Real Deal

The lack of ball movement is due to uncertainty and isolations. The difference between the iso's that LeBron was used to in Cleveland, and the ones he's acting on in Miami? He doesn't have Williams, Parker, Gibson, West, and all of these shooters to spread the floor at once, knocking down shots. Again, for the thousandth time, I take a look back at Allen Iverson and his successful Sixers teams, and see a similar build to that of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The only way this duo seems to work is when they perform iso's, and hope that others knock down their shots. Wade isn't going to move like Allen on the court, so LeBron's job, in an isolation, is to just put his head down and kick it out to someone. Back down the court, Wade takes the same approach. Sounds ridiculous, but that's how it's being done when they want to win those games. Get to the rim and get to the line, penetrate and kick out to guys like Jones or Haslem. Playing this way changes how these guys perform, though. They become disconnected with the game, simply because they are superstars who do not want to have to stand around and defer. Defer to the superstar teammate, and shooting when he decides you shoot? That's why both are struggling shooting the ball, and that's where the uncertainty comes in, when they aren't knocking down shots. Something will need to be done. One of them will need to change their style, or else this will only work against teams with little size once the playoffs roll into town.

I figured it was related to that, but is it really related to it? That was my question. Doesn't make much sense to me. Jordan (or his legacy) was not killed off by Bryant, in any way, shape or form. I guess I can see where he wants to make the relation in regards to saying Kobe wants to be like Mike (like Ford to James), but the only problem with this is that Bryant has stated numerous times that he doesn't. I don't know.

The plan was actually for Amare and LeBron to go to Chicago (well, Amare and Wade at first). They had the money, no doubt. And I left off Watson and Korver because they wouldn't have been there, but I just remembered Brewer signed in the off-season as well (forgot he was dealt from Utah to Memphis, for some reason I was thinking the Jazz traded him to Chicago). Either way, the Bulls would give LeBron defense up from (Noah, and Gibson off the bench at the four), a power forward in Boozer or Amare, a bit of defense with Deng, and a guy that would adjust better than Wade (Rose). There would be no gaping holes at the center or point in that five, either. In fact, LeBron could play the two, Deng starting at the three, or vice-versa. C - Noah PF - Boozer or Amare SF - Deng SG - LeBron PG - Rose That's a dangerous team, and once you throw in Tom Thibodeau (who is the well-respected coach that assistant coached the 2008 champs, the Celtics), you're adding a defensive mastermind that is not afraid to stand up to his players (like he did Rose last week). LeBron owns Chicago, begins his fight in the East against an aging Celtics team and an uncertain Magic squad, and he paves a road as the undisputed #1 option on a team where the greatest of all-time actually made his name first. There's no doubt in my mind that going to Chicago would be better for him.

Passing up a three-hour night of basketball with about 15 people just to watch this game. It better be wild, at least in the crowd.

Players don't do that because of career-ending injuries and future contract agreements with other teams. In four seasons, if the Heat and Bosh are ready for a divorce, Bosh will want his money. Let's assume Bosh is limited to a backup role by then (due to two microscopic knee surgeries). His contract is big for him AND for the teams wanting an expiring. That even gives Miami more to work with, as well, because the bigger the expiring, the bigger the deal. Sometimes, teams get screwed over, like Arenas and his hefty deal with Washington...but if an all-star or superstar were to take the minimum while they were in their prime, teams would be pretty reluctant to give them anything near that as they approached retirement, and a couple of rings later, a re-up of the contract for a player that has played 5-6 seasons into it means no max contract due to that player's age. Obviously, someone like me would sign for $400,000 to even play in the league, and that's a TON of money for me right now...but these guys can get max deals from any team that can afford it, and there's more than just one contender in the NBA every year.

John Salmons has fallen back down to Earth and is showing, this season, why he was always just another role player. Not sure how the hell he went ballistic last season and basically led the Bucks to the playoffs, but once a defense starts playing him like he's a star player, dude is shook.

Yes! Got it. http://www.otrbasketball.com/forums/topic/12887-official-2010-nba-draft/page__view__findpost__p__145916

Someone is going to have to dig up that quote by Chad Ford. I think it may have been on his Twitter, though...but he joked about the Fields pick, said exactly that (Fields was the first player taken in the draft in years that wasn't in his Top 100, or something like that).

By the way, someone will need to explain the title of the vid to me, because it makes absolutely zero sense.

Nobody closer.

Nobody, past or present, has hit game-winners like Bryant has. Jordan, Melo, any of them...there are teams that have ran their two best defenders (or their best and a big man) to contest his attempt at a game-winner. New Jersey once ran three players at him (the infamous shot people always bring up when saying how Kobe is selfish and never passes up game-winners). Impressive game-winning shooting percentage, good that it's so high...but Bryant usually always gets the last shot in LA, was the only one that would actually take it against Utah when he was a rook (in the playoffs as well), and he sees more defensive attention in those clutch moments than any player I've ever watched.

LeBron says the team (or at least, he) has Coach Spo's back. http://twitter.com/#!/WindhorstESPN/status/9394019511574530 Quote that bad boy, just like we did when he told Cleveland he wanted to build a champion.

Check this out, Alex... http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/1843/is-d-wade-calling-for-an-iso-offense

Just post these in the General NBA Discussion forums. It discusses basketball, and about more than one team, so it makes the most sense in here.

All of the teams should start holding players-only meetings when they are playing .500 basketball.

What I meant by that was that I hope it isn't in the same boat as Mr. America. Most of you remember Hogan doing the same thing, and it was one of the worst things I've ever seen. No other wrestler in the history of the sport has looked like Hogan...height + body mass and that "Hogan tan" that he always had, not to mention the Hulk mustache he had sticking out of the mask. That's following the same thing. Picture is a little blurry, but I can still tell it's John Cena. Does Raw still come on at 8 PM (EST)? I seriously haven't watched it in a decade.

This is where I completely disagree. When they are running iso's for LeBron or Wade, it works...just not when they are both trying to get involved. The Heat are in games when their superstars decide to take over, but they only do it when the other is sitting the bench. THAT is where the iso's work. But I don't believe Spo is asking them to run those iso's when they are in the game at the same time. I have watched every single Heat game this year (maybe most everyone here has), and to me, it's very evident that these two (Wade and James) are attempting to change their game and become jumpshooters working off each other (which is why their percentages are WAY DOWN, 43% and 44% if I recall correctly). It's a big possibility that Spo is asking them to defer to each other, or asking one to defer to the other, which HAS to happen. Do they want to do that? Nope, because LeBron already stated it (clear as day) just the other night, and Wade stated it earlier in the season (or before). They won't be able to gain any rhythm because they are both players who feed off of ball domination. This isn't Ray stepping into rhythm jumpers off of Rondo's playmaking, or Kobe having multiple ways to score when he's not getting to the rim. Neither player has a post game, and neither has a consistent jumper. Slash, slash, and more slashing...and it's not Spo's fault that the Heat don't have the goods to accommodate LeBron James (or Dwyane Wade) and don't have some magical powder that turns one of them into a true Robin.

You have to explain this to me. I'd google it, but I'm on my phone. I heard Cena retired or something. I hope to God this isn't a dip into the old WWF's Mr. America circus.

Suspend both, because both threw a punch or more, both made contact through or without a helmet. Both could've caused an injury with the blows they landed. Simple as that. I'm done defending a player I absolutely hate (Big Ben) against a player from my own team (Seymour). But, I could care less about the Eagles and if they win this upcoming week, nor do I care about the Titans, the Texans, or the Steelers, for that matter. A strike is a punch is a blow. All cause a flag to be thrown, all cause fines, all should cause suspensions (or none at all).

Shoved in the chest? Yes sir...around 285 pounds and twice as big as me. Shoved in the neck? No, and I hope I never get to experience that. Hit in the neck, like Seymour did to Big Ben? Even worse. As Kyle said, Finnegan was laughing right when he popped back up off the field, so I don't know. I saw Ben laying on the ground longer than Finnegan.

Thing is, Rose and LeBron would be better off because Boozer doesn't play like they do. He's not Bosh. And Noah would prove to be a ton of help on defense, and the same with Brewer, Gibson and even Deng (who is a better defensive player than James Jones or Mike Miller). Rose put in a lot of work this summer shooting the ball, so that's just another good thing. He wants to improve and adjust his game. Asking Rose to adjust to LeBron would be much easier than asking Wade to do it. LeBron would still have the ball less than he did in Cleveland, but Rose would play into the point guard role well, and it would be James getting easier buckets, the Bulls playing fast-paced basketball, and teams getting ran out of the building. There's a big difference.

Seymour did not just shove Ben. If someone told me that I could make $50 to let Richard Seymour "shove me" one time, I'd say yes. Then, if that same person proceeded to show me the shot he gave to Ben and say that he would do that same thing to me, I would change my mind because it's definitely not a shove.