Why I Don't Really Respect Lebron...Yet.

#1. I just never bought into the hype. Has the guy been a tremendous ball player? No doubt. He's definitely earned ever contract. And if this was wrestling, then sure you'd kinda have to buy him as the next big thing. But in real live game? He's only impressed me once. last year against the Pistons. That was a real pro performance. I dig that guy. And we've gotten a bit more of him this year.

#2. But just like everybody downplays Kobe for his allegiance to Jordan you have understand that Lebron didn't understand the NBA til he spent a summer with Kobe. Remember, coach K didn't even want Lebron for the current USA squad. After the world championships the US coaches felt like Lebron was their biggest handicap, because they had to play him, while he had no idea how to play nice with others. This summer, Kobe's 1st in USA basketball, Lebron learned what it means to be the top dog. Kobe didn't have to take the most shots, or dominate the ball. But everyday in practice, and come game time he imposed his will. Lebron learned. I respect that.

#3. Lebron kills his teammates. Can't blame it on the coaching cause it was happening before Mike Brown, plus it's why they hated him in USA basketball. Name one player who has played better with Lebron..? Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, Donyell Marshall, Damon Jones, Smush Parker, Dsagana Diop, Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Wally Sczerbiak. The List get's longer every time he adds a teammate. Some of those guys were better before playing with him, some rebounded afterwards, but the key is that they sucked being on the same floor with Lebron. Everybody talks about how gifted a passer he is, but in the actual vibe of the game he kills guys. He destroys offensive systems as easily as he splits Detroit double teams. They talk about Kobe as a ball hog, but there's numerous guys (Luke Walton, Brian Cook, Sasha Pavolic, Smush Parker, all post-Shaq guys) who owe their careers to KB.

#4. I don't see Lebron as anything more than a big Allen Iverson. Understand, I believe AI is a first ballot HOFer and one of the greatest guards to ever play the game. But just like Philly eventually realized, there's only so much of a team you can build around this type of guy. defensive oriented, with a couple guys who can hit shots (remember Aaron Mckey and Raja Bell in AI's MVP year). Wow, and how shitty for Larry Hughes that he's had to play with both these guys?! He spent 3 years in between those two with Gil Arenas in GS and Was. and was damn near an all-star. And you saw what he was doing when he got minutes in Chi. Back to the point though, Lebron, at this point in his career, is an offense killer. Sure his numbers are sweet, but it's cause he eats everyone else's game. Face the facts.

So is the kid amazing? Absolutely! I don't doubt his skill. Can't doubt his skill. My issue is his effect. Sure he made it to the Finals, in a clearly shitty conference where he faced an injured Wiz (No Arenas. No Butler.), and the Nets (Lebron versus Vince, really?). Ugh, I just threw up in my mouth. It kinda taints my appreciation of the one series he did have against Detroit. I mean, this is the same conference where JKidd took Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles to back to back finals. When Kobe said "Put me in the East" it wasn't just about the numbers he'd put up, but the wins he'd put together. And as DWade proved, all you need is an opponent to choke...

Free Thoughts...

on the MVP race...

• There only been 3 guys who deserve discussion here: Kobe, Lebron, CP3. Period. No other players are more important to the NBA this year.
• Quite honestly, Lebron is in the convo but really has a limited chance. He's not doing anything Kobe hasn't done in the past couple years without being shout down. Over the past two seasons no one was more dominant, in live action, or in numbers than Kobe. The knock was that team excellence outshines individual excellence. That same argument disqualifies Lebron.
• If either Kobe or Paul win the West then that guy should get the hardware. You know who I'm pulling for...

on Houston's streak...

• 22 straight is amazing. I hope the fans enjoyed it. No way in hell this team wins a playoff series. Playing night to night against different teams in different situations is tough, so winning 22 straight demands respect, but playing 7 straight games against the same team is a bit different. It tends to destroy smoke and mirror gimmicks. Ask Steve Nash. Hell, as T-Mac!

on the Celtics...

• Those guys play ball. Smack them in the face, they're gonna smack back. And fortunately for them no one in East is capable of throwing more than one punch. I really hope to see them versus both Lebron and the Pistons for 7.

on Dwight Howard...

• How come this guy isn't dominating games? Sure he's young and all, but have you watched him? He can get awfully invisible for long stretches. I love his numbers, and he seems like a nice guy, but how is Hedo Turkoglu the leader of that team? Reminds me suspiciously of David Robinson.

NBA Wrap

No pics, no vids. Just a wrap on NBA, at least til the draft in a couple weeks.

SPURS ARE THE SHIT. PERIOD. Lots of talk out there about if they are a legit dynasty or not, or if they need to repeat. I say this: 4 ring in nine years. Right now Larry Bird is jealous of Tim Duncan. As is Kobe. Shaq is rocking himself to sleep with whispers of MDE. Magic, MJ, and Pip are hearing foot steps.

LEBRON SHOULDA WENT TO SCHOOL. Yeah, and then you're gonna say, but he's only 22! Then I'm gonna ask you did you see him getting schooled? This isn't the easy anymore, Toto. One good player can win the East. But that shit don't run in the West. Ask Kobe. What was especially weak, though, was that Bron showed no real 48 minute soul. AI took one from the Lakers. Kidd never took games from the Lakes and Spurs. Hell, Wade held Shaq's hand and personally shitted on Dirk. But in '07 where was Lebron?

Lakers are fucked. #1 do not overpay for O'neal. You can move Odom for him, but not Odom and Bynum. Move Bynum for Artest. Radmonovic for Bonzi Wells. Sign Kapono for the money you were gonna give to Luke. Either draft a point or trade it for Duhon. I'd love to see a starting 5 of Duhon, Kobe, Artest, Odom, Kwame. That's a defensive 5 for that ass. Plus everybody but Kwame is a threat. Then you bring Kapono, Cook, Farmar, Turiaf, and Mo Evans off the bench. That's a hardcore team that can bang with the likes of Dallas, Phx, and San Antone.

for those wondering what Dirk's been doing with the extra vacation time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVf_7UYrliQ

Oh, and if Lebron gets swept, he's back on the board. Fuck it, you know what, he's back on anyway....

Spurs in 5

I just wanna get this out there before the games actually start. Because for all of the media's slurping of Lebron there's still the fact of basketball. And the facts are that the Cavs probably wouldn't have made the playoffs in the West. Honestly would you take Lebron over Kobe for 82 games? And the facts are also that Duncan has 3 rings all while facing the likes of Shaq, Kobe, Dirk, Nash, Amare, Melo, AI, Webber, KG, Sheed, Stockton, Malone, Pippen, Yao, T-Mac, it goes on and on. Really, think about all the premier teams from the West over the last 10 years. And Duncan has beat them all. So as much credit as Lebron deserves for closing out on the Pistons, let's not slurp him too hard and remember this basketball, not the movies.

Oh damn, as I write this, Schilling just gave up ass on the perfect game...like I said, this ain't Hollywood.

Jordanesque

Indeed. He went through Detroit. Now he faces the team that has, more or less, dominated the Western Conference over the last 10 years with one of the games all-time greatest players and strong supporting cast. Rumble young man rumble.

KOBESQUE

that's what it was. Helluva game. But he's still on the list til he closes out the series.

Addendum: Lebron

Two clutch, game-time situations. Two major choke jobs. So far LBJ has exhausted option1 (get rid of the ball a.s.a.p.), and option2 (dribble for way too long then blame the refs) on the v.i.n.c.e. chart for crunch time choking. He's obviously a tremendous student. Watch out for option3 (the deep j) when the series returns to Cleveland. By the way, how is the most physically gifted athlete in the League complaining about incidental contact? Is this the same guy who often claims to be a football player at heart? Hell, isn't it the same guy who earlier in the same game took a crossbody slap from Rip Hamilton and still finished with a lefty layup? But then come the end game and he's thrown off by a little brush on the tummy? Fuck this, Lebron gets the gasface and he joins the Blacklist. Lookout Dirk, there's a new #1.

I'll call him Mini Me!

Did you guys catch Lebron pulling a classic v.i.n.c.e.? (I spell his name out because I, much like Mr. Carter, can't seem to put it all together) I mean in crunch time v.i. has 3 go-to moves.

1) Get rid of the ball A.S.A.P!
2)Dribble for as long as possible and then turn it over and blame the refs
3)Pull up for the deep j

For Derek Fisher, this is a reasonable list of options. For a guy who has no qualms with dunking on his own mom, these options are not acceptable. Yet and still, that is the extent of v.i.n.c.e.'s repertoire. And Lebron thinks that shit is hot! Back in 2000 v.i.n.c.e. got swept out of the playoffs by a rowdy, post-Ewing Knick team. In game 2 of that series v.i.n.c.e. had the last shot and a chance to win the game for his guys and here's what he said:

"I was feeling confident, but looking out of the corner of my eye, Dee was wide open," Carter said. "He's a great shooter, and you take your chances."

Lebron after game 1 vs. the Pistons:

"You just have to take what's there, It's not about taking a high volume of shots, it's about trying to win the basketball game. We had an opportunity to win...The winning play when two guys come at you and a teammate is open is to give it up. It's as simple as that."

Now here's Latrell Sprewell in that same game 2 vs. v.i.n.c.e.:

"I wasn't settling for the jumper. I was going to the basket."

Spree hit the game winner and swept that series. Then continued on to lead the seriously undermanned Knicks to the Finals. Yep, the same Spree who took KG's no-winning ass to the West finals. The big difference between Spree and v.i.n.c.e./Lebron is that Spree just never gave a fuck. He was in it to win it. Anybody talking anything else was liable to get choked. For Real. Lebron gives too much of a fuck. He thinks about Nike and Sprite and David Stern and what the media is gonna talk about tomorrow. So sure, he was ready to throw out quotes about the 'winning play' but he wasn't playing to win.

The Pistons left Donyell open for a reason. "If he makes the pass and they score we'll live with it," says Rip Hamilton. Umm, I think the Pistons have won a lil bit in this league, so if you're playing against them, then you probably don't want to just take what they're giving you. Unless you like boots up the ass.

v.i.n.c.e. has proven time and time again that anal stimulation is the only thing that moves him. If you don't remember, after getting swept in '00 by the Knicks, Charles Oakley spent the summer reaming v.i.n.c.e in the media. The next year v.i.n.c.e. actually pulled a Lebron and played really hard for 10 games, before heading back to UNC for graduation, and then choking off the series with option 3 (see chart above). After that season Oakley, and his array of anal stimulators, was jettisoned and we know how hard v.i.n.c.e. has worked since then. It's just a shame that Lebron is such a fan.