Is half of GAF living in a bubble?
First the BTTF2 thread, then someone says everyone hates the Warriors, then this..
No normal person who grew up with MJ in his prime will ever rank Lebron over him. Even if he wins 20 rings.
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2015 NBA Finals |OT| the deli is closed
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Is half of GAF living in a bubble?
First the BTTF2 thread, then someone says everyone hates the Warriors, then this..
No normal person who grew up with MJ in his prime will ever rank Lebron over him. Even if he wins 20 rings.
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
Holy shit! The amount of trash talking and barbs in this thread are legendary! Seriously keeps me entertained.
I'm rooting for both GSW and Cavs, so I'm fine with either of the two winning. Just find it funny how many people here hate Steph Curry. What did the dude do? Spit on someone's face before dropping a three?
LBJ winning one right away after leaving Miami would cement just how good he is; but losing in the Finals again would not be good. Fair or not, it will be used repeatedly against him. I hated bron-bron when he was in Miami. I'm OK with him and even in his corner since he got actual balls and went back.
Should be an awesome series. I think GSW in 6 since they have way too much firepower. Cavs rematch next year once Love and the others bounce back from injuries.
I'm rooting for both GSW and Cavs, so I'm fine with either of the two winning. Just find it funny how many people here hate Steph Curry. What did the dude do? Spit on someone's face before dropping a three?
LBJ winning one right away after leaving Miami would cement just how good he is; but losing in the Finals again would not be good. Fair or not, it will be used repeatedly against him. I hated bron-bron when he was in Miami. I'm OK with him and even in his corner since he got actual balls and went back.
Should be an awesome series. I think GSW in 6 since they have way too much firepower. Cavs rematch next year once Love and the others bounce back from injuries.
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
WTF? I grew up watching Magic, MJ, etc. MJ is the best...period. If you saw him at his prime, you wouldn't even think this. Even my diehard LBJ supporting friends never even considered he was better than MJ.
Defense during the MJ era was brutal. Hand checks were normal, more physical, no replays to help people out, etc.
And MJ had this will to win and made no excuses. He won rings with his original team and was even paid at a super discounted rate, too!
As good as LBJ is, he doesn't have the will or tenacity that MJ had. Not to mention comparing the teams both played with, MJ was crappier -- Pippen notwithstanding.
Seriously...WTF?! It's like saying Dwight Howard is better than Shaq.
You realize that I'm agreeing with you?
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
Just want to get it out there:
Michael Jordan >>>>>>>All
Also
Moses Malone in his prime was as good as Kareem.
Michael Jordan >>>>>>>All
Also
Moses Malone in his prime was as good as Kareem.
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
Yeah, it was more on that person saying LBJ is greater. My bad should have quoted him instead.
Don't want to derail the thread, but this nonsense has to stop. What's next? Saying Dirk is better than Bird?
This older gen player is superior is BS tho, there's reason why injury higher than ever now.. and handcheck isn't proving game is harder back then, maybe in some aspect but its also encouraging iso for superstar and boosting there ppg opportunity.. so its not really that bad for them.
I would say that athletes are relying to much on their body (Athleticism) to play, than to be smart about playing. I've never seen so many injuries in the NBA in the last 5 years then I can remember for almost all of the 90's. Where as in the 90's it was gritty, smart and hard playing that was being used. Today its just push your body till it breaks....and it really sucks.
Wasn't he dating Sharapova for a while, balling in Europe or something?
He had his glory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uOnCRzBrgg
So according to the great NBA minds in this thread and basically every NBA thread ever since Lebron went to Miami, Lebron's problems are, but not limited to: his nickname, his tattoo, him being drafted in the East, him not going to the worst team in the West when he was a FA, him not going to a team simply for more money (Knicks), him not staying with Cleveland, him having the audacity to go to a team with other good players, him failing to make the finals every year he had been in the league, him failing to win every final he has made regardless of the team he played on and or against, and him being more like Magic then Jordan.
Only title for him that will ever count is if he takes a bad western conference team to the finals. Each series will have to be 7 game series where Lebron hits a game winning shot to advance.
Only title for him that will ever count is if he takes a bad western conference team to the finals. Each series will have to be 7 game series where Lebron hits a game winning shot to advance.
teruterubozu
Member
People are bored. We gotta talk about something for this matchup.
Gentle Rodriguez
Member
Why are people who think MJ is better than LBJ arguing with people who think the same thing? We get it, MJ is better, literally nobody is arguing that, you're arguing with ghost people. This discussion is as tired as the Messi vs Ronaldo one.
Not one, not two, not three, not four....
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
JinjoUnchained
Member
I said that he would "struggle" to get 20 PPG, not that he wouldn't get it. Someone has to score on a bad team. But he'd probably need 35+ shots to get there and wouldn't have any good looks. And, more importantly, the team would be lucky to even make the first round.
Again, my point is that it's a team sport and that even the greatest talents are handicapped by the quality of heir teammates. LeBron was the best player on the floor in last years Finals and still got crushed because the opposition was considerably better, on the whole. In fact, LeBron was better statistically in the 2014 loss than in the 2013 win. The difference in outcome is due in part to randomness (Ray Allen game 6 shot) and quality of teammates.
The most common one I hear is they hate that he chews on his mouthpiece. That makes him arrogant. No lie. Lol
Go warriors!!
Jag
Member
This is interesting. Never knew how close Blatt and Kerr were to working together this season.
Dolphins' Tannenbaum helped Kerr, Blatt toward NBA Finals
Dolphins' Tannenbaum helped Kerr, Blatt toward NBA Finals
DAT SALT. I can see the Dan Gilber hate, but what is so "shit" about the organization? You still crying over Lebron leaving? He won you 2 fucking rings.
Some people hate Andrew Luck, there are some things science cannot explain friend.
stn
Member
I think you're seriously devaluing the teammates MJ had.
Rodman - amazing defender and rebounder, all-star
Kerr - great shooter and leader
Longley - was a solid center
Harper - yet another solid PG
Grant - solid PF
Kukoc - best 6th man at the time
I'd take MJ's cast over LBJ's current cast.
cubicle47b
Member
BadAss2961
Member
LeBron is mostly handicapped by himself. When you consider his talent, he had the team to beat the Spurs both those years, and was a lucky play away from losing in both finals.
His problem is that he's a stat padder and a frontrunner. This might sound crazy, but he literally caps himself out at a certain stat line -- especially when he's getting his ass handed to him. Last year's finals is a great example of this. He'd put up all his numbers in spurts, usually in the first half, and disappear in large chunks of the games. This is why despite having better numbers, he was being outplayed by Kawhi Leonard at several points in the series.
Sometimes he just needs to take over and score 40 or 50, but he's not willing to do it or even try it. Instead he'll hide in his point guard shell and go for that 'efficient' near-triple-double line and stop there.
Yeah because that Spurs D was just gonna let him drop 40-50 a game in last year's Finals.
God forbid he actually loses because the other team was simply better than him and his team, and his coach was also completely out coached.
It's worse with all these contrived hypotheticals. People be arguing over fanfiction. Sometimes it's fun (I do get a kick from the mj/kobe shit), but another 5+ days of it will be unbearable.
Hey man, you just have to will yourself to. That's how basketball works.
sooperkool
Member
Its because he is always thinking of his "image". Always wants to be seen as great, a great teammate and leader. Its starting to become almost disingenuous now.
Its going to be interesting to see who LeBron is gonna guard if Steph and Klay gets hot.
LeBron is not gonna wanna chase Klay around, and if they put him on Steph I would let Iggy play PG and make LeBron chase Curry around.
Thats the advantage Warriors have both there best players dont need the ball to get shoots, like a Harden, Rose, Westbrook, where u can put LeBron on them a its a wrap.
Where as the Warriors have 4 guys to throw a Lebron, Green (if they wanna go physical), Iggy, Thompson and Barnes ( who will prob start on him).
I would play Bron single coverage and make him beat me, dude is shooting 16% from 3.
The Bulls Jimmy Butler did a great job on LeBron but Bulls just didint have enough scoring, Warriors wont have that issue.
I have Warriors in 5 or 6
LeBron is not gonna wanna chase Klay around, and if they put him on Steph I would let Iggy play PG and make LeBron chase Curry around.
Thats the advantage Warriors have both there best players dont need the ball to get shoots, like a Harden, Rose, Westbrook, where u can put LeBron on them a its a wrap.
Where as the Warriors have 4 guys to throw a Lebron, Green (if they wanna go physical), Iggy, Thompson and Barnes ( who will prob start on him).
I would play Bron single coverage and make him beat me, dude is shooting 16% from 3.
The Bulls Jimmy Butler did a great job on LeBron but Bulls just didint have enough scoring, Warriors wont have that issue.
I have Warriors in 5 or 6
JinjoUnchained
Member
I agree on that last point. When the Heat jumped out to the big early lead in Game 5,I had the same reaction as you: LeBron needs to go for 50. Much the way Kobe sometimes needed to defer more. LeBron sometimes needed to defer less.
But I definitely disagree about him having the talent in both those Finals to beat the Spurs. 2013? Yeah. 2014, hell no, and the results back it up. The 2014 Heat team featured a banged up D Wade who rested most of the season and couldn't stay on the court anyway; a plodding 3 and D Bosh who was allergic to contact; ineffective Ray Allen/Shane Battier in the last games of their careers, and no replacement for the departed Mike Miller. Their big offseason moves were gambles on Greg Oden and Michael Beasley (LOL)
Even if some of the talent was still there, they were clearly banged up and broken down from 4 straight Finals runs. Compare that to the 2014 Spurs, who were essentially the same team as the previous year's near-champion. It's not even close.
As rational as equating individual greatness with team success can be, I suppose.
Kukoc was a nice player, but basically he was 13ppg, 46fg%/ 35 3p%. I think Manu's a better 6th man. Rodman was no offense, it was kind of a joke in games if he got some buckets and would overcelebrate, but he was an amazing rebounder/defensive energy. Grant never played at the same time as Rodman. Kerr was a 3pt killer off the bench. They were largely a defensive squad, with MJ and Pippen hitting the offense.
Today seems like stars don't play as many mpg, and there's more weapons to bring in and matchup problems to create off bench guys. So in some ways a Cavs squad or a Spurs have more firepower 1-8, but relative to the era MJ's team was good. Although everyone points to 94 and almost making it to the ECF, 95 they were falling off pretty good. It's not some hall of fame team MJ played on, but one with some good players and defined roles. Kind of an impossible comparison Lebron's cast vs MJ's, doesn't tell us anything. If Wade and Bosh were decently healthy Miami could have won some games and maybe a playoff round too after his departure. Cleveland cast he left in late 00s were garbage though.
Hawks made Lebron look like prime Lebron turning super saiyan. I think the Bulls woke the Cavs up, got them into shape, but the Hawks were a house of cards for Lebron. It'll be different to see him have to play 48 and find his moments and such again, like he'll have to do against the Warriors. He got lost in last years Spurs series against Kawhi at times. Mystifying. I always like seeing Lebron against good teams, its a different lens to view him under. He gets East garbage too often where there are no game mistakes just bull your way in. Which no one doubts he's a load to handle physically.
BadAss2961
Member
Well we should stop comparing him to Michael Jordan then. No one was gonna stop MJ from going off when he had to. This guy averaged over 40 in an NBA Finals before.
cubicle47b
Member
5 of the 6 90's Bulls championship teams are top 10 ELO of all time. They have the #1 and #2 spots. The '93-'94 Bulls without MJ are pretty close to the '13-'14 Heat in ranking.
Seems like too easy to imagine, but is a healthy Kyrie going to be the big "key" to this series? With the announcers proclaiming "My GOODNESS Kyrie Irving!" in what's supposed to be Steph Curry's coming out party. Maybe hitting a barage of 3's and quotes "You know, Kyries a great shooter in his own right. We don't talk enough about that". Ugh, series is too long away and it's already been a round since we had competitive basketball.
Ninja Scooter
Member
HEY GUYZ MICHEL JORDAN
cubicle47b
Member
Good job team doctors.
Freedom = $1.05
Banned
The great thing about the Jordan debate is absolutely nothing.
Nothing.
Moving on, that Lebron is gonna have to take another finals L sucks for him. Gotta feel like crap for him, if he hadn't played with the heat and stayed in Cleveland he probably wouldn't have a single ring, poor guy.
Damn Klay, don't rush it. No need to possibly hurt the remainder of your life just to finish the cavs off sooner.
Nothing.
Moving on, that Lebron is gonna have to take another finals L sucks for him. Gotta feel like crap for him, if he hadn't played with the heat and stayed in Cleveland he probably wouldn't have a single ring, poor guy.
Damn Klay, don't rush it. No need to possibly hurt the remainder of your life just to finish the cavs off sooner.
Gentle Rodriguez
Member
So why did Klay play the last game vs the Rockets? Why was it a contusion then and a concussion now? I didn't see the game did something happen?
Uno Venova
Banned
He didn't come back in.
Gully State
Member
He got concussed during the game. Also, I don't think he even played after getting hit by Ariza. Came back briefly but then started bleeding in the ear and that was that..
eBay Huckster
Member
Ariza knee'd Klay in the head on one play, impact was hard enough to make him start bleeding from one ear
Team doctors ducked protocol during the game in order to try and keep him out there (on the bench at that point iirc) and then the bleeding started and he left entirely.
Klay didn't play after he got hit, but Warriors probably wanted to try and skirt the concussion protocol.
And he pumpfaked Ariza into the air and tried to drive past him, but Ariza's an unintelligent piece of shit and decided to drive his knee into Klay's head so he couldn't drive.
Dion Blaster
Member
This is the only corner of the internet or life in general where I've heard Steph Curry called unlikable.
I thought that play was Klay's fault. he got Ariza in the air and then ran into his knee on accident.
I thought that play was Klay's fault. he got Ariza in the air and then ran into his knee on accident.
That's an...interesting way of describing the play.
Gully State
Member
Clip of Steph playing horse..
https://vine.co/v/ebTOYZ7pXLq
https://vine.co/v/ebTOYZ7pXLq
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