2012 NBA

[Paelos]

Got real quiet around the league now that Lebron went off.

Twice.

Guess the haters are just stewing.

[ghost]

Got real quiet around the league now that Lebron went off.

Twice.

Guess the haters are just stewing.

Lebron has been doing this for years.  Expect him to wilt in the finals. 

[Threash]

The better he plays the more it makes him look like a bitch for going to the Heat actually.

[Paelos]

Wow.

So if he wins, will yall finally stop? Can he literally DO anything to change the opinions of the haters?

[Azuredream]

I think there's a section of people who, if he wins a championship, will revise their opinion on him, but there's an equally large (or larger) section of people who will change their line from 'he can't win a title' to 'he can't win a title without other superstars/he can't win it more than once' ..the guy is held up to an 'MJ or bust' level that is kind of ridiculous.

[Paelos]

Anybody that continues to spout hate at Lebron IF he wins the title this season has gone off the deep end.

[Threash]

Wow.

So if he wins, will yall finally stop? Can he literally DO anything to change the opinions of the haters?

The "hate" comes from him wanting to build a superteam and win easy championships rather than trying to be the player someone of his talent level should be.  Someone with the talent of Lebron should look at players like Wade and Bosh and think "those guys are great, i want to beat them", not "those guys are great, i bet we could win seven championships without any effort if we teamed up".  If Bird, Magic and Dr J had done the same in 80s Lebron would be flipping burgers.  So, no winning isn't going to make him look any less like a bitch.  And damn freaking right he is held up to an "MJ or bust" level, that is the kind of player he IS.

[Azuredream]

I don't agree, there's a lot of talented players in the NBA and no such thing as an easy championship, and wanting to play with the best players possible isn't being a bitch, it's common sense.

[ghost]

Wow.

So if he wins, will yall finally stop? Can he literally DO anything to change the opinions of the haters?

Actually, yes.  I'm sure this will surprise you, but the best way for Lebron to shut up his detractors is to play like a fucking beast and own OKC. 

Lebron has more talent in his pinky toe than 99% of the NBA.  At what point is it "hating" to say that the guy is choke city?  I actually like Lebron, but I'm not going to bet the keys to my house on his play (maybe just a copy of Torchlight 2  ).  I also hate when superstars like Karl Malone and Charles Barcley, who were fucking amazing, never could get it done.  I really don't want Lebron to be in that boat.  The dude could be fucking Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan combined if he'd just be the guy.  Look what he did in game 4 of the Indiana series-  40 points, 18 boards and 9 assists.  That is godlike.  If you look at the numbers on his games, when he hits 12 baskets or more they almost always win.  I mean seriously, the guy fucking owned the last two games of the Celtics series. 

But he always chokes.  Always.   

[Threash]

I wouldn't see losing to OKC as a choke, Durant and Westbrook are clearly not as talented as Lebron and Wade but their supporting cast is far better.  Last year though was a total choke job almost entirely on Lebrons shoulders.

[ghost]

Lebron's been to the finals three times, counting this one.  He should win it.  He's better than Durant, overall, Wade is better than Westbrook and I'd call Bosh/Harden a wash. 

Really you should call it the "big 4" for each team, because Mario Chalmers and Serge Ibaka are both very good and have played well for their teams.  Both are averaging double figures and both are pretty lame at their secondary duty (i.e. rebounding for Ibaka and assists for Chalmers). 

When you look at the top 4 players for both teams it really is pretty damned similar, although I'd take Wade's experience with the NBA finals over Westbrook and LBJ's versatility over Durant. 

Looking at the other guys, I like OKC's guys much, much better.  Sefalosha and Perkins are both pretty good, and it's tough not to appreciate Derek Fischer.  The dude's been on a ton of really good teams.  Looking at the Heat, it's surprising that they can't find better scrubs than what they have.  Haslem is tough, when he's healthy.  Miller sucks.  James Jones?  Really?  Joel Anthony sucks.  I like Turiaf when he's healthy. 

So summary-  top 5 favors Miamuh but the bench of OKC is, I would say, marginally better, not necessarily good enough to get them over the top. 

[Paelos]

I can see getting on Miami because at times they just don't seem to give a fuck early in the series. Game 5 is a great example. It's like, wow guys did you really just lose on your home court because you didn't want to play tonight? Because that's what it looked like.

As for the rest of Lebron and the decision, I could care less at this point. I'm not going to waste time defending Cleveland. It's undefendable. Anybody that gets sent there professionally or through the draft should do everything in their power to get out of the misery factory.

To me a guy like Dwight Howard is much more offensive. He's in a good city with a good program, and he's still a complete shithead.

[ghost]

To me a guy like Dwight Howard is much more offensive. He's in a good city with a good program, and he's still a complete shithead.

And even he's no Andrew Bynum.

[Threash]

Orlando isn't a good program, in a few years they've turned a championship contender into a first round team with their horrible front office moves.  They've gotten steadily worse year after year and have neither assets nor cap space to improve.  With or without Dwight that team needs a few rebuilding seasons.

[ghost]

It sounds like the Spurs may be trying to go after Garnett.  That would be a nice place for him to end his career. 

[Paelos]

Orlando isn't a good program, in a few years they've turned a championship contender into a first round team with their horrible front office moves.  They've gotten steadily worse year after year and have neither assets nor cap space to improve.  With or without Dwight that team needs a few rebuilding seasons.

To me a good program doesn't just include recent history. They were in the finals in 2009. Regardless of the decisions from the last 3 years, the Magic are one of the few programs that have filled up their arena every season since 2006. The fans want it.

[ghost]

If they would have stopped dicking around and got themselves a real point guard they would have been fine.

[Threash]

Orlando isn't a good program, in a few years they've turned a championship contender into a first round team with their horrible front office moves.  They've gotten steadily worse year after year and have neither assets nor cap space to improve.  With or without Dwight that team needs a few rebuilding seasons.

To me a good program doesn't just include recent history. They were in the finals in 2009. Regardless of the decisions from the last 3 years, the Magic are one of the few programs that have filled up their arena every season since 2006. The fans want it.

But from the perspective of a player planning where to spend his career future prospects matter more than past history.  Dwight is looking at a team with zero assets, zero cap space, a very inept front office and the prospect of having to face a super team every year in the playoffs for the foreseeable future.

[ghost]

Okay, what's your playoff prediction?  I'm going Heat in 6. 

[Paelos]

OKC in 6.

[Threash]

OKC in 6.

Yeah, this.

[Azuredream]

OKC in 7.

[Paelos]

We got ourselves a ballgame folks!

[Ssath]

I have to go with OKC in 6. 5 if Westbrook remembers that there are 4 other guys on the court with him. The young guns of the Thunder have shown time and again that they can outlast the older guys on opposing teams. Admittedly, I am biased, since I live in OKC, but I stand by what I said.

[ghost]

This is fucking awesome.  Rome asks Stern if he fixed the draft draw for the Hornets.  Hilarity ensues.

"I know that you appreciate a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, was the fix in for the lottery?" asked Rome, who hosts a daily show on CBS Sports Network.

"I have two answers for that," Stern said. "The simple easy one, no, the second, a statement, shame on you for asking."

Rome went on to say that he thought it was his job to ask because people wonder.

"No, it's ridiculous, but that's OK," Stern said.

Rome, who used to host the show "Jim Rome is Burning" on ESPN, said he didn't think the question was ridiculous.

Stern responded: "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?"

Since Rome has no history of spousal abuse, it appears that the commissioner was using a traditional loaded question as a tool to make his point -- that the question itself, in this case about the lottery, presumes guilt.

Rome responded: "I don't think that's fair."

After a little more back and forth, Rome said he hoped Stern wouldn't hold the question against him.

"I wouldn't hold it against you," Stern said. "You and I have been in more contentious talks than that. But it's good copy. You do these things for cheap thrills."

 

I am probably one of the two or three people on earth that actually like David Stern.  He's a hardass and a smartass.  I think that the chances of this draft being fixed are really, really fucking slim.  Conspiracies in the age of cellphone cameras, leaks and whistleblowers just don't really happen as often as we'd like to think. 

[Paelos]

It's probably not fixed. Then again, the fact they do it behind closed doors is beyond ridiculous. When you're already being a unique snowflake in your draft process, so much so that it's rare when the worst team in the league actually gets the first pick, the last thing you should be doing is obscuring the results.

I don't mind Stern, but I don't think he's done the NBA any favors in the last 3 years. In fact, I think he's largely overstepped his bounds. The negotiations, the Chris Paul thing, and the ridiculous lottery "outcomes" have all done more to hurt the NBA than help it.

[ghost]

They had the same issues back when Ewing was drafted and it never amounted to anything.  It's all BS.  And the NBA has never been more popular.  The finals this year are a nice deal for the NBA.

[Paelos]

Sports in general have never been more popular with the advent of HDtv becoming commonplace tech. That doesn't mean that the commissioners are affecting that change.

[ghost]

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Stern is still a funny, ruthless son of a bitch.  And I like that.

[Paelos]

Bear in mind, I have no problem with him going after Rome. I thought it was downright hilarious when he accuses Rome of pouting after Stern said he made a career out of these cheap thrills. Jim Rome is nothing more than a glorified shockjock who is trying to remain relevant on a network that has horrible sports coverage. ABC, FOX, and CBS all blow NBC out of the water.

[HaemishM]

Jim Rome is and always has been a complete douchecock.

[Threash]

I wish I could find it. There is a good article written by one of the journalists who was in the room when the lottery was done. The real one, not what they show on TV. If anyone reads that and still thinks its fixed they have bigger problems. Jim Rome has that information and he was asking a dishonest question.

[Paelos]

Because he's a douchecock. And Stern was right, he's made a career out of being a douchecock.

The moron put a bounty on Gordie Howe. That alone should warrant him having his head kicked in a few times. I salute Stern on this one.

[Ingmar]

Jim Rome is and always has been a complete douchecock.

This. I've never really understood how he manages to have a career. The Jim Everett thing should have put him off the air for good and that was years and years ago.

[ghost]

There's a ton of douchebags that continue to have jobs in sports media.  It's almost a pre-requisite.