Moses_Doc_83 wrote:51X3RF4N wrote:Disagree with the 2 posts above about not being able to change players.
I know that I show up every day in my bball leagues looking to play as hard as I can. However, in one of my leagues we have this PG who is simply incredible at dishing out the rock, and he finds you open even when you don't think you are open. He's a hard worker on defense and really elevates everyone around him.
Then we have this other PG who just jacks up 3pt shots and is a turnover machine. When he is in the game, I find that I lack motivation because I won't get the ball on offense and on defense I'll be playing help D when his man beats him every time down. It's disheartening and makes me want to walk up and down the court.
So people watching me play in one game might think I'm terrible, lazy, and don't care if we win. Whereas, in another game with the good PG, people will think I'm active on the boards, I score a lot down low, and I play tough D and get out on the break and run.
I think my situation is obviously not the same as the NBA. But I would have to think if a player went from being on a team that misses the playoffs, to being a team where the best player in the world is coming to your squad and expecting championships, you more than likely are going to show up with an increased intensity and focus.
I absolutely think LBJ is going to change that squad. And if Love comes in a deal, then Cleveland will be a top 2 team in the East easily. LBJ is going to demand that each player steps up his game.
Cleveland is a top 2 eastern team right now even without Love by default. Even though defense is mainly effort, it does also require skill, and Love and Irving have shown no ability to play defense whatsoever. They can try all they want and still be turnstiles. To fix the problem simply requires someone who can erase most of the lane penetration. As far as Waiters goes, he screams head case megalomaniac to me, so I imagine he'll be screaming to his boys and then the local papers under the guise of "league sources" that he needs to be traded. Could be wrong I suppose, but I highly doubt that a guy who didn't like being second banana is going to like being fourth banana even if he is playing with 2 top 15 guys.
I think playing with LBJ elevates Love in the sense that he brings an extra level to his game, regardless of his defensive skill. It's a hustle issue at that point. He may still suck at defense, and Irving may too, but it won't matter. They'll both be playing at a higher level because of LBJ, and having all 3 of them playing at a high level means they will likely be in the Finals. Miami also needed a rim protector. They still won 2 CHIPS without one. Love is better than Bosh and Irving is as good as, if not better than Wade. Verajao is better than U. Haslem. If Bennett/Wiggins/Waiters/Thompson are all required to be in the Love deal, then 2014-15 CLE still looks better than 2013-14 Miami IMO.
Waiters may not even be in CLE. But if he is, and he starts screaming for a trade, then guess what? He'll be traded. It's as simple as that. The point I'm making is LBJ will certainly make the guys around him better by default, as he'll take the best opposing defender away, as well as draw lots of attention on offense, AND play tough D on the other team's better players.
I know none of what I'm saying is impactful to the original purpose of this thread, but I truly feel those who would like to point to all the problems CLE is going to have are just making excuses cuz they hate CLE and don't want to see them win. Bottom line is CLE became a huge threat to win multiple CHIPS the minute LBJ signed on the dotted line. If CLE wouldn't have gotten the #1 pick on top of it, I wouldn't hate them so much. But even in doing so, they secured a potential franchise changing Center named Embiid coming to Philly.
In a few years, when MCW-KJM-Wiggins-Noel-Embiid are all playing together (Embiid will get Wiggins to come to Philly), with a deep bench of young talent, and the Sixers are competing for the ECF against a run down CLE team trying to 4-peat, with a LBJ who's on his last leg, and an injury prone Kevin Love, and a selfish Kyrie who is looking to move on to sign with Miami, then I'll be doing cartwheels on my arthritic wrists. The future is BRIGHT.
