Real Deal

LOL, I'm not blaming Duke at all. I'm just upset that KU worked like hell to get that #1 overall, yet it gave them the toughest road to the championship. As far as me rooting against Duke, I really don't have a preference. I don't care for Duke, never rooted for Butler until they played K-State. However, since Butler is the lesser of two evils and possibly one of the bigger underdogs in the tourney in quite some time, I'm going to pull for them. No other reason, really.

Northern Iowa was actually one of the best defensive teams in the nation (read top three somewhere). And there was a huge difference in the brackets, even for Syracuse and Memphis, compared to Duke. If any team was going to beat Duke on that side, it would've been Louisville, but they lost in the first round. Then, in the Final Four, it would've been Memphis, but...well, you already know. So now they play Butler in the championship game? While Butler has been a good team, playing the Jayhawks or the Orange would've been a much tougher ride for Duke.

The point is, there's no need to look down on Kobe to make LeBron out to be a better player. I can say LeBron is clutch without saying Kobe isn't. When you give us his Game 5 against the Pistons, and I give you 5-6 other games where Kobe matched that performance, you go on to tell me it was the 29 consecutive points that made it special. Okay? Reggie's eight in nine, McGrady's 13 against the Spurs, Kobe's 19 in four against the Nuggets in the playoffs...Kobe dropped 20+ consecutive points before, without any teammates scoring. He outscored the Mavericks through three, something nobody in the history of the game has done through 36 minutes. He dropped 55 in one half, 81 in a game, 42 in another half of a different game. Bryant also averaged 10+ points in the fourth quarter one season, something that hasn't been done since Wilt, I believe. Four playoff game-winners for Kobe in 23 close playoff games. Four for LeBron in 17 close playoff games. Kobe is the all-time leader in game-winners made, NBA history. I believe he's also hit the most game-winners in a single season since the mid-90's, but it could go back even further (don't remember the statistic). LeBron is clutch. Kobe is more clutch. Eventually, I'm sure that will change as Kobe ages...but let's not kid ourselves here. Missing game-clinching free throws is huge, and so is the decision to take a three over a clear path to the lane. Double both players, and who do you take for that last shot? It's as clear as day. You take Kobe, although if you want the drive and the opponent isn't going to double, it's obviously James.

I just don't get how the #1 overall seed was thrown into the toughest bracket, while Duke (who was #4, I believe) had the easiest. That's all that really gets me upset.

The Kobe tech was really, really stupid. I think the league will probably review that and overturn it, but who knows. As far as the officiating goes, whatever. We still lost.

Ah, right. Kobe dropped 19 in four minutes against the Nuggets in the fourth quarter of that 49-point, 10 assist playoff game, but nobody cares about that, either. Four. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/12539288 (over Ruffin with 5.7 to go) http://espn.go.com/nba/recap/_/id/270531008/cleveland-cavaliers-vs-detroit-pistons (layup to put the Cavs ahead with 2.2 on the clock) Then the two you mentioned. The two above are game-winning shots/layups, buzzer-beating or not. There was still 0.9 on the clock when he made the layup against the Wizards as well.

Just an FYI, you can post the user's name in Twitter tags, and it will automatically link to the account. [twitter]otrbasketball[/twitter] @otrbasketball

LMAO, just think of how big this one single game is for him tonight. Dude has to be going nuts right now, just waiting for it. It would be AWESOME if it ended on a Butler game-winning half-court three after Duke blows a 20-point lead.

@WojYahooNBA

I just don't like that. James took it to the rim most of the quarter, and brought the Cavs back from a 22-point deficit that way. He was on a fast break to the rim. The Celtics would've had to foul him, if anything, but he would've gotten the bucket and possibly even a free throw to follow. It's KG. LeBron dunked all over him the last time they met in the playoffs, and hopefully, he does it over and over again this time. James has four (see my earlier post). At least I'm almost 100% sure he does, unless I'm mixing regular season game-winners with playoff ones. And in 60 playoff games for LeBron, 17 of them (almost 30%) have ended very close, three points or less. In 175 playoff games for Kobe, 23 of them (13%) have ended with a three-point or less margin of victory. In almost as many games, they have both hit as many game-winners...and that's not considering the fact that Kobe was coming off the bench for nine of those games, wasn't even a first OR second option for another 13, and was on the same team with Fisher and Horry for so long, two of the clutchiest (is that a word?) shooters in the history of the game. It was Game 5, but anyway... GM5 vs. Pistons: 48 PTS on 18-33 FG (.545), 9 REB, 7 AST, 50 MIN And now Kobe... GM2 vs. Denver, 2008: 49 PTS on 18-27 FG (.667), 4 REB, 10 AST, 42 MIN GM3 vs. Phoenix, 2007: 45 PTS on 15-26 FG (.577), 6 REB, 6 AST, 45 MIN GM6 vs. Phoenix, 2006: 50 PTS on 20-35 FG (.571), 8 REB, 5 AST, 52 MIN GM4 vs. Sacramento, 2001: 48 PTS on 15-29 FG (.517), 16 REB, 3 AST, 48 MIN GM1 vs. San Antonio, 2001: 45 PTS on 19-35 FG (.543), 10 REB, 3 AST, 47 MIN Game 5 is where LeBron emerged as a dangerous force in the playoffs. People talk about it because it was unexpected. People expected Kobe's performances, and they weren't shocking at all.

Is the site using Wordpress? I can't tell. Very good, though. I like this one a bit better than the Weems site, but both are impressive. Is that sixth-man sports site actually yours, or do you just work with the guys there?

You mean a perfect bracket? No way. I have yet to find one (and probably won't). But if Duke wins, this guy just won $10k on ESPN, and then whatever the prize is on Sobe's challenge (I think it said $250,000). http://sobe.fanhouse.com/bracket/pages/prizes

...if Duke wins it all tonight. Check this out: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/entry?entryID=1125888 http://sobe.fanhouse.com/bracket/leaderboard Never seen a guy win two different contests before. If Duke wins, he takes first in both.

TIME: 8:30 PM EST

TIME: 9:21 PM EST

Haha, is that how everyone rolls in Philly? If I ever go there, I'll need to know if I'll have to go purchase a few shotguns first.

Probably, but it wouldn't have done anything for us, because he'd get sacked 300 times a game with our line trying to protect him. Plus, it's a big "hell no" if we had to trade Asomugha for him, which is the rumor I read.

I'm sorry, but I can't stand Barnes. I hope someone puts him in a suplex.

Martin was just an example of a player that is asked to carry the load in the clutch, but then again, I guess that goes back to my Kobe example a bit as well...teams knew Martin was the only guy in Sacramento that could produce, so they knew what was going to happen. But since you're looking up clutch stats, tell me where Vince Carter is to Carmelo Anthony. Post them and convince us that Carter is a better clutch player than Melo, without considering the defensive attention Melo gets right when he touches the basketball. Situations can't be ignored. Kobe needs to feed Gasol, Bynum and Odom down low? Odom doesn't play down low, and Bynum and Gasol don't play together much at all in the fourth (Phil plays Odom and Gasol more than the Bynum and Gasol duo in the late stages of the game, and that's been going on for two years now). The last time Odom played in the post was back in 2006-07. Kobe's shooting percentages don't compare because he doesn't drive to the rim every play, and you can't expect him to in the triangle. In fact, Kobe was screaming at Phil the other night, and kicked a chair, because Jackson refused to give him isolation, something Mike Brown encourages with LeBron. Why? Because isolation with Bryant runs Gasol out of the spot, breaks the triangle, and puts him and [insert teammate here] within 12 feet of each other, minimizing passing and disabling shooters like Fisher and Farmar (who don't hit anything to begin with). I'd rather have LeBron shoot a wide-open jumper than Kobe with two in his face. However, not specifying a player is going a bit too far. Odom airballed a wide-open jumper that Kobe passed him, for a game-winner, pre-Gasol. I've seen other players do it as well. Bryant has hit many game-winning jumpers with two in his face, including the one in the playoffs against the Suns (Bell and Diaw) and the game-winner against the Raptors this season, fading towards the sidelines. Put two guys on LeBron, two guys on Bryant, and ask one to hit a three. You take Kobe every single time. Hell, it wasn't too long ago that Bryant hit three consecutive shots in a game (including the game-winner) with both LeBron and Ilgauskas in his face.

This is LeBron's seventh year in the NBA, and he's averaging freakish numbers. I'm pretty sure the experience discussion has been thrown out the window already. Kobe had 14 game-winners in his first seven seasons, and you can go ahead and mark off the first couple of seasons that Bryant wasn't even a second option (under 30 minutes per game, under 12 shots, Shaq and Jones were shooting and touching the ball more). That's 18 game-winners in his first seven seasons as a first OR second option on offense, which is pretty impressive. I believe LeBron has 11 or 12, but don't quote me on that. Impressive as well. Melo probably has one or two more than James.

By the way, LeBron was massively clutch for Cleveland in most of the fourth quarter of this game, but the two misses from the line, and the weird three-point attempt he took to win instead of tie with a few seconds left, sort of hurt the argument a bit.

LeBron is a clutch player, overall (scoring, passing, defense). His free throws do need work. I think everyone knows that. It could be a problem down the road (and it has been so far). I'd take Kobe at the free throw line, and I'd take Kobe for the last-second shot of the game. The Cavs are more dangerous in the clutch because they have better shooters (everyone from Mo and Moon, to West and even Jamison now). They spread the floor well, and you can't double LeBron so easily because of those guys, which includes Gibson (who destroyed Detroit in a decisive playoff game against the contending Pistons) and Ilgauskas about 15-20 feet from the rim. So while there are about 3-4 other clutch shooters for the Cavs, there's really only Fisher for the Lakers, so you know where the ball is going, and you know who's likely to take that final shot for LA, while LeBron is willing to pass it off with full confidence that his teammates will knock down the shot, and rightfully so.

Probably three or four. Cleveland has been in a lot of close games with the Pistons and Wizards over the years. James hit two game-winners on the Wizards. In fact, LeBron hit a game-winning shot on Hedo against the Magic. He hit a shot on Ruffin against the Wizards. There was one Wizards game he made a game-winning layup. He had a game-winning layup against the Pistons as well. Kobe and Shaq were demolishing teams in the playoffs, and when they didn't, they had Fisher and Horry. Without Shaq and those excellent shooters (which included Harper, Fox, and a handful of others), Kobe has had four playoff seasons, two of them with absolutely no legit team (no shooters, no defense, no nothing). I don't see the point.

Jordan takes it.

Bird - 9 James - 5 Erving - 2