Did not watch the entire game tonight as the quality of basketball was quite frankly, terrible. James gets 39 on THIRTY-FIVE SHOTS?! He basically choked during the final minutes of regulation and almost completely in overtime. After a performance like that he then brags that no other team except Cleveland could have won the game except his team. That is because the Cavs are missing two all-stars. Well pardon me but SEVERAL Nba teams could have beaten Golden State tonight. Frankly, they just plain stunk (as did Lebron again, imo)...
Lebron Takes 35 Shots And Makes 11??
- Thread starter ChapelHeeled
- Start date
I understand LeBron is polarizing and there's really no changing anyone's mind about him, but I have to disagree here. He took - and missed - a lot of shots, but the fact that he also had 12 assists (or something like that) basically negates that stat in my mind b/c he was passing just as much as he was shooting (and think how many missed shots his teammates took that he passed to in order to rack up those assists). And if you look at his stats by quarter...most of his shots missed are late in the game...dude has played 100 minutes in 2 games -- that's straight fatigue setting in at that point.
I don't care what anyone thinks about LeBron personally - that man is flat-out carrying that team in every sense of the phrase.
I don't think Cleveland can win this series b/c there's no way Curry has an "off night" like that 3 more times in this series -- as depleted as Cleveland is, Golden State is far and away the better team at this point. But LeBron deserves a ton of credit -- you can just feel how badly he wants to give the city of Cleveland a title.
I don't care what anyone thinks about LeBron personally - that man is flat-out carrying that team in every sense of the phrase.
I don't think Cleveland can win this series b/c there's no way Curry has an "off night" like that 3 more times in this series -- as depleted as Cleveland is, Golden State is far and away the better team at this point. But LeBron deserves a ton of credit -- you can just feel how badly he wants to give the city of Cleveland a title.
He never would have left if he'd really wanted to win a title for Cleveland. Don't be fooled, it's all about Bron.
BTW, check out the disparity in free throws, 40 to 25 in favor of Cleveland. Hmmm...
BTW, check out the disparity in free throws, 40 to 25 in favor of Cleveland. Hmmm...
You guys are acting dumb. If Cleveland wins this series it is only because Lebron is a top 3 player of all time.
Most of his misses are in iso where the team just gives him the ball and asks him to score. Usually against double teams.
Most of his misses are in iso where the team just gives him the ball and asks him to score. Usually against double teams.
Agree with the OP. Big stat line no doubt but the play by play guy (Breen?) calling it a virtuoso performance was laughable.
Put LeBron James on any team in the East and that team is playing in the NBA Finals. Any negative talk is just sour grapes because MJ's status as GOAT is in serious jeopardy. Scoreboard!
I personally don't think MJ's status as GOAT is in any jeopardy. LBJ is a very, very, good player. MJ, he is not though, IMO.
As said above - LeBron is polarizing. Those that hate him...there's nothing he can do that will change your mind. But what this guy is currently doing with a collection of at-best, role players and cast-offs...is just plain ridiculous.
Career-wise, he's not even in MJ's stratosphere, but if he keeps this up, it's just a matter of time.
Career-wise, he's not even in MJ's stratosphere, but if he keeps this up, it's just a matter of time.
Lebron is a great player and a freak of a physical specimen (6'9" and 250+ and running the point at times) but he has missed or settled for bad shots at critical times in these first 2 games and I think a lot of that was just plain fatigue. I do think GS will make some adjustments and ultimately win the series but the Cavs will go down fighting with everything they have left.
That's what all dook fans say..right now you sound like one!!..they're always looking for someone to pass mj's legacy ..that's why 50% of lebron fans like dook
With only 2 chips so far, it is too early to crown him GOAT. We really won't know till near the end of his stay in the NBA. Most likely the best of the decade by all accounts imo
1) I can't stand LBJ, his endless self-promotion, and his childish antics. Spiking the ball at the end of the game doesn't endear him to casual fans. Neither does constantly dropping F-bombs and GDs during the game. Grow up already.
2) Despite #1, you have to be in complete denial not to recognize what an unbelievable player he is. He has been and is carrying this team. Every offensive set goes through him, and the pressure is on him to score or set up someone else on virtually every possession.
3) The MJ vs. Kobe vs. LBJ GOAT discussion is one of the most pointless arguments on the interwebz. And that's coming from a guy with over 20k message board posts LOL.
2) Despite #1, you have to be in complete denial not to recognize what an unbelievable player he is. He has been and is carrying this team. Every offensive set goes through him, and the pressure is on him to score or set up someone else on virtually every possession.
3) The MJ vs. Kobe vs. LBJ GOAT discussion is one of the most pointless arguments on the interwebz. And that's coming from a guy with over 20k message board posts LOL.
Kobe really never made it a secret that he wanted to surpass MJ. I think he fell a bit short, but was definitely in the upper limits of NBA greatness. Same will most likely be said of lebron. I Dont understand why people want to crown someone the GOAT so early in their career. To me, that gives me a reason to root against him. I want MJ to always stay on top because of the UNC connection and the fact that it happened in my lifetime. If lebron surpasses MJs accomplishments, then I will be fine with it. But I will never crown him anything but spectacular to proven otherwise. Same as I did with Kobe
^ Your statement is a JOKE is it not? MJ never got rejected at the rim TWICE by D. Green on a layup attempt (at 30 years of age, no less!). MJ is not in jeopardy as far as Lebron is concerned. Never has been and he never will be. The guy has taken EIGHTY-ONE SHOTS in two games and made a paltry 24 or 25 of those same shots. Terrible shooting and terrible play...
If I disagree with your opinion, I hate Bron. If I disagree with the POTUS, I hate black people. If I disagree with gay marriage, I hate gay people.
See the trend there? "Hate/Hater" have to be the most overused words in our screwed up culture.
No offense, dude, but I really don't think Draymond Green played when Jordan did.
Think he's just using the draymond green name as an example of that type of player !!
Highly unlikely MJ wasn't blocked on a layup more than a few times in his career. lol
Thanks for the clarification on the grammar usage goof. Good catch. (hint - sarcasm alert)
The point that I made earlier is one which points to Draymon Green not being a borderline star, much less a borderline superstar. However he most certainly stamped "Spalding" on Lebron's forehead. Yeah, I know that happened after Lebron changed his pivot foot, traveled and then changed his pivot again and was screaming for a foul to be called (in Lebron's favor of course). The guy is a very good athlete for his size. However, he is miles and more miles away from ANY great record that MJ ever set and/or was a part of, when MJ was in his prime. Back on point, LBJ has made 24-25 shots during the first two games of this series. That means that LBJ has thus missed 56 or 57 shots! Shooting percentages like this are usually never pointed to as a sign of being a GREAT PLAYER! Furthermore, LBJ shot about the same percentage in his previous series that got the Cavs to the Finals, if my memory is still correct. LBJ is a very good player. However, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Shaq, and even Kobe were all better players than LBJ, if one really knows the history of the game. Oscar Robertson and of course Michael Jordan would both eat his "chipped beef" for lunch as well. Right now I would barely put Lebron in the Top Ten (10) of All-Time greatest players to ever play the game...
^ Doesn't make sense to pull out one bad stat after two incredible games. Lebron is averaging over 40 points and put up a triple double. That's like pointing out that Jordan scored 50, but only had 3 assists.
But just so you know, Lebron and MJ have the same career FG%. Lebron has a higher 3pt%, a higher 2pt%, and a higher effective field goal percentage. Jordan was a better free throw shooter.
Not sure why everyone is so quick to put Lebron down
But just so you know, Lebron and MJ have the same career FG%. Lebron has a higher 3pt%, a higher 2pt%, and a higher effective field goal percentage. Jordan was a better free throw shooter.
Not sure why everyone is so quick to put Lebron down
For some reason, this era/generation is more cynical/entitled. They think they deserve everything and criticize everything that doesn't meet what they deserve.
In doing so, they are missing the greatest athlete across all sports in his prime dominating a league.
"Anyone who knows the history" would agree with you...? Not. Almost every sports analyst rightfully claims Lebron is a dominant player and has him on their rushmore of NBA players.
Lebron is by far and away already the greatest forward to ever play the game and he has many more years to go. It would take injuries to derail his career in which he isn't considered top 3 by the end of it. He is already top 5 at this point.
A lot of the things he is doing now hasn't even been done more than a few times before. A 39-15-13 stat line is RIDICULOUS.
I personally like Lebron , but he attracted most of the haters with the signing song and DANCE production with the Heat. I capped dance because when he , Wade , and Bosch came out in the Heat unis and kinda' did a little dancing around , I was truly embarrassed for them.
That was definitely the sentinel PR moment of his career. People seemed to either love it or hate it, and the battle lines were drawn.
Think about this. A couple years ago Kevin Durant showed up at Oklahoma State and played flag football with an intramural team. The media went nuts fawning over him. "What a great guy!" "He's so down to earth!" Etc. If LeBron did something like that, every cynic would be declaring it a public relations stunt and claiming he's too concerned about his image. The dude can't win. But, he's done it to himself.
LeBron is an all-time great. Not sure why we can't just STFU and appreciate that. Am I going to start comparing him to Jordan? No, because I don't give a damn. I'm just thrilled I got to watch Jordan growing up and LeBron now.
There was no mention of Jordan in this thread until someone said "any negative talk is just sour grapes because MJ's status as GOAT is in serious jeopardy. Scoreboard". People can have opinions, if they don't think LeBron is an all-time great, then that is their opinion. Dude is going to fall to 2-4 in NBA Finals, 2-2 with a loaded Heat team. All I hear is "what he is doing with this team is unreal" welp, if he one of the greatest of all time, why is it a surprise? Isn't he supposed to carry teams on his back? I thought that's what GOAT meant.
Exactly. Lebron's being asked to be the PG and primary playmaker on nearly every possession of a 53 minutes game (with a 24 second shot clock) including OT, with the expectation that he scores, distributes, takes care of the ball, controls the pace, rebounds, defends, etc.
I still have Jordan #1, but that's really the only guy out there who I'd clearly put ahead of him at this point. Lebron just dominates every facet of the game in a way I've never seen before from a wing player. As a pure scorer on a team with lots of other great players, not sure Lebron's necessarily better than a number of guys who've played in the past. However, I don't think I've ever seen a guy who's more effective at elevating weaker teammates than Lebron. With Irving and Love out, the Warriors have been played to a duel despite typically having 4 of the 5 best players on the court at any given moment (Curry, Thompson, Green, Barnes, AI).
Lebron's shooting numbers aren't great, but you're definitely misstating the shooting numbers. He's 29 of 73 with 5 3s. However, throw in the fact that he's also collected 24 rebounds and 17 assists, played 96 minutes in two games (with him playing the PG for nearly all of the 2nd game), and also been asked to play at a snails pace (to slow GS down) that involves him holding the ball until 10 seconds and trying to score on set defenses in isolation situations -- those numbers start to look a lot better. If the goal was to make Lebron's numbers look good, they would play at a faster pace and wouldn't constantly him to force action against set defenses. However, the goal is to win -- and, with Cleveland's depleted roster, that's what Lebron needs to do.
I think MJ's got his own category at this point. But, let's not ignore reality. In Michael's final post season run, he went 9 of 25 in game 7 against Indy, and had shooting nights of 13 of 29, 14 of 33, 9 of 26, and 15 of 35 in the finals against Utah. We all remember his final walk-off shot, but Lebron's shooting numbers are hardly unprecedented for a great player who's being asked to carry the offensive load against a great team.
"Flash forward 11 months, and it’s incredible how much has changed on the power forward front. Lee doesn’t play, and Green has emerged as a borderline star who received strong consideration for defensive player of the year, most improved player, and even an All-NBA team. Even the loudest Green boosters didn’t expect this. That group includes Adams, who pushed the Bulls to draft Green in 2012 when he worked as Tom Thibodeau’s lead assistant. “As a coaching staff, we were very disappointed we didn’t get him,” Adams says. “He is definitely a Chicago kind of guy. This is no reflection on Kevin Love, but every team wants a Draymond Green. He has internalized the parts of the game that are the winning parts: the hustle, the grit, the defense, making the right play at the right time. I love that guy. I’m glad he’s on our team.”"
That is about the supposedly bad player who rejected him. Lol
That is about the supposedly bad player who rejected him. Lol
So if Lebron has a great series and for once wins a finals against a team that has a more stacked roster than his were just supposed to forget and negate the suckfest he had against Dallas in 2011 and the series he lost by a record margin last year against a 38 year old? I realize Lebron is a great player, but its really annoying how much his fanboys live in the moment. Hes a Ray Allen shot away from being 1-4 in the finals where Jordan is 6-0 and Kobe is 5-2
Man, some people just can't catch a break. LeBron is putting on one of the best performances in playoff history with a roster of role players. He has no one playing next to him, yet he is carrying his team. Everyone says that he couldn't win a title unless he "teammed up with other superstars." Well who does he have next to him currently? It's a big if, but if he wins this year, I now know the new narrative...."but but but he is a shot away from being 1-4."
For the first time ever...I'm rooting for King James. I'm sold!
If King James can win the championship with what’s left of the Cavs’ roster, with a rookie coach, missing two All-Stars while breaking the 51-year Cleveland sports-title curse in his first season back as a Cavalier, it goes as one of the greatest accomplishments in NBA history. Greater than anything Michael Jordan did in a single season.
If King James can win the championship with what’s left of the Cavs’ roster, with a rookie coach, missing two All-Stars while breaking the 51-year Cleveland sports-title curse in his first season back as a Cavalier, it goes as one of the greatest accomplishments in NBA history. Greater than anything Michael Jordan did in a single season.
We are all MJ fans here but if you're not impressed by what he's doing then you're a bonified hater. I disliked LBJ when he went to Miami but he showed me something by going back home, righting a wrong sorta speak. If he leads this team to a title then he's top 3 easily in my book. He's putting up numbers in this series no one as done. There's not another player past or present that would have his team 2 wins away from a title doing the things this dude is doing now.
