Actually, there was a Finals game vs the Blazers (I think) where MJ was shooting like crap...and he went to the bench and the second unit came in and essentially won the game for the team.
The way he tries to make a point, and then swears at everyone on this board, probably puts him/her at...age 12?
No one is saying that LeBron doesn't have any help. What everyone IS saying, is that the Cavs and Warriors matched up really well last year, and were almost equal. Then the Warriors went and added, probably the 2nd or 3rd best player on the planet to their already-fantastic team, loaded with a MVP candidate, a DPoY candidate, and one of the best shooters in the game. Along with a great bench. Oh, and Richard Jefferson is not someone the Rockets need. lol Kevin Love was elite? How many playoff series did Love lead the T-Wolves to, in his 6 seasons there? Zero. Zilch. Empty stats all-star. How many playoff series did Irving lead the Cavs to, before LeBron came? Zero. Zilch. But I suppose he gets a pass, since it was his first 3 seasons. But like everyone said, the East was (and is) weak. Like another poster said, the Warriors have 2 MVPs in their prime, one of the best shooters in the game, a DPoY candidate (and all around great player), a great bench, a great coaching staff, and one of the best fanbases in the game (bandwagoners or not). LeBron has no excuses not to make it to the Finals, but as far as winning the Finals, Cavs ran into a juggernaut of a team. Agreed, KD was the best player on the court. But it's pretty easy to be the best player when no opposing defender wants to help off the Curry/Thompson/Green trio. Literally like 6 of his points came because Cavs' defenders would rather KD get an easy 2 than Curry or Thompson hit a wide-open 3. And when the Cavs finally decided to help off those snipers and double KD, KD just passed to them for the easy assist. Not saying KD didn't have a great night, but his numbers were slightly inflated. Love is not a superstar. I don't even think Irving is there yet (although he's darn close). Cavs have an excuse to be blown out. It's the 73-win Warriors minus Bogut, but plus Durant.
How many playoff series wins did Curry lead the Warriors to? Hell, Curry and Klay together were a 2nd round at best team. Just because 1 guy can't lead a team deep doesn't mean he's not elite. KG could only lead the T-Wolves to 1 successful playoff run his entire career there. Chris Webber wasn't leading the Bullets or Warriors to anything before the Kings became stacked. Kevin Love dealt with injuries to himself and his teammates during his stay with the wolves. The Wolves are a proven garbage franchise. Kevin Love was putting up amazing stats only guys like prime Barkley was doing. Kyrie was just too young on a rebuilding team. You can combine tons of "empty stat all stars" together on the same team and create dynasties. Chris Paul is nothing more than a 2nd round player his whole career. Anthony Davis can't lead the Pelicans to jack ****..is he worse than Harden because of that? Boogie leading the Kings? Pau Gasol wasn't leading the Grizzlies to anything(not a single playoff win IIRC)...he was all it took to make the Lakers a 3 time Finals team and 2 time back to back champs while leading the team in Win Shares both regular season and playoffs. But, no. It's only an issue for anyone who teams up with Lebron. They're suddenly garbage fake all stars when they join up with LeBron. Scottie Pippen could lead the Bulls to 55 wins so Kyrie and Love are automatically garbage in comparison.
That's fine. I'm referring to your "KD better than Lebron" comments. And the fact that you said "forget if Lebron is better than MJ" leads me to believe this is a conversation about all time and not just this current season or this single game.
Steph had broken ankles for quite some time, before they finally became the splash brothers. If Caesar is comparing: Kevin Love <<<<<<<< Steph Curry... You're comparing an All-Star to a Superstar regardless of what they accomplished in the past. We're in the now, Kevin is a supporting cast member of Kyrie and LeBron's that can come up big when his shot is falling. If his shot is not falling he's worthless... no defense, some rebounding and you've got yourself another Enes Kanter basically.
Curry was often injured, before his body flipped the switch and became an iron man. Klay is a great player, but I'm pretty sure we all know he can't be the #1 option on the team. And sniffing the second round is still pretty good, when you're young, in the West, and playing during the time of SA, OKC, LAC and MEM being as good as they are. Not sure why you bring up KG and Webber, when discussing Love. Two are certain for the HoF, one is empty stats. Two continuously took their team to the playoffs, one needed to be on LeBron's team to sniff the playoffs. Love isn't on the same category as those guys. Webber was still young during his Warriors and Bullets days, so you could argue the Kyrie aspect. And then you go and mention Love in the same sentence as Barkley. Come on, man. CP3 and Brow aren't empty stats all-stars. It wasn't just Gasol that made the Lakers champions. You had a developing Bynum and a Draymond-do-it-all player in Odom. And of course, you had Kobe. No one is calling Kyrie a garbage fake all-star. I'm not purposefully trying to poke holes in your argument. But I also don't see where people, in this thread or entire forum, where people are saying LeBron doesn't have help.
FIFY. I dunno how they're coaching Kevin Love, and I know his minutes are down, compared to his Minny days, but Love has to be better than a stretch 4 relegated to the 3pt line.
Meh, I wouldn't put him that low. In terms of skill they're almost the exact same player (not just cause they're white) but at least Kanter can rebound. Ryno can't do any of that **** if his shot isn't falling. Just a tall white dude running up and down the floor trying to get his hands on the ball. Sucks to say but Kevin Love is probably going to be taken out of the series by Durant's defense, which I wouldn't call elite, but elite enough to shut down K-Love for this series.
It's a tough life for Love. If Durant gets tired/bored of guarding Love, Draymond is right there to take on the challenge. Meanwhile, on the other end, Love can't guard either Durant nor Draymond.
man does everyone on this form overreact? Warriors won game 1 last year by 33 points. and if anyone learned from Rockets this era leads are deceiving because of the 3 ball. if one team cant hit 3s and the other is knocking them down obviously that's an easy way for a blowout. Its one game, its lebron james playing your overreacting. this man came back from 3-1 to this same team last year. he has lost game 1 in 7/8 of his finals series. come on man
You going to give him that excuse when Love missed more games in Minny? You going to give Curry a pass when he had teammates like Klay, Monta, SJAX, JRich, and more and Love had to play with bum ass Rubio and tons and tons of blown lottery pick and free agent busts? Kevin Love had to play for the franchise that drafted and traded Brandon Roy for Randy Foye. The same franchise that drafted Ricky Rubio and then Johnny Flynn both back to back and right in front of Steph Curry. The franchise that drafted Wesley Johnson ahead of DeMarcus Cousins. Derrick Williams #2 pick? Giving Darko Millicic a huge contract AFTER he was already condered top 3 biggest busts ever? Countless horrible moves. The ONE and ONLY good thing they ever did was trading OJ Mayo to the Grizzlies for Kevin Love, but sucked for Love. There have been tons and tons of players come and go through the NBA and tons and tons who played for bad teams....barely any of them put up #s that Kevin Love was putting up. You don't take a player like him and make him stand around the 3 point line like he's Matt Bullard. Kevin Love will be a HOFer eventually. Maybe not 1st ballot like Wade and Kyrie most likely, but Love and Bosh will 100% be in the HOF.
The point was they need to stop comparing Lebron to MJ. Yes his stats are more efficient. But the NBA is watered down now. The league is less physical, and with the new rule changes, guys like Lebron, Harden, WB & KD are guranteed 25pts every night. Bottom line, Lebron's closer to KD than he is to MJ. The media should stick to comparing new era guys to other new era guys
All I got from this rant filled post was 1) GS just was not a good team and 2) you really hate the Timberwolves franchise. You've been hostile towards Minny in more than one post now - were you a Timberwolves fan, or something?
Nope. I'm a guy who is tired of seeing every teammate LeBron James ever plays with torn down into bum status. Kevin Love is a future HOF'er. I'm also a guy who understands it's a team sport and some players just have the misfortune for playing on bad franchises/teams or with injuries or both. Would KG be known as the GOAT PF if he was drafted to SA and Duncan drafted to Minny? Would Hakeem have more rings than MJ if Ralph never got hurt and they ended up dominating in their primes together during MJ's dominance? Would Lebron have zero rings right now if he didn't join up with his superstar pals in South Beach? Would T-Mac be seen as greater than Kobe if Duncan and Grant Hill signed with Orlando and Hill remained healthy? Would Kobe just be another Dominique Wilkins with zero rings if he didn't demand to only play for the Lakers and instead spent his career in Charlotte? What about if any one of those star perimeter players of the 2k's played with prime Shaq instead of Kobe? Would the Lakers still win 3 or would they win even more? All the greatest or top 20 players played with each other or with other HOFers in the top 50 in their primes other than a few such as Hakeem. Any real basketball fan can see that Kevin Love is a talented all around PF that could be a main piece to a contender. Saying he's an empty stats bum because he couldn't lead Minnesota anywhere is bullshit and you know it. Most of the NBA teams don't have championships in the modern era because they are poorly run and "small town" cities that don't attract FA's. It truly takes once in a lifetime players to turn around some of these bottom feeder franchises in the NBA. Not even once in a generation talent like KG or Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins can lead theses bad franchises out of the dumps.
