Because LeBron carried them. 126-31 with him on the floor in the last two years. 1-6 without him. The supporting cast is marginal. Without LeBron, they become a 30 to 35 win team. Take Kobe off the Lakers, they still make the playoffs. The Celtics can't keep half their roster on the court and they still make it. Orlando would make the playoffs without Howard. The Celtics would suck in a big way without James. Whatever the reason, if he doesn't deliver 34-8-8, Cavs aren't winning in the postseason. No one else can pick up the slack.
mo williams: regular season: 15.8 ppg (44% overall, 43% from 3) playoffs: 13.6 ppg (40% overall, 33% from 3) antwan jamison (for the cavs): regular season: 17.5 ppg (48% overall, 34% from 3) playoffs: 16.3 ppg (48% overall, 28% from 3) lebron james: regular season: 29.7 ppg (50% overall, 33% from 3) playoffs: 29.3 ppg (51 % overall, 39% from 3) doesn't excuse lebron for what he did last night but the stats clearly show that in the playoffs that his cast does not play at the level they played during the regular season. but of course his cast should NEVER get some of the blame. the cavs have always relied to much on lebron. people said last year that the cavs cant continue to rely on a 40 point triple double every night for lebron to win. they breeze by in the regular season because lebron gets his regular 30-40 point triple or near triple double almost every night then when the playoffs start the defensive intensive picks up and teams setup game plans to cut the head of the snake and his teammates coward in fear when their savior has a non-god like night. people have always said mike brown has a terrible offense and it always shows in the playoffs. that "give it to lebron" 1-on-5 basketball will not work in the playoffs. the cavs need an offensive SYSTEM. lebron also needs a legit 2nd option. a team full of role players is just not going to work. he needs a legit 2nd option who brings it on a consistent basis.
Well maybe if he gave others to flourish they wouldn't be so reliant on him. Its always two tricks in crucial moments of games with Lebron, spread the floor pick and roll or let him go 1 on 1 where he either scores or others have to shoot. Part of that is also the coaching strategy, they should run more sets for other guys and keep them invovled. But theyre basically a drive and kick team, their 3 point shooters open up the lane for him or he passes it out for their guys to shoot long jumpers. But he deserves some blame in this instance though, people are complaining so much about last nights game dude had 15/6/7 lots of guys would dream of putting up a stat line like that but from just watching the game you can tell he is so disengaged and he wasn't even trying hence resulting in a bad game for him. Stats are a good indicator of performance but they're not necessarily the best indicator, just looking at the game last night no one would've thought Lebron had a stat line like that.
I don't get it, when they win its all Lebron but when they lose its the teammates and the coach? lol. Its about time the King gets some blame.
he has a piss poor attitude. He's a tough competitor but I think in his mind, if things aren't going right, he gets frustrated and that ends up affecting his playing.
And btw taking Kobe off the Lakers they wouldn't be able to make the playoffs in the West. You need 50 wins to even make the playoffs in this side of the league, without those 7 gamewinners they could've possibly missed the playoffs entirely. Without Kobe that team doesn't get 47-50 wins
Trying my best? I like LeBron... I used to like T-Mac but his attitude has changed that for me. If LeBron does indeed have a torn ligament in his elbow, this thread should be deleted.
This might the most horrendous post I've read. The Lakers making the playoffs without Kobe? LOL. That's laughable. Exactly who outta the 8 playoffs would they have replaced? Utah Portland OKC Phoenix San Antonio Denver Dallas The Lakers have absolutely NO chance in the west without Kobe. You should be ashamed
The Lakers are 57-33 all-time when Bryant has been out of the lineup. this year they beat the blazers in portland without kobe. beat the spurs without kobe. and beat the jazz with ak47 and okur in utah without kobe. and almost beat he celtics without kobe. the lakers still won game dispite kobe having that terrible shooting slump duing the regula season. it's not far off to say they could have beat out the thunder for the 8th spot in the west without kobe.
I count 7. And the Lakers without Kobe would be better than us. Regardless, the Lakers without Kobe would drop about 10-15 games at most. The Cavs without Lebron would drop about 30.
^ LOL are you serious? I don't doubt the stat you gave but can I see a link or tell me where you got the 57-33 from. And besides they beat the Blazers in Portland that had no Brandon Roy, defeated a struggling Spurs team at home. Utah was a quality win and the Celtics team was a completely different from then to now. Just like the Lakers those Celtics didn't hit their stride until the playoffs started
So you're telling me a team with Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest isn't a playoff team? Kobe homer alert! Also they won't have to replace anyone on your list, those are only 7 teams. The 8th would be us, and I doubt that over a season a team that has Chuck Hayes at C would really be better than a frontcourt of Gasol and Bynum.
yall make it seem like the lakers would be garbage without kobe. they wouldn't be a contending team but to say they wouldnt make the playoffs is a stretch. even jerry west has commented on how talented the lakes roster is. they won games with kobe having terrible shooting nights. http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201001180LAL.html it's been shown when pau gets his touches he is a capable scorer as well. it's no use arguing about the subject because it's not happening anytime soon but more of the lakers have shown they can still win without kobe hat it's not so far fetched.
hes been talking about leaving for other companies while the one he works with pays his salary. Its downright disgusting. The proper thing would have been to tell everyone to shutup about the FA till it got there. He didn't, he loved the attention. I can feel for cleveland fans. They endured all this **** of him leaving and he is playing like t-mac out there.
It seemed so. After the half, he just seemed disinterested and showed absolutely no effort towards helping his team come back from the deficit... Sure gave me flashbacks of Tracy's very own "Toronto Game". Well... except for the fact that LeBron actually has talent, and wasn't a one-legged POS at the time...
The Cavs fans quit on LerBon. Cleveland fans should be nut hugging LerBon for everything that he did for the city. There wouldn't be any luxury of a ridiculous dancing bench without LerBon. Anyways, as much as I dislike LerBon, I hope he bolts so Cleveland can go back into oblivion.
IF you are going with this season only then maybe they are the 8th seed but consider without Kobe, Artest would move to SG, Odom to SF, Bynum and Gasol both missed significant time. That is still a decent team but with crappy pg, crappy bench and people in and out of the lineup would make it tough.
