Because if there's one thing Dirk doesn't get enough of, it's calls in his favor....
Were the phantom fouls called on dirk and jet as bad on TV as they were on the jumbotron??
The Lebrick nut huggers are out in full force. Strange they were awfully quiet after game 1. Lebrick is big and fast. He should be a great player til about 30 years old. Then when he isn't faster and stronger than everyone he'll have to rely on that awful shooting of his. He can't win in Cleveland but strangely enough Dirk seems to be heading for a championship without a second superstar.
There's so much wrong going on in this post.
The Cavs did have guys who could contribute meaningfully to a championship, Lebron INCLUDED. That doesn't mean the collection of players makes sense. Put 5 Ray Allens out on the court and you'll get killed, but he was still a key cog on a championship team.
The formula for every championship, save for a few years, is to have 2-3 all-stars (one of which is a top-5 player unless you're Detroit and sport 5 all-stars), and a group of role players who give it their all. Cleveland had a decent group of role players, but only had 1 all-star (Mo's one all-star game appearance doesn't count). You will not find a championship team who's second best offensive player was of Mo William's caliber. It's the same reason none of Boston's big three won before they got each other. Who was their best second fiddle?
Cleveland's 'good start' was 20 games of .500 ball. Do you know how many times I've seen the Raps (a notoriously garbage team that I woefully support) do that? Cleveland had so many rookies because they've been a revolving door for years, because they haven't had that much talent.
My comment on their being incapable of contributing meaningfully to a championship was in reference to their choking in the playoffs every year, not in their physical ability. They might be far from their prime but Jameson and Shaq both were all star players, Mo did have the single visit to it, and Varejao was at least all defense team last year. They should have had the talent for a championship last year, they no longer have anywhere near that, my point is merely that Lebron James is not the SOLE reason for that.
To imply that the talent Dirk's surrounded with right now is similar to what Lebron had in Cleveland is wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. You can't really believe that...
Fair enough. I retract my whole lotta wrong comment
Jamison/Shaq were shells last year though. They certainly had a lot of good pieces, but they never had the requisite second piece. They also didn't look like they had any chance at getting it any time soon.
I don't think they actually had the talent to win a championship last year, outside leaning on Lebron to basically have the best playoffs of any player in NBA history. I don't think there's any player in history you could swap for Lebron and get Cleveland over the hump.
I do still think Lebron is 95% of the reason for their fall from grace. Those other players you mention are certainly great contributors, but they are nothing close to a first or second option offensively on any other NBA team. I don't think Shaq/Jamison/AV playing 82 games for them this year bumps their record by more than a few games at most.
Seriously? Last years Cavs second best player was Antawn Jamison. Mavs second beat is Jason Terry. Pretty comparable but most would take Jamison. Shaquille and Z are a comparable center combo to Chandler and Haywood. Mavs don't have a comparable player to Varejao on the team. Mo Williams/Delonte West can definitely be compared to a 38 year old Kidd and a 5'10" Barea.
Please enlighten me as to where the Mavs are so much more loaded than last years cavs.
Seriously? Last years Cavs second best player was Antawn Jamison. Mavs second beat is Jason Terry. Pretty comparable but most would take Jamison. Shaquille and Z are a comparable center combo to Chandler and Haywood. Mavs don't have a comparable player to Varejao on the team. Mo Williams/Delonte West can definitely be compared to a 38 year old Kidd and a 5'10" Barea.
Please enlighten me as to where the Mavs are so much more loaded than last years cavs.
Dallas' depth is really overrated. Take this from a diehard lifelong mavs fan. You should of seen this team when Dirk went out for a couple weeks with a sprained knee this year. I think it was a 5-6 game losing streak and they didn't win again until Dirk came back with a gimpy knee just to stop the losing streak. Dirk makes these guys look better than they are.
Man I was disappointed in the Mavericks loss last night. I really want them to go to the championship
As I said, they certainly weren't comparable to Lebron in terms of skill, but the Cavs of this season were sporting 5 rookies, 2 of which were undrafted and 2 who were late picks, the roster is nowhere near what it was last year. The Cavs of last year had plenty of guys who could contribute meaningfully, they just couldn't do it to a championship, Lebron included in that list.
Teams only play 8 players, 9 at most. Six roster guys only get minutes in the event of injuries.
The players you named earlier included only one guy who started this year, Mo Williams. The list of Cavs running mates simply was not impressive.
Jordan played alongside a Hall of Famer in Pippen, who most people think is the best defender to ever play the game. The team was coached by a Hall of Famer in Jackson, who most people think is the best coach ever, certainly in the modern era. That is in no way comparable to what the Cavs had. It just isn't.
Not sure what you mean with this comment, those people I listed are players that are different this year from last in addition to the injuries. Obviously players not on the team aren't going to be starting.
They aren't starting for the teams they are playing for now. How could they be such a huge loss to the Cavs if they don't start for their new teams?
Ah gotcha. If I am not mistaken Shaq was starting for the Celtics before he was injured, Z started for the Heat for a while, West was riding bench all season though. Both the players I mentioned that were injured were starters for the Cavs also. This conversation is screwing up my lurker status though so farewell now
They do?Teams only play 8 players, 9 at most. Six roster guys only get minutes in the event of injuries.
The players you named earlier included only one guy who started this year, Mo Williams. The list of Cavs running mates simply was not impressive.
Jordan played alongside a Hall of Famer in Pippen, who most people think is the best defender to ever play the game.
I think Pippen's a HoF guy without question, and a great defensive player, but no way was he the best ever, and certainly "most people" don't think so.
I could link to blogs saying he is the best defensive player, blogs aren't especially meaningful. I write for an NBA blog (no link here, don't wanna cross pollinate) and could whip up a Pippen all time great article just to link you if that was the standard of comparison.
Fair enough, "most players who played in that era" would say that. You listen to any of them talk about playing those Bulls teams and most will say that Scottie Pippen was one of the silent keys to that team because of his defense.
Pippen had great size and length and could defend 4 positions on the court. He shut down Magic in the Lakers Finals single handedly despite giving up a few inches in height. The ability to switch positions was incredibly important, especially as the Bulls picked up Rodman. That gave the Bulls three elite defensive players who could switch on picks.
Moronic bloggers and moronic media analysts will always overvalue big men when discussing defense. Players who played the game at the highest level don't do that anywhere near as much. It is generally much easier to show blocks and rebounds (yes rebounds!!) as stats to "support" that some big man is a great defensive player.
Big men can be dominant defensively, but so can wing guys. It is the ability to go out there and stop the best guy on the other team, usually a wing guy, that really measures a players defensive importance.
I agree that the big guys tend to get overrated, and it's really difficult to compare a perimeter guy to a 7 foot shot blocker. This debate raged the year that Eaton won Def. PoY, many argued for Rodman.
I can't remember anyone being a better defender than Jordan. Ever. As of late it's probably been Howard and Kobe.
Also just throwing this out there but Durant is the single best offensive player in the game by far. I haven't watched too much of him defensively but if he can get his defense to at least decent he is going to be the best player in the league. I might even put him there right now.