There is an argument between NBA fans hammed up by ESPN that is a big moneymaker for the league, most likely. Of all the great players in the league two of them, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have formed what can only be referred to as cults. Both of them, always seeming to be in direct competition, ironically, almost never are. The LeBron camp points to statistics, unselfishness and hope for the future while the Kobe disciples preach rings and so-called "clutch" play. It's a debate that cannot end because debating individual players in a team sport is a doomed discussion from the beginning, especially when the individual statistics vs. team success results do not point to the same player.
Anyone reading this blog knows which camp I sympathize with. I've been writing mostly about LeBron and his team for years now. But the most common NBA discussion I'm constantly forced into having puts me in a position of trying to diminish Kobe Bryant. Though an all-time great player, Bryant and his fans have always done their respective jobs in a supremely distasteful way. Kobe Bryant, with his four (possibly soon-to-be five) titles, has gunned for a 40-point game against Orlando (his first in the finals), hogged shots from Odom and Gasol in 2008 in the second half, en-route to blowing a 20-point lead at home, shot in the mid 30% against Detroit in 2004 (while teammate Shaquille O'neal shot close to 70%) and took a lot more shots than his Center, and even this year he took 27 shots in Game 5 when the whole world knows the Lakers' greatest advantage against Boston is in the paint. He scored 38 points and hurt his team doing it, and I think he knows this.
The problem with him is that he knows his team is better. He scores 38 points and loses. He knows the media will say "Kobe needs help," without afterthought of how ridiculous that statement is, given the fact that this team, without Kobe, is the biggest and most skilled team in the league with the best coach in the league. When a shooting guard takes 27 shots in an NBA game, he is refusing to be helped. Kobe however, will be deified once again if the Lakers win this series and made into a martyr if they lose. He plays as if the game is a reality show where he is the star. If he didn't do that, this series would be over by now and he'd be on his way to his eighth title. He trades winning for credit, the definition of selfish.
The conflict comes when he has a game like Game 6 where he takes 19 shots and, begrudgingly, allows his teammates to dominate. That is what a leader should do and much more often than he does it. The response to a game like Game 6 is usually an extrapolation that he is the best player in the world. This reaction comes from the media and most of America who relate to his insecurities that cause him to play the way he does. In truth, I relate to these insecurities but I do not endorse the way he deals with them.
And for the first time in years I haven't been able to point to LeBron James as the ideal way to operate and the contradiction to everything that is Kobe Bryant.
In the last two years, LeBron's lack of commitment to Cleveland and the Cavaliers have cost him and his team the opportunity to add Trevor Ariza and possibly to be coached by Tom Izzo, all the while preaching leadership, loyalty and winning. These losses are especially hurtful considering his end to the season without giving an explanation for his uninspired play. At some point, "toughing it out" and pretending you aren't hurt when you really are is no longer the prudent move.
I had never given the claims that LeBron's perceived lack of commitment was hurting the Cavs because it had never showed on the court or seemed to be weighing on the team and, given his track record, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But it's all happening now. LeBron is missing out on his great coaches and good young talent to play with because of...well, because of him. Though I would never operate like LeBron, nor could I, I've always been able to understand where he was coming from. But now, LeBron's decisions seem purely selfish to me and I can't defend that.
There is the argument that LeBron has earned this opportunity to act for himself given everything he's done for the Cavaliers, and that argument has some legitimacy, but I don't work in the business side of professional sports. What LeBron is doing does not meet the ethical standards to which I would like to hold him.
Kobe Bryant is a selfish player. He lies to himself, to his teammates, to the media and fans. Given his talent, skill and the situations in which he has been put, his mentality has actually cost himself titles rather than earned them. But with the onslaught of praise for Kobe from the blind masses, LeBron's actions, at least for the time being, have left the rest of us with no place to turn.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Cavs Post Mortem/Finals Preview
As much as the Cavs' end to the season seems like such a great mystery, I don't believe it. Here are the reasons I believe it ended the way it did.
1. LeBron was hurt.
First of all, WE KNOW he was hurt. He admitted it...there was an MRI and everything. Even with the description, nobody really knows what it meant or how it feels to play with it. However, we did see LeBron James play with it, so that might give us a good idea. Here is why this makes sense with how he played in game 5 and game 6.
LeBron couldn't shoot or dribble. When have we ever really seen him just lose the ball dribbling? When have we seen him pass up shots (unless prudent)? The things he is usually criticized for is shooting too many heat-check jumpers and over-dribbling. And now, in the playoffs, he's so afraid to dribble that he passes up 1-on-1 opportunities in the open court to let Anthony Parker run the break? That would make sense if LeBron either had no playoff history or a history of choking in the playoffs but he has neither. Even when he fails, he does it aggressively. He said it himself when asked about his elbow. He said, "I'll be a productive player." That's how he was playing in game 5...like he was trying to just contribute. Obviously, the way that team is constructed, LeBron can't play that way against the Celtics and win. He needs to be all out aggressive and enthusiastic about it. He wasn't. They lost.
The other rumor I've heard discussed is that LeBron was somehow paid off or motivated to play poorly and lose to the Celtics. If that were the case, why try so hard in other playoff series? Why play so well in the regular season? And, most importantly, why go all out in game 6 to get a career playoff high 19 rebounds? LeBron did not play all that well in game 6, but his effort was not lacking. I watched it, don't try to convince me otherwise.
2. Mike Brown
Mike Brown is a great guy and a really good coach but he failed with this team. It would take a great coaching job to have won the title with this team, but it was possible and truthfully, every title team has a great coach. That's just what it takes and, at the end of the day, Mike Brown didn't deliver.
Specifically, this Cleveland team was unusually deep and versatile, has the best player in the league, but was not all that top-heavy with it's supporting stars. What Mike Brown was lacking was the clout to look a 38-year-old Shaq in the face and say, "Big fella, you're not starting against the Celtics, it's a bad match up...same with you Antawn...that's just the way our team is constructed and I cannot sacrifice potentially losing a series just to make sure our stars' egos are fed." Instead, the Cavs started Jamison on Garnett, which was a disaster, and when Anderson Varejao, a player who CAN guard Garnett, came in...Garnett subbed out. The way those two were rotated in and out rendered both of them useless. The two best non-LeBron forwards for the Cavs did not help them in any real way in this series that they lost to the likely eventual champions in six games.
LeBron normally can make up for this lack of quick thinking adjustments from Mike Brown because he is so good. But, with this elbow that hindered his ball handling, shooting and finishing with any strength, he could only be a really great player, not a fix-all. This, I believe, led to LeBron getting frustrated with Brown to the point that there was visible tension between the two. I don't know if LeBron was interested in the adjustments that I think should have been made, but he disagreed over some substitutions for sure. The effect this had was the death of the good vibes this team had on which it was uniquely based.With no good vibes, no crafty or creative rotation adjustments and LeBron injured just enough to not be able to perform his heroics, they were doomed.
3. No Continuity.
As old as the Celtics seemed in the regular season, apparently there is a lot to be said for having the same starting five three years in a row. People seem to forget that Shaq and Jamison had essentially never started together. It's hard enough to create enough chemistry to win a title in one season let alone one first round playoff series. This is why I would not be opposed to the exact same team returning. I'm convinced this Cleveland team had the guns to win it all and an extra year together couldn't hurt.
4. The pressure of LeBron potentially leaving.
I never subscribed to this theory during the regular season but it was noticeable in the playoffs. When LeBron started to get moody, everyone could sense it could be the end. This includes the crowd and the players. I'm sure Mike Brown knew he was fired after game 5. You just can't play free and easy under those circumstances, especially against a team like Boston, a great and tough team that I continue to have a growing respect for as they expose one playoff pretender after another on their way to another potential title. When Boston smells blood, it's tough to hold them off. They're well-coached, smart, tough and good. That's just the way it is.
Which brings us to the Finals.
I hate to keep beating this drum, but I keep hearing about how, after beating the Suns and playing so very well in all the games, Kobe has somehow changed history and passed Jordan as the greatest ever or even LeBron as the greatest currently.
Kobe Bryant averaged 34-8-7 against the suns...a great stat line, no doubt. That's 4 points more than LeBron averaged during the season...but apparently it's historic for Kobe to do that in a series being guarded by...oh wait...they played a zone. THEY PLAYED A ZONE IN AN NBA PLAYOFF SERIES. Essentially the Suns admitted they had nobody to guard Kobe or really anybody else on the Lakers for that matter. I'm impressed with how well Kobe played but the world has to realize how many point LeBron could have averaged against this Suns team in the playoffs if he were at full strength. Anybody who has ever been any good at playing shooting guard knows the feeling when a team can't guard him and that's what it was like in this Suns series. The Celtics have proven they can guard him and the Finals will be a different story. All I'm really saying that after a series against one of the worst defensive teams in history is not the right time to anoint anyone of anything.
To conclude this long-awaited (???) post, I'd just like to say that I have no idea what's going to happen...in either thing. Is LeBron gonna stay? I don't know. Where's he gonna go if he leaves? No idea. Who is going to win the Finals? Ya know what...not really sure.
Gun to the head though, I'm taking Cleveland for the first two and Boston for the second. Is there really a chance I'm still a wild-eyed optimist at this point? It seems hard to believe.
1. LeBron was hurt.
First of all, WE KNOW he was hurt. He admitted it...there was an MRI and everything. Even with the description, nobody really knows what it meant or how it feels to play with it. However, we did see LeBron James play with it, so that might give us a good idea. Here is why this makes sense with how he played in game 5 and game 6.
LeBron couldn't shoot or dribble. When have we ever really seen him just lose the ball dribbling? When have we seen him pass up shots (unless prudent)? The things he is usually criticized for is shooting too many heat-check jumpers and over-dribbling. And now, in the playoffs, he's so afraid to dribble that he passes up 1-on-1 opportunities in the open court to let Anthony Parker run the break? That would make sense if LeBron either had no playoff history or a history of choking in the playoffs but he has neither. Even when he fails, he does it aggressively. He said it himself when asked about his elbow. He said, "I'll be a productive player." That's how he was playing in game 5...like he was trying to just contribute. Obviously, the way that team is constructed, LeBron can't play that way against the Celtics and win. He needs to be all out aggressive and enthusiastic about it. He wasn't. They lost.
The other rumor I've heard discussed is that LeBron was somehow paid off or motivated to play poorly and lose to the Celtics. If that were the case, why try so hard in other playoff series? Why play so well in the regular season? And, most importantly, why go all out in game 6 to get a career playoff high 19 rebounds? LeBron did not play all that well in game 6, but his effort was not lacking. I watched it, don't try to convince me otherwise.
2. Mike Brown
Mike Brown is a great guy and a really good coach but he failed with this team. It would take a great coaching job to have won the title with this team, but it was possible and truthfully, every title team has a great coach. That's just what it takes and, at the end of the day, Mike Brown didn't deliver.
Specifically, this Cleveland team was unusually deep and versatile, has the best player in the league, but was not all that top-heavy with it's supporting stars. What Mike Brown was lacking was the clout to look a 38-year-old Shaq in the face and say, "Big fella, you're not starting against the Celtics, it's a bad match up...same with you Antawn...that's just the way our team is constructed and I cannot sacrifice potentially losing a series just to make sure our stars' egos are fed." Instead, the Cavs started Jamison on Garnett, which was a disaster, and when Anderson Varejao, a player who CAN guard Garnett, came in...Garnett subbed out. The way those two were rotated in and out rendered both of them useless. The two best non-LeBron forwards for the Cavs did not help them in any real way in this series that they lost to the likely eventual champions in six games.
LeBron normally can make up for this lack of quick thinking adjustments from Mike Brown because he is so good. But, with this elbow that hindered his ball handling, shooting and finishing with any strength, he could only be a really great player, not a fix-all. This, I believe, led to LeBron getting frustrated with Brown to the point that there was visible tension between the two. I don't know if LeBron was interested in the adjustments that I think should have been made, but he disagreed over some substitutions for sure. The effect this had was the death of the good vibes this team had on which it was uniquely based.With no good vibes, no crafty or creative rotation adjustments and LeBron injured just enough to not be able to perform his heroics, they were doomed.
3. No Continuity.
As old as the Celtics seemed in the regular season, apparently there is a lot to be said for having the same starting five three years in a row. People seem to forget that Shaq and Jamison had essentially never started together. It's hard enough to create enough chemistry to win a title in one season let alone one first round playoff series. This is why I would not be opposed to the exact same team returning. I'm convinced this Cleveland team had the guns to win it all and an extra year together couldn't hurt.
4. The pressure of LeBron potentially leaving.
I never subscribed to this theory during the regular season but it was noticeable in the playoffs. When LeBron started to get moody, everyone could sense it could be the end. This includes the crowd and the players. I'm sure Mike Brown knew he was fired after game 5. You just can't play free and easy under those circumstances, especially against a team like Boston, a great and tough team that I continue to have a growing respect for as they expose one playoff pretender after another on their way to another potential title. When Boston smells blood, it's tough to hold them off. They're well-coached, smart, tough and good. That's just the way it is.
Which brings us to the Finals.
I hate to keep beating this drum, but I keep hearing about how, after beating the Suns and playing so very well in all the games, Kobe has somehow changed history and passed Jordan as the greatest ever or even LeBron as the greatest currently.
Kobe Bryant averaged 34-8-7 against the suns...a great stat line, no doubt. That's 4 points more than LeBron averaged during the season...but apparently it's historic for Kobe to do that in a series being guarded by...oh wait...they played a zone. THEY PLAYED A ZONE IN AN NBA PLAYOFF SERIES. Essentially the Suns admitted they had nobody to guard Kobe or really anybody else on the Lakers for that matter. I'm impressed with how well Kobe played but the world has to realize how many point LeBron could have averaged against this Suns team in the playoffs if he were at full strength. Anybody who has ever been any good at playing shooting guard knows the feeling when a team can't guard him and that's what it was like in this Suns series. The Celtics have proven they can guard him and the Finals will be a different story. All I'm really saying that after a series against one of the worst defensive teams in history is not the right time to anoint anyone of anything.
To conclude this long-awaited (???) post, I'd just like to say that I have no idea what's going to happen...in either thing. Is LeBron gonna stay? I don't know. Where's he gonna go if he leaves? No idea. Who is going to win the Finals? Ya know what...not really sure.
Gun to the head though, I'm taking Cleveland for the first two and Boston for the second. Is there really a chance I'm still a wild-eyed optimist at this point? It seems hard to believe.
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