He aged a lot in the last year. He is much slower on defense, and hasn't been able to hit open shots with anywhere near the same consistency this season compared to last.
NBA: *** Official 2014 NBA Playoffs Thread ***
- Thread starter CycloneRulzzz
- Start date
He aged a lot in the last year. He is much slower on defense, and hasn't been able to hit open shots with anywhere near the same consistency this season compared to last.
The Heat were pretty damn lucky to beat the Spurs with that roster last year. No way it was going to happen two years in a row
Honest question since I noticed rumors surfacing that Melo isn't looking to renew with the Knicks, but so people actually think he could realistically land in Miami with their payroll?? I just don't see it.
Umm...have you watched Wade play at all the last few games or Chalmers? Wade killed them in the Finals last year too, almost every lineup without Wade was 10+ points per 100 possessions better than any lineup with Wade. But they had Mike Miller last year, Battier was able to contribute more and Chalmers was playing better. Now Miller's gone, Battier looks very much like a guy one game away from retirement, Chalmers and Cole can't hit an open shot and Birdman is banged up too.
I said before the playoffs started the Heat were vulnerable because of their lack of wing depth. The Nets came very close to exposing that but the Heat were able to close out that series before it turned into a real dogfight. Keeping Wade fresh and Lewis stepping up helped cover that up against the Pacers, but the Spurs have exposed that. That's what's great about the NBA playoffs, a team's small deficiencies get further exposed each round as the competition rises.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/source...--bulls--rockets-in-contention-161206919.html
"New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is leaning toward leaving in pursuit of immediate championship contention, and awaits the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets to clear the necessary salary-cap space to sign him in free agency, league sources told Yahoo Sports."
If all three of Bosh, Wade and James opt out and redo their contracts they can get Melo, but they all would have to take significant pay cuts. I'd like to see a scenario where Bosh and James convince Wade that they're all going to opt out and then only Wade does and the Heat don't offer him another contract, but Wade will be in Miami as long as he wants.
LeBron needs to leave. Without him next season they'll be a rebuilding team; Wade is a shell of himself, Bosh is inconsistent, and they won't have a point guard. If he really is aiming for MJ he doesn't have time to sit around and let Miami rebuild. I don't see Melo going to Miami. That's not smart.
I don't know where LeBron will go, but I'm sure if he wants to return to Cleveland he'll have a say in who they draft (all behind the scenes of course).
I don't know where LeBron will go, but I'm sure if he wants to return to Cleveland he'll have a say in who they draft (all behind the scenes of course).
He said Spo is a better coach than Popp last year so good luck getting him to admit that. Like I said, now is where we see what Spo is made of. down 3-1, getting blown out at home the last 2 games. This is the time they need a coach to step up and change the tide of the series. It's not like LeBron has played bad, so it's not a player issue. It's a scheme issue.
I just have a problem with the Spo > Popp statement...Pops is a top 5 coach of all-time. Spo has a way to go to even come close to that. Remember Pops had a good lineup back in the day with Robinson and Duncan (2 star players). You can argue Parker is a star player (debatable imo), but what Pops is doing right now with basically 1 star player at best is pretty incredible.
He already took out a team with 2 star players in Westbrook and Durant. You need at least one star player more than not to win an NBA championship.
Here's something for you guys to feast your eyes on, since 2000, here's the winners and if they had a star player or not.
2000: LA Lakers (Kobe and Shaq)
2001: LA Lakers (Kobe and Shaq)
2002: LA Lakers (Kobe and Shaq)
2003: Spurs (Tim Duncan)
2004: Detroit
2005: Spurs (Tim Duncan)
2006: Heat (Wade)
2007: Spurs (Tim Duncan)
2008: Celtics (Pierce and Garnett) (Debatable)
2009: LA Lakers (Kobe)
2010: LA Lakers (Kobe)
2011: Dallas (Nowitzski)
2012: Heat (LeBron and Wade)
2013: Heat (LeBron)
I would bold the Spurs if they win it this year.
Do you really think he's going to come even close to MJ status if he continues to cherry pick and hopping all around the league to the best team and continue to team up with other all pro players? That is one of the least honorable ways to do it. leebron could cheat his way to 12 rings and he wouldn't even be close to MJ status.
Keep building that strawman. I've never seriously implied that Spoelstra was better than Pop. I've always said Pop and Carlisle are the two best coaches in the NBA.
I wonder if Bosh and Wade regret teaming up with leborn. Yeah they got a couple rings, but they have been relegated to role players. I can't imagine anyone offering Bosh or Wade anywhere near the max contracts they were being offered pre-Labron.
Plus all the negative PR that came with teaming up with Labron. Let's face it, they aren't exactly the most popular players in the league any more.
Plus all the negative PR that came with teaming up with Labron. Let's face it, they aren't exactly the most popular players in the league any more.
It will be an interesting off season to say the least. according to this espn link on team by team free agency, for miami the big 3 have opt outs and then almost all of the supporting cast is also a free agent.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9947573/nba-free-agents-2014-2015
[TABLE="width: 562"]
[TR="class: last, bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
Miami[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]RESTRICTED
None
UNRESTRICTED
Ray Allen
Chris Andersen (P)
Shane Battier
Michael Beasley
Chris Bosh (ETO)
Mario Chalmers
Toney Douglas
Udonis Haslem (P)
LeBron James (ETO)
James Jones
Rashard Lewis
Greg Oden
Dwyane Wade (ETO)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9947573/nba-free-agents-2014-2015
[TABLE="width: 562"]
[TR="class: last, bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
Miami[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]RESTRICTED
None
UNRESTRICTED
Ray Allen
Chris Andersen (P)
Shane Battier
Michael Beasley
Chris Bosh (ETO)
Mario Chalmers
Toney Douglas
Udonis Haslem (P)
LeBron James (ETO)
James Jones
Rashard Lewis
Greg Oden
Dwyane Wade (ETO)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I remember you saying after the finals that Spo was better than Pop and this series proved it unless you were kidding. I'll try to find the thread.
I was simply using the logic of other posters in the thread. Trolling the trolls if you will.
I'm not sure what it means, but I would bet everything I own that Bosh and Wade have negative regret of their decision to team up with LeBron. I don't think Bosh misses barely making the playoffs and Wade misses carrying a garbage Heat team to the first round every year by themselves to instead create one of the most famous basketball teams of all time.
It will be an interesting off season to say the least. according to this espn link on team by team free agency, for miami the big 3 have opt outs and then almost all of the supporting cast is also a free agent.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9947573/nba-free-agents-2014-2015
[TABLE="width: 562"]
[TR="class: last, bgcolor: transparent"]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
Miami[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]RESTRICTED
None
UNRESTRICTED
Ray Allen
Chris Andersen (P)
Shane Battier
Michael Beasley
Chris Bosh (ETO)
Mario Chalmers
Toney Douglas
Udonis Haslem (P)
LeBron James (ETO)
James Jones
Rashard Lewis
Greg Oden
Dwyane Wade (ETO)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
If I had to guess, 1/2 will be back, LeBron will be gone, and Allen and Battier will retire.
I suppose LeBron could have, I don't really know how to word it but, not been as good for his first 3-4 years so the team could stock up on top 10 picks. When he was leading teams to the Eastern Conference Finals by himself, he doomed himself in Cleveland because it was clear they had no intention of making meaningful moves. He didn't get to have Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen be drafted to his team. Hell in 88 and 89 the Bulls drafted 4 guys in the first round. The set up today and the fact that LeBron took an awful team as far as he did killed the chances of a championship in Cleveland. This may sound dumb but if the Heat think that LeBron may leave, I think they should offer LeBron for the Cavs #1. They can take whoever they want, pay Bosh and Wade and have some support for a new guy. Go grab someone else who can score and you have a team that can compete. If you wait it out, LeBron leaves, Bosh leaves, Wade is pretty much done and you have no core and you have no pick to grab a guy to build around. You basically have one, if not two, junk years where you are racking up picks then maybe you are back.
If Wade doesn't get a max contract this summer it will have more to do with age than LeBron making him look bad
It took MJ a few years to win as well. But, I suppose he could have sold out and done the dishonorable thing and teamed up with Magic and they would have won the championship every single year that they were in the league (and they would have). But, Jordan wanted to beat Magic, not team up with him. MJ and Labron couldn't be more different.
