I Don’t Believe LeBron James
LeBron James (photo. Mannion)At Cavs‘ Media Day, LeBron said this to Cleveland fans: “Buckle your seatbelts. It’s going to be a long ride. We’re working on the road to a championship.”
Here’s my question to you: Do you think in his heart of hearts, LeBron actually thinks he’s any closer to a championship than he was last year or the year before? Pretty much every player in the League will tell you the “right thing,” that they’re on the right path to a chip, but common sense dictates that’s just not going to happen for about 90% of the players and teams in the League.
‘Bron would get killed by the media and fans if he was asked about Cleveland’s title chances this season and he came out with something like, “Well, we’re pretty much the same exact team as last year, except that we’re all older and we added a shoot-first, shoot-second, shoot-third point guard I will pretty much have to wrestle to get the ball from … so, no, I don’t think we are going win a title.”
The Cavs front office would go berserk, but I think I’d rather hear some kind of tempered optimistic realism from a guy instead of this kind of thing … unless he actually believes that he can really rampage his way to a one-man title run.
Source: News-Herald
September 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Sam I Am says:
LOL LeBron will not be heading to the big dance this year or any…
I’m curious to see if he’ll win some rings.
I wanna be the opposition on what so many have praised him to have multiple rings one day…
We’ll see
September 30th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Aaron says:
Absolutely! This team is built for the post season. They are among the best in the league in rebounding and defense, which are two critical areas in going far in the post season. They have the game’s most dynamic player in LeBron, couple that with a competent point guard who can score off creating his own shot. And, don’t downplay the fact that they’ll have everybody signed and healthty at the start of the season, unlike last year. So taking all of that into consideration, along with their past playoff success and experience, I think it’s very plausible that the Cavs can come out of the east and win it all.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
YOUNGFED says:
Best article you’ve ever wrote Pat Cass
September 30th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Michorizo says:
I believe LeBron … You could build a team with YoungFed, Celts Fan, MoxWestCoastRep, solomon, LeBron with Austin Burton coming off the bench and I think LeBron will still believe he can win it all … ok solomon is a stretch as a starter, but that is why I have Austin on the bench for insurance.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
marcus the great says:
wow @ aaron
…but i see your point in the defense/rebounding wins championships argument. that’s jus lookin at cleveland tho. when you look at the rest of the elite teams its like NO FUCKIN WAY!!
i could almost see toronto or even orlando takin cleveland out
September 30th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
David Brandon says:
@ aaron,
the postseason tho? the spurs are built for the postseason. even the mavs and hornets are built for the post. hell, the suns are an they’re old as hell now! i dont know WHAT the front office is doin in cleveland other than playing dynasty mode on live 09 using the celtics.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
jimmhumm says:
at least he’s positive if Kobe had that squad he’d miss training camp in protest.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Prof. TX says:
The team just has too many overpriced spare parts. They’ve made some bad spending choices, and routinely had to settle for their fourth or fifth choice (if that) when they went out to look for new talent.
If you think the Cavs are contenders, you have to imagine them winning a series against Boston or Detroit (or both if the seeding works out that way), and then taking the best of the Lakers/Spurs/Hornets/Rockets/Jazz group. Yeah, it’s possible, but it’s a stretch.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
marcus the great says:
lmao @ michorizo
September 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Tyrone says:
Ain’t nobody cares what you think Patrick. King James has finally got a baller in Mo Williams to help them cats win a ’ship. Mo Williams got mad skillz and ability to get dope buckets and dish dimes regularly. Dem Cavs gotsa chance to go all the way this season y’all.
True thugz never lie.
Tryone
September 30th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
nao_diga says:
The question seems dumb. Why wouldn’t the Cavs feel that they are closer this year than last?
They have Sasha Pavolovic and Anderson Varajao back, apparently healthy, and not holding out like last year.
Compared to last year, if you look at players who contributed at the end, they lost Joe Smith and gained Mo Williams. Mike Brown has the whole season to figure out the rotation between Gibson, West, Williams, Pavlovich, and Szczerbiak to get scoring help for Lebron from the guard positions on any given night.
Why shouldn’t Lebron think they’re going to be a better team this year?
September 30th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
P_Dizzle says:
As much as I want to see Lebron get a ring, this roster ain’t doing it:
41 Lance Allred C 27 6-11 250
1 Daniel Gibson PG 22 6-2 190
21 J.J. Hickson PF 20 6-9 242
11 Zydrunas Ilgauskas C 33 7-3
0 Darnell Jackson PF 22 6-8
23 LeBron James SF 23 6-8
7 Tarence Kinsey SF 24 6-6 189
3 Sasha Pavlovic SG 24 6-7
20 Eric Snow PG 35 6-3 205
10 Wally Szczerbiak SF 31 6-7
17 Anderson Varejao C 26 6-10
4 Ben Wallace C 34 6-9 240
13 Delonte West SG 25 6-4 180
25 Mo Williams PG 25 6-1 185
42 Lorenzen Wright C 32 6-11
Take Lebron off this roster and they are lucky to win 20 games!
Although if any player in the NBA was to win with this roster it would be Lebron, BUT it ain’t happening!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
P_Dizzle says:
LMAO at post 7
September 30th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Prof. TX says:
If you want to find some of the real mis-matches, put some salaries next to those names.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Meica says:
Lebron shouldn’t think he has a better team than last year because he doesn’t. For one, it’s basically the same team; the changes have been minor, and as a Bucks and Hornets fan, I can tell you Mo Williams is no Robert Horry. The difference he makes is minuscule—he helps the team a bit here, hurts them a bit there. Overall, Lebron’s help is mediocre at worst and serviceable at best.
The real problem for the Cavs is Mike Brown. Anyone who has watched the Cavs get booted from the playoffs knows that he is an offensive numb-skull. When you have perhaps the most explosive offensive player in the league this side of Kobe that is a bad thing. Sure, Lebron can create for himself, but it makes winning a whole lot easier if he doesn’t have to on every play. I think with an astute player move here or there with a coach who can understand the NBA’s new offensive game, then the Cavs might have a shot at reaching that ever elusive ‘chip.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Meica says:
Sorry ’bout all that bold action.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Big V says:
He’s already imagining himself on the East Coast.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
Thats why Cleveland needs like a Tex Winter, notice how all Phil Jax teams used their superstar(s) to the best ability on offense. It comes easy to them to get open due to Tex’s knowledge on the offensive side
September 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Jah says:
They’re basically the same team as last year but consider the following:
- they made a BLOCKBUSTER trade in the middle of the season, seriously changing the team chemistry
- they STILL took Boston to a close game 7 and would have been facing Detroit in the Conference Finals against whom they’d be the betting favorites in my book
Now, they add consistent offense in Mo Williams and they have the benefit of a complete training camp to gel as a team.
Coming as far as they did last year despite all that was against them was a great accomplishment and I think they can only go up from there (depending on how spent LeBron is from the Olympics).
September 30th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
justice says:
Philly is gonna phuck up alot of peoples hopes in the east this year, they match up well with every team in the east…lebron still has a chance if he calls barry bonds and gets some of those good meds… just for recovery…
as long as ben wallace is on the court this team is dead in the water teams have figured it out he is the ultimate liability, someone will always be doubled with that guy out there and he is not that great a rebounder anymore either..
September 30th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
dukesman2000 says:
Not even worth commenting on
September 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Breakn Ankles 09' says:
I agree with ‘Meica
MIKE BROWN CAN’T COACH ON A HIGH LEVEL….
HE WAS OKAY TO GET THEM THIS FAR….YOU NEED A COACH THAT UNDERSTANDS MATCH UPS….ESPECIALLY IN THE POST SEASON….
I THINK MOST COACHES WOULDN’T HAVE FAIRED ANY BETTER…BUT YOU NEED AN ELITE COACH THAT WILL PUSH
A MEDIOCRE TEAM WITH A SUPERSTAR OVER THE TOP….
YOU NEED A SUPERSTAR COACH OR GET A BETTER SUPPORTING CAST…ALA BOSTON CELTICS!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
srb says:
No way in this year’s east. With philly and toronto getting better, plus Orlando probably getting better, there’s just no way they are making it deep on the playoffs. They’ve (Lebron) proved they can can make it into the post season, but that seems to be the ceiling this year.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
SteveNash says:
The great one’s sometimes don’t win rings… let’s see what happens!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Coop says:
Of course they can win a chip with that team. It’s pretty unlikely but Bron dragged a worse team to the finals. I think The Cavs would have a good chance against LA, for example, or NO, Houston or Utah. San An would likely kill them again.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
IGP says:
I’m not even sure this team wins 20 games without Lebron. Seriously, maybe they would win 10? This team without Lebron could be the first team to not win any games. Has me thinking…if you take one player off a team right now, who would be the worst team in the league?
The Lakers would still be decent, not a playoff team but still not too, too terrible.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
bsteezy3 says:
I’m biased because I want another East team to win it. But you know what, I LIKE ONE MAN TEAMS. Yep, I said it. I like watching one man teams. Remember Kobe’s 81? I remember McGrady’s 62. I remember LeBron’s 48 in the playoffs. There’s always gonna be a team that has one mega-superstar, and a bunch of sidekicks. I don’t know, I guess it reminds me of NBA LIVE…
September 30th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
bsteezy3 says:
ONe more thing… Doesn’t everyone say a true MVP is a player that is not only great, but he also makes his teammates better?? Well, that’s LeBron. He gets his points, and he’s such a good passer that he gets the ball to his teammates…(they just don’t always come through with their end of the deal!) Let’s say LeBron averages like 35-8-8–or even better: what if he averages a triple double? I’d love watching the Cavs…
September 30th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Jay26th says:
the Cavs have too many guards
Mo williams doesnt do defense
Mike Brown doesnt do offense
seriously tho… Whats the difference between Gibson and Mo Williams other than a lot of shoulder hair? They already got shooters and people to run the point. They should have been looking for a slashing SG with a decent Mid ranger.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
goonther says:
“…. unless he actually believes that he can really rampage his way to a one-man title run.”
Didnt he kinda do that once already Dime??? I wouldn’t put it on him to dissapoint this year – I say Bron for MVP, and for all you Mo Williams haters … look at the stats…
He’s improved in almost every category over the past 3 years so whats to say not this year as well – esp since he’s on a better team in Cleveland than he was in Milwaukee
September 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Drink the Haterade (KB24 Chip 09) says:
@ goonther- “and for all you Mo Williams haters … look at the stats…”
Dime already answered your question
“we added a shoot-first, shoot-second, shoot-third point guard I will pretty much have to wrestle to get the ball from”
September 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
ctkennedy says:
why not? they played the celtics better than the lakers did and u really never thought atlanta had a chance in a one game situation who do u take over the king? kobe maybe wade if healthy basketball is the only sport where the best player means two people. cleveland cast is not that bad and they all do the one thing wrong with nba basketball play they f*uckin roles
September 30th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
rodnets says:
Great,
Buckle your seatbelts Im surrounded by crash test dummies!!!
Cleveland supporting cast is made of plaster
September 30th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Dagomar Degroot says:
Bron got his team to the Finals by himself. He’s got a better team now and he’s a better player. Why couldn’t he do it again? And once you’re in the Finals, anything can happen . . . .
September 30th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Homeless J says:
Aaron must be a PR rep for the Cavs.
I think this thread is sort of an overreaction, though. Of course he isn’t going to win a championship this year. Nothing short of a mysterious outbreak of smallpox or a new millenium case of black plague infecting most other teams in the league would win them a title this year. Everybody seems to focus on how he tore through the East practically by himself the last couple of years, instead of how he got calmly shut the fuck down and swept under the rug by the Spurs and “almost kind of made it” to the EC finals which doesn’t really mean much. Although they did get rid of Damon Jones. That’s always a good thing.
Honestly, instead of something more honest from Lebron (which I don’t think anybody really expects. He’s fiercely competitive, why would he come out and say ‘yeah we’re gonna suck this year, I mean we’ll win around 50 games and everything but we’re not getting a chip so you guys probably shouldn’t even come and see the games at all.’) I would rather him come out Starbury-on-crack style and spit out some crazy hyperbole about how they’ll be the first team in NBA history to win 83 regular season games, LeBron will slam dunk a basketball so hard that it will cause massive earthquakes in China, and Delonte West will get one of his regular tattoo artists to tat a Cavs logo on David Stern’s forehead. It would be entertaining, and nobody would have to try to take it seriously.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Drink the Haterade (Kobe Rocks) says:
goonther says and for all you Mo Williams haters … look at the stats…
Only one problem with that… Just like dime said “we added a shoot-first, shoot-second, shoot-third point guard I will pretty much have to wrestle to get the ball from.”
Mo Williams has never seen a shot he didn’t like.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:06 am
caeubona says:
it’s true that lebron carried the cavs all the way to the finals two years ago.
those words, however, are the key words. TWO YEARS AGO. at the span of those two years, lebron got exponentially better, but his teammates did not. at the same time, the rest of the league exploded. the east can no longer be called the Leastern conference; you can say that the east is legit now. as for the cavs taking the celtics to seven games, i can say that’s more of playoff jitters on the celtics part than lebron’s brilliance.
as long as his teammates are unable to step, which i don’t see changing anytime soon, lebron will always feel that he has to do everything. as great as he is, that is not a recipe for success.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 am
Dave says:
Yes I believe LeBron. The Cavs have a very good team and could win the ring this year.
They might be the second best team in the East, an adding Mo helps close that gap somewhat. They have a shot.