SouthSideRyan

And I'm the one being obtuse??

by sidekick do you mean "guy who averaged more points, rebounds and assists per game than dwyane wade"? also i love the leap of logic here. lebron went from probably being the best player in the league last year, when his surrounding cast sucked, to not being the best player in the league this year because he has another great player on his team. It's still not his team. I know that flies in the face of every metric and stat, etc., but the reality is that the Heat are Wade's team. LeBron's choice to play there was almost universally panned by every former NBA superstar, all saying that they would never have tried to piggyback onto another star's team. So it's Wade's team because Scottie Pippen was drafted to the Bulls. Got it. And those former (and current) NBA stars are so full of [expletive]. Going down the list by ELO ranking on basketball-reference: Jordan: did nothing until Pippen arrived, never got the chance to join up with somebody else because he already had an wesome supporting cast. Chamberlain: forced his way to LA to get away from Bill Russell Jabbar: had one title (which happened to coincide with Oscar Robertson's arrival) before managing to get to a loaded Lakers team Bird: played with an all-star team until they all got old and beaten up. Magic: see Bird Hakeem: The one example I can see, though he likely only wins 1 without Drexler "joining up" with him for the 2nd title. He certainly was not one of the honks out there criticizing James for his move. Russell: See Bird Shaq: Forced his way to LA, Miami, Phoenix, Cleveland, Boston. Robertson: 1 title, with Jabbar Malone: 0 titles, despite having Stockton West: See Bird Robinson: 0 titles til they lucked into Duncan Have a meeting, but I think you get my point.

by sidekick do you mean "guy who averaged more points, rebounds and assists per game than dwyane wade"? also i love the leap of logic here. lebron went from probably being the best player in the league last year, when his surrounding cast sucked, to not being the best player in the league this year because he has another great player on his team. It's still not his team. I know that flies in the face of every metric and stat, etc., but the reality is that the Heat are Wade's team. LeBron's choice to play there was almost universally panned by every former NBA superstar, all saying that they would never have tried to piggyback onto another star's team. So it's Wade's team because Scottie Pippen was drafted to the Bulls. Got it.

not because the team is pretty bad and interest has lulled thusly? No, because game threads are a haven for reactionary psychos and teeball coaches.

And this is why game threads aren't as long anymore.

Lebron has had one year where he's had actual teammates and thus far has an incomplete. I don't need to wait for him to win a few rings before I say that he's one of the all-time greats.

Yeah, while baseball is a series of 1 on 1 events, it seems pretty apparent that one individual can make a greater difference in basketball than they can in baseball. That said, seriously, Jamario Moon.

The worst part about the direction this thread has taken, is that my solid HIV joke is going to be buried.

Who has a good track record with game winning shots? Are you talking for their careers or from 1991-1998, 2011 when Derwood's been watching?

your team is down by 1 with 5 seconds to play. Would you rather have LeBron, Wade, Kobe or Dirk take the final shot? If I have all 4 of those guys on my team why am I down by 1? If I can only have 1, I'd take the player that leaves me the least likely to be down 1 at the end of the game. (LBJ) nice dodge Aww booooo, bring back your comment about what score Lebron leaves you with.

Robert Horry.

your team is down by 1 with 5 seconds to play. Would you rather have LeBron, Wade, Kobe or Dirk take the final shot? If I have all 4 of those guys on my team why am I down by 1? If I can only have 1, I'd take the player that leaves me the least likely to be down 1 at the end of the game. (LBJ)

Sick of Maryland.

So I was supposed to be taking the phrase "killer" literally? I thought Jordan's trip to the Congo was strange.

Do you think something changed in Jordan's abilities from 1990 to 1991?

You're acting like Jordan single-handedly won those titles. If he ran out there with Jamario Moon as his #2, he wouldn't have done much either. So you think if Lebron just practiced more, he'd have a better jump shot? Why doesn't Geovany Soto hit more HRs??? Must not be a killer. ETA: You said you don't think Lebron is the best player in the NBA, are you arguing it's Kobe?

Did I black out and wake up in a world where Starlin Castro doesn't exist?

I woke my daughter up yelling at that. My whole family was asleep upstairs during the 2nd Gibson dunk and I just dropped on the floor and screamed into the carpet. My son had just gone to sleep around the 1st dunk so I just pumped my fist and did some crazy kicking motion that my wife thought was interesting. Anytime, I yell and cheer at the Bulls when my 4yo son is awake, even if he's in the other room, he'll yell "Gimme the hot sauce!" lol I've taught my daughter to root for the Bulls, but she makes it sound like a race war. "The white ones are good and the red ones are bad!" Road games are going to be tricky.

Lebron takes less shots at the rim (Why are we looking down on this again?) than Derrick Rose. To go along with this he shoots at a better rate from every distance except 3 (0.2% advantage to Rose in eFG%) Was that a serious question?

i love mazzaro's line from that game - 2.1 ip, 11 h, 14 er, 3 bb, 2 k, 1 hr. wonder when was the last time a reliever gave up 14 runs (or anyone gave up 14 runs for that matter). He had a 2.5 WHIP coming into the game. And it increased. By 1.29.

You think very little of the Cubs accountants if you don't think they could set aside money to invest in future payroll.

James Posey was the Heat who clotheslined Kirk. Wasn't a clothesline, it was a premeditated free-safety hit in the open floor. It was the dirtiest play I've ever witnessed live in the NBA, and considering I watched Rajon Rondo a few years later that is saying something. Haha, ok.

Probably Zook. This should certainly put them both on the hot seat for the coming seasons.

I really doubt defenses are aligning themselves to protect against singles when they play us.

Somebody doesn't fit here Ron. (To be fair, Wake Forest and Purdue are next on the list.)