Tag Archives: Lebron James

Why All the Fuss Over LeBron James and Rest

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

 

Over the weekend The Cleveland Cavs sat Kevin Love, due to his injury he’s not yet cleared to play back to backs. Kyrie Irving was ruled out as well from a knee ailment suffered in their last game against the Utah Jazz. Last but not least, LeBron James was a healthy scratch and did not play, for rest. To say the league and fans were upset wouldn’t describe the feeling of disgust enough. Fans were pissed they spent money on tickets to see the best player in the league and were unable to do so. Adam Silver and other league officials weren’t happy the Cavs decided to sit their players on the front end of a back to back considering the Saturday night game was a marquee match-up for the league. What looked like a potential finals preview, turned out to be like the previews before the full length movie.

 

Due to the idea of resting players during the regular season, Cavs management and coaching staff received a fair share of criticism, though LeBron took the most heat. Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson made their feelings known throughout the broadcast that one of the big 3 stars should be playing, and if rest was a big concern then why not rest LeBron the following night against the Los Angeles Lakers and play Love and Kyrie? Or if rest was a necessary precaution, then why have the Cavs been one of the most injury riddled teams this season? You can see listen to their opinions in the video below.

 

 

While very few may have watched much of that game since there were plenty of other options (NCAA Tournament, Netflix, family time) there were a few things the ESPN on ABC crew failed to mention or take into consideration while laying out an otherwise fair criticism.

 1. They mentioned during the game, if their training and coaching staff was trying to protect the players with this rest regimen then why have they been so injured, or why does Tristan Thompson have such an impressive (439) games started streak? Well at the end of the 2015-2016 season, he was started, but only played 4 seconds and was taken out the game to keep the streak alive. When addressing their injury concerns, yes they’ve had just about as many injuries one could have, however, there’s one player they can’t afford to lose and that would be LeBron. you hope not to lose any other important pieces, though I think most would agree losing LeBron would definitely end their chances at a title run, let alone a chance to win it.

2. The Cavs have had limited practice time since the all-star break, have only had more than one day off between games twice. That doesn’t lend itself to more practice time to get the new guys acclimated to the defensive schemes, the offensive plays, where your teammates like to spot up on the floor, how they interpret situations etc. While it would be ideal for them to learn to play on the fly with Love, Kyrie and LeBron, if the first two are out, why not just let the other players get accustomed to each other. You never know what situation will arise where you may need to try a different lineup, i.e. bringing Love off the bench in the finals. Without that extra time, you as a coaching staff have to find times in games to experiment and even in a loss your team can learn things that may be valuable later in the season.

3. The last player they can ill afford to lose is LeBron, we all believe this as fact, yet we have no problems with LeBron playing as if he’s indestructible. Look at his peers, Dwayne Wade, hobbled with injuries the last few years. Carmelo Anthony hasn’t been the most healthiest player in New York with aching knees. The wear and tear eventually catches up to you. LeBron has played in over 6,000 minutes over the last two excluding this current season. Among players who All NBA selections the last two years, he’s played the second most playoff games, and second most minutes. There’s something to be said about the accumulation of minutes played over his career. Don’t forget he’s also played in the Olympics and FIBA competition in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012. While they only kept records of minutes play in 2012, he played 199 minutes during those London, England Olympics, even if we were conservative and assumed he played 150 minutes during the Olympic years and 80 minutes in the US Men’s National teams, thats an extra 599 minutes of basketball played. So bringing up the comparisons of other players who play more games, it lacks the equivalence of a player that has played competitive games during times where players train and recuperate. That time matters for athletes to ensure their body is in the requisite condition to withstand a season that stretches into June.

  • List of All NBA selections with total minutes played from 2014-2016 seasons

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4. Lastly the dude has been to 6 consecutive NBA Finals. That has to count for something right? You’d think he’d get the benefit of the doubt that maybe he deserves a break. When speaking of stars from the past, the 1990’s, the 1980’s and 1970’s, none of them had the kind of run that LeBron is currently on. It’s unprecedented to see a player able to carry whatever team he’s on in this way. Even Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc weren’t asked or needed to do what LeBron has to just for his teams to have a chance. Think about the Cavs woeful record when he sits and Love and Kyrie plays, its awful and looks equally as bad. He’s a great player for a reason, the Cavs should take a step back when he’s not on the floor, he’s just that good. Should they be more competitive than they are, yes, but if they could sustain success without LeBron we’d see other teams rise to the occasion. They don’t because no matter what team LeBron is on, he automatically makes you a title contender and it’s not even close when you look at another player in the league that improves a team that drastically.

 

LeBron has never suffered an injury that has sidelined him for more than a few games. He plays through sprained ankles as if they’re equal to having chapped lips. He’s been incredibly durable. Until he’s not. No one knows when he’ll fall off, we just know the fall off is coming, because there’s one thing in this world that is undefeated, father time.

 

*Statistics from Basketball-Reference

2 Months Down, Where do the Cavs go from Here

LeBron James

It was a summer day in July, after days of speculation, innuendo, rumor and assumption Cleveland fans finally was on the good end of the joke for the first time in a long time. LeBron wrote (with the help of Lee Jenkins) a heart warming, humble letter and ode to his appreciation to northeastern Ohio. It was the spring that allowed hope to freely dance in the heart and minds of fans.

5 months later the Cavs are 19-14, in their last 10 games they’re an average 5-5 after coming off a streak where they won 8 straight games out of 10. Except where they stand now they wouldn’t have home court advantage if the playoffs started today. With their next 6 out of 9 games against opponents of teams who have an average winning percentage of .695 the Cavs will have their work cut out for them as they will have no LeBron as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love deal with a knee bruise and back spasm respectively.

Yet they could use this time to define their bench as that has been a point of contention for this team and new coaching staff. With multiple changes to the starting lineup and no consistent rotation for the bench, if they could have the latter half of that equation figured out by the time LBJ comes back, life for the Cavs could be improved vastly.

The only problem with that is, they’re playing very good teams with established coaches who don’t have to figure out rotations, installing new defensive schemes, and learning the NBA game as a whole. While I believe the notion of learning the NBA game is overstated, dealing with strangers’ ego, personalities and fostering relationships isn’t. David Blatt didn’t come up through the ranks here such as guys like Erik Spoelstra, Mike Brown. While they were world beaters when they started, players knew them when they were assistants, they were the guys pulling film for them to study. They were able to build relationships which allowed for players to trust them when times get tough. Blatt, has very little of that. While there are players that will vouch for his brilliance as an offensive strategist, that list is very small and with a team with as many young players as the Cavs have those words only go so far.

While the coach definitely must prove to his players that he does indeed knows what he’s doing, the players at some point to have to buy in and give what the coach is saying a chance. I know, a real chicken and the egg situation. In the meantime I’ll list some things below the Cavs can do now to improve their fortunes before the All-Star break.

Kyrie Irving

1. Kyrie should distribute more; Kyrie might never be Chris Paul or Rajon Rondo when it comes to passing the ball, but if he’s going to average more turnovers than steals and less assist than Kobe per game then this team won’t go but so far. Too often Kyrie dribbles to not create for others, but to only create for himself. On pick and rolls, he either gives up the ball a beat too late or not at all. If he shifted his focus slightly to generating offense for others that would potentially open the floor for others and should lead to easier buckets for him.

Kyrie, Kevin, LeBron

2. Pick and roll and post action with Kevin Love. Love looks uncomfortable, he’s the third wheel to LeBron and Kyrie and while we could argue that shouldn’t be case, that’s the hand that’s been dealt. Get Love involved, this would probably increase his energy on the defensive end. Basketball is so much more fun when you know you’re going to touch the ball. It has energy, there’s nothing more frustrating than wanting to be involved past just inbounding the ball and grabbing rebounds.

How often have we seen pick and roll with Love and LBJ, Love and Kyrie. This would cause the defense to have to make a very hard decision, double and leave one open, go over the top and risk getting burned with the screener dashing to the hole, or popping out for a jump shot. Go behind and risk the man with the ball having space to rise up and shoot. It’s a simple enough concept, but under pressure, the obvious is easy to miss. Secondly, place Love in the post, let him create for him and others, he’s a good passer, and he can be efficient down low. This will also prevent him getting 3 happy. With him in the post you can runback door action, cutting, off ball pick and roll which could produce easy shots for others and not allow the defense to plant and double down on Love.

Remember Karl Malone and John Stockton, well they ran the 2 man game about as good as any big man guard combo ever. If the Cavs could implement this kind of action with Love, LBJ and Kyrie the three of them wouldn’t have to work so hard on offense and should reduce their turnovers so they don’t get crushed in transition.

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at Orlando Magic

3. Pick a starting rotation. Waiters, Dellavedova, Miller, Marion, pick one, stick with it, and let that be it. Nobody wins with the constant flux of guys in and out of the lineup. There’s a comfort in knowing when you’re going to play, knowing in general how many minutes you’ll get. It also allows you to prepare. If I know I’m only going to get 10 minutes with Halle Berry compared to a week, I’ll probably work a little faster, use more urgency. When you know who’s going to be on the court with you it allows you to figure out your approach to the game well before you get to the court.

I would say start Miller, hespreads the floor and doesn’t need the ball to be effective, he can spot up from any point on the floor and requires the defense play him honest or get burned if they double off of him.

Make Waiters your 6th man, commit to it. Develop him into your leader of the second team and pseudo back up point guard. He can score and create for others and with the second team he’s allowed the space to do so without stepping on toes that would allow for him to place his ego on the back burner when on the court with LBJ and crew cause he knows he’s going to have dedicated time on the court without them.

As for Dellavedova, the coaching staff loves his defense, me, not so much. However, it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere so utilize him in spurts. While he’s on the floor for his defense he must be more discipline and not fall so hard for the pump fake, he’s putting too much pressure on the big men when guards drive past him. He also has to become a viable offensive threat, can’t play hot potato with the ball. Defenders lay off on him so far you’d think they were on a stake out when they’re guarding him. If he’s not going to shoot he can’t be on the floor, it places unfair pressure on everyone else.

Love, Miller, Harris High five4. High fives; I know, it was just as weird when I typed it as when you read it. Nonetheless, there was a study a few years back that teams that gave more high fives than others were more successful. It was a sign that they were more supportive of each other as teammates. This team looks like an arranged marriage at times. They deal with each other because they have to, not because they’re in love. I’m not suggesting they all have sleep overs and eat smores, but encouragement and support from one another can go a long way.

Six games out of the top seed in the Eastern Conference, 48 games left to make a move. While it’s not early, they have 4 months to get this team where they need to be to make a deep playoff run. The stakes are high, all eyes are on them, not a position a Cleveland team is used to being in, and one they won’t be in long if this falls apart.

Why Getting Kevin Love Doesn’t Equal Rings For Cavs

lebron kyrie kevin

 

After months of speculation, hear say, and rumors, the Cleveland Cavs and Minnesota Timberwolves have finally agreed to terms to exchange number one picks Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett for Kevin Love.

 

While this instantly give the Cavs one the most talented rosters in the league with the best player on the planet, top five point guard, and arguably the best power forward, there are still plenty of questions to be answered before the city of Cleveland starts planning a parade down Superior road.

 

The Cavs are no doubt the front runners of the Eastern Conference, however they are not without flaw and competition. The Chicago Bulls with a healthy Derrick Rose and adding Pau Gasol will be a dangerous team that will cause havoc for many front lines in the league. The Bulls have the potential to give the Cavs headaches with the combination of Joakim Noah and Gasol compared against Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson, and Love. Defensively you would give the nod to the Bulls, Love hasn’t proven to be a defensive stall-wort despite his rebounding prowess and while Thompson is decent, he’s still developing as young big. Varejao will be dependable if he’s healthy, but as you get older you don’t get healthier, which if the Cavs suffer an injury to the oft injured Love or Varejao as Dolla Bill from Playa’s Club would say, there’s gonna be ‘trouble, trouble’.

 

The Bulls aren’t the only team that could derail the fairy tale ending for the Cavs, the Washington Wizards, and Miami Heat will also be formidable opponents. The Wizards with John Wall, Bradley Beal, Nene, Marcin Gortat as their core made it to the second round last year and with that experience might give them a leg up over some the Cavs young talent. The Wizards also added Paul Pierce which gives them a guy who has made big shots and can give that team confidence needed when adversity comes. Not to mention, they now have most ‘old man game’ players on their team with Pierce and Andre Miller. The only hinderance with the Wizards is their coach, Randy Wittman.

 

And finally the Miami Heat, reigning Eastern Conference Champions. Resigned Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh and acquired Josh McRoberts, Danny Granger and Luol Deng. Those five guys in a more balanced Eastern Conference can get you to .500 and if their role players can provide much assistant for a depleted Wade they could win close to 50 games. The Heat won’t be as dead as some would like to proclaim. Chris Bosh will now be the number one guy and should flourish considering he’s added the 3 point shot to his game over the last few years. Never forget in Toronto he averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds a game. With LeBron gone he’ll have more room and more shots to operate with. The biggest questions is going to be how long can Wade hold up. Can he play every other day when it comes time to the playoffs? Will his knee allow him to guard his position effectively and not be a defensive liability? History would tell us no from last year, but ego and motivation do wonders for the aged and hurt athlete, which he will have plenty of.

 

The Cavs as it stands today are my pick to win the Eastern Conference, but they are not perfect. Outside of finding some more big men, another question I have is, who is their back up point guard? Who’s the guy that’s going to run the second team? Obvious choice would be Dion Waiters however, it’s rumored he wants to start, and while he could reek havoc as a sixth man reference James Harden in Oklahoma City, he doesn’t seem to want that role. The Los Angeles Lakers in 2003-2004 that they had all the answers until their big 4 ran into the Detroit Pistons, the 2013-2014 Miami Heat were poised to win their third championship until the San Antonio Spurs went NBA Jame the arcade version from the 3 point line. Let’s not be so quick to schedule the ring ceremony, this process may take a little longer. While the pieces to the puzzle are on the table, they still have to be properly arranged into a cohesive picture.

 

(Video) LeBron James Kills Jason Terry with Monster Dunk

LeBron kills the jet

It wasn’t too long ago that Jason Terry was talking trash that he didn’t care about the Miami Heats’ winning streak. Well LeBron must’ve heard this, and when given the chance took no mercy on the 6’2 guard. If you haven’t seen the video of Jason Terry getting posterized, just look below.

Disclaimer: This dunk may cause a reaction to jump up and down and make very loud noises that might scare others, so do not watch around those with weak hearts.