HouMac wrote:
The myth that LeBron somehow prevents Cleveland from playing TEAM ball needs to END. They were 3rd in offensive efficiency last season and 7th so far this season. So guess what, Cleveland does run their offense and HAS not only been one of league's best teams the last 2 seasons, but one of the best offensive teams too. You don't achieve their level of success with one player dominating the ball. Yes, Cleveland used to be very LeBron dependant ONCE(06-08), but that's when they had very little talent. They are a different team since acquiring Mo and West(as opposed to having Hughes and Snow), and the offensive numbers back it up. If LeBron actually had the ball as much as haters say he does, then he'd be averaging 32/8/9, not 28/7/8. And Cleveland would be a middle-of-the-pack team, as opposed to a Top 3 team.
I'll agree with this, and my argument has never been that Lebron PREVENTS the Cavs from playing team ball. Matter of fact, there was a time early in Lebrons career when he was playing TOO MUCH team ball to the detriment of his team. My argument has been that there are times during crunch time (specifically during the ECF which I remember vividly watching with my teammates during a tournament in Vegas) where Lebron forgoes the offense playing right into the defensive strategy of coercing Lebron to beat them one on five. As a result, his running mates played tight...especially after Lebron went into panic mode early in the series. KOBE IS NOT INNOCENT OF THIS, and at times with us Laker fans, we get frustrated with him just as much as Cavs fans get frustrated with Lebron. To tell you the truth, there are a lot of similarities between Kobe and Lebron, the main difference coming in the positions they play, and how Lebron can physically overwhelm anybody where Kobe is limited by his stature (Kobe will never be asked to play the four, the way that Lebron does).
You'll never see a LeBron/Cleveland fan call his supporting cast "weak". The ones who typically do are actually fans of other teams. LeBron's got a solid cast around him, and it's inferior to Kobe's.
I don't think any sane person would disagree with this. My main frustration has come from Lebron trolls rolling up hear acting like it's 2007 and Z is their 2nd best player. Intelligent fans don't subscribe to this. The problem with the reasoning in wanting to bring this up as an important factor in MVP voting is that Lebron arguably has the 2nd best supporting Cast in the East...maybe the Best when you account for the versatility afforded to Cleveland by virtue of their bench. Without Lebron, the Cavs are still a playoff team out East (not in the West).
Hell no Lebron doesn't have anyone close to Pau Gasol, but this is not something Kobe should be penalized for. The bottom line regarding the Supporting cast argument is this....both teams are Championship contenders, take either one off of their respective teams, and neither one makes it out of the 2nd round. And say what you want about their schedules as of now....it is undeniable that at the end of the season, the Lakers will have played a tougher schedule by virtue of being in the West, which in my mind offsets the discrepancy in supporting casts between Cleveland and Los Angeles.
The only one who's being dishonest is yourself. You're butt hurt over last night's beatdown and basing everything on it in a lame attempt at downplaying LeBron's value. Yeah, nice try
Slow down their buddy...I don't think any NBA fan has the right to be butt hurt when their team is sitting pretty at 24-5 with the best record in the NBA. Nobody is downplaying Lebron's value...and choose your words carefully when your speaking to somebody who knows what the eff their talking about. There's no reason to come out here and try to disrespect me when I have been nothing but fair in my arguments, and afforded you a measure of respect.
Fact is you still need to win 37-41 games in order to make the playoffs in the East, and there's no F'N way Cleveland's capable of playing near .500 ball w/o LeBron. Not under Mike Brown and not with only 1 playmaker in Mo Williams. That's a 30-35 win team MAX w/o LeBron.
Actually, it's looking like it's only going to take 32-35 wins to make the playoffs in the East this season, and you can't tell me with a straight face that Cleveland starting Shaq, Varejao, West, Moon, and Williams...with THAT bench isn't better right now than Chicago, Milwaukee, AND Toronto. At the very least, that's a .500 team...especially playing in the East.
