What am I missing?

I rarely start a thread and you will probably find out why. LOL. I just spent this morning basking in the glory of a terrific team win. I come here first to read the posts and enjoy everyone else's excitement and then go on to the Herald and sometimes the Globe to get a full read on the game. I even went to the Cav's forum to read some of the whining and man oh man, a lot of unhappy campers!

The point I am making is that outside of our Boston world it seems as though the King is solely responsible for the demise of the Cavs. Not much mention made about the stellar defense effort we are making on Lebron and the 4 dwarves. Anyone with eyes can see he isn't himself but look at the job PP has done and TA and RA. In my mind the reason for the domination and turn of this series is just simple. Team play and lock down defense.

In our modern world of sports, superstars get way too much credit and blame. It's all about Lebron, Kobe, etc, not as much about the team except for the diehard fans like us. I, for one have always been a team player and feel privileged to have witnessed some of the greatest team efforts by the Celtics since I was a boy watching the C's dominate in the early to late sixties. Last night put a grin on my face that's still there today. Not because Lebron had a bad game. Because our team won with a better effort and execution and I refuse to buy into all the King didn't do this or that or his elbow, blah blah.

Jeb said something like "Alabama whupping! Yeah that's it. We did it. Let's do it again Thursday and show our Championship mettle. Go Celtics.

I feel MUCH better now.

Hoop

Hoop
It s

Who cares what others think. They can blame Lebron and Mike Brown. We will take the win.

Hoopdee- You should start more threads...That's what you're missing.

Kleen,

You're right. I just get aggrevated at all the sports media and hero worship crap.

LA,

Thanks, I get intimidated by all the knowlege and writing skills on this site. By the time I read all the threads you guys have said it all! BTW I lived in LA from 78 - 05, most recently Long Beach.

Hoop

Hoop,

Really good points. I'll also second LA's statement.

Regards

Sorry Hoopdee- No just kidding, but I must admit I never spent too much time in Long Beach, usually just passing through.
If I let the fact that I don't know much stop me from posting, you'd never hear from me. There are some pretty knowledgable folks on this board though, I'd agree.

hoop,

I agree with you. Too much credit and blame is given to superstars as we wallow in David Stern's Cult of the Individual.

I also agree with MrKleen. Screw them and anything that looks like them.

Keep writing. Keep posting. Keep initiating thoughts.

bob

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bob,

I think Stern and the NBA have done a great job marketing their stars. If the NHL promoted their stars 1/10 as much as the NBA does, the NHL might get some national ratings.
Many general sports fans wouldn't know Crosby or Ovechkin if they walked by them.
The NFL protects and promotes their stars (QB's). We see Manning, Brady, etc on the TV all the time.
LeBron deserves the blame. For having an $84+m payroll, there's not many quality players on Cleveland. LeBron is the most gifted athlete in any major sport. He did not step up for his team yesterday.

TJ,

I agree with what you're saying from a marketing point of view. I just don't give a damn about NBA marketing, I care about NBA basketball. Basketball is a team sport and as you pointed out, the lack of quality players is hurting the Cavalier team.

I'm a Boston Celtic fan because of their history (both distant and recent) and because of what we here call "Boston Celtic basketball". Team basketball. Since 1946, we've never had an NBA scoring leader. We've never had an NBA rebounding leader. We had our first DPOY in 2008 with Kevin Garnett (the Defensive Player of the Year Award didn't exist when Bill Russell and Dave Cowens played). We love future HOFers KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce because of their willingness to step back from the spotlights shining on their individual stats and accept their roles on the team. As a Laker fan, I know you understand what I'm talking about. It wasn't all about Magic. It was "Showtime", which meant everybody playing effectively with Magic.

LeBron had 15 points yesterday. Suppose he had 30 points. That just means they would have lost by 17 instead of 32. He had 6 rebounds and 7 assists. His season averages are 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists, so he wasn't too far off that pace last night, but even if he padded those number too, they still would have lost by double digits. That's the problem with the Cult of the Individual. Great for marketing (when they do well) but it's not team ball. His team didn't step up for the team yesterday. LeBron's just taking the fall for them.

bob

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bob

Bron probably was to worried about wearing number 6 next season.............with new colors too.

beat

beat,

I wonder if Russ would be willing to let his number come down from the rafters for LBJ?

Can't hurt to dream, can it? The thought of LBJ running a fast break with Rondo and Tony makes me drool.

bob

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If Bron ever wanted to play on a TEAM with players that play as one, the door is always open!
How much money is enough anyway?

beat

GYSO's the capologist here, but I think for us to get LBJ, not only would Ray have to sign for close to the veterans minimum, but I think PP would have to restructure his contract to free up enough salary cap next year.

Not likely, in both cases.

bob

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bob, or GYSO

What is the NBA minimum any player can play for?

beat

I do not think the Cavs really lack players, they lack a coach/gameplan.

Mo Williams/Shaq/Jamison/James/Parker is not a bad starting 5 by any means and their bench aint bad.

They just cant get 100% out of what they got.

bob,

Before this series I posted that if LeBron doesn't go for 40/12/8, they are ripe for the taking by the Celtics. LeBron dominated the playoffs last year because of his skill AND effort. The effort is not there.
As Celtics and Lakers fans it is easy to fall back on the team basketball theme. Our teams have had streaks of HOFers playing together.
Also, Boston and LA arguably have half of the 12 best players that ever put on a uniform. You can argue who belongs where, but any reasonable and informed big time NBA fan agrees that Bird, Russell and Magic are in the top 5 of all-time players. So, my point is that it is a team sport, but we have had the best individual players too.

1) Russell, Cousy, Heinsohn, Havelicek, etc. (Auerbach)
2) West, Chamberlain, Baylor
3) Bird, Parish, DJ, McHale
4) Kareem, Magic, Worthy
5) Shaq, Kobe
6) KG, RA, PP, Rondo
7) Kobe, Gasol (Phil)

No other team has been able to keep their dynasty going or to start it up again, because only Boston and LA have put together more then one group of hall of famers.

swede,

I do agree that Brown doesn't seem to be either a good motivator or x's and o's coach.
But I also believe that outside of LeBron, they don't have tremendous talent.
If LeBron was on OKC instead of Durant, do you think they would be better then Cleveland? Absolutely. Denver and Dallas also have more talent then Cleveland.
Mo Williams made an all star team as a replacement but he is not an all star player. Z and Shaq are done. Varejo is so limited offensively. Parker and Moon are good athletes but not much more.

Do you think Big Z is kicking himself now for giving back $1.5m to Washington for them to release him and now to get knocked out in the 2nd round? LOL.

I will bet anyone that if LeBron leaves, NJ will have a better record then Cleveland next year.

Those players are great complimentary players though, maybe not to lebron but in general. They are not leaders on teams but they are good players.

Take any of those players really and put them on Celtics or the Lakers and people would be like "thats a really good pickup".

It is just that Brown/James cant get it to work.

So yeah if you remove LeBron the team will totally fall apart. That is not really due to the talent of the players though I think as in what kind of "roleplayers" they are.

beat,

Minimum salary depends on a player's length of service in the NBA.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q11

The minimum salary for next season is roughly between 1/2mil - 1.4mil.

gyso

Hi Hoopdee,
I disagree with you. As you probably know the other name of Cavs is Lebrons. The whole organization is built around him and to serve him. So, when he doesn't show up for a game the result is obvious. On the other hand when he puts his heart and brain into a game I don't think there're any teams or players who can stop him.
Yesterday, as we all witnessed, he wasn't in the game. But the main reason for the fuss is his post-game attitude which riled, I guess, everybody. As a sample there's article on Yahoo!: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AtQfXvZ1wezrafT.ql25vUC8vLYF?slug=aw-lebroncavs051210
Also, don't forget the nature of MSM: controversy sells the best.

AK

PS: I agree with swede re: MB

It is weird when it comes to LeBron..

He is obviously a very talented player, he aint stupid, he shares the ball pretty well..

But even with this cast that aint bad they dont win.

I guess he just can not make them believe beyond his performance or something.

They lack heart and soul. It was interesting to see the interaction of the Cav's players last night. I thought they were going to start bickering right on the court. Mo Williams is in way over his head.

I will not gloat until tomorrow night's game is over. KG is right, they cannot go back to Cleveland for the seventh game, they have to win it tomorrow night.
Then I will be unbearable for a couple of days.

I work in the cafeteria of a middle school here in Waltham. Tomorrow they will be having BOSTON CELTIC CUPCAKES, decorated in green to cheer the team on!!! Crazy or what???? Man, I don't know if I can take two more series!!