Uh Dala....hopefully you are watching the game tonight and saw none other than Lebron James guarding the other teams point guard for most of the 2nd half of the 1st quarter...

Magic played point guard but rarely was matched up against the other team's point. That job went to byron scott or michael cooper or norm nixon when he was there. Bird played 3 or 4 but was always matched up against the slower player of the other team. Iverson played 2 guard at philly but rarely matched up against the other team's two guard.

My point is that just because you "play" a position doesnt mean you defend it.

LOL. LOL. they are basically playing zone and the other teams point is a self check. His job isnt to "guard" the point its to double off the ball because that is the weakest player.

Chuck im giving basketball classes saturday mornings. You are welcome to attend. The first class is titled "the cap" and its intended to inform guys like king glorious that you can't trade 3 players for a single draft pick. Bring the donuts and the coffee.

he is guarding Rafer Alsoton now, you know one of those guys that he doesnt have enough lateral quickness to cover...

Regardless of what defense they are using he is matched up against the other teams pgs who havent even bothered to attempt to drive by him. he also doesnt usually double, he is usually the weakside help. Guarding the pg allows him to cover both sides since they usually start the offense near the middle of the court. Feel free to use that in your class.

Its not that it is the "point" that he is covering. Alston is the weakest offensive player on the floor so they are basically letting him get his. Basically, a zone.

Alston has hit a couple of shots now. Also, if you notice, they are switching on the high screen and roll and shading to the screener.

Basically, they are giving alston zero respect. If it makes you feel better to say that he is "covering" alston, have at it even though Doug Collins just pointed out exactly what i just said.

I will say this though. He covers a ton of ground quickly. Not side to side so much but straight on no one can cover ground like Lebron.

I know the cap fairly well but as long as you're teaching I'll ask, what happens if the Clippers just paid Zach Randolph his $28 million to get the f*ck out of Los Angeles? Does he still count against the cap both years the same as if he were there or do they just take a cap hit the one year and are free in year two?

Good question. The buyout amount would be distributed over the remaining years of the contract. Lets take randolph for example. He is owed roughly 28 million i think. If he settles for say 20 milllion, 10 million would count this year and 10 million next year. If there were 4 years left, it would be 5 million per year against the cap.

That's what I figured. So even if they want to dump him they'd have to pay $14 million a year, same as they could pay him to be an extra body in practice.

How the hell did Cleveland blow this???

Orlando has Rafer Alston at point...Cleveland hasnt blown anything yet.

I really hope Cleveland doesn't blow this. I'm really looking forward to a showdown between the two best players in basketball.
























Lebron and Melo

Just stand still Dwight, you had position, don't jump. Lebron is sick.

LOL. the great Delonte West.

The best the Magic have played this year.........we have a hell'uva series unfolding here.

I didn't see Labron get hurt....what happened to him?

What city are they from?? Cleveland. End of story. Bad matchup for Cleveland all the way around. Orlando has dominated them the last 3 years. Just because it's the playoffs doesn't magically mean Cleveland can suddenly match up with them.

Great game. Could have gone either way. I think Van gundy made some adjustments at half time that really made the difference including the way they attacked the lebron zone and halfcourt traps.

Obviously, Cleveland's perimeter shooters will do a better job in hitting the open shots in the subsequent games. A couple of interesting stats:

- cleveland's bench was outscored 25-5 and all five points came from joe smith.

- orlando shot 55% from the field.



Interesting what charles barkley said just now. "cleveland tried to hide lebron on defense against rafer alston." LOL

ok he isnt guarding the pg, it is just an illusion. Regardless of the purpose he is matched up with the PG and was for more than 1/2 the game. And referring to Doug Collins is really weak...

They got beat thats what happened to him. Kobe has a finger issue whenever the lakers start losing. Its quite fashionable you know.

Next game when he throws in 40, he is even more of a stud because he did it while nursing an injury.

How about barkley? He just said the same thing.

I suppose you are referring to the big 3 with 1:17?

Do you really want to start quoting Charles Barkley? I mean seriously....

You said he couldnt guard PG's but when he was Cleveland was most successful. You said West wasnt a good defender but when he was matched against Turkaglu he wasnt effective.

No more the 4-13 shooting wide open jumpers and the brick he threw up with the game on the line. He did what i expected though...11 pts.

Even when they are showing video of him matched up against a pg you want to say that he wasnt really guarding him....

Like king I give up:wf :wf :wf

like i said above:wf :wf :wf

Delonte West may not be many things. But he plays pretty good defense no matter what his assignment regardless of his brick tonight.

Barkley and collins agree with me. You have king glorious on your side. I feel pretty confident about my position.;)

And if you can't comprehend what type of defense Cleveland was playing tonight despite me, charles and doug explaining it to you, I suggest the comprehensive class i will begin teaching next fall.

He is gritty. I would have him on my team...coming off the bench.

what type of defense were they playing?? I'd like to know. I didn't see the game as at work. I know they play really good defense, but Orlando always lights them up...it is what scared me about the series. And shooting well over 50 percent tells me whatever they were doing wasn't good.

You said he couldnt be matched up against a pg, HE CLEARLY WAS!!!!!

What difference does it make why?????
Not only did you say he couldnt I believe you said he never was both of which was wrong. Did you think this was the first time Cleveland did this this season? Admit it, you were wrong. He can and does matchup on the defensive end with PG's. While he will most likely not match up with a Center in the near future and that debate will have to be continued, this one is over.

LOL. What happened to the white flags?

I wasnt wrong about anything. He was playing a one man zone. Besides, look back on the thread. I did say he could match up against bad pgs. Would you like me to grab that quote?

Charles Barkley agrees with me (nba hall of famer) and Doug Collins agrees with me (Michael jordan's coach) i feel pretty confident about my position.

Again, for the right price, i will start the intensive classes before fall.

Cleveland opened up largely with Delonte West covering Hedo turkoglu and Lebron "covering" Rafer Alston. Lebron was playing a one man zone basically and the tactic surprised orlando. Lebron was doubling off the ball on howard and turk and giving rafer the outside shot. on the high pick and roll, lebron would roll with the screener leaving alston by himself. Lebron literally would let alston run anywhere he wanted to and double howard inside or turk outside.

In the second half, orlando made the adjustment. Alston hit a couple of shots and drove a couple of times instead of popping out. Cleveland switched and put lebron on turkoglu and then started doubling with one of their big men at the top against turk.

I would imagine they will scrap that plan next game.

Well, if it was just barkley, it would be one thing although i dont see how anyone would call him an "idiot". He is usually quite on point and his analysis is often spot on. Same with Doug Collins.

I didnt hear kenny or reggie disagreeing with hiim. Only cannon shell.

Fair enough. Some people like "the herd" and i think he is a fool. But what about Doug Collins? Does he know what he is talking about? Could both of these basketball lifers that werent even sitting in the same booth and who just coincidentally agree with me be wrong? And if they were, why didnt anyone disagree?

It was obvious to anyone without an agenda and with a semblance of a grasp of the sport what was happening tonight. As soon as Alston started hitting shots, Lebron stopped "guarding" him and switched to turkoglu. And as soon as that happened, Orlando went on their run. It was no longer 5 guarding 4.

yeah Barkely is known for his x's and o's and Doug Collins managed to NOT win a title with Jordan. Why dont we just get Isiah's opinion to complete the triangle. One man zone, wing zone, twighlight zone....

Uh in case you missed the halftime show where Kenny Smith's pictures featured LeBron "matching up" with Alston, the point that they are making is totally different then our debate. He covered the PG, deal with it.

I doubt that they would agree with you on our disagreement. The point you are making is not relevant to Lebron James never guarding point guards or doing a good job of it. Just as if LeBron was matched up with Howard but roaming around looking to provide weakside help (not double as you put it) he would be matched up with a center. Regardless of the defensive intent in the matchup, there is no doubt that he was covering the point guard. I wont even bother misquoting Jerry west or asking him if he meant Center or PG when he talked about 4 positions.