OT: LeBron

[Fishy]

Just got home and flipped on the game...

Ah, who made him mad? That stat line is berserk.

 

[Silk City]

The good job, good effort kid is the Heat's MakersMuppet

 

[champs99and04]

f'in incredible.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Unfortunately, Lebron is in Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley and Patrick Ewing land (albeit more talented than any of those three).

Until he puts stat lines up like tonight in a NBA finals when his team wins, it's all for naught.

Incredible performance with his team's backs up against the wall. Give him credit for that, no strings attached. He's done this before though.

 

[hungry husky]

Heat/Thunder would be a great finals...

Bosh's value is understated. Just having Bosh on the floor opens up Wade or Lebron to go for a big night on any given occasion.

 

[Frank Ivy]

LeBron is the best ever.
Whether he ends up with the best ever resume is yet to be seen.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

He is something we have never seen. Highest scoring average in playoff games when facing elimination. 4th highest scoring average in elimination games overall....but he isn't clutch??

 

[Kitaman]

I think its time to stop the disrespecting of Lebron James. He is a great player with or without a title. Teams win ships, he is doing all he can do including playing the whole game and not wantimg to sit. The kid has pressure on him (yeah some self imposed) like no other athlete. I for one am burying the hatchet with this kid. He couldn't be stopped last night.

 

[JaYnYcE]

He's good, but not better than Jordan

 

[21Huskies]

If somehow the C's were hitting shots and Miami lost, people would be saying (maybe not today but soon) that Lebron can't win the big ones even after doing that.

It's all nonsense. He's the best, he's been the best for quite sometime, he should easily have 5 MVPs. winning is a team accomplishment... Knocking him for not winning is just an old school, lazy, illogical way of thinking. Nobody on the planet puts his team in a better spot to win on a night in night out level like Lebron.

 

[JaYnYcE]

If you're saying he should have 5 MVPs, then criticizing him for not winning a title is warranted. Its one of the major accomplishments if not the biggest one that athletes are defined by.

 

[traitor71]

If you're saying he should have 5 MVPs, then criticizing him for not winning a title is warranted. Its one of the major accomplishments if not the biggest one that athletes are defined by.

Which is always a shame because no single guy wins or loses by himself. One guy may drive the train, but teams win these titles.

 

[JaYnYcE]

Which is always a shame because no single guy wins or loses by himself. One guy may drive the train, but teams win these titles.

Thats true, but besides the 2004 Pistons can you name another team that won a title in the past 20 years that didn't have a perenial all-star?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Just got home and flipped on the game...

Ah, who made him mad? That stat line is berserk.

Watching it was far more impressive than the stat line. Among the great playoff performances ever. Right there with Magic starting at center against the Sixers.

 

[Fishy]

Watching it was far more impressive than the stat line. Among the great playoff performances ever. Right there with Magic starting at center against the Sixers.

He's so freaking talented that it's unreal - anyone who thinks he's in 'Reggie Miller land" is purely insane.

 

[21Huskies]

Watching it was far more impressive than the stat line. Among the great playoff performances ever. Right there with Magic starting at center against the Sixers.

and it wasn't even his best playoff performance. his game in Detroit and arguably Orlando were at least as impressive.

he's a monster. and unlike many of our faux-stars that people love to praise, he is efficient.

 

[21Huskies]

Its one of the major accomplishments if not the biggest one that athletes are defined by.

thats what the media has brainwashed you to believe your whole life. obviously its great to win and it makes a resume look better.

but, its a lazy and illogical way of looking at individual talent. if somehow the Heat lost the game last night, by your measures, it's held against him.

just as a point of reference... he put up a postseason in '09 that had game logs of the following (all the while shooting 51% and avg 9 reb and 7 assists): 38,29,25,36,34,27,47,27,49,35,41,44,37,25 ... they didn't win the title (obviously), you're blaming him? somehow thats a knock on him?

winning is a team accomplishment regardless of what the 'experts' tell you.

 

[Scoe]

The best player to never win a championship is Elgin Baylor, Lebron is like a modern day Wilt Chamberlain, he goes into beast mode, other times he coasts. Obviously you have to win a championship as a team, if you are trying to live up to the legacy of a Jordan, Magic, Bird etc along that comes criticism if you come up short, it is what it is. The performance last night was incredible no doubt, I hate the Heat more then I hate Lebron.

 

[21Huskies]

again, it's whether you want to be fair about your criticism or just go along with what everyone tells you that you're supposed to say.

Nothing changed based off last night... Lebron had a really good game, he's had many of them. Big deal. People were praising him last year during the ECF just the same as they are praising him today. 'he finally did it, blah blah blah' then we crushed him a week later in the finals worst than we ever crushed him. What's my point? People are fickle idiots who change their opinions with the wind... Which is why opinions are useless. When you're the best player, you're always the best player... it doesn't change because of the calendar. Last night shouldn't change anyone's perception of Lebrons greatness, the same way him winning a ring shouldn't change anyone's opinion. He has earned his greatness over a long period of time with or without rings regardless of what Magic Johnson, Wilbon or Jon Barry tell you that you're supposed to believe.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I'm a Celtics fan but by the end of that game I was rooting for LeBron to get to 50, that's how good he was. Easily among the best basketball games I've ever seen anyone play.

Its not relevant to me to constantly evaluate & dissect LeBron on a historical basis. What is interesting is that even though I'm a Celtics fan I think an NBA finals of OKC - Heat would be far more entertaining basketball so I'm clinging to that as a bright side if the Celtics throw out another clunker like they did last night.

In this playoffs I've come to dislike Wade a little more as his body of chippy play (Rondo last year, Kobe in the all-star game) reached a tipping point for me. I still hate the Heat's lame supporting cast & Bosh. But I won't be rooting against Miami with the same vitrol as I had last year mostly because at least basketball-wise LeBron is awfully tough to dislike. And LeBron is kind of putting up a Shaq style off the court resume = maybe too much look at me stuff but given the attention level easy to see how one succumbs to that and he's kept his nose 100% clean off the court. Ultimately though it'd still be nice to see Durant triumph over a fully actualized LeBron James and hoist the symbolic belt of 'best of 2012'.

 

[21Huskies]

fair post Dogdeacon.

i have one question tho. other than the 'decision' and the 'welcome celebration' (which obviously were both idiotic) when has he ever done anything 'look at me' off the court. I live in Miami and he's NEVER out in public like Wade or other guys are, he doesn't do much in terms of media spots and he's not really a loud guy. its another thing i don't get about the hatred.

as for OKC, if that happens (big if)... i think their 4 are greater than Miami's 3. especially with Bosh limited and Wade playing like this. Lebron and Wade will both need to be on top of their games to pull that series off. will be fun to watch as a basketball fan first.

 

[traitor71]

I still can't figure out why anyone would dislike Bosh. What has he done other than sacrifice his role, show emotion, and play hard?

 

[UCHuskies08]

All of the LeBron hate is from the Decision/Pep rally. Time for people to get over it. I have.

 

[Inyatkin]

Bill Wennington won multiple NBA championships. Clearly better than LeBron.

 

[willie99]

I hope he got it out of his system, don't want to see a game like that on Saturday

conversely, were the Celtics drugged up?