Oh how the mighty have fallen...(Sorry Lebron)

[J.B.]

Until Lebron James wins some championships, all these comparisons to Jordan need to STOP.

Lebron can average 40 points a game in the playoffs every year for a decade and it still won't mean a thing if he can't start pulling it off in the clutch. He has shown that he CAN do it, he just needs to start doing it MORE, and um... when it COUNTS THE MOST!

I can understand his frustration in walking off the court too, but it's clear he still got some growing up to do in this league. In the end I think Kobe will seal his legacy and win without Shaq and Phil Jackson gets one last ring so he can wear one on each finger and thumb.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns

Lebron is an incredible player, but I hate the comparisons to Jordan too. Its not fair to Jordan and its not fair to Lebron.

Instead of Lebron being the next Jordan, why isn't Lebron James the first Lebron James?

That being said, he need a lot of help on that team. He can't win it alone. West and Williams completely disappeared, and the Cavs just couldn't stop the Magic's three point snipers.

[rockdawg21]

His 40 point average is one of the main reasons they lost. When the points are spread more evenly across teams, they tend to win. Many of Jordan's 50+ scoring nights resulted in losses as well.

I'm interested in seeing how things play out now for King James. Will he call it quits in Cleveland and follow the money when it's time?

How much longer does he have on his current contract?

Will he buy into JayZ's plan and move? Will he stay with Cleveland?

That's what will answer the questions about his endless comparison to Michael Jordan, in my opinion.

Later.

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

His 40 point average is one of the main reasons they lost. When the points are spread more evenly across teams, they tend to win. Many of Jordan's 50+ scoring nights resulted in losses as well.

Thats very very true.

BUT, as I said, Mo Williams and Delonte West completely disappeared and weren't hitting shots.

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

His 40 point average is one of the main reasons they lost. When the points are spread more evenly across teams, they tend to win. Many of Jordan's 50+ scoring nights resulted in losses as well.

i get where you are coming from there, but he also averaged 8 assists in the series also, he passed the ball...and from watching the series. his supporting cast didn't show up...I can't count how many times you see lebron make a nice pass to the wide open guy only to have them throw up a piss poor shot

Originally Posted by billwilliams70

I'm interested in seeing how things play out now for King James. Will he call it quits in Cleveland and follow the money when it's time?

How much longer does he have on his current contract?

Will he buy into JayZ's plan and move? Will he stay with Cleveland?

That's what will answer the questions about his endless comparison to Michael Jordan, in my opinion.

Later.

I hope he stays with Cleveland, I don't like the comparisons to jordan either, but there careers have started fairly similar...Jordan was an amazing player as is lebron, but without a real solid supporting cast, so far neither one of them could quit get that ring...the cavs are slowly building the cast around lebron, and he needs that one more key addition(ala a pippen or rodman) to take this team to the next level....I don't think you can compare the two in terms of talent because its a different era and they play different positions...but in terms of supporting casts, i think comparisons could be made

It's not James fault. He never had help once that whole series, and when they went down nobody wanted to step it up and put the team on their backs, it was up to Lebron to constantly bring them back from the brink.

In game one the ORlando bench scored something like 30 points to Clevends 5. Both benchs had around the same play time. So looking at just that stat you can see who had the rough nite. The rest of the series went the same way with Orlando scoring twice as many as the Cavs.

He in some ways is a growing Jordan, the difference is Jordan was able to put 90% of his game into offence because he had a very strong cast on the defense end whno might I remind you could score, Grant, Pippen, Rodman, Longly, Cartwhight, KuKoc (sp?), Armstrong, Harper, Paxton, Kerr. Well he couldn't play def really but he was consistent on the shot.

[J.B.]

I don't mind comparing NBA players from the past and the present, not at all. I just find is completely insane that anybody in their right mind would say Lebron James is better than Michael Jordan, and I had been hearing it all day long for weeks on the radio. Funny how quick all those people shut up after Saturday night.

Bill Cartwright, Luc Longly, BJ Armstrong, Ron Harper, John Paxson, and Steve Kerr were all journeyman players. None of them were great defensive players. Pippen was a great player, but his skills always got extra praise simply because of Jordan, and everybody knows it. Rodman was a defensive power-house, but he was not there for the first 3 championships. Horace Grant is another highly over-rated player. Grant was a decent low-post scorer, but his defense and rebounding was crap compared to Rodman who is 3 inches shorter than Grant.

You can still score 40 or 50+ points and lead your team to victory when the supporting cast lets you down, that's called being CLUTCH. Lebron is NOT clutch, at least not like MJ was. Rockdawg said that a lot of Jordan's 50+ point games ended up in losses, well, thats not really true at all. They may have lost a few, but they won most of them. If you want to go through game by game and look up all 39 games where Jordan had over 50 points, be my guest, but I stopped after 10 and the Bulls had won every single game I looked up.

http://www.michaeljordansworld.com/points_50or_more.htm
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/

Rock does have a point about spreading the ball around more, as that is traditionally the smartest way to play basketball. HOWEVER, there is a time to pass the ball, and a time to take over the game and lead your team to victory. Lebron IS a great player, but he is not on Jordan's level by any means. There is barely an argument to even say he is better than Kobe, which I don't think he is at this point, and I have said that on this board before.

Derek, you are right, I think that the Cavs are ONE player away from winning a title, and you know who I think that player could be? SHAQ. The rumors have already been flying around since the All-Star break, and it looks like Ben Wallace may be retiring now so it's a real possibility. Still, Shaq would only be a short term solution, and with the competition in the Eastern Conference starting to step-up, and with next year's huge rookie class, and then the free-agency of 2010 it's only going to get harder from here on out for Cleveland.

i won't disagree with what you are saying, but lebron is still 24 or so .. he is young ... i think jordan was around 27 or 28 when he won his first title and when jordan was 24, people weren't calling him the Best just yet ... do i think lebron will be as great as jordan? probably not, but i think that it is tougher for teams to have a "dynasty" with all the contract changes for players and people wanting to bolt as soon as their contract is up ...