2014-15 Season Thread

[Alieberman]

Huge game for Iggy. Just awesome

[Spaceman Spiff]

Iggy's free throws are cringeworthy.

Is JR shaving points? You never really know with him.

[Main Event]

Gave a shoutout to Lute! Love it!

[Main Event]

[rgdeuce]

I love ESPN. A bench player comes in and wins the finals mvp. A head coach wins a title his first year. A team with a historic regular season wins a title, their first in forever. Spend 10 min talking about the warriors, 3 minutes showing highlights, and the next 40 talking about Lebron

[CalStateTempe]

Can we stop talking about leton as goat now? I like Lebron but MJ has more killer instinct in his left pinky than Lebron could ever muster.

Great night for cats fans!

[rgdeuce]

It will never stop. People want the new Michael Jordan just like football wants a new Joe Montana. Manning has one title and has choked/underperformed numerous times, yet every time he gets back the past doesn't matter and the title in front of him will make him the greatest of all time. If Lebron pulled this off, it would have been one of the most amazing feats in sports. But he didn't. And stepping back from it all, lets be real, that series is a sweep if Golden State decided to play like Golden State from the jump rather than Game 4. Was it a nearly impossible feat, yes. Lebron shouldn't be blamed for that loss. But I really think this being an "All-time legendary performance" talk needs to die. He didn't win the title and looking game by game, this is why I don't see that.

Lebron didn't even shoot 40 percent from the floor in this series. The reasons he was not shooting his 50 plus are obvious, so 39 percent is very understandable. But understandable is NOT "all time performance." Add in the fact that he is a physically superior being to anyone else on the planet, his ability to just put his head down and use his size/strength, the fact he is allowed to do things (push, clear out, travel) that most everyone else cannot do. Sorry, not "all time performance." Lebron only played well in one of their four losses. Game 1: he fell apart late/OT, and he had Kyrie nearly that entire game. GSW didn't play well. That game was ripe to steal. Game 4 he was 7 for 22 from the floor. Game 6: 13 for 33, and most of his fourth quarter buckets were on defensive indifference, the rest were bricks, and really makes you wonder after GS was missing their freebies and JR Smith is making those crazy 3s that got the game to 4 points.

In Clevelands two wins, Lebron only had one good game. Somehow they beat GS on the road despite him shooting 11 for 35 from the floor. Cavs were up 2-1 by the grace of God and the Cavs only needed two wins with four games remaining (two at home) and Lebron only played well in one of the last 3 games.

But ESPN and some others will selectively pick their stats. Throwing out 40 point games, triple doubles and near triple doubles. It's not difficult to rack up 30 and 40 points when you average 33 shots a game and are being sent to the line for 10 more. He has always been a high rebounds and assists guy because of his size and skill set. The rebounds are going to be higher because Golden State is a jump shooting team. The assists are going to be higher because he is dominating the ball every possession. And people want to say he's tired. Yeah, thats fine. But the dude is in elite shape and we aren't playing back to backs here, there are 1-2 days rest between these games. I've seen Isaiah Thomas completely torch a team on one leg and Michael play with flu/food poisoning and drop 38 7 and 5 on almost 50 percent shooting on his death bed. You can't knock the guys heart. You can't blame the loss on him. He willed them to two wins and a competitive series. But I don't think it's as great as everyone is making it out to be.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Can we stop talking about leton as goat now? I like Lebron but MJ has more killer instinct in his left pinky than Lebron could ever muster.

Great night for cats fans!

LeBron's supporting cast shot 18.2% from 2 and 0.0% from 3 while he was off the floor. Over a full game, they would average 54 ppg.

The outcome in this series has nothing to do with killer instinct. The 538 link pegged the Cavs supporting cast as the third worst of all time before Kyrie went down. Without him, they're easily the worst finals team.

Killer instinct didn't keep Pippen, Grant, Rodman, etc. healthy. I don't think it's a bad perspective (just premature for sure) if you prefer MJ, but I think it's silly to count this series as a strike against LeBron.

[ANGCatFan]

Is there anyone better today?

If the answer is no, I'm guessing you are just arguing that James is not yet the GOAT.

[CalStateTempe]

Not at all. Lebron had a great series and made me like him even more. Dude is a competitor. He's a physical specimen. A stat machine. Classy, focuses on BB and his brand, stays out of trouble. The best of his generation.

It there anyone better today? No.

Will he be the GOAT once all is said and done...doubtful.

FTR, I would been almost as happy if he won and brought Cleveland a Chipper. Nice storybook ending for him as a prodigal son. I also will argue in favor of his "decision"; he sought to advance his career, no fault in that.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Is there anyone better today?

If the answer is no, I'm guessing you are just arguing that James is not yet the GOAT.

Anyone who doesn't think LeBron is easily the best of his generation is operating with blinders on. Kobe, Durant, etc. fall short.

The real question is where he falls all time. It's too early for any judgment that doesn't involve predictions, but just on what he's done so far, I think it's fair to say he will be a peer of the all time greats, and it's just a matter of how high he rises.

I just get a little hacked off when people act like this series is somehow a negative for LeBron. With Kyrie and Love down, what was left was a 15-20 win team without LeBron. When MJ left the Bulls, they won 2 fewer regular season games and took the Knicks team that went to the Finals to the wire.

No player in history would have won this series with Cleveland's supporting cast.

[splitsecond]

I love ESPN. A bench player comes in and wins the finals mvp. A head coach wins a title his first year. A team with a historic regular season wins a title, their first in forever. Spend 10 min talking about the warriors, 3 minutes showing highlights, and the next 40 talking about Lebron

This pisses me off to no end. It doesn't do any justice to anyone, especially Lebron.

[ASUHATER!]

LeBron is what gets the ratings and eyeballs on tv. It's not an Espn issue, they just put on and talk about what the masses want. Blame the people who watch espn, not espn.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I love ESPN. A bench player comes in and wins the finals mvp. A head coach wins a title his first year. A team with a historic regular season wins a title, their first in forever. Spend 10 min talking about the warriors, 3 minutes showing highlights, and the next 40 talking about Lebron

This pisses me off to no end. It doesn't do any justice to anyone, especially Lebron.

He's the most famous athlete in America. It's just the way that cookie crumbles. LeBron had an extraordinary series and it's about ratings.

I'm sure LeBron would trade the coverage for the ring and that the Warriors care more about the rings than Sportscenter.

[TucsonClip]

LeBron deserves a ton of coverage. He just had one of the greatest Finals of all-time (albeit minus the efficiency) and has now lost 4 times.

Thats a pretty big storyline.

[rgdeuce]

LeBron is what gets the ratings and eyeballs on tv. It's not an Espn issue, they just put on and talk about what the masses want. Blame the people who watch espn, not espn.

I think it's an ESPN issue. The masses don't want to hear what Lebron had for breakfast, the shape of his dog's turds, Tebow Tebow Tebow, Johnny Football Johnny Football Johnny Football, what brand of pillows the Cowboys used in their latest pillow fight, etc. I think the majority of people want highlights and important news, not picking 5 or 6 figures and spending most of their time focuses on them at the expense of everything else. Most miss the old ESPN which is now TMZ sports. I truly believe ESPN does what the hell they want and they influence fans, not vice versa.

TucsonClip, I agree, but not a 4 to 1 ratio of Lebron to Warriors coverage. I cant think of another time outside of something involving Lebron where ESPN spends more time focusing on the losing team or a player on that team, at least at that ratio.

[ASUHATER!]

LeBron is what gets the ratings and eyeballs on tv. It's not an Espn issue, they just put on and talk about what the masses want. Blame the people who watch espn, not espn.

I think it's an ESPN issue. The masses don't want to hear what Lebron had for breakfast, the shape of his dog's turds, Tebow Tebow Tebow, Johnny Football Johnny Football Johnny Football, what brand of pillows the Cowboys used in their latest pillow fight, etc. I think the majority of people want highlights and important news, not picking 5 or 6 figures and spending most of their time focuses on them at the expense of everything else. Most miss the old ESPN which is now TMZ sports. I truly believe ESPN does what the hell they want and they influence fans, not vice versa.

TucsonClip, I agree, but not a 4 to 1 ratio of Lebron to Warriors coverage. I cant think of another time outside of something involving Lebron where ESPN spends more time focusing on the losing team or a player on that team, at least at that ratio.

Yes they do. Otherwise espn wouldn't cover it. They are a business and want eyeballs on their channel. It talking about Tebow and LeBron didn't get eyeballs they wouldn't cover it nearly as much. They simply react to what the public clamors for. This is basic media knowledge and logic here. Whenever they talk LeBron or Tebow on Espn radio their listenership spikes. It doesn't happen the opposite way.

[rgdeuce]

Come on now. They did fine without the nut tugging and gossip. They became the authority in sports and you are crazy if u think we dictate what they do and the extent they do it. People are just sheep and watch because it's ESPN. It's convenient, it's all there. "it's what men do." They have the money and power to cover the big events and games. There is a new generation of fans keeping them where they are at, because most people I know refuse to watch sportscenter. They put on NFL network during football season and around the draft, NBA network during the season, and MLB network during the baseball season, or they check their phones for scores.

You think the masses want to see how ESPN played and covered the Michael Sam thing down to the kissing? I'm sure most of their target audience was either 1) disgusted or 2) fine with two men being together as long as it doesn't get thrown in their face. The Caitlyn Jenner ESPY thing...

Why do you think so many people dislike pretty much everyone ESPN d*ckrides or is completely tired of hearing about them? Is Johnny Football a threat? Is he keeping your team from winning a title? And Tebow? Same thing? Cuz they beat the damn horse to death, over and over and over.

ESPN's target audience does not like constant gossip. ESPN's target audience does not want political opinions and statements laced into their sports. But they still do these regularly and often times it takes up the bulk of their shows. The channel is on, it's background noise til something catches their ear and then their eyes go back. Until then, they are on their smartphones or facebook. ESPN is a hype machine. I truly believe ESPN is the biggest reason why the NFL has become the most popular sport in America by such a wide margin. ESPN hypes the hell out of it. Even in the offseason, they find ways to get football on even if it's to tell us someone stubbed their toe today. The month leading up to the draft, thats almost half the show. During football season, forget getting much of anything else. Baseball is still the 2nd most popular sport in America, yet ESPN stays showing 10 second highlights and only does a few games a show. It probably places 5th in order of preference on their show. When ESPN first started, NFL was only 1 percent higher than MLB in terms of popularity. Now it's over double. ESPN shapes the sports world. People do the same thing with Fox News and CNN and Msnbc. Whether overt or covert, they shape the way people see politics and what is happening around them.

[catgrad97]

It's been well-documented, particularly in the wake of the new SEC contract, how ESPN's on-air talent shapes a consistent narrative friendly to its financial interests--call them "cash cows," "on-air storylines," "most-favored figures," or what have you.

It may be more of a subtle, less harmful spin than Fox News, but it's there. There's too much money involved in the industry anymore to revert our attitudes to 20 years ago and still innocently believe such outlets are mere conduits of unfiltered avarice, from the unwashed masses, for certain storylines or people.

ESPN knows full well the power it has, and it uses it as much as it feels it can get away with to continually build its favorite brands. People don't demand such things, but they certainly don't hold themselves back from eating it all up either.

There's a great storyline with Golden State winning the championship--one that would certainly trump anything LeBron if Steve Kerr was more of a media hound. He's not. And over the years, ESPN has increasingly not given a damn about the underdogs of sports, even if they could be potential new audiences, anyway.

So it's definitely an oversaturation of coverage issue--a 21st-century, quite American phenomenon.

Plus, Spiff was dead right that the supporting cast for Cleveland was by no means finals-worthy. People always forget the crud MJ had to work with the first four years of his career--and I'm including head coaches like Stan Albeck and Doug Collins in that statement.

Until management got serious and brought in Phil Jackson, Tex Winter and staff, shooters like Kerr and John Paxson, wings like Toni Kukoc and Scottie Pippen and a center that was something more than the paper tigers Bill Wennington and Brad Sellers were, the Bulls weren't going to win a championship, even if MJ hit three-pointers every possession.

That's why the "all about LeBron" coverage is so unfair, both to him and to viewers. It doesn't portray what is really happening in the NBA today. If ESPN was as widespread in the '70s, it would've done the same thing propping up the Celtics, regardless of what the ABA or Bill Walton were doing.

Until Cavs management gets serious and signs some better talent to long-term deals, they're just giving LeBron new reasons to leave again. The supporting cast is no better, in any respect, than what he had before The Decision.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Cleveland's supporting cast is fine, when not injured. Kyrie and Love are both allstars. When they got to consistently play together, Cleveland had a huge hot streak in the second half of the season.

The only issue is injuries. If LeBron plays as well as he did and he has a healthy Kyrie and Love, Cleveland probably wins the series.

The supporting cast he wound up with in the Finals was godawful. It isn't representative of the talent Cleveland actually has. Kyrie may be better (at the point he actually played with LeBron) than anyone LeBron has ever played with, including Wade.