The national criticism LeBron James received during the Cavaliers series with the Wizards was surprising, considering he is one of the most popular players in the league. In truth, the instigators of all the trash talking were Wizards roll players. So why is LeBron now villainized as a whiner?
Because he feels entitled to a status he is not yet entitled to. Because he went straight to the refs every time he touched utterly outraged there was no foul called. He wants to be the next Jordan, and he probably will be, but he hasn’t earned Jordan’s calls. Do you think Jordan was getting the calls he got in 96 back in 89? Hell no! Jordan had to go through the Pistons, Celtics, and Lakers to earn the right to be considered the best. People growing up with the championship MJ probably don’t realize he was somewhat of a punk in his early years. I have a great picture of him going up for a 180 with a gold chain around his neck. He showed up to an all-star game one year wearing a fur coat at the airport. In that same all-star game no one passed MJ the ball in a freeze out led by Isiah Thomas. Jordan complained just as much as LeBron complained last week, but Jordan got the respect from the refs after he went through the Knicks/Pistons Jordan Rules experience, not during. LeBron just got his first helping.
LeBron showed flashes of how great he can be in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, and followed it up with a great season. After coming into the league with more hype than any player in 2 decades, he has backed it up with his first five seasons in the league. All that does is allow him to be considered for elite status. Kobe Bryant just one his first MVP, and part of his finally winning was undoubtedly the fact he has been the best player in the league for the last five years. Not 5 time all-star. Not five seasons with 20/5/5 average. 5 time consensus always the best player on the court, guy you want on your team down by 1 with 3 seconds left.
So how does LeBron prove himself worthy of elite status? Twice in the last week James has missed game winning or game tying layups. Yes, they were contested. They weren’t gimmies, but those are the shots you make to be considered great. Jordan hit those shots. Kobe hits those shots. They missed some, too, but they hit enough when it mattered to make people forget about the misses. James has one thing going for him. Those shots were in the first and second round. If he hits a game winner in the finals those misses disappear. First he has to get back there. So until he gets a few more bruising series and game winners under his belt, don’t act so surprised when it’s not given to you.
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Shaq Era
The history of the NBA can be divided into distinct eras. There was the Celtic’s Dynasty of the 50’s and 60’s. The ABA revolt of the 70’s, during which no team or player dominated. The eighties were defined by Magic vs. Bird. And then there was his Airness, whose power was so great the NBA is still trying to recover from his absence. So what force has controlled the Landscape since MJ’s departure?
Shaq.
He was the diesel engine that powered the Lakers to the only Jordan-less Threepeat in 4 decades. This team was so good the nation cheered when the boring ass pistons beat them. The only other team to win besides those Pistons, the Spurs and Shaq’s Lakers: Shaq’s Heat. Even looking back to when Jordan took a break, the year he came back he lost to the Magic, who Shaq dragged to the finals.
He’s led 3 different teams to 6 finals, winning 4. Is it so crazy to believe he can do it with a fourth?
There is a very clear slope of how dependant the team has been on Shaq over his career (apparently blogs don't support excel charts that measure Shaqosity. Picture shaqs line sloping down and his sidekick's sloping up). Just look at his wingman. He made a Penny valuable enough to have a Lil Penny voiced by Chris Rock. How many endorsements has he gotten since Shaq moved to Tinsel Town? Kobe was an upgrade, but Kobe wasn’t the player he is now back in 2000. That was Shaq’s team. Big Aristotle gave Kobe the cushion to develop into the best player in the league, picking up 3 rings along the way. By the time he moved back to the beach Shaq was ready to pass the reigns to someone else, and D Wade was the right player to give them too. This was Wade’s team, but Wade doesn’t become Wade without Shaq.
Now he gets to go to the Desert and play alongside a full grown star for the first time in his career. Instead of Shaq making his teammates better, Nash will make Shaq better. I know, he’s too old. He was too old when he left LA, too. Ok, now he’s REALLY too old, and injured. Phoenix has one of the best training staffs in sports. If they can fix Grant Hill’s ankle, they can squeeze half a season out of O’Neal.
Shaq can’t play in Phoenix’s perpetual fast break offense. He doesn’t have to. Nash and the speedsters can run up the court when it’s there and when it’s not now they can actually score in a half court offense. Forget about what the Suns were for a minute. Out of the contenders in the West, what point guard is better than Nash? What frontcourt is better than Amare and Shaq? Gasol-Bynum? Duncan-Umberto? Now throw in Bell, Diaw, Barbosa, and Hill. Sounds like a Championship caliber squad to me.
There are a lot of good teams this year and it’s hard to name a favorite. I’m just not ready to say the Sun has set on the Shaq Era. Never doubt the heart of a Champion, and never tell a 350 pound Champion he can’t do something.
Shaq.
He was the diesel engine that powered the Lakers to the only Jordan-less Threepeat in 4 decades. This team was so good the nation cheered when the boring ass pistons beat them. The only other team to win besides those Pistons, the Spurs and Shaq’s Lakers: Shaq’s Heat. Even looking back to when Jordan took a break, the year he came back he lost to the Magic, who Shaq dragged to the finals.
He’s led 3 different teams to 6 finals, winning 4. Is it so crazy to believe he can do it with a fourth?
There is a very clear slope of how dependant the team has been on Shaq over his career (apparently blogs don't support excel charts that measure Shaqosity. Picture shaqs line sloping down and his sidekick's sloping up). Just look at his wingman. He made a Penny valuable enough to have a Lil Penny voiced by Chris Rock. How many endorsements has he gotten since Shaq moved to Tinsel Town? Kobe was an upgrade, but Kobe wasn’t the player he is now back in 2000. That was Shaq’s team. Big Aristotle gave Kobe the cushion to develop into the best player in the league, picking up 3 rings along the way. By the time he moved back to the beach Shaq was ready to pass the reigns to someone else, and D Wade was the right player to give them too. This was Wade’s team, but Wade doesn’t become Wade without Shaq.
Now he gets to go to the Desert and play alongside a full grown star for the first time in his career. Instead of Shaq making his teammates better, Nash will make Shaq better. I know, he’s too old. He was too old when he left LA, too. Ok, now he’s REALLY too old, and injured. Phoenix has one of the best training staffs in sports. If they can fix Grant Hill’s ankle, they can squeeze half a season out of O’Neal.
Shaq can’t play in Phoenix’s perpetual fast break offense. He doesn’t have to. Nash and the speedsters can run up the court when it’s there and when it’s not now they can actually score in a half court offense. Forget about what the Suns were for a minute. Out of the contenders in the West, what point guard is better than Nash? What frontcourt is better than Amare and Shaq? Gasol-Bynum? Duncan-Umberto? Now throw in Bell, Diaw, Barbosa, and Hill. Sounds like a Championship caliber squad to me.
There are a lot of good teams this year and it’s hard to name a favorite. I’m just not ready to say the Sun has set on the Shaq Era. Never doubt the heart of a Champion, and never tell a 350 pound Champion he can’t do something.
Monday, January 28, 2008
NBA Mid Season Report
“I don’t like NBA basketball.”
“The NBA is boring.”
“I love lamp.”
Over and over again I have heard these sentiments, and not without merit. A 48 minute professional game can’t compete with the intensity of a 40 minute college game, even if the talent is better. But over the last decade the problem with the NBA, which some may have mistaken as a permanent problem, was a decline in talent. Jordan’s last run with the Bulls may have covered up the decreasing number of championship caliber teams. In the last 9 NBA seasons only a handful of teams have contended: Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Suns, and the Mavs (I guess). The heat had one good year but the other 8 titles were split by three teams who were either playing each other or handling someone who didn’t have a chance. There were still superstars, but they didn’t have anybody around them, which resulted with one on one games with 8 guys standing around.
That may all be changing this year. Some upstarts are coming out of the woodwork and challanging the established powerhouses. In the West, where perennials San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix reign supreme, half way through the season the first seed is the Hornets? I remember when the NBA reorganized and New Orleans was sacrificed to the West. Now some guy named David West has them hanging with the big boys. Also competing for the biggest surprise is the Blazers who, despite losing their franchise draft pick Greg Oden, are winning with a young nucleus of lottery pick talent: Roy, Jack, Aldridge, and Blake (not to mention Green and McRoberts).
For the first time since Shaq left tinsel town the Lakers look like more than Kobe and the guys from Semi-Pro (In theaters Feb. 29). Yes, Kobe’s an ass, but he’s still the best player in the league and I’d rather watch him play for a good team. The Jazz are solid, the Rockets have Yao and McGrittle, and The Nuggets have Melo, A.I, and Camby. Oh yeah, there’s still the Spurs, the best team this decade, the Suns who, born from a marriage of an Italian mustache and a bad Canadian haircut have created some sort of crack fueled perpetual fast break, and the Mavericks who, although I don’t think will ever win a title, are going to be in the mix.
While the West continues to be the deeper conference, the East has developed a few teams to compete against the juggernauts. Never doubt the heart of a champion, and the Pistons look like they found their heart again. They remembered they can play defense, and have a better offense than when they won the Championship.
The Magic have Dwight Howard, who proves both the center art form is still alive and is not obsolete. If anybody doesn’t want a guy that gives you 22 pints and 15 rebounds, please raise your hand, so I can come over and bitch smack you. Howard, who at age 22 is putting up numbers only Wilt Chamberlain has achieved, is a perfect complement to great guard play. Jameer Nelson is a good threat, Rashard Lewis is overpaid but still damn good, and sometime between 2003 (the last time I saw him) and now Hedo Turkoglu learned how to drive.
This season Lebron James has finally started living up to his hype. He was good before, and led his team to the Finals last year, but this year he’s doing it all and is having the closest thing to a triple-double season this side of Big O.
And then there’s the Celtics. In an era of World Series Red Sox and Undefeated Patriots it’s so hard not to hate the Celtics. But I don’t. They have 3 of the top 15-20 players in the league playing to win every night. They don’t care about stats or contract extensions, they just want to win. This hasn’t happened since kids started becoming millionaires on draft day. They play start to finish every game like, well, like a college team.
And that’s what makes basketball exciting: Good players on good teams playing great basketball. As recent as last season there were only 3 or 4 teams I was excited to watch. Now there are at least 10, and it’s only halfway through the season. I love this game!
“The NBA is boring.”
“I love lamp.”
Over and over again I have heard these sentiments, and not without merit. A 48 minute professional game can’t compete with the intensity of a 40 minute college game, even if the talent is better. But over the last decade the problem with the NBA, which some may have mistaken as a permanent problem, was a decline in talent. Jordan’s last run with the Bulls may have covered up the decreasing number of championship caliber teams. In the last 9 NBA seasons only a handful of teams have contended: Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Suns, and the Mavs (I guess). The heat had one good year but the other 8 titles were split by three teams who were either playing each other or handling someone who didn’t have a chance. There were still superstars, but they didn’t have anybody around them, which resulted with one on one games with 8 guys standing around.
That may all be changing this year. Some upstarts are coming out of the woodwork and challanging the established powerhouses. In the West, where perennials San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix reign supreme, half way through the season the first seed is the Hornets? I remember when the NBA reorganized and New Orleans was sacrificed to the West. Now some guy named David West has them hanging with the big boys. Also competing for the biggest surprise is the Blazers who, despite losing their franchise draft pick Greg Oden, are winning with a young nucleus of lottery pick talent: Roy, Jack, Aldridge, and Blake (not to mention Green and McRoberts).
For the first time since Shaq left tinsel town the Lakers look like more than Kobe and the guys from Semi-Pro (In theaters Feb. 29). Yes, Kobe’s an ass, but he’s still the best player in the league and I’d rather watch him play for a good team. The Jazz are solid, the Rockets have Yao and McGrittle, and The Nuggets have Melo, A.I, and Camby. Oh yeah, there’s still the Spurs, the best team this decade, the Suns who, born from a marriage of an Italian mustache and a bad Canadian haircut have created some sort of crack fueled perpetual fast break, and the Mavericks who, although I don’t think will ever win a title, are going to be in the mix.
While the West continues to be the deeper conference, the East has developed a few teams to compete against the juggernauts. Never doubt the heart of a champion, and the Pistons look like they found their heart again. They remembered they can play defense, and have a better offense than when they won the Championship.
The Magic have Dwight Howard, who proves both the center art form is still alive and is not obsolete. If anybody doesn’t want a guy that gives you 22 pints and 15 rebounds, please raise your hand, so I can come over and bitch smack you. Howard, who at age 22 is putting up numbers only Wilt Chamberlain has achieved, is a perfect complement to great guard play. Jameer Nelson is a good threat, Rashard Lewis is overpaid but still damn good, and sometime between 2003 (the last time I saw him) and now Hedo Turkoglu learned how to drive.
This season Lebron James has finally started living up to his hype. He was good before, and led his team to the Finals last year, but this year he’s doing it all and is having the closest thing to a triple-double season this side of Big O.
And then there’s the Celtics. In an era of World Series Red Sox and Undefeated Patriots it’s so hard not to hate the Celtics. But I don’t. They have 3 of the top 15-20 players in the league playing to win every night. They don’t care about stats or contract extensions, they just want to win. This hasn’t happened since kids started becoming millionaires on draft day. They play start to finish every game like, well, like a college team.
And that’s what makes basketball exciting: Good players on good teams playing great basketball. As recent as last season there were only 3 or 4 teams I was excited to watch. Now there are at least 10, and it’s only halfway through the season. I love this game!
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