LeTravel, LaQween, LaDouche - La Going to LA

[dobrojim]

I don't like Lebron the guy, but he's a phenomenal player. Like nate, I hate the constant whining to officials. But that guy can play. And I agree with fish that he plays the right way for the most part. To me, the criticisms of Lebron's late-game play usually just highlights the deficiencies in our basketball analysis. It's all so superficial and meaningless. This morning, I heard about 30 seconds of Mike & Mike yammering about it, and then my son said basically WTF? and I was turning down the radio to tell him why the points being made were inane.

+1 to both Kev/Nate

that said, 2 things about last night's Heat loss:

1. I really enjoyed watching him brick 2 FTs when his team was down 1
in the last minute.

2. It irks me when I see a player, in this case Labron but other players get away
with it too, catch the ball and without dribbling or passing end up moving
great distances from where they started. Last night LaTrav caught a pass
(I think in the 4th Q) and he was more or less at the right elbow. By the
time he dribbled it, he was almost at the 3 pt line. And he shuffled his
feet when he started to put the ball on the floor.

He still gets away with WAY too much.

Yes he is an amazing player and plays the right way.
Outside of when he plays for Team USA, I'll not be rooting
for him any time soon.

The King without a Ring. May it always remain so.

[miller31time]

I won't say I'm even remotely close to liking LeBron (and his incessant whining and flopping still bothers me to no end) but he's definitely gotten better or at least more quiet. I'll give him and/or his PR staff credit for that.

I will say, however, that D-Wade is trying very hard to replace LeBron as resident douche in Miami. Wade was a guy I really respected before. He seemed like a humble, ultra-talented, even sometimes funny guy. But ever since the superteam in Miami was formed, he's gotten this persona of being very arrogant and egotistical. I feel like the old Wade wouldn't have made the kind of cheap "I didn't get the call from the officials so now I'm going to make a dirty flagrant foul because I'm upset"-type play that happened yesterday.

[dobrojim]

+1 Miller

Wade gets about the most calls of anyone.

[Zonkerbl]

Battier grabbed a hold of mad dog whatsisname and held on until the Indiana player had to jerk his arm away violently to get free. The ref was watching this the whole time and called a foul on the Indiana player. WTF?

[VictorPage44]

i watched a lot of the heat the season before the superteam, and i've thought Wade was a punk ever since. He always had a sourface, and a too-cool-for-school attitude about him. He's really passive-agressive. I thought he froze out his teammates in 2009, and wasnt a team leader at all. He knew they were getting Lebron the next season and he just pouted all year and took jabs at Beasley and other teammates.

[pancakes3]

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/st ... osh-taxing

lots of nice little nuggets of "can't believe he's saying this" in there.

[montestewart]

Y'all talking about me again?
C'mon. You know you love me.

[willbcocks]

I thought he did choke the last few plays of game 2. Obviously the free throws, but he took an off-balance contested 3, and on another possession he just kind of dribbled, made a half-assed move to the side a few feet, then threw the ball to a covered teammate with 5 seconds left on the clock so that all the guy could do was take a contested jumper.

In those late game situations, there is no excuse for Lebron not attacking the basket (or posting up) and either getting a decent shot for himself or a wide open one for a teammate. One can be clutch without taking the last shot, but Lebron was not.

[hands11]

LeDouche just pulled another acting flop and got away with it.

Again.

And the ref was like 2 feet away when it happened. And in Indiana.

[hands11]

Awesome. Miami down by 20 and down 2-1 in the series.

Not a very good design to have three high priced players like that. One goes down and poof.

Eggs. Meet one basket.

One of the 3 is getting traded in the next year or two.

[Halcyon]

Wade being a lil biatch again. LOL

[verbal8]

Not a very good design to have three high priced players like that. One goes down and poof.

Eggs. Meet one basket.

One of the 3 is getting traded in the next year or two.

I don't cheer for the Heat, but I don't think their approach is wrong. I think if you have 2 true young stars(like say Westbrook and Durant), the best option is to build a team of a very good supporting cast around them. And it does seem that the teams that exceeding expectations(Sixers, Pacers) in the play-offs are those that are taking the team approach.

However look at the teams that have taken the "stars approach". Miami wasn't going anywhere before the "sidekicks" arrived. One criticism of the Heats moves is they got Battier who is a bit of an insurance policy if Wade or LeBron go down, but they might have been better off getting some help on the interior.

The Knicks probably have the worst combination of stars Amare and Anthony and overpaid, but they are still a play-off team. The Clippers getting Paul has helped them make the play-offs and the 2nd round. The stars approach isn't without risk, Deron Williams with the Nets and the hope of luring Dwight Howards isn't looking too good. Maxing out Joe Johnson isn't looking good for the Hawks, but if you have a chance to acquire a legit all-star level player, it is usually the right move.

For the teams that have taken the team approach, you almost have to get every move right. I think the SAS, OKC approaches are actually a combination. Stink early(or draft really well) and get young cheap talent, that will turn into your stars. Develop them to come together as a team. Then add the role players who have been overlooked and make some shrewd moves with teams looking to save money.

[fishercob]

I'll qualify what I am about to say but pointing out that injuries are a trump card. Be it the Celtics losing Perkins before game 7 against LA, Rose's injury, the Spurs injuries of the past couple of year or whatever -- there's just no realistic way to overcome an injury to a major contributor and win a title. Between the salary cap and the size of the league, there isn't nearly enough depth; if one of your few key guys gets hurt, you're screwed and there's very little way around it.

That said, while there is plenty of blame to go around for Miami's struggles, if they continue to fail in their attempt for a title, Pat Riley should shoulder a disproportionate share of the blame. Not only did he sell the idea of uniting three stars, but he sold the idea of uniting THESE three stars. Since Wade, James and Bosh joined up last summer, Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, Nene, Carmelo have all changed teams. Deron Williams and Dwight Howard could move this summer.

Not only did he appear to choose the wrong three guys to put together, but he did a pretty bad job filling in the complementary pieces. The Mike Miller signing appears to have been an abject disaster. The FULL pre-lockout MLE for a guy who can't stay healthy, had already shown significant signs of breaking down, and got to the free throw line 5 times in 39 games this year. Battier has lost his shooting touch and also appears to be close to done. They have little else and no depth. The hometown discount that Udonis Haslem gave them could even be considered good money after bad.

Perspective could well change if they turn things around, but for them the clear barometer is championship(s). It would appear that under the new CBA it is going to be next to impossible to win without some serious value contracts in your rotation,

[dobrojim]

+1 Fish

DET won their first chip w/ IT and Dumars after the Lakers swept into the Finals
with a healthy Magic/Byron Scott and got swept out when they lost their
starting backcourt. The Lakers probably could have still won if their injuries
had not been right into DET's strength. But losing 2 starters wasn't going to
be easy either way. But again, the Lakers had not lost a game that post-season
until the injuries. Then they didn't win a game.

[daSwami]

Did Deshawn change his name to Lance?

[verbal8]

Did Deshawn change his name to Lance?

lol

[Nivek]

If Bosh was healthy, the Heat would be up 2-1 or 3-0 in this series, and the media would be talking about the Heat as a Cat5 super team. Injuries happen and the Heat would be stupid to overreact. In terms of personnel, they need to add a better group of role players, but even with the Lebron/Wade duplication of styles/needs, they're a formidable team when at full strength. In terms of this series, Spoelstra needs to do a better job on the offensive strategery to get more from guys like Miller and Haslem. Even without Bosh, the Heat beat Indy in game 1 and gave them all they could handle in game 2. They looked bad in game 3, but the important score is 2-1.

[W. Unseld]

If Bosh was healthy, the Heat would be up 2-1 or 3-0 in this series, and the media would be talking about the Heat as a Cat5 super team. Injuries happen and the Heat would be stupid to overreact. In terms of personnel, they need to add a better group of role players, but even with the Lebron/Wade duplication of styles/needs, they're a formidable team when at full strength. In terms of this series, Spoelstra needs to do a better job on the offensive strategery to get more from guys like Miller and Haslem. Even without Bosh, the Heat beat Indy in game 1 and gave them all they could handle in game 2. They looked bad in game 3, but the important score is 2-1.

Shhhhhhhh...don't help the enemy....

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Nivek, I deleted a post where I mentioned Haslem and Juwan Howard. My thoughts were similar--you and I are tracking regarding Miami. However, I don't want anybody to consider anything that might help the Heat. Miami MUST lose game 4.

[hands11]

Not a very good design to have three high priced players like that. One goes down and poof.

Eggs. Meet one basket.

One of the 3 is getting traded in the next year or two.

I don't cheer for the Heat, but I don't think their approach is wrong. I think if you have 2 true young stars(like say Westbrook and Durant), the best option is to build a team of a very good supporting cast around them. And it does seem that the teams that exceeding expectations(Sixers, Pacers) in the play-offs are those that are taking the team approach.

However look at the teams that have taken the "stars approach". Miami wasn't going anywhere before the "sidekicks" arrived. One criticism of the Heats moves is they got Battier who is a bit of an insurance policy if Wade or LeBron go down, but they might have been better off getting some help on the interior.

The Knicks probably have the worst combination of stars Amare and Anthony and overpaid, but they are still a play-off team. The Clippers getting Paul has helped them make the play-offs and the 2nd round. The stars approach isn't without risk, Deron Williams with the Nets and the hope of luring Dwight Howards isn't looking too good. Maxing out Joe Johnson isn't looking good for the Hawks, but if you have a chance to acquire a legit all-star level player, it is usually the right move.

For the teams that have taken the team approach, you almost have to get every move right. I think the SAS, OKC approaches are actually a combination. Stink early(or draft really well) and get young cheap talent, that will turn into your stars. Develop them to come together as a team. Then add the role players who have been overlooked and make some shrewd moves with teams looking to save money.

I didnt say don't get any stars. I said three high priced stars.

It worked for the Celtics. But that was then. This is now. Its just to much of a risk to not have quality deep and your books straight.

Miami will need to trade one of those three to get better. My guess is that it is Bosh.