Bottom line is, he’s a polarizing player in an age where everything can be dissected. Crap, the guy gets heat for his hairline. I mean, damn people. So I hate being “one of those” and pointing things out. I immediately got labeled last night as “another “Laker” fan” like suddenly I don’t know how to watch basketball or something, because of my favorite team. Like I haven’t watched a few Finals in my lifetime or something.
Bron is out here with the ball, every second of the game. Delly is a PG, who doesn’t run the point. Bron flutters around between the C position, PF, SF, and PG. And the other 4 guys on the court just fine a niche off that. Then, when Bron sits, you ask those 4 guys to somehow run a cohesive offense when they haven’t been doing that at all for the last 2 months? That’s how good teams are run? Play one way for 45 minutes while he dominates the ball, and then run a legit offense in the 3 minutes your allotted, and that’s in increments of 45 seconds here, or minute twenty there.
If Bron was shooting 50+% and 40+% from 3, and making 85%+ of his free throws, then hey, I can’t complain. But that’s not even close to what he’s doing. He’s also passing when it’s to set up a catch and shoot long range shot, NOT to set up MORE movement with the ball. Why?
Steph passes on a double/switch to Green, who then drives, and has options, kick over here, over there, or finish hisself. Bron? He passes to someone and they immediately shoot it, like, this is the shot I HAVE to take. From 24 feet out. Why? Why can’t Bron draw a double, kick it out, swing it, swing it again, and now you get a 10 footer, rather than a 24 footer? Because the talent around him sucks? Isn’t that basketball 101? Surely they’ve swung the ball around before, somewhere in life.
Why does Bron HAVE to dribble for 22 seconds before something can get done? I always thought the Triangle was a useful bunch of nothing to “sound” like it really did something. But over time I actually did learn that it would do just as Phil said it would, it causes the ball to move around the court, each player touches it, and then towards the end of the clock they would eventually swing it to Shaq, or Kobe, or Pau, and get the shot off. But prior to that, each player would in fact move the ball around and then move without the ball as well. Everyone stays interested, even if they don’t truly shoot it much. Golden State doesn’t run triangle, or anything close, but they pass and pass and pass every possession. That doesn’t come anywhere close to what happens with this Cleveland “offense”. Why can’t JR at least handle the ball and probe, before going to LeBron? Or Delly move people around, maybe dump it into Moz, and see what’s there, and then go to Bron if nothing good is there? I mean, I don’t want Bron getting the ball with 4 on the clock every possession, but does he really HAVE to dribble the first 18 seconds before finding what he wants? He can’t play off the ball, ever?
Bron at the top of the circle. Bron on the wing. Bron on the block. Every possession is 4 guys standing there waiting for him to decide what to do. And what’s funny, if it wasn’t for Tristan Thompson rebounding a lot of his misses, this series woulda been a sweep even with these triple doubles and 40 point games. But has anyone brought that up yet? I’m sure it will get swept under the rug, and the “he has no help” narrative will grow and grow.
Bron left the Heat, to go “home”, right after the Cavs won the #1 pick 3 times in 4 years.
We all pretty much accept that they traded for Love to work in LeBron’s window NOW, as opposed to over the course of the long(er) term. Bron’s boys, James Jones and Mike Miller came with him. They traded for a rim protector (Mozgov) and JR/Shump to get a more defensive presence on the roster. He somehow managed to clash with Love, not sure how accurate that is or isn’t, but Love never fit in with the rest of the team. Bron even calls the plays and tells Blatt what to do. But now he has no help? He chose this. He picked most of these dudes. Outside of Kyrie bein hurt, this is what he built for himself, just like when he joined Wade in Miami. Funny thing is, I remember back in Miami everyone tried to say he needed more help there too. It was always Wade’s fault, or Bosh or Chalmers (well, that one might have been right
) and now here we go again. Everywhere he plays, he needs more help. But he calls all the shots, and somehow gets credited as the guy that’s the “great teammate” but once he faces the West and his Nintendo numbers come up empty, he gets to wear check my stat shirts, and people like me go back to our normal lives.
If Scott Brooks doesn’t force Perk on the court, and if Tim Duncan doesn’t miss a 1 foot bunny, or if they grab one rebound, man, he coulda been 0-6 right now.
But that doesn’t matter. He’s got 2. He won back to back. He’s a great GREAT player. But there seems to be a lot of people that want to shade every other player in the league, but want his record clean for some reason. I’m not that guy. Everyone got a smudge on their resume, it happens. But I’m not gonna sit back and let everyone go on and on and on about this and not step back and examine the how’s and why’s. If that makes me a hater, or bitter Laker fan, or whatever else people will project onto me, so be it. Iono, maybe I just don’t know anything about basketball and am not enlightened enough to see his true greatness, not being able to be a weapon from mid-range, or from deep, or the free throw line, or having an impact anymore on defense, or overcoming “exhaustion” when beating the overrated Hawks without Al Horford, Thabo, Korver, and Carroll on one leg, at home, when Kyrie was still at least playing some….. who knows, maybe he’ll flip the switch and win these next two games and my tune will change. Maybe I’ll crown him like he did himself when he became the “chosen one”
