He Who Took His Talents To South Beach

[TribeManiac10]

Best comeback I think ive ever seen in an NBA game. The Heat hit 9 straight shots(3 of which were 3 pointers). It seems like a few teams in the east cant get away from a select few in the west everytime they make the big show. Celtics have been matched up with the Lakers in both of their trips and the heat have been paired with the mavs in both of theirs since 06. With the defense on the perimeter that the heat have shown throughout these playoffs I dont think the three point shooting of the mavs will be as big a deal as it was to the thunder. Bosh limiting Dirk is going to be the key to this series.

[Charge]

I don't think Rose is going to make the Bull fans forget Jordan anytime soon.

[Rebels on 3]

LBJ was clutch last night, hitting the 3 to tie and the jumper to put them up 2. Long live the KING.

[TribeManiac10]

The life expectancy of a "King" in the NBA isnt long these days of "flavor-of-the-month" fickle fans. Wasn't THAT long ago that they said that about Jordan, and now they are saying he was just a shooter on ESPN. They forgot to say he was a shooter with 6 rings!

If anyone should understand what happened in the Bulls-Heat series it should be James, and certainly Jordan. How long did it take Jordan to win his first ring, and how long has James been in the NBA? Rose is to the Bulls what James WAS to the Cavs. Neither could win the ring, but I believe Rose is closer in the sense that he needs less help.

Add a Howard to the Bulls or even a Chris Paul and see what you have.

Another similarity between Rose and James when he was in Cleveland is that both were subject of double/triple teams because they were the principal scorers. Now James has Wade and Bosh and gets more one on one coverage. Big difference.

BTW...The big Three (or Two and a half men as some call them) scored 69 of the Heat's 83 points. Math 101: Three players 69....rest of team 14. Wonder how long they can get away with that?

Lebron put a terrrible team on his back in 07(When he was 23) and carried them to the finals. Who was a better second option between that cavs team and this year's bulls team? Daniel "booby" Gibson or Carlos Boozer/Loul Deng? Rose had an excellent season without a doubt but he is no Lebron/Wade. None of the greats won rings without help and that trend will only continue. If Thibodeau and the bulls organization can bring in Dwight Howard then they will legitimately be a thorn in the side of the Heat for the next 5-10yrs. If not the Heat will dominate the conference for that same period of time because they are only going to get better from here on out. When they sign a legitimate center this offseason with the cap space wiggle room they will have (like say Nene from Denver) and get some much needed depth from the signing of some available free agents who could be persuaded into taking less money for the oppurtunity to compete for multiple titles (Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler, Jason Richardson), the heat will have a chance to do just that.

[Rebels on 3]

They have got away with it all the way to the NBA finals. Whats another maybe 7 games going to matter? I see the Heat winning in 6 games. The Mavs have noone that can match up with James or Wade. The Heat need to let Dirk get his just shut down the rest on the team and the KING will have his first ring.

[Charge]

None of the greats won rings without help and that trend will only continue.






You must not have watched Rick Barry and the Goldenstate Warriors sweep the Washington Bullets who were favored in the 1974 NBA Championship.

[TribeManiac10]

Oh and BTW..."terrible teams" do not make the NBA Finals, Lebron or no Lebron.

That team defied that wisdom. This past season's Cavaliers squad was better than the 07 crew minus Lebron.

[TribeManiac10]

Exceptions noted as with every so-called "rule."

One of the problems I have with the papparazzi mentality prevalent today is they try to equate an individual player's greatness with TEAM success. The best player of all time would still be the best individual player whether he won ten rings or played with a bunch of dodos all his career.

Team sports are just that. No one man can win anything by himself, but yet they argue whether someone is HOF qualified if he has never won a ring.

I sit back and remember Dan Marino or Barry Sanders, etc in football, or Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and others in basketball none of whom won team championships, but their greatness cannot be diminished because they never played on championship teams.

Let's say James had stayed in Cleveland for his entire career and NEVER won a championship. Would he be less talented because he had no rings than because he joined an all-star team and won several? NO! His greatness is determined by his own skills alone. Championships are great, but it is unfair to judge the career of one man because of the other eleven players on his team.

It might not have made him any less talented but that is how the elites in sports are measured, fair or not. He wants to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Jordans/Kobes/Magics of the sport and countless members of the media have condemned him to purgatory until he has won multiple rings like the aformentioned players. Ewing and Barkley were both great but their not Olajuwan and Kareem, with all due respect I dont think Lebron is satisfied with being metioned with only the former. People can chastise Lebron's decision all they want but this run in the playoffs has only verified to me that he made the right move. I loved him playing close to home but in 7yrs in Cleveland he made 1 appearance in the NBA finals with subpar talent around him for the majority of those seasons, in his first year in Miami (playing with some of his close friends from their olympic gold medal run) they have a shot at winning it all.

[TribeManiac10]

None of the greats won rings without help and that trend will only continue.






You must not have watched Rick Barry and the Goldenstate Warriors sweep the Washington Bullets who were favored in the 1974 NBA Championship.

The Bullets were more talented but Jamaal Wilkes and Phil Smith werent exactly Daniel Gibson and Eric Snow.

[BBallin fool]

Mavs will win it all!!!

[TribeManiac10]

This past year's Cavs team minus Lebron WAS NOT better than the 07 team. You must be kidding me!

This year's Cavs team not only lost Lebron, but Ilgauskas, Shaq, and West and that was before the injuries.

I dont care if they got swept or not; you cannot win an entire Conference that includes Boston, Orlando, Miami, etc with a terrible team by anybody's standards of terrible.

I would agree but the Eastern conference was weak as a whole in 07. The Toronto raptors were the three seed.

[TribeManiac10]

Mavs will win it all!!!

They might.

[91blue14]

GAME TIME TONIGHT

[gymrat88]

I look for the Heat to win this series in 6 games. The Mavs are playing well, but I just feel that LeBron and Bosh are playing on a different level and I also think Wade will get it going again in this series. Let's go Heat!

[BoshSpice]

Im sure Lebron made those restauranteurs plenty of money

[Rebels on 3]

LeBron made the city of Cleveland. They should rename that city after him.

[Rebels on 3]

For one I'm not from Mercerville/Crown City area. For two you were the one that said to ask the restauranteurs how it has been since LBJ left so that means that LBJ had alot to do with their bussiness right?

[Rebels on 3]

But he didnt play in the era that Shaq played in. The NBA of old is not near as talented as the NBA of today, you need to get that. Thats why they are saying that LBJ is better than all of the NBA guy from back then, because players back then are not near as good as players today. Also no other one single athlete of any sport expect Jordan to Chicago has had an impact on a city like LeBron had on Cleveland. 90% of people today couldnt tell you who Paul Brown of Jim Brown even are.

[dazed&confused]

Send a message. Turn your TV off from the NBA Finals. If the ratings suck, management will be more inclined to take a hard approach to unfettered free agancy. Otherwise, get used to this model for building franchises. If Miami is motivated by us-against-the-world, give some bite to that.

[Rebels on 3]

Its because alot of the greatest players are still playing wait 10 years and I bet you the LeBron will be considered the greatest and Kobe, Shaq, and Durant will all be in the top 10 players of all time. With guys like Howard, Nash, Kidd, and Duncan all being in the top 20. Pushing all the guys you are talking about down the list.