NBA At the Half

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by pgardn

I am extraordinarily surprised by the Celtics.
Cannot believe they are playing such good defense.
Doc Rivers has done a great job.

Lebron is one of the best athletes I have seen ever.
He has a long way to go becoming the best player.
Watching Kobe and Lebron continually try to match
up and score on each other one on one in the most
critical parts of the game shows that
neither get it.

This is an odd statement. There is no one even remotely close to LeBron as the best player in the league. Not even remotely. He gets it... a lot. They have 18 4th quarter comeback wins this year. His defense is much improved. He matched up with Roy yesterday in the 4th and Brandon accomplished exactly nothing in crunch time...zero. He matched up with Kobe in the 4th Sunday...he accomplished pretty much nothing in crunch time. I know MOrtimer doesn't like him either. I have no idea about him as a person morty...but as a player...no one approaches him. He is a poor free throw shooter...other than that no weaknesses. I guess you could quibble about his overall outside shooting...but he makes his fair share of shots when required.

In the end the leading scorer in the league is also in the top 10 in assists...over 7 per game. No one else on the team is even at 3 per game. 25-13 with him...0-6 without him.

But no...as far as becoming the best player...he has zero distance to go. He is already there and has been for quite some time.

[Mortimer]

And without ,effectively ,Sasha and the Brazilian.

Of course that doesn't count.




It's amazing how good James is playing 1 against 5.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by Mortimer

And without ,effectively ,Sasha and the Brazilian.

Of course that doesn't count.




It's amazing how good James is playing 1 against 5.

mortimer...don't even try to contradict me on Cleveland sports.

The games without James...Sasha was playing huge minutes. So no that doesn't really count...he was playing those games. Sasha has been abysmal this year at least offensively. He was starting to play a bit better when he busted up his foot...but he pretty much stunk this year...couldn't shoot.

Record with James, and without the Brazilian 10-6
Record without both James and the Brazilian 0-6
Record with both James and the Brazilian 15-7
Record with James and without Pavlovic 4-2
Record with Pavlovic and without James 0-6
REcord with both Pavlovic and James 21-11

Of course they are a better team when Pavlovic and Varejao are both healthy and playing...but c'mon they certainly have an easier time winning without those two than James. It's been proven.

Next.

[Mortimer]

As you know...I said...effectively.

As you know...Sasha held out and did not play until the second or third game.

As you know he could not hit the proverbial broadside of a barn. 30% fg shooting would have been a welcome sight.


As you know....the Brazilian held out well into the season and took several games to get into basketball shape.


I think that also played into the "without James" record.





I just don't like it when people try to paint James as playing with absolutely no support.



He has a strong group with him....not the best team, but among the best. He doesn't do this all by himself. It's ridiculous for anyone to try and insinuate as much.

[Mortimer]

And no he doesn't strikeout just like anyone else.


He leads the league fer gosh sakes!

[horseofcourse]

I am of the opinion at 25 years old, Peralta has not reached his ceiling. HE is not that bad defensively. Certainly not a hack by a long shot. He did not lead the league in Ks. HE didn't even strike out as much as their leadoff hitter did last year!! He has averaged over 20 home runs the last 3 years. I honestly think he is going to become a 25 to 30 home run guy very shortly. He's fairly patient at the plate drawing 60 plus walks a year. I think his average and OBP will improve as well. Plus, I like the fact that he showed up in postseason last year unlike many others on the team (Hafner!).

You can manipulate any stat in the game as much as you want...but the fact remains, his assist total, (what other stat is more reliable than that??) says he gets to plenty of balls...more than most shorstops. Defense is important, they won the most games in baseball last year with him at shortstop. His defense is not why they didn't get to the World Series.

You're awesome...you turned a mid season NBA report thread into a Jhonny Peralta thread!! There are few talented enough to do that!!

[Mortimer]

Don't even talk about the guy who should be in leftfield. Peralta was last years leader in strileouts and he was right up the near the top for '07.

He's a guy I would ship out; hopefully they will do that before the season starts. I don't need statistics and neither does anyone else has who seen him play except you!


ACCH!!


Look...I'll settle for this. Just don't make James sound like he does it alone...






....OK?

[Mortimer]

I believe you're also the guy who claims Here'sJhonny is a fine ss.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by Mortimer

I believe you're also the guy who claims Here'sJhonny is a fine ss.

Peralta was their best player in postseason last year. He is a good shortstop without question. He isn't Tulowitzski with the glove, but he is in the upper half of major league SS defensively, and he hits just fine. Good player who still has upside I believe. (who was the cog to get them to the 3-1 ALCS lead?? game 2,,game 4 anyone??) I wouldn't mind seeing him at 3rd base eventually however. He's still a decent SS though.

The facts are what they are regarding the Cavs. I don't need to say effectively. Varejao came to play in shape period. If Sasha wasn't in shape that's not LeBron's fault. LeBron has 3 big guys that rebound the heck out of the ball (Gooden, Z and Varejao). That is what he has. He has 3 brick laying off guards, (Hughes, Pavlovic and Brown...all 3 under 40 percent.), and two three point shooting point guards who are shooting guards in point guard bodies (Gibson and Jones.).

They are better with Pavlovic and Varejao healthy without question. They nonetheless win consistently without either those two with James on the floor. They never won without James on the floor (this year...in past years they have actually had very good records without James).

The are strong at power forward and center with the Gooden, Ilgauskas, Varejao rotation. Their guard play is very far from strong and in fact has been abysmal this year. Gibson is an interesting player who is a very good shooter but not really a point guard. He is about the only guy LeBron trusts to go to...him and Z. Like it or not, LeBron is the team and the best player in the game.

[Mortimer]

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Peralta was their best player in postseason last year. He is a good shortstop without question. He isn't Tulowitzski with the glove, but he is in the upper half of major league SS defensively, and he hits just fine. Good player who still has upside I believe. (who was the cog to get them to the 3-1 ALCS lead?? game 2,,game 4 anyone??) I wouldn't mind seeing him at 3rd base eventually however. He's still a decent SS though.

The facts are what they are regarding the Cavs. I don't need to say effectively. Varejao came to play in shape period. If Sasha wasn't in shape that's not LeBron's fault. LeBron has 3 big guys that rebound the heck out of the ball (Gooden, Z and Varejao). That is what he has. He has 3 brick laying off guards, (Hughes, Pavlovic and Brown...all 3 under 40 percent.), and two three point shooting point guards who are shooting guards in point guard bodies (Gibson and Jones.).

They are better with Pavlovic and Varejao healthy without question. They nonetheless win consistently without either those two with James on the floor. They never won without James on the floor (this year...in past years they have actually had very good records without James).

The are strong at power forward and center with the Gooden, Ilgauskas, Varejao rotation. Their guard play is very far from strong and in fact has been abysmal this year. Gibson is an interesting player who is a very good shooter but not really a point guard. He is about the only guy LeBron trusts to go to...him and Z. Like it or not, LeBron is the team and the best player in the game.

Do you practice being wrong?

Sahsa and the Brazilian missed the entire preseason.That's all needing said.


James is the best player by far. Gibson is a very viable Downtown Freddie off the bench; many teams would like him. MANY teams would like a 3 big man rotation of Z,Gooden and the Brazilian....MANY.

Their real weakness is point guard. If Hughes wanted to....he could fill that void, but he doesn't want to.


Take Wade off and put James on Miami. They would be better ,but still a sub .500 team. People ought to start giving some credit to the overall strong supporting cast James has instead of how he does it all by himself.

James has yet a lot to learn.


Anyone who has seen Here'sJhonny for more than 10 games knows the guy is at the very best a very average ss.....who strikes out a ton.......and has one of the worst "balls he should have gotten to" averages in baseball. The Indians are still trying to solve second since they threw away one of the best there is . Now they will solve it by playing the next Omar Vizquel at..... 2nd.....and go mediocre at ss.




Briilliant.

[horseofcourse]

Originally Posted by Mortimer

Do you practice being wrong?

Sahsa and the Brazilian missed the entire preseason.That's all needing said.


James is the best player by far. Gibson is a very viable Downtown Freddie off the bench; many teams would like him. MANY teams would like a 3 big man rotation of Z,Gooden and the Brazilian....MANY.

Their real weakness is point guard. If Hughes wanted to....he could fill that void, but he doesn't want to.


Take Wade off and put James on Miami. They would be better ,but still a sub .500 team. People ought to start giving some credit to the overall strong supporting cast James has instead of how he does it all by himself.

James has yet a lot to learn.


Anyone who has seen Here'sJhonny for more than 10 games knows the guy is at the very best a very average ss.....who strikes out a ton.......and has one of the worst "balls he should have gotten to" averages in baseball. The Indians are still trying to solve second since they threw away one of the best there is . Now they will solve it by playing the next Omar Vizquel at..... 2nd.....and go mediocre at ss.




Briilliant.

Do I practice being wrong?? You basically repeated everything I said...I said their big man rotation was very good...you repeated what I said. I said their guards stink...you repeated what I said. And you are quite simply wrong about Peralta. HE's a very good player. He strikes out a ton like pretty much everyone in baseball does now. It's not 1965 any more. If you don't like a young shortstop who is going to hit .280...hit 25-30 home runs every year, score and drive in 90 runs a year most likely and play decent to above average defense...don't know what you have there against him. I agree about Cabrera at short...I would like to see Barfield at 2nd and Peralta at 3rd and Blake in a super sub role, but I don't know if Barfield can ever get on base enough to justify playing him there full time. That's the problem...not Peralta.