The LeBron Thread

[EnigmatiC]

Hey Cliff Levingston, Bob Dole called & he wants his style back. Who swaggerjacks a senior citizen?

What's even sadder is he's been posting like that for at least the 6 years I've been here

[VinnyTheMick]

Hey Cliff Levingston, Bob Dole called & he wants his style back. Who swaggerjacks a senior citizen?

What's even sadder is he's been posting like that for at least the 6 years I've been here

Yeah, I remember when the flame wars were in full effect between the chi/ny boards back in the days of Eddy Curry. I mostly ignored this guy but I'm just shocked he's still doing it.


Sidenote: Cavs might hire Lebron's shooting coach? Good idea? Bron ain't exactly a sharp shooter....

[InsideInfo]

But if he went to NY, he'd have a steeper hill to climb. Cliff Levingston is skeptical about NY's ability to actually secure two free agents without the one taking the risk of joining first, but even then, the supporting cast is sparse. It'll be 2+ year battle uphill for a LeBron led Knicks team to win a title, so if he eventually does, then it'll be viewed as a more herculean feat. That would indeed go further toward building his legacy than winning a title in Chicago. Although, the same can be said for staying in Cleveland as the entire cities' sports haven't won a major championship in 40+ years.

Let me ask you, how many Knick games did you actually watch? How much do you know of our supporting cast? The same criticisms were said of Boston when they gave up the farm for KG and Allen. "That team has no depth past the big three and will not be a contender." Lo and behold they won a final in their first year together. Role players that most people wrote off were big contributors, and other players stepped up their game.

Simply put, if NYK gets LeBron/Bosh, they already got the two hardest pieces to acquire in any contender. Your Batman and Robin. Other players can and would step up, and those that critics originally wrote off would shine as role players.

I dont know if you can really compair the 08 celtics to NY with LBJ/Bosh. That team had already had Paul Peirce and Rajon Rondo on it before KG and Allen were aquired. They also hard vets like James Posey and PJ Borwn. Celtics were a far far better 3 point shooting team too with Allen, Peirce, Posey, and eddie house. Outside of Gallo that knicks team wouldnt have much shooting right away and nobody on the roster over the age of 25.

[RHODEY]

Outside of Gallo that knicks team wouldnt have much shooting right away and nobody on the roster over the age of 25.

I suggest you rersearch Tony Douglas and Walker's 3pt shooting . Check out Wilson Chandlers fg percentage as well. A 2nd Star BIG, shooting and huge growth potential (in terms of young talent) trumps a ball dominant PG with no 3pt range and defensive center with little offensive punch. It goes without saying that NY as city takes precedence over Chicago.

[towelie]

But if he went to NY, he'd have a steeper hill to climb. Cliff Levingston is skeptical about NY's ability to actually secure two free agents without the one taking the risk of joining first, but even then, the supporting cast is sparse. It'll be 2+ year battle uphill for a LeBron led Knicks team to win a title, so if he eventually does, then it'll be viewed as a more herculean feat. That would indeed go further toward building his legacy than winning a title in Chicago. Although, the same can be said for staying in Cleveland as the entire cities' sports haven't won a major championship in 40+ years.

Let me ask you, how many Knick games did you actually watch? How much do you know of our supporting cast? The same criticisms were said of Boston when they gave up the farm for KG and Allen. "That team has no depth past the big three and will not be a contender." Lo and behold they won a final in their first year together. Role players that most people wrote off were big contributors, and other players stepped up their game.

Simply put, if NYK gets LeBron/Bosh, they already got the two hardest pieces to acquire in any contender. Your Batman and Robin. Other players can and would step up, and those that critics originally wrote off would shine as role players.

I dont know if you can really compair the 08 celtics to NY with LBJ/Bosh. That team had already had Paul Peirce and Rajon Rondo on it before KG and Allen were aquired. They also hard vets like James Posey and PJ Borwn. Celtics were a far far better 3 point shooting team too with Allen, Peirce, Posey, and eddie house. Outside of Gallo that knicks team wouldnt have much shooting right away and nobody on the roster over the age of 25.

Missed my point. I wasn't comparing a possible 2010 Knicks roster with the 2008 Celtics. I was comparing how non-Boston fans would woefully underrate the Celtics supporting cast, pretty much ridiculing Rondo, Perkins, Posey, Brown, and House. Even ESPN "experts" claimed the Celtics had no depth outside of their big three and would not make it to the finals.

Role players tend to look a lot better playing with a superstar, let alone two, and critics shouldn't be so quick to dismiss Gallo, Chandler, and even Toney Douglas, especially when most of these critics have never watched their games and base their opinions on stats alone. There's already a bunch of haters who say Gallo is an awful defender, probably cause he's white and Euro, when in actuality, most Knick fans know he was our best defender after Jeffries left, often being put on the opposing team's best scorer.

The hardest part of building any championship team is acquiring that franchise player + his all-star sidekick. As long as NY can get LeBron/Bosh this summer, the rest of the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place in time.

[Hitman33]

The hardest part of building any championship team is acquiring that franchise player + his all-star sidekick. As long as NY can get LeBron/Bosh this summer, the rest of the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place in time.

Bingo

[PrecociousNeoph]

It's still incredible how many non-knicks fans come to this board talking about the roster as if they have seen us play more than once or twice. A lot like ESPN analyst's approach to forming opinions.

I'm not saying our young players are the second coming or even that they are underrated. They are being judged on baseless opinions, and listening to the "experts" talk about them as if they're garbage is getting old. I guarantee these same fools on TV who are jerking it to Rondo and Perkins almost never saw them play before mcfail gift-wrapped KG to Boston.

[Lottery Bound]

LeBron could play role in Knicks' hunt for GM

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/k ... &FEEDNAME=

LeBron James won't handpick the Knicks next coach if he signs with them, because Mike D'Antoni is going nowhere. Not even for Phil Jackson. But James could have a say in a prominent late-summer general manager hiring.

According to two sources, Knicks team president Donnie Walsh plans to start compiling a list of general manager candidates in late July/early August after the free-agent frenzy is over.

James could have major input in that decision if he is here, but former Warriors GM Chris Mullin, who is tight with Walsh from their Indiana days, seems a natural fit and long has been considered a candidate to be Walsh's heir apparent.

I do not want Chris Mullins here...

[delvec19]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... cleveland/

Thanks for the input, Pat....

[K_ick_God]

I posted this in the topic about Wade and Bulls' loyalty but it doesn't belong there and I have a couple of other observations to add to it too. First look at what Webber said:

Chris Webber never changed teams as a free agent during the prime years of his career. But he does see the championship history in Chicago as a negative.

"Does (LeBron James) want to play in Michael Jordan's shadow?" Webber said on the Dan Patrick radio show. "I just don't know if that's the place you want to be. I don't think it's as glorious and beautiful to players as some people think. I think he's a long way from going to Chicago."

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=383888&src=150

Now this is what the writer says after Webber's comments:

Sure, Chris, following Jordan in Chicago would be miserable, while the pressure of single-handedly reversing Cleveland's dismal sports history is absolutely fantastic.

That's some serious homer commentary there.

Why is this important? Because the Daily Herald employs Mike McGraw, who I assume wrote some or all of the above. He's also the guy who has been writing about how interested LeBron is in Chicago, without citing anything much in the way of sources.

The McGraw guy is clearly a Bulls' fan. Nothing wrong with that (I wouldn't mind if a couple of the NY beat writers were fans of, or at least did not hate, the Knicks). But the point here is that McGraw is one of the main guys who has been talking up the LeBron to the Bulls stuff. Said recently that LeBron has made it clear that he's interested in joining the Bulls. ORLY? That's a bit of a leap methinks, I doubt that he has enough info to report such a thing with confidence.

But he's a fan, so he's probably making a couple of leaps to come to his conclusion. Nothing wrong with that really, but it's not to be credited IMHO.

The other sources of the chatter are all at ESPN and we know what that means. Broussard is currently on an out-of-control binge doing damage to his career and Simmons was one of the first people to originate this talk about the Bulls. I actually think that he started most of it. And Simmons hates the Knicks too. And he's a blowhard to boot.

Suffice to say that Boozer's opinion about MJ's shadow not mattering is probably the exception and not the rule. Boozer is a free-agent and he was on Chicago radio -- he has good reason to say that the MJ shadow won't matter. (I don't see how it would matter to him -- because he can get paid by the Bulls and he is not a superstar wing who is expected to win multiple titles, which LeBron is and MJ was and did.)

I think there is honestly more reason to believe that a retired guy like Chris Webber (who also does not like the Knicks by the way) is giving you a better idea of how LeBron would consider going to Chicago. It certainly will be a big factor IMHO. So will the fact that Derrick Rose is a poor match for LeBron because they both need the ball.

Webber is right -- LeBron is a long way from going to Chicago. And I am really dubious that he even will consider them seriously. Not because the Bulls don't have talent or their city is not attractive. It's just a really bad fit for LeBron in a few very big ways.

[VinnyTheMick]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/66829/20100527/ewing_sees_lebron_staying_in_cleveland/

Thanks for the input, Pat....

Hey, Pat. How about you teach Dwight some post moves before you go talking about other players in the league?

[nyknicks8016]

didnt webber once say he wanted to play for the knicks before he retired??? also he was heavily rumroed when he was a free agent...when did he start hating us??

[K_ick_God]

didnt webber once say he wanted to play for the knicks before he retired??? also he was heavily rumroed when he was a free agent...when did he start hating us??

He might have but I saw an NBA TV game this year where he and McHale were really bashing the Knicks. It was the Melo game so they were forced to eat their words. But they were harsh about Gallo and generally making fun of the Knicks on the air.

[Hiryu]

I think there is honestly more reason to believe that a retired guy like Chris Webber (who also does not like the Knicks by the way) is giving you a better idea of how LeBron would consider going to Chicago.

By that criteria, how about the man himself, Michael Jordan? retired, knick hater, knows the mind of a champion. He says Lebron is headed to Chicago too. What has Webber achieved?

[Esq-4]

I've been saying this from the start (meaning since Game 6 ended). It is a little too much of a coincidence that CHI wasn't considered a legit suitor for James until recently. Possiblility? Yes. But likely? No.

For the longest time it was always rumored as possibilties that if Wade left it was to CHI, and if LBJ left it was to NY. And Amare and Bosh would probably try to follow one of them, either to NY or MIA. I know that was just speculation, but you rarely heard anything about LBJ might be going to LAC/NJN or CHI. As soon as Game 6 ends, bam...all the sudden if he leaves its to CHI, and LAC and NJN are ranked above the Knicks...strange.

Just selling papers in my mind, you can only talk about LBJ in NY so much before it happens, take advantage of discussing him to other teams. But I think it is just sensasionalism.

I didn't know Webber didn't like NY either.

And Boozer to CHI is a good fit for him, and them, if they miss out on James/Wade. They would still have to sure up the 2 hole though.

I wonder really how much the "shadow" of Jordan is really a concern. If James's ego is that big, wouldn't he just as soon say that he could over come it? And Jordan's shadow is somewhat league wide. And at the risk of being a homer, the best way to be considered the best ever is to win, but not just win, win in an even bigger market and on a team that needs a resurrection (New York Knicks).

The only way I couldn't hate on James or Wade is if the stay with the team that drafted them, I have always like to see that happen. But if leaving is inevitable, it would be best to do it now.

[Esq-4]

didnt webber once say he wanted to play for the knicks before he retired??? also he was heavily rumroed when he was a free agent...when did he start hating us??

He might have but I saw an NBA TV game this year where he and McHale were really bashing the Knicks. It was the Melo game so they were forced to eat their words. But they were harsh about Gallo and generally making fun of the Knicks on the air.

Agreeing the Knicks of the first decade of the 21st century were horrible is not that same as dislkiing the franchise. And most analysts are harsh on Gallo. He is Euro, still inconsistent, young, unknown, and basically missed his first season due to injury. Not uncommon. Usually they don't know Euro players as well as they do national talent who played college ball to make a name for themselves.

That Melo v. Gallo game was sick though.

(No James in 2010? No Wade in 2010? Then Melo in 2011!!!)

[EchelonNYK]

I love how New York is just sitting back and letting this all play out. no coach rumors, parades, songs...or even the infamous "back-channel inquiries"

we're New York..that's our sales pitch to LeBron, and i love it!!

[Jay10]

I think there is honestly more reason to believe that a retired guy like Chris Webber (who also does not like the Knicks by the way) is giving you a better idea of how LeBron would consider going to Chicago.

By that criteria, how about the man himself, Michael Jordan? retired, knick hater, knows the mind of a champion. He says Lebron is headed to Chicago too. What has Webber achieved?

so does the president. doesn't mean it's going to happen

[Dr. Detfink]

There is arguably no other athlete outside of Chris Webber who has squandered his gifts by being a selfish jerk. It wasn't until the microfracture surgery where Chris began to want to play for a contender (and couldn't squeeze another penny from the Kings).

As for Lebron in Chicago, exactly what has the supporting cast in Chicago proved? Certainly not any better than the Cavs supporting cast. Even with Lebron, I don't see that cast getting him any closer to the NBA championship. At least with the Knicks, Lebron and Bosh will have a supporting cast plus another 11 million per season addition when Curry is off the books.

[Hiryu]

so does the president. doesn't mean it's going to happen

Well, exactly. Nothing anybody speculates means it's going to happen. The point that the poster was making was that Chris Webber's opinion gives us the best glimpse of what Lebron might be thinking among all the speculators. I say Jordan has a much more credible opinion than Webber about someone who is seeking GOAT status. What does Webber know about what it takes to win a title or establish a legacy?