Tag: LeBron James (Page 75 of 85)

      Mo Williams upset about All-Star snub

      January 30, 2009 /

      The All-Star reserves were announced last night and Mo Williams’ name was not on the list. And he’s none too happy about it.

      The Magic will get three All-Stars—Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis now as well as starting center Dwight Howard—but the Cavs, despite having the best record in the NBA, will only send LeBron James.

      Really, it came down to Nelson or Williams, and Mo first and foremost didn’t want to take anything away from his colleague.

      “Congratulations to him,” Williams said with a smile. “He deserves it, but there’s only a certain amount of players that can play.”

      “You want me to tell you like it is?” Williams chuckled. “Then I’ll tell it like it is. It’s a tragedy. How many players get into the game, and how many players did the Magic get in? They’ve got three players, and we’ve got the best record. Not just in the Eastern Conference, but in the whole league… Best team in the world, and we got one player.”

      The guy’s got a point, and [Ben] Wallace’s got his back.

      “He took us from a team that was on the verge of competing for a championship to making us a legit championship contender,” Wallace added.

      I disagree with Wallace that Williams is the main reason that the Cavs are playing as well as they are (or were, before getting trounced by the Magic last night). LeBron has returned from his stint with Team USA with a focus on defense, and that has translated to the rest of the team. He even has Williams gaining a rep for being a decent defender, which is something that has plagued him throughout his career.

      Here are the YTD stats for Williams and Nelson:

      Williams: 16.92 PER (#16 PG), 17.0 p, 4.1 a, 3.3 r, 0.8 s, 47% FG, 38% 3PT, 94% FT

      Nelson: 20.94 PER (#4 PG), 16.9 p, 5.3 a, 3.4 r, 1.2 s, 51% FG, 45% 3PT, 88% FT

      The two players are essentially the same in points and rebounds. Mo has an advantage in free throw percentage, but Jameer has a big advantage in assists, steals, FG% and three-point accuracy. Moreover, Williams plays an extra two minutes per game, so he has more time to post stats. Clearly, from the Player Efficiency Rating, Nelson is the far more productive and efficient player.

      Williams has also come up fairly small in the Cavs’ three “marquee” games this season. He shot 6-16 in a bad loss against the Lakers on Jan. 19 and posted just 13 points and one assist against the Celtics on Jan. 9. That trend continued after the reserves were announced when he shot just 4-15 from the field against the Magic last night.

      So this comes down to how many players elite teams should get on the All-Star team. I actually think that Mo is more deserving than Rashard Lewis, but that Nelson is more deserving than Williams. But this probably has to do more with LeBron than anything. He is viewed as a one-man wrecking crew and that will automatically discount the contributions of his teammates. Throw in the fact that Allen Iverson was voted in by the fans and it was obvious that someone was going to get screwed. It happens every year.

      Williams has a gripe, but Jameer Nelson deserves to be an All-Star, there’s no doubt about that.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, Rumors & Gossip

      Picking the 2009 All-Star reserves

      January 27, 2009 /

      I made my picks more than two weeks ago. Then the All-Star starters (as voted in by the fans) were announced.

      Now that we know who the starters will be, I’m wondering if there’s any reason to change any of my other picks. Let’s take a look…

      EASTERN CONFERENCE

      Starters: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard

      My original picks: Joe Johnson, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Devin Harris, Danny Granger, Tayshaun Prince, Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter

      I didn’t have Iverson on the team, much less starting, so one of my other eight picks has to go. Unfortunately, I think it’s going to be Prince because the Pistons aren’t good enough to warrant two All-Star nods. The same could be said about the Nets, but Vince Carter’s stats are pretty big. I think I’ll go with this group, though there are a number of players that could take Carter’s spot. If any of these other guys — Johnson, Pierce, Bosh, Harris, Granger and Nelson — don’t make it, it’s going to be a pretty big snub.

      WESTERN CONFERENCE

      Starters: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming

      My original picks: Dirk Nowitzki, Brandon Roy, Carmelo Anthony, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Chauncey Billups and Shaquille O’Neal

      I had Nowitzki starting over Stoudemire, but no worries there. Would I swap out any of the players? Well, ‘Melo is still sidelined and the Nuggets don’t seem to be hurting too much without him. That weakens Anthony’s position and strengthens Billups’ argument. I could see David West, LaMarcus Aldridge, Al Jefferson or Deron Williams replacing Anthony, but I doubt it will happen. I think the other picks are safe, though Williams could replace Parker or Billups, though I don’t think either guy deserves to miss the All-Star Game.

      The reserves will be announced this Thursday on TNT.

      NBA

      Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 NBA All-Star starters…

      January 22, 2009 /

      Nope, Devin Harris did NOT make the list.

      The results have been announced and here are the starters (as voted in by the fans):

      EAST

      Guard: Dwyane Wade, Heat
      Guard: Allen Iverson, Pistons
      Forward: LeBron James, Cavs
      Forward: Kevin Garnett, Celtics
      Center: Dwight Howard, Magic

      WEST

      Guard: Chris Paul, Hornets
      Guard: Kobe Bryant, Lakers
      Forward: Tim Duncan, Spurs
      Forward: Amare Stoudemire, Suns
      Center: Yao Ming, Rockets

      Well, the starters are a popularity contest and sometimes undeserving players are voted in. Such was the case with Allen Iverson, who isn’t having a very good year but is immensely popular with fans. In my picks, I didn’t even have AI on the roster, much less starting. Joe Johnson or Devin Harris should have gotten that spot. AI’s presence makes it unlikely that Tayshaun Prince will make the cut, since the Pistons don’t have a record that deserves two All-Star nods. The other four starters for the East are pretty much no-brainers, though China almost voted Yi Jianlian into the game. (Now that would have been a travesty.)

      Things were less controversial in the West. I chose Nowitzki over Stoudemire at forward, but had Amare on the roster, so no harm, no foul. Kobe, CP3, Duncan and Yao are pretty much no-brainers.

      Overall, the fans got 9/10 right…that’s a B+ in my book.

      NBA

      Gasol, Bynum key Laker win

      January 20, 2009 /

      It was a wild day of NBA action. The first six games were decided by four points or less, and there were a couple of buzzer beaters.

      Unfortunately, the best matchup of the night didn’t live up to its billing. The Cavs went through an offensive drought in the third quarter (helped by some solid defense from the Lakers) to give L.A. a lead that was pushed to 18 points in the middle of the final period. The Cavs made a late surge, but ultimately fell, 105-88.

      The Lakers won this game in the paint, with good games from Pau Gasol (22 points) and Andrew Bynum (14 points), who shot a combined 17-of-23 from the field. Defensively, the Lakers did a nice job on LeBron, who hit just 9-of-28 from the field and was held to 23 points. Kobe didn’t have a great night scoring the ball (20 points on 9-of-22 shooting), but he might have been bothered by his ring finger, which he dislocated early in the game. He did share the ball well, posting 12 assists in the win.

      The Cavs still have trouble scoring if LeBron doesn’t have a great game. They brought Mo Williams in to relieve some of the pressure, but he had five turnovers and shot 6-of-16 from the field. As a team, the Cavs shot 43% from the field while allowing the Lakers to shoot better than 52%. You aren’t going to win too many games with that big of a disparity.

      On a side note, I like the look of J.J. Hickson (11 points, 4 rebounds). At 20 years old, he has a bright future ahead of him and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the Cavs starting power forward in a year or two. He’s athletic and has some good moves both facing the basket and posting up. He also made several nice defensive plays in the paint. He looks like a keeper.

      NBA

      LeBron James chooses Browns uniform in commercial – is he staying in Cleveland?

      January 18, 2009 /

      Cleveland Cavs’ star LeBrown James recently donned a Browns uniform in a State Farm commercial that will air during the NFC and AFC Championship Games on Sunday. And actually, chose to wear a Browns uniform might be more appropriate wording.

      At 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, James often describes himself as a football player. He was an All-Ohio selection at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School and still plays flag football at the school during the offseason.

      James said he had input into the commercial, which shows using some of his basketball skills to help the Browns on the football field.

      “I chose what team I wanted to wear, what I wanted to do and which routes I wanted to run,” he said.

      James has been criticized by Cleveland fans for supporting the Cowboys and New York Yankees. He triggered a public outcry when he wore a Yankees cap to an Indians playoff game two years ago and again to a Browns home game against Dallas last season .

      So was it tough pulling on an orange Browns helmet and not one with a star on it?

      “No,” James said with a wink. “I love the Browns.”

      Hmm. Depending on how far Cavs fans want to take LeBron’s comments, maybe the superstar is leaning towards staying in Cleveland instead of bolting for the Big Apple like many expect? Hey, Cavs fans can hope anyways, right?

      NBA, NFL

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