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03-07-2011, 10:10 PM | #1576 |
...
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I think the funniest stat is that the Heat pretty much have to win out to avoid having a worse record than the Cavaliers had the last two years.
That was the only thing I didn't like, when people said the Cavs didn't put a good enough team around LeBron. Maybe not... but that was a 60+ win team two years in a row... that's not easy to do. |
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03-08-2011, 11:45 AM | #1577 | |
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03-08-2011, 12:29 PM | #1578 | |
Shit
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you could still sub in his name and get the same results IMO |
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03-08-2011, 02:58 PM | #1579 |
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03-08-2011, 03:04 PM | #1580 | |
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One of the biggest problems with the Heat is that nobody's fit into their roles, they are all playing for themselves. |
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03-08-2011, 03:56 PM | #1581 |
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http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/41960577/ns/sports-nba/
It is a quiet moment, still hours before tipoff, and Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are the only remaining players in the gym following shootaround.With ice on both knees, sitting in the stands about eight rows up from the court, with James to his left but beyond earshot, Wade offers a moment of candor. "You know what?" he says in his typical soft-spoken manner. "I thought it would be easier." He pauses."It hasn't really changed," he adds. The question was about life away from the court, the gym, venues such as these, of whether playing alongside fellow stars in James and Chris Bosh had eased the frantic pace of appearances, publicity events and team functions. "It's become a little more now, because of the three guys," he says. "Now everyone not only wants you individually, but they want you three. So the demands of what people want probably has gone up a little bit." What Wade says is not as extraordinary as how he says it. He truly, honestly did not know how this was going to play out. And if he did, this was not necessarily the vision. That doesn't make it bad, just different. The same could be said about the chemistry between Wade and James on the court. It is working, at least as far as the statistical story and in terms of the standings, with the Heat poised to reach regular-season heights the team did not even reach in its 2006 championship season. It just is not working as seamlessly as perhaps Wade and James envisioned when they put pen to Pat Riley's paper in early July. Instead, as if toddlers, the two are playing nicely, but side-by-side, not necessarily in concert. The endgame has become an either-or equation, with either Wade, or, mostly, James taking the final shot. Wade-to-James or James-to-Wade has been the exception. Oh, there have been moments, extraordinary box-score-filling moments, such as when Wade recorded a triple-double in Charlotte and James came within one assist and two rebounds of matching the feat, the two joking side by side in the locker room afterward about getting the ball out of the other's hands long enough to get those shots and assists. But the reality is Wade just as often can be found standing in a corner when James is breaking down the defense. And when Wade is on one of his rolls, James often can be seen motioning for the ball, as if stranded on some desolate non-scoring island. Through it all, each stands near the top of the league in scoring, in their traditional spots, and in transition their connection has been dynamic and absolute, be it Wade fullcourt passes for James layups in stride or James assist for Wade baseline tomahawks. But to appreciate why the partnership has only gotten so far is to separate the fiction from reality. Friendly, but not really friends LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did not enter this partnership as best friends. Friends? Yes, but more typical of the bond built during promotional appearances, league get-togethers and the occasional two- or three-week tours with a national team. "Friendly" stands closer to the truth. Even now, this is nothing close to what Wade even had with former teammate Dorell Wright, the nights spent at his friend's house working his way through life's travails, being silly, sharing countless meals together on the road, even as Wright deemed everything on the menu "Bomb!," much to the amusement of Wade. For James, NBA life, and life in general, is bigger than that. LeBron almost always has his people on the road with him; Wade mostly settles in with the company of teammates, often second- and third-tier talents. He is much more of the everyman in the equation. Through it all, though, there is a projected common front. It is not by coincidence that the media sequence after almost every Heat home game is the same. First coach Erik Spoelstra offers his comments. Then Bosh enters alone. Finally, Wade and James field questions side-by-side. Because of the dynamic, it is rare that either comments about the other, let alone critiques or criticizes. It would be too awkward. And yet, after the nationally televised Sunday loss to the Bulls, the one that dropped the Heat into third place in the Eastern Conference, Wade offered a moment that made many wonder about the bond, the relationship. "I'm used to coming down in the fourth, having the ball, making mistakes, getting a chance to make up for them," he says to a somewhat surprised media audience. "You try to do your best. That's all you can do. That was one of the things we got to understand when we all decided to come together, that there were going to be sacrifices that have to be made. And you live with the consequences." For James, the sacrifices have not been nearly as steep. Like Wade, he, too, took less than a maximum contract, so Riley could better maximize the roster. But Wade took an even steeper cut to make sure there would be salary-cap space for veteran power forward Udonis Haslem, his truest, closest friend on the team.And yet, because of those contracts, that all-for-one approach to free agency, there is limited recourse. Often, in such situations, a player works out the rough edges through his agent, who becomes a middleman with the team, lest the player be branded a malcontent. The agent is the one who either subtly, or not so subtly, tries to smooth things over with management, whether it is a concern about a diminished role or the lack of opportunities in the late-game situations. What worked in July doesn't necessarily work now Except, in this case, Wade and James share the same representation, namely Creative Artists Agency. What suited their collective needs in July doesn't necessarily meet individual agendas at times such as these. "This is why that doesn't work," says a leading agent who does not represent a player on the Heat roster. "Now who do they go to? Leon (Rose, James' primary agent) and Henry (Thomas, Wade's primary agent) work closer together than you think." But this also is nowhere near critical mass, merely another rut in what has turned into an up-and-down ride that nonetheless has the Heat near the top of the standings. This certainly is nothing like Wade's end game with Shaquille O'Neal, when veteran-vs.-hotshot tensions were raised, with O'Neal muttering about Wade being coddled like some sort of "wonder boy." As contemporaries, Wade and James appreciate that they sink or swim together. So no sooner did Wade offer his comment about not getting the ball down the stretch of games, and no sooner did Spoelstra raise doubts about the team's emotional wherewithal with his comments about players crying after the recent loss to the Bulls, then James and Wade attempted to quiet the hype through humor, collective humor. "Didn't you and me have a fight after the game?" James says to a media pack that had seized on Spoelstra's "crying" comments. "Uh, oh," Wade, alongside, grins. "Uh, oh," James grins. And so it has gone this season. Comedy on demand. Candor? Not so much.Chemistry? For Wade, it was a touchy lesson with O'Neal, producing one championship and a not-so-amicable parting. For James, there has never been a definitive second wheel, let alone a "1" and "1A" partnership. For now, Wade is the one learning the LeBron life, which is something larger than he ever has experienced in Miami. As for the leading-man role? Lots of tip-toeing around that one. James is introduced first at AmericanAirlines Arena, followed by a lengthy pause. Wade is introduced last. Each has his moment. The team's marketing wing is just as vigilant. "There's times where it's 'LeBron James and the Heat.' It's times where it's, 'LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and the Heat.' It's not just about my name instead of his name," Wade says. And then there are the times when opposing fans cast their vote. That's when both can smile, as they try to make it all work. The animus is unanimous when it comes to the road. "You get fans that yell, 'LeBron's better!' 'Dwyane's better!' " Wade says. "We're like, 'All right, whatever.'" |
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03-08-2011, 04:01 PM | #1582 |
Please squeeze
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03-08-2011, 04:15 PM | #1583 |
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I love Wade's comments about how basically everyone wants them to fail and how "all is right in the world now that the Heat lost"
What a bunch of inflated bullshit.
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03-08-2011, 04:27 PM | #1584 |
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"I do chuckle a little bit when they sort of complain about the scrutiny when they get," Van Gundy said. "My suggestion would be if you don't want the scrutiny, you don't hold a championship celebration before you've even practiced together. It's hard to go out yourself and invite that kind of crowd and celebration and attention, and then when things aren't going well, sort of bemoan the fact that you're getting that attention. To me, that doesn't follow."
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03-08-2011, 04:29 PM | #1585 | |
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As the third wheel, he's just the scapegoat. |
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03-08-2011, 04:31 PM | #1586 | |
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03-08-2011, 04:43 PM | #1587 |
Dumbass!
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I know this.
Not a single person in this thread has suggested that LeBron James is not a great player. I don't need to know basketball to know that you are an idiot that thinks anyone said otherwise.
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03-08-2011, 04:47 PM | #1588 | |
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And Cleveland is not that bad. Since February, they've only lost one game by more than 10 points. They're as bad as any team would be when you lose a superstar and have no opportunity to replace him with zilch. Not to mention losing Delonte, Z, and Shaq and playing most of the season without Varejao and Moe Williams. Anybody who's watched them play this season will tell you that when they hustle, they're not horrible. After they lost to Miami in the big showdown early in the year, it was pretty clear that the team flat-out gave up. The question is, if you replaced Lebron in 2010 with a player like Durant, Derrick Rose or any other all star calibre player, would the Cavs have been a deep playoff team? Given the way they're scrapping close losses in February, why in the world would they not be contenders next year if they get two impact lottery picks? |
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03-08-2011, 04:48 PM | #1589 |
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Follow the points being made in the argument next time. It might help.
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03-08-2011, 04:53 PM | #1590 | |
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