2012 Finals !!

blazenmp said:

It's just not about that to me. I live in Nashville, moved here slightly less than a decade ago, and today all I hear on sports radio is how his only bad thing was the "decision". Otherwise, people are sucking up to him like no one's business. No one cares that he never worked on his post-up, that we only got to see LeIso, that he only signed up longer for minimum terms to keep his options open or keep the Cavs at bay, that he never would give a commitment to let other stars know that Cleveland was a place worth going. No, he only pushed that he came from Akron, which is not technically Cleveland (but he is wrong, sorry Akronites). What they aren't remembering (or caring about if they are too blind to see), is if he did what he did this year, years ago with Cleveland, he may have already had a couple rings now. He didn't help bring anyone here. He basically told management to bring people in when there was not too much for the pickin', they really did the best they could - without his help, yet following his obvious demands. When it came to games, he trusted no one - hence, LeIso... on the last two years, best records in the East, yet... LeIso didn't allow it to get past that. He is being vindicated, simply because he finally got his dream..... sad.

I would give a person like that a chance to be liked by me, if...if, they could own up to their past, but this one is only about his future. Some of you can keep riding that, have fun, but me, I've got a new hope, his name is Kyrie.

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But realistically, why would any of that care to anyone outside of Cleveland or Cavs fans? We're really the only ones that look back on those teams and wonder what could of been, or if LeBron pitched a little harder - could we have gotten Ray Allen, Michael Redd, or even Joe Johnson instead of Larry Hughes. We look at those last couple years and how no one was going to sign with us since LeBron wouldn't commit on his future, or he signed smaller contracts. In fact, the contract part would be looked upon as a smart decision by anyone outside of Cleveland sports fans - it's an athlete keeping his options open and wanting to put themselves in the best situation for them. While a part of that is certainly selfish, it's not in any sense a bad move.

I hate the thought of even standing up for the guy with what he did with The Decision and how dick of a move it was. But years down the road, are we really going to keep bringing up the same old shit over and over again for reasons we hate him? Are we really going to continue talking about our roster those years like they were legitimate title contenders and should have won multiple rings? Did Ferry really do no wrong and all the moves made (like standing pat and not trading Wally's expiring because of "team chemistry") and can't take any fault himself? It was what it was man. I'm not going to say get over it because I know I'm not either - but looking back at these things 2 years later already appears to be major nitpicking and I can't imagine what it'll be viewed like in 5 years time.

Right now we have a Cleveland team that could be on the path to a bright future and hopefully we make the right moves from here on to have a team we can all be proud of. That's really all I care about anymore. I just want to forget about LeBron, not act like a bitter fan and just get over it.

^great post.

tsteele316 said:

when was the last time as a cav that lebron was willing to play the 4, go down in the post and do the dirty work to facilitate opportunities for his teammates like he did for the heat? i'd be willing to wager that Z, Boobie, and Mo Williams would have all shot pretty damn good if they had as many wide open looks as chalmers and battier got. it also helped that lebron didn't totally shit down his leg and was twice as efficient with miami running his LeIso plays than he ever was with cleveland.

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Is that really something a 25 year old should be blamed for?

ken kaniff said:

Is that really something a 25 year old should be blamed for?

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Why not? The dude had been in the league for 6 or 7 years already. How long of a learning curve do we have to give him?

ken kaniff said:

Is that really something a 25 year old should be blamed for?

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You are partially right. It is the coach's job to ensure that the player got the message, except our coach was not an authoritative figure and LeBron was too spoilt back then to listen to any good advice that makes him do things that he does not want to. The Cavs back then was just an entertainment show ... a one man entertainment show. It would require luck and all personal involved to become responsible for us to have become a meaningful contender.

Lebron will be on the David Letterman Show on Tuesday. I expect Letterman to get something out of Lebron about Cleveland.

castor777 said:

But realistically, why would any of that care to anyone outside of Cleveland or Cavs fans? We're really the only ones that look back on those teams and wonder what could of been, or if LeBron pitched a little harder - could we have gotten Ray Allen, Michael Redd, or even Joe Johnson instead of Larry Hughes. We look at those last couple years and how no one was going to sign with us since LeBron wouldn't commit on his future, or he signed smaller contracts. In fact, the contract part would be looked upon as a smart decision by anyone outside of Cleveland sports fans - it's an athlete keeping his options open and wanting to put themselves in the best situation for them. While a part of that is certainly selfish, it's not in any sense a bad move.

I hate the thought of even standing up for the guy with what he did with The Decision and how dick of a move it was. But years down the road, are we really going to keep bringing up the same old shit over and over again for reasons we hate him? Are we really going to continue talking about our roster those years like they were legitimate title contenders and should have won multiple rings? Did Ferry really do no wrong and all the moves made (like standing pat and not trading Wally's expiring because of "team chemistry") and can't take any fault himself? It was what it was man. I'm not going to say get over it because I know I'm not either - but looking back at these things 2 years later already appears to be major nitpicking and I can't imagine what it'll be viewed like in 5 years time.

Right now we have a Cleveland team that could be on the path to a bright future and hopefully we make the right moves from here on to have a team we can all be proud of. That's really all I care about anymore. I just want to forget about LeBron, not act like a bitter fan and just get over it.

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Problem is that NONE of our teams are really close. All are continually rebuilding. Even the Indians, who are playing over the heads, and will fade.

Five years ago, The Cavs were in the Finals, the Tribe was in the ALCS, and the Browns won 10 games. And where are we now? Nowhere. And THAT'S what sucks.

castor777 said:

But realistically, why would any of that care to anyone outside of Cleveland or Cavs fans? We're really the only ones that look back on those teams and wonder what could of been, or if LeBron pitched a little harder - could we have gotten Ray Allen, Michael Redd, or even Joe Johnson instead of Larry Hughes. We look at those last couple years and how no one was going to sign with us since LeBron wouldn't commit on his future, or he signed smaller contracts. In fact, the contract part would be looked upon as a smart decision by anyone outside of Cleveland sports fans - it's an athlete keeping his options open and wanting to put themselves in the best situation for them. While a part of that is certainly selfish, it's not in any sense a bad move.

I hate the thought of even standing up for the guy with what he did with The Decision and how dick of a move it was. But years down the road, are we really going to keep bringing up the same old shit over and over again for reasons we hate him? Are we really going to continue talking about our roster those years like they were legitimate title contenders and should have won multiple rings? Did Ferry really do no wrong and all the moves made (like standing pat and not trading Wally's expiring because of "team chemistry") and can't take any fault himself? It was what it was man. I'm not going to say get over it because I know I'm not either - but looking back at these things 2 years later already appears to be major nitpicking and I can't imagine what it'll be viewed like in 5 years time.

Right now we have a Cleveland team that could be on the path to a bright future and hopefully we make the right moves from here on to have a team we can all be proud of. That's really all I care about anymore. I just want to forget about LeBron, not act like a bitter fan and just get over it.

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LeBron was a dick, but the Cavs were and are in the position they were/are in because of the owners. With Boozer and LeBron, the Cavs actually HAD built through the draft. The fact that the Gunds let Boozer out of his contract on a handshake agreement was idiotic. Then, hiring a rookie GM and head coach to guide them through the most critical period in franchise history was idiotic. Why did the Cavs not bring in someone LeBron respects to work on his post game? Why not bring in Keith Dambrot, the only coach he ever listened to? Was Hughes the best we could do in his free agent class? Maybe, but it is hard to say. Can the Cavs prevent the circus of 2010 in some way? Not sure if they had the leverage. But earlier mistakes had doomed them already.

It's a tragedy, but it's only a tragedy for us. Everyone else will come out of this with what they wanted.

Silky Smooth said:

Lebron will be on the David Letterman Show on Tuesday. I expect Letterman to get something out of Lebron about Cleveland.

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[video=youtube;4CQUwXnn0NE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CQUwXnn0NE[/video]

Start watching from 1:15

Okay so it's been a while since my last post on here. One of reasons this is so is because I have been disheartened by the lack of effort from the admittedly young Cavs. This is not really a sore point as this can and I believe will be fixed. The lockout also played a part. Then the thought that the cHeat would have a "easier" season makes the whole season seem staged.

As some of you may have noticed I am from Australia and as such don't have a "home" team in the NBA. I could follow the Bucks and if I stretched it a bit further, the Spurs. Yet I was roped in to following the Cavs by the freakish talent whose name doesn't pass by my lips or keyboard interface any more and thankfully resides in South Beach with all the other fakers.... However during his evil reign I explored the online world of the Cavs and found many similarities between Cleveland and the area we live in, here in Australia. Even the people and the values are similar.

Anyway, enough of the nostalgia and back to the topic at hand.

It pisses me off that the Thunder were cheated out of a NBA Title. Why? Well I have no real feelings for either team and in all honesty other than the Akronite I don't mind the rest of the cHeat. The officiating in that finals series, from my point of view, was that bad that I couldn't bring myself to watch any full games other than game 4 when Westbrook went nuts and even then when the calls started getting lob sided again I switched it off, with 2 minutes to go. I know that the Thunder were given plenty of chances in the preliminary rounds also, so in that respect I figured things might be even in the Finals, not to be. The other issue that I noticed was that the refs are getting better at hiding the bad calls. Things like Thunder getting calls at "non crucial" times and the cHeat getting them when they were needed or towards the back end of the game. I want to point out that it's not so much the calls against the Thunder that pissed me off but rather the no calls in favour of the cHeat.

In my opinion this championship is worthless because the cHeat won it. It should not be held in the same esteem as a championship born out of a full season especially in regards to a team put together like the cHeat. Unless they win the next season (as long as its a full season) this one doesn't count as a true championship, in my books. Or at least it has several sub clauses on it's wiki page!

As for that guy, I don't wish anything bad on him except that what ever he has done and will do to hurt others (in all it's forms) will one day come back around............

I know Big Z retired, but according to hoops hype, his salary is still on the Heat books. Does that mean he is going to get a ring?

al_amana said:

In my opinion this championship is worthless because the cHeat won it. It should not be held in the same esteem as a championship born out of a full season especially in regards to a team put together like the cHeat. Unless they win the next season (as long as its a full season) this one doesn't count as a true championship, in my books. Or at least it has several sub clauses on it's wiki page!

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Sorry buddy, dont agree with this assessment. The Thunders had every opportunity to come out strong and win despite the referees. The referees did make plenty of mistakes- But the Thunders own lack of play contributed more to it. Scott Brooks was out of depth and had no idea what to do when things go wrong. The Thunders team showed such inexperience ... this was not the same Thunder team that faced the Spurs. This championship is as valid as the rest.

Yeah the brooks will be under a lot of scrutiny next season, i'm sure EPN will float some Phil Jackson rumour somewhen if they see an oportunity

Someone PM me when James starts banging in the post .vs. a PF or C who's actually bigger and taller than him. And I don't mean 12 ft away but banging and backing someone down right at the basket.

As Mark Cuban points out, James tried to post them up (what with Kidd and Barea defending him), but their zone & post defense forced him to give up the ball. Maybe Dallas was a little quicker getting out to the shooters, or maybe those guys just missed. Dunno, but it wasn't effective.

If someone keeps beating you with something, you have to change things up and make him stop. That's pretty basic strategy. Certainly LeBron never had a problem beating teams running the same play over and over.

The smart/experienced teams understand his read-react thought process and anticipate it rather than play in to it.

JonFromVA said:

Someone PM me when James starts banging in the post .vs. a PF or C who's actually bigger and taller than him. And I don't mean 12 ft away but banging and backing someone down right at the basket.

As Mark Cuban points out, James tried to post them up (what with Kidd and Barea defending him), but their zone & post defense forced him to give up the ball. Maybe Dallas was a little quicker getting out to the shooters, or maybe those guys just missed. Dunno, but it wasn't effective.

If someone keeps beating you with something, you have to change things up and make him stop. That's pretty basic strategy. Certainly LeBron never had a problem beating teams running the same play over and over.

The smart/experienced teams understand his read-react thought process and anticipate it rather than play in to it.

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I don't want to be "that guy" but his defense on Pau Gasol earlier in the season was impressive. I know Pau's soft and all but still, it's amazing how he had no motivation to do that more in Cleveland, every time he got the ball on the block and played bully ball I just recall Charles Barkley repeatedly saying during our playoff run that "LeBron needs to get easier shots, figure out ways to work less". It's a bit of a painful reminder that if he actually recruited a damn he'd have better teammates, and thus have the energy to shut down any 1-4's in the playoffs (like he did against Rose).

Meh, I'm over it. He's a great player and I wish him the worst but I'm not going to look back when we should be looking forward. Despite what LeBron thinks, not all rings are made equal.