Cavs Just Lost To The Knicks

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

This is on point, and Kobe wouldnt half ass it like Lebrons doing as well. Kobe always showed up every game and played his hardest, he was a true leader

Lebrons lazyness during the season rubs off (pause) on his teammates, and he doesnt have anyone to bail him out anymore

I spoke about this last season too, it's half the reason why their defense is as bad as it is, because they're just following his lead. They'd still have the same foundational issues on that end, but they'd be A LOT better if he took a backseat on offense and put more focus on defense.

Just like he would've put them in a better position of winning the Finals last season if he balanced his effort on defense/offense in accordance to what his team needed. Folks keep going on about how great his Finals performance was (due to being distracted by his pretty box score #s), but it really wasn't.

 

[kingdarius]

im gonna wait until at least all the key players on the roster are on the court but right now its not looking good at all. TT has to be traded. He's useless. Khloe has sucked (some pun intended) all the skills out dude. Harden tried to tell him and now she got him for 18yrs ...if they wanna win this year, they gotta package him for somebody. They should've nvr got rid of mozgov, i've said that since day 1 when they let him leave.

 

[MJ Truth]

“Bu...bu..but the Cavs offense was horrible with Kyrie on the floor and no Bron”

*Looks at Boston’s offense*

But Boston lost to Cleveland though.

 

[MJ Truth]

I know Lebron superteams usually don't take the regular season seriously, but like I said in the other thread, Cavs aren't making the Finals. If they meet a team like Philly who could end up putting everything together heading in the first round of playoff they are losing.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

This is on point, and Kobe wouldnt half ass it like Lebrons doing as well. Kobe always showed up every game and played his hardest, he was a true leader

You're talking about a guy who quit trying for an entire midseason game because he was pissed at Shaq, quit trying in a GAME SEVEN because he was pissed at his teammates, half-assed it on defense for the final six years of his career, and once stopped practicing for an entire season because he was "saving it for the games". A guy whose own coach accused of trying to shoot the team out of games because he was chasing his own scoring streaks at the expense of team success. A "true leader" who got his HOF coach to quit the team and call him "uncoachable."

And you're comparing THAT GUY's effort positively to someone who has had to do more over the last 7 seasons (more games, more minutes, and more responsibility on both ends of the court) than anyone in any 7-year stretch in NBA history, who started the season with an ankle injury that made it iffy whether he would even play in the opener, and who is still averaging 26-7-9 with 1.3 blocks on 60/44/77 shooting splits while "half-assing" it.



I fully admit that Bron doesn't look like he's going 100%, but the idea that he should be going 100% in the 5th game of the season with significant players out in a lineup that needs major reform....what basketball player in NBA history would be going 100% at this point when they still had 95 games to go before completing their 8th consecutive run to the Finals? He ain't superhuman, there's no chance that he could give everything now and still have anything left in June.


Ya'all have a higher opinion than Bron than I do. Apparently a 32-year-old Bron on a bum ankle should be averaging 40-15-15 while anchoring the defense, while a prime Kobe giving his all every game still wasn't good for more than one regular season MVP.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

And you're comparing THAT GUY's effort positively to someone who has had to do more over the last 7 seasons (more games, more minutes, and more responsibility on both ends of the court) than anyone in any 7-year stretch in NBA history, who started the season with an ankle injury that made it iffy whether he would even play in the opener, and who is still averaging 26-7-9 with 1.3 blocks on 60/44/77 shooting splits while "half-assing" it.

He's "half-assing" it on defense, in this context those numbers are irrelevant, because they do come at a cost of him not applying the same amount of effort on defense. Now obviously I don't think it should be expected of him to be a lockdown defender for the entire game, but I don't think his surface numbers should be valued as highly as they do if he's ignoring the other end + ignoring the benefit of not dominating the ball as much as he does.

I know personally, I would value his play a lot more if he didn't control the ball/possessions to put up pretty box score numbers, and replaced it with more off-ball play and focus on defense. The team would be better off for it too.

 

[Professor Emeritus]

He's "half-assing" it on defense, in this context those numbers are irrelevant, because they do come at a cost of him not applying the same amount of effort on defense. Now obviously I don't think it should be expected of him to be a lockdown defender for the entire game, but I don't think his surface numbers should be valued as highly as they do if he's ignoring the other end + ignoring the benefit of not dominating the ball as much as he does.

I know personally, I would value his play a lot more if he didn't control the ball/possessions to put up pretty box score numbers, and replaced it with more off-ball play and focus on defense. The team would be better off for it too.

I agree he's half-assing it on defense, I just have trouble expecting him to do anything else at this point in the season/career. A LOT of older stars half-ass it on defense during the regular season, especially early on, especially when they're expected to take massive responsibilities on offense and have been making deep, exhaustive playoff runs for a decade and counting. The team should be compensating for him there, because a good bit of them are younger, healthier, and aren't really doing shyt on either end.

I spoke about this last season too, it's half the reason why their defense is as bad as it is, because they're just following his lead. They'd still have the same foundational issues on that end, but they'd be A LOT better if he took a backseat on offense and put more focus on defense.

Just like he would've put them in a better position of winning the Finals last season if he balanced his effort on defense/offense in accordance to what his team needed. Folks keep going on about how great his Finals performance was (due to being distracted by his pretty box score #s), but it really wasn't.

Take a backseat on offense and let...Wade lead the team on that side? Shump? DRose in the half of the games that he's shown up for?

You're talking about a team that has gone to three straight Finals and won one of the biggest rings in history. And you give them a lineup that doesn't look like it has a chance in hell of stopping one of the most stacked teams in history. What is the motivation going to be? It's no surprise at all that moral is low. What are they playing for? They gotta be either just waiting for more trades or expecting to mail the season in.

Even if Lebron put more focus on defense, they would still have massive deficiencies there at every position. When you're starting DRose at PG, 35yo JR at SG, Love at PF, and this version of TT at center, you are going to have defensive issues regardless of how hard Lebron plays. And with JR and TT basically being black holes on offense at the moment, Lebron taking a step back there would mean your offense revolving around...Rose and Love's two-man game?

This team doesn't have the personnel to compete. I said that from the moment Kyrie was traded.

 

[MostReal]

I've been trying to tell this these nikkas (as have a lot of others), but they didn't wanna listen.

Me too dude's style of play has always been trash.
I'm not a fan at all

 

[Ironman]

Wtf type of salty ass shyt is this?!

You can't make this shyt up

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

I agree he's half-assing it on defense, I just have trouble expecting him to do anything else at this point in the season/career. A LOT of older stars half-ass it on defense during the regular season, especially early on, especially when they're expected to take massive responsibilities on offense and have been making deep, exhaustive playoff runs for a decade and counting. The team should be compensating for him there, because a good bit of them are younger, healthier, and aren't really doing shyt on either end.

I don't see it as doing more, I see it as balancing his effort out more - which I don't think he's done particularly well since going back to Cleveland. If he embraced an equal-opportunity offense, in sacrifice of his box score numbers, and shifted some of that effort towards defense and offensive activity that doesn't show up in the box score, the issues that have been in rotation for the last 18+ months wouldn't be as pronounced.

This team should definitely be compensating for him, but the way he's built the squad and his style of play hasn't allowed it. I don't expect him to be Duncan, but if he embraced a role like that (which he has the power to do) and surrendered having a team specifically built around him, we probably wouldn't even be discussing this.

Take a backseat on offense and let...Wade lead the team on that side? Shump? DRose in the half of the games that he's shown up for?.

When I say take a backseat, I mean take a backseat from controlling the ball and playing for stats. Again, a motion-based offense that keeps its players engaged constantly in the offense would benefit everybody in the team, and would minimize the potential dropoff when he's off the floor or not directly active in the play.

Even if Lebron put more focus on defense, they would still have massive deficiencies there at every position. When you're starting DRose at PG, 35yo JR at SG, Love at PF, and this version of TT at center, you are going to have defensive issues regardless of how hard Lebron plays. And with JR and TT basically being black holes on offense at the moment, Lebron taking a step back there would mean your offense revolving around...Rose and Love's two-man game?

This team doesn't have the personnel to compete. I said that from the moment Kyrie was traded.

Again, LeBron is partly responsible for why this team is built the way it is, and the state that it's now in.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

@The Dankster you can see how Westbrook's style of play forces his teammates to play a certain way, surely you can see how LeBron's style does the same (not exactly to the same degree, but how they have to shape their games around him rather than fit together)?

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Me too dude's style of play has always been trash.
I'm not a fan at all

I don't know if I'd call it trash, but a lot of dudes confuse his style of play for bettering the players and the team around him, when really the players are just around him as support to his skillset, rather than a team that's balanced. They're not a team like the Spurs or the Warriors, because if LeBron could embrace that type of environment we wouldn't even be discussing this shyt right now. I mean shyt, we've been going on about this for the last three years, and yet still some folk ignore the reality of the situation.

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Congrats on beating a team without a Point Guard...in the 7th game of the season...

What the hell does this even mean?

 

[DIMES]

It's over

Brother u gonna do us ike that? After all we been through

 

[teacher]

Tim Hardaway jr channeling his pops

I hope he can keep it up