Official 2013 NBA playoffs Thread

[Ibn Battuta 127]

Physically he's in a different level. I give credit to him as a special talent. But I can't like him due to the way he conducts himself and can't give him the credit as a champion because, after winning 60+ games with a roster, he acted like it was all on them and made the biggest team up in history.

 

It is unfair to me that he's credited as a top player in history and yearly MVP after that team up.

 

Simply put, I'm tired of him, the media, his bandwagon fans, his constant flopping and pushing, and the overall concept of the heat.

 

I can only hope somebody gets tired between the players and they form a superteam that runs over the heat.

 

I agree with all this but I realized something today.

 

I don't like Lebron not because he's a killer, rapist, stealer, gambler, alcoholic or whatever athletes do in their spare time, but because his ego eclipses the ego of everyone on this board x100. Like I said earlier, in no way do I hate him or take it personal, I just don't like him and the heat (but mostly the Heat). But from all reports about him he's a really good person off the court and hasn't been involved in all these extracurricular activities superstar athletes like to participate in. It's really hard to hate him IMO.

 

he is an amazing player doing big things and deserves props

 

he is an amazing player no question. But the 2nd part of your statement I'm not so sure. He's doing big things, but don't we expect it? He made that huge fuss with his buddies when they teamed up, so it's hard for me to sympathize if he doesn't make it all the way. And when he does, it's like "OK, you were supposed to, congratulations?"

[COLOMBIANO 118]

Its not really hate.

 

I have always thought that players who go to teams that are not doing well, and then turn it all around and win a championship are true champions. Ofcourse the players dont have alot of control in the adding players to the team to formulate the winning combination. But such is life, things happen.

 

Magic, Jordan, Bird, West, Duncan, Kobe, Wade, etc. These are the guys who get that respect.

 

Shaq, K.G., Allen, etc. These are the guys who couldnt get it done and had to rely on others to finish the job, but are champions (wont take that away).

 

Call me a sucker for a players loyalty.

 

As for Lebron (#1 SF), he is a great talent and player. But he still needed Wade (Top 5 SG) and Bosh (Top 10 PF) to give him that edge and ability to play free. And so that's not hate... just fact.

 

 

Late Add: Players who go to teams and sit on the bench and dont contribute, are no better than the players who didnt win the championship.

 

"Paper Champions" - Lewis.

 

All of the players you mentioned had hall of famers on their team and helped win a championship. LeBron did not have the same luck and still took a cavs team to the finals with a bunch of scrubs. I was too not happy when he signed w Miami, but i guess i'm over it and I can now appreciate his game

[Ibn Battuta 127]

Jesus. This is a level of unintelligible ignorance that I didn't know was quite possible.

 

That was poorly worded (and didn't make sense at all).

 

Maybe he meant, after Lebron the talent drops from a to z? We all thought Howard was the answer but unfortunately got sidetracked with 5 women.

[Mike1989 68]

Its not really hate.

 

I have always thought that players who go to teams that are not doing well, and then turn it all around and win a championship are true champions. Ofcourse the players dont have alot of control in the adding players to the team to formulate the winning combination. But such is life, things happen.

 

Magic, Jordan, Bird, West, Duncan, Kobe, Wade, etc. These are the guys who get that respect.

 

Shaq, K.G., Allen, etc. These are the guys who couldnt get it done and had to rely on others to finish the job, but are champions (wont take that away).

 

Call me a sucker for a players loyalty.

 

As for Lebron (#1 SF), he is a great talent and player. But he still needed Wade (Top 5 SG) and Bosh (Top 10 PF) to give him that edge and ability to play free. And so that's not hate... just fact.

 

 

Late Add: Players who go to teams and sit on the bench and dont contribute, are no better than the players who didnt win the championship.

 

"Paper Champions" - Lewis.

 

I see your point that certain players have gone to a team, stuck with them, and won titles. But at the same time greats like Jordan, Duncan, Wade, Kobe and co all had significantly better supporting casts than LeBron ever did. Jordan had Pippen through all six titles, Rodman in their second peat, and through all six titles had an excellent starting line up and bench. And that is without even mentioning their head coach, Phil Jackson. Then look at Tim Duncan, he's had the likes of Avery Johnson, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The Spurs have always seemed to have a decent supporting cast, and with Pop they have a great head coach. Even Wade when he won with the Heat had a still elite Shaq on his team, along with a decent supporting cast, and a great head coach in Pat Riley. LeBron never had their supporting cast or head coach at Cleveland.

 

I'm no LeBron fan but he never had a great supporting cast at Cleveland, yet they were always amongst the most competitive teams in the league. Sure he left Cleveland to join the Heat to form a big three to give him the best chance to win, and for that a lot of Cav fans hate him. If he could have won his titles with the Cavs then that would have given him that special status of turning the Cavs into champions. But the Heat have 'earned' their titles by becoming one of the most dominant teams, and I would still put LeBron up there with the likes of Jordan in terms of the legacy he is building in Miami. If they win again next season, and he re-signs with them and continues to help keep the Heat amongst the best teams in the league, and even adds more titles, then he will go down in the same bracket even if it isn't with his original team.

 

Personally LeBron has earned his rings so far, but that's just how I see it.

[Berto 338]

The league is so watered down today, that's it hard for me to think highly of this Heat team in a historical context. I mean, they had to fight tooth and nail to get by Chicago and Indiana (not great teams even when healthy). And in the finals, they basically won the lottery in game 6, then eked one out in game 7 against by far the worst Spurs team to be in the Finals. I view the Kobe and Gasol L.A. championship teams the same. They can only beat the teams in front of them, but if you're going to be honest about their legacy, they don't really match up with the true great teams in NBA history.

 

Also, Lebron is great, but the MJ stuff is *****ing ridiculous. It's disgusting how eager some people are to anoint him the greatest ever, when he'll never be on the same planet as Michael Jordan. And that's not even being desparaging towards Lebron. One can be an all-time great player, and not even begin to approach Jordan's greatness.

[barnettej 263]

I see your point that certain players have gone to a team, stuck with them, and won titles. But at the same time greats like Jordan, Duncan, Wade, Kobe and co all had significantly better supporting casts than LeBron ever did. Jordan had Pippen through all six titles, Rodman in their second peat, and through all six titles had an excellent starting line up and bench. And that is without even mentioning their head coach, Phil Jackson. Then look at Tim Duncan, he's had the likes of Avery Johnson, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The Spurs have always seemed to have a decent supporting cast, and with Pop they have a great head coach. Even Wade when he won with the Heat had a still elite Shaq on his team, along with a decent supporting cast, and a great head coach in Pat Riley. LeBron never had their supporting cast or head coach at Cleveland.

 

I'm no LeBron fan but he never had a great supporting cast at Cleveland, yet they were always amongst the most competitive teams in the league. Sure he left Cleveland to join the Heat to form a big three to give him the best chance to win, and for that a lot of Cav fans hate him. If he could have won his titles with the Cavs then that would have given him that special status of turning the Cavs into champions. But the Heat have 'earned' their titles by becoming one of the most dominant teams, and I would still put LeBron up there with the likes of Jordan in terms of the legacy he is building in Miami. If they win again next season, and he re-signs with them and continues to help keep the Heat amongst the best teams in the league, and even adds more titles, then he will go down in the same bracket even if it isn't with his original team.

 

Personally LeBron has earned his rings so far, but that's just how I see it.

 

Good Point and I view those teams who had Jordan and Pippen.... Duncan and Parker... as teams who did the right things to make them champions, repetitively... Which in itself deserves praise beyond the players to the leadership and coaching staff that was able to get it done.

 

Its kind of like the Patriots... I dont root for them... but man they are a heck of a franchise.. and they do make alot of good moves like the Spurs, and Bulls of the past.

[barnettej 263]

The league is so watered down today, that's it hard for me to think highly of this Heat team in a historical context. I mean, they had to fight tooth and nail to get by Chicago and Indiana (not great teams even when healthy). And in the finals, they basically won the lottery in game 6, then eked one out in game 7 against by far the worst Spurs team to be in the Finals. I view the Kobe and Gasol L.A. championship teams the same. They can only beat the teams in front of them, but if you're going to be honest about their legacy, they don't really match up with the true great teams in NBA history.

 

Also, Lebron is great, but the MJ stuff is *****ing ridiculous. It's disgusting how eager some people are to anoint him the greatest ever, when he'll never be on the same planet as Michael Jordan. And that's not even being desparaging towards Lebron. One can be an all-time great player, and not even begin to approach Jordan's greatness.

 

Agreed.

[30Assists 342]

TEAM USA WINS THE MEDAL

I was wrong in saying the Spurs would take the series, as I watched Wade,Bosh,Lebron,Batteir,Lewis,Allen, etc hold up the trophy for the second time in a row. The Miami heat lasted longer, didnt have crucial mistakes, and lady luck was on their side some (F-ing Ray Allen.... sigh).

 

I will never give Lebron the respect a true champion deserves because I only give that to those who stay with their drafted team and win a championship. So in this case I give more credit to Wade than I do Lebron.

 

Last nights win for the "Heat USA" also puts a bad mark on the sport. Some of the guys I was with in Chapel Hill said what is the point for all other 20 something franchises, when the same handful of teams go to the playoffs year after year... its not even exciting anymore... Although the Spurs made it interesting, overall the playoffs was a dud.

 

Looking over all the games in the series, I agree with him.

 

Anyways, Congrats Miami. Now you can go and add another wheel to the bandwagon.

This is exactly it. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but you summed it up exactly right: the Heat feel manufactured. They feel more like a professional wrestling creation than a basketball team.

 

 

=

 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

The level some people will go to defend their views is really interesting

[Live or Die Magic 383]

The level some people will go to defend their views is really interesting

 

Go on....

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,031]

I see a lot of bias.

 

Oh, and if you get drafted by a team with a ****ty front office, you should just stay and rot there? Cleveland was LeBron's home but his best teammate was Mo Williams LOL

 

The only thing I really hate about the Heat are the bandwagon fans (the ones that left before game 6 ended... just pathetic) but the team is pretty exciting to watch.

 

What's funny is that LeBron posted some amazing stats during these final but it feels like he could've played much, much better.

 

About the all time greatest stuff.. he won't get there. He's a beast, but Wade is too old to have the same impact for 3 more years.

 

I've been pretty good at predicting the Heat's path (I said they'd beat the Bulls with healthy Rose in 5 games without home court advantage, and I called these finals pretty sharply too)

 

I think the Heat won't reach the finals next year, due to Wade's body, and I'm leaning towards LeBron leaving after that. Where would he take his talents? I don't know

[OrlandoFeds 34]

.

The league is so watered down today, that's it hard for me to think highly of this Heat team in a historical context. I mean, they had to fight tooth and nail to get by Chicago and Indiana (not great teams even when healthy). And in the finals, they basically won the lottery in game 6, then eked one out in game 7 against by far the worst Spurs team to be in the Finals. I view the Kobe and Gasol L.A. championship teams the same. They can only beat the teams in front of them, but if you're going to be honest about their legacy, they don't really match up with the true great teams in NBA history.

 

Also, Lebron is great, but the MJ stuff is *****ing ridiculous. It's disgusting how eager some people are to anoint him the greatest ever, when he'll never be on the same planet as Michael Jordan. And that's not even being desparaging towards Lebron. One can be an all-time great player, and not even begin to approach Jordan's greatness.

 

You're spot on in my opinion, the Heat team had an incredible season one that would be in the top 10 of best ever but as far as being one of the best teams I can't rate them highly due to what you said, the league being so watered down. I agree with Soul too when he said:

The Bulls of the 90s would have punished this Heat team. I think the Kobe and Shaq duo, too.

 

But to take it a step further the Heat really struggled against Roy Hibbert, I doubt they'd be able to beat even the New York side in the Patrick Ewing era and may even struggle against the bigs of the Charlotte Hornets when they Mourning and Larry Johnson and the Hornets and Charlotte only made it to the first round.