NBA thread

[thisWARisours]

Greatest ****ing shot EVER!

I went totally crazy!

[dac]

It's amazing that with 1 second left he took a formed shot and didn't just throw up a prayer. I'm so ****ing happy. We have toasted literally 10 shots to LeBron James already tonight.

[AesopR123]

I still can't believe it... I thought for sure we had that game won.

[crash_override]

Kobe who? is he the same guy who didn't get mvp this year? and the one whos team got beat at home last night?

yeah i thought so. Lebron James for president....



...wait he's already king.

[Son of JayJamJah]

Well Game two proved that you can and can't rely on stats and history to tell you what's going to happen. Hedo, Lewis and Howard came back to earth although they all played well again and LeBron's supporting cast was again absent. The Magic came back from down 20+ again somehow (Mike Brown will get Doug Collins'ed ose his job if they don't win this series) and it came down to the last possession.

I would like to apologize to all people from Turkey, especially The Turk himself who has been dynamite down the stretch on the road through two games of this series. I would have (and did) called him one of the worst go-to-guys in the league before this series and he's really shined. What a shot he hit to put Orlando up.

Now on to the part I was right about. Lebron is the best closer in the game and having him on your team eliminates all talk about match-ups dictating a series. He dictates the series. No other player in the league hits that shot he hit last night. No one gets open on that spot even.

The Magic dominated the last 2 1/2 quarters and Hedo hit one of the biggest shots in franchise history and left just 1 tick. Still it wasn't enough. The worst news is the Cavs played their worst two games of the playoffs and they only stole one.

Lebrons main support has been brutal:

D West is just 8-20 40%
Mo Williams is 13-40 32.5%
and Big Z is 10-24 42%

During the regular season and rest of the playoffs they've shot 47% each. That is a huge gap of 10% shooting which amounts to almost 11 points a game,

Cavs in Five

[ProggyMan]

JJJ, what you don't seem to understand is that this Lebron is going to have to win every game of the playoffs from here on out by himself. That is something he can't do.

[Son of JayJamJah]

Originally Posted by ProggyMan

JJJ, what you don't seem to understand is that this Lebron is going to have to win every game of the playoffs from here on out by himself. That is something he can't do.

I understand that's what you think, I just believe that's wrong. Illgauskas, Williams and West are very good players and when they play up to their capability the Cavs are unbeatable. And if it's close in the fourth quarter he will win every game or at least a lot more then he'll lose.

If you'd have watched Michael Jordan or Larry Bird play, you'd know what I mean.

[ProggyMan]

It's true, if all three of those players play up to their potential the Cavs are very, very good, but unbeatable? If Kobe, Bynum and Odom play up to their potential I'd say the Lakers would play away the Cavs. What you say about Lebron and his ability to win games by himself is partially true. He can make up for everyone else on his team playing terribly and take over when he feels the need. That alone will win the Cavs two games against anyone. But can he win a 7 game series against a team like the Lakers or Nuggets, with vastly superior speed, skill, size and all around talent? The difference between Lebrons Cavs and Jordans Bulls is simple. There is no dominant second option on the Cavs. Who is the Pippen to Lebrons Jordan?
Edit: I can see your point in this, and it's valid, agree to disagree?

[Son of JayJamJah]

Originally Posted by ProggyMan

It's true, if all three of those players play up to their potential the Cavs are very, very good, but unbeatable? If Kobe, Bynum and Odom play up to their potential I'd say the Lakers would play away the Cavs. What you say about Lebron and his ability to win games by himself is partially true. He can make up for everyone else on his team playing terribly and take over when he feels the need. That alone will win the Cavs two games against anyone. But can he win a 7 game series against a team like the Lakers or Nuggets, with vastly superior speed, skill, size and all around talent? The difference between Lebrons Cavs and Jordans Bulls is simple. There is no dominant second option on the Cavs. Who is the Pippen to Lebrons Jordan?
Edit: I can see your point in this, and it's valid, agree to disagree?

I don't need to change your mind, just like discussing the game.

Pippen was never a dominant player as evidenced by the decrease in his production and effectiveness when Jordan was not by his side. All the big shots, all the crunch time ball handling was done by Jordan.

I'll take Lebron, Z and Mo Williams over Kobe, Bynum and Odom anyday. Gasol is the key for LA in my opinion, in the Nuggets series and a potential final vs. LA.

The Nuggets are a joke to me, an awful coach, a second level star and one of the most overrated clutch players\finishers in the NBA. They beat two bad\injured teams on their way to this point.

My main reason for feeling like LA can't beat Cleveland is the fact that LA is playing some of it's worst basketball of the season in the playoffs. Going 7 games with Houston is embarrassing. Fisher has been awful, Bynum and Odom suck off the bench and you can't start both and Gasol does not get the ball enough because the Triangle runs through Kobe. Plus Kobe's team mates fo not like him, Lebron pushed for Sasha Pavolic to get increased minutes in game 2 and he hit 3 key shots scoring 9 points in 20 minutes. Kobe is not a leader, it's why they lost to Boston and it's why I tihnk Cleveland beats them too.

[ProggyMan]

I didn't mention Gasol because he's the only one who's been consistently good in the playoffs, it's just he hasn't gotten the ball enough.
Pippen may not have been dominant per se, but who on the Cavs roster is comparable? Plus he was an absolute lockdown defender.

The way I see it is this: You can cite all the history you want, but Jordan didn't win a championship until his supporting cast raised their level of play, and he didn't have to be as dominant. Sure, down the stretch he always had the ball in his hands and was the unquestioned leader on the court, but compare his PER from before he won his first title and during his two three year runs. Bottom line is that this Cavs team is not only far less talented than the Lakers, but they matchup poorly. Terribly in fact. I think they have a good shot because of Lebron and because of the way the Lakers are playing, but if the Lakers elevate their to any level beyond what they're doing now, expect it to be over in 6.