2018 NBA Finals

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

I haven't watched more than 3 or 4 Cavs games this year (I hate LeBron), but I did watch last night.

Ridiculous game. The refs were pathetic. JR Smith is a massive, massive idiot. And I hate the Warriors. What a bunch of pompous, arrogant aholes.

LOL, I always try and take a different angle on things rather then piling on the goat. What about George Hill missing that free throw to begin with, or the much shorter and boxed out J.R. Smith out-muscling Kevin Durant for that rebound to begin with, that put him in position for that brain fart?

Cavs still had overtime to try and win the game, and they just folded (including a pouting Lebron) after Hill missed that free throw.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

The dangling mouthpiece is really getting old.
How can you not admire Lebron though, what a wondrous player.

I live in the Akron area and know people who have interacted with LeBron over the years. I have not heard good things about him. Not a huge fan of him at all. I also don't think he's as great of a basketball player as everyone says he is. I think he's a better businessman and has completely changed the landscape of the NBA to benefit his brand.

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

That was a fascinating game, poor reffing or not................and it wasn't as bad or as one-sided as Van Gundy (who looooooooves Lebron) and Mark Jackson (who passive aggressively has hated Golden State ever since they fired him) made it seem.

Calls will start to go the Cavs way anyways, if Golden State gets too comfortable or threatens a sweep. That's the way it always goes in the NBA with the refs. Try to extend the series as long as possible.

So screwing over the biggest underdog in the last, what, 17 years, essentially leading them to a loss is supposed to extend the series?

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

LOL, I always try and take a different angle on things rather then piling on the goat. What about George Hill missing that free throw to begin with, or the much shorter and boxed out J.R. Smith out-muscling Kevin Durant for that rebound to begin with, that put him in position for that brain fart?

Cavs still had overtime to try and win the game, and they just folded (including a pouting Lebron) after Hill missed that free throw.

Yes Hill missed the free throw, but should've had a second chance at it due to the uncalled lane violation by Draymond. And yes, the Cavs folded after they blew the end of regulation, another massive flaw of LeBron's - he's mentally weak.

[Peter_Spaeth]

IMO you have something personal against LeBron that is coloring your view of him as a basketball player. Mentally weak is about the last charge that can be hung on him. He isn't going to come up the hero every single time, nobody is. As for Smith, stuff happens in the heat of the moment in all that deafening noise.

[barrysloate]

Smith played a few seasons with the Knicks, so I got to see him play regularly. He never impressed me, and often did stupid things. Occasionally he had a hot streak and piled up some points, but he never did anything to make the Knicks a better team. And they tired of him quickly.

And Lebron may not be likable, I have no insight into his personal life, but the guy is a monster basketball player, and has carried the team for the past two months. He has taken a mediocre team to the Finals when there were seemingly better ones in the East, such as Toronto and Boston. I know he can rub fans the wrong way, but I can't find fault with the way he plays.

[Peter_Spaeth]

In addition to his otherworldly talents and ability to play pretty much any position, he is as intelligent a player as I have ever seen. No player in history has singlehandedly carried a team, it's not the nature of the sport, but LeBron is as close as anyone. And remind me, when was the last finals in which he was not playing?

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Smith played a few seasons with the Knicks, so I got to see him play regularly. He never impressed me, and often did stupid things. Occasionally he had a hot streak and piled up some points, but he never did anything to make the Knicks a better team. And they tired of him quickly.

And Lebron may not be likable, I have no insight into his personal life, but the guy is a monster basketball player, and has carried the team for the past two months. He has taken a mediocre team to the Finals when there were seemingly better ones in the East, such as Toronto and Boston. I know he can rub fans the wrong way, but I can't find fault with the way he plays.

A mediocre team he built. He was the one that fought for Tristan Thompson to get a massive contract a few years ago, which has handicapped the team greatly financially. He was the one that got Blatt fired and replaced him with Lue, who is an absolute joke and is only there because LeBron can easily control him. He is the one behind the scenes approving/making the moves for players. He's the player version of Jerry Jones, and it's horrible.

I have a theory that he keeps a relatively mediocre team around him as a crutch and to build his brand. If he fails, everyone blames the mediocre team around him. If he succeeds, he looks like the GOAT. Like I said previously, I think he's a better businessman than basketball player.

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

In addition to his otherworldly talents and ability to play pretty much any position, he is as intelligent a player as I have ever seen. No player in history has singlehandedly carried a team, it's not the nature of the sport, but LeBron is as close as anyone. And remind me, when was the last finals in which he was not playing?

Is he really that intelligent basketball wise? He hardly plays defense, aside from the one or two SportsCenter-worthy plays. He settles for longer jump shots where a layup/closer shot would be way better, especially with his physical superiority. He's never been a good free throw shooter, which is embarrassing. He loves playing isolation/hero ball, instead of promoting ball movement which is the backbone of a strong offense.

2009? That's a lot of participation trophies, considering he's only won, what, 3 of them?

People have fallen in love with LeBron because he is a once-in-a-generation talent, no doubt, but more so because he has changed the entire landscape of the NBA to hide his flaws.

[Peter_Spaeth]

He averaged over 9 assists per game this year. His career average is over 7. Are you watching the same player as I am? Jordan's average was just over 5, was he a ball hog too?

[samosa4u]

GSW are a bunch of b*tches. In the 2016 Finals, they were up 3-1 in the series, and look at the stupid things they were doing to LeBron: Draymond hit him in the nuts, while Curry and Klay Thompson were doing so much trash talking - it was pathetic. Then what ended up happening? Cavs won their first ever title. This was probably the biggest choke I have ever seen in the NBA. After that, the GSW began courting Durant. lol What a bunch of losers. I don't care how many titles they win now, but nothing will ever erase that. Oh, and I hope next time the NBA sends Durant to India, a Bengal tiger eats him.

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

A mediocre team he built. He was the one that fought for Tristan Thompson to get a massive contract a few years ago, which has handicapped the team greatly financially. He was the one that got Blatt fired and replaced him with Lue, who is an absolute joke and is only there because LeBron can easily control him. He is the one behind the scenes approving/making the moves for players. He's the player version of Jerry Jones, and it's horrible.

What's so horrible about it, dude? He took a garbage team to the Finals four times in a row! You shouldn't be complaining about him having too much power in the Cavs organization because he definitely knows what he is doing.

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

He settles for longer jump shots where a layup/closer shot would be way better, especially with his physical superiority.

He has been shooting a lot from behind the arc during this series, but he has to! When you have Curry, Thompson and Durant making 3 pointers non-stop, then you gotta' try and match that. And it's not as if LeBron has been doing a bad job at it. Furthermore, if he keeps driving to the basket all the time, then he is going to risk getting hurt. Look what GSW did to the poor man's eye.

And I agree with Peter, he is a top 5 player.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

IMO you have something personal against LeBron that is coloring your view of him as a basketball player. Mentally weak is about the last charge that can be hung on him. He isn't going to come up the hero every single time, nobody is. As for Smith, stuff happens in the heat of the moment in all that deafening noise.

The only play I remember seeing that even compared to Smith running out the clock at the end of a tied finals game was that Chris Webber time out. That may go down as the biggest mental blunder in sports history.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

The only play I remember seeing that even compared to Smith running out the clock at the end of a tied finals game was that Chris Webber time out. That may go down as the biggest mental blunder in sports history.

Especially given that the series could be 1-1 right now instead of 0-2.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

Especially given that the series could be 1-1 right now instead of 0-2.

Those respect-worthy officials didn't exactly help with the absurd reversal of the charge call on Durant. They had no business reviewing that play, there was no reason at all to think LeBron was in the restricted area.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Those respect-worthy officials didn't exactly help with the absurd reversal of the charge call on Durant. They had no business reviewing that play, there was no reason at all to think LeBron was in the restricted area.

The reversal was the correct call, James was not set. The fact that two officials signaled two different calls should have been enough to review it. But whatever the reason for the review, the fact that they made the right call in the end is what matters to me.