LeBron Recruited Joe Johnson?

[JETSET]

I mean, it's really not a big deal if people like Lebron or not. I just wished people had a legit reason not to like the guy, instead of finding some small reason to hate him.

 

 

But it's like everything Lebron does draws a Skip Bayless-like overreaction from people.  That same 'douche' is one of these biggest givers to charity amongst ALL athletes.  And not just his money, his time as well.   That same douche left Miami to go back home to Cleveland, even after the fan base and the owner damn near wanted to murder him.

 

If a trade went down this afternoon that sent Teague, Millsap, Korver, and 2 first round picks to Cleveland for Lebron, this entire fanbase would lose their damn minds . . . in a good way.   The city would be buzzing like The Messiah himself had come back to save the Earth.  And all of that talk about him being a douche, him being not genuine, him being full of himself, wouldn't matter one dang bit.

 

When I think of true doucehbags, I think of guys like Paul Pierce and Ron Artest.  Lebron is nowhere near on their level of doucehness.   People simply find ANYTHING to be mad at Lebron about, much like Skip Bayless does.

So you actually believe Lebron's letter and the b.s. he wrote about going home?  Lebron is back in Cleveland because of two reasons.

 

1.)  They just got their asses whipped by the Spurs and they had hardly any room for possible improvement going in to this season.

 

2.)  His legacy would have been even further tarnished if he left Miami for any city other than Cleveland.

[Admin]

I mean, it's really not a big deal if people like Lebron or not. I just wished people had a legit reason not to like the guy, instead of finding some small reason to hate him.

 

Tim Duncan is arguably the most unassuming, robotic-like superstar of all time.   He definitely gets respect from everybody, partially because people forget about him.  He purposely stays out of the spotlight and doesn't bring attention to himself.  And the media doesn't care about him because they feel that he's not 'interesting enough'.   For that reason, they don't follow his every move and report on everything he does or doesn't do.

 

But it's like everything Lebron does draws a Skip Bayless-like overreaction from people.  That same 'douche' is one of these biggest givers to charity amongst ALL athletes.  And not just his money, his time as well.   That same douche left Miami to go back home to Cleveland, even after the fan base and the owner damn near wanted to murder him.

 

If a trade went down this afternoon that sent Teague, Millsap, Korver, and 2 first round picks to Cleveland for Lebron, this entire fanbase would lose their damn minds . . . in a good way.   The city would be buzzing like The Messiah himself had come back to save the Earth.  And all of that talk about him being a douche, him being not genuine, him being full of himself, wouldn't matter one dang bit.

 

When I think of true doucehbags, I think of guys like Paul Pierce and Ron Artest.  Lebron is nowhere near on their level of doucehness.   People simply find ANYTHING to be mad at Lebron about, much like Skip Bayless does.

 

It's funny how you're undermining our opinions of why we don't like him by saying they're small reasons.  But since that seems to be ok, you're totally wrong in saying that he's nowhere near the level of a guy like Paul Pierce. They're cut from the same cloth. 

 

And no, him being a Hawk doesn't change the simple fact that he's a douche. Doesn't mean we wouldn't cheer for him, the same way we cheered for Sheed that single game he played for us and tore it up. Or the same way we cheered for JR Rider, etc. etc. 

[AHF]

So you actually believe Lebron's letter and the b.s. he wrote about going home?  Lebron is back in Cleveland because of two reasons.

 

1.)  They just got their asses whipped by the Spurs and they had hardly any room for possible improvement going in to this season.

 

2.)  His legacy would have been even further tarnished if he left Miami for any city other than Cleveland.

 

3)  They just landed 3 #1 overall picks along with two other top lottery picks to add talent to the roster and trade pieces for talent upgrades.  Let's not pretend that the presence of Kyrie Irving and the trade piece / young talent of Andrew Wiggins weren't huge factors.  Lebron saw his chance to go home with a younger, better big 3 than Wade and Bosh.  And then he mitigated that gamble by signing a short-term contract that would let him leave him free to jump ship if these other player didn't blossom.

[JETSET]

3)  They just landed 3 #1 overall picks along with two other top lottery picks to add talent to the roster and trade pieces for talent upgrades.  Let's not pretend that the presence of Kyrie Irving and the trade piece / young talent of Andrew Wiggins weren't huge factors.  Lebron saw his chance to go home with a younger, better big 3 than Wade and Bosh.  And then he mitigated that gamble by signing a short-term contract that would let him leave him free to jump ship if these other player didn't blossom.

I partly agree with this.  Those draft picks made Cleveland a viable option; however, returning to Cleveland wasn't his best chance at winning a ring.  I believe that he would be in some other city not named Cleveland or Miami if my point #2 was not a bigger factor.  That Love for Wiggins swap was a done deal before Lebron made his decision.  He wouldn't have went to Cleveland without Love joining him.  This is obvious in his letter where he names all of the Cleveland players and leaves out the players that were later involved in the Love deal.

 

and no he cannot jump ship now.  He is stuck in Cleveland for the rest of his career unless he wants to be the ultimate sports pariah.

[JETSET]

I stayed up and watched the Cavs vs Portland game last night and the Cavs just look straight bad.  Irving and Waiters can't get in sync and offer zero help on the boards.  Lebron looks disinterested and slow.  I think he is going to regret losing all of that weight and it's not like you can just bulk and put the weight back on during the regular season.  Kyrie and Dion combined for 6/28 shooting, 1 reb with 5 assists to 4 turnovers while getting straight abused by Lillard and Wes Matthews on the other end (combined for 14/27 shooting, 12 rebs with 9 assists and 2 turnovers).

 

I know it's still early in the season, but I don't think this Cavs team is going to be dominant like every one expected.

 

An interesting stat:  Lebron has had the worst +/- on the team in each of the first 3 games this year.  He's at -31 on the year. 

[Guest]

I expected them to play well early with all the hoopla then fade back to Earth as the dog days set in.  This slow start is troubling (if you're a Cavs "fan") because the hard part of the season isn't here yet.  I just want to see Kyrie and Waiters fistfight for the ball a few times though.  Jerry Springer-esque.  James looks injured or disinterested.

 

It's still early so I'm not writing their obit ... yet.  I'm not crowning the Rockets either tho.

[AHF]

Waayy too early to make a determination on any team.  I can tell you no one will be excited to face a team headlined by James in the post-season.

[JETSET]

Waayy too early to make a determination on any team.  I can tell you no one will be excited to face a team headlined by James in the post-season.

I agree that it's way too early; however, this team has some noticeable deficiencies with no answer to fix them.  How exactly does their defense get better when the team is filled with below average defenders and no rim protectors?  How do they solve the problem of Kyrie/Dion not fitting well when the only other SG on the team is Matthew Dellavedova?

 

People expect Love to be an upgrade over Bosh and I don't see it.  He may be a better fit with Lebron offensively, although I would say that more of this is the fault of Spo as it was clear to me that he should have ran the offense through Bosh more last season.  On the defensive side, Bosh is light years ahead of Love.

 

Winning in the playoffs isn't something that comes immediately either in the NBA.  Usually, players have to learn how to win over a couple of seasons.  Bosh has been to the playoffs and Wade had already carried his team to a title when the Heat joined.  Love and Irving have been losing for their whole NBA careers.

[Guest]

Bosh has been to the playoffs and Wade had already carried his team to a title when the Heat joined. Love and Irving have been losing for their whole NBA careers.

I'm glad you pointed this out. Bosh and Wade had age and experience on their side when teaming with LBJ and was able to alter their games. Will it be so easy for these younger guys who are now just coming into their own and haven't been winning. It'll be interesting to see how this develops as the season gues along. The Cavs defense will be a problem all season. LBJ will soon trade Waiters. Wouldn't it be something if Love leaves if he feels he isn't getting enough touches?

[Guest]

I'm glad you pointed this out. Bosh and Wade had age and experience on their side when teaming with LBJ and was able to alter their games. Will it be so easy for these younger guys who are now just coming into their own and haven't been winning. It'll be interesting to see how this develops as the season gues along. The Cavs defense will be a problem all season. LBJ will soon trade Waiters. Wouldn't it be something if Love leaves if he feels he isn't getting enough touches?

 

Ha!  Thought you could just slip that past us?  Not sure why Waiters wasn't included somehow in the Wiggins deal.  Probably thought they could push him into that 6-man role.  His ego won't allow it.

 

Also, inb4 Dolf moves this thread out of the Homecourt section.

[Admin]

Yeah I'm expecting Waiters will be traded by mid December. He's just not a good player.

But I'm not gonna write them off. Remember the Heat were like 9-8 their initial season before going on a tear. That may not happen in Cleveland but I wouldn't put the nail in them just yet.

And haha good catch there on lady J's joke

[Guest]

Yeah I'm expecting Waiters will be traded by mid December. He's just not a good player.

But I'm not gonna write them off. Remember the Heat were like 9-8 their initial season before going on a tear. That may not happen in Cleveland but I wouldn't put the nail in them just yet.

And haha good catch there on lady J's joke

Yep, he'll be gone soon:

 

Waiters: Catch-And-Shoot Isn't My Game

With the Cleveland Cavaliers featuring the playmaking abilities of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving on offense, catch-and-shoot perimeter shots are a key component of how they score.

Dion Waiters made 42 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts last season (72-for-173), which ranked 35th in the NBA and higher than both Kevin Love and Irving.

Waiters worked out for an extra 40 minutes after the Cavaliers' shootaround on Tuesday primarily working on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.

“That’s not my game,” said Waiters when asked if he's focusing on that this season. “I can do it, but you know what I’m effective at: pick-and-roll and things like that.”

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Lebron should volunteer to come off the bench, just to appease his teammates and send a shockwave across the league.

 

LOL @ Bayless accusing him of quitting last night.  See, that's the type of stuff I'm talking about.

[JETSET]

Lebron should volunteer to come off the bench, just to appease his teammates and send a shockwave across the league.

 

LOL @ Bayless accusing him of quitting last night.  See, that's the type of stuff I'm talking about.

Did you watch the game?  You may agree with Bayless if you did.  Lebron didn't score a single point in the second half and was barely trying on defense.  Was just standing straight up when his opponent had the ball and not even attempting to defend.  He was jogging to each end of the court during parts of the second half.

[Guest]

Lebron should volunteer to come off the bench, just to appease his teammates and send a shockwave across the league.

 

LOL @ Bayless accusing him of quitting last night.  See, that's the type of stuff I'm talking about.

 

I don't know who you are anymore NorthCyde ...

 

@JETSET was right.  James was giving up down the stretch.  Per Bronnz's mouthpiece, he's letting them stink on purpose to teach them a lesson.  He's going all Mr. Dbag Miyagi on them fools.

 

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11824708/lebron-james-opts-new-leadership-style-young-cleveland-cavaliers

 

IOW, you're nothing without me Cavvies.

 

I thought the James apologist/writer made it up but there's quotes from the Man himself...

 

"Everyone wants to win, I would hope," James said. "Would you rather play selfish basketball and lose, or play unselfish basketball and sacrifice and win? So you pick it."

 

This style of leadership is not part of James' typical nature and it wouldn't be like him to keep it up very long. More likely, frustrated by the way the game unfolded as the Cavs' offense collapsed into one-on-one ball, this was his way of counting to 10 to calm down.

Edited November 5, 2014 by kg01

[JETSET]

and he's setting a terrible example with what he's trying to do IMO.  If you are going to go this route, you keep it in house and let them figure it out themselves.  Why say it aloud in the media?  It's just Lebron up to his typical antics of throwing his teammates under the bus.

[Guest]

This is a weird conspiracy theory but do any of you think Lebron might have come over to Cleveland just to damage the team's future for a couple of years, not win a ring, then bolt back to Miami or join another team just to spurn Gilbert for the "slave" like comments he made in 2010 when Lebron left the Cavs?

I know it's far fetched and Lebron wouldn't jeopardize his legacy for Gilbert's demise but could it be possible that he hates Gilbert so much that he's willing to sacrifice a couple if seasons?

[Guest]

And the tinfoil hat of the year award goes to ...  @Spud2Nique!!!

 

Hey, congrats man.  Speech!  Speech!  Speech!

[Guest]

And the tinfoil hat of the year award goes to ... @Spud2Nique!!!

Hey, congrats man. Speech! Speech! Speech!

Thank you..thank you all. I have so many people to thank I don't wanna leave anyone out. First off thanks to my parents who instilled fear of the world in me, to my siblings who instilled conspiracy theories around the world...and finally, last but not least I'd like to thank my high school and college friends for the many years of enjoying coronas and Mexican spinach to create paranoia and anxiety in me. You've all been a great part of my ability to "think outside of the box". Thank you all this award is for you. Edited November 5, 2014 by Spud2Nique

[Guest]

Thank you..thank you all. I have so many people to thank I don't wanna leave anyone out. First off thanks to my parents who instilled fear of the world in me, to my siblings who instilled conspiracy theories around the world...and finally, last but not least I'd like to thank my high school and college friends for the many years of enjoying coronas and Mexican spinach to create paranoia and anxiety in me. You've all been a great part of my ability to "think outside of the box". Thank you all this award is for you.

Did you drop the mic and walk off? If so, post of the day.