Series Thread: Golden State Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals Thread

[Shanemansj13]

It appears to me that LBJ was quite content with doing everything himself in games 1 & 2. It wasn't until they started double & sometimes triple teaming him that he's forced to share. In those games (games 4 & 5) they have lost when that happened. Point is he only started trusting them when he had no choice because that is what the defense gave him.

Does he normally play less selfish during the regular season? Sure, because all the marbles aren't on the table at that point. Do I blame him for being selfish in these Finals? Of course not...I understand he is probably their best shot at competing and possibly winning. But lets not act like they've been competing in these Finals because he's been sharing the ball & trusting his teammates when clearly they've lost the games he's done that.

Actually he has trusted them the whole series, it doesnt show as much bc they havent been hitting shots the whole series. He has gotten his teammates open looks and many of them every game and nothing has changed in the series. What changed yesterday is GS hitting 50% of their 3's and they shot lights out. They had one of those games and you have to give them credit, but Lebron has always trusted his teammates and even though he has the 9 assists per game, that still doesnt show it. The looks are there, they just havent knocked them down.

 

[Across The Field]

Doesn't change the fact that what he said was self serving or that he has a history of it.

Kobe is involved in helping homeless people in the L.A. area and has also done things for teammates. Doesn't make him any less of an arrogant prick. It just means that, like Lebron, he's not a total arrogant prick.

Funny that you think that article discounts what he has done and said publicly though.

This was pretty much the reaction I expected from you. Anyone who has followed Lebron, on and off the court, know he is one of the least self-serving people in the NBA, especially as the star. His ego is nowhere near MJ or even Kobe (for example, the Kobe quote involving Smush Parker and Kwame Brown? Lebron has never said anything even remotely close to that arrogant).

He's given way more examples of being a great leader and teammate than he has of being a self-serving prick throughout his career. I'll stop this banter with you lest I get banned, but know that no matter what you say, the guy is still a genuinely good person who has, far more often than not, taken the opportunity to support and compliment those around him.

 

[Across The Field]

Actually he has trusted them the whole series, it doesnt show as much bc they havent been hitting shots the whole series. He has gotten his teammates open looks and many of them every game and nothing has changed in the series. What changed yesterday is GS hitting 50% of their 3's and they shot lights out. They had one of those games and you have to give them credit, but Lebron has always trusted his teammates and even though he has the 9 assists per game, that still doesnt show it. The looks are there, they just havent knocked them down.

Perfectly said. He passes the ball a ton, but when guys like Smith, Shump and Delly are shooting as poorly as they are, it's not reflected in his assist numbers (which, for a guy in his shoes, are still incredible).

 

[trojanfan12]

Actually he has trusted them the whole series, it doesnt show as much bc they havent been hitting shots the whole series. He has gotten his teammates open looks and many of them every game and nothing has changed in the series. What changed yesterday is GS hitting 50% of their 3's and they shot lights out. They had one of those games and you have to give them credit, but Lebron has always trusted his teammates and even though he has the 9 assists per game, that still doesnt show it. The looks are there, they just havent knocked them down.

Yeah, I think Lebron has balanced things out about as well as anyone could. Last night is a good example. JR started off hot, so Lebron got him the ball. When he cooled off, Lebron took over the scoring. A little later, TT was doing well, so Lebron looked to him.

He's averaging 9 assists per game and has 2 triple doubles while averaging nearly 40 points per game. Clearly, he's trusting his teammates when he can and then taking over the scoring when he can't.

 

[LAD]

Actually he has trusted them the whole series, it doesnt show as much bc they havent been hitting shots the whole series. He has gotten his teammates open looks and many of them every game and nothing has changed in the series. What changed yesterday is GS hitting 50% of their 3's and they shot lights out. They had one of those games and you have to give them credit, but Lebron has always trusted his teammates and even though he has the 9 assists per game, that still doesnt show it. The looks are there, they just havent knocked them down.

He was doing everything himself in those first 3 games whether you want to admit it or not. In fact, that was some of the conversations earlier in the series...something like he's single handedly keeping this team in the series. One could only imagine had he not done that much this series might already be over based on the performance from his help in the last two games. The other thing that changed is Kerr made the adjustment of Iggy starting on LBJ rather than him having his way & establishing a rhythm in the first half against Barnes.

 

[LAD]

This was pretty much the reaction I expected from you. Anyone who has followed Lebron, on and off the court, know he is one of the least self-serving people in the NBA, especially as the star. His ego is nowhere near MJ or even Kobe (for example, the Kobe quote involving Smush Parker and Kwame Brown? Lebron has never said anything even remotely close to that arrogant).

He's given way more examples of being a great leader and teammate than he has of being a self-serving prick throughout his career. I'll stop this banter with you lest I get banned, but know that no matter what you say, the guy is still a genuinely good person who has, far more often than not, taken the opportunity to support and compliment those around him.

how many players of other teams have you followed on AND off the court?

 

[LAD]

Perfectly said. He passes the ball a ton, but when guys like Smith, Shump and Delly are shooting as poorly as they are, it's not reflected in his assist numbers (which, for a guy in his shoes, are still incredible).

I agree, he passed a ton in games 4 & 5, where he was doubled A LOT & that ended in losses. Games 1-3, not so much. NBA TV is constantly replayin those games if you want to take another look.

 

[PIBuckeye]

agree with what you're saying about the guys in the suits. this is pretty much a case of LeBron and a bunch of second teamers going against a much deeper team and trying to win a title. i DO give 'em credit for one hell of an effort...

yep. Hey I think they are a great team. they were in the game until about 3 minutes to go last night. imagine if they just had 1 of their 3 stars back........

 

[Shanemansj13]

He was doing everything himself in those first 3 games whether you want to admit it or not. In fact, that was some of the conversations earlier in the series...something like he's single handedly keeping this team in the series. One could only imagine had he not done that much this series might already be over based on the performance from his help in the last two games. The other thing that changed is Kerr made the adjustment of Iggy starting on LBJ rather than him having his way & establishing a rhythm in the first half against Barnes.

I responded bc you said he didnt trust his teammates, but he does. That is part of everything, passing lol.
I never said he wasnt doing everything, you just said he wasnt trusting his teammates. That is incorrect.

 

[trojanfan12]

This was pretty much the reaction I expected from you. Anyone who has followed Lebron, on and off the court, know he is one of the least self-serving people in the NBA, especially as the star. His ego is nowhere near MJ or even Kobe (for example, the Kobe quote involving Smush Parker and Kwame Brown? Lebron has never said anything even remotely close to that arrogant).

He's given way more examples of being a great leader and teammate than he has of being a self-serving prick throughout his career. I'll stop this banter with you lest I get banned, but know that no matter what you say, the guy is still a genuinely good person who has, far more often than not, taken the opportunity to support and compliment those around him.

Remember that whole thing about misquoting people? How about you find where I ever said that Kobe or MJ didn't have bigger ego's than Lebron or weren't more self-serving than Lebron? Or stfu.

The point is that just because he does nice things for teammates and/or the community doesn't mean he's not self-serving or that he hasn't done and said self-serving things in the past. It also doesn't make what he said, not self serving.

All of the great players are egotistical and self-serving, it's part of what makes them great. It's that unshakeable confidence in themselves. They all think/thought about themselves exactly the same thing that Lebron said about himself. Hell, old ass broken down Kobe probably thinks he's going to come back next year and re-establish himself as the best in the game. It's how these guys are wired.

The difference is, they were smart enough not to say it publicly. Lebron wasn't.

Funny how you can admit that he's not perfect, yet want to argue every time someone points it out.

 

[PIBuckeye]

Oh wow...don't sound salty now. Anyway, your team doesn't get off that easy. There's one...maybe two more games to be played. But, the stats show that the team that wins game 5 usually goes on to win the series.

yea, I guess I just think they're spent. they needed more guys on rotation that could've contributed more. I bought the idea that whoever won game 4 was going to win it all.

and honestly, the Cavs should've won game 1, LBJ imo fucked that up.......

 

[LAD]

I responded bc you said he didnt trust his teammates, but he does. That is part of everything, passing lol.
I never said he wasnt doing everything, you just said he wasnt trusting his teammates. That is incorrect.

Fair enough...hey I have a queston. Where's your guy Delly "the Curry stopper" been the last two games while Curry's been knocking down 3's??

 

[trojanfan12]

how many players of other teams have you followed on AND off the court?

You're going to have to give him a minute to answer that. Has to count the restraining orders.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I agree, he passed a ton in games 4 & 5, where he was doubled A LOT & that ended in losses. Games 1-3, not so much. NBA TV is constantly replayin those games if you want to take another look.

Game 1 he had Kyrie, but guys still missed open shots. JR went 3-13, Kyrie went 2-8 (most likely on his own or Lebron setting him up). Game 2 the Cavs as a team shot horrible, they had plenty of looks that James got him. Nothing has changed, he has passed more if he got doubled, especially in Game 4, but he has looked for his teammates every game.

 

[Across The Field]

how many players of other teams have you followed on AND off the court?

None. What is your point?

 

[LAD]

yea, I guess I just think they're spent. they needed more guys on rotation that could've contributed more. I bought the idea that whoever won game 4 was going to win it all.

and honestly, the Cavs should've won game 1, LBJ imo fucked that up.......

Yep, I agree. I said from the beginning of the series that was going to be a problem. Especially when Kyrie went down. There's no way LBJ was going to put up the numbers he has been and win without a few others stepping up big time. It happens to the best of them. I can't tell you how many times it's happened to Kobe & the Lakers.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Fair enough...hey I have a queston. Where's your guy Delly "the Curry stopper" been the last two games while Curry's been knocking down 3's??

Winded, he has done a great job. If you are trying to brag about an undrafted bench warmer with a hand in Currys' face and he still gets it to go, you are sad. Curry has played well the last 2, but his teammates have also really stepped up.
I said after Game 3 when Delly scored 20, they wont ever get production offensively out of him like that again. Great game, but we will need another game like that in Game 6 to stay alive.

 

[purguy12]

As I've said before. You can depend on role/bench players like Delly, JR, Shump, etc. for a couple of games here and there when starters are out. However, you can't depend on them for much more than that. They eventually begin to show why they are role/bench players rather than starters.

I agree, They were going to run out of gas sooner or later and bad news for cavs and their fans its happening now.

 

[purguy12]

Winded, he has done a great job. If you are trying to brag about an undrafted bench warmer with a hand in Currys' face and he still gets it to go, you are sad. Curry has played well the last 2, but his teammates have also really stepped up.
I said after Game 3 when Delly scored 20, they wont ever get production offensively out of him like that again. Great game, but we will need another game like that in Game 6 to stay alive.

Not that much. Thompson has been missing in action and Barnes and Green were having a bad series. Iggy came to play.

 

[Across The Field]

Remember that whole thing about misquoting people? How about you find where I ever said that Kobe or MJ didn't have bigger ego's than Lebron or weren't more self-serving than Lebron? Or stfu.

The point is that just because he does nice things for teammates and/or the community doesn't mean he's not self-serving or that he hasn't done and said self-serving things in the past. It also doesn't make what he said, not self serving.

All of the great players are egotistical and self-serving, it's part of what makes them great. It's that unshakeable confidence in themselves. They all think/thought about themselves exactly the same thing that Lebron said about himself. Hell, old ass broken down Kobe probably thinks he's going to come back next year and re-establish himself as the best in the game. It's how these guys are wired.

The difference is, they were smart enough not to say it publicly. Lebron wasn't.

Funny how you can admit that he's not perfect, yet want to argue every time someone points it out.

Remember your point about how I misquoted you and how you were going to ban me for it? How about you find where I accused you of saying Kobe or MJ didn't have bigger ego's than Lebron or weren't more self-serving.

Or are you saying this because you feel this is what I implied?

Also, as I thought was pretty clear by what I've been saying, they actually have made incredibly egotistical statements publically, and in fact I found examples of them both saying something that was far more egotistical.

Are you going to keep sitting here playing semantics? Because it's getting really old.