Tag: LeBron James (Page 5 of 85)

      Game 6 showdown between Heat and Pacers

      June 1, 2013 /

      As with competitive NBA playoff series, we’re seeing a back and forth between two excellent teams, and each game seems to produce a new conventional wisdom that the media will beat to death. The latest has Lebron James winning these games on his own in “Cleveland” mode, with Chris Both and Dwyane Wade doing their best impressions of disappearing magicians.

      As with every “theme’ coming out of one game, things can change very quickly. The main characteristics of Lebron’s days in Cleveland were games like this when he couldn’t miss a shot, often followed by big games where he would clank up threes at the worst time and then wilt under pressure. Lebron is now much more mature and consistent, but there’s no guarantee that he can continue his torrid shooting in game 6.

      Also, everyone is ripping on Dwyane Wade as he seems to age right before our eyes, but Wade is still capable of scoring outbursts that can help carry the Heat.

      Then we have Chris Anderson. He should have been tossed in game 5, but the NBA at least got it right by booting him for game 6.

      On the other side, Indiana needs to find someone to help out Roy Hibbert and Paul George. Lance Stevenson has been huge in their wins, but has had a hard time in Indiana’s losses. They need him to play well.

      I think tonight’s game is a tossup, and if Indiana pulls it out, anything can happen in game 7 even though the Heat will be favored at home. It should be interesting . . .

      NBA

      Roy Hibbert and the revenge of the classic center

      May 25, 2013 /

      The Indiana Pacers evened the series against the Miami Heat last night for a host of reasons, but one centers around Roy Hibbert and the mismatch against the Heat front line. The Heat have no answer for a classic center like Roy Hibbert, and he creates all sorts of problems for them when he stays out of foul trouble.

      Now, this wouldn’t matter as much if the Miami shooters were hitting their threes, but Indiana’s overall defense deserves some credit as well.

      Unlike the matchup with the Bulls, there hasn’t been a time so far in the first three games where the Pacers have looked overmatched against Lebron James and the Heat. The Pacers have the athletes and the size to go head to head with the Heat, even if they at times have their own breakdowns against the suffocating Heat defense.

      But by taking game 2, the Pacers now have more than a puncher’s chance of winning this series. There’s a very long way to go, but now game 3 becomes a pivotal game. Let’s see if Hibbert and the rest of the Pacers can keep up the intensity at home. The Heat aren’t intimidated by playing on the road.

      NBA

      Lebron James flop?

      May 13, 2013 /

      Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau got hit with a $35,000 for suggesting that Lebron James flopped the other night after being shoved by Nazr Mohammed. Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m not a fan of traitor Lebron, but that claim is pretty ridiculous. Mohammed shoved Lebron out of the blue, and I’m not at all surprised that he naturally fell backwards. Thibodeau should have been fined.

      That said, Thibodeau’s strategy versus Lebron is brilliant, even with some execution issues like Mohammed’s stupid shove. The idea is to get into Lebron’s head, and frankly Lebron had a bad game but was bailed out by his teammates. It may not lead to a Bulls win since they’re so overmatched, but with Lebron you have to challenge him physically and mentally as we’ve seen him wilt many times before both when he played for the Cavs and in 2011 with the Heat.

      Of course, Lebron can also rise to the occasion and make you pay for it, but leaving him alone spells certain defeat for most teams. It’s playoff basketball and you have to challenge Lebron and hope he suffers a meltdown or at least starts altering his game.

      NBA

      Ray Allen turns his back on Boston and the Big Three

      July 7, 2012 /

      Ray Allen joins one “super team” for another.

      The issues chasing Ray Allen out of the Boston Celtics and into the arms of their most despised opponent stacked higher and higher, and suddenly everything crystallized in the hours basketball’s most persuasive recruiter, Pat Riley, captivated him. The emperor of the Miami Heat sold Allen on never hearing his name in trade talks and a run of championships awaiting him. After all these years, Allen needed to feel wanted again, needed the recruiting, and Riles had such a willing soul sitting with him in the breeze blowing over Biscayne Bay.

      “He felt he was getting respect that he hadn’t gotten from [Celtics president] Danny [Ainge] and [coach] Doc [Rivers] anymore,” a source close to him said Friday night. “…The presentation was incredible.”

      Respect comes in different ways, but make no mistake: The Celtics had offered two years and $12 million – respect for someone’s who’s 37 and coming off ankle surgery – and it didn’t matter to Allen. He hated the way Ainge dangled him in trade talks, hated that the Celtics told him he was on his way to Memphis in a deal at the March deadline only to have Rivers later tell him the trade was dead. Allen hated that Rivers didn’t give him his starting job back after he returned from a late-season ankle injury, and hated that it always felt like he was the Celtics star made to sacrifice above the rest.

      Adrian Wojnarowski goes on to detail Allen difficult relationship with Rajon Rondo and how that must have contributed to this decision as well.

      Boston fans will be livid, and it will be interesting to see how this drama affects Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

      Allen fits in well with what Miami is doing, assuming Lebron continues to play in the paint like he finally decided to do last season.

      Meanwhile, I wonder whether Boston will miss him much. Allen could alter a game, but he did so much less frequently over the past couple of seasons. Jason Terry might be a better fit with this Boston team that may have improved considerably with the additions of Jared Sullinger and Fab Melo in the draft.

      NBA

      NBA refs suck

      June 16, 2012 /

      I wasn’t able to watch Oklahoma City’s mess of a performance in Game 2, but by all accounts they had no business being in that game at the end, and Miami again deserves credit for playing well just when everyone is ready to write them off.

      That said, the no-calls on the last play were just pathetic. Lebron James definitely fouled Kevin Durant in the act of shooting, and then he also fouled Russell Westbrook going for the rebound.

      This is why the NBA really sucks sometimes, and why David Stern should just keep his fat mouth shut when someone brings up the lottery. I don’t think it’s fixed, and I think most people who immediately assume “conspiracy” are usually just stupid or lazy, but there are too many weird things going on in the NBA year after year for Stern to act self-righteous when someone questions the integrity of his league. They can find a way to ruin even a great matchup like this one, which may be the beginning of an epic rivalry between Lebron and Durant.

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