ariza, Okafor AND Blatche), without those six team options...and $63 million with them. Wall will have a team option of $7.7 million, so you're going to automatically factor him in. They should be fine...a 10-man roster with enough wiggle room for minimums to fill out the rest (and again, that's if they keep Blatche, and I doubt they will). Charlotte didn't have a John Wall, and that's where it all falls into place for me. If John Wall can do something with this current roster (with Ariza, Okafor and Nene), and he turns into one of the best PG's in the NBA, Washington could survive something like that...but then, you run into the risk of him leaving after that team option, assuming he doesn't think he's getting the help he "deserves" in Washington. Felton and Emeka were with the Cats for a full five years. Wallace was with them for 6 1/2 years. The only thing that I had a problem with, though (with that core), was that you were sticking a defensive-minded big man and a defensive-minded tweener with a PG that was not going to carry the load on offense. Right now, the Wizards aren't where they should be, offensively...so I'm going to make that comparison between those two teams. Nene isn't going to turn into Shaq. But, what will Washington do with the expiring contracts of Ariza and Okafor before the trade deadline in 2014? If they can find a suitor, a team that is desperately trying to get under that tax threshold after being burned by it, maybe they can turn it around. Then again, that's just me trying to make sense of the trade, long term. Short term, something else has to happen. First thing's first: Bradley Beal.

I think Miami can win another game in OKC, but not Game 7. That would be nuts. Quite frankly, I would think we'd need to see a huge 40-point game by James (or Bron and Wade combining for 70) if they were to pull off a win in OKC, in Game 7.

I agree with most of it. Don't think the Wizards will stand much of a chance in free agency, regardless, so looking at it from that standpoint, to me at least...they made a move to improve their team. Now, with that said, you're right: they have no shooters. They will draft Beal (and if they don't, at this point, they are idiots)...OR, maybe they will trade the pick, but that's potentially taking on even more money down the road (length of contract), and I doubt the Wizards want to do that. To make sense of it, Washington wanted to improve on the defensive end. The problem is, they are a worse offensive team than they are back on defense WITHOUT the trade, and when you have a guy like John Wall, you want to stick the necessary help around him, players that he can feed. At the end of the day, as good of a defensive team you can be (and the Wizards won't be that great), you still have to score points. Ask the 2010 Bobcats, one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA, but the best defensive team, winning 44 games and swept by the Magic in the first round.

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/06/20/12/Noon-today---chat-live-with-Sam-Amico/landing_cavaliers.html?blockID=749152&feedID=3725 Amico is the guy that first reported the Sessions trade, WAY before it was made official. Interesting.

I'm pretty sure Mitch made a statement similar to this back in 2008, before the deadline, when we all thought we were getting Garnett or Jermaine.