Watching The Playoffs

Watching the playoffs today, these are my observations:

1. LeBron, while still great, has made defensive concessions to his age. If he continues the inevitable downhill slide, he will not lead us to a title in a few years -- the time it will take for our youngsters to become great. He was unable to take the team on his back when they were down by only seven points. Those days are likely gone -- or will be gone soon. Better to keep Julius.

2. PG13 is the real deal. That's the guy we need. Twenty points in the first half alone!

3. Nance and Clarky -- no big loss. Nance missed a slam dunk that really hurt Cleveland's comeback momentum.

4. Center play in the regular season is relatively unimportant. But in the playoffs -- you really need a big man to guard the basket. Neither Lopez nor Zubacs is that guy. The Warriors have THREE (count 'em three!) centers. Javelle really helped seal the deal Saturday.

5. Follow Kuzma on Twitter. He is hysterical!!!

Yours?

Me gone fishing. Lmao

Baad,

I agree about Lebron's defensive concession to age.

Here are some other observations:

It is amazing how weak Cleveland is. I mean Love is their second best player. Who is their third? Is it Nance, Smith, Clarkson? Lol. That is putrid. No team with Love as the second best player and some average guy as their third will be winning any titles.

Lebron will be leaving after this season and who can blame him? The obvious port of calls are the Lakers, Philly, Houston (with good bud CP3) and how about the Spurs? Never mentioned but if Leonard stays a good fit.

Lebron will be smart to leave. But he takes his share of blame. GM Lebron wanted Love and he got him. GM Lebron will be able to flee his mistakes, leaving Cleveland's other GM stuck there to deal with the mess.

If I were Philly I would say no way. You are not taking the ball out of Simmons hands next year to accommodate Lebron. It would not shock me to see Philly come out of the East this year and I fully expect them and Boston to be in the eastern finals next year. Philly will soon become the beast in the East and I suspect they will be finally be the team to permanently end Golden States run.

The Lakers should pass too. Because of Randle and also if you bring in Lebron you take the ball out of Ball's hands. Then what do you do with him? Make him a spot up shooter? I don't think so.

If Curry comes back healthy and can quickly be integrated into the team successfully, GS will win it's third title despite all the Houston love going on right now.

Watching the whole playoffs. Here are my takes: 1. Agree about with Lebron, his team isn't built with the playoffs & i truly believe that too many minutes have caught up to him. He played 44 minutes today & not enough energy to expand on defense. Unlike in his previous years, he has Kyrie or Wade to carry the load offensively & he was able conserve his energy from short periods of time. Another thing is, they defend like this is a regular season,too much going on that team. Chemistry isn't there.i truly believe ,players coming in & out of the rotation have paid the price. I won't be shocked if Pacers beat them, if Pacers win the next game; i can see them getting swept & that team will be in a long overhaul; They still have Brooklyn nets pick to start with. Next year, which i truly believe Lebron is leaving. Cavs won't be too much of a threat. 2. Minnesota Timberwolves- i was watching that team , but man i thought they're gonna be good but its not much because of their coach or their system. I think the bad thing is, they can't seem to take advantage of their strengths. There was a time last night that KAT had so much mismatches but he is just standing in a corner. They should ‘vetaken advantage of the opportunity last night and get him the ball in the post especially with Butler not being 100% percent. Well, i hope they don't realize their potential because you know theylle be a threat to us down the line and i don't want to see that. I don't know why, but i believe they couldve steal game 1. 3. Pacers - Oladipo might be a real legit ; i saw some Westbrook in him. Ain't scared, relentless just....

If the game were on the line with 5 seconds to go, we're up by 1 and the other team has the ball... James is one of the last players in the league I want guarding the other team's best player. Horrendous on defense, and even when he was ok on D, he had a knack for giving up game winning type of shots. Highly doubt they get out of the East and that's with the East wide-open.

I'll take Golden State and Toronto. But Houston could get in.

I think Houston will take down GSW this year if they stay fully healthy by conference finals round.

Houston actually finished with a better Def Eff then GSW, not to say they are better, but they are much more then shooting, they play legit D and can get a stop when needed. Also they can go toe to toe on offense with GSW easily. They have the MVP on there team and a pit bull in CP3 who is going to go at Curry non stop. HOU has the better bench in my opinion as well. Lastly HOU has Home court, where they had the best home record this year.

Gordon

Green

Johnson

Anderson

Nene

I don't think there would be an issue of if Lebron came to Lakers he would be taking the Ball out of Ball's hand. The style of offense Luke has them playing takes the ball out of his hands. Why can't we have two legit passers that get 8+ assist a game? HOU made it work pretty dam good.

I hope he comes and I think the Lakers can make it work just fine, Lebron wants to win a ring more then he wants to win a MVP. I 100% believe PG13 and Lebron will be here next year. I would be thrilled to have Ball / PG13 / Ingram / Lebron / Randle for the next 3 years.

The Cavs won a title with Love on the roster. I don't see how that makes him a bad acquisition. Wiggins is not living up to the hype with the TWolves. Would the Cavs have won a title with Wiggins? Who knows, but Love is not what makes the Cavs bad. It's what they got back for Irving. Now if you want to say "GM" LBJ forced him out, that's fair enough, you may have a point. As a footnote, LBJ doesn't get any other extra treatment that Kobe, Westbrook, Harden etc don't also get. All star players are tried to be kept happy in the NBA. Singling out LBJ for it is bias on your part.

I was really impressed with AD and the game stepping up in their game and Oladipo and his crew stepping up in their game as well. Highly impressed with BOS being without Kyrie and Smart and them guys just step up to the plate. Brad Stevens really earns his money and Rozier isn't afraid of the bright lights. Love what I'm seeing overall though.

I think he ends up in HOU or stays in CLE depending on who they draft. If CLE gets Trae Young, don't think he leaves. That's just my opinion.

I think the main point was they don't have a third star. I agree that Love as your 2nd best player should be enough to win. But they kinda suck. Even though he's played well individually, on offense, I think this is on Jame's shoulders. You have another star and people think you're the best player, why are you so average?

James isn't winning anything without 2 other superstars on his team!

Saying that James gets the same treatment as others is very biased on your part. Everyone knows he makes the decisions there. The other players you named, don't get the same treatment what so ever. Our FO made it clear they would not talk to Kobe before making moves let alone let him be to de facto GM. The more you claim James is no different than others the more ridiculous it sounds.

Don't think Young gets drafted that high. Imo

Yeah, old Kobe!! They didn't. Do you really think they didn't ask Kobe 1st, before they signed MWP. Or bent over backwards when he used " I want to be traded ". Lol

Or he didn't have anything to do with Shaq getting moved. Lol

All these superstars have some part in GM decisions, going back to Magic and MJ or longer. Imo

I don't think they have a 2nd superstar, stat guy Love might be a star, but no way a superstar. James and Cavs are done!!!

Unfortunately FO will try to move heaven and earth to get him in LA.

Let's hope he's still all about winning Chips, because Lakers ain't winning one anytime soon, with him and PG13. And goes somewhere else, I hear Philly has nice weather. Lol

Plus he actually might be able to when one or 2 more if he goes there.

This will be very hard, Rockets will have to:

• Move Anderson's contract (20million for 2 more years)

• Move Capela or Gordon

• Ariza would be gone by default of no money left to resign.

So HOU is going to lost a couple key players and a lot of draft picks. They will have to give draft picks out for whoever takes Anderson and also even more picks to Cavs to get Lebron traded to them.

Then after all that HOU and Lebron must convince Gilbert to help Lebron and trade him to HOU. Gilbert is probably way to petty to help Lebron get what he wants. LeBron doesn't care about the Cavs future without him, so why would Gilbert care about helping Lebron? Is helping Lebron worth 2-4 crappy picks from HOU?

I just can't see Gilbert helping Lebron get to HOU for some draft picks and bench players. LeBron has held Cavs at gun point this entire year (which I don't blame him, but that doesn't mean Gilbert won't be petty about it.)

So Kobe didn't say to the FO, it's Shaq or Me, Kobe didn't ask to be traded because he didn't like the way the FO were rebuilding? Come on man stop being ridiculous, GM's will do anything to keep stars happy. Kobe got what he wanted, just like LBJ has been.

CP3 really struggled in yesterday’s game vs Minny. His playoff mettle has always been in question and has been a constant rap on his otherwise unblemished career. He was atrocious yesterday especially in the 4th quarter, making several boneheaded decisions. He almost gifted the game to Minny.

Minny had a golden opportunity yesterday to orchestrate a road kill with secret agent CP3 operating for them under cover. But then we had the foolish Thibs who decided that 2011 MVP Derek Rose needed to jack up 14 shots while KAT ended up with 9 touches. The only way Minny has a shot is if someone tells bozo Thibs (man who walks, thinks and talks like a cyborg) that KAT needs to be the “central” figure on offense....literally and figuratively.

Ray,

Ball is his most effective, personally, and the team as a collective with the ball in his hands. And he does have it more than any player and I suspect that time will grow as he gets more acclimated to the league. The bigger problem is he's such an abysmal scorer taking it out of his hands hurts even more if you relegate him more to a shooter who is a recipient of a Lebron pass. Ball is his most effective initiating the offense than standing without the ball where teams leave him open so he can get a pass and miss another three point shot. If we get Lebron that scenario will play out more often. I understand your point but I just don't agree with it. I think getting Lebron will hurt Ball and I don't want to go that direction. But I could be wrong.

Tempy,

I would wager I've criticized Kobe more than anyone on this sites history, lol. I have also praised Lebron for years when that wasn't popular either. Someone may not agree with what I say, but I can't be called biased in any regard with any player. I just call em as I see them in each, separate situation.

Cali was correct in his reading of my Love and third player remark. I will say this, Love is not a guy you want as your second best player. He's just not that explosive, athletic player who can carry a team. He also can't make up for that playing great D. He's a good player but limited. He is a very good third best player to have.

Philly > LA, not saying it will happen, just better option.

First of all you named 2 things. James does more than that every single offseason. Actually I don't think Kobe said that about Shaq. He showed them through his actions, taking that free agency seriously. You're ridiculous to compare those to James. He makes all their moves.

Lol very true about Kobe! Not biased towards favoring Kobe at all!

Lol. I know why you feel that way and don't blame you. Cali, If you had heard me during the first third or so of Kobe's career you would have said, who is that guy? Or, what happened to that guy? I was Kobe's biggest fan and adherent. I got into endless debates about him, not on website's, but in real life. And I always backed the Kobe view. I remember one guy I used to debate at my gym all the time. He would say Carter, Iverson, McGrady would be better than Kobe. I said not even close. We went round and round for years till Kobe buried them and his argument. When he was playing I was yelling like nuts. He was my favorite player. I started to sour on him as a person during the rape thing, not just because of it, but how he used it to sell Shaq out and try defend himself. Then there were other things. By the time he made that Drew tape I was sick of Kobe the person. And I got sick of Kobe the player when he started making his pecking order comments to Pau, Drew, then Nash and Howard. Yes, Kobe should shoot more than any of them for very obvious reasons. But the way he handled it, what that did to the other players was not good. And to me, the last half of his career he shot too much. Those teams could have been better if he decided to share a bit more. But like Jordan, that just wasn't in his nature and I understand that. You missed out on me in my praise Kobe all the time years and caught me during my praise Kobe but also starting to see a different side of him. Eventually he did enough as a....

Well said. Maybe as time goes on you'll lose all biased and judge him differently as the other stuff won't matter anymore. Like time heals all wounds kinda thing lol.

I never blamed Kobe for the shaq comment. He said that to the police after turning himself in. How was he supposed to know they'd leak that to the press.

Show one source, only one that James made these trades.

Love wasn't traded for to be the second best guy. It was LBJ, Irving and Love. Again trading for love wasn't the problem. The return on Kyrie is the problem. They went from an elite player to Hill, Clarkson and Nance. But I'm sure that is the trade LeBron was aiming for, since he makes all the moves.........

D-Wade sure turned back the clock tonight and took it to BS and the Sixers.

Yeah but LBJ will be an UFA so he can pretty much do what he wants and as for Gilbert, we all know he could care less about that dude. I personally don't care for him myself after the CP3 veto so he deserves whatever is coming to him IMO.

If it happens, we'll revisit....lol.

HOU has no cap space to sign him as a FA, they will have to do and sign and trade of some sort, unless he takes like 10mil a year or something like that. Which he won't.

Amen! There is no arguing here from me. Going to Staples to see Kobe was one of those transcendent sports events!

Addendum: Seeing Pau in the playoffs is a mindf*ck!

1st of all, no. Like Shep also told you, no I will not do research for you. But you can easily find way more claims that LBJ is behind the moves of the Cavs than you ever will of claims that support your theory that Kobe was just as much behind the Lakers' moves. But you can also find many sources where James demanded that scrubs like Thompson get paid and then the FO made sure they got paid. That's why the Cavs are in salary cap hell.

Has James done more maybe!!! But point is most all franchise players have done same things during career, including Magic and Kobe. James didn't corner the market on it. Lol

Claims. Key word claims. Every time I have alleged something at least I can provide something even if you don't want to believe it. I don't need to research it because it's bullsh1t. As head of the players union of course he is going to advocate for players to get paid! It's his job to......

Did the Lakers do everything they could to try keep Kobe happy? Did the bulls do anything they could to keep Jordan happy? Did Jerry Buss do everything he could to make Magic happy? But here we are saying the Cavs are stupid for trying to keep LBJ happy.

Blind hate, it's like LBJ is the devil or something. Franchise changing players, every last one off them, get preferential treatment. Period.

People want to talk about how the Cavs are in salary cap hell but are completely fine with paying Kobe 79 million over his last 3 seasons when he played 107 games out of a possible 246. But that's ok, Kobe give the Lakers a discount on his final contract.

https://twitter.com/Mike_Bresnahan/status/535864939848560640

Chill dude. It's really not that serious. Just an opinion.

JJ, Fandom, LBJ!!! Never going to agree. James is Satan. Lmao!!!

Yes. Literally the key word. Or were you actually arguing that Kobe was making phone calls to complete trades and sign free agents? Is that where your mind was? Lmao. Did you actually think that anyone has ever claimed James was conducting these moves himself or that he was behind them? As in he demanded them. Your entire argument is ridiculous. I already knew that would be your response too 😂. The ultimate LBJ apologist.

Not an apologist I'm just impartial. I don't look at one guy with rose tinted glasses and then call another guy out for it.

There is no argument, you have made up your mind about what you want to believe, and your view won't change.

Everything I claimed about Kobe is bullsh1t but everything you claim about LBJ is truth, no point in discussing this point any further with logic like that.

I'm sure if I said Kobe's sh1t stinks you would want to refute that too.

Yes. Literally the key word. Or were you actually arguing that Kobe was making phone calls to complete trades and sign free agents? Is that where your mind was? Lmao. Did you actually think that anyone has ever claimed James was conducting these moves himself or that he was behind them? As in he demanded them. Your entire argument is ridiculous. I already knew that would be your response too 😂. The ultimate LBJ apologist.

Wow this forum sure went left.....lmao!!!!!!

You literally look at everything James does through rose tinted glasses. You're the most biased person on here when discussing him. If he sat on the ground during a game and refused to play you'd claim every superstar has done that. It's not worth arguing with you over. You're the least impartial person. We can't even discuss LBJ without you just bringing up Kobe every single time. Smh.

Not according to Tempy. James does nothing more than all the other superstars out there.

Dude, you're obsessed with dragging Kobe down every single time someone wants to point out something about James. You gotta move on from that. One of those years....

Ok let's bring up Tim Duncan, another player you said doesn't belong in the same conversation as Kobe. I'll wait for your impartial opinion about him LMFAO. You have LBJ ranked close to 10th best player of all time which is ridiculous, when all is said and done he will be top 10 in assists, top 15 in steals, and 3rd in points all time. Above Kobe in all categories.

The reason I bring up Kobe is because he wasn't perfect either. I'm not saying LBJ is without fault, my point is you guys want to single him out for what goes on with his teams yet turn a blind eye to others. I don't think that's the definition of impartial.

Top 10 all-time is ridiculous?? Yeah, you're so impartial lol. I stopped reading right there. I was already done arguing with you, now it's just getting laughable.

I am amazed that on a Lakers Board there are Kobe haters. Like FIVE TITLES is no big deal. You're gonna have to wait decades before another Laker delivers five titles -- if anyone ever does. Not to mention all those spectacular plays, night after night after night. And the 81 game. The list is virtually endless.

'Nuff said.

Now go back to your hating.

Kobe had his low points Baad, just Like LBJ and his decision, or Durant and his running to the warriors etc etc. Don't be blind to them and pretend it/they didn't happen.

Yes Kobe was part of 5 titles, and we saw just how good the Lakers were when Shaq left, after Kobe ran him out of town. The franchise could have had so many more titles.

I don't hate Kobe, never have and never will, for me the Lakers franchise comes first, before Kareem, before West, before Magic or any of the names up in the rafters. What happened with Kobe in the final years held the franchise back, you are all free to disagree with that and have your own opinion on it. But don't try and say I hate Kobe because I point out things that reflect negatively on him.

Getting back to the playoffs, if the pelicans can beat the blazers I think that's the end of anyone getting Cousins. I just don't see him leaving.

Well said, Baad!