Game 6 Celts vs Heat

I have stopped trying to figure out the Heat.  Some nigths they play at an incredible high level, and then others they stink it up.  You actually can see the process at times within a game.

I still think the Heat will find a way to win this series, but it wont be easy.  Let's see how much Bosh can play.

Aren't the Heat like 1-8 at Boston??  I think the old men do it!

But that records takes into consideration the regular season, which doesnt mean much.  Boston has played well, but i still think that in this series Miami has been its own worse enemy.

At this point i wouldnt be surprised if Boston wins, but we shall see.

It is funny to see the hate towards a guy that the only thing he has done wrong is a "special" that benefited a charity.  He  has been great with the community in both cities where he has played at, good father by all accounts and married to his long time girlfriend.  I guess that in the nba you have to be an adulterer, or have an arrest record not to be hated.  It most come with the territory of being the best at what you do.

Defensively?? Not all, just like intelligent banter instead of junk for the hell of it....But it seems like Mr. Soft outscored all Celtics starters.

The Decision.

Claiming he was going to win at least 8 rings in Miami.

cgregg - 2012-06-08 9:17 AM I have plenty of dislike for ESPN - I actually avoid that network. They are the definition of hyperbole and inflated sensationalism in reporting. It's tabloids for sports. If it wasn't for Monday Night Football, I'd never watch it at all. As for LeBron - it isn't that he left, it's how he did it. He held the Cavs hostage, never gave a hint about his intentions, all the while the team bowed to his wishes and took every step they could to put players around him. The team bent over backwards to accommodate him and help build a team around him. He then mailed it in for the playoffs then toyed with everyone's emotions, making everyone think he would be around for longer. Meanwhile, the team based much of it's roster strategy on him being here. It wasn't until he went on national TV and announced to everyone that he was putting a shotgun sized blast into the heart of the Cavs roster, that the team realized that it needed to start moving forward without him. On top of that, he never really acknowledged Cleveland, the team or his fans at all ... the 7 years here was just an afterthought. The thing is, if you were a player and had three years to screw over a franchise .. you'd be hard-pressed to top what Lebron ended up doing. He was non-committal and even cryptic about his desire to stay, which forced the front office to go "all-in" trying to put a team around him that could win a championship. Not only that, but he put almost no effort into trying to lobby other players to come play with us. (There's that story of him dissing a meet-up with Michael Redd when he was a free agent, and giving him nothing more than a half-hearted, "come play with us" video message). The whole roster was based around him running the offense through the SF spot, and we didn't even really have a backup for that spot, because he was putting in 39 minutes a night. He ended up waiting until most Free Agents were already signed with other teams before announcing he was leaving, which left a gaping hole in the SF spot (with a team designed around playing through the SF) ... and no way of bringing in Free Agents to fix it. We also got rid of the head coach and GM, in hopes that it would placate him. So when he left with no warning ... the team was left in complete shambles. Lastly - in Cleveland we can hold some serious grudges with our sports teams; Art Modell is still viewed as low as Benedict Arnold, and John Elway's picture is probably still on quite a few dart boards across town

I actually can understand your dislike, you are from the city and have all the rigth to feel that way.

You mention he screwed over the franchise, but when were the Cavaliers relevant prior to LBJ arrival?  He made the Cavaliers and his owner a ton of money that otherwise they wouldnt have made, and management certainly did a crappy job getting him those "players" around him...... In regards to the late notice, do you really think a marquee free agents would sign in Cleveland ?  I dont mean that in a disrespectful way but top guys won't sign there.  The ownership has to be blamed for this, not LBJ.  He hadnt signed a contract and he had made it clear he wanted to explore the free agent market, but they decided to roll the dice and hope for the best case scenario.  You can not do that when you are responsible for the success of an organization.

 I wasn't so exited about his arrival to Miami, i thought the Heat could have done other things, but i can't blame Riley for getting the best player in the game that happens to be an outstanding citizen as well.

I quit being a fan of him after he quit against the Celtics a couple years ago, then complained that the Cavs weren't doing enough to build a team, when in fact the Cavs had the best record in basketball that year.

I also lost respect for LBJ when he basically tried to buy a ring in going to the Heat. Jordan, Bird, Barkley and Magic would have never teamed up to win a ring because they wanted to beat the best in the NBA, not join forces with them to make it easy

I do not like the Heat because they are a bunch of whiners. D Wade can't shoot a layup without falling down and pleasding to the refs if he misses, I swear he is a bigger flopper than Chris Paul, Ginobilli or T Parker.

Again, this is all my humble opinion

I will give him credit for being a great player and having a great game last night. I liked that focus he had.

The thing that gets lost in all of the dislike/hate/animosity/whatever towards Lebron is how amazing he is. He is the best defensive player in the league and he is among a few players for the best offensive player too. He hasn't been able to grab a title yet, but he has single handedly carried a lot of below average teams into the playoffs. I think he may have discovered his killer instinct that's been missing last night. If he can keep that up, he will win his first title in a few short weeks. Hate the guy all you want, but you have to appreciate his incredible basketball skill. 

In these playoffs he has carried the Heat. He's averaging 30.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 5.3 apg all on 51% shooting. Wade has been virtually non-existent in almost every first half. Bosh has been injured for half the playoffs. If they win it is all because of him. If they don't, only the most ardent haters could claim he's not doing what he's supposed to do.

He is certainly a polarizing figure after the "decision" and many people have your opinion.

One thing that i may point out is that yes, the Cavs had the best record but because of LBJ, not the team they put around him.  Through the years that LBJ played there named a guy that another team would have liked to have.  The best teammate he ever had was Mo Williams, Mo Williams?

So Jordan, Bird and Magic didnt have help, they did it all on their own?  Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge didn’t make Larry Bird job easier or Abdul-Jabbar, Worthy, Wilkes, Nixon, and Cooper didn’t help Magic at all.  Wasn’t Magic that said that he would rather go back to college than play with Chicago if he got drafted by then because of how bad they were? How about Pippen, Rodman for MJ. 

Once again, everyone is entitle to dislike any given player for whatever reason.  But the reasons that are given for LBJ have always amazed me

Don't get me wrong... I'm not a Kobe fan either

Who am I impressed with?  If I had to pick a player who is a "good citizen" and MVP quality, I'd probably go with Durant.  And being from Seattle, I have plenty of reason not to like OKC.

I fixed that for you.  Yeah, Magic had one of the greatest all-time scorers (Abdul-Jabbar) and MJ had Pippen and one of the best rebounders/defensive players ever.  Bird had far more support than just one guy Google "Boston Celtics Wikipedia", then look at the third paragraph.

I can't argue about Barkley, but he never won a ring, so maybe he should've teamed-up.

As for flopping, DWade knows how to take a dive just as good as the next guy, but the whole NBA is like that.  It's getting to be like international soccer, see this article:  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/05/should-nba-penalize-players-for-flopping/1 

The bad thing about the flopping is that in soccer, they get away with it because there are 3 officials for the entire field of 22 players.  In the NBA, there are 3 officials, plus a backup for 10 players on a much smaller court.  How someone gets away with a blatant flop is beyond me.

Another factor in the flopping is that Basketball should not have the kind of contact that it has.  The rules are supposed to keep someone from getting mugged and stabbed as he drives to the basket.  The rules are fine for up-to college size athletes, but these guys are absolute monsters.  If the whole NBA followed the rules, LBJ would dunk every single time down the court, but then again, so would every single guy who could dunk.  The only time someone wouldn't dunk would be if a player set his feet for the charge and then the player could dribble one huge step to the side and then dunk...

So if a guy gets touched and "flops", it actually should be a foul. By strict reading of the rules.  Some players, DWade as exhibit A, take that rule and use it to their advantage. 

Whining is also so prevalent, but the refs are supposed to T-up anyone who vocally complains.