They blew east on 8-0 run before they got to the inexperienced Magic who put away KG-less Celtics in 7. ESPN were comparing them to 2001 Lakers. In west, Lakers needed 7 games to top Rox and Lakers wouldn't have HCA if both made final. Cavs were not the favorite to win it all before the season started, but they were definitely the favorite to win it all at the time. And HCA is so critical in finals as only 2 teams in history win the middle 3 games at home. No matter how many excuses you made. 3 years in a row, LeBron's team lost a series as overwhelming favorite with HCA. Not to mention every b2b 65 team had won at least one championship in history before Cavs. I challenge you to name another player like that in NBA history. King of Choke.
No, they weren't. LA was the favorite in 09 and 10. Everyone thought they were bored and coasting, not struggling. Again, if I want to learn how to recreate history I will consult you. Sometimes teams that are the favorite lose. See Kobe in 04 (overwhelming favorite), 08 and last postseason vs Dallas. No matter how many excuses you make, even when you try to throw in a HCA disclaimer, Kobe has had the same flops/upsets in the postseason. First of all, how bout you make up your mind first. In one post, you devalue LeBron's postseason numbers by saying he was beating up on weak Eastern opponents in the early rounds and struggled when he got to West teams. Now you are calling him a choker since his team accumulated a lot of wins against these same weak opponents but didn't knock off the team that represented the East in the Finals those seasons. So which one is it? Oh...I know. It's called let me look for whatever I can to knock a guy even though my statements contradict one another.
LOL, they beat lakers in 3-1 in 09-11 regular season, something you've been mentioning in daily base. They had a much better record, league MVP. Crushing opponents while Lakers were struggling. You were like a little girl boasting how LeBron's the best player in the league and would win it all. And now they were not the favorite? Kobe of course had his failure. But he had 7 finals and 5 rings to LeBron's 2 finals. 04 they lost Malone, 08 they lost Bynum, Ariza and no HCA. 11 Kobe was playing on one leg, he flied to Germany twice in offseason for knee and ankle. Now tell me what main player LeBron lost and what injury he had other than the phantom elbow issue unrevealable by MRI? Even without any excuse, the choking rate of LeBron is historical. Kobe had more than twice of playoff games than LeBron already. And you are comparing the failures like they're on the same level. I knew LeBron nuthuggers were little crying babies. But I didn't know they never grow.
And yet LA was the favorite to win in both of those seasons. So please, take your own advice about recreating history. Tell me what player LeBron had in Cleveland that was as good as Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, the dudes that weren't hurt? All you have done is highlight exactly how much help Kobe had compared to LeBron for most seasons, except for the last one in Miami...where LeBron choked, similar to Kobe in 2004. They are. Kobe has had more seasons, better teammates around him and more success. I knew Kobe nuthuggers were little crying babies. But I didn't know they never grow. But I hope you can at least start staying consistent with your arguments.
They sick alright....IN BED TOGETHER HAHAH:grin::grin::grin: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/osSH16kKHcY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Why does it matter if they weren't the No.1 favored team. They were never lower than top 2 favorite to win in those years. Plus They blew the Lakers the hell out almost every single time they played, You make it sound like Lakers were the overwhelming favorite which wasn't true, even if they were more favored than the Cavs, it wasn't by as much as you say.
Or maybe LeBron himself should be consistent. If he got the MVPs for the success in regular season, the teammates ain't the ones to be blamed for playoff failure. It's not Mo Williams' team. What LeBron nuthuggers are whining about?
Lebron vs Orlando in 2009 was absolutely insane. How you can blame that series loss on him is beyond me. He put up 38.5 PPG, 8 assists, 8 boards a game. He was playing out of his mind. But obviously, Kobe's 6 - 24 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals is way better because his team won.
Though I do not condone either, shooting your team out of a championship is slightly better than not being there for your team and costing them a championship. Kobe only "choked" in two series, but at least they are consistent with his character. 04 Finals, he tried to shoulder his team when he should have fed Shaq more. Fine. The series against the Suns, game seven, because he was P***ed at the miserable piece of **** that was his team's starting lineup, and was trying to send a message, case in point "You all need me to dominate the ball to have a chance". Okay, his fault, but at least we can all say, "Ya, that's the way he is". Other than having a baby's mentality and utter non-balls syndrome, there is NO explanation as to why LBJ disappeared in several key playoff games, including the latter half of last year's final. And I am using the word disappeared, because that is what I saw, or rather, didn't see. Thus far, he has not lived up to his god given potential, whereas Kobe has exceeded his...That's the difference, and that's why I give Kobe RESPECT
^^^ All you are doing is excusing Kobe choking and not LeBron, because you are more comfy with the reason. Shooting your team out of a series still equates to poor play which still equates to a loss. And you forgot the 2008 Finals and the loss to the Mavs last season (Kobe was pretty unclutch to close 2 of those games...LeBron would get killed for making the errors Kobe made that series). To the poster that asked why does it matter if your team is favored, ask goodbug or other posters that keep mentioning how much the Cavs won when they lost in the postseason. They are the ones making it seem like the Cavs were some heavy frontrunner or didn't lose to better teams from 2007-2010. If you apply that logic to knock a guy then don't change it for Kobe when he did the same things.
I'm not excusing anything. All I'm doing is giving reasons explaining why there is a growing consensus against LeBron even though he's done pretty much every accomplishment other than a championship. You'd think that there's something in that many analysts and coaches rank Kobe as superior, at the same time criticizing LBJ. Look, winning cures everything, so LBJ will do wonders if he just wins (even with the help from Wade and Bosh). But Kobe's has been there and done that, and the fact that LBJ is dominating the regular season after failing repeatedly in the playoffs means absolutely nothing at this point- Unless he scores 82 or something
What I don't understand abotu lebron, his stats this y ear are historic, he is impressive(his mental weakness aside) he undeniable impacts the game so much and efficiently at that too. But why is the guy playing 40 minutes a game when the team is up by 12-15 at many times. Is he padding his stats and focusing on them in your opinion? There are games where they are up 20-30 and he still gets over 35 minutes when the game is pretty much done. I mean they got wade, and even the bench doesnt screw up a lead like that.
he's playing a career low in minutes. how much more is he supposed to drop off? and even in blowouts, not many teams take guys out before the 4th and even then only for enormous blowouts. when someone does play minutes in the early 4th with a big lead, miami almost always saves wade's legs and puts lebron in (wade seemingly had 3 games where he only played 24 minutes during the heat's recent winning streak) because wade is older and seems to wear down easier. and almost no one rests anybody with a 12-15 point lead unless there's 2 minutes left or something. if anyone is watching their stats, i'd say it's the 33 year old almost leading the league in minutes played and field goal attempts per minute who happens to be climbing the all-time scoring list without a lot of prime years left.
Its actually much different on how they handle anyone else and how most stars are handled. From dwade and Bosh, those guys will probably play almost 3/4 of an entire quarter less than LBJ in blowouts. These are games where the heat are up the entire half about 15 and a comfortable lead and lebron is playing 41/48 minutes. The guy is a tank and c an handle it, btu that just seems to be some way of going their stats. Kobe definitely has the scoring title on his mind too, he has made no secret about that, if that is good for his legs and lakers, i think the organization might regret that unless he feels at his age he has to make his body in the routine of playing heavy minutes, not sure, in my opinion its dumb. Similarly with lebron, everyone knows he decides how much he wants to play as he did in cleveland, and it must have something to do with stats when even the other guys on his steam are sitting. If he gets injured, but his body seems ot be withstanding and he is young, it ill all just be pointless.
He'll win it. Kobe's fg% is extremely inconsistent. Before the last 3 games where he shot over 50%, his season's fg% was barely 43%.
I said Lebron was favored 3 years in a row with HCA, not CLE. Yes, they were favored to beat Boston in 2010. They could have gone up 3-2 but Lebron went into his shell in game 5. Yes, they were favored in the finals, even w/o HCA and Bynum. But I don't recall Bryant ever opting out in any games/crucial moments, do you? I'm sure you'll bring up the Phoenix series at this point, as if it's in any way comparable. The "nut-ups" aren't the same. Being afraid of the moment is not what legendary players do. Rebound how? Is he going to show that he isn't afraid to have the ball in his hands when the lights are on? To go to the line if that's what it takes? Just winning a title on a Dream Team isn't enough to erase all that ineptitude.
But that's the thing, the Cavs were not favored in either Boston series. They were favored in the Orlando series. I'm 100% sure they weren't favored over the Celtics in 2008. I may be wrong about 2010 but doubt it. Either way, I'm sure we can both agree that the better team won that series. You can't necessarily say that about last year but that's the first time in his career you can make that claim. As I told the other poster, you are excusing Kobe's poor play for whatever reason but not excusing LeBron's poor play because it was due to being passive. If your contribution to the team for that series is subpar does the reason really matter? So you give Kobe a pass for playing like **** in the 04 and 08 Finals because he wasn't passive (I'm asking)? Were the result not the same....a loss when the team was favored? A loss when the team was a heavy favorite? Poor play is poor play period. But to answer your question, we have seen Kobe opt out in a crucial game/moment. See Game 7 of the 2006 series against Phoenix, when they blew a 3-1 lead and he blatantly quit. Or do you excuse that as well? How is it not comparable? Quitting is quitting, period. All you seem to be doing is rationlizing Kobe's poor play or his giving up on his team. Well we will have to wait till the postseason to see. So far he has come back and is having one of the best seasons in league history. Either way, I'm sure if they win folks will still find something to dog him about. Even now you are building in someway to discredit him with your Dream Team comment, even though this team doesn't have as much talent as any team Kobe has ever won a championship with, or countless other players.
