One of my favorite radio shows in Miami Florida was all over Twitter after the Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers by 28 points in LeBron James first return to the city of Cleveland. On the LeBatardShow twitter feed, the show suggested that tomorrow’s talking heads and headlines would denigrate LeBron for “not being good enough” in scoring “just 38 points,” and that the game was “meaningless” to begin with. I don’t quite think the media will go to that ridiculous extreme, but as someone who has also been critical of the personal hate toward LeBron James, I can’t help but see some truth in the sarcastic statement the people at The Dan LeBatard Show are making.

Naturally, I certainly will not be jumping into the LeBron James-bashing wagon.

Okay, well, there is just one negative thing I want to run by you all, but I will end on that note, despite how unfair that might seem.

Positively speaking, LeBron James was great in his return to Ohio. By the end of the first quarter, it seemed inevitable that LeBron was going to get a triple double. He would only end the game with 38 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds, but that’s only because the Heat were up by 30 entering the 4th quarter. Had there been any need to play LeBron after the third period, a triple-double would have been recorded by James. Unfortunately, the team he left is so bad now, that their ineptitude prevented him from registering magical numbers against them.

Then again, LeBron did drop 24 of his 38 points in the third quarter, a single-quarter scoring record in the Cavaliers arena. Surely, that’s not going to be a trivia question on the Cavaliers flagship radio station anytime soon.

But points and stats aside, a win was all LeBron needed to shut the Cavaliers up. And when that win seemed inevitable (halfway through the second quarter) the Cavaliers fans that welcomed LeBron back home with a barrage of boos and laughter, fell awfully silent by the end of the third quarter.

With that win, LeBron got the first laugh. He’ll likely get the last laugh too. As talented as the Heat are, they aren’t very good right now, and for the Cavs to lose to them by that much just shows how bad they are, even worse than their 7-11 record would suggest. Meanwhile, the Heat improved to 12-8 on the year and have the Cavs to thank for their Eastern Conference best +8.2-point differential in games this season. Such a margin denotes just how good this team can become, and where they likely will finish the year when the season is over: the NBA Finals.

Couple the win, the Heat’s future, and LeBron’s historical 3rd quarter, and what you have here is a night for Cleveland Fans that will likely be on ESPN’s 50 for 50 series. What the Heat fans have done with commercials, YouTube clips, t-shirts, signs and chants has been quite humorous, but anybody who really cares enough to put their attention towards those things had to be hurt by what happened on that basketball court when LeBron scored 38—for the opposing team! Cleveland couldn’t have just one night—one night! LeBron is going to go on to a life filled with luxury, friends, championship rings and one would have to assume, a whole lot of happiness. And while I hope sports doesn’t define a single man, woman or child that was in Qualcomm arena last night, the fact is, if you cared enough to make an “I hate LeBron” sign or t-shirt for that game, you probably didn’t sleep too well.

But do you know who did?

LeBron James.

I’m just giving credit where credit is deserved. LeBron made sure his team got a win in his return home, and did it in historical fashion. To ask for anything more would be just plain asinine, and apparently, good fodder for my favorite Miami radio station.

I will throw one bone to the LeBron Haters though, because, after all, you have had a tough night. The only thing I question LeBron about after a night like this is, where is that kind of response game in and game out? It’s one thing to have a bad game, but it’s another thing to disappear at times.

LeBron James played horrible in Game 5 of the Boston series last year, but he goes nuts in the first half against a pitiful Cavaliers team? He looks mesmerized in Game 6 of that series while turning the ball over 9 times, but he drops 24 points in the 3rd quarter against the Cavs.

Normally, I wouldn’t question an athlete’s behavior like this from game to game, and even I recognize how small of a sample size I am using here, but I just wonder how capable LeBron is of turning his game on when it needs to be turned on. If he feels motivated, he gives you a triple-double, and if he doesn’t, he gives you 15 points. Actually, that alone is all fine and dandy, but when we have situations when he’s not motivated in games that he needs to be motivated in—well, we see him exit the NBA playoffs well before we ever thought he would.

So for you LeBron haters, I leave you with this. James is the most talented player in the NBA, but sometimes his effort takes a night off. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll be lucky enough to see his effort take off another playoff series this summer, and then you can get your laughs in. However, rest assure, win it all this season or not, this Miami team will bring home the trophy someday, and it will be long before Cleveland ever does. So laugh now, but you can take a guess as to who will laugh last in this scenario, right?

The post "Miami beats Cleveland; Give LeBron the Credit deserved" was originally published at TSW.

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Since the end of the 2007-2008 NBA season, when Kobe Bryant won the NBA’s MVP award, I have been arguing that LeBron James is the best player in the NBA .

Why did I deter away from Kobe in the very year that he won the MVP?

For starters, LeBron was a more prolific scorer, rebounder and passer that year, beating out Kobe in all three of those statistics, as well as a few more advanced metrics too.

But it was bigger than stats. It was more about stature. Sure, Kobe had just gotten Pau Gasol and took the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA Finals that year. But when asked to rise above it all, deliver for his team, and push the envelope against what was probably a “slightly” superior Boston Celtics team, Kobe couldn’t do it. And I’m not talking about winning the series, he couldn’t even keep things respectable. The fact that Kobe allowed the Celtics to win that series in six games, and saw a 20-point lead turn into a loss, didn’t sit well with me. Mind you, this occurrence went down only a couple of weeks after LeBron James scored 45 points, with a bunch of ragamuffins, in a narrow Game 7 loss to the Celtics.

In my mind, that was all I needed to see. Here LeBron James was helpless and hopeless, and yet he nearly pulled off the upset against the Celtics all by himself. While Kobe, on the other hand, with goo-gobs of talent around him, went down in flames to that same Celtics team. When the clock struck zero on the 2008 NBA Finals, I knew a change had come; LeBron James was now the best basketball player in the NBA.

And I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people, knowingly or unknowingly, made a similar change in their stance, maybe not at the same time as me, but before too long. Because it was that following April that the writers named LeBron James the MVP of the NBA—his first of two consecutive such awards.

Here we are, two years later. Have the recent events of NBA Free Agency changed my mind at all? Has LeBron James gone from best player in the NBA to second-rate because he moved from Cleveland to Miami to join a three-headed monster?

Nah. Not at all.

Even when you factor in the more than disappointing performance in the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Boston Celtics, LeBron still remains the best player in the NBA. Kobe was nice during the regular season, and was awesome in the playoffs and in the NBA Finals. But LeBron still delivered, and while he didn’t come through in the end of that series, it’s hard to say it was all his fault when his second and third best players failed to do anything of remote significance in any of the Cavaliers losses to Boston.

With that established, I am not going to be cemented in this stance forever. In order for LeBron James to remain the best player in the NBA, he has to show it to me on the court. I can’t watch Miami Heat games and go, “Oh, LeBron could have scored 40 points tonight, but instead he let Dwyane Wade do it.”

Nah, that mess won’t fly. If LeBron is going to remain the best player in the NBA, he has to show it to me. He has to put up the 30 points, the 8 assists and grab the 8 rebounds. This isn’t “whatif.com,” this is real life. If he wants my MVP vote, he better put up some MVP numbers, have several MVP moments, and at the very least, be the MVP of his team. Quite frankly, if Dwyane Wade is the one doing the majority of the scoring, hitting the game-winning baskets and acting like the leader of this team, then how can I honestly sit there and give the MVP award to LeBron James?

Really…how?

Because he’s more talented?

Hell, Greg Oden has plenty of talent too, but I can’t give him an All-Star vote while he’s riding the pine or giving the Portland Trailblazers 20 minutes off the bench. I need to see the talent in action. I need to see the dunks, the shots, the passes, and “Yes,” I need to see them in large volumes.

Sorry, efficiency ratings don’t win MVP crowns alone—you have to compile the numbers behind Player Efficiency Ratings to make them worth looking at. Otherwise, they are no more valuable than the “Per 36” metric, which mine as well be named the “you would average this if you played a lot of minutes, but unfortunately, you’re not good enough to play a lot of minutes” statistic.

In all seriousness, what is about to happen? Is the most talented player in the NBA still going to exhibit his talent, or will he tone it down because the players around him are good enough to carry the load on most nights.

I have never been one of those that believe that a player’s actual value to his team determines his MVP status—quite frankly, that would make the MVP award a team award and not an individual award. However, in this special instance, LeBron’s team does matter.

If Wade and Chris Bosh combine to make the Three Kings of Miami an unstoppable force and LeBron James takes a back seat as a facilitator, I don’t know if LeBron can win the MVP award. As good as LBJ is, he’s not necessarily the best facilitator. Everyone says he’s “more Magic than MJ,” but that’s not exactly a correct assessment. Magic didn’t need to score to be effective, LeBron James does. Without the scoring, he’s just a big, not-so-quick point guard. In fact, without the scoring, he may not even be all that great of a point guard. It’s the fact that LeBron can get his shot, get to the rim and finish at any time he wants to that puts fear into opposing defenses and opens up the passing lanes for his assists.

Should LeBron take on a passive role, how much of that fear would be there, and how will teams play him? Will LeBron be as effective or prolific if teams play off of him and make him pass the basketball elsewhere? And Lord knows that if Wade gets the ball in a favorable position, it’s not all too likely to find its way back to LeBron on the same possession. That’s not to say the Heat will somehow fall victim to such a strategy, but perhaps LeBron’s numbers will.

And if LeBron isn’t putting up the numbers, who can surpass him in 2011 NBA MVP award race and possibly as the best player in the NBA?

Well, already many people think Kobe Bryant remains the best player in basketball. His two consecutive championships and five rings certainly give merit to that belief, and Kobe just might win another in 2011 (although our Power Rankings don’t necessarily agree). Then again, Kobe himself is slowing down, and is more likely to save what he has left for the NBA playoffs, rather than be in contention for the MVP crown.

How about Deron Williams? Some may consider that a stretch, but with Carlos Boozer gone, Williams will have to carry the bulk of the load for the Utah Jazz. Certainly, this big point guard is more than capable of doing it, as he has done it time and time against for Utah. It’s quite arguable that Williams was the best player in the sweep against the Lakers in the second round. He average 22 points and 9 assists that series, despite being the focal point of the Lakers defensive efforts. Who knows what he’ll do not that more scoring opportunities are in his future as someone on Utah has to make up for Boozer’s 20 points a game.

Then there is the two-time Defensive MVP, Dwight Howard. Why can’t he finally win an overall MVP award? It really wouldn’t take much. If Howard continues to play like that on defense, and brings his offensive game up as little as 15%, he’s a lock for the MVP award, especially if LeBron takes a step back.

And how can I forget LeBron’s own teammate, Dwyane Wade. Wade might see this as his opportunity to get one. Far be it from to me to suggest something so selfish for a guy who has been anything but that (basketball-wise) since bringing LeBron to Miami, but he has to think about his legacy to. Seriously, if LeBron is relegated to point guard then that means somebody else has to do the bulk of the scoring. As long as Wade doesn’t get “Steve Nashed” by LeBron and the writers, the MVP award could be Wade’s for the taking.

However, the guy that’s in the best position to dethrone the former King of basketball, is the very guy who was the runner up to him last season. Kevin Durant, unambiguous and not self-righteous, could very well hoist the MVP trophy a year from now. He’s the best pure scorer in the league, he has incredible rebounding skills, and he plays defense much better than even I thought prior to the start of this season. Then again, if defense mattered in this thing, Steve Nash never would have won two MVPs in a row.

Still, as much as some of us (perhaps including myself) would like to think that LeBron’s reign as King Monarch is over now that he’s a member of the newest oligarchy in basketball, LeBron James still has more talent than anyone else on the court. If anyone can convert himself from a 30, 8 and 8 guy to a 15, 12 and 12 guy, it’s LeBron James. And Lord knows if he averages a triple-double and leads Miami to 70 wins, it’s going to be hard for writers not give him the award. And it will be just as hard for me not to continue calling him the best player in basketball.

The post "Zo Knows: LeBron’s MVP throne is in jeopardy" was originally published at TSW.

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I don’t care that LeBron James went on national television to tell the world, and Cleveland, that he was going to the Miami Heat to play with Dywane Wade and Chris Bosh.

I don’t care that LeBron James made people fly out to Cleveland in order to talk to him and didn’t wear a suit to the meetings.

I don’t care that LeBron led everybody on like the captain of the football team leads on the girl who does his homework. If you didn’t listen to him, he couldn’t have led you, but instead, you chose to be led to your proverbial slaughter.

As a New Yorker, I don’t even care that LeBron James came to Greenwich, CT, announced he wasn’t coming to New York City and immediately bolted for Miami, as if he was only here to rub it in New York’s face.

And I certainly don’t care that he didn’t pick up a phone and give Dan Gilbert a telephone call telling him that he was indeed leaving the Cavaliers organization.

All of that is bologna. And if you chose to condemn LeBron James for any of those actions, you are a petty small person that probably has no real life of your own. The man just made a decision, that he felt was best, and that doesn’t really hurt anybody in the long run. Sure, his departure from Cleveland may not be the most economically-inclined move for the entertainment industry in Ohio, but that’s business. And if somebody loses a job because LeBron James plays for another relatively trivial basketball team, which in my opinion, just gives more credence to the fact that LeBron thought he couldn’t win a championship with that organization.

All that said, LeBron isn’t perfect. And while I ultimately have no problem with his decision, I can’t help but make a judgment about him based on it.

Let’s face it, Michael Jordan wasn’t teaming up with Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing or David Robinson to help get him that first ring. Of course, MJ had Scottie Pippen, but I dare you to find the person that says Jordan would have sacrificed being “the man” in order to join a triumvirate of sorts.

Kobe wouldn’t do this either. Hell, Kobe could have taken a backseat to Shaquille O’Neal, smoothed things over with the diesel, and won 1 or 2 more championships with Shaq had he not helped send Shaq out of Los Angeles. The championship Dwyane Wade won in 2006 could have easily been Kobe’s, but Kobe was tired of being second-fiddle.

LeBron, however, is taking a step back. He’s welcoming being a second-fiddle on many occasions. It’s one thing for Jordan to pass the ball to Steve Kerr off the double-team, or to find John Paxson for the go-ahead winner late in the game. But it’s an entirely different thing to pass the ball to Scottie Pippen every other night, basically taking turns as if you’re on the same level.

Well, that’s exactly what LeBron James is doing. Don’t get me wrong, he will play basketball the way it was meant to be played, making all the right passes and all the right decisions. However, he is giving up being “the man.” He’s giving up that point in time in the game when everybody is looking at you to send them home happy. And to me, you can’t be the greatest basketball player ever unless you have that.

Then again, I don’t know that LeBron ever wanted to be the greatest basketball player ever. Maybe he is just happy winning games, and no one can fault him for that. But James’ decision to sign on with Wade and Bosh in Miami is a decision to relinquish any hopes of ever being deemed the best basketball player to ever lace him up. I thought he was on his way to doing just that. Sure, the rings weren’t there yet, but like Jordan at age 25, I always thought brighter days were ahead. However, now that they are, it looks like LeBron’s star has gotten a little bit duller, and the fact that LeBron is okay with not always being in driver’s seat is my only problem with anything he has said or done over the last two days, two weeks and two years. It’s one thing to be a team player, it’s another thing to choose not to lead the team, and LeBron James, on national television, made his choice as clear as day.

The post "Zo Knows: There’s Only One Problem with LeBron" was originally published at TSW.

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LeBron James chose to suit up with the Miami Heat on Thursday. Referencing that he wanted to put himself in the best position to win a championship immediately, LeBron said the Miami Heat was the team that made the most sense for him bring his talents to.

But is LeBron James right?

Because I’m not so sure that this team makes the Miami Heat an unstoppable force, and maybe—just maybe—they are there own worst enemies.

Even though the triumvirate of LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami seems like three of the best pieces ever to make up a starting lineup in the NBA, this team may not be as good as some people are making it out to be.

For starters, Chris Bosh does not a star make. Given what little he has done in his career, Bosh is far from being lumped into the category that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade exist in. Sure, he’s a great player, with good numbers and has had his share of success on the basketball court. But last time I checked, nobody walked into a Toronto Raptors game in fear of Chris Bosh. Yes, he was the Raptors best player and he got that kind of natural respect, but no coach ever said they struggled sleeping the night before playing against Bosh—at least not without a smile on their face.

Then you have Dwyane Wade. Certainly I couldn’t have a bad thing to say about him, right? After all, TheSportsWatchers is one of the few publications out there that have touted the idea that Wade may be an even better player than LeBron.

However, Wade’s flaws as a member of this trio aren’t so much flaws as they are “problems.” Wade can score with the best of them, but can he shoot the basketball well enough to free up space on the court? Let’s face it; with a trio like this, the Miami Heat are going to see zone defenses during the 2010-2011 NBA season. In college, you counter zone defenses with good passing and quality big men. While an X’s and O’s coach may tell you otherwise, the only way to beat a zone in the NBA is to shoot your way out of it. Plain and simple.

Wade will have to make some of those shots. But the stats say he’s not really equipped to do so. Wade made just 39% of his jumpers in 2010. That’s nothing to concern yourself with when one is cutting and slashing into the lane, but if Wade has to sit back and be a true two-guard at times—well, let’s just say he’s no Ray Allen from the outside.

And of course, how can we forget LeBron James? The man who made “The Decision.” In our estimation, LeBron James is the best player in the NBA (sorry Wade), but he too comes with his own issues.

Can LeBron really take a backseat when the game is on the line? Everyone is giving LeBron, Bosh and Wade kudos for sacrificing money and ego to make this triumvirate a reality, but what happens in the “Heat” of the moment? That’s something a team with one super star doesn’t have to worry about.

Kobe is never going to go home mad after a game, because Phil Jackson decided Ron Artest should get the 22-foot jumper to win the game, and once upon a time, neither of these three players had to worry about that either. And while it’s all fine and dandy for LeBron James to sit their on national television and say he doesn’t mind who gets the ball with the game on the line, it’s another thing when bullets are being fired and he wants that basketball in his hands.

Some of you will take these three guys at their word though, and for the most part, I do believe Bosh and Wade can set aside their egos. But LeBron James is the guy who went on television to make his signing announcement known to the world, who has Nike puppets impersonating him, is a self-proclaimed wanna-be billionaire and did an interview almost immediately after he was eliminated from the NBA playoffs this season. That guy I just described—yeah, you bet he has an ego.

And he’s emotional too.

Prior to the Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals and on national television, if you had asked LeBron James would he shake Dwight Howard’s hand, he would have said yes. What happened? He did no such thing. Do you really believe LeBron had to shoot a left-handed free throw in the NBA Playoffs when the game was on the line, or was that a little bit of fanfare? And for God sake, the man is called King James.

Look, when it comes to his play on the basketball court, there are few basketball superstars who pass the ball as much as LeBron James. I don’t doubt that LeBron’s game lends itself to playing a less selfish role on the basketball court; I just doubt that he always be 100% happy with it.

Three years ago, the Boston Celtics assembled a triumvirate of sorts in 2007 to form a big three. The difference there was “A,” defense, and “B,” those three guys really didn’t care who got the last shot. It was never a thought. Kevin Garnett was willing to pass it. Ray Allen was willing to pass it. And Paul Pierce, as gung-ho as he can be, passed the ball more in 2007 than at any other point in his career.

Sure, LeBron, Wade and Bosh will all make “sacrifices.” But when that clock is ticking, if they are as confident as they have been made out to be, they all will want that ball. Shot in or shot out, will somebody be displeased with the way things go? At the end of the Olympics, everybody gets the same medal, stands on the same podium and gets essentially the same credit. In the NBA, there’s just one MVP, one scoring leader, one leading assists man, and one guy holding up the Bill Russell Trophy at the end of the season. Those three can tell me that stuff means nothing to them now, but we’ve only just begun.

The post "New Miami Heat Comes with Flaws" was originally published at TSW.

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LeBron James plans to announce which team he is signing with at 9pm on ESPN this Thursday. James’ representatives reached out to LeBron about doing a special on the famed cable network in which the proceeds of the show would go to a charity of James’ choosing. The show is being produced from an unannounced location as part of a 1-hour special.

The ego on this guy!

But I don’t have a problem with his ego. I don’t have a problem with the show. Quite frankly, the only reason we don’t see more of this in sports is because people frown upon it. Going on television and announcing your decision is commonplace for immature, 17-year old, high school football players. You think the ego from guys like that just all of a sudden fades with millions of dollars, fame and power? Yeah, right! James is just 9 years removed from being in the same position as every other pipsqueak college-bound athlete, and apparently he has the same ego as one of them.

But once again, I don’t have a problem with it. He should live it up. You and I can’t announce a cable special for when we change jobs, because nobody cares. And LeBron James isn’t forcing you to watch this show; only those who feel personally inclined to do so will. I can already see Michael Wilbon scoffing at the notion of watching such a program, as I’m sure many of you will scoff at it as well.

However, let’s get to the real issue at hand. Because no matter what you think about LeBron’s decision to host a special on Thursday night, the fact is that when the hour is up, and we know where LeBron James is going, the talk will immediately turn into a conversation about the team he picked. The only problem with that is because of the absolute audacity of this event, LeBron James future doesn’t seem so clandestine anymore.

Call me crazy, but if this guy goes anywhere but Cleveland, will he have to have already moved out of that mansion of his in Akron? Seriously! Could he really go on national television, spurn the Cleveland Cavaliers, and expect to show his face in that city in a public arena? It couldn’t happen. Which is why I believe he is definitely staying in Cleveland. LeBron may have an ego on him, but he’s not stupid. He of all people knows that he can’t go on television and essentially make a mockery of his last 7 seasons as a Cavalier. The press there (as big as it is) would tear LeBron to pieces.

So you can complain about the “LeBron Special” all you want to. You can talk about how big his ego is. And you can call him self-serving, money-grubbing athlete as much as you choose to, but all signs point to this guy staying in Cleveland, and that’s all we ever wanted to know in the first place. So no matter how big you think LeBron’s ego is, apparently it’s not too big for Cleveland.

The post "Ego On Him is Too Big for Cleveland, or Is It?" was originally published at TSW.

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LeBron James is officially a free agent, thus starting the Summer of LeBron, in which teams will foolishly embark upon the superstar’s door thinking they can persuade this intelligent, young man to come to their organization with words.

With NBA Free Agency underway, every owner, general manager and head coach in pursuit of LeBron James is practicing their lines for the spiel they are going to give LeBron this week. Unfortunately, I don’t think there is anything that any NBA suit can say to James that will convince LeBron to lean one way or another.

For starters, the best these teams can do is to tell James what their “intentions” are. Never mind the fact that LeBron James knows these people would say anything to sign him, but even if we assume they are telling James their true intentions, who is to say that these general managers can make any of their “intentions” come true?

For example, we know that Pat Riley wants LeBron James and Chris Bosh in Miami, and that’s going to be the basis of his speech when he gives his pitch to LeBron this week. However, can Riley guarantee LeBron that Bosh is definitely going to be in Miami? For all we know, somebody could offer the Toronto Raptors a better personnel package, thereby giving the Raptors incentive to seek a sign-and-trade with another team not named the Heat.

Then again, there will be a bit of chance involved in King James’s decision no matter what team LeBron decides on. Thus, no matter what any team tells LeBron, he should do what’s best for him personally and not concern himself with pairing up with anyone of the other major NBA free agents. Sure, the prospect of a Big Three in Miami, a Young Three in Chicago, or a Broadway Duo in New York City all sound nice, but how feasible are they? The only thing LeBron can rely on are the players currently on a team’s roster, and even then, who knows what the wrong, shifty, cheap owner might do once he has to guarantee LeBron James $96 million over the next five years.

Of course, I’m all for persuasion—it’s a hell of a thing. But you have to know when it applies, and when it doesn’t. And as much as these other NBA teams want LeBron James on their roster, the “visions of grandeur” that they plan on employing in their King James speeches may not have anything to do with what LeBron James’s final decision turns out to be. I’ll reiterate that LeBron certainly wants to be involved with a franchise that has a plan, but James must recognize that all plans are just that—plans.

Plans don’t always come to fruition, and even the most well thought out arrangements sometimes end in failure. In fact, you don’t have to think back too far in NBA basketball history to recognize that.

The 2004 Los Angeles Lakers did achieve their “superstar” team adding Gary Payton and Karl Malone to the Kobe-Shaq duo. But those four lost to the much less talented and heralded four of the Detroit Pistons.

And remember how it was all but guaranteed that Kobe Bryant was going to be traded to the Chicago Bulls? Or how about when Elton Brand recruited Baron Davis to the Clippers only to bolt for Philadelphia the second they offered him one more red cent?

Players are anomalies. For LeBron James to sit there and listen to some suit, who doesn’t know what it’s like to walk half a step in the shoes of a Chris Bosh or a Dwyane Wade, and believe that the guys plans are guaranteed to come to fruition is crazy talk. LeBron isn’t going to buy “the dream.” He’s not going to make a decision based on plans for the future that no one person has any control over. He can’t. Because nobody can guarantee him a championship, no matter what scenario they dream up in their minds.

Thus, as we approach the wee hours of July 1st, the first day of NBA Free Agency, it is my contention that LeBron James will go to the team that is best suited to make him a star as presently constructed.

What team is that?

LeBron James’s best hope of winning a championship with a team tomorrow is with the Chicago Bulls. The New Jersey Nets, believe it or not, are my runners up, because they too have a nice nucleus of Devin Harris and Brooke Lopez, not to mention their newly picked first round draftee. However, the Bulls essentially have two all-stars already on their roster, in addition they have Luol Deng and Taj Gibson, two players that would come off the bench. Not to mention, even with those guys, the Bulls still have cap space to acquire Chris Bosh, leaving some ability for a “vision of grandeur” to actually come true.

And while the Bulls are my pick, I think the fact that nobody can promise LeBron James anything basketball-wise also puts the New York Knicks in play. Basketball is a throw of the dice. Hell, Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson couldn’t win a championship together. However, guaranteed contracts and endorsement deals are about as close to sure-fire guarantees as you can get in the United States, and that’s something the New York Knicks have a unique selling advantage with.

I’m not flip-flopping though. It is my clear-cut belief that it will be the Chicago Bulls signing LeBron James. That’s not based on any hearsay, any insider tips, or any chats with LeBron. This is based on common sense, something LeBron James appears to have a lot of, and I don’t doubt he’ll be using all week long during these initial stages of NBA Free Agency.

The post "Can LeBron Really Be Persuaded?" was originally published at TSW.

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Now that we know Doc Rivers will coach the Boston Celtics during the 2010-2011 NBA season, it only makes sense that the Celtics Eastern Conference rivals name their new head coach in the very near future.

Byron Scott is expected to be named the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The specifics of his contract are unknown at this time.

Scott is now with his third team as an NBA coach. Scott was fired from the New Jersey Nets organization in 2004 after leading the team to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003. Scott would move on to the New Orleans Hornets immediately following his firing, when he would then lead the Hornets to a 56-win season in 2008, the team’s best season since arriving in New Orleans.

Scott was let go from the Hornets earlier this year, this despite being named the NBA’s Head Coach of the Year less than two years before his firing. Along with that Coach of the Year award, Scott has a record of 352-355 as the head man in charge.

Scott’s arrival in Cleveland comes at the time of the most critical juncture in Cleveland sports history. LeBron James became a free agent at 12:01 am this morning, and many suspect that the Cavaliers would not have hired Scott unless they truly believe that LeBron James would be willing to play for him.

Brian Shaw, a Los Angeles Lakers assistant, was also said to be in the running for the head coaching position, but many think it is his lack of experience as a head coach that cost him the job. Not that he wasn’t qualified, but the overall consensus is that brining Shaw, a would-be rookie head coach, to Cleveland would all but guarantee that LeBron James would go elsewhere in free agency.

You should expect Scott to hit the ground running in Cleveland, as recruiting LeBron James has to be goal number one in his agenda. Certainly, he would not have taken the job unless he had some confidence that he could help the team land LeBron James. However, Scott is such a trustworthy, basketball die-hard, that many suspect that Scott would have taken this job even had LeBron James already signed elsewhere.

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In the 2010 NBA Summer of LeBron James, one thing is probably being severely overlooked right now. While everyone understands the potential future greatness of whatever team LeBron should decide to join once free agency starts, it’s highly unlikely that the team he will join will become the favorites to win the NBA Finals or even the Eastern Conference in 2011.

Yes, options such as Chicago and his current team, Cleveland, could become huge players in 2011, but the fall out from his arrival in those cities may not result in all of the key players remaining on that subsequent roster, or in the case of Cleveland, they just aren’t good enough as presently constructed.

There is one team currently in the Eastern Conference that could be the favorites to win the East in 2011, with or without LeBron James. While the Miami Heat are definitely among the top teams courting LeBron James’ services, they could be in a very nice position this upcoming NBA season even if King James decides to take his royal court elsewhere.

Let me start off by saying, I am in no way suggesting that Dwyane Wade is better than LeBron James, however, Wade does have a ring. And as far as playoff performances go, I have never seen a better four-game stretch than the show Wade put on in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Even if we agree upon the fact that LeBron James is “clearly” the better player, the roster that Miami will be able to assemble around Wade could be borderline ridiculous. After Miami’s recent trade on NBA draft night that saw their 18th pick and Daequan Cook sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami is in the envious position of being a deal away from being able to afford three-max players next season.

That “deal,” however, would have to include shipping out former #2 overall pick Michael Beasley, but you would have to figure there is at least one team (Sacramento) that could use a young, promising forward of Beasley’s potential. If they make that deal happen, the Heat could sign Dwyane Wade and two other major free agents.

That could lead to a Miami Roster that combines Wade with a combination of Bosh and LeBron, Stoudemire and Joe Johnson or Boozer and Nowitzki—the list goes on and on. Personally, I think if you pair any one of those players up with Wade, the Heat immediately enter the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. But if you can add a third, the Heat can immediately challenge the Los Angeles Lakers for NBA supremacy—and yes, I am saying that with a straight face.

Of course, everybody is quite aware of where the Miami Heat stands right now, and yet the talk continues to center around LeBron James. I understand that he is the biggest free agent in the history of the sport, but unless he goes to Miami or some other team with proven talent on the roster, LeBron’s new home won’t be as good as of a basketball team as the one Pat Riley is creating in South Beach. So while King James might not end up in SoBe, it’s Miami that has the best chance of becoming NBA royalty in 2011, regardless of what Mr. James decides to do this summer.

The post "LeBron Isn’t the Most Influential Aspect of the NBA Offseason" was originally published at TSW.

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Everyone knows that TheSportsWatchers.com has been on the side of LeBron James when it comes to the Kobe-LeBron debate. We still maintain that very position, even with Kobe Bryant winning his fifth championship. Of course, that will upset many of you, most of you being Los Angeles Lakers fans, and we will get a ton of email and comments detailing as to why we are LeBron apologists.

Fair enough.

However, it might surprise you all to know, that there is one scenario that could happen this offseason, which would completely change my mind as to who the best player in the NBA is, and it has nothing to do with a single bounce of the basketball.

With the NBA Draft approaching, and with the start of the 2010 NBA free agency season just around the corner, there is talk about all kinds of scenarios going down in the NBA. Many of them farfetched, some of them well informed, and others just make no sense at all.

Then there is this one rumor floating around that has Dwyane Wade heavily recruiting LeBron James to come to Miami and play alongside him and the rest of the Heat. The rumor entails Pat Riley coming out of retirement, getting one of the best owners in the business involved in the pitch, selling the city of Miami and bringing Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire into the fold to form an actual NBA Dream Team.

That’s a pretty hefty scenario, one that can’t simply be dismissed as wishful thinking. After all, Wade wants to win, Riley wants to win, and we all know LeBron James gives them a better chance of doing so. Add to that the fact that LeBron James is one of the least selfish players (on the court, anyway) that there is in the NBA, and you have a recipe for a Dream Team, South Beach Style.

However, if LeBron James were to go to Miami, there is a good chance he would never be perceived as the top dawg on the beach. Wade did bring the Heat their first ever championship, and while LeBron could add four or five more, it wouldn’t matter—no one ever forgets their first.

Not to mention, even if LeBron won 5 rings in Miami, that would give Wade 6. It’s kind of an A-Rod-Derek Jeter scenario, in which Alex Rodriguez finally gave in and joined a New York Yankees team on the move. He knew there was no way he could ever win without joining the behemoths that are the Yankees, so he signed up to play with the one guy who was always just a little bit more successful than him.

Sure, A-Rod is the better player, with better stats, and the bigger salary—but he’s no Jeter. Jeter is a god, an immortal, one of the best players to ever play on one of the best franchises in all of sports. Homerun records be damned, 20 years from now when you ask someone of my generation, if they had to play one game for all the marbles, who from this era would they play at shortstop, 90% of the respondents are going to say Jeter over A-Rod.

Wouldn’t it be the same for LeBron if he went to Miami? I know Wade doesn’t have a three-championship lead on LeBron or anything, but between his series MVP, the fact that he was the best player for an entire playoff run, and given how he might have played the best basketball we have ever seen in a four-game stretch in the Finals, I’d say that Wade’s career is leaps and bounds beyond what LeBron’s career is to this point.

Don’t get me wrong, LeBron is the better player, but history might not be so kind if he and Wade need each other to continue the winning. Besides, who’s to say LeBron gets labeled Batman to Wade’s Robin? Miami is Wade’s team. He’s the man. He controls the locker room. He has the relationship with management, the players, and the coach. Kevin Garnett was a far better player, leader and a Hall of Famer than anyone on Boston when he came to the Celtics in 2007. However, both Garnett and Ray Allen conceded to the fact that the team belonged to Paul Pierce, and at the end of the day, it was Pierce who got the ball in “go-time.”

Knowing all of this, I just can’t see LeBron James going to Miami, and quite frankly, I don’t want to see it. Why would LeBron risk his legacy, trivialize his potential future success, and subject himself to playing second-fiddle in another man’s city? Sure, I could look at is as LeBron just doing whatever it takes to win, and I guess I couldn’t totally fault him for that. But I could never see Michael Jordan leaving Chicago to team up with Charles Barkley on the Suns. Larry Bird never thought about relinquishing the “Bird” rights and going to Los Angeles to play with Magic. And Wilt Chamberlain could have went to play with Bill Russell and the Celtics on numerous occasions, and he would have won as many as 10 championships if he did–but he didn’t. Chamberlain would go on to win just 1, but he did it on his own terms, and in his own way.

If LeBron were to relinquish his unquestioned position as the best player and the leader of the Cleveland Cavaliers to play co-chair with Dwyane Wade, it would literally blow my mind. In all honesty, I would have to question LeBron’s drive, his heart, and his desire to be the best player in the game. I know it sounds counterintuitive, because in reality, he would just be trying to win. But the best players that play the game, don’t just try to win, they try to win on their terms. Kobe Bryant could have played another year with Shaq, but he was tired of being under his shadow, so he helped send Shaq on his way. And you will never see Kobe go play with LeBron, or suit up with Wade. He isn’t having it. He wants a “Pippen” by his side. He doesn’t want to be one.

No offense to my man Scottie, because he was cold-blooded baller, but if LeBron goes to Miami, he will become a Pippen in my mind. Heck, I couldn’t even envision Wade leaving Miami to play with LeBron in Cleveland, and 90% of people consider LeBron to be a much better player than Wade. But there’s something about Wade, just as there is something about Kobe, Bird, Magic and of course, Michael Jordan himself. They can’t play second fiddle, because in their mind, teammates are nothing more than a necessary nuisance. That’s not to say they didn’t like passing or didn’t put winning above all else, they just happened to know how to win without being the ultimate team player.

LeBron’s the best player in the league right now. You don’t get to be that without being somewhat selfish. So if you ask me if he’ll end up in Miami, I just can’t see it happening. However, if he does go, kiss the King goodbye, and say hello to Prince James. I would hate to demote a man before he even dribbled a basketball, but sometimes it’s the moves one makes off the court, that determine just how good he is on it. Attitude is everything when it comes to being the best player in the NBA, and it’s time LeBron proves he has the right mindset—even if that means he looks a little selfish in the process.

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The world, as I see it, is basically broken down into two sides; those who think LeBron James is the best basketball player in the world, and those who think Kobe Bryant still has that title. Basically, it’s Witnesses vs. Kobe-backers.

I have one message for one side of the argument:

Settle down, Kobe-backers.

While the image of Kobe Bryant draining 20-footers in front of Grant Hill and Coach Alvin Gentry is still fresh in your mind, let’s not blow that out of proportion. Kobe Bryant is a great player and one of the best guards of all-time. As a result, he has definitely had his moments on the court, including Game 6 against Phoenix on Saturday night, when the shots he made effectively eliminated the Phoenix Suns from the postseason.

Oh, but how quickly we forget.

As great as Kobe was in the closing moments of Game 6, he did airball the potentially game-winning shot just two nights before that in Game 5. I understand he can’t win them all every night, but then should understand that you need to curb your enthusiasm after one night of clutch performance.

Of course, even as I say that, people will still say that Kobe is the best finisher in all of basketball, and I don’t know that I can agree with that full-heartedly. I am as astounded by his ability to make difficult shots in the closing moments of games as the next person, but making difficult shots doesn’t make you great. Making shots makes you great. And everybody will scoff at me when I say this, but the numbers say that LeBron James is the better player when it comes to making shots in the clutch, and quite frankly, my eyes tell me the same thing.

As far as the numbers go, there’s no debate. Let me start off by saying that I won’t even include passing, rebounding or defensive playmaking on this equation, because those are all in LeBron’s favor. In fairness to Kobe, Bryant does turn the ball over a tad-bit less than LeBron does in the clutch.

Speaking directly to the aspect of making shots in the clutch, LeBron takes more shots and makes more shots than Kobe. LeBron’s clutch field goal percentage of 48% is four percentage-points better than Kobe’s. LeBron’s plus-minus in the clutch is +37 vs. Kobe’s +7. Not to mention, LeBron gets to the free throw line 38% more times than Kobe gets to the line in the clutch. The only shooting metrics Kobe wins are at the free throw and 3-point lines, but he only wins three-point shooting by 1.7 percentage points, and he only wins free throw shooting by 2 percentage points. Those aren’t exactly measures by which I can deem Kobe the clear-cut better shooter.

Most importantly, or at least in the eyes of everybody who uses Game 6 as reason to deem Kobe the best player in the NBA, is the fact that LeBron scores more points than Kobe does in the clutch, and he does so more effectively. Kobe has an effective-shooting percentage of 50.9% in the clutch. LeBron has an effective-shooting percentage of 61.1% in the clutch.

So why is this even debatable?

I will tell you why. It’s because Kobe looks prettier making his shots, and that’s what the fans want to see.

When LeBron puts forth his late-game heroics, he’s doing so by driving to the lane, getting lay-ups and making free-throws. Only 57% of LeBron’s clutch field goals are jumpers, the rest are inside the paint.

Kobe, however, only field goals from inside the paint 17% of time in clutch moments. Instead, Kobe is twirking, jerking and crossing-folks up on the perimeter as 83% of his clutch field goals are jumpers.

So when you see those two guys doing those two things in completely different ways, it’s easy to look at them with your eyes, and say, “Wow, what Kobe is doing is a lot more impressive than what LeBron is doing.” But at the end of the day, what LeBron is doing is giving his team a better chance to win, despite the fact that Kobe’s clutch, turnaround jumpers look a lot prettier than LeBron’s willing himself into the paint and scoring on close shots.

I would expect the casual fan to fall for this, but many die-hards, media members and former NBA players fall for this as well. They call Kobe the best closer in basketball, and yet that’s not the case. Has Kobe made more game-winning shots than LeBron over the years? Probably. But at the same time, Kobe has had better teams over the years, so he should have more chances to win games.

Ignore the truth if you want to, and by all means, continue to call Kobe the best player, closer and whatever else you want to deem him. However, when I look at the numbers and watch the game with my own eyes, I see LeBron making shots more efficiently, during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of games, which would tell me he’s the better player. But hey, I’m just calling it like I see it.

The post "Yes, LeBron is Still Better than Kobe" was originally published at TSW.

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Mike Brown

Not only were the Cleveland Cavaliers just in firing Mike Brown, but they should have fired him a season ago.

You have to throw out the records when you’re talking about Coach Brown’s level of success in Cleveland. I know the man has the highest winning percentage in the history of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he also has the best player in the NBA on his team. Measuring Brown’s success by regular season wins is like naming Usain Bolt the fastest man in the world after he raced those two ESPN anchors in Bristol. When a coach has the best player in the NBA and he fails to win “the big one,” the hammer is going to fall on the coach’s head and rightfully so. Imagine if when Phil Jackson had went to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999 he didn’t win a single championship with Kobe and Shaq on his team? Do you think he’d be the coach in La-La land today?

But it’s not just the lack of an NBA championship that got Brown fired. It’s the way the Cavaliers failed to win a championship. Forget about the Cavs losing to the Boston Celtics. Look at the Cavaliers offense. They have none—or at least they appear not to have one for long stretches of time during the NBA Playoffs. That crap when LeBron James dribbles the ball for 15 seconds and then has to make something happen from the wing is the most God awful offense I have ever seen a 60+ team run in my life. It is as if Brown has no offensive coaching ability at all.

For years now, LeBron James has had to be a part of an offense that relied on him to initiate the play. LeBron’s Cleveland teammates end up standing around, watching him dribble, as if they have no offensive responsibility other than to wait for LeBron James to create a shot for them. There’s no cutting. There’s no cross court passes. There’s no down screening. Hell, there’s barely even any pick-n-roll game in the Cavs offensive arsenal.

Most importantly, there’s no running.

Far be it from me to question a coach’s decision-making (wink-wink), but Coach Brown should have turned the Cavaliers into a running team a long time ago. If there’s one thing Coach Brown knew how to do, it was coach defense. So why not pull a “Coach Carter,” and preach and preach defense, and then just have the Cavs get out on the break after every defensive possession?

Brown could have easily built something around that. There’s not a player in the world that can guard LeBron James in transition, and an up-tempo offense would have made the Cavaliers a zillion times better. Instead, Brown elected to go with one of the slowest paced offenses in the NBA, allowing teams to set up, sink in and focus their attention on LeBron James. As a result, the Cavaliers front office focused in on him, and now he’s gone.

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I was wrong. I was 100% wrong. I thought the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to win Game 5, and there was no doubt in my mind about it. But they didn’t show up, and the Boston Celtics played great basketball. Now the Cavaliers are facing elimination, and I don’t know what to think of their chances to win Game 6 and stay alive in this series.

Part of me wants to predict a Cleveland Cavaliers victory in Game 6, but that’s the part of me that still believes this is the same Cleveland Cavaliers team from the regular season. Clearly, that isn’t the case anymore. With LeBron playing more like the LeBacle, and Mo Williams getting lit up like a candlelight vigil, this Cavs team is playing less efficient offense and more porous defense than anybody is accustomed to seeing them play. So I just can’t bring myself to go with Cleveland, even though in my heart of hearts I can’t believe this team can go out like this in second round without even seeing a Game 7.

That being said, in my heart of hearts, one has to recall how disappointed in this team everyone was a year ago. While the Orlando Magic was a formidable team, it was the lack of execution combined with the multitude of poor strategic decisions that really had everyone questioning Cleveland’s basketball supremacy. Forget the fact that the Cavs lost that series; just recall that Zydrunas Ilgauskas was shooting three-pointers, Rashard Lewis was being defended by Ben Wallace, and LeBron James was guarding everyone but Hedo Turkoglu for long stretches of the series. It was a strategic clusterfuck of ideas, and it’s hard not to remember them when we see some of the same things happening in this series against Boston.

When you think about it, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not beaten a proven playoff basketball since they beat the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Conference Finals back in 2007. Many would argue that 2007 Cleveland team was much worse than the squads LeBron James has had in subsequent seasons–most especially these current 2010 NBA Playoffs. And yet here we are, three years later, and Kings James and the Cavs have failed to beat one proven playoff team since then—unless you count beating last year’s 8-seeded Detroit Pistons in the first round—but of course we don’t count them!

The only thing giving me any reason to believe that the Cavaliers can stave off elimination tonight is to go back to my original line of thought that had the Cavaliers winning Game 5, which was that the Boston Celtics would not be able to stay fresh in their third game in five days, which is what Game 5 represented. That theory was debunked by the mid-way point of the third quarter, as the Celtics started routing the Cavaliers out of their own building. So do I really believe that in Game 6, which would be the Celtics fourth game in 7 games, that the Cavaliers can pull out a win because the Celtics aging veteran leadership will be tired?

Nope. Not even I, the originator of that bullshit theory, can buy such crap.

Outside of the fact that Kevin Garnett has already labeled the stakes of this Game 6 as “do or die” for the Celtics, the Cavaliers themselves are at a disadvantage with the short (ala typical) turnaround leading up to Game 6. Since the unveiling of the injury, LeBron James has played great when has had at least two days between games. But with a mere one game between playoff games, LeBron has looked LaBaffled, shooting just 17 for 47 from the floor and 0 for 13 from behind the arc. Needless to say, things don’t look too good for the Cavs when LeBron only has one day between games.

Thus, my official prediction is that the Boston Celtics close this game out tonight! Sure, I’m putting the kiss of death on the Celtics, and at the same time I’m flip-flopping back from my “definitive” stance that the Cavs were going to win this series. But that’s what sports are all about; scanning the playing field, and reevaluating your plan of attack. Cleveland Cavalier fans can only hope that their beloved basketball team will reevaluate their game plan; otherwise, for the first time this series, I’ll be right.

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions, 2010: I Was Wrong About the Celtics" was originally published at TSW.

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Nobody in Boston is going to like me for saying this, and I may be sticking my neck out there if I’m wrong, but the Cleveland Cavaliers-Boston Celtics series is already over.

Before Game 3, I said that the Boston Celtics needed to win both Games 3 and 4 if they wanted to win this series. Clearly, they did not do that. And while I am in shock by Rajon Rondo’s historical performance yesterday, there is no way I am going to let that sway my decision.

As good as Rondo was, the Celtics barely won Game 4. So even though this series very well could go seven games, there is no doubt in my mind, that in a best of three series, and with the Cavs having the home court advantage, Cleveland and LeBron James are the ones advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now you may think that’s crazy talk. How can I pick the series winner after these two teams have split the first four games?

It goes back to what I said prior to Game 3: the Celtics are old.

Tomorrow night, the Celtics will play their third game in five days. No, that’s not exactly a grueling 3 games and 4 days regular season road trip, but it’s as close as you will get to that in the NBA playoffs, and I just don’t think the aging Spurs veterans can handle it.

Do you?

No offense to Paul Pierce, but he is already having enough trouble scoring against the defense of LeBron James. Kevin Garnett, while respectable, seems to get slower with every passing day. And Ray Allen, the most energized of the three, goes on these hot and cold streaks that are so hard to predict, that I can’t really factor him in as a possible deterrent to my prognostication.

I recently wrote a piece on the end of the Spurs era. They are done. They are finished. And despite the fact the Spurs beat the Dallas Mavericks, they are far from being a championship caliber basketball team—as we saw that last night in Phoenix.

Like with the Spurs win over the Mavericks in Round 1, some people are allowing themselves to be fooled by the Boston Celtics success to this point in the series.

But what have the Celtics really done? They took Game 2 in Cleveland, barely holding off a historically poor shooting effort from LeBron James. And then in Game 4, the Celtics saved themselves from being swept with aide from one of the greatest postseason performances in Boston Celtics history.

You can believe in the powers of Rondo if you want, but in all likelihood, he’s not putting up those numbers in Game 5, 6 or 7. Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird failed to put up those kinds of numbers on a consistent basis, and Rondo is no Michael Jordan.

Let’s refrain from making this series this ultra-competitive battle it appears to be in terms of the 2-2 standing, and let’s look at this for what it is happening on the basketball court. This is an old, underperforming sporadic Celtics team led by a great point guard, but a point guard that is far from being able to beat championship caliber teams by himself. Anything short of another grandiose performance from Rondo, and the Celtics will come back to Earth. Thus, allowing the Cavaliers to take two out of the next three games, in what I think is one of the most divergent, closest series I have ever seen in the NBA Playoffs.

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions: Cavs-Celtics Series is Already Over" was originally published at TSW.

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The other day, I gave the Utah Jazz the kiss of death. I said they needed to win Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and they immediately went out and lost. To me, there’s no doubt that game was a must win for them, because to think they can win 4 out of 5 games against the Los Angeles Lakers is ludicrous.

I have another ultimatum for a team most would not consider to be in a “must-win” situation. However, the Boston Celtics are in a must-win scenario, and not just in Game 3, but for Game 4 as well.

Trying not to dismiss what the Boston Celtics did to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, the Celtics are still the underdogs in this series. That’s not to say they cannot win this series or that they somehow got lucky in Game 2, but if they are going to win this series, it will be because they won it a certain way.

Let’s not forget, the Celtics did get “punked” in the fourth quarter of Game 1, they nearly got “punked” in the fourth quarter Game 2, and dating back to the Cavs-Celtics battle on Easter Sunday, the Celtics nearly got “punked” in that fourth quarter. All of that tells me that the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t play good basketball against the Celtics unless they turn up the pressure on the C’s. Even the notoriously bad offensive-mind of Coach Mike Brown should have that figured out by now, and I expect the Cavaliers to play a lot more like they have played in the fourth quarter for the rest of this series.

Knowing that, the Celtics have to defend their home court. With all due respect to the Celtics, giving up the home court advantage they stole in Game 2 would be devastating. While the C’s are very capable of winning another game in Cleveland, I don’t foresee these aging veterans coming up with a Game 5 win in Cleveland, in what would amount to the Celtics third game in 5 days. Their age has been too much of a factor all season long, and a stretch of games like that, absent of the emotion of their home court, might do them in.

So if the Celtics want to win this series, Games 3 and 4 are pivotal. Of course, if the Celtics win Game 3 at home and enter Game 4 with the potential to go up 3 games to 1, everybody and their momma will tell you that the Cavaliers are in a must-win situation.

But I am sticking to my guns now, and I will stick to my guns then.

The only way the Celtics are winning this series is if they win both of these home games. Because the Celtics are not winning Game 5 on the road, and I can’t be the only one that does not like their chances in a Game 7 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The post "Celtics in a “Must-Win” Situation?….Yes!" was originally published at TSW.

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There is no question that LeBron James legendary status is on the line during these 2010 NBA Playoffs. With 2 MVPs, multiple Eastern Conference appearances, and no championship rings to show for it, LeBron James does not have any room for mistakes this postseason—elbow or not.

However, while King James’ throne may be on the line, he’s still going to be the most sought after free agent this summer, and he’s going to bank home a 6-year, max level contract that makes him an infinitely rich man.

Head coach Mike Brown, on the other hand, can only hope his current contract isn’t ripped to shreds this summer.

I have no idea how the Cleveland Cavaliers feel about Mike Brown internally, but if I had to guess, they probably like him a great deal. After all, how else do you explain the Cavs keeping Brown in his head coaching position with that God awful offense the Cavaliers run anytime the game is on the line in the 4th quarter? Don’t get me wrong; I’ll be the first one to make fun of Phil Jackson for having to do nothing more than draw up plays that simply read “Give the ball to Michael,” or “Give the ball to Shaq.” But admittedly so, the passes were always there for MJ, O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to make, if need be.

Those passes aren’t always there for LeBron James. Yes, James often leaves the arena with a slew of assists on his stat line, but 9 times out of 10, James’ assists are a creation of his own superhuman ability, and not that of a strategically-enhanced professional basketball offense.

Mike Brown deserves credit for a lot of things. He’s brought a defensive attitude to Cleveland, he’s cultivated the NBA’s best player, and he’s managed to be just charming enough to not scare NBA players from coming to Cleveland and playing for him. But Brown’s downfall will ultimately be at the hands of his uncreative, uninspiring, unsuccessful offensive system. In the fourth quarters of close games, LeBron is pretty much expected to bring the ball up court, dribble the air out of the ball and make one-on-one plays while the other players stand around and wait for him to score or create an opportunity for them to score.

If that’s what passes for an NBA offense, then I’m more than qualified to collect Mike Brown’s salary—and you and I both know that’s not the case.

This is why I fully expect Mike Brown to be fired if a lack of an offense is what ultimately leads to the Cavaliers 2010 NBA Postseason demise.

Why wouldn’t he be?

He has already had plenty of opportunities to re-tool this non-offensive system in the off-season. He has failed with every chance he has had. After the Cavaliers lost to the Spurs in 2007, it was clear the Cavaliers offense was not the focal point, as Brown emphasized defense to get his team to the NBA Finals. Okay, we can let that slide. They weren’t going to beat the San Antonio Spurs anyway.

However, instead of coming up with some kind of reliable, motion offense in the Summer of 2007, Brown still had the Cavs operating on the “Watch LeBron for 17 seconds or more” offense, and that offensive system failed yet again in 2008.

But we even excused that, because it was also clear that LeBron James needed more help. So the Cavaliers went out and got an all-star point guard in Mo Williams, and for a minute, we thought the offense was fixed. But in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs reverted back to the “Pound the Rock” offense when the games were on the line, and the Cavs receded out of the playoffs, offensively challenged, yet again.

Now here we are 2010. The Cavaliers gave LeBron James and Mike Brown even more help. With the acquisitions of Anthony Parker, Shaquille O’Neal, and Antawn Jamison, the pieces are there, Mike Brown just has to put the puzzle together. If he doesn’t, someone in the front office of the Cavaliers needs to look past Brown’s good guy characteristics, and hire a coach that knows the basic fundamentals of an offense that involves more than just giving the ball to the team’s best basketball player and telling everyone else to get out of the way.

The post "No Offense? No Future…Why Brown Should Be Fired if Offense Fails Cavaliers" was originally published at TSW.

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Any sane, objective, knowledgeable basketball mind understands that the Cleveland Cavaliers are the favorites in their second round series with the Boston Celtics. That being the case, anybody who has watched NBA playoff basketball for a considerable number of years can look at this matchup and see that the Boston Celtics have a chance to win this series. And at the end of the day, all anybody should need is a chance.

As for how the Celtics can take advantage of the chance they have, here are three things the Boston Celtics must do if they are going to knock of the #1 seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. Read More…

The post "Three Things Boston Must Do to Beat King James" was originally published at TSW.

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If you were to tell me that both the #1 seeds in the NBA Playoffs were going to lose on the same night, fall to 2-1 in their respective series, and that both would lose games in which they were outplayed in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, neither I, nor anyone else on Earth would have believed you.

But that is exactly what happened. The Los Angeles Lakers fell to an Oklahoma City Thunder team that played a game of Horse in which the teams were divided into “Under 22” versus “22 and older.” And then the Cleveland Cavaliers, the best team in all the land, lost to the team with the worst record in the postseason.

Now that’s theater!

So what should we take away from all of this?

Lakers lose to Thunder
Get your panic buttons out! Everybody across the country is going to be chopping Laker-nation down at the knees. In the 4th quarter, Kobe Bryant went 1 for 9 with Kevin Durant guarding him. Derek Fisher continued to get burned by Russell Westbrook. And Jeff Green finally manned up and may not boy down for the rest of this series. It could get ugly for the Lakers really soon!

However, let’s not get too carried away. In watching that game down the stretch, it just seemed like the Thunder couldn’t miss. They hit all of the big shots. They got all the good bounces. And the best player on Earth didn’t play the part. That’s not to discredit the Thunder. They worked to get people open on offense, and their defense was superb. Still, one has to wonder how many more times they can replicate that high level of basketball. Not to mention, ultimately, the Thunder will have to bring that same high level of basketball to Los Angeles if they are going to win this series, and they haven’t proven that they can do that. So at the max, this series goes 7. And maybe I’m riding the wave from last night, but I think I’ll extend my previous prediction of 6 to a 7-game series, based on LA’s lack of consistency in their last two games.

Bulls beat Cleveland
Speaking of a team having a great 4th quarter, the Chicago Bulls were unstoppable. Once again, I give credit to Derek Rose and the rest of the Bulls for hitting shot after shot in the 4th quarter. They responded to everything the Cavaliers threw at them in that final minutes, and in a surprising twist, it was the Bulls that looked like the #1 seed fighting the lower seed off in the final seconds.

However, the Bulls woke up a beast last night, and unfortunately, it wasn’t someone on their own team. LeBron James absolutely went mad in the third and fourth quarters, nearly pulling off what would have been one of the greatest comebacks in recent NBA playoff history. There is no doubt in my mind that King James and the Cavaliers will come out with a vengeance in Game 4, and LeBron will play 45 minutes if that’s what it takes for him to beat the Bulls. Looking at the bigger picture, it is a shame that LeBron has to be the one to step up in order for the Cavs to beat a eighth seeded basketball team, but that’s a story for another series—assuming the Cavs have another series in them.

The post "NBA’s Best Teams Get Beaten" was originally published at TSW.

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For the latest NBA Playoff Predictions, click here.

Well, the seeds are set, so there’s no longer a need for me to base my 2010 NBA Playoff Predictions off of future standings forecast. I can finally work with the matchups as they are and give you my picks throughout the entirety of the NBA Playoffs.

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #8 Chicago Bulls
The Bulls barely got in the playoffs, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are the best team in the NBA. I think there is little question as to who is going to win this series, but perhaps the Bulls will have more fight in them then many may imagine. In the three real games these teams played (the fourth game, LeBron James sat out), Chicago went, 1-2. Thus, I don’t think we are going to see a sweep here in the first round. Maybe that says more about the Cavaliers than it does about the Bulls, but between games #3 and #4, I can envision Derrick Rose stealing one game in Chicago. However, at the end of the day, King James rules.
Cleveland Wins, 4-1

#4 Boston Celtics vs. #5 Miami Heat
This is a matchup of two teams going in two very different directions, and because of that, I am very inclined to pick the upset and go with the Miami Heat. However, there is a big part of me that cannot deny the fact that Boston has so much talent on their team. Sure, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce look older and older with every passing game, but is this team really all that less talented than they were two years ago? Especially when you factor in the growth of Rajon Rondo at the point guard position, as well as the “possibility” of a Rasheed Wallace showing up in the postseason like he usually does? If you told me these two teams were going to play the same way they played basketball over the past month, I’m picking Miami to win the series all the way. But I just have a feeling that we’ll see Rajon Rondo dominate the point guard position, while Rasheed Wallace finally gets off his ass. I like Boston to knock of Dwyane Wade and the Heat…but barely.
Boston wins, 4-3

#2 Orlando Magic vs. #7 Charlotte Bobcats
Skip Bayless came out of his month and actually said, on national television, that he has the Bobcats advancing past the Magic in this first round playoff matchup. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, this is the one series in which I have the most confidence in. Let’s face it; the Bobcats aren’t really that good. They have some nice pieces here and there, but there’s not a player on that team that scares anybody. Yes, Gerald Wallace is a beast, and I recognize that, but the Magic aren’t sitting around scheming up ways to stop Wallace. He’s not that kind of a difference-maker. You know how is a difference-maker? Dwight Howard. And the Bobcats have no answer for him. Sure, Orlando can be as up-and-down as any team in the NBA, but at the end of the day, they finished with the second best record in the league, and they’ll show the Bobcats why that is.
Orlando wins, 4-1

#3 Atlanta Hawks vs. #6 Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Bucks were looking so good before Andrew Bogut got hurt that most people would have picked the Bucks to beat Boston or Atlanta in the first round of the NBA Playoffs prior to his injury–and I believe I did just that a few weeks ago. However, in this edition of our NBA Playoff Predictions, we know how the Bucks are entering the postseason, and unfortunately, no Bogut means no “W” for Milwaukee. It really is that simple. Not that Atlanta is some dominant team that isn’t going to make gamblers lose their hair betting the line on this series, but they are the better team when Bogut is not in the lineup. With Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, this series should be an easy one. I can’t even think of a way in which the Bucks can protect the basket when those two guys come flying down the lane. Then again, these are the Hawks, and they will find some way to make this first round matchup more difficult than it needs to be. I like the Hawks, but a sound Bucks team will push them.
Atlanta wins, 4-2

For the latest NBA Playoff Predictions, click here.

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions, 2010: Eastern Conference, 1st Round" was originally published at TSW.

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I have long been in the LeBron James corner, declaring about two years ago that he had indeed surpassed Kobe Bryant as the best player in basketball.

So since that is no longer in question, the only question left, is how do you stop the best player in basketball?

It’s a difficult question, and one that’s certainly easier to answer on paper than it is in real life. However, there are some basic facts that point to a way in which to limit LeBron James’s productivity on the basketball court—or at least to decrease the efficiency with which he produces.

Before I go into how I would stop LeBron James, let’s explore some instances in which LeBron has been “stopped.” I could go to individual regular season games, but that really doesn’t do LeBron justice—after all, anyone can have an off night, irregardless of what the defense is doing to you.

So instead, I’m going with playoff series. I think that’s the best way to effectively measure whether a team had a well-thought out plan on how to limit someone’s efficiency—game in and game out.

Thus, I take you back to last year’s playoff series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. As good as LeBron was, and boy was he good, he wasn’t all that efficient. Sure, he averaged an astounding 38 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds, and that’s going to inflate anybody’s PER numbers, but LeBron’s efficiency was much worse than in the previous two series, and he got worse as the Orlando series went on.

First of all, LeBron shot just 29.7% from behind the arc. Not good at all.

LeBron also had some less than stellar Effective Field Goal Percentages throughout the series with Orlando. He started off great with an eFG of 71.2%, but then he fell back to a more modest 54% in Game 2. And then in 3 out of the next four games, his eFG was below 50%, and in that fourth game, he had an eFG of just 51%.

Just looking at the advanced game log for that series, you can see that LeBron’s turnover ratio went up, his assists ratio was inconsistent at best, and his offensive rating numbers were down from the series before against the Atlanta Hawks.

Now, once again, the man averaged 38, 8 and 8, and in no way can you blame any loss on this guy. My point in sharing those numbers from that series against Orlando was that the Magic were clearly doing something to take away from LeBron’s Godly-like efficiency numbers and made him less Godly.

So what did the Magic do in that series? They basically did what I would recommend any other team do to a “pass-first player” like LeBron: they took away the passing game.

It’s simple football strategy.

If you’re going against a team that loves to pass the ball, you take away the pass and dare them to run the football. So when it comes to LeBron James, you take away his passing options, and dare him to score it every trip down the court. Turns out, LeBron James is human, and if you make him take a high volume of one-on-one shots that he would prefer not to take, he’s less likely to make those shots.

Granted, the guy defending LeBron James in that Orlando series, Mickael Pietrus, was no slouch, and is a awfully underrated defender. And if a team doesn’t have a guy like Pietrus, they’re probably in trouble.

However, if you can afford to put a very good defender on LeBron (meaning said defender isn’t also vital to your offensive gameplan), then the best option to slow him down is to play everyone else tight, sag off of him, and make him score every time down the court against your top perimeter defender.

Now naturally, LeBron James is still going to find windows in which to pass the ball. And the Cavs can run pick-n-roll with the best of them to force the issue; which is why LeBron still managed to average 8 assists against the Magic last postseason. Still, there were countless occasions in which LeBron held on to the ball late into the shot clock and had to force up shots. And then in the fourth quarter, when the Magic perhaps played more sound and practical defense, the rest of LeBron’s teammates were as unprepared to take initiative as LeBron was unprepared to allow them to do so.

Call my strategy what you will, but I think it works. Personally, I would take it a notch higher than what the Magic did. I’d let LeBron score 70 points, but I’d make sure no one else was burning me. I just don’t think a pass-first guy like LeBron wants to score that many points. Sure, he knows he can, and he maybe he doesn’t mind doing so. Nevertheless, he has never played the game in that fashion, and it would be hard for him to adjust to that style of play for the postseason alone.

So word to the wise, NBA coaches! Let LeBron score all the points. Just take those other guys out of the equation, and make LeBron score, score and score some more. You do that to a score-first player like Kobe, and the Lakers will win by 30 points and Kobe will drop 60 on you. You do that to LeBron, and as the Magic showed, he’ll get his numbers, but they won’t come easy…or with a win.

The post "How to Stop LeBron James…" was originally published at TSW.

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The NBA Playoffs are almost here, and thus it’s time for us to make our annual predictions about the most predictive sports league of them all.

We have already given you are projected final standings for the Eastern Conference, as well as our first round winners. If you haven’t seen them as of yet, you can check them out here.

As for our NBA Playoff Predictions for how the rest of the Eastern Conference is going to play out, let’s start with the infamous 1-4 matchup.

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #4 Boston Celtics
If you will recall, in our earlier post, we had the Boston Celtics barely squeaking by the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games, while we had the Cavs winning their series against the Toronto Raptors in 5 games. Thus, here we are, with a well rested Cavs team, probably just now getting Shaquille O’Neal back, and then we have the Celtics, an old team, coming off a long series. Clearly, that puts Cleveland in the driver’s seat, as if it weren’t bad enough for the Celtics that they don’t have home court advantage in this game. Still, they could play this game on the moon and it wouldn’t matter. The Cavaliers are the better team. And assuming Shaq is back for this round, the Celtics are going to be at a supreme disadvantage at every position except for point guard. At the two-spot, the Cavs can actually play LeBron James on offense and have Mo Williams defend Ray Allen on the defensive end. At the three position, the Cavs can play Antawn Jamison, for which Paul Pierce can’t guard. At the four position, the Cavs can play J.J. Hickson, who may not have the overall game of a Kevin Garnett, but he is way more athletic than KG at this point in his career. And then at the 5, a healthy Shaq is a far better player than Rasheed Wallace and Kendrick Perkins. Some might say I’m exaggerating these matchups in the Cavs favor, but I don’t think so. The Cavs are by far the younger, more athletic, more consistent team, and they have proven that all season. While the Celtics are playing better basketball now than they were a month ago, they still haven’t gotten any younger.
Cavs win, 4-2

#2 Orlando Magic vs. #3 Atlanta Hawks
Call me optimistic, but I had both the Magic and the Hawks going to the distance in their first round series. So while both teams might be tired coming into this series, neither team will have the advantage in terms of rest. With all things being equal, the Orlando Magic are far better equipped to win this series. This is just a bad matchup for the Hawks, who lost to the Magic three times this season, and their lone win was by but a mere two points on a tip basket at the buzzer. The reason the Hawks can’t win this series is because despite their superior athleticism, they rank just 15th in defensive efficiency. That is not good enough for a team hoping to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they will pay dearly because of that. Expect the perimeter players for the Magic to have a great series against the hapless outside defense of the Hawks.
Orlando wins, 4-2

Eastern Conference Finals:
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #2 Orlando Magic
In a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavs and Magic should both make it back to this pinnacle series, as they are the two best teams in the East. However, this time around, the Cavs are a much improved team, having added both Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison since their last postseason meeting with the Magic. The Magic, in turn, acquired the savvy Matt Barnes, and got Vince Carter to replace Hedo Turkoglu, who may have actually been a better fit for this particular team. And of course, the Magic have Jameer Nelson in the fold this time, whereas he was injured throughout the season a year ago. Nevertheless, the Magic will find this series to be a lot tougher than it was last postseason. With Shaq in the fold, Dwight Howard won’t get those easy baskets in the paint, and the 40-point game Howard had to close out the Cavs last year is but a near impossibility so long as Shaq is healthy. Offensively, Vince Carter will be forced to go against LeBron James in the 4th quarter, and to be honest, I don’t think Carter is up for that challenge. You will likely see Carter defer to others when LeBron is guarding him. That means the offense is probably going to have to go through Jameer Nelson, and while he has the ability to score all over Mo Williams, the collective effort of the Cavs defense won’t allow Nelson to beat the Cavs by himself. The only consistent, fourth quarter, offensive option for the Magic will be the pick-n-roll against Shaq. A good defensive team will figure out a way to defend that and make it difficult for the Magic to run it…and the Cavs are a great defensive team.
Cavs win the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-2

NBA Playoff Predictions: Eastern Conference, 1st Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Western Conference, 1st Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Eastern Conference, 2nd Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Western Conference, 2nd Round

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions, 2010: Eastern Conference Champion" was originally published at TSW.

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Before we can do our 2010 NBA Playoff Predictions for the first round, we have to know which teams are going to finish where in the NBA Standings.

We have taken a close look at the schedule, used John Hollinger’s predictive power rankings, adjusted for our own NBA power rankings, and we came up with the final standings for each conference.

Here are our Eastern Conference final standings.

1. Cleveland – 67-15
2. Orlando – 58-24
3. Atlanta – 55-27
4. Boston – 54-28
5. Milwaukee – 50-32
6. Charlotte – 46-32
7. Miami – 44-38
8. Toronto – 41-41

With our playoff positioning now predicted and settled, here are our NBA Playoff Predictions for the First Round.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Toronto Raptors
This series won’t even be pretty. Even if Shaquille O’Neal is available for the first round, the Toronto Raptors and Chris still have their hands full with the Cavaliers frontline, Zydrunas Ilgauskas included. Toronto’s only real big man is Bosh himself, and if the Cavs are able to draw him out of the lane, with Z at center and a small lineup, than the Raptors defense will continue to look as inept as it has looked the entire second half of the season. On the other end, the Raptors will find it difficult to get Bosh going, because the Cavs can throw so many guys at him. With Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, Zydrunas and J.J. Hickson in the fold, Bosh’s offensive game will be severely tested. By the way, I didn’t even have time to get to that LeBron James guy, who just happens to be the most clutch player in the game.
Cavaliers win, 4-0

Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat
This game could be a lot closer than the seeding would suggest. While Orlando is the much better team with far better talent, Miami has 2 wins over Orlando, and one of the Heat’s losses to Orlando came in overtime. Call it the proximity to home or whatever you want, but Miami is not afraid of Orlando, and they will play them closely in this series. Besides, Miami also has the best player on the floor, and if Dwyane Wade goes off 2 or 3 times, that might be just enough for Miami to threaten the Magic in this series. Still, our instinct tells us that the better team will prevail and that either Dwight Howard or Vince Carter will step up and at least defend the home court advantage.
Orlando wins, 4-3

Atlanta Hawks vs. Charlotte Bobcats
We get to our most competitive matchup to this point with the Bobcats trying to overcome the Hawks, the team we picked to win the battle for the Eastern Conference three-seed. However, in their first three matchups, the Hawks went 2-1 against Charlotte, but one of those wins came in overtime. Outside of Cleveland and Orlando, this is probably the team Atlanta least wants to meet in the postseason, because Charlotte is one of the few teams that can match Atlanta’s athletic ability. The Bobcats have an athletic advantage at the point guard spot, one of the wing spots, and at the center position. Still, Atlanta is the better team, but this series will require them to use their basketball acumen and not just their superior athletic ability. We will bet on the Hawks bringing their brains to this series, but we aren’t exactly 100% about that either.
Atlanta wins, 4-3

Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Here we have a matchup of two teams that were headed in different direction for most of the latter half of the season. The Boston Celtics looked down no more than a few weeks after the all-star break. Meanwhile, the Bucks have been one of the best teams in the NBA since acquiring John Salmons and turning themselves into an efficient offensive machine. If you asked us to prediction this game two weeks ago, there’s no doubt that we would have the Bucks advancing to the second round. However, Kevin Garnett is beginning to look healthy, Ray Allen is getting back in the fold, and it’s hard discount Rajon Rondo, who at this point, may be the best basketball player on the Celtics. We’re still a little iffy on Paul Pierce, who doesn’t seem to have the same offensive firepower we’re accustomed to seeing from him, but in another very, very close matchup; we’ll go with the veteran talent of the Celtics.
Boston wins, 4-3

NBA Playoff Predictions: Eastern Conference, 1st Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Western Conference, 1st Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Eastern Conference, 2nd Round
NBA Playoff Predictions: Western Conference, 2nd Round

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions, 2010: Eastern Conference – 1st Round" was originally published at TSW.

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I can’t believe I am even addressing this Kobe vs. LeBron situation yet again, but people refuse to believe their eyes.

People have constantly been communicating with me and with the website via email, saying that Kobe Bryant has proven that he is the best clutch player in the NBA. This of course comes off the heels of a season in which Kobe has hit approximately 9 game-deciding shots with the clock winding down this season.

However, as nice and sexy as it is to see Kobe Bryant making shots as the clock expires, there are plenty of other clutch moments that occur in a game, including a mere few seconds before the final shot.

And when you add all of the clutch moments together (classifying “clutch” as situations in which the teams are within 5 points of one another and with 5 minutes to go in the game) LeBron James comes out as the best player in all of basketball.

Period.

And it’s not just about scoring either; in comparison to Kobe, LeBron is the better OVERALL player in the clutch. If you look at rebounds, assists, blocks, steals even +/- differential, LeBron James crushes Kobe in all things “clutch.” It’s such a disparity that it’s almost laughable that we are even having this discussion.

Don’t believe me? Well, maybe you will believe the numbers!

Points
When it comes to points, LeBron James is clearly better than Kobe in the clutch. During the period we have defined as the “clutch,” (5 minutes or less, within 5 points of the other team), LeBron has averaged 6.77 points during that 5-minute period, while Kobe has averaged 5.21 points during that 5-minute period. And that’s a much bigger difference than you think, as it means LeBron scores 30.7% more points in the clutch than Kobe Bryant.
Advantage: LeBron James

Passing
Of course, one might think LeBron has less talent on his team, thus forcing him to score more points in the clutch than Kobe does, because Kobe can lean on Pau Gasol and Ron Artest. That would be a nice excuse if it weren’t for the fact that LeBron also averages more assists than Kobe during the clutch period. LeBron averages 0.75 assists during the defined clutch period, while Kobe averages a mere 0.40 assists during the same period. This mean LeBron gets 87% more assists during the clutch period than Kobe. This is a very significant amount, and yet people still try to give Kobe the title of “Best Clutch Player.”
Advantage: LeBron James

Rebounding
This really isn’t even fair. The advantage is LeBron’s favor by an average of 1.79 to 0.76 rebounds. That’s more than double what Kobe produces on the boards.
Advantage: LeBron James.

Shooting Percentage
Also, don’t tell me that Kobe some how takes less shots, and therefore scores less points in the clutch. Well, while LeBron shoots the ball 9% more in the clutch than Kobe does, that doesn’t account for the 30.7% more points LeBron scores in comparison to Mr. Bryant. Most importantly, when you look at the percentages, LeBron shoots 49% from the field while Kobe shoots 43% from the field. Even on long range shots, Kobe shoots just 34% from the three-point land, while LeBron shoots 37% from behind the arc. Kobe does have the advantage at the free throw line, shooting 90% from the line in the clutch while LeBron hits just 81% of his free throws then. Of course, some of that disparity can be attributed to the fact that LeBron gets beat up a lot more, going to the line 56% more than Kobe does. But even when you give Kobe the nod in that regard, it’s two to one in this category.
Advantage: LeBron James

Overall Plus/Minus
I could go over other things in LeBron’s favor, like blocks and steals, and I could give love to Kobe in the one area he leads in (turnovers), but let’s get right to what matters: winning! At the end of the day, when LeBron James is on the court and in the clutch, his team has outscored its opponent by an average of 0.25 points per minute. Kobe’s team, however, has only outscored its opponents by an average of 0.08 points per minute.

You may look at that stat and underestimate it, but it’s your basic plus/minus stat applied to the clutch period. The evidence here clearly shows that LeBron James’s play in the clutch is not only better than Kobe’s, but it is vastly superior.

Listen, I’m not a Kobe hater. He is indeed the second best player in the NBA. But this notion that because he hits shots as the clock expires means he has played better in the clutch than LeBron is crazy.

Kobe has never hit a game-winning three-pointer in the playoffs as time expires, has he?

Nope!

But does that mean LeBron James has been the better clutch player in the playoffs? Of course not.

Let’s put things in perspective people. Kobe is a cold-blooded shooter, and he has a knack for hitting difficult-looking, sexy, awe-inspiring shots in the clutch. But LeBron does the same thing, just without the flare, and because he’s significantly more efficient in the clutch, he doesn’t find himself in that game-winning situation as often as Kobe. I love Kobe, but at the end of the day, the best clutch player in the NBA is LeBron James, and it’s not even close.

The post "LeBron vs. Kobe, Part V" was originally published at TSW.

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While the season has been a complete disappointment, many of you are holding out hope that LeBron James can come save the New York Knicks in time for the 2010-2011 NBA season.

Read More…

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The NBA is kicking it into that postseason swing. There is only a month left in the NBA season, and it’s do or die time for the league’s elite. Sure, a team like the Cleveland Cavaliers wouldn’t seem to have anything in mind other than protecting their position at the top of the Eastern Conference. However, nobody wants to be playing bad basketball at this time of the year, because the playoffs are no time to figure things out. With that said, here the teams playing the best basketball as we speak.

1. Dallas Mavericks (43-21)
That’s right! I have the Dallas Mavericks at the top of our NBA Power Rankings. Why? Because they deserve to be there. While they aren’t blowing teams out with an unbelievable margin of victory, they are playing, good, quality basketball, and no one can deny that. The only thing going against this new compilation of Mavericks is that they remain a jump-shooting team. However, I think the element of toughness they gained when they acquired Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson, will overcome the streakiness associated with a jump-shooting offense, just as they did back in 2006 when they won the West.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (49-15)
The Cavs are the best team in the East and they haven’t done anything that would disqualify them from having such a title. Even in LeBron’s absence this team continued to impress, beating the San Antonio Spurs without LeBron so much as in uniform. LeBron is already scheduled to make a return to the lineup this Friday, which should put an end to any talk of his injury having lingering effects into the NBA playoffs.

3. Orlando Magic (44-20)
The Magic are on quite the roll. They have won their last 6 games in a row, and they recently knocked off the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant. Don’t be surprised if the Magic make a move on the Cavs before this month is over. In their 9 remaining games in March, the Magic have just two games against bona fide playoff teams.

4. Los Angeles Lakers (46-18)
The Lakers may have the best record in the West, but I’m not sure how long that will last. The Lakers finally got off the snide the other night with a win over the Toronto Raptors, but their schedule does not get any easier. With games against Phoenix, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Houston, New Orleans and Atlanta to finish out the month of March, it’s not entirely impossible that they aren’t at the top of West to start the month of April.

5. Utah Jazz (40-22)
Utah has been streaking ever since the middle of January and appears to be riding that as far as they can. They currently maintain the 4th best record in the Western Conference and are only a game behind the third place Nuggets. Most surprisingly, they have the second best point-differential in the league at +5.5 per game, behind only the Lakers +6.0 per game. For a team that’s winning as often as they are, and by as much as they are, they sure are flying under a lot of people’s radars.

The post "NBA Power Rankings: March 11, 2010" was originally published at TSW.

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Last year all of the NBA Playoff Predictions, hype, commercials and puppets were centered on the potential NBA Finals pairing of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers, a.k.a. LeBron vs. Kobe.

However, before that dream matchup was even derailed, before the NBA playoffs ever began, I was hoping for a much more likely second-round scenario between the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, a.k.a. LeBron vs. Dwyane Wade. That could have been great NBA theater.

Having said that, there is a decent chance we get that playoff matchup this year. The Miami Heat are in the driver’s seat to win the 8th seed in the NBA playoffs, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, barring an absolute collapse during Shaquille O’Neal’s absence, should win the regular season Eastern Conference crown.

So where’s all the hype for this potential matchup? Don’t get me wrong, Kobe vs. LeBron for the championship is as good as it gets. But Wade vs. LeBron doesn’t have any less star-power, and even though it would be a first-round matchup, that doesn’t mean it will lack intensity. All you have to do is look back at the 1999 first-round playoff series between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. That was probably one of the most intense series we have ever seen in the first-round of the NBA Playoffs. It was Patrick Ewing vs. Alonzo Mourning, Allan Houston vs. Tim Hardaway, Larry Johnson vs. P.J. Brown. Oh it was great basketball, despite the fact that the Knicks were the eighth seed and the Heat were the first seed.

And we could see just as great of a series if the Heat and Cavs face off in the first round of these 2010 NBA Playoffs…especially if Shaquille O’Neal is not available to play.

Don’t get me wrong, the Cavs would win such a series. The Heat just don’t’ have the depth that Cleveland has, especially in the frontcourt. However, the services of Dwyane Wade for the Heat would make this very interesting, and at the very least, we would see a point-scoring duel for the ages between Wade and LeBron, bringing out the true meaning of must-see TV.

So, sports media, get on board! Nike, start making Dwyane Wade puppets. Because as nice as Kobe vs. LeBron sounds, it’s certainly anything but a certainty, as we found out last year. But the Heat and the Cavs are currently on a collision course that may be hard to disrupt. And the prospects of 7 games of LeBron vs. Wade are something we all should be excited about.

And it’s going to happen.

Oh, it’s gotta happen!

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions: LeBron v. Wade" was originally published at TSW.

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Losing Shaquille O’Neal for essentially the rest of the regular season is a very big deal for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Huge!

In my opinion, losing Shaq has completely changed the landscape of the Eastern Conference.

Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the regular-season Eastern Conference crown—with or without Shaq. But the NBA playoffs are going to be a much more difficult task, one the Cavs can not handle without the Big Aristotle.

And that’s why Shaq is in Cleveland right now. He’s not there to help the Cavs get to 60 wins, sweep the New York Knicks or win the Central Division. Shaq is there to win in the postseason, and this injury puts that in jeopardy.

Of course, the problem isn’t with the first round of the playoffs. Whomever the Cavs play in that round, one has to expect the Cavs can win a series against an eighth-seeded team, even if Shaq is injured.

But the Cavs do not want to be up against the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic or Los Angles Lakers without their big man in the middle. Shaq was brought to Cleveland to beat those very teams, and if he’s not on the floor for those potential series, the Cavs may go from the faves to win the East to having a 50/50 shot at getting to the NBA Finals.

Even if Shaq is completely healthy by the start of Round 2, that may not be enough. For starters, Shaq needs to be in good condition. Since Shaq has a thumb injury, it should be rather easy for him to stay in shape by running, biking and playing as much basketball as he can without using his injured hand. Of course, that’s easier said than done. After all, one would think a $20 million salary would be enough to motivate Shaq to enter the NBA season in shape, and yet that didn’t happen at the start of this season either. So the Cavs better do all they can to make sure O’Neal stays away from the carbs and fatty foods and is ready to get up and down the floor in late April; otherwise, the Cavs may be toast even when Shaq gets back in the lineup.

However, even if Shaq is in shape, the Cavs need to have a rotation ready for him immediately, because they will have a lot of questions to answer upon his return. Do they want to ease Shaq into the rotation? Can they afford to ease Shaq into the rotation? Does Jamison play well with Shaq? If they re-sign Ilgauskas, can he play with Shaq? Is Shaq a go to guy when LeBron is not in the lineup? Is Shaq a go to guy when LeBron is in the lineup? How do they use Hickson or Varejao in the rotation if both Shaq and Ilgauskas are playing well?

The Cavs will have to answer those questions, as well as a few others, once Shaq returns, and they probably won’t have the luxury of answering those questions in full before the start of Round 2. That ultimately means that the Cavs will still be fooling around with their rotation deep into the NBA playoffs, and that really could hurt the team chemistry. In fact, that is exactly what did the Cavs in last year, when during the playoffs they lacked the same chemistry that had gotten them to that point during the regular season.

Lastly, you have to look at this from a psychological prospective as well. Take the Chicago Bulls last year. When they drew the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season, you could see the glimmer of hope in their eyes when they realized they could beat the Celtics with Kevin Garnett out of the lineup. All of a sudden, you had a top-seeded team on its heels, just hoping to survive in an elimination Game 7 against an up-start Bulls team.

The Cavs cannot afford to be in that position; not after last year’s disappointment, not after the regular season they have had, and certainly not after acquiring Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison for the very purpose of winning playoff series. But the Cavs could be in just that position, possibly drawing the Charlotte Bobcats, a team that has beaten the Cavs 3 out of 4 games. I’m not saying that the Bobcats will beat the Cavs just because Shaq isn’t there. However, if the Bobcats believe they can win, the Cavs could be locked up in a series that goes on far too long. A long first round series can take a lot of wind out of the sails of a good team like Cleveland, and if that happens, maybe even Shaq can’t get that boat moving again.

The post "No Shaq? Big Problem" was originally published at TSW.

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The NBA Regular Season is entering the home stretch now, and positioning is about everything. While the 5 teams at the top of our NBA Power Rankings do not have to worry about making the playoffs, positioning is everything. Likely, 4 of these teams will make up the 3 teams in the Conference Finals, and should that happen, home court advantage could be all the difference.

Here are our NBA Power Rankings of the top 5 teams in the league on March 1, 2010.

1. Los Angeles Lakers (45-15) – The Los Angeles Lakers just knocked out one of the leading contenders for the Western Conference. They also have Kobe Bryant back, which is certainly nothing but good news. Most importantly, the Lakers have continued to win on the road, proving that they are capable of beating anybody, anywhere at any time.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers (46-14) – The Cavaliers still have a lot of things to work out, but they have rebounded since that inauspicious start after acquiring Antawn Jamison by winning their last 3 games. In fact, the Cavs last two wins have come against the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors, two of the East’s best teams. Still, it appears as if they have lost Shaq for the next 6-8 weeks, which means he won’t be 100% until the playoffs. That could hurt them in terms of setting up a rotation before the postseason begins.

3. Dallas Mavericks (39-21) – The Mavericks are the hottest team in basketball, and it’s no coincidence that their streak started with the acquisition of Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. Now this team is as strong and long as ever, and they match up well with any team in the NBA. They can go big with the Los Angeles Lakers, or they can go small with the Denver Nuggets. Of course, other teams will have trouble matching up with Dirk now that they can play him at the small forward position, not to mention, Caron Butler is a difficult matchup if he is playing the 2-guard spot.

4. Utah Jazz (38-21) – Utah has won 7 of its last 10 games and appears to have worked off whatever lingering effects they had from last year’s disappointing season. At 38-21, they are currently 4th in the Western Conference, but they are only a game back of the second place Nuggets. Deron Williams is playing out of his mind, and may be the best point guard in basketball right now. It’s hard to imagine in point guard in the West slowing him down, and only Steve Nash would be able to counter his production at the opposite end.

5. Denver Nuggets (39-20) – We had to pull back our enthusiasm for the Nuggets after they got man-handled by the Lakers on Sunday. Sure, they have the second best record in the West, but I’m not sure how long they will hold on to that spot. They have won just 6 of their last 10, and are giving up 102.6 points game. While their point differential is still a very good +4.8, giving up that many points may come back to bite them in the ass during the stretch run. Also the Nuggets are not very good on the road, having gone just 14-15 away from home. They need to man-up and play better defense on the road if they are going to stay among the NBA’s elite.

The post "2010 NBA Power Rankings: March 1, 2010" was originally published at TSW.

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Let’s put all of the Kevin Durant for MVP talk to rest.

LeBron James is the MVP of the NBA.

While even I have been swept up by everything Durant is doing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, I can’t sit here and listen to another person actually entertain the idea that Durant is the MVP of the league at this moment. If people want to discuss what Durant has to do in order to win the MVP, that’s fine. But to say anything that remotely suggests he is the MVP is ignoring the obvious.

LeBron James isn’t just the MVP of this season; he has been the MVP of the last three seasons. While he has only 1 award to show for it, his resume this year is as good as ever. He has the best record in the NBA. He has the best Player Efficiency Rating in the NBA. And most relative to Kevin Durant, he is at the top of the league in scoring with Durant, averaging 29.8 points per game to Durant’s 29.9.

Is there really even an argument here?

Granted, Durant’s pursuit of Michael Jordan’s record of 40 consecutive games with 25 points or more is impressive. If Kevin Durant breaks that record, and maybe even breaks it handedly, then I would have to give Durant some credit for having done something of that magnitude. However, in order for me to consider Durant over LeBron in the MVP voting on the basis of breaking Jordan’s record, Durant would have to beat LeBron and win the NBA Scoring title this season. Don’t get me wrong, scoring 25 points for over 40 games in a row is quite impressive and unparalleled, but if LeBron is still scoring more or just as many points as Durant is, how can I give credence to KD?

Of course, we have to look at the bigger picture as well. Because if the MVP was just about scoring points, Tim Duncan wouldn’t have MVP awards, Shaquille O’Neal wouldn’t have an MVP award, and Steve Nash wouldn’t have MVP awards.

This game is about what you bring to all aspects of the game, and LeBron has Kevin Durant beat in just about every other measurable aspect of basketball there is. LeBron shoots a higher percentage from the field. LeBron turns the ball over less. LeBron creates more opportunities for his teammates (while scoring more, I might add), and LeBron beats Durant in just about all of the efficiency measurables.

Durant does have the edge over LeBron on a few things, and is tied with him a few others. They both block relatively the same number of shots, and they each go to the free throw line a lot and at relatively the same rate. Durant is the better shoot from the free throw line and the from behind the arc. Durant also grabs slightly more rebounds; however, LeBron grabs a higher percentage of the rebounds available to him, so that’s actually in LBJ’s favor.

But at the end of the day, the only thing we can say that Durant does above and beyond most players in the NBA is score the basketball, and LeBron James does that just as well, and with slightly more efficiency. So I have to go with LeBron as the MVP. And unless Durant all of sudden becomes a top passer in the league, or wings 90% of his remaining games, my MVP vote probably isn’t going to change.

KD Not concerned with leaping LeBron in scoring

The post "Durant backers, LeBron James is the MVP!" was originally published at TSW.

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The NBA is a changing—at least for the mean time.

With several trades transpiring over the past week, there has been a subtle shift in the NBA power rankings this week. Some teams got better, and some teams definitely got worse. Which team did what? Here are the 2010 Powers Rankings for the fourth and final week of February.

1. Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are proving one thing; they don’t need Kobe Bryant to win regular season NBA games. That could go a very long way in helping the Lakers rely less on Kobe in the 4th quarter. But don’t get too carried away, Lakers fans; a healthy Kobe Bryant is a must for this team to win an NBA championship.

2. Cleveland Cavaliers
The arrival of Antawn Jamison has shaken up this team more than most of us realized. The Cavs do have to figure out exactly how they are going to work their rotation now that they have a logjam at the power forward position with JJ Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Anderson Varejao. Not to mention, the Cavs have to wait another 25 days for when they are likely to reacquire Zydrunas Ilgauskas, at which point they will have to come up with a new rotation. In the short-run, all of this is going to hurt the Cavs during the regular season. But once they figure it all out, they will be prime to make a run at the championship during the 2010 NBA Playoffs.

3. Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets have beaten the best of the best. They are 7-1 against division leaders, and they are fresh off beating the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, they are a mere 12-8 against teams under .500, which as Michael Wilbon pointed out yesterday, speaks to the Nuggets tendency to play down to their competition. It’s working for them now, but one has to wonder if a losing streak is in their future as they continue to let the competition set the tone for the game.

4. Dallas Mavericks
This team is sort of under the radar. NBA analysts got excited about the Mavs after their trade, but they haven’t talked about them since. Most importantly, people don’t think that trade put them in championship contention. I would disagree with that notion because I think the acquisition of Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler has made them a much better team, that is right their with the Lakers in terms of talent. Yes, I said it. With Dirk, Marion, Kidd and Terry, this team has all the tools necessary to knock off the Lakers. I’m not saying the Mavs are the favorites, but they shouldn’t be forgotten about either.

5. Utah Jazz
At 17-2 since early January, the Jazz have been the best team in the NBA. A lot of people are miffed by the Ronnie Brewer trade that occurred last week, but they will overcome that. They may even get some added offensive production now that Kyle Korver and CJ Miles will fill the minutes the Brewer trade made available.

The post "NBA Power Rankings – February 22, 2010" was originally published at TSW.

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So far, not so good.

The arrival of Antawn Jamison in Cleveland and on the court has not exactly been the greatest of debuts in the history of NBA trades.

Last Friday, Jamison’s first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers was about as bad as you can get. He shot 0-12 from the field, 0-4 from three-point land and the Cavs lost in the process.

Then on Sunday, the Cavs played Orlando, the very team that his arrival was orchestrated for in the first place. And while his shooting wasn’t an issue in this game (9-14 from the field), Jamison did foul out with the game on the line, and the Cavs lost to the Magic.

So with the early returns being what they are, is it time we rethink the hype that surrounded this trade?

Of course not!

While Jamison’s horrible first game with Cleveland was a bust, his second game certainly justified the hype over the trade. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking the Cavs lost to the Orlando Magic lightly, especially when the Magic haven’t been playing great basketball as of late. However, in watching the matchup between the Cavs and Orlando on Sunday, I couldn’t help but be impressed with what Jamison brought to the table.

First of all, Jamison did a great job of spacing the floor. Often times, the Magic’s new weapon, Brandon Bass, didn’t know what to do when Jamison set the ball screen and rolled out to the 3-pont line. It put him in the very precarious position of hedging on the ball-handler or following Jamison to the perimeter. In fact, it’s exactly the same type of problem Rashard Lewis gave Anderson Varejao in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Now that the tables have turned, the Cavs can counter what the Magic can do on the perimeter and force the Magic to consider different lineups.

Secondly, Jamison’s defense was very admirable. He was very adept at guarding smaller players, or players on the perimeter, when he was on the floor with Shaquille O’Neal. He did a great job of grabbing rebounds, pulling down 8 boards in just 31 minutes of play. He also got actively involved in the defensive rotation when he came up with both a steal and a block, showing the same type of effort he displayed in Washington, which often got overlooked because he played on a purely offensive team.

Lastly, Jamison’s effect on the Sunday’s result, although ultimately ending in a loss, was 100% positive. Don’t believe me? Then just look at the box score. During the 31 minutes Jamison was in the game, an amount of time that was shortened by foul trouble, the Cavs outscored the Magic by 10 points. Needless to say, his impact on the game was purely positive, and you can rest assure that come the NBA playoffs, he will be playing a whole lot more than 31 minutes.

The post "Jamison Acquisition Still Justifiable" was originally published at TSW.

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While most people, including us, have been all bent out of shape over Cleveland’s acquisition of Antawn Jamison the day before the trade deadline, we have failed to recognize one very important thing:

The Cleveland Cavaliers could have won the NBA Finals last year.

Of course, I am fully aware that the Cavs were outplayed (actually, out coached) by the Magic. And I know that the Cavs had trouble with the Los Angeles Lakers last season. However, had the Cavs of the regular season showed up in the postseason, there’s a good chance the Cavs would be the reigning NBA champions right now.

The reason the Cavs didn’t live up to last year’s potential is because Mo Williams failed to live up to his potential. Mo was an all-star last season, but come playoff time, he was barely even recognizable. He didn’t create, he didn’t make shots, and he was constantly outplayed by the Magic point guards, even though Jameer Nelson didn’t play in that series.

So while Antawn Jamison is a very important addition to the Cavs roster, Mo Williams needs to play much better this postseason if the Cavs are going to win the East and proceed to the NBA Finals.

Of course, as I say that, Mo Williams is fresh off an injury and didn’t even start in last night’s game against the Denver Nuggets. But when he gets healthy, he better bring it in the playoffs. Currently, he’s averaging 17 points, 5 assists and is shooting 45% from the field—not far off from what he did last season, and maybe even slightly better, especially in the assist department. However, in last year’s series with the Magic, Williams was less than stellar.

In that series, Williams managed to get his points, averaging 18.3 points per game. However, during that series, he shot horribly from the field, making just 37% from the floor. And after shooting well over 40% from behind the arc during the season, he made just 9 of his 40 3-point attempts against the Magic for a percentage of 22.5%.

Not good.

Not to mention, his assist numbers were down, and he was a huge defensive liability, despite having played credible defense all season long.

Conclusion: Mo Williams needs to show up during the playoffs, Antawn Jamison or not. He is the point guard for this team, and he needs to embody that role when times get rough in the playoffs. Giving LeBron the ball and getting out of the way will not get the Cavs to the NBA Finals. Somebody else needs to step up and be a facilitator for this team in the postseason, and who better to do that than their starting point guard?

The post "Mo Williams Must Step-up His Postseason Play" was originally published at TSW.

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With Antawn Jamison now in Cleveland, the question is, just how much better did the Cleveland Cavaliers get? And was this really a better acquisition than bringing Amare Stoudemire to Cleveland. Let’s break it down.

First, let’s just eliminate any talk about whether this was a better deal than brining Stoudemire to the Cavs. Jamison is just a flat out better fit for the Cavs than Stoudemire. Yes, Stoudemire is the better overall player. He is younger, faster, stronger and more explosive in terms of both leaping ability and scoring output.

However, Jamison does a lot of things that Stoudemire does not. First and foremost, Jamison stretches the floor, which is what the Cavs need from the power forward position right now. With Shaquille O’Neal, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hickson and most likely Zydrunas Ilgauskas later, the Cavs are a team full of big men that that either can’t shoot or are very immobile; thus, the addition of Jamison to the front court is simply a better fit when paired with anyone of the Cavs other big men.

Also, the last thing a defensive team like the Cavs need is a guy who turns the ball over. Stoudemire turns the ball over at an alarming rate for a guy who is really nothing more than the recipient of passes in the paint. Stoudemire has a turnover rate that is twice that of Jamison’s, and is the highest turnover rate among the top 20 rated players at the power forward position. And Stoudemire doesn’t make up any of those turnovers with his passing ability, as he is just a horrible passer. Jamison isn’t much better, but there’s no doubt that Jamison is the better ball handler and probably can produce more assists if he has somebody to pass the ball to.

Jamison also has no existing knee issues (Stoudemire has had operation on both knees), shoot the three-pointer better, cost less money, isn’t a contractual issue this summer, and can score without dominating the basketball, which is more than I can say about Stoudemire.

Other than ALL OF THAT, I don’t know how else to say Jamison is a better fit for the Cavs, even though he may not be the better player.

As for the Cavs new title chances, I would say that they are tremendously improved. And that’s saying a lot when you’re talking about the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference that has already beaten the defending world champions on two different occasions.

So how has Jamison improved their chances?

The addition of Jamison puts them in the driver’s seat to win the Eastern Conference. I know what you’re saying, “They were already leading the East.” However, the Orlando Magic are still a lot like they were last year, if not better. I know the Vince Carter experiment is under scrutiny, but in the playoffs, Carter will still demand a double team, and really no one other than LeBron himself can check Carter for the Cavs. Not to mention, Jameer Nelson didn’t play in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals and the Magic still managed to beat Cleveland without him.

The addition of Jamison will match the Magic on the perimeter, something the Cavs couldn’t do in last year’s playoffs when Rashard Lewis was raining threes upon threes on them to win the series. Jamison, can exert equal damage from the 3-point line against the Magic, not to mention, he is much better suited to guard Rashard Lewis on the perimeter than J.J. Hickson, Anderson Varejao or Amare Stoudemire would have been. Also, Jamison’s ability to come off screens and hit perimeter shots will be an added dimension to the Cavs game that will be hard for Rashard Lewis or any other Magic player to guard this postseason.

As for the Cavs chances against the projected Western Conference Champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, those chances have definitely improved.

Adding Jamison gives the Cavs a chance to take the Lakers big men out of their comfort zone. Either Bynum or Gasol will have to step out and defend Jamison on the perimeter, not to mention, they will have to chase him around on screens. Of course, Jamison will have trouble guarding either one of them on the other end, but at least Jamison causes the Lakers problems, whereas a guy like J.J. Hickson or Varejao would allow the Lakers big men to bully the Cavs both offensively and defensively.

So at the end of the day, this deal gives the Cavs another scoring threat is more versatile, offensively and defensively, than Amare Stoudemire or any other Cavs forward on the roster (excluding James, of course). With that, the Cavs are poised to defeat the Orlando Magic, win the East, and matchup with the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The post "Antawn Jamison Makes Cavs Much Better" was originally published at TSW.

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ESPN is reporting that the Cleveland Cavaliers have reportedly landed Antawn Jamison from the Washington Wizards.

The deal is a part of a 3-team transaction that has Jamison and Sebastian Telfair going to Cleveland, the Wizards landing Al Thornton, Brian Skinner, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Cleveland’s 1st round pick, and the Clippers get Drew Gooden, who was on the Dallas Mavericks less than a week ago.

This trade, in my opinion, is much better than anything that would have brought Amare Stoudemire to Cleveland. Jamison is a better fit than Stoudemire in this offense, and Jamison came with much less of a risk contractually, and he was cheaper. Had the Cavs sought after Stoudemire, they would have had to give up J.J. Hickson, but now Hickson remains a Cavalier, as part of a new frontline for Cleveland that could be devastatingly good.

Also of note, Ilgauskas will likely be released from the Wizards and will probably re-sign with the Cavs 30 days later, as per league rules.

This trade means the Miami Heat are the most likely winners of the Amare Stoudemire Sweepstakes.

The post "ESPN.com: Antawn Jamison Traded to Cleveland" was originally published at TSW.

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Who needs Amare?

After all that hard work, I’d prefer a glass of Jamison instead!

That’s Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison of course, and he’s what the Cleveland Cavaliers need if they are going to advance to the NBA Finals and challenge the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA throne. Acquiring Phoenix Sun Amare Stoudemire won’t get that done.

Earlier, I detailed why I don’t think acquiring Amare Stoudemire will give the Cleveland Cavaliers the added boost they need to win an NBA championship. Most notably, bringing Stoudemire into the fold would affect the way the Cavs play defense, and that ultimately would affect how they defend Dwight Howard in the playoffs. I don’t like the idea of the Cavs having to change their rotation and sacrifice defense for offense just to justify having Stoudemire on the floor. Stoudemire can’t guard Howard, and he can’t defend perimeter forwards, ultimately making him a huge liability in a potential NBA playoffs rematch between the Cavs and the Orlando Magic.

On the other hand, Antawn Jamison, while not the greatest defensive player there is, is used to defending players in space, and he is, in my opinion, a much better rebounder than Stoudemire. So theoretically, a Jamison and Shaq lineup would defend the 4-perimeter lineup of the Magic much better than the Stoudemire & Shaq lineup would. Thus, Jamison is a much better match defensively for the Cavs.

More to the point, Jamison is a much better fit offensively. While Stoudemire is renowned for his dunking, pick-n-roll game, and his moderate range jumper, he does not create his own offense. However, Jamison has a great shot from outside and doesn’t need much help to get that shot off. The stats will lie to you and tell you that Jamison’s shots come off assists more often than Stoudemire’s, but you have to realize that 70% of Jamison’s shots are jumpers, where the pass he is getting hasn’t actually created his shot. Conversely, 46% of Stoudemire’s shots (nearly half) come from inside, and he is assisted on 60% of those shots. Jamison takes only 30% of his shots from inside, of which 55% of them are assisted (5% less than Stoudemire). More importantly, because Jamison’s points are coming from the outside, it clears the paint for Shaq and LeBron James.

So basically, I think Jamison is the better fit for 3 reasons:

1. He is a better fit defensively to play alongside Shaquille O’Neal.
2. He is a better fit offensively, because he takes few inside shots.
3. He is a better complement to LeBron, because he creates his own shot.

Now you tell me, do you think Stoudemire is still the right trade for the Cavaliers, or is the more versatile, perimeter play of Jamison a better fit for what the Cavs are doing as a team?

The post "Forget Amare, Cavs Need Jamison’s Outside Game" was originally published at TSW.

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Right now, there appears to be a good chance that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to acquire Amare Stoudemire via trade. Whether the acquisition of Amare Stoudemire comes via a direct deal with the Suns or a three-way deal with the Sixers is something none of us can possibly know right now. But there is one thing I do know: this is not a very good trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The prospect of acquiring Stoudemire sounds like a very good idea. Stoudemire would clearly be the second best basketball player on the Cavs roster, as he is one of the league’s best 15 or 20 players. However, as enticing as it sounds to acquire that kind of a talent, he brings such a specific set of skills to the game of basketball that his arrival in Cleveland would only bring harm to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Okay, Stoudemire wouldn’t necessarily destroy the team with the best record in the NBA, but he would hurt their playoff chances, and there are 3 specific reasons why:

1. Amare Doesn’t Play Defense
Amare would be a great fit for the Cavs if he played defense, but he doesn’t. The great thing about the Cavs roster is that they don’t have to sacrifice defense for anybody on their team. The only player on the squad that is close to being a defensive liability is Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and as long as other teams have big men that do not leave the paint, Ilgauskas will remain serviceable. Amare, however, is too small to be put on a true center, and he’s to defensively impaired to defend any forward with decent offensive ability. That means come playoff time, the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that prides itself on defense, will have to, at times, make conscious decisions to sacrifice defense for offense in a way they never have before. That will ultimately hurt the team, and will destroy any defensive consistency the Cavs would have had going into the postseason.

2. Amare Cannot Score on His Own
As much as I like Stoudemire, he has never been the best player on his own team, and he has always relied on a point guard to get him the ball. If he were truly going to be an addition to the Cavs, he would be able to create scoring opportunities on his own, thereby allowing LeBron James to rest and not always feel the pressure to create each and every possession. But Stoudemire doesn’t create all that often. Amare still needs pick-n-rolls, ball screens and set plays to produce his 20-25 points a game. Thus, come playoff time, LeBron is still going to have to put all of the pressure on his shoulders in the 4th quarter, while the best Amare can offer is a ball screen that would still require James to do all of the creating for the offense.

3. Acquiring Amare Defeats the Purpose of Having Shaq
This isn’t to say that Amare and Shaquille O’Neal can’t play on the same team, because unlike those who came to that conclusion in Phoenix, I think they can play together. However, having both of them comes with a price—especially on a team that had trouble with Dwight Howard in last year’s postseason. Shaq can’t really get out and defend the pick-n-roll that well, while Amare can’t defend scoring big men in the post. The entire motivation behind the Cavs acquiring Shaq was for The Diesel to defend Howard in the post. The belief was that even if the Orlando Magic tried to get Shaq out in pick-n-roll situations, the Cavs defense was too good for the Magic to run that all day and have success. Now if they bring Stoudemire into the mix, there are going to be times where, like last season, Howard is going to be defended by Stoudemire (or Anderson Varejo) and is going to have a lot of success around the rim. In my estimation, there’s no reason for the Cavs to revert back to allowing that to happen, especially when they have Shaq on the roster. Therefore, bringing Stoudemire to the Cavs hurts Cleveland postseason chances, and such a trade actually puts Orlando back in the driver seat for the Eastern Conference title.

The post "Will Amare Trade Help the Cavs?" was originally published at TSW.

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Well, it was only January, but we learned a lot about the NBA over this past month. For example, the Celtics last 18 games (of which they won 6) proved the Celtics aren’t as good as we thought—at least not right now. January also proved that my New York Knicks are not as good as December may have indicated.

So after that turbulent month, where do the teams rank among one another? Let’s break it down:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – Say what you will about the Cleveland Cavaliers lack of explosiveness, but they get W’s. While Shaq has not been the addition Cavs fans hoped he would be, he has brought an interior presence to the team that has made their defense all but impenetrable at times.

2. Los Angeles Lakers – Many thought that the recent road trip would trip the Lakers up, but they’ve done okay so far. With losses coming to the Cavs and the Grizzlies, it’s not as if they dropped games to bottom basement teams like my New York Knicks.

3. Denver Nuggets – The Nuggets are quietly playing like the second best team in the Western Conference, which is quite surprising given that Carmelo Anthony has been in and out of the lineup all season long. Of course, what does help, is that when Anthony is on the floor, there’s not a player in the NBA who’s filling up the basket more often than he is.

4. Dallas Mavericks – I know the Mavs have been on a bit of a rough streak as of late, much of it due to some defense inefficiencies. You can chalk a lot of that up to it being January and the Mavs getting lazy. But they still have maintained a 30-17 record and are right behind the Nuggets in the Western Conference.

5. Orlando Magic – The Magic are kind of an enigma to me. They are fresh off a victory against the Celtics, and they have swept the Atlanta Hawks this season, but they just don’t look as good with Vince Carter as they did with Hedo Turkoglu last season. Still, it’s hard to put any team other than the Cavs ahead of them given what is transpiring in the Eastern Conference this season.

6. Atlanta Hawks – Some people are down on the Hawks, and that’s fair, because they have been up and down throughout the season. However, they are 4-0 against the Celtics and have the third best record in the NBA. And as long as they continue to keep scoring 102 points a game, they are going to be difficult to beat night in and night out.

7. Utah Jazz – Utah is the 4th seed in the Western Conference? Yes they are! At least for now. Deron Williams may be having one of his best seasons, which is why the coaches put him in the All-Star game for the first time in his career. And you have to like what the Jazz have done as of late, going 9-1 over their last 10 games, beating quality teams (Cavs, Heat, Mavs, Spurs, Suns, and Blazers) in the process.

8. San Antonio Spurs – There is reason to be concerned about the Spurs, but then again, there’s reason not to be. The Spurs are the 5th seed in the West and just 2 games back of the 3rd seed, despite not having their entire big 3 in the lineup for most of the season. I know we often put a lot of emphasis on their February road trip (when the rodeo comes to Central Texas), but I don’t think it will be symbolic of their ability this year, seeing as how Tony Parker is sidelined for the moment.

9. Boston Celtics – And then there were the Celtics—a team that appears to be reeling while their best players are aging right in front of our eyes. A trade might help them, but if KG’s knee doesn’t get any better, it’s all for not anyway.

10. Portland Trailblazers – The temporary loss of Brandon Roy is just another hit to the long list of injuries befuddling this Blazers team right now. Still, they are managing to hold steady in the race for the playoffs, and once Roy comes back, they should be quite healthy in time for the postseason stretch-run.

Bonus: Toronto Raptors – I have watched the Raptors play a lot this season, and I am incredibly impressed by what they are doing north of the border. Chris Bosh is having a stand-out season, and has become much more aggressive around the rim this season. He is really going to be a tough guard for the big men on the elite Eastern teams, Dwight Howard and KG included.

The post "NBA Power Rankings – February 2, 2010" was originally published at TSW.

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As disinterested as some of you are in the now long-running series of puppet commercials containing caricatures of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the fact is that most NBA fans are still interested in the Kobe-LeBron debate.

And why wouldn’t you be?

So in an effort to break down the two players and weigh one against the other (yet again), I’m looking at the different aspects of their games to get to the core of what each player brings to the game of basketball and who the better player is at this point in time in their careers.


Passing
While Kobe is no slouch, there’s no doubt that LeBron James is the more effective passer of the two. While passing involves more than assists, it’s hard to go with Kobe when LeBron averages 7.8 assists per game and Kobe averages 4.2. And don’t tell me that Kobe is more focused on scoring than he is on passing and that he could be the better passer if he wanted to. First of all, Michael Jordan probably could have been a much more effective passer, but we give the nod to Magic Johnson because he actually did it better and more often, and that’s all we have to go by. And secondly, LeBron scores just as many points as Kobe does, and he has more assists than Kobe this season. So even if Kobe’s passing ability is limited by his propensity to shoot, LeBron seems to have no problem scoring and passing with equal effectiveness.

Advantage: LeBron

Rebounding
Believe it or not, I can’t compare how the two rebound the ball in the same way that I can compare their ability to pass. Why? Because rebounding is a function of where you are on the court. If you’re defending guards, you’re not going to be near the paint. And if you’re defending forwards and centers, you’re going to be closer to the rebounding action. For that reason, I will compare how the rebound based on where they rank at their positions. For those aware, the only appropriate way to discuss rebounds is by rebound rate, because it factors in how many chances a player had to rebound the ball.

Kobe ranks 19th among shooting guards in defensive rebound rate. He’s behind the likes of Dwyane Wade, Larry Hughes, Vince Carter and Jodie Meeks. LeBron, however, ranks 6th among small forwards in defensive rebound rate, behind Corey Maggette, Terrence Williams and Gerald Wallace. One might argue that Kobe’s low ranking is justified by his defense against top players, but typically Kobe doesn’t play the top guy on the other team until the second half, while LeBron usually goes at it with his opponent’s best all game long. Besides, can’t we just admit that the 6’9”, 270-pound LeBron James is the guy we’d rather have going up for the board?

Advantage: LeBron

Defense
Two years ago, this would have been a ridiculous question, as Kobe was coming off his 5th All-NBA Defense selection. But last year, LeBron turned up his defensive efforts and was right alongside Kobe on the 1st Team All-Defense roster. Now LeBron steps out on the perimeter and guards the best of scorers in the league, and as I mentioned, he does it for the majority of the game. Kobe has thrived in more of Pippen role, especially over the last two years, in which he acts like a free safety for the first half of the game, and then utilizes his 7-footers and forces the NBA elite to baseline during the 3rd and 4th quarters. I can’t take anything away from either one of them, and seeing as when they go head to head they both tend to guard each other fairly well, I’m going to make this a push.

Advantage: Push

Outside Shooting
This is the category where everyone is going to kill me, but once again, one will only disagree with me based on their outdated perception. As of right now, this season, LeBron James is the better shooter. Based on the numbers, LeBron’s jump shot has been a lot better than Kobe’s. Starting with 3-pointers, LeBron is shooting 36% from behind the arc while Kobe is only making 27.8% percent of his 3-pointers. According to Scouts Inc.’s David Thorpe, LeBron also makes a higher percentage of his long-range 2-pointers. So I know Kobe makes you feel as if he is the better shooter, because he looks so much better doing it, but in news for both you and me, LeBron is the better shooter at this point and time.

Advantage: LeBron

Scoring
At this point, I’m sure all of the Kobe-backers think I’m out to hate on Mr. Bryant, and they’re wondering what “trivial” metric I’ll use to say LeBron is the better scorer. Relax. I’m being as objective as I can be. For scoring purposes, we can throw points per game out the window, because I recognize that each player works in different capacities on their respective teams. Because of that, it’s hard to use percentages as well, because Kobe isn’t asked to score inside, because he already has Andre Bynum and Pau Gasol in the paint. So we’ll be a little more objective and look at their styles of scoring.

While one might be inclined to say that LeBron’s method of getting to the rim and dunking on people is most effective, it would be if LeBron weren’t such a heavy outside shooter. With the confidence LeBron has developed in his jump shot, he now settles for jumpers a lot more, and now 63% of his shots are jumpers. Of course, Kobe shoots even more jumpers and at a 73% rate. However, Kobe shoots most of his jumpers inside of 17-feet, using ability to move with out the ball, come off screens, cut and post up. LeBron does very little of those things, making his mid-range game virtually non-existent. Thus, I have to go with Kobe and his ability to score the ball in an array of different ways, especially the mid-range game.

Advantage: Kobe Bryant

Clutchness
Okay, here’s another area of the game that people think should go to Kobe, but is actually in LeBron’s favor. However, this isn’t a recent development, LeBron has been better than Kobe in the clutch for several years now. Don’t believe me? Look at the numbers!

Using 82games.com’s definition of clutch (4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points), LeBron James is the better player when the game is on the line. Of course, LeBron has played in far more close games than Kobe has this season, but the moment is the moment, and LeBron has not only been better this year, but in years past. Extrapolating their clutch statistics to a 48-minute game, LeBron averages 77.4 points vs. Kobe’s 56.8. Yes, Kobe has other people he can turn to, so I won’t put too much stock in that. However, LeBron’s FG% and eFG% are higher than Kobe’s. And LeBron gets inside the paint at a higher rate to get easier shots in the clutch. Not to mention, LeBron’s passing rating is much higher than Kobe’s in the clutch, as are his rebound rate, block percentage and turnover rating. Sorry Kobe fans, LeBron is the better player in the clutch, by virtually every measurement in the book.

Advantage: LeBron

Overall Lift to Team
Well, it’s hard not to go with LeBron James at this point. He won the overwhelming majority of the aforementioned categories; however, the two are close in just about each and every one of them, including rebounding. That said, when you’re looking at what each player does for their team’s ability to win, there are a few things you can look at.

You can look at player efficiency rating, where LeBron leads the league.

You can look at the Estimated Wins Added (EWA) stat, which calculates a player’s value to his team as compared to what an average player would do as his replacement. By the way, LeBron has EWA of 11.2 wins to his Cavs, which leads the league. Of course, in Kobe’s defense, he’s on a very, very good team.

Or you can look at something as simple as +/- ratios. When Kobe is on the court (per 100 possessions), the Lakers outscore their opponents by 13.9. When he’s off the court, his team is outscored by 7.6 for a net difference of +21.5. LeBron’s net difference is just +13.9. In LeBron’s defense, Kobe’s net is increased by the fact that he’s on a better team that has a lot of garbage time at the end of games.

So once again, when you look at these guys as a whole their numbers aren’t too far apart. However, when you break them down, as we did, contribution by contribution, LeBron James is the better player, and that conclusion tends to bear true when you watch each of them play and observe the amazing effect LeBron has on a less-talented Cleveland Cavaliers squad.

Overall Advantage and the best basketball player in the world: LeBron James

The post "Kobe or LeBron, Part IV – The Debate Continues" was originally published at TSW.

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I know we are entering the heart of the NFL season, but it’s never too early to get a leg up on the start of the NBA season. And with most of the big name acquisitions that are going to happen this offseason having already transpire, it’s time to take a look at what some of the biggest happenings in the season will be.

So in light of everyone’s Top 5 Bold Predictions for the NFL season, here are Five Bold Predictions for the 2009-2010 NBA Season and its Eastern Conference.

1. Marcin Gortat Will Be Moved
I don’t care what anyone says, but there is no way that the Orlando Magic think that Marcin Gortat is worth $34 million as the backup center to perhaps the best center in the NBA. Seriously, how can they justify paying a backup that kind of money, when they know they would play Dwight Howard 48 minutes if they could? Believe me, Orlando will trade Gortat before the season is over. Who knows? Maybe an injury of some sort will happen, which will require the team to use Gortat as trade bait. Then they could finally save some money on a guy who is likely to be in the running for most dollars per minute played during the 2009-2010 NBA Season.

2. The Cleveland Cavaliers Won’t Beat Boston
There is a reason that I ranked the Cavaliers beneath the Boston Celtics in the 2009-2010 NBA Preseason Power Rankings. And it’s because they aren’t better than them. This is sad, because I definitely thought they were the better team this past season, even if Kevin Garnett had been healthy. However, I think they have missed their window. The Celtics have everybody back and they added Rasheed Wallace. In the end, Wallace gives the team too much versatility, and because of that, I don’t think the Cavs have a chance of winning a playoff series against the Celtics.

3. Rashard Lewis Won’t Deliver
Not to harp on Rashard Lewis’s performance-enhancing drug violation, but isn’t it crazy that, in my opinion, Lewis played the best basketball of his NBA career during the playoffs, and then he gets busted for whatever it is he tested positive for? I’m just playing. I don’t think that stuff was the reason for his success, but I do think he’ll see a lot of backlash from having used it, whether its fair or not—and it’s probably fair. Besides, whatever he was using, he probably derived some benefit from it, whether it was just mental or not, and now that he won’t have it, I think we may see a lesser version of Lewis in the 2010 NBA season.

4. Tracy McGrady Will End Up in the East
The Houston Rockets probably aren’t going to be any good this season. No Yao. No Ron-Ron. And No T-Mac to start the season. They’ll be lucky to win 3 of their first 30 games. That’s why the Rockets will probably get whatever they can and will trade Tracy McGrady to another team. But it won’t be a team in the West, because I don’t think there is a team out there that can both afford him and use him. So I think he’ll be in the East, and if healthy, that could be a huge game-changer in the Eastern Conference pecking order.

5. The Boston Celtics Will Win the East
Lastly, I may have hinted at this before, but I predict that the Boston Celtics will win the Eastern Conference. They just have far too many weapons. By getting Wallace, they covered up the one hole in their roster. Rajon Rondo will be a year older and thus should be even better than he was last season. And you have to love the evolution of Glen Big Bay Davis’s game, as he has really learned his role and how to fulfill it. And then when you add the 2.5 Hall of Famers in Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the conversation, an Eastern Conference Title seems to be the least of the Celtics worries.

The post "Five Bold 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Predictions:" was originally published at TSW.

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The major moves of the NBA offseason have been made, and now it’s time to figure out just where each team stands in terms of the 2010 NBA Championship race.

So are the Lakers the favorite? Let’s power rank them all to find out.

TheSportsWatchers.com’s NBA Preseason Power Rankings
1. Los Angeles Lakers – Signing Lamar Odom was big for this team. Without him, there might have been a number of teams that I would have ranked ahead of the Lakers going into the 2009-2010 NBA season. However, Odom brings versatility, experience, height, and talent to an otherwise unimpressive Lakers’ bench. Odom also adds some reassurance should anyone in the starting lineup, Kobe Bryant included, go down for a significant number of games.

2. Boston Celtics – We never really did find out if the Cleveland Cavaliers had surpassed the Boston Celtics last year, because the Celtics couldn’t even get by the Orlando Magic without Kevin Garnett in their lineup. However, assuming KG is healthy (and maybe even if he isn’t), the addition of Rasheed Wallace all but assures that this team is more than capable of beating Orlando in a 7-game series. I also think they are a better team than the Cleveland Cavaliers, because Rasheed gives the team two versatile big men, of which no team in the NBA can match up with.

3. San Antonio Spurs – You have to really respect what the San Antonio Spurs did this past offseason. Knowing that the window for a Tim Duncan-led championship is quickly closing, the team decided to make one last push to surround Duncan with the talent he needs to help this team win a championship. Bringing in the basket-filling Richard Jefferson was a great start, and adding depth on the front line with DeJuan Blair and Antonio McDyess might have been an even better finish. Either way, this team’s success rest on whether or not Manu Ginobili and Duncan will be healthy come playoff time. But the additions the Spurs made this summer will allow head coach Greg Popovich to rest those two players more during the regular season, so there should be no excuses.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers – Yes, I’m ranking the Cavaliers ahead of the Orlando Magic, but I’ll get to the Magic later. With the addition of Shaquille O’Neal, this team finally has a presence inside the paint. Some worry that Shaq will clog up the lane and get in LeBron James’s way, but Kobe never had that problem when he was averaging 27 with Shaq on the team, and neither did Dwayne Wade or Steve Nash over the last 5 years. LeBron and Shaq will be just fine in terms of spacing, and they should get along in the locker room too. This team really needed another voice and talent outside of LeBron to take it to the next level, because clearly he was playing at another level during the Eastern Conference Finals, while the rest of the team should have paid the price of admission. However, I’m not so sure that Shaq will get the Cavs over the hump.

5. Orlando Magic – You can call it a slap in the face if you want to, but I do think that the reigning Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic won’t be back in the Finals next year. As you can see, I have them ranked behind 2 other Eastern Conference teams, two teams that got a whole lot better. The Magic, on the other hand, pretty much stayed the same. Replacing Hedo Turkoglu with Vince Carter may have been a slight upgrade, but Hedo was a much better distributor and fit better within the scheme of the offense, so I think some of Vince Carter’s upside gets negated by a lack of chemistry. Not to mention, the team will probably lose Marcin Gortat via a trade, unless they really intend to pay a backup center upwards of $30 million in a move that can only be described as Isiah Thomas-ish. That said, this team does have great talent, and they will have Jameer Nelson back at the point, so maybe I’m underrating them. However, as it stands now, this is where the Magic rank among the powers in the NBA.

2010 Preseason NBA Power Rankings: Western Conference
2009-2010 NBA Power Rankings: Player Edition
2010 NBA Offseason Storylines
All-Decade NBA Team 2000-2009
All-Next Decade NBA Team 2010-2019
Five Bold NBA Predictions: Eastern Conference

The post "2009-2010 NBA Power Rankings: Preseason" was originally published at TSW.

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Here it is the video everyone has been waiting for—LeBron James getting dunked on by Joey Crawford.

From two different angles, the dunk tells two different stories.

From the first video we have below, the dunk doesn’t appear to be all that bad, you just LeBron making kind of a half-hearted attempt to play some help defense and he gets surprised by the fact that Crawford rose up on him like that.

However, in the second video, albeit from a distance, it appears as if LeBron got bodied up quite a bit on the dunk, had time to jump, but was ultimately “out-exploded” (?) at the point of attack.

Anyway, I’ll let you all be the judge, and you all tell me just how much crap should fans give LeBron for getting boomed on…

The post "King LeBron James Gets Dunked On" was originally published at TSW.

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I know all of the talk this morning concerning LeBron James is focused on why he decided to confiscate a tape of him getting dunked on by a collegiate basketball player. However, can we go back to thinking big picture here?

Let’s start with the fact that news this morning suggesting that the NBA salary cap may be as low as $50 million next year, puts a big cramp in the LeBron James sweepstakes of 2010.

As you all know, the New York Knicks are truly hoping that LeBron James ends up in blue and orange for the 2010-2011 NBA season. However, with the likelihood of a salary cap as much as $10 million less than what the Knicks were expecting 15 months ago, the Knicks, and other teams, may have to change their plans for the 2010 NBA off-season.

In April of 2008, the projected salary cap for the 2010-2011 season was about $63 million. This morning it was reported that the salary cap for that year could be at best $53 million and as low as $50 million. Should that be the case, the $10-$13 million that the Knicks would no longer have available to them would eliminate their ability to sign another player to a maximum contract. And because the Knicks don’t have much of a roster, one would have to assume that LeBron would be hesitant to come to the Knicks without another marquee player coming to the Garden with him.

Of course, this not only affects the Knicks. Some teams won’t be able to afford LeBron James by himself. A drop in cap space of $13 million could certainly eliminate those who were just at, or even above, the salary cap space amount they needed to have in order to sign a player to a max deal in 2010.

The elimination of cap space thought to be available now dims the light on the summer of LeBron. Of course, it brings sunshine to Cleveland, where it seems all the more likely LeBron James will stay if other teams (ehemm, the Knicks) can’t bring in the players they need to surround LeBron with due to a lack of salary cap space.

The post "Projected Salary Cap for 2010 Dooms LeBron’s Exodus to NYC" was originally published at TSW.

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I recently wrote a piece on the top five reasons why LeBron James was coming to New York. And as a New York Knicks fan, I certainly hope that LeBron does come to the Big Apple. However, I have to admit, there are reasons why LeBron might not come to New York City.

Reason #1
LeBron loves Ohio. While LeBron’s infatuation with New York is apparent, there is no way that he can love New York City more than he loves Ohio, and more importantly, his hometown of Akron. LeBron is a product of the state. He was raised there. He was celebrated there by thousands, if not millions, of fans and people who saw him play from the 7th grade on. And LeBron James even had his MVP ceremony held at his high school, something he can’t do if he is playing for New York in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Reason #2
The Knicks May Not Have the Talent
The only way LeBron James is leaving Cleveland after the 2009-2010 season is if the Cavaliers are not legitimate contenders for the NBA Championship in 2011. However, if he feels that the Cavaliers are much closer to an NBA championship than the Knicks, then he is not coming to New York City. You see, while the Knicks have been doing everything they can to have the cap room to get LBJ, they have officially gotten rid of all of the talent that they would have had on their 2010 NBA roster. There will probably be no David Lee, no Nate Robinson, no Al Harrington, no Chris Wilcox and no Quentin Richardson. And we can’t forget that the Knicks have already sent players like Tim Thomas, Jamal Crawford, and Zach Randolph to other teams.

Reason #3
LeBron Can’t Make More “NBA Money” By Coming to New York
While there are many marketing dollars to be had should LeBron James come to New York, the fact is that the Cleveland Cavaliers can offer LBJ more basketball money than the Knicks can. I know LBJ can make back what he would lose in basketball salary through his sponsorship deals, but who is to say that he can’t attain similar sponsorship deals in Cleveland? And even if said deals are only available to him in New York City, who is to say that he is guaranteed that money? These are major Fortune 500 companies he is dealing with, and the smallest slip-up (ala a Kobe Bryant in Colorado-type fiasco) could mess up his entire image and any money he thought was coming his way. Not to mention, given the roller coaster of our economic system, who is to say that Nike or one of these companies doesn’t go under and LBJ never gets that money? And don’t say it can’t happen, because 5 years ago, you never would have said that GM would be filing for bankruptcy.

Reason #4
The Cavs Might Make A Deal
If the Cavs can bring in a star player this off-season, LBJ might be tempted to stay. Jason Kidd might be the perfect player to pair with LeBron James, because the Cavs main issue against the Magic this postseason was their inability to get everyone on the court involved. Well, if there is one thing J-Kidd can do, it is get other players involved. Not to mention, the acquisition of J-Kidd would take the ball out of LeBron’s hands, something that should truly elevate his game. Other options include Ron Artest and Carlos Boozer, and if LeBron likes the idea of playing with one of these guys for the next 7 or 8 years, then he just might stay in Cleveland. (Note: The Cavs acquired Shaq after this piece was written…however, do we really think that’s enough?)

Reason #5
The Cavs Might Win It All Next Year
Personally, without the major acquisition of a star player, I don’t think the Cavs will win it all next year. However, it is certainly not impossible. Afterall, they went 6 games against the Magic, and they would have had home court against the Lakers in the NBA Finals. So if by some stroke of luck they do win the championship in 2010, there is no way that LeBron will be able to leave Cleveland. That would just be unthinkable. I have never even heard of a team’s best player winning the city a championship, and then leaving in the prime of his career to go play for another team. It has never happened, and it will never happen. So if the Cavs are “cutting down the nets” at the end of next season, rest assure, LeBron James will be in a Cavs uniform in 2010, 2011, 2012, and so on and so-forth.

The post "Then Again: LeBron James Might Not Come to New York City" was originally published at TSW.

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Prior to the Shaq deal to Cleveland, I said that I don’t think that a Shaquille O’Neal pairing with LeBron James makes the Cleveland Cavaliers the likely 2010 NBA Champions. But when I actually see their names side by side, it’s very hard not to get excited about the two playing together.

Here’s a formula that works in the NBA:

Dominant big man + dominant perimeter players = an NBA Championship.

That’s usually what you need in the NBA to be a true contender for the NBA Finals. Going back to 1999, you had the one exception when you had two dominant big men and an elite, but not dominant, perimeter player in Sean Elliot. Since then though, we have had the Kobe and Shaq dynasty, the Duncan and Ginobili run, as well as the Billups and Rasheed Wallace pairing in Detroit. Just this year, we had Kobe and Gasol.

Now in Cleveland we have Shaq and LeBron James. And while most would not consider Shaq dominant anymore, many will still defer to the fact that Shaq remains the 3rd best center in the NBA. Which means in any given basketball game, there Shaq has a 93.1% (27 out of 29) chance of having a mismatch against whoever is guarding him.

In my mind, a 93.1% chance of having a mismatch over your opponent still makes you a very dominant player. Which means that the Cavs have now paralleled the dominant big man + dominant perimeter player equation you need to win a title. And the stats back up the idea that Shaq’s a championship-caliber player as well.

Shaq’s per 36-minute average (which is the type of minutes he can give you for a playoff stretch) were 21.3ppg, 10.1 rpg, 61% FG, 2.0apg and 1.7bpg. Now those numbers certainly don’t suggest that Shaq is the Shaq of old, but those numbers were his best since the 2005-2006 season when he helped lead the Miami Heat to an NBA championship. I know what you’re saying, “But he had Dwyane Wade in 2006!” Well, now he has LeBron James, and with all due respect to Flash, LBJ is the better player.

But am I proclaiming the year 2010 the year of King James and The Diesel?

No.

Afterall, I just wrote that I don’t think Shaquille O’Neal can defend the pick and roll against the Magic’s shooting lineup, thus I can’t sit here and presume that the Cleveland Cavaliers are now better than the Magic—or even the Celtics for that matter.

However, a healthy Shaq does make them a better team, which gives them a better chance to beat the Magic or the Celtics, which is at least better than remaining stagnant. That said, this lineup, as it currently stands, does not have a chance against the Los Angeles Lakers, which is why Shaq to Cleveland is anything but a real solution to the Cavaliers pursuit of an NBA championship.

The post "Shaq Deal to Cleveland Only Makes Them a Better Contender…Not THE Contender" was originally published at TSW.

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Okay, getting the Houston Rockets to trade Yao Ming to the Cleveland Cavaliers may be harder said than done. However, if Houston is willing to consider it, I say give them whatever they are asking for, because Yao Ming + LeBron James = NBA Championship!

Yes, that’s right. I said it. You put Yao on the Cleveland Cavaliers with LeBron James and whoever is left on the roster after the fallout from that trade, and I guarantee you that LeBron James is taking home an NBA title by the start of Summer 2010. And if LeBron James wins that title next year, that would all but assure Cavs fans that he’ll be in Cleveland for a long time to come.

So why am I sure that Yao Ming’s arrival in Cleveland will assure the team immediate success?

Well, when you combine the best perimeter player in the league with the best big man in the league, that’s the result you end up with (i.e. see Kobe and Shaq, circa 2000).

And no you didn’t hear wrong. I did say that Yao Ming is the best big man in the league, at the very least, he’s the best center by far. Who do you want to compare him to? Dwight Howard? The same Dwight Howard that averaged 15 points per game in the NBA Finals?

That guy?

Sorry. Dwight may be the best defensive player in the league and the maybe the best rebounder ever, but if we’re talking about putting the ball in the hole on the offensive end, Howard severely lacks the ability to do that on a consistent basis. Yao Ming doesn’t.

Besides, the issue isn’t really whether or not Yao Ming is better than Dwight Howard, it’s about who is better when the two of them play. Afterall, that’s who Cleveland has to have in mind when they make any moves this off-season. And if you look at the head-to-head matchups between Howard and Yao Ming, it’s not even close; Yao owns Howard.

In 9 games against Dwight Howard, Yao Ming is averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds. Just another day in the office for Yao.

Conversely, Howard averages only 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds against Yao.

I didn’t even get to the good stuff. Yao’s teams are 7-2 against Dwight, including 2 wins this past season, so don’t give me that he didn’t have a team around him argument!

Thus in my opinion, the acquisition of Yao Ming by the Cleveland Cavaliers would guarantee that the Cavs would beat the Orlando Magic, their foremost contenders, with a healthy Yao Ming during the playoffs. In addition to that, the Cavs would definitely elevate themselves past the Boston Celtics with the acquisition Yao.

And yes, I do believe that a healthy Yao Ming would mean a victory for the Cavs over the reigning NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers, should that be their opponent in next year’s NBA Finals. Of course, the Cavs don’t have Yao yet, so it’s all a mute point, but Cavaliers fans can dream, can’t they?

The post "Message to Cavaliers Front Office: Get Yao Ming!" was originally published at TSW.

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Cleveland Cavaliers fans do not want to hear this, but when real issues face us, we must confront them. The issue of the day is, whether or not LeBron James will depart for greener pastures (i.e. New York City) and leave the city of Cleveland behind him?

The short answer is: Yes. LeBron James is going to leave. The long answer involves five reason why LeBron is likely to go to New York City.

1. The Talent Just Isn’t There This Off-Season – This last debacle in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals where King James’ supporting cast failed to “support” is the straw that broke the camel’s back. With very little (if any) game-changing free agents on the market this off-season, coupled with a recessionary market, it is unlikely that Danny Ferry and the Cavaliers organization will be able to acquire the type of star player LeBron James needs to win a championship. However, the year LeBron is set to go into free agency is riddled with star players, such as Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. With many of the 2010 free agent class members already stating interest in playing for Mike D’Antoni and the New York Knicks, it stands to reason that New York will be where LeBron can get his #2 guy.

2. Not So Powerful Power Forwards – Both Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao have the ability to opt out of their contracts this off-season. Yet, it is very unlikely that either of them will, as this recessionary market will certainly result in those two garnering far fewer dollars than their current contracts will pay them during the 2009-2010 season. Thus, that leaves both of those money-sucking big men on the Cavs roster, and most likely, in the starting lineup, leaving very little room for improvement on the one part of the roster the team can improve upon the most. On the contrary, the Knicks frontcourt already has a rising star in Wilson Chandler and perhaps David Lee, and Chris Wilcox is on the books as well.

3. Likely Woes This Season – One would think that the Cavaliers have very little to worry about next season, and that they will be back in position to earn a trip to the Finals next year. However, with little in free agency and the same returning front line, the Cavs might not be that good of a team next year. Think about it, the Magic are clearly headed in an upward direction and will get Jameer Nelson back next season. The Celtics are likely to have a healthy Kevin Garnett next year. Moreover, both the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat will be better off on their newfound experience alone. With all of these other teams getting better, and with the Cavs likely to remain stagnant, it’s not unfathomable that the Cavs become the 4th or 5th best team in the Eastern Conference. With those other teams making moves, who is to say that the Cavs will be back in the Eastern Conference Finals? They had an easy route there this year, and they lost to a team without their second best player. Let’s face it, it will not be smooth sailing for the Cleveland hopeful in 2010, and that’s all the more reason for LeBron to take off for New York City.

4. LeBron Loves New York – LeBron wants to be in New York. He loves the Yankees. He loves the city. He loves Brooklyn, and even though the Knicks (nor the Nets) will play in BK, he can always buy a condominium there. LeBron is a New York kind of a guy, and with reported New York-bound boosters in his endorsement contracts, why wouldn’t he love the city that never stops paying?

5. Championship Glory – Do not get me wrong. It would be amazing if LeBron James could bring a championship to Cleveland after years of heartbreak in just about every major professional sport there is. However, let us not kid ourselves. The kind of hoopla, media-hype, and all-around circus that bringing the NBA Finals, nevermind an actual championship, to New York City would bring is beyond belief. Hell, I remember when decent players like Larry Johnson, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston brought the NBA Finals to New York City; it was crazy then. So just imagine what kind of craziness that would bring if LeBron were the frontman. LeBron James would go down as a New York City legend if he brought the championship back to the Big Apple. And honestly, there are only a few things in sports that get more acclamation than New York City legends.

Look, I mean no disrespect to Cleveland fans, and for their sake, I hope LeBron does stay in the Cleveland. Nevertheless, he has every reason in the world not to stay, and I won’t be surprised when he signs with the New York Knicks. But for sake of Cleveland fans, I hope he can bring them some relief before he does leave for greener pastures in a concrete jungle.

The post "Top 5 Reasons LeBron James Is Going to NYC" was originally published at TSW.

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LeBron James is not one to be f’d with after he loses. Here he is explaining the loss, his status in Cleveland and all things basktball with the media…the day after Cavs went down in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The post "LeBron James Talks To Media About Loss to Orlando and More…" was originally published at TSW.

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With Kobe Bryant making the NBA Finals, it’s now up to LeBron James to keep the dream alive and get the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Orlando Magic tonight. It’s easier said than done given that the game is in Orlando, but there are a lot of reasons to believe that Cleveland can indeed come through with a victory.

First, I know Cleveland has not jumped out early against the Magic in games that have been in Orlando as well as they have in games back in Cleveland, however, they certainly didn’t get destroyed at the starts of Games 3 and 4. In fact, in Game 4, Cleveland ended the 1st quarter with a 4-point lead and held the Magic to just 21 points in the opening period of an NBA playoff game on the Magic’s home floor. That’s a pretty respectable feat. Not to mention, the Cavs led by 8 going into halftime, so Cavs fans have good reason not to worry about getting off to a poor start in Orlando tonight.

Secondly, the fact that LeBron James was able to get 12 assists speaks volumes about what the rest of the team was doing in Game 5. Finally, his teammates were hitting the shots that James was putting them in position to make. Both Mo Williams and Delonte West stepped up to combine for 37 points, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas really came through with a very efficient 16 points. If this confidence carries over into Game 6, it could be a long night for the Magic.

Lastly, how about this guy LeBron James? The Cavs actually ran an offense (or a lack thereof) where James just caught the ball at the top of the key and made plays. That’s a play originally out of the Dallas Mavericks playbook where they put Dirk Nowitzki in the middle of the floor in order to make the defense make a decision before Dirk makes his move to the basket (the Celtics have since adopted doing this with Paul Pierce).

It’s not really much of an offense, as much as it is a “pressure-point.” It’s like the veer-option play in football, typically you wouldn’t run it over and over again, but theoretically, it can continue to work if the man with the ball makes the right decisions and the defense doesn’t adjust. Well apparently, the Magic have no adjustment for this play, as LeBron just picked them apart from that position at the top of the key. If the Magic continue to have no answer for that in Game 6, there is good reason to believe that this series is headed back to Cleveland for a final and decisive Game 7.

The post "NBA Playoff Prediction: Cavs Fans Have Good Reason To Be Optimistic Tonight" was originally published at TSW.

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Who is going to step up for the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Down 3 games to 1, it doesn’t appear as if the Cavaliers have much going for them in the Eastern Conference Finals. Only 8 teams have come back from a 3-1 NBA Playoffs deficit. And if someone on the Cavs doesn’t provide MVP LeBron James with some type of help in Game 5, that number is going to stay at 8.

LeBron James scored 44 points in Cleveland’s Game 4 loss to the Orlando Magic. The rest of the Cavs starters provided just 56 points. And the Cavs bench only produced 14 points. I won’t even get into how inefficient those point totals were.

On the other side of things, the Magic got 63 points from their starters not named Dwight Howard, and Mikael Pietrus scored more points (17) than Cleveland’s bench by himself.

That’s not a winning formula.

So clearly, LeBron needs help, but where is he going to get it from?

Well first, Mo Williams could shutup and stop making guarantees that are followed by 5 of 15 shooting and a 2-assists performance from their starting point guard. Secondly, not even looking at points, the Cavs could try to help LeBron out on the boards. The man led the team in rebounds in Game 4 with 12. What the hell are Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Vearejao doing? Grab a board young fellas! And thirdly, how about hitting the shots that LeBron is spoonfeeding them? Six of 22 from 3-point land? That’s not going to get it done for Cleveland.

Most importantly, LeBron needs somebody to have a big night offensively. Dare to score 20 points, somebody…anybody!

I can’t think that Ilgauskas will get it done. Even though he was quite efficient (5 of 9) last night, I don’t think we can expect him to get 15-20 good looks against Dwight Howard.

We certainly know that Varejao isn’t going to have a sudden offensive burst.

How about Delonte West? He scored a decent 17 points last night, without even hitting a 3-pointer. He also had 5 rebounds and 7 assists, so perhaps he has a chance to be the break out star in Game 5. Then again, he’s such a liability on defense when Pietrus is in the game that I’m not sure he can provide offense for the entire 48 minutes.

Daniel “Boobie” Gibson was the Cavs savior just 2 years ago, so we know he has the ability to be a playoff hero. Hell, he even showed up last night with a “controlled” scoring outburst of 8 points. However, if Cavs coach Mike Brown doesn’t give Boobie the playing time, he can’t be held accountable for not scoring.

And how about Wally “World” Szczerbiak? He was an All-Star in his hey-day and has always shot the ball decently. Can’t he be a factor? His 2-point, 1 for 4 performance last night doesn’t suggest that he can be.

That leaves us with one guy—the same one guy who was supposed to have turned this team from a playoff-bound team to an NBA Finals bound team. Instead, Mo Williams has disappeared, and his game is nowhere to be found. The man scored 18 points in Game 4, but it was on 5 of 15 shooting and he didn’t make a single 3-pointer.

That is unacceptable—especially for someone who is out guaranteeing a series victory!

The fact of the matter is that Mo Williams is the only guy on this Cleveland team who can and should play second-fiddle to LeBron James. Yeah, some of the other guys on the team are capable of having decent nights, but that should be extraneous to Cavs gameplan. Those are the types of performances you don’t plan for, they just happen. But with the type of talent Williams has, the Cavs should depend on a stellar performance from him. Hell, that’s why they acquired him in the first place.

So if the loud-mouth talking Mo Williams doesn’t show up in Game 5, you can be assured that this series will be over faster than LeBron’s exodus to New York City. Williams being outplayed by Rafer Alston isn’t an option anymore. There just aren’t any more chances for Mo to have a bad game, because his next bad game will be his last.

The post "NBA Playoffs: Who Will Step Up and Help LeBron" was originally published at TSW.

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I know that it is completely wrong of me to doubt Stan Van Gundy and the Orlando Magic after what they proved against the Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics over the last two rounds of the NBA Playoffs, but I’m going to do it anyway. There is absolutely no way that Orlando Magic are winning Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.

Okay, call me crazy for picking the road team to win Game 3 of a tied series, but the Lakers just did it yesterday, so why not? Afterall, the Cavs are the better teams…aren’t they?

I know many people have walked away from the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals and have said to themselves: Wow, the Magic really can play with the Cavs! And while that does appear to be the case, that does not mean that they can beat the Cavs in a 7 game series.

I’m here to tell you that those first two games were lucky. I hate to discredit what the Magic did in Games 1 and 2, but based on what they have done all season and all postseason, I have no reason to believe that they are capable of playing at such a high level in the waning moments of an NBA basketball game.

What Rashard Lewid did in Game 1 was probably the most clutch thing he has done in his entire professional basketball career. He nailed those 3’s in Game 1 with a confidence I haven’t seen from him since he was playing in Seattle. And then he did the same thing Game 2, coming up with a couple of clutch buckets, before the Turkish Michael Jordan himself, Hedo Turkoglu, came up with a go-ahead basket that would have made the Magic’s season had it not been for LeBron’s killer 3-pointer at the end. But at the end of the day, the Magic just don’t execute that well down the stretch, and the fact that a couple of shots have fallen for them late in Games 1 and 2 will not fool me.

I will be the first to admit that the Magic could easily be up 2-0 right now. But I also have to say the Cavs could, and should, be up 2-0 as well. The Magic’s execution and inability to get the ball to Dwight Howard in the 4th quarter is egregious. And it’s not like they are even trying to fix it. After a post season filled with questions about how often Howard gets the ball, Dwight finished with just 8 shots and 10 points in Game 2.

So if you expect me to pick a disorganized team, that can’t even get their best player the ball, to win Game 3, you must be out of your mind. I don’t care if the game was being played in Dwight Howard’s bathroom, if his teammates can’t get him the ball consistently, they can’t be expected to come through in the 4th quarter consistently.

That’s why I’m going with the team that has no problem giving the ball to their superstar. Which is why LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will win Game 3 of this series and take a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The post "NBA Playoff Predictions: Cavaliers Will Win Game 3 Against the Magic" was originally published at TSW.

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Last night did nothing but prove that the inevitable will eventually come to fruition, as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers will be the Eastern Conference Champions. The last two nights of NBA Playoff basketball have proven that.

I know, beating the Atlanta Hawks (as the Cavs did 99-72 last night) is not exactly the measure of true greatness in this league, but they didn’t just beat them, they locked them down. With the game still somewhat in tow, the Cavs held the Hawks to just 11 points in the 4th quarter, sealing a Game 1 victory, and killing any momentum the Hawks carried over from their 1st round series victory over Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat.

However, the realization that the Cavs will win the Eastern Conference wasn’t about last night, it was about the night before, where we saw the 2nd and 3rd best teams in the Eastern Conference prove why they cannot beat the Cavs.

In a game in which the hapless, poorly-executed Orlando Magic offense managed to jump out to a 20+ point lead, they (as usual) allowed their opponents, this time the Boston Celtics, to come nearly all the way back and threaten to win the game. As a result, both teams came out of that game looking equally unimpressive and incredibly unfocused. Call it fatigue, being on the road, youth, or whatever you want to, but whatever it is, the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have it.

And that’s why after the Cavs are done destroying the Atlanta Hawks, in however many games it takes them to do that, they will easily destroy either the Magic or the Celtics. Nothing short of Dwight Howard turning into Patrick Ewing or Kevin Garnett suiting up could change the fate of Cleveland, which is a trip to the NBA Finals—a trip solidified by the reality of their own superiority amongst a weak Eastern field.

The post "NBA Playoffs: Cavs in Route to Winning the East" was originally published at TSW.

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